How do you stop yourself pushing yourself to far.l get a bit of energy and I always get carried away cleaning etc I always push myself to far and regret it after when I’m suffering.Any tips my new friends.
Good question, I'm somewhat in denial about the whole thing having recently have it flare to new hitherto unknown levels after
having to come off remicade. If the weather's good the next few days then you're maybe a little safer, apart from that I dunno, be interested to hear any ideas...
It's experience. When I was younger I would push every time. Now that I have more experience I've learned by a million repetitions what will happen if I overdo it.
The easiest way of thinking of this disease is like an ADHD (or even spectrum kid) What LOOKS like a good idea is NEVER a good idea if it breaks out of the routine.
The first step is to develop a routine for everything from laundry to bathing. Take that routine to the edge and live by it. (adjust up or down as necessary. Once you have a routine then it becomes pretty easy to say NO. But it also gives you some guidance as to when you can say yes. Having the routine gives you a lot more control of your life eliminates a lot of guilt (which actually can cause a flair) Most of us do that normally as we age anyway. We can then figure out whats penciled in to our lives and whats written in ink.
The kid who is my rheumy took the week off for spring break so the old buzzard in her offfice is taking her calls. Wouldn't you know I was in a major flair yesterday went to my crisis pack and was out of predi and out of refills so I called. Granted I waited until afternoon so I didn't get a call back until this morning. The first words out of his mouth were. "You aren't one of my regulars other wise you would know I never respond to flair calls on Monday. 60% are better by Tuesday and have nothing to do with the disease" But I see you have a red sticker so I apologize for not calling yesterday." (apparently a red sticker means something) Anyway we had a pretty good visit. Pretty much the bottom line was, that we forget that just about anyone close 40 and above has regular flairs from simply doing whether or NOT they have some inflamatory "disease" Only when you have a routine do you know whether it is a"disease flair" or "stupid" Overdoing does NOT normally make the disease flair but rather make the symptoms flair. There is a difference. It takes time to learn,
Cheers tntlamb, I found that answer very useful
I like that. . . Disease flare or stupid. So as an example, digging up 3 beds in my garden brought on a stupid flare from overdoing. Oh, and pounding in 6 new fence posts. I knew it was stupid, as it was out of my routine, as Lamb was saying. It cleared up soon enough.
I'm guilty of the same thing... :(
OK so I don't. As many people on this site will tell you I am a "not listen to person" because I will tell you like it is. I push myself everyday I work and travel extensively. I do not look for an excuse not to make it. I say go for it, do what you can and what you can;t don't make excuses.Work it girl!
I deal with self induced guilt when things need to be done and I am not able, so I too have a tendancy to overdo it. I weeded a flower bed on Saturday and my back, hips, and two fingers on my left hand are really mad at me. It takes me a couple days to get over it. MAT9, I know you mean well, but I take offence to not making excuses. The fact is that while we can't just stop doing everything or we will wither away, it isn't alway smart to exceed our limits. I do no one any good if I push so hard that I go backwards. I miss my former life, and no one hates it worse than me that I can't "work it" like I used too. There is no shame in taking a step backwards and saying...it will be there tomorrow.
Thankyou for all your messages,it’s interesting to know how we are all managing our illness.Wonderful tips I found this really useful. Although I wouldn’t wish this illness on anyone it’s nice to feel understanding from you all.
It is listening to your body and learning from our own personal experiences of what you can and can't do and even how much rest you need ahead of time when you know you have to do something important. You will work out what happens to you over time and through trial and error and your own experiences.
It is about spreading out your work load throughout the week and not trying to do everything in one go. I so often tackle things and put a time limit of one hour or even a half an hour at a time to spend doing things that take their toll on me.
I choose the worst jobs to do first to get them out of the way and to do them before I run out of energy. Prioritize what has to be done and leave the less important things when you don't feel up to it. It is always about being flexible as you will suddenly find that you have had enough some days.
There are two things that have helped me the most and that is when I go to leave a room I look around to see if there is anything that needs to be collected and taken to another room. I often put them into a basket, box or bag or leave them in a small pile and then when I go in that direction I take it with me and it gets to the place where it is generally kept. The other one is I don't leave the kitchen while the kettle boils, I use this time in the kitchen to put things away or clean or do a little food preparation. The key is to a little more often and take lots of rest breaks in between. The frustration is nothing ever seems to be completely finished but learning to live with that I have accepted.
Bella, I just realized I do this too! I have a spot on the corner of the kitchen counter, and as I find things that need to go upstairs, I stack them, and then when I go upstairs (or someone else in the house does), that pile goes with.
All library books to return have a designated spot on the kitchen counter too (we have an excessive amount of kitchen counterspace). That way when I know I'm going past the library I put the books in the car. Things like that.
I too spread out activities so I don't ever have way too much on any one day. It helps because if I have a bad day, I actually CAN shift that one activity to a different day.
bella said:
There are two things that have helped me the most and that is when I go to leave a room I look around to see if there is anything that needs to be collected and taken to another room. I often put them into a basket, box or bag or leave them in a small pile and then when I go in that direction I take it with me and it gets to the place where it is generally kept. The other one is I don't leave the kitchen while the kettle boils, I use this time in the kitchen to put things away or clean or do a little food preparation. The key is to a little more often and take lots of rest breaks in between. The frustration is nothing ever seems to be completely finished but learning to live with that I have accepted.
I do the putting things in piles too ! It’s works well,I’m liking the kettle on idea giving myself little bits of time for house work sounds good.
I do the same! Listen to Bella she is wise to this disease as she has "studied" it a long time. We do develop systems in the house to get things done. I clean the bathroom while waiting for the tub to fill. I wash dishes while cooking and fold laundry and iron in front of the tv. You will find your own systems Miss S. Let us know the good ones so we can use them too!
Everyone has such good ideas that I wish I had asked this same question when I was doing “stupid” things. It took me a long time to change my habits, and let some of the small stuff slide. I was CONSTANTLY over doing things and paying the price with aggravated symptoms. It has really helped me that my mom and my husband decided to have a chat about me when they noticed that I was struggling with the whole slowing down bit. Both of them now help me remember when I need to take a break or be done for the day. That has helped me a lot. I have also changed a now I tackle things. I don’t wait to do all of my chores on one day like I used to . I do a little each day and, like others, I am constantly doing little things to keep on top of the mess. I, too, keep a basket at the bottom of the steps that catches all of the things to go upstairs and one at the top for the things to go down.
I have a comfy chair in the basement and when I do laundry, I sit down there and read or play on my iPad while the wash is going. This saves me the repeated trips up and down the steps. I also wear many items more than once, freshening them with a fabric refresher in between uses, and then hanging them back up. This is best with my work clothes. Since I work in an office, they don’t get dirty or smelly and the fabric spray keeps them smelling clean. This really cuts down on the laundry, which we all know is a heavy task.
I also got some daily shower spray to try. Hopefully, using it will help cut down on the scrubbing, and I use those discs that go in the toilet tank to help keep it clean. For my floors, I have a swiffer for sweeping and I use a steam mop for cleaning. I love both of these tools. With the swiffer, I’m don’t have to bend to pick the dirt up in a dust pan, and the steam mop saves me from using a heavy mop bucket and from scrubbing.
There are so many tricks to cut down on your work. You will discover your own short cuts after you have enough recovery days from over doing it!