Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & OS

Penny-Wise_4

catznine wrote:

Hi there!

Try to buy organic food if you can (better for you) and make it stretch as far as you can by reducing waste, the book Moggins is recommending "The New English Kitchen" by Rose Prince is full of great advice and is on offer at under £5 from The Book People at the moment. An organic chicken can be expensive but it is better for you, especially with CFS, and you can have from one chicken several meals e.g., roast, salad, sandwiches, soup etc.,

Ordered this book last week, it’s not been delivered yet but I’m really looking forward to it.

We do buy good quality free range meat (mostly lamb, beef & pork as chicken is expensive) & eat fish & quite a few vegetarian meals (when I actually cook). We buy in bulk & were thinking of getting stuff from http://www.happymeats.co.uk/ next time, they aren’t routinely fed rubbish & antibiotics but aren’t classed as organic so don’t have a huge pricetag.

catznine wrote:

With regards to the cleaning I have found that programmes like Anthea Turner and Aggie and Kims How clean is your house are full of great tips which can save you a lot of work later, like using vinegar to clean up chrome taps and using baskets to organise necessary clutter. Never did get to grips with the AT t shirt folding tho! lol

I’m addicted to these type of programmes! Nothing like seeing someone else’s [STRIKE]bombsite[/STRIKE] house to make you feel like your house is actually pretty tidy!!!

catznine wrote:

I do understand that this is not so easy when you are tired from holding down a job. I found it much easier to be os and control my symptoms only after I gave up my job.

Lots of (((Hugs)))


Catz x

OH and I both think I could use my time & energy much better if I wasn't working as much/at all. It just depends on what job he can get. I know we could live much more cheaply, tidily & eat better if he was working and I was at home. I am proud of myself that I’ve worked full time for 6½ years, but its not doing my health any good & I think its time I took some time out.

Penny-Wise_4

Penny-Wise wrote:

I think DH has been reading this thread. He got some stewing beef out of the freezer this morning & is making dinner – first time in a long time - he asked about getting a slow cooker :eek: . He also told me he’s done some major tidying has done two loads of laundry. I’ve had to read back through my posts to make sure I didn’t say anything too derogatory about him.:eek: :eek:

((Just in case you are reading this - I love you!! :happyhear :kisses3:))

He has been here – he started that thread about the lamb shoulder. :rolleyes:

**purpleprincess**

Penny-Wise wrote:

He has been here – he started that thread about the lamb shoulder. :rolleyes:

Awww bless!!!

nabowla

Penny-Wise wrote:

He has been here – he started that thread about the lamb shoulder. :rolleyes:

Awww. I reckon that's just as romantic as buying a bunch of flowers - it shows he cares about what's really important. Anyone who's prepared to make that sort of an effort is definitely a keeper!

Penny-Wise_4

nabowla wrote:

Awww. I reckon that's just as romantic as buying a bunch of flowers - it shows he cares about what's really important. Anyone who's prepared to make that sort of an effort is definitely a keeper!

It means so much more than flowers to me. Definitely a keeper (wouldn't have married him otherwise ). He's been at uni for the last 2 years just so he could get a job that would let me work less :grinheart .

Zziggi

Penny-wise, my OH has M.E. too and i see on a daily basis just how debilitating it can be both physically and mentally. I'd liek to second the view that eating healthier may make you feel better. You'll be getting more nutrients than is in the junk food and you'll probably feel better in yourself knowing that it's good food rather than junk.

The slow cooker suggestions i think are good ideas. My OH doesn;t do much round the house because of his M.E. but on good days he will sort out the recipe ingrediants and chop up veg etc then bung it all in the slowcooker and then disappear off for a nap with an alarm set for tea time when it'll all be ready.

Similarly i think the suggestions about cooking a little too much and then freezing portions is an excellent idea too - providing you have a freezer. On a "good day" you could cook a meal and freeze the extra portions. Then on a "bad day" you just need to take the portions out of the freezer, defrost and then warm them up, happy in the knowledge you are havign a good nutritious meal.

