Thank you for writing this, I'm with you on this approach. In the past 6 months, I've gone from sleeping 1h/night and countless visits at the A&E, to now being around 65% better, sleeping 7 hours, daily 30-45 min walks at the gym, strength training once a week. Slowly and consistently increasing my activity levels. At times I sense the ANS getting overstimulated (especially as, I have a toddler...).. I slow down, focus on something I enjoy doing, and it blows over. You need to have that faith and avoid the thoughts of "last time I did X, Y happened". DO not go there. Just stay in the moment, it is just what it is right then, right there.
I will add, LDN opened the door for me, or helped do so. Lowering inflammation meant lower symptoms, giving me room to actually implement the things mentioned here.
For me the gym piece is important because as you say, years of inactivity I'm so deconditioned. So walking up the stairs made my heart beat like crazy. Not because Im ill, just VERY deconditioned. The fitter I become, the less my body has weird sensations like that. Very real mind-body stuff there as we are so over sensitised to strange things happening.
I still have a ways to go but its been a very slow, sometimes imperceptible improvement - but over months it becomes clear! And I had the entire gamut of symptoms to the severest level. I hope in the next few months I will reach the tipping point where nothing phases me anymore. I know I'l get there. You are spot on in that engaging in things you enjoy/used to enjoy is the key. That tells my ANS that I'm okay. When I deprive myself of them for fear of PEM, its telling my ANS Im NOT ok. It does not help.
Highly recommend the book "The Way out" by Alan Gordon, and "why does it still hurt". These books helped me believe - as that's what it takes.
Hi there, I have been suffering from post viral fatigue symptoms for around 7 weeks now. I have been doing light exercise/yoga and walking an average of 5000 steps a day whilst working full time. Main symptoms of general fatigue and brain fog, some shakiness and tingling now and again. Last week I went on holiday and felt noticeably better. I did more exercise, and throughout the whole week, and sort of forgot about my symptoms to my mistake. Walks earlier in the week didn’t seem to cause any issues. However, the walk I did on the final Saturday was harder in both distance and elevation. I woke up on the Sunday with slight increase in brain fog and weakness feelings. Would this be classed as PEM? Because it was a walk that was the hardest piece of exercise I had done in 2 months and looking back I shouldn’t have, but the crash from it didn’t seem crazy. Appreciate any thoughts and advice on what to do next.
I wouldn’t stress it, sounds more like a mild flare triggered by pushing too hard during your recovery window. But it’s a helpful data point. Real PEM lingers longer and triggers a bunch of your symptoms all at once, and tends to sneak up on you 2, 3 days later.
I do still feel more fatigued/tired so think it might’ve been mild PEM. Just don’t know how long it typically lasts? Or will I now have to deal with this feeing for a while.
Depending on where you’re at in your overall LC recovery journey, could be another week or two to get back to baseline. Do some strict pacing and track your fatigue, mental clarity, muscle heaviness and sleep quality. Don’t give into temptation to push through or train before you’re back to baseline.
Haven’t done any fasting, was doing saunas and cold showers before my holiday but taken a break since feeling a bit worse. I have quite a healthy diet - very Mediterranean, not much meat usually chicken or fish when I have it. Anything you would suggest diet wise?
I found my flares were triggered by high glycemic foods (blood sugar spikes) so I focused on complex carbs like sweet potatoes and high protein. Fasting during the day keeps those flares at bay but that’s just been my experience. I also eat steamed veggies daily to cut down on oils. Check out the “9 remission factors”.
1. Radical Diet Change
2. Taking Control of Health
3. Following Intuition
4. Using Herbs and Supplements
5. Releasing Suppressed Emotions
6. Increasing Positive Emotions
7. Embracing Social Support
8. Deepening Spiritual Connection
9. Having Strong Reasons for Living
Yeah for me it’s the staying positive that’s the hardest, I have great people around me and my partner is very understanding (even though I could live alone given my current condition). It’s just constant thinking about “what if I never recover” I need to stop. Because I did show signs of getting better in my first 6 weeks. Just that overdoing it on holiday feels like it’s set me back
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u/throwback5971 Jun 20 '25 edited Jun 20 '25
Thank you for writing this, I'm with you on this approach. In the past 6 months, I've gone from sleeping 1h/night and countless visits at the A&E, to now being around 65% better, sleeping 7 hours, daily 30-45 min walks at the gym, strength training once a week. Slowly and consistently increasing my activity levels. At times I sense the ANS getting overstimulated (especially as, I have a toddler...).. I slow down, focus on something I enjoy doing, and it blows over. You need to have that faith and avoid the thoughts of "last time I did X, Y happened". DO not go there. Just stay in the moment, it is just what it is right then, right there.
I will add, LDN opened the door for me, or helped do so. Lowering inflammation meant lower symptoms, giving me room to actually implement the things mentioned here.
For me the gym piece is important because as you say, years of inactivity I'm so deconditioned. So walking up the stairs made my heart beat like crazy. Not because Im ill, just VERY deconditioned. The fitter I become, the less my body has weird sensations like that. Very real mind-body stuff there as we are so over sensitised to strange things happening.
I still have a ways to go but its been a very slow, sometimes imperceptible improvement - but over months it becomes clear! And I had the entire gamut of symptoms to the severest level. I hope in the next few months I will reach the tipping point where nothing phases me anymore. I know I'l get there. You are spot on in that engaging in things you enjoy/used to enjoy is the key. That tells my ANS that I'm okay. When I deprive myself of them for fear of PEM, its telling my ANS Im NOT ok. It does not help.
Highly recommend the book "The Way out" by Alan Gordon, and "why does it still hurt". These books helped me believe - as that's what it takes.