After I developed ways to reduce the length and severity of setbacks, I began to ask what could I do to prevent them. I decided that to gain control over my setbacks, I would assume that I caused all of them. 

This was a high standard, especially because one of the hallmarks of chronic illness is symptoms that wax and wane for no known reason. But I wanted to hold myself accountable.

Perhaps part of the reason for this approach was that believing I was responsible also enabled me to believe I could gain control. This assumption led to many helpful discoveries.

By avoiding those things that created relapses, I was able to smooth out my life considerably, reducing both the frequency and severity of relapses, and eventually eliminating them. Believing I caused my relapses gave me hope that if I could change how I lived, I could bring setbacks under my control.

I began my attempts to eliminate relapses by defining them as symptoms so severe that I had to spend at least one full day in bed. My records for 1998 showed eight relapses, almost all caused by secondary illnesses and travel.

I then developed strategies to prevent future setbacks. By taking extra rest for several days after the symptoms of a secondary illness had ended, I eliminated relapses triggered by colds and other short-term illnesses.

I used several strategies to minimize travel-related setbacks. First, I limited my travel to destinations that were only a few hours’ driving distance from home. Second, I scheduled extra rest before, during and after my trips.

Third, I added a ten to 15 minute rest stop for every two hours of driving. (As I improved, I eased these limits, eventually traveling just as I had before becoming ill.)

Another travel-related strategy was to plan my trips in great detail, especially how much activity I would have. Making a commitment to myself to stay within a safe activity level helped me resist the temptation to do too much when on the road. Also, I told my travel companions of my limits ahead of time and they helped me honor my plans.

The bottom line: since initiating these changes, I never had another relapse.

(Adapted from RecoveryFromCFS.org)