CFS Recovery
How to Manage STRESS If You Have CFS | CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
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If you have chronic fatigue syndrome, you know that stress can make your symptoms worse. But what can you do to manage stress and keep it under control? There are many different techniques that can help, and in this video, we'll explore some of the most effective ones. Whether you decide to try one or all of them, hopefully, you'll find something that helps make a living with chronic fatigue a little bit easier.
You Are Just One Mindshift Away From Living Life With Thriving Health
0:00 – Intro: Can Type-A Personalities Recover from CFS?
1:45 – The Double-Edged Sword of Type-A Traits
4:30 – My Personal Experience: From Burnout to Recovery
7:00 – How to Control Type-A Traits Instead of Eliminating Them
9:20 – Shifting from Overdrive to Recovery Mode
11:00 – Practical Tips for Managing Stress and Anxiety
13:00 – Final Thoughts: Making Type-A Work for You
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Tags: Cns fatigue, cns burnout, nervous system burnout, nervous system fatigue, cns exhaustion, chronic fatigue, cfs, chronic fatigue syndrome, bedridden, housebound, adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome treatment, cfs symptoms, cfs recovery, cfs health, chronic pain, chronic pain syndrome, chronic pain explained, chronic pain meditation, post-viral fatigue syndrome, long covid, covid long hauler
#cfs #cfsrecovery #cfsme #bedridden #anxiety #somaticsymptoms #somatic #panicdisorder #panicattacks #chronicpain #chronicsymptoms #longcovid #postviralfatigue
DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical doctor or therapist. I am sharing my own experience and research. My video content is for information and educational purposes only. Please consult with your medical professional.
how's it going guys miguel here from cfs recovery in this video i'm going to be talking about how to handle stress if you have cfs or chronic fatigue syndrome or any hypersensitive nervous system disorder now when it comes to stress if you have cfs then your tolerance your threshold is probably very low and i've broken this down in a few other videos like you can watch up here this breaks down the stress threshold very well but in this video i want to break it down again a little bit in a simpler way if you imagine your body has this threshold this maximum level of stress that it can handle typically the way you get cfs is you go over this stress threshold right and i have a diagram of this in the recovery science blueprint which you can look at it right now there are a lot of different ways to put stress on your nervous system to put stimulus on your nervous system there could be stimulants coffees energy drinks relationships finances job stress there are so many things that add to that bucket and once it reaches a certain point the whole reason you're where you are now and experiencing the symptoms you're feeling in the first place is because you've gone over your stress threshold now once you develop a lot of these symptoms it is very hard to deal with stress even the simplest of things might stress you out simple things like a doctor's appointment coming up next week or two weeks from now that can get you in a stress state even just thinking about it so any kind of stressor is amplified when you have a hypersensitive nervous system disorder there's this you know magnifying glass effect where the way your brain perceives situations and worries and stressors it's amplified right that's also in the recovery science blueprint that i've created what you have to understand is most of the things that worry you that stress you out you're gonna have an irrational perception towards them your perspective of those stressors will be inaccurate it will be skewed it will be amplified because you are in a hypersensitive state now there's this idea that we used to talk about when i was a personal trainer i was a personal trainer for a few years we dove deep into how the body responds to stressors physical stressors in order to actually get stronger and there's this concept of being fragile versus anti-fragile so let's start with the first one what is fragile there's a few different definitions for it but fragile means easily broken or damaged or not strong or sturdy delicate and vulnerable so that's like your nervous system right now it's very delicate any small stressors it's going to make it get triggered cause you to have a bunch of symptoms now anti-fragile is the opposite anti-fragile means you actually get stronger under stress i want you to think about this analogy imagine you're swimming in the ocean in order to feel normal again that's equivalent to you trying to get out of the water and onto a boat most people just try to get out of this illness they try to get out of it as soon as they can they just want to get to the dry land onto the boat out of the water but what they don't realize is that there are weights attached to them that are keeping them in the water there are anchors and sometimes it's more than just one anchor there can be dozens if not hundreds of anchors and those anchors are the negative thoughts and beliefs and the worries you have in your mind this is one of the very first exercises we do in recovery jumpstart is identifying the negative thinking patterns that you have about your illness or your situation in general these are emotional strains on your nervous system that you don't necessarily recognize we always think that when it comes to letting our body rest or taking stress off the body we think it's physical right so a lot of people they can pull back on all physical activity but for the most part there are many people who even when pulling back on physical activity when they're stuck in bed doing nothing physical they actually continue to stay the same or get worse and it's because their mental and emotional state has not been cleared has not been fixed up yet there's still a lot of stress going on in those buckets so if we think about the body it has different buckets of stress on the one hand we have