CFS Tuesday

Part of our ongoing series on life with CFS.

CFS Tuesday snuck up on me again. I have a mental list of topics I want to write about, and I always plan to write a bunch of these mini-articles in advance. But it's Tuesday and I'm winging it again.

A year or two into my life with CFS, I developed irritable bowel syndrome. Up until recently, my IBS was pretty well controlled. I have never been able to identify what will trigger a flare, but I got better at taking my preventive medication. With the pain meds I'm on now, the IBS had largely disappeared. But in the last month, I've had a couple dramatic flares.

I have no idea what will trigger an episode. I've been unable to identify any foods that seem associated with the flares, not consistently anyway. It's very frustrating. I'll be feeling ok, and then wham! - full onset.

I don't know if other CFS patients experience this, but whenever I have an exacerbation of a symptom - headache, IBS, etc. - my whole body stops. It's like the flaring symptom sucks the life out of the rest of me. Before CFS, I took aspirin for a headache and kept working. Not anymore. Any upset in the symptom balance undermines my whole body. The only thing to do is lie down and wait for balance to return.

So now you know why CFS Tuesday snuck up on me again. I'm lying down, waiting.