Slow It Down!
Life was good, working full time and being a full time mom, but crazy busy. l soldiered on thinking I couldn’t possibly cut things out. It wasn’t until my body finally just shut down and said no more that I was forced to make changes.
I was in my office just staring at the computer screen unable to think or remember what I was doing. The brain fog was making me incapable of working….not to mention the fatigue and the muscle and joint pain. So I had to stop. This is when my symptoms were the worst.
I didn’t realize how bad my symptoms were until I stopped working. I then started taking 2-3 naps, just to get through the day. My bones and joints just throbbed. I had restless leg syndrome which made sleeping at night a nightmare. My ears were ringing 24/7. My Sjogren’s Syndrome had worsened where I was waking up 4-5 times a night to put drops in my eyes.( By the way, I am eternally grateful for the waitress in Lodi who recommend eye gel opposed to the eye drops….huge relief!)
My take away from this experience is to listen to your body. I knew years before when I was queen of multi-tasking that my hectic life style and poor eating habits was taking it’s toll on my body (why is it, when you are in the thick of it, it doesn't seem so bad? And then when you get out of it, you can see how bad it really was?)
There are ways to slow down, I just needed to change my perspective and learn how to slow down and not do so much. I am in the process of learning to enjoy the process of getting things done. This is a big turn around for me as before I would hurry to get things done so I could THEN enjoy myself. The problem with that thinking is “stuff” is never done!
Re-evaluate what you think you need to do. Cut it down to the most basic of human need, this will take a lot off of your plate and allow you to slow down, lessen stress and give you more time to heal. This sounds so basic, but it is hard to do. What I learned is if you don’t start making the decision to slow down, your body will make the decision for you…. and actually make you feel so miserable that you won’t be able to function at all. Slow down and relax.