Aggressive Rest Therapy

(ART)

I'm often asked how I got into a remission. It's a difficult question to answer simply because there are so many variables. But I believe that Aggressive Rest Therapy (ART) did more to help me heal than anything. And I believe that by ignoring the principles of ART, I set myself up for an inevitable relapse.

An analogy - my attempt to explain ART

1. We all have an energy "bank" account.

2. "Normal" people have a "normal" account. They deposit 7-8 hours of rest, and they can withdraw 16 or so hours of energy.

3. PWCs don't have "normal" bank accounts. Our banks have very high service charges.

4. We must deposit more rest to be able to withdraw less energy.

5. We get charged a BIG service charge just for having an acocunt.

6. We get charged a BIG service charge whenever we make an energy withdrawal.

7. We get charged a BIG service charge whenever we make an energy deposit.

It's not fair...not a bit. But that's life with CFS. I spent about two years trying to ignore/fight/challenge this new banking system. I didn't want it. I wanted a "normal" bank account. But finally, it sunk into my head (sometime while I was totally bedridden and unable to even bathe myself), that if I wanted to recover, I had to learn to work with the system.

ART works with the system. It is exactly what its name says - AGGRESSIVE rest therapy. You aggressively rest. You accept the rules of your new bank account.

Rule #1 - When you need to make an energy withdrawal, you must deposit enough rest to cover the service charge for the deposit, the withdrawal itself, and the service charge for the withdrawal (in other words - aggressively rest before and after any energy withdrawal)

Rule #2 - Never, EVER forget rule #1

The most difficult thing is, the "service charge" is different for every PWC. It's also different depending on where we're at in the disease. At my worst, it took me an entire day (and night) in bed just to sit up on the couch, fully supported, to talk to my children for 30 minutes. THAT's how high my "service charge" was at that time. Right now, my "service charge" is a lot less. I must get a full nights sleep plus a good two hour nap during the day to maintain somewhat normal function. If my energy need is higher than normal...I have to rest more than normal. It's as simple as that.

***UPDATE***

I've progressed farther into recovery. I've finally been able to resume a somewhat more normal life. I'm back to working full time. In other words, my "service charge" is getting less all the time. But I don't dare forget about it. I don't dare take too much out of my energy bank. I still have to pay close attention to what my body is telling me. When I'm tired, I still make myself take the time to rest. It's harder to do that now than it was when I was exhausted all the time. But I've relapsed before, and I hope never to go through that again.

Feel free to email me at maddress@mail.com

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