Thursday, October 20, 2016

CFS and Foggy Brain Moment

  As I was drying myself off after getting out of the shower at 12:30 a.m. I noticed something strange.  I could not towel dry my hair.  Uh oh....

   Let me take you through my day and how I arrived at this point.  I woke up very tired after having a busy day on Tuesday helping take care of toddlers at the MOPS group and then did some quick shopping and headed home.  Once home on Tuesday, I proceeded to get busy cleaning like a mad woman since my parents and one of my brothers arrives on Friday.  I cleaned until my body could not take it any more and I was in a lot of pain.  I had strange dreams Tuesday night and woke up exhausted Wednesday morning with a long "to do" list in front of me.  It was supposed to be our only rain free day so I needed to get as much done in the garden as I could to get it ready for the cold weather.  

   While I was having my coffee and answering and commenting on a few facebook posts, my son Chris called me and asked me what my plans were for the day.  I told him about my garden to do list and he said "oh, well that answers my question".  I asked him what he needed and he told me that all the elk burger from the elk he got was ready to be packaged up and labeled and they needed help.  I asked him if it would work for me to come the next day and then he told me how long the burger had been sitting in the big coolers at the butcher's.  Yep, it needed to be done today so I quickly got dressed, without even getting a shower and headed over.  Between the 3 adults and 2 grandboys, we managed to get 2 huge coolers full packaged and labeled in about 1 1/2 hours.  They sent me home with elk burger, steaks and some roasts. :)

  Upon my arrival home, I got busy here.  I made a pizza for a late lunch for my hubby and I and then I took the dog for a walk. When we got back from our walk I then got hoses and sprinklers unhooked and laid out to drain.  I took out the tomato cages, ripped out all the tomato plants, beans, marigolds and a few other things.  I harvested some sunchokes and then dug a trench and buried a blackberry branch so that it would make new plants.  By then I was exhausted and collapsed on the couch.

   My hubby and I watched a few shows, he headed for work, and I had a late dinner.  I was too tired to sleep so I got a few more things done.  I finally headed to the shower and washed and conditioned my hair, washed my body, and rinsed off.  I wrapped a towel around my head, dried my body, put on my jammies, took my meds and supplements, brushed my teeth and then proceeded to towel dry my hair.   One problem...I rinsed off my body but apparently forgot to rinse the conditioner out of my hair.  Can you say foggy brain moment?  So I grabbed a load of laundry, got that started since I was behind on it yet again, and then headed to the guest bathroom when I got the sprayer attachment from the shower, leaned over the side of the bathtub and finally got my hair rinsed off.

   It is now 1:15 a.m. and my hair is towel dried, the laundry I started in the washer is now ready to be hung up to dry and I am still too exhausted to sleep.  Yes, I realize that it sounds odd, but seriously, with CFS, sometimes you can't sleep, even though your mind and body are screaming for it.  I overdid it and I am paying the price for it now.  I pushed myself far beyond my limit and I really should know better by now, but there is just so much to get done and so little time to get it done in.  

   I'm going to get up, hang the laundry to dry and then head back to bed and try this whole sleep thing again.  Hopefully I will be able to get to sleep before 3 a.m. but I am not counting on it.

19 comments:

  1. Yep. You over did it, friend. I hope you find some slow this week. Its a must for us with the issues we have. ☺ Blessings.

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    1. Hi Chrissy, yes it is. :) After I posted this, I did fall asleep fairly quickly. I got about 6 1/2 hours of sleep, which is really good for me but I will admit to being totally exhausted today. Hopefully, with the weather being yucky, I will get my baking done and do some dusting, clean the guest bathroom and then take it easy for the rest of the day. That is the plan as of now. ;)

      Be blessed my friend!

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  2. Yet again, I am just praising Jesus that I found your blog!

