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Chronic Fatigue: the Hard Slap from Working Out a Little Too Much
re: Epstein Barr Virus and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
re: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
I went and saw my doctor on a Friday and got his latest take on my struggle.
What it’s like to deal with this condition
The very next day (Saturday) I did a full bike ride again (26miles, 950 KCal) at what I would formerly have called my “influenza pace”, it being so modest an effort level*. But it was 156 watts average power, up 7W from the 149W of the day prior. A good sign.
Following the ride, about another 500 KCal of fairly strenuous yard work for an hour or so, including mowing 3-foo-tall oat grass, and managing a bucking-bronco rototiller through the clay soil. I was tired but not that was to be expected, and I still felt OK. Tiredness increased until bedtime.
All of that would have been a non-event in my pre-2020 condition.
* My pre-2020 condition was such that 180W for the ride would be a recovery day, no strain at all. Maybe 170W if I had done a double century the day prior. My best ride that same route a decade earlier was 306W.
A hard slap knocks me down...
CFS (whatever is causing it) is a mugger in a dark alley ready to take you down. Hard.
Sunday... got out of bed near 10 AM and felt like I should sleep till noon. Major brain fog all day making it impossible to do any cognitive task eg work. Disabling fatigue just walking around the yard. As a test, I rode 1 mile on my bike but I could barely manage it up the first hill of 20 vertical feet... horrible weakness, turned around at 1 mile. Effectively incapacitated for any useful activity for entire day.
Each day Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday more of the same, but with the brain fog reducing to clear on Wednesdy, finally. Some energy returning but the weariness is still slow to pass.
Thursday TBD.
There you have it: one day’s effort which puts no strain at all on heart or lungs or legs takes a huge toll for the better part of the subsequent week.
Apparently it is not a mystery, but typical of chronic fatigue symptom.
Fujifilm GFX100S + GF20-35mmF4 R WR @ 17mm equiv (20.6mm)
ENV: Tenaya Canyon, Pywiack Falls, altitude 7400 ft / 2256 m, 75°F / 23°C
RAW: Camera ASTIA, Enhance Details, LACA corrected, vignetting corrected, WB 5100°K tint 22, push 0.33 stops, +30 Shadows, +20 Whites, +40 Dehaze, +10 Clarity, SmartSharpen{30,0.7,0}, diffraction mitigating sharpening, +10 Vibrance
[low-res image for bot]