something like physical stress on the other hand we have mental stress which is cognitive thinking to-do list you have to do a bunch of stuff and then there's emotional stress this is where you can feel sad you feel hopeless that you're never gonna get better you feel angry that doctors aren't helping you you feel frustrated that what you're doing isn't working you feel upset that the supplements and medications that your doctors told you would help are not really helping they're just masking everything so there's these different buckets of stressors and before we even try to get better the number one thing we have to do is we have to cut those weights loose that are keeping us under water it makes the swimming so much harder it's it makes keeping your head above water pretty much like in this illness if you imagine you're swimming in water you want to get out of the water but the thing that keeps you pinned down is all these stressors and even though your physical stress bucket can be very low because you're not doing many activities these other buckets are likely very high and they're likely full 24 7 you just don't realize it it's these automatic beliefs that your brain runs it's the questions you have about every symptom is that a heart attack does this mean i have early onset of parkinson's because i'm vibrating so much are my lungs just gonna shut down because i have shortness of breath am i getting a stroke because i have all this brain fog and i can't think straight and i have this weird memory loss and i've slurred speech and i forget what i'm saying when i'm talking to someone halfway through a sentence all these things can lead to lots of mental and emotional stress so we need to clear those areas not completely but we need to work on lowering them if we want to start getting better and start being able to handle more stress we need to deal with a stress that is usually not dealt with and that's typically our thoughts and our emotions about the symptoms about our situation about our illness and it totally makes sense i was in the same place too i was living with my grandparents for eight months completely bedridden my grandma was bringing food to me every single day bringing me water i went to the washroom once maybe twice a day even though i was resting physically i continued to feel about the same if not worse with the smallest of things and it's because my fear was so high about doing anything because i was terrified of symptoms absolutely terrified i was even afraid of my own heartbeat at one point because of all the panic attacks i had i would just fear any palpitation or when my heart got up to a certain level i could feel it pounding in my chest that would give me anxiety because i felt like my heart was gonna explode so all these stressors just kept that loop going and i could not handle stress but that's because i had all that all these other stresses going on in the background that i didn't realize were running so i want you to think of stress on your nervous system as just stimulus any kind of stimulus on your nervous system when people think of stress they think about it in in a bad way but all it is it's stimulus on the nervous system that's what i'm referring to here's another analogy i want you to think of imagine someone wants to go to the gym and they want to gain 10 pounds of muscle the only way to do that is to actually exercise work out tear down the muscle fibers and in doing so your body gets sore while it's in the repair phase while it's rebuilding the muscle fibers over the old muscle fibers that's how you gain muscle you actually tear down the body first by putting it under stress by putting it under stimulus and it rebuilds stronger so similar to your muscles there is no way for you to gain 10 pounds of muscle without ever feeling sore it just doesn't work like that your body needs something to adapt to and that's the adaptation phase when i was in personal training we used to call this the said principle specific adaptation to impose demand your body will adapt to the stimulus that's placed on it if the stimulus is placed in the right amounts what would happen if you overdo it in the gym let's say it's your first few times working out and you do the curls you press the weights you lift them up but you overdo it what happens think about it you run the risk of injuring yourself if you overdo it you injuring yourself is essentially your body giving out and saying we can't do that and physically you strain a muscle you tear something something comes out of place and it's not good and you injure your muscles well with the nervous system it's very similar it's similar principles because in order to actually recover in order to be able to go from where you are now to where you want to go it's not just going to happen overnight you need to train your way to get there you need to train up to it you need to start very small right it starts in small increments you put a little bit of stimulus on the nervous system you will get symptoms right just like how your muscles feel soreness your nervous system feels symptoms and you need to handle those symptoms properly if you start to worry about those symptoms or stress about them or fear them then you only add extra stress to the nervous system and if you add enough stress to nervous system and it's commonly known as a crash or a really bad adjustment period that's when your symptoms flare up to the point of severe discomfort but all it is it's stimulus on the nervous system right it's feedback from your body so what you want to do is add just enough stimulus on your nervous system you will feel the symptoms it's impossible to recover without feeling the symptoms and then you have to handle those properly and little by little you continue doing that it's almost like exposure therapy you're exposing your nervous system to these new levels of stress little by little and over time it gets stronger to the point where it can handle stress this is how i went from not being able to sit up out of bed in the hospital and i'm not kidding when i tell you this i could barely move in the hospital and it was so bad that they had to inject