Boom & bust

katePain

I’m sure you’ve heard of this “theory”.

have you ever had period of continual boom and bust over a week or more with interrupted sleep? Or is this only me?

noddingtonpete

Hello @katePain and welcome to the community. We are a friendly and supportive group and I hope that will be your experience as well.

I can see by your post that you must have good nights and bad nights sleeping? Is this because of pain or medication side effects? I've put a link in below from our website which might be of use, have a look.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/managing-symptoms/sleep/

and

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/managing-symptoms/managing-fatigue/

Please keep posting and let us know how you are getting on.

With best wishes,

Peter (moderator)

Lilymary

Hi @katePain , I'm afraid boom and bust is real. I've had ME in the past, and fatigue associated with osteoarthritis. It can be hard to get your head round making life-style adjustments, but you'll find life more manageable if you can, so that you're expending similar levels of energy every day rather than "going for it" and draining your batteries completely so that it takes days to recover.

Have you heard of the "spoon theory"? Imagine you have a fixed amount of energy to expend each day, measured in "spoonfuls". Then decide how you're going to use that fixed amount on the things you need to do each day. If you run out, defer the remaining tasks to the next day, or just change your priorities and be prepared to let some things go. When I was at my worst I used to schedule in "recovery days" when I knew I was going to have a very busy day at work. It could sometimes take 2-3 days to recover, particularly if it made my OA flare up. A few hours on the sofa after work or a lay in on Sunday wasn't going to cut it. And the vacuuming could simply wait. This is bone deep tiredness, when your body is basically begging you to slow down. You also have to learn to say "no", or at the very least "not right now", or "thanks, but maybe another time". It's important to keep to your own ground rules and not cave in to pressure from people who, while well meaning, really don't understand how this feels. Sometimes it helps to discuss it with them, so they won't feel put out by refusals.

I hope the tips in the Managing Fatigue link will be helpful to you. It can be done.

Anna

Hi @katePain

You might find the following article interesting to read - it's from the Versus Arthritis website:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2021/august/the-boom-and-bust-cycle-and-fatigue-your-questions-answered/

Anna (Moderator)

katePain

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/comment/705560#Comment_705560

yes I know the spoon theory & love it. A great short cut to saying how you’re feeling. I introduced my sister to it when she was fighting and recovering from cancer. We would say things like “watch your spoons!”