    Except for the bit about the hair conditioner, I am in a similar place today. I stayed for the entire garden meeting last night and also made some new acquaintances after the meeting. Earlier in the day I had done 4 loads of wash and raked leaves. So much for my easy 'at home' kind of day. Well, last night I was exhausted but didn't get to sleep until 1 am-ish.
    And I had horrible dreams (two of them) as well. Yet another very weird 'coincidence' from CFS? I don't know.
    So, finally this morning I'm up about 830am and feeling like a truck hit me. This morning I did manage to just linger with the computer and not do much besides the morning dog walk. Off soon to my Dr appointment which is an hour there each way and then however long the appointment is.
    Any way, very long winded way to say how much I appreciate your posts and your willingness to share here. It is so validating to have someone else along in this journey with CFS. Cheers, SJ in Vancouver BC

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    1. Hi SJ, it sounds like you and I were both on the same CFS schedule. ;) And yes, those strange dreams are something that I hear often from other people with CFS too. I do hope you appointment goes well today and that you can have a nice relaxing day at home tomorrow as well as this weekend. :)

      Be blessed my friend!

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  3. Bless your heart Debbie! It is so hard to learn to say "no" to things that are demanding our attention, isn't it! And then we pay the price later. Hope that you get some rest in today before your company arrives!

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    1. Thanks...you would be proud of me, I said "No" today to something that I would have enjoyed doing tonight but that I knew would wipe me out. I did scrub the bathroom floor by hand today (boy it was dirty), cleaned the oven and baked muffins and some bread. I got some laundry and dusting done too. Now I am resting and will do that for the remainder of the afternoon and evening. I am planning on make potato cheese soup in the crockpot tomorrow so it will be ready for dinner tomorrow night and it is also something that my brother, who is vegetarian, can eat. :)

      Be blessed my friend!

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  4. Good heavens lady! Glad you managed to get some rest, finally. Enjoy your visit with your family. You've earned it.

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    1. Thank you! My mom confessed on our last visit there that she and my brother only clean like mad people when they have people coming over. I laughed because that is what I have been doing my whole adult life and growing up we were expected to have the house showcase ready at all times. ;)

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  5. Good Evening Debbie,

    Praying you get some much needed rest before your family arrives so you can fully enjoy their visit.

    Blessings,
    Mrs.B

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    1. Thank you. Our visit this time was a very low key one with lots of time built in to just rest and enjoy one another. :)

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  6. So just a quick hello and hope you're feeling up for your company. I'm tired today but not sick. The Dr appointment yesterday went well. I was early and actually got to see the Dr early. Yipee.
    Once again, had a hard time sleeping last night. This time though, I fell asleep almost when my head hit the pillow. Slept 3 hours and was then awake two hours in the middle of the night. This illness is so weird.
    Popped into the store for milk and walked the dog and that's been my day. Cheers SJ

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    1. Hi SJ, I'm so glad your appointment went well. :)

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  7. It's hard to not overdo things when there's so much to do, isn't it? I'm glad you were able to get some sleep after all, and have a good visit with family.

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    1. Thanks Bless. Yes it is hard not to overdo things. I get this nervous energy that makes me continue to do things when I really should be resting. I blame my OCD on that. ;)

      Have a great day!

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  8. You did great this past week. I am glad that your appointment went well. Columbo brings back memories for me too.

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    1. Wasn't that just a great show? I promised to pass the dvds along to my parents when we are done with them. I sent the first 2 seasons of Northern Exposure home with them since we finished those and it is one of my mother's favorite shows. :)

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  9. Debbie, I am certainly no expert on CFS and I have not walked in your shoes, but it sounds to me like you push yourself too hard. It sounds like when you have energy you use it to the very last inch and then crash. Seems like a little more slow and steady might work better with CFS. I'm sure you know what your are doing but I sure hate to see those crashes. Just ignore me if I don't know what I'm talking about - Hahaha - unsolicited advice is not always appreciated.

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    1. Hi Barbara, you are right, I do push myself too hard. ;) I get almost manic because when I do have energy to get things done I try to do it all since I don't know what the next day may bring. This disease is very frustrating at times. I will never take my health for granted again. :) Oh and the shower thing...I did it again last night. Guess who is having a very slow day at home today? ;)

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  10. PS. The hair story does beat some of my Brain Fog Stories.

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