Top Ten Posts from the Past Month

It's been another rollercoaster week of highs and lows - whew. After a month-long crash, I finally had a few good days earlier this week! Aches gone and able to be active just in time for our 2-day camping trip. You can see photo and video highlights on my Fall Getaway video. But, yesterday, I hit bottom again - horrible aches and sore throat, out of the blue. Even worse this morning--had to cancel going to see Hamilton with my two closest friends (who I haven't seen in months!). Pretty bummed out but settled into a rest day on the couch.

Since I don't have the energy for a new post today, I thought I'd share the 10 past blog posts that got the most visits this past month. It's a mixture of older, popular treatment posts plus inspirational posts plus recent updates (and one head-scratcher!). My top 10 blog posts this past month:

• Opinions and Editorials on the New Name & Criteria - this is a post from 2015 that is not very relevant anymore, so I have no idea why so many people looked at it this past month! If you're interested in some history, this post describes the "new" name, SEID, for ME/CFS, which never really caught on.
• News from Our House: Ups and Downs - this recent post from last month describes more of my recent rollercoaster struggles with recurring relapses, and what helped, as well as my son's wonderful improvements.
• Heart Rate and Post-Exertional Crashes in ME/CFS - this perennial favorite post, written in 2011 and just updated last year, is all about how heart rate can help you to predict (and prevent) post-exertional crashes, including how to calculate your limits and tips on choosing the right heart rate monitor.
• Treating Yeast Overgrowth/Candida - another popular older post that gets a lot of attention because yeast overgrowth is very common in ME/CFS and related illnesses due to our immune dysfunction--and it can make you feel awful, so treating it often improves many symptoms!
• The October Slide: ME/CFS and Infectious Triggers - popular at this time of year for obvious reasons, this post explains how the immune dysfunction of ME/CFS makes us susceptible to infectious triggers and how to prevent the downward slide that is common in fall and winter.
• Imunovir and Inosine for Treating ME/CFS - closely linked to that last post, inosine helps to normalize the immune system and has had a huge positive impact on my son and I--inexpensive and readily available, it's one of the top treatments that has helped us over the years.
• Increasing Glutathione in ME/CFS and Related Illnesses - again, closely linked to those last two posts, glutathione is essential for energy, detox, and ... healthy immune function. It's another simple, inexpensive treatment that has greatly improved our ability to function and reduced crashes & infections.
• Immune System Abnormalities in ME/CFS - another post that is part of this grouping on treating immune dysfunction, read this one first to better understand how the immune system in ME/CFS is dysfunctional.
• Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and ME/CFS - a different avenue of treatment to consider for ME/CFS and related illnesses, like Lyme disease, POTS, EDS, and fibro. MCAS is very common in these illnesses and is often easy to treat with inexpensive and readily available treatments.
• Weekly Inspiration: A Day in My Life - I made this video to show what a typical day is like in my life with ME/CFS and Lyme. I made it on a day when I was doing pretty well, which was most days until last year when this series of relapses began. I tried to be honest and open and share the realities of my life with chronic illness, including how treatments have helped me.
  

Those were the 10 blog posts most visited here in the past month, so I hope those keep you busy while I work on recovering! 

As always, please share your thoughts and your own experiences in the comments or any questions you might have.