Coping With Another Fatigue Flare

This month I am coping with another fatigue flare, and to be honest I am blaming the typical British summer! So, let’s chat about triggers, self-care, rest and being patient as we learn to accept chronic illness, again!

Chronic illness, for most of us, is about constant change and adapting to where your illness is. It is a cycle of never-ending frustration, grief and trying to find ways to still do the things that have to be done.

I find flares something that happen quite regularly for me, and this I think is due to the constant weather changes that we cope with in England. We are in the summer, and we had a very dry and warm spring, followed by a very hot summer, but right now it is cloudy and chilly.

Weather is something that affected me my whole life, add in chronic illness and it’s own sensitivity to weather and my body is struggling!

Yesterday, after a good night’s sleep, I got up feeling good, other than my painful left hip that is slightly out of joint. By lunchtime however, I felt really tired and thought I would lie on the sofa for 10minutes… I woke up four hours later!

Fatigue often feels like it comes out of nowhere, and it is nothing like just feeling tired! It is like you hit a wall and it is impossible to push through or sometimes to even talk in a way that can be understood.

For me, it is the most annoying part of my illnesses, and unfortunately it is part of three of the illnesses I have been diagnosed with. I have myalgic encephalomyelitis, Fibromyalgia and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and all three have a component that causes fatigue.

I have to pace out my whole life, constantly thinking about resting between each thing I do so that I can make sure I do not flare. Post Exercise Malaise is something I have to constantly watch out for and sometimes can be confused with a flare.

If you watch my weekly vlogs over on YouTube you will know how much of a struggle this is because I have so much, I love to do. I run this blog and my YouTube as well as my social media, I also love to do exercise and keep up on my housework.

These things all together, as well as being a carer for my mom who has MS, life is hard to juggle. I rarely get it right, and I am always trying to be open and honest about the realities of this.

So, though I am coping with another fatigue flare, I am also aware that I need to be patient and kind to myself. These are the times to rest, not the times to start new projects or to try and do too much, it’s more about self-care than anything else.

Coping With Self Care

• Identify Your Triggers – Knowing what can cause your flares can be a big help when it comes to coping with flares. Keeping a diary or using an app to monitor your symptoms is a great way to do this. Once you know, you can minimise your interaction with them and reduce your flares.
• Listen to your body – Being mindful and listening to the messages your body sends you can be a big indicator of when you are heading to a flare. This will then allow you to make changes and to rest so that you can heal instead of flaring… hopefully.
• Pacing – This is so hard to do, so please do not think I am saying otherwise. But planning out the tasks you need, breaking them up into smaller activities so you can rest between is what works. Unfortunately, our society trains us to do the exact opposite and so it can be difficult to change. But pacing works so trying it out could be a big help.
• Prioritize your tasks – Making your life more about rest breaks and then looking at the order things are done in is a game changer. I get the things done that are most important first, from there things move down in priority so that if I start to feel ill, they can be cancelled. This is how I pace my days out and most of the time it works well.
• Prioritise rest and self-care in a flare – If the flare cannot be avoided, it is time to rest! Forget the jobs, wear comfy clothes or PJs, cuddle a bear or furry animal and settle in to watch a TV show you love. I usually pick something that I have seen a lot so if I doze off, I don’t miss the plot!
• Gentle exercise – I know it sounds crazy, but gentle movement can really help, I have a whole playlist of YouTube exercises for this reason. I tend to do them before bed, so that I am resting right away. I even have routines that can be done in bed on that list, and I use it myself so go check it out.
• Call your doctor – If the flare lasts more than a few days, definitely get in touch with your medical team. This is so that any help can be offered, and your symptoms can be recorded so it is important. Many of us deal with medical trauma and it can be tempting not to do this, but please do as it can make a difference.

I know that coping with another fatigue flare can be frustrating and disrupt all our plans. It is the last thing we want and when you have chronic illness it is something you constantly have in mind. I really hope these tips help you, leave me a comment and let me know the thing you do to help a flare.

Thank you xx

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