The Energy Myth

stickywicket

Mr Energetica is driving me mad. We move house 2 weeks today. We are perfectly OK when chucking and packing separately but together? @%&~#. No. It's not yet 11am and I can't stop yawning. He has kindly agreed to move some boxes so's I can get to my computer with my cuppa. I am considering stretching out on some nice, flat boxes.

daffy2

I have had a holiday in the land of Energetica - totally unexpected and bound to end badly I fear, but never mind.
In the past fortnight I have been able to:
accept several offers of extra work
get to London for GD's birthday(new and longer journey as they've moved)
do two mornings volunteer gardening
do a training day learning how to catalogue records from the National Archive
do 4 hours in the garden today, including makeshift fencing
and various other bits and bobs such as choir practice.
My back, hands and feet have been very sore and stiff - but that wouldn't have been different if I'd stayed at home doing nothing.
I'm deliberately blocking the little voice that says 'you used to be able to do all this and more as standard', and just enjoying having had a real break from the fatigue, and the (entirely different) lack of energy, which has dogged me much of this year and made me pessimistic about what lies ahead.
Rain has stopped play(probably a good thing!) so now over to admin that's been put on hold, and some indoor pursuits - there's an applique fleece blanket that should have been done for GD's birthday....

stickywicket

The trouble with Energetica v Arthritica is that Arthritica has some of the nicest people. I do so hope you've enjoyed your trip to Energetica, daffy, but I confess I wouldn't like to lose you to it entirely.

Airwave!

Energy is a great thing, if you have it. I tend to get run down, energy wise as the day progresses, this feels to me in line with other feelings and may well be down to levels of hormones, produced in our hours of rest (sleep or lack of!) I certainly get tired through the day. After a few days of not doing much I certainly feel like being active, how much and how far is an elastic thing.

Often I find that tiredness and lack of energy do not go hand in hand with my willingness to finish or indeed to start a job, if I have the impetus to start a job it will usually get finished sometimes not even the most hated job will get put aside. Impetus, comes from many things, the pressure we put on ourselves to keep the household together, family, hobbies sometimes just 'the buggerance factor' (thankyou Churchill.)

I am 61, I was first diagnosed with OA when I was 25 and used to complain of pain and lethagy when I was a child but I was always told it was growing pains. I may not be the best person to ask about energy? I do not know what it is like to feel normal.

I do remember well the sheer exhileration of exercise (endorphins) and going back out wanting to recreate that 'magic moment', they certainly don't last that long but raise you up on top of the world for a brief second or two in time.

daffy2

but I confess I wouldn't like to lose you to it entirely./quote]

You say the nicest things Sticky, but I can reassure you that I'm unlikely to be leaving you lovely folks in peace just yet!
Sore eyes and a malfunctioning internal thermostat today indicate that I've been put on the plane back to Arthritica, where I fully expect to be met with a welcoming committee of tiredness(I hope not full-blown fatigue just yet....) and misbehaving joints. However, if I can hang on to the mental buzz from my brief trip 'abroad' for a bit longer then I'll not be too put out at the rest going downhill.
And on the plus side what I've managed to get done in the garden has got me set up for the pleasant job of doing some planting, which has the advantage of lending itself to the 'little bits at a time' approach.
Now, I think I'd better get up into the loft for my cold weather clothes while I've still got the energy....

stickywicket

You've been deported? Presumably, an undesirable alien

With all the necessary work of removing I have been playing 'Let's Pretend'. It's interesting. Apparently, at my age, I'm supposed to need less sleep per night. I've always, normally, gone naturally for 7-8 but lately it's been 9-10. I flake out completely at 10pm and often don't notice the radio alarm has come on until it's about to go off at 8am.

dreamdaisy

One of the many joys of living in Arthritica is I go to bed tired and wake up tired, Mr DD has been experiencing it too and doesn't like it but for him it's a temporary thing.

I know exactly when I last felt some energy, enthusiasm and zest for life, it was a sunny day in mid-October 2001 and I was recovering from an emergency operation. I sat in the back garden soaking up the rays and appreciated how lovely it was to feel better(OK, I had a fat left knee and no-one knew why but I assumed that would sort itself out). It's been a gentle slide downhill ever since!

More domestic trauma is beckoning - the roofers are starting next week - all aboard the very slow train to Energetica! DD