Guilt: Telling yourself you should be getting more done, that is a sign your body is needing more self care. Make sure you give yourself positive self talk and enough compassion that you are not trying to do more than you can or should.
Physical Tension: Stop, take notice. Are your muscles relaxed, or are you tense? Tension is the body's natural response to pain, but unfortunately, tension also makes pain worse. Once an hour, take a deep breath, and lower your shoulders and gain that body awareness so you gain more margin or so you go rest when you need it.
For me, Poorer Coordination is a sign that my health symptoms are escalating. This is my signal that I might be able to keep functioning, but I have to slow down even more. If I don't slow down, I am liable to get hurt. Give yourself permission to meet your body's needs for peace and for safety.
Decreased Concentration: Your brain cannot ignore pain, not subconsciously. It is aware. If you are struggling with concentration, stop and listen to your body. Are you pushing beyond what it needs? Decreased concentration may be a sign that your symptoms are starting to flare.
- Slow down, rest, take deep breaths, ask yourself if you need one of your as-needed meds.
- If you feel you have to keep going at that pace, then eliminate distractions. Get everything off your desk except for one task at a time. Make a to-do list, break it into micro steps, and do not move on until you have checked off the current micro task. Stay in one room of the house and do not leave that room until you are finished with the current task. Things that belong in another room can be put into a basket to carry out later. Turn off radio or television. These are great distractions from pain IF they help keep you going, BUT if your body is struggling to concentrate on the task at hand, eliminating these distractions can buy you enough margin to get a little more done. Again though, be mindful of what your body needs; sometimes taking a five minute break builds margin as well, and sometimes, we just need to go lie down and rest.
- Take a deep breath from your diaphragm every few minutes; exhale slowly, and lower your shoulders. This gives the brain more energy and often builds attention span.
Appetite Change: It is normal to seek comfort food when your body does not feel good; it can also be normal to lose one's appetite when our body does not feel good. Of course, we do not want food to be our first go-to, especially as comfort food tends to be high in carbohydrates, which is generally not good for chronic health. It is also not healthy to skip meals. If you find yourself experiencing a change in your normal appetite, stop and listen to your body. Is it telling you it needs self care? Do you have a list of things that bring you comfort? What is your go-to when you are not debilitated but not at your best? If you become aware of loss of appetite or of seeking comfort, you can then make a conscious choice of healthy forms of comfort. No guilt here; sometimes carbs are all that will go down when we are nauseated, right? The point is to be mindful. Appetite change can signal that your body is pushing too hard and needs you to slow down and attend to physical needs.
Inability to feel emotions: The brain can only process so much input at once. Sometimes it shuts off emotions in order to have more energy to cope with physical symptoms. This may be a sign that your body needs attention or that your physical symptoms are starting to flare.
Yes, these are all also signs of depression. That does not mean you are depressed; although it may IF the symptoms/warning signs last for a more than hours and IF you find yourself not able to experience pleasure for a good chunk of time (days), or if you are having crying spells. Most of the time, even when we do not feel good, we are able to find our go-to's that bring us pleasure. If you are able to do that, that signals that your responses, your signals, are not depression but a warning from your body that it needs care.
I find it helpful to catch these early warning signs as sometimes it helps to prevent a full-on flare-up. What are some of your warning signs that your physical symptoms are escalating or about to escalate? What have you found helpful?
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