me with blood thinners because they didn't want me to get a blood clot that's how much i wasn't moving so when i say that i was at rock bottom not moving at all i really mean it i was not moving i could move my head a little bit that's about it could not roll over because it would cause extreme pain and discomfort so i went from that level of sensitivity not being able to do any of that stuff to three years later i was running 10 kilometers exercising boxing traveling hanging out with friends having a beer every now and then so to be able to go from where i was to running 10 kilometers a week i'm proof that these concepts work but you have to do it little by little the biggest thing is staying cool calm collected when those symptoms come because a lot of people try to avoid symptoms at all costs and that's just gonna that's just gonna ruin them and that's gonna make that's gonna guarantee that you don't get better if you avoid symptoms at all costs you do get to a point in recovery where you're able to do normal things and your body actually becomes anti-fragile versus fragile and that's the whole idea of being anti-fragile versus fragile right now you're probably more in a fragile state as you get better in recovery if you think of a scale we have fragile over here anti-fragile over here you move from this spectrum of the scale all the way down to this anti-fragile spectrum to the point where well you could take it as far as you want to as long as you don't overdo it and over strain yourself and put so much stress on your body that it forces itself to flare up with symptoms so once you start cutting these stressors loose back to that analogy of you swimming in the water once you start cutting them loose you're able to actually start moving forward in recovery and it makes it a lot easier to move forward once you cut this dead weight loose the dead weight as in the negative thoughts the thinking patterns that you have sure you can have those weights attached to your legs and ankles and you can still swim it's just going to be 100 times harder than if you cut them loose you'd be able to swim much faster much farther and you actually give yourself a fighting chance to get out of this but without cutting that dead weight loose it's going to be very difficult if not nearly impossible to recover i've never seen anybody recover without dealing with those issues first and i know people in the comments on youtube say oh i tried thinking positive it doesn't work i tried this brain training it doesn't work you have to sit down or lie down and go through all these thinking patterns in your head in order to be able to free up some space in your brain to actually handle stress because right now it's so occupied dealing with all these mental and emotional stressors it doesn't have any more space to handle extra stressors so the people in the program when they do this exercise there are people who find 70 things 100 things 200 negative thoughts that run a loop that they didn't even realize what's going on you need to identify them individually because that way you're actually aware when they show up and then that's when you can start swatting them away and that in itself is brand new training which is a whole other video which you can find right up here but that's all i wanted to share today as you get better in recovery as you work on cutting away those dead weight stressors you start to feel better you start to improve and you start to shift from a fragile state all the way over here to an anti-fragile state now if you got some value out of this video comment down below what are the biggest takeaways you've learned from this i read through every single comment it's always fascinating to see where you guys are from and how what i share on this channel ties into your actual situations that you're going through and i do this to help you guys so it's always great engaging with people in the comments hearing about you guys situations where you're from what's working maybe what you're having trouble with and i always reply to all of the youtube comments make sure to like this video hit that subscribe button hit that notification bell and if you did want some extra help on your recovery journey you can book a strategy call for the recovery jumpstart program we can see if you're a good fit for it you get to talk to someone like myself you get help from other people in the program who are a few steps ahead of you and we pretty much give you the roadmap to follow that will exponentially increase the odds of success in recovery and just accelerate your progress so that way you can get back to living the life you want to live always remember that you are a thriver and you are just one mind shift away from living a life with thriving health i'll see you in the next video [Music] you
#Manage #STRESS #CFS #CHRONIC #FATIGUE #SYNDROME
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I have ptsd, anxiety and depression. I’ve had it for years due to my job as a first responder. Lately the panic attacks have been coming anytime I work out which sucks that is what used to help me the most. I get a crazy tension in my upper trap and neck, I get dizzy then I just spiral from there.
My deadweight negative repetitive thoughts: “X” is too much, I can’t do this, overwhelmed. inadequate, inferior, stupid
Yes, you have to learn to challenge those negative thoughts and say to yourself that they are not true.
Finally!
Some answers that I can relate to!
From liverpool uk.
Just started your 7 day course .
Thank you 👍
How to end this hypersensitive status. It is a hell
Good video, thanks!!!
What if I'm just lying in bed and my body is screaming at me that everything is too much for it? You always say that it's amplified and a lot of it depends on how we perceive things. What if I perceive things positively but my body is still stressed by every little thing? I can't change the fact that it stresses my body. How can i change that it IS stressed If suddenly every noise is too much? Sure i can Tell myself IT IS the nervous system but that doesnt change the fact that my brain and Body thinks everything is too much. Shall i ignore it?
