#but dealing rn for a very long time with mystery chronic pain and fatigue

[carpathxanridge]

won’t comment this on the same post because it’s probably not what they want to hear rn but i know that some people HAVE “cured” their CFS, or rather have been able to manage it and return to moderate activity levels, by essentially “gradually building stamina.” but the approach and mentality behind the pacing approach is SOOO different than what the average person assumes “gradually building stamina” must look like, and always errs on the side of MINIMUM activity because of the seriousness of PEM. like it sucks to have the 3 mile walks you were once accustomed to suddenly make you bedridden the next day. that’s why pacing would mean, for a very long period of time, going on… a five minute walk, if that’s where you’re at. a one minute walk around your living space a few times a day. or ten seconds of standing, if completely bedridden. but if you’re not bedridden and are doing things around the house, even just if sitting up to work at a computer, pacing ALSO means laying down flat and having a full body rest multiple times a day, scheduled throughout the day. it means not just allowing rest, but ENFORCING it. the barrier to people with CFS slowly building their stamina back up is usually this idea that part of that endeavor involves willpower, that if you can just will it hard enough, try harder, the CFS will go away. how could you possibly need MORE rest when you’re doing nothihg? when this mentality is the opposite of what CFS needs. people who’ve successfully gotten their old lives “back” after CFS have done it by respecting PEM, erring on the side of caution, being so gentle with themselves and careful not to send themselves into a flare-up.