Help please- no energy for basic tasks i.e. Housework

Hi

Sorry that you are suffering so much and I know how frustrating it is to not be able to do simple tasks, when you feel unhealthy it's nice to at least to have your house in order but not always possible.

I was going to post this in a couple of weeks but thought it may be appropriate for you. A lady put a post on a while ago about a supplement she is taking called 8bioenergy from Australia (they are designed with cfs sufferers in mind). Out of curiosity I had a read through their website and what the ingredients contained and was intrigued.

During my 6 yrs with cfs, I have never really taken any supplements other than iron and vit c as I know in some cases without proper advice your body has to work harder to eradicate these unwanted vitamins rather than giving you benefits.

Anyhow, I was having another bad patch and I took the plunge and have been taking them for a few weeks now and I have noticed a big difference in my energy levels.  Important point though, I am on a pretty clean diet and it is a requirement to be eating as clean as poss in conjunction with them. 

On another note, good to hear you have established your intolerances, when I found out about mine and removed them from diet my symptoms pretty much went but away for 10 months, and still remain a lot less. So hope it works for you too.

Thanks

Sophie

Hi spiritanimal,

I share your inability to do the 'usual' and have what feels like weak arms some of the time. My issue is more my legs and walking problems. I have a cleaner because I can't manage and I live with family!

I would advise getting someone in to clean but, are you in the UK? If so ring gateway to care. Explain your inability to do things and ask for someone to come and see you to see if they can help with anything. I got the number of a cleaner from there and they gave me advice on community transport too and could maybe give you some help and advice.

Also, ask your gp for a physio referral ask to see a senior practitioner who has experience of cfs/me. You 'll need someone to be with you so they can tell them things you forget. Tell them you have constant fatigue and you worry about your inability to do things.

Ask for a referral to your local CFS/ME service. If all your blood tests are fine and you're feeling so exhausted, then a referral could help. Please be aware there's a waiting list and the blood tests need to be in the last 3 months or you'll have to re test first.

Ask also for a referral to your local mental health service, for some one to one sessions. This is making you feel depressed you have stated and some time being heard by someone and helped to look at solutions for that could be beneficial too.

I know all of this takes time and energy but, hopefully will give you some help. If you can't get family/friends to drive you to appointments, don't be put off by not having the energy to get public transport because hospitals can provide patient transport.

Don't give up hope!

Beverley

I can relate to how you feel. My house also looks a total mess at the moment as I've got behind with things but using my energy elsewhere. The way I normally cope when it's so bad is to break all the tasks into very small chunks and just try to do one small bit at a time. For example you could spend 5 minutes tidying, have a goal to clear one small surface, hoover one part of a room, clean a sink., etc. It can be really daunting when faced with what seems like a huge task but if you do very small bits at a time you will get there in the end. Another thing I do is have a small basket which I use to carry things round the house which means less trips moving things about.

I also wouldn't be embarrassed about having friends round as if they are true friends they will be happy to see you and not care what your flat looks like - they might even offer to help tidy up if they know you're struggling.

Your health and happiness is more important than a clean house!!!

Hi

Sorry to hear you are having a difficult time. I'm very houseproud but I just can't physically clean anymore, it's a full time job!! I find doing a bit at a time helps to a degree. If you try and do it all in one go it will probably make your symptoms worse in the long run. Do you have the option to pay someone to clean your house maybe once or twice a month?

I know exactly what you mean with regards to family members helping, I was in a similar situation where someone close to me came over to help me clean but expected me to keep up with their pace and they just couldn't understand why I was so exhausted even though I've told them so many times over the years how much I suffer (I'm a couple of years younger than you and I do feel like younger people are expected to have loads of energy all the time but for us it just isn't possible!!)

With regards to intolerances they can make big differences to your tiredness levels. When I was in the process of being tested for coeliac disease I had to eat loads of gluten for 2 weeks and god did it make me feel dreadful. I hadn't realised the effect it was having on me until I ate lots of it. Cutting things out or reducing caffeine and alcohol and sugar can also make a big difference to chronic fatigue.

Hope this may help

However, they are both treatable (to an extent) and whilst like yourself I believe that my chronic fatigue causes my depression, I have found it helpful to engage with treatments for depression such as CBT and anti-depressants. I am currently doing CBT with a specialist in chonic illnesses (on the NHS) and he is helping me to come to terms with my situation, and challenging my unhelpful thoughts. If you can improve your depression it really helps to do things you need to do to help with your fatigue. 

I have also engaged with GET (graded exercise therapy) thru my local hospital physio service with some improvements. 

I assuming your are familiar with the concept of pacing, but it is a really effective tool for maximising what you can do. 

hth

If your friends are too busy and your mum is chucking stuff away when you don't want her to, I'd suggest getting a friend of a friend to do it once and pay them for it. For exmaple, say it'd take four hours to get your place looking how you wanted it to look, you could pay them a fair wage to do this and then do it yourself after that. I'm suggesting this because I find that it's a lot easier to do things little and often rather than in one big lump. Just the thought of having to do it all at once or having all that stuff to do makes me depressed, but I can manage when I just to little bits here and there.