I get brain inflammation from over stimulus including stretching or exercise. It feels like im goung to die from the burning in my brain. Im sorry, but im not going to persist in any form of activity to get that symptom. Im alone totally and it makes me vomit everytime for days 😢
I get the analogy, it makes sense. What I have never found the answer to, is HOW to get rid of those dead weights. Stop stressing? Sounds great. What can you do if “swatting them away” doesn’t work? I have a CFS diagnosis and I believe it may have been caused by stress
Another excellent video, thank you for your time.
It's nice to know I can get to the point of ant-stress. I've never heard of it. My stress is overboard. I have an anxiety disorder (put off of work) and I spent 77 hours this week helping to care for my mother who has Alzheimer's and gets very agitated and aggressive. I spend a lot of time singing with her and that helps her and me but I'm still exhausted. I was even having nightmares last night of taking care of her and being exhausted. We are putting her name in for a nursing home because it is getting too difficult (my sister, sister-in-law, and I are caring for her but my sister has been sick and not going for awhile so it's more on my sister-in-law and me). We all need a break but having health issues is really hard in these circumstances. I have other physical health issues as well. Any advice on how to keep my calm? I've been getting terrible stomach pain.
speaking of stress – my response or reaction to stress is very much determined by where I am in my menstrual cycle. When i was having white vaginal discharge, i saw a huge spider come out from under the sofa, panicked, became teary , missed killing it, and felt heavily anxious for the next hour. 🕷Another time, when i was having red menstrual bleeding, i saw a huge spider, felt calm and focused , got the broom and killed it. Then easily got on with whatever i was doing. I take the hormone pill Rigevidon(COCP)💊 daily to help me lessen my symptoms of severe PMS, and it has been helping with some. I want to tell anyone reading this that our stress REACTion is not always in our control, and to not blame yourself when you cannot choose to respond the way you would want to.💙
edit: i tried 4 differnet SSRI's, none of them helped me. Citalopram increased my heart rate much more and Sertraline gave me horrible nausea.
its also very helpful to write those patterns down, to get them out of your head.
God bless you Miguel
So much emotions a big flare now but respond well saying it is Just my nervous system dont ask how long the ap will last ❤❤❤❤
Hi Miguel, that really motivates me to strengthen my muscles! But I still don't progress with my exreme photophobia. Do you have expereances with that? It leads to long lasting migrains.
Best regards, Susanne
Wow. This was such a helpful video. Thank you!!! ❤😊🙏
You are my God now. I have never heard anybody explain things and mention details as you do. We amplify stressors….because we dismissed and ignored the impact they have on our nervous system, physical and mental health, for so long. You are a legend. Thank you and keep on keeping on, only don't over do it lulz, Anne in Ireland
Thank you, I appreciate your cool, calm and collected attitude towards CFS recovery!
Miguel you are amazing with your advice, thank you❣️
My symptoms are burning sensations in the body and sometimes in the brain. I don’t know how to handle, but I am following your videos, hopefully makes more sense to me. Thanks
❤
Thanks so much, this is vital information 💖💖💖
Thank you so much for sharing this video.. I Am In Hell.. Anxiety in debilitating.. Please continue to make these videos..
And by the way, thanks for your channel.
Hello Miguel. What I got out of this is a slow awakening to the fact that trying to avoid symptoms at all costs is not what makes a person well. I have a question for you. I saw from notes I took from Toby Morrison a few years ago that for the first two weeks (of working towards recovery) one should do 50% less. As someone living alone with friends, but not family nearby, how is it possible to do 50% less? Who will get food in, clean my home, pay the bills, do laundry….just doing all the small things necessary to keep one’s head above water? I already use a lot of time resting (I also do tai chi/qigong and have a (virtual) personal trainer twice a week. Without those two things I would be (fibromyalgia and arthritis) a semi-invalid.) Question #2. What is the oldest person you know of who has recovered from these conditions (CFS/ME; fibromyalgia)? I heard someone talking about people recovering at all ages: they say, 50’s, 60’s, EVEN SEVENTIES they say, rather breathlessly. . (No one ever mentions EIGHTIES.). Of course it’s POSSIBLE. I’m asking if you know of anyone in their 80’s who recovered. I’m not going to stop trying; I’m just curious.
"Could not handle stress because I had all these other stressors going on in the background". Yes. Totally makes sense. And I have a lot of injuries – what I call trauma now- that also creates all this noise in the background… self- limiting beliefs, unresolved feelings, etc. Do you talk about how to address those?
Thank you Miguel, this video revealed the biggest hindrance to my recovery! Your dead weight analogies are perfect,that’s exactly what it feels like. Letting go is so hard. I get short spurts of release and it is so freeing. Acceptance🙌🏼
This video made me cry! You are able to describe the way I feel even better than I could. Thank you 💜