What Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Feels Like
An excerpt from my new book, Farewell, Fatigue: How I Overcame Chronic Fatigue the Natural Way
After the birth of my third child, I thought I was perfectly healthy. My recovery was easy, the baby learned to sleep through the night very quickly, and our expanded family soon fell into a smooth rhythm. I had been dabbling into research and experimentation with healthier eating, and I was sure that as time went on our entire family would begin to feel better and better.
But that was not the case. I soon became very tired all the time. I ignored it at first, thinking that was just life as a busy mom. Then my brain began to feel foggy and I could not seem to think clearly. My kids were all good sleepers, and I began taking the opportunity to sleep ten to twelve hours at night, but I still felt tired when I got up in the morning. I continued with healthy eating habits and experimented with removing gluten and sugar from my diet.
Still I got worse. Life became like a bad dream. Many days I would park the kids in front of a video because I could barely hold my eyes open. If they wanted me to read to them I often had to say no because the simple act of talking made me lose my breath. My heart would often race for no apparent reason. My husband would come home to find me in bed with no housework done or supper made. I became depressed, partially from whatever was going on in my body, and partially as a result of feeling like a failure as a homemaker.
Whenever I went anywhere, my brain felt like it was on overload. I felt like I could not process the things I was seeing and hearing quickly enough, and I would get so dizzy and overwhelmed that I just had to close my eyes and put my head down. The slightest exertion, even something as simple as brushing my hair, would leave me exhausted and out of breath. Many days I felt like my body was not receiving any oxygen. My limbs would feel numb and I felt like I would black out. I became easily agitated at things that should not have been bothersome. Noise bothered me terribly and made me feel either panicked or angry. I often had to go close myself up in a quiet room for a while because I could not handle the noise of my kids talking and playing.
I had a very hard time concentrating and did not enjoy being in social situations because it was too hard to process everything I was seeing and hearing. It was a monumental effort to carry on an intelligent conversation.
On the very worst days I was so weak that I could not move or speak. When my kids would climb up onto the bed and try to hug me or talk to me, it took every ounce of willpower to simply raise my arm a small amount to acknowledge their presence. As tired as I was, I often found it difficult to sleep at night. My legs were restless and itchy, and heart palpitations made me feel anxious…
Praise the Lord, today I can say that I feel like a completely different person!
He clearly directed me to the information I needed to restore my health, and I've shared it in my new book.
