Shingles Bites Me On The Bum!

Well I spoke too soon in my last post as I woke up with shingles this morning. It has been eight months, which is the longest gap in years so I should be grateful for that. Unfortunately I cannot take anything for it as I have to let it develop to take a swab. It isn't actually on my bum this time but is on the sciatic nerve on the back of my thigh, so is causing the usual pain in my leg and foot. Aside from that, everything else has been pretty good. I am glad it is cooler, i found the heat draining. I haven't felt able to try to ride a bike yet because my legs still don't feel very strong. Walking is fine and my pace is pretty much what it was pre-CFS and still with no stick (since November). However, my quads still maintain a feeling of weekness.  I still feel sick and struggle for the first twenty minutes of so during aquafit and have been busy generally in life and have not felt well enough to do the exercise DVDs so I have returned to swimming. After my detox in May I am now pretty much following what is known as a 'clean diet'. I didn't eat very much sugar at all before so that's not a hardship to cut out but I have also cut right back on wheat, dairy, alcohol, corn. It means lots of fresh food and I am enjoying it. Eating out can sometimes be a bit challenging but I cope!

Moving On Up

Wow. Four months since the last post. Where does the time go? Since February I have moved house. Something I would not have considered last year as I wouldn't have coped with the stress of it. As it happens it was not too stressful as I moved in with my partner and rented my house out. Oscar and I are very much settled in. It's nice being closer to my therapy centre and not having to walk up that hill several times a week. In a way I miss the walk to work with Oscar, but we take the dogs on walks nearby instead. I am still managing without my stick and sometimes we are out walking the dogs for up to an hour. I am more relaxed and happy than I have been for a long time. The only pain I have is my chronic back ache/pain, which isn't related to the CFS.

I have been continuing to work on my physical activity and have extended my time on my trampette from five minutes to 20 minutes. I have returned to aquafit, something I haven't been able to do for over two years, and I have rediscovered a dance DVD that hasn't seen the light of day for over three years and had a go at that. I thought is was 20 minutes but it was 40 minutes and nearly did me in! I have done it twice now this month and enjoyed it. I am still excluding sugar from my diet and have cut the whisky and wine back. I had an episode of snacking when I was tired, which wasn't helpful, so I have returned to a 'clean diet'. I found this type of food really good and enjoyed preparing it after the retreat I went on last year. It essentially cuts out sugar, alcohol, wheat, most dairy and caffeine and uses grains and pulses, nuts and seeds, and lots of fresh fruit and veg. I have also done a two week detox and feel much better for that. Finally, no ugly-head-rearing of the dreaded shingles for six months now. So things are certainly looking up!

New Year New Challenge

Well, since November (can you believe that was my last post? Where does the time go??), anyway, since November I have been experimenting with walking without my stick. I had already pretty much mastered walking on the flat without it and had given lend of my spare stick to a friend who'd had a stroke as I felt I no longer needed to keep it in the car. On a whim I decided to walk to work without it (uphill) and I ached and my legs felt cramped but I did it. I used it on the way home. Then I decided to try both ways. The first few times I experienced cramping and pain in the legs but I persevered. I now can walk to and fro at the same pace (whole journey in 20 mins) stickless!
My next experiment was walking the dogs round the park. A circuit used to take 13-15 mins. I would slow the more I did and stopped at three. I now have that down to 10 mins and can do upto four on a very good day and generally aim for three laps.
My last experiment was a fitness DVD which has three levels and is based on strength. I started on level one once a week then increased to twice then three times a week. In between I bounced on my trampette for 10-15 mins. I then started interspersing level two on one of the days. Now I do level two on three days and aim to do level one on one or two days. I have a rest day on the Wednesday.
While all this is great I have gone again through Shingles (my dark friend) and that knocked me back, a virus that put me to my bed for two days (I don't do staying in bed). Most recently my sleep is being disturbed by hip pain on the right (what was my good side) and foot pain and cramping at night (an original cfs complaint which has reared its ugly head).
Still, I feel I am doing what is plausible for me to do, I don't feel I am pushing myself and - dare I say it - I finally feel that the cfs has made a permanent improvement rather than feeling I have improved for a few weeks and then being knocked back.
Life is good. I am socialising, I have a wonderfully supportive partner, I have a good support work of friends, family and last but by no means least parents and step-parents.Work continues at a manageable rate and I am fully enjoying teaching all my classes, participating as much as I did pre-cfs.
Maybe this is the year CFS and I start to part company......