The Dangers of “Pushing It”

Yesterday, I saw a message on the official Facebook page for my parent’s neighborhood that had me concerned. All that it said was “Are you okay?” The first comment back was a response, “No. Please pray.”

It prompted me to call my parents and check in. But, my mom was asleep and my dad hadn’t seen a thing. I was relieved that they were okay.

I looked again at the post. An additional comment read “I saw the ambulance.” My dad speculated that it may be an older person in poor health because he had seen an ambulance a few random times before.

Today, a new post was shared. “With a very broken heart, I need to tell ya’ll something,” it began.

One of the neighbors lost her husband yesterday to covid. Long-covid.

He had just returned from a daily run, she explained. He was struggling to regain stamina after a struggle with covid in mid-August. He was otherwise in good health.

No doubt he didn’t even realize that he, like me, and like so many others was suffering from the post-virus fatigue that plagues so many survivors.

On survivor groups, those who have experience with chronic fatigue syndrome have warned us. Don’t push yourself.

It feels counterintuitive. Especially to someone like me who is used to pushing through everything. But, trying to push through the exhaustion to reclaim your stamina often makes things worse.

I’ve learned this myself. Days that I push too hard are also usually days that I end up miserable and bed-ridden, as if my whole system is going haywire.

And still, I have to catch myself some days. It is contrary to my whole being to move so slow and accomplish so little in a day. I feel guilty and I feel useless.

I used to be non-stop. I used to come in early, leave late. I used to exercise every day. And my answer to almost every hardship was just to push myself through. Now, I worry that I will never be that person again.

This is a chilling reminder to me about the dangers that pushing too hard can cause.

So, to all my fellow sufferers out there. Please heed this warning. Do Not Push Yourself Too Hard.

My heart goes out to this grieving widow who is confused and can’t breathe and doesn’t understand what happened. I will never fully comprehend her pain and I would do anything to take it away from her. I pray others learn from her loss so that her pain isn’t duplicated.

#covid #longhauler #longcovid #cfs #chronicfatigue