Newsgroups: alt.med.cfs
Date:         Wed, 27 Jan 1993 17:04:13 EST
              <CFS-L@NIHLIST.BITNET>
From:         Dale Drake <DDRAKE@INDYCMS.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: COLDS?

>            My question is this: for those of you who are feeling better, and
>have recovered to some degree, how long were you sick before you felt
>some significant improvement?  And how well is "not-so-sick"?  What activity
>level are you able to maintain?  Can you exercise?

I can definitely say I'm better than I was three years ago when I came
down with this (Feb 21, to be exact).  My  husband and I have put together
a 1-to-10 scale for me to use whenever he called home to see how I was ...
rather than dwelling on all the details, I could just say "I'm a 4 today"
and he'd know he'd be cooking supper  <g>.  On this scale 1 is totally bed-
ridden, and 10 is my normal healthy pre-CFS days.  I've never seen 10 again.
I started out at 2 or 3 for the first year, basically able to get out of
bed, put on clothes, and lie down in a recliner all day.  I'm now roughly
a 7 - I can get up at 7 or so, shower, dress, and do fairly normal things
all morning, like run errands, to the library, or work at home.  Then lunch,
and a long nap from 1 to 3.  Afternoons are quieter, and I try not to leave
the house because I don't feel as good as in the morning.  I usually cook
supper, and lately have even been able to wash the dishes after supper, rather
than saving them for the next morning.  TV watching in the evening.

This is normal for I'd say 5 out of 7 days a week - the others are 5's or
6's, where I stay home and rest in the morning too.  With this schedule I
can usually avoid the nastier CFS symptoms (dizziness, headaches, muscle
aches).  As you can see, it's not exactly a normal lifestyle ... I still
have no social life in the evenings, I don't bowl or jog or go dancing.
I also don't grocery shop - that really wears me out too much.  And we
share the house cleaning, with Dan doing the majority of it.  I wash the
dishes and the clothes.

Exercising:  I can do the introductory stretches from the aerobics videos,
about the first 15 minutes, and that's it.  Or I do my 15 minutes of yoga.

I seem to have improved about one number on the scale every six months.  I
hope it continues.  I also highly recommend using the numeric scale with your
significant others - I think mental attitude is very important, and I try
not to think or sound like an invalid.  The numbers help.

Oh!  And I can credit one nutritional supplement with making a 2-to-3 number
difference for me personally - Liquid Liver Extract.  You get it in large
brown gelcaps at the health food store - I found that Swanson's has it
pretty cheap, $8 for 90.  I take four a day.  I've taken it for about 2 years
now - it really works, I've tried repeatedly stopping it and feel much worse
within about 48 hours.  Dr. Tim Johnson on Good Morning America mentioned it
for CFS, and I've seen it mentioned elsewhere too.

So, I'm not healthy, but I can live a moderately-normal life.  I'm lucky also,
in that I have a part-time job with Indiana University, 20 hours a week,
doing SAS programming from home via modem.  I go in for staff meetings once
every week or two.  That's a Godsend because I can work when I feel up to it.

Hope this helps ...   Dale
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