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The last step in controlling relapses is preventive: using lifestyle habits to avoid relapses. You can reduce and perhaps even eliminate relapses using the strategies described below.
Pace Yourself
Pacing is a powerful strategy for bringing stability to life and preventing setbacks. Pacing means adjusting activity to the limits imposed by illness. It often involves having short activity periods, shifting among different activities, living according to a schedule, and using individualized rules.
For details, see the Pacing Strategies and Achieving Consistency sections.
Rest
Scheduled rests, done on a regular basis, can prevent relapses. Also, taking extra rest before, during and after special events or after a secondary illness can help you avoid setbacks or limit their severity.
Take Medications Faithfully & Consider Supplements
Dr. Lapp reminds his patients to take prescribed medications consistently. He also recommends a limited list of supplements. (For details on the latter, see the article on that topic at the self-help program website.)
Keep Records
Having a health log can reduce relapses in three ways. First, records help you define your limits.
Second, records can help you hold yourself accountable. Seeing evidence of a connection between overactivity and increased symptoms brings home the fact that activity level affects symptoms. Records can help you determine objective criteria for pacing. For example, if you use a pedometer and find that a safe number of steps is 2,500 a day, you know it's time to slow down if you hit that number by noon.
Third, records can serve as a source of motivation. Seeing how living within the energy envelope reduces symptoms reinforces your successes and provides a motivation toward further improvement.
Honor the Body’s Signals
There is a strong temptation to respond to the onset of symptoms by “pushing through.” Learning a different approach, listening to the body’s signals, is a powerful preventive.
Be Assertive
Believing it is your right to protect your health and standing up for yourself can help you stay within your limits.
Control Stress and Pursue Pleasure
Ongoing stress is one of the most challenging aspects of CFS and FM. You can control stress by using a daily stress reduction practice and other stress management strategies. Also, having pleasurable activities in your life reduces your frustration, making it easier to live within limits.
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