u/Cold-Landscape-9215

i promised myself i'd write this if i recovered. today is exactly one year. if this will help others, i will be happy.

how it started

i got hit with a virus and bacterial infection at the same time. double infection. my body had almost no reserve to fight it, i was severely underweight at the time.

what followed was some of the scariest weeks of my life:

extremely high fever
hallucinations
severe shaking and rigors
drenching sweats
a level of pain that felt otherworldly
high infection markers on bloodwork

it's possible i was near sepsis. and immediately i was put on high dose antibiotics and was constantly taking ibuprofen. if i missed even one hour of ibuprofen the pain and hallucinations would come back immediately. it was that bad.

when i thought i was getting better. but wasn't

after finishing antibiotics i thought it was over. but i got severe rashes from the antibiotic itself. it was insanely itchy. but okay, i thought, i can handle this better than the fever. and then the rashes went away. i tried going back to normal life. back to work. but every time i pushed myself EVEN SLIGHTLY physically, the high fever would come back the next day.

i kept getting "reinfected" for 3 months straight. except it wasn't reinfection, because i did a blood test. it was my body crashing from overexertion. i later learned this is called post-exertional malaise (PEM) and it's the hallmark of ME/CFS. i went on to this reddit, youtube, and did my research. since doctors don't seem to able to conclude anything.

my body had developed chronic fatigue syndrome triggered by the infection. one time i would get extreme fever from walking up a STAIRS. or i would walk to a restaurant, and it was windy, and the next day i would get extreme fever again.

so i created a google sheet of my health tracker**.** i measured how activity level, my energy level, temperature, symptoms. and i can conclude these are what helps.

1. pacing. this was the biggest one

i stopped trying to push through. i started treating my energy like a limited budget. if i spent too much one day, i rested the next. no exceptions. this felt frustrating at first but it broke the crash cycle. one activity a day. and slowly try more? basically i was experimenting.

2. eat a LOT.

maybe bc i was underweight, but i started eating a lot and just try to increase my appetite.

3. mitochondrial support supplements

my cells basically lost the ability to produce energy efficiently. i took a mitochondrial support from sunday naturals for several months (coq10, b vitamins, acetyl-l-carnitine). this made a noticeable difference in my energy levels. i took it for 5 months.

4. l-glutamine and probiotics

the heavy antibiotics destroyed my gut lining. l-glutamine helped repair it. i took this everymorning for a few months post-antibiotics.

5. omega-3s and multivitamins

basic but consistent. anti-inflammatory support.

6. yoga nidra

this one surprised me. it's a guided deep rest practice that brings your brain to the edge of sleep while staying conscious. for me it helped reset my nervous system which was stuck in permanent overdrive. i felt restored with this. i don't know how but I think this accelerated my recovery.

7. really focus on mental health

accept yourself that you're in this state. enjoy the journey that you are in now. rest and appreciate the slow pace life. delete social media (very important). let go of control. let go of ambitions. seek therapist perhaps ?

where i am now

one year later. i do yoga and pilates 2x a week. i stopped all supplements 8 months ago and feel fine. my energy is around 90% of what it was before i got sick.

i still pace. i still listen to my body. last week i did 3x exercise and felt the fatigue, so this week i did 1x. this instinct to self-correct is something i'll probably keep forever.

what i wish someone had told me

the crash after activity is a physiological response. don't push through it. don't get frustated. accept it that it's your life now. the sooner you accept it, the more peace you can make with it.
pacing is a skill. learn it! get in touch with your energy level. be conservative with your energy.
the mental health toll is real and valid. chronic illness and depression/anxiety are deeply connected. if you can afford, talk to a therapist.
it can get better!

feel free to ask me anything!!

added: i realized i have a lot of privilege in this. i have a strong support system. healthcare insurance. job security eventhough i was disabled for 3 months. and a community that can take care of me when i feel this helpless. this is unfortunately not a given, and it is a real systemic problem. :(

what genres do you think my voice suitable for? which singers should i learn from?

[recovery post] one year ago today i almost died from a bacterial+viral infection. followed by 3 months of bed-ridden chronic fatigue. here's what happened and what helped.