Combat mode! I’ve been in this so-called “combat mode” (as I like to think of it) many years of my life. It’s not as negative as it sounds, in fact, it doesn’t feel negative at all. It feels positive!
I LIKE thinking of it this way, “combat mode”; it feels positive, like I can affect a difference to my circumstances. Pro-active! I draw mental power from this. It gives me a sense of control and that feels empowering. I CAN do something…I CAN combat it.
But the beauty of it is…this “combat mode” is easy to do…anyone can do it…because it’s about improving your health in ANY way you can.
So let me explain.
Though I wouldn’t recommend it, having lived with severe, chronic endometriosis throughout my twenties was certainly a good training ground for living with fibromyalgia symptoms. I experienced often daily symptoms, mostly mid-section pain and bloating, and having those seemed to effect my energy level and desire to get-up-and-go. I had an exciting sales position in a fast paced environment. I put in long hours and we used to say we needed to be a “10 out of 10” every day to perform in that environment.
I was determined to succeed so I had to find a way to keep these symptoms from dragging me down (sound familiar?).
My doctor recommended the usual prescription (back then…I’m not sure about now) to help control symptoms of endometriosis, the birth control pill, but after struggling through a few months on it, I went off. It seemed to only add another problem into the mix for me, mild depression. It was hard to be a “10 out of 10” with what felt like a cloud hanging over me.
So I decided, given that I had these unpleasant symptoms to put up with, that I would try doing anything I could do to feel as healthy as possible in every other way (I definitely had room for improvement!). I hoped being healthier would translate into feeling better overall and maybe, even despite the irritating endometriosis symptoms, I could increase my overall feeling of wellness so that this condition was not totally dragging me down (again, sound familiar?!).
This is how I would combat endometriosis. I would see if I could do anything to help feel better. I mean, getting healthier… it couldn’t hurt, right? At the very least, I would be healthier. What did I have to lose?
Hence “combat mode” was born and I started taking control of as much as I could…and this made me feel GREAT!….first mentally because I was doing something to help, I was controlling some element of how I felt each day…and then, a lot better physically too.
Coffee was the first thing to go. Even though it bothered my stomach, I drank coffee like it was going out of style. It was giving me stomach rot but I was willing to put up with that as I ran from appointment to appointment having a grand old time in my high energy sales job…until I wasn’t anymore (having a grand old time or willing to put up with it).
Beer went by the wayside too. When I was out for a drink after work or with friends on the weekends, beer was our drink of choice back then. With the onset of endometriosis, beer just seemed to equal bloating. So I started turning down my share of the group pitcher and gladly sipped the odd glass of wine instead which didn’t seem to add to my symptoms.
I stepped up my working out, not to a harder level than I was used to, but just making sure I worked out regularly to help keep me upbeat and my energy levels up.
Combat mode…it seemed to work. I DID feel better.
I had more energy and I didn’t feel near as much mid-section discomfort, as I had eliminated the causes that were not related to endometriosis, the ones I could control.
I felt a lot healthier. NOW, I felt healthy for the most part, with some endometriosis discomfort at times, which didn’t slow me down near as much as before when I was being dragged down constantly by overwhelming symptoms. My “combat mode” mind-set enabled me to take back my life again and reduce the amount that endometriosis was affecting it.
So what does this have to do with fibromyalgia?
If you are a fellow fibromyalgia sufferer enduring living with fibromyalgia symptoms, you can probably guess the answer, which I’ll talk about in my next blog post Combat Mode Reborn.
For now, I can say what I know is real is that for many years now I have had to learn to live with a whole range of symptoms, some incapacitating at times, some alarming, some downright scary, some unpleasant and some just annoying…and my “combat mode” mind-set has been a life-line for me.
