"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

Karmacat

The boredom can be awful, can't it, greenbee - you can only take so much radio/ tv as well.  My sympathies - but, as you say, stay good

greenbee

I’m seeing it as a good thing that I’m feeling well enough to be bored! I did Pilates this morning and am beginning to work out what triggers the high HR (anything involving being upright basically). Hopefully Garmin will sort out their website/app issues soon as I really need the data. 

Day off today, so I need to get a bit of laundry done, tidy enough for the robots to do the hoovering, and then potter about doing bits and pieces from my list with lots of resting in between.

astrocytic_kitten

I’ve just found your diary greenbee, hope you don’t mind me gatecrashing but wanted to say hi! I’ve got experience with chronic fatigue and intense fatigue caused by autoimmune conditions and I’d really echo Karmacat - pacing is key, and you’re doing really well! The service that treated me said to find a level of activity you can do even on your worst days then increase by no more than 10% per week. It’s incredibly frustrating when there’s so much you want / need to do, or when all your energy is taken up on the boring stuff and you’re forcing yourself to rest when you feel that you could do more and want to do more, and when you’re stressed by the big pile of stuff undone, but being strict with that helped me improve instead of continually pushing and crashing. I needed to be coached through how to do it by a specialist though, I read through all the booklets and web sites on pacing and could spout off the theory no problem but still found it impossible to apply to myself 😂

The other thing for me (and I hated this) is that quality rest is really important. I can lie down listening to audiobooks or the radio but it doesn’t particularly count as rest for me - to actually switch into rest and relaxation mode I need to very regularly be doing breathing exercises / meditating / yoga (yin, restorative or nidra). I also use a Garmin to monitor heart rate and stay in the amended zone (at least I did until they went offline), but I find their body battery measuring heart rate variability to be the best tracker for how I’m getting on - when I can get my parasympathetic nervous system to kick in and my watch is measuring actual rest from that, I do much better.

greenbee

Thanks @astrocytic_kitten. I have a feeling that I've overdone things today, but we'll see tomorrow. Frankly I don't see why my heart rate should go up to 145 going upstairs, but it does. While I know that when Garmin come back on line I should be able to analyse the data, what I don't seem to be able to do is get it to set alerts for when i'm just pottering about and it goes too high. It may be that I need to find a different model (I have a vivomove HR for daily use, and a forerunner 735xt which in theory I use for exercise... whenever I start doing that again). Any more info in how to measure/monitor what I need (such as links to the right bit of their website!) would be appreciated.

ooh... connect seems to be back online! 

Today was a day off. So it was a slow start. I did Pilates, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned the filters, reloaded it. Had a coffee and read. Put the outdoor cushions out and then decided to make a start on the civil engineering project in the stream. So lots of bricks and a couple of barrows of rubble later and I've got 2.5 of 5 'piers' that I need to build out into the water done. The stream is very wide and straight, so it doesn't flow well and the chalk/gravel on the bottom is covered in mud (and usually in water parsnip but I'm clearing it out a section at a time). It looks as if the disruption, making the water flow round the piers, is going what it should and improving the flow and clearing the muck. I'll move some of the water crowfoot from where I planted the last lot as it has done really well and there is plenty to go round, and hopefully find some water mint and water forgetmenot and a few other things to transplant too. Once that's done I've got about another 30ft along the front to clear before I even think about doing the side! I've also done the watering, but not picked any veg other than lettuce. A friend came over for a chat and to take some stuff away, so I gave her lettuce as well.

I may find that I've overdone things today, but I won't know unless I try. At least Garmin is now up and running so I can start to look at the data!

Karmacat

What I found during my most extreme attacks that resulted from doing too much, was that the letdown happened not the next day, but the day after that.  Such a pain!  But everyone is different.  Hope you're fine with what you've done.

astrocytic_kitten

My Garmin won’t give HR alerts in normal use, only in exercise mode (I have a vivoactive 4). I emailed the support team about it a while ago and from what they said it sounded like none of their watches do. I sometimes think about putting it in walking mode during the day just to get the HR alerts but have never done it. I find stairs really tough too, sitting on the bottom step and doing some deep breathing till my HR goes into the normal range and then going up them sloooowly helps. It’s a faff, but keeping within the HR range the specialist gave me really helps me manage more generally so it’s worth it for me.

astrocytic_kitten

Also - you’re doing so well! Moving rubble etc around is seriously impressive!

greenbee

I'm not sure that the moving rubble was the most sensible thing I could have done my stress score is stubbornly high today! But I've been reading around thanks to your input and am starting to get my head round it. I just wish Garmin would sort their website out!

While this is only a short analysis, it helped me understand what they're on about... https://www.firstbeat.com/en/blog/what-happens-after-recovering-from-covid-19-one-individuals-data-story/

Website it back up (who knows how long for) and it's fascinating... I really do need to look at all the daily graphs to see what the pattern is. 

astrocytic_kitten

That’s a great link, looks very similar to my Garmin body battery outputs. Keeping stress (physical, mental and emotional) as low as possible and doing as much proper relaxation as possible throughout the day to get your body into rest and recovery mode is really important for me. Everyone is different, but for me it can also take quite a long period of thinking I’m resting before my body actually switches into rest and recovery mode so keeping relaxation steadily sustained throughout the day is key (something I’ve totally ignored this week, this is making me realise I really need to get a grip and get back to my routine!). I tried to keep my old life going when I first got ill and ended up much worse so do be careful with it.

Have you calculated your adjusted heart rate ranges? I found this article helpful http://www.cfsselfhelp.org/library/pacing-numbers-using-your-heart-rate-to-stay-inside-energy-envelope

greenbee

Yep, done the adjusted heart rates. Today has NOT been a good day for stress. Haven't felt stressed (apart from when my boss was being an idiot) but the numbers tell me I've been overdoing things. However, I feel fine, and the fact that I have made progress on stuff also helps. 

Consultation process for redundancy has now officially started, so I have the information I need on the package (apart from a few questions they need to check details on) and timelines (they don't appear to be in any particular hurry). Boss should be off my back as anytime she asks me for anything I'll just tell her I'm busy job hunting . She doesn't understand UK processes or law at all, and I've asked for her to be excluded from future calls as she kept interrupting as we were getting into the technicalities around suitable alternatives and statutory processes. 

I've cut back the greenhouse tomatoes a bit more so I can actually see them, and topped up the hotbin. I've also got the rest of the rubble ready to go in the stream later when it's a bit cooler. I need to tie up outside toms and sort out the bean wigwam as they all got rather battered by the wind!