Sitting down to do as many jobs as possible is also a good idea. You can sit at chop & peel veg. OH says washing up is the worst job as you have to stand for that and lean over to do it. Mind you he never has liked washign up even before he got M.E.........:rolleyes:

hjb123

Hi,

I totally understand what you are going through - I too have CFS - its amazing how many people crawl out of the depths of MSE that have it! Luckily though I live at home still with my parents so they do most stuff like cooking etc for me. When I do feel able to do stuff its hard not to overdo it and do too much. However if I feel upto making something I often make extra so I can freeze stuff.

An easy one to make that I have found is vegetable soup - just put about 1 litre of stock on a hob slowly boiling away and just keep adding vegetables as you cut them - I normally add a tin of chopped tomatoes. This doesnt normally matter if you rest for a bit in between chopping the different veggies into the soup.

Another easy one to make is pasta bakes and freeze postion.

maryb

just wanted to say i know how you feel - I had bad ME for about 2 years in my early 30s - unable to work at all for a while then just about able to cope but so tired all the time and so cold - it was painful to feel so cold. I did gradually get a bit better but ME has remissions and falre ups and i began to think i would just have to live with only being able to dredge up the energy for what had to be done and not having any for what I wanted to do.

Anyway the body clock was ticking and the baby hormones were raging so DD1 duly came along. I expected to feel dead but to my complete astonishment i realised after about 6 weeks that I didn't feel exhausted anymore. since then I have read that a complete hormonal shakeup such as you certainly get with pregnancy can sometimes make ME just go away.

I bet I'm the only woman in England who can say that having a baby made her feel less tired!! (not that I'm recommending it just as a cure for ME mind you).

i just wanted to say you can get on top of an illness like this to a surprising degree with babysteps and doing what you can. and there will be times when you can do more than others. So filling the freezer at those times really pays dividends. don't worry about the housework - you can't come home and eat a tidy house when you're shattered

Cat72

Hi
Thanks for starting this thread for a few reasons
1- I feel like a leper with M.E as I know no one else who has it. So I am suprised and comforted that so many other MSERS suffer from it too.
2- Like you I feel too tired to cook and also get brain fog so never remember half the tips about cleaning !so I could also do with some hints that are easy to remember
3 - its nice to hear of others with ME battling on - its great some are still able to work or have babies ! .

I am afraid I have not got a lot of advice. I have just bought a slow cooker but like you am my worst in the morning and have not used it yet. Boots had the morphy richards one reduced to £24 in some stores.
Junkfood is a problem as it is so much easier but I am trying to improve my diet and eat organic when I can. I have found this has helped settle my stomach and helped food intolerances/ stomach upsets a lot.
Fortunately I try to use my mid day time to get things done as by 6pm Im flaggging again. Sometimes by the time I have cooked dinner I am far to tired to eat it ! ( lost tons of weight this way...) .

I have a wipe board which I have pinned in a prominent place ( above my compuer desk ) and I scribble things to do and notes to myself on it- this has helped a lot with me getting things done. Its not perfect but it helps about 75% and means I get more done PLUS do not feel so frustrated that I have forgotten everything.
Apart from that I my OH does very little and if I dont feed myself then I have to starve, or eat junkl food .I was told the council could provide a cleaner at a low cost but I feel to embarrased to have someone in to clean my house when its dirty ( plus i am quite young and think they would think me lazy )! Motivation is a huge problem as is time flying by- if anyone has any cures for these things please let me know !!
Take care all .:beer: ( no alchol version ! )

thriftlady_2

Penny-wise and Cat72 just been reading this article and thought it might be useful http://www.stretcher.com/stories/06/06aug21c.cfm The author has written this book with her daughter http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dining-Dime-Cookbook-Better-Spend/dp/0974255211/ref=sr_11_1/202-4560088-2422211?ie=UTF8

Their website mentioned in the article is worth checking out too.
HTH:)