I used to work outside of the home seven days a week, at least eight hours a day, and still had time to get everything done. Then I got sick and my life was forever changed. What followed were three long frustrating years before ultimately being diagnosed with chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) and severe fibromyalgia (FM).

Certainly, my search for a diagnosis isn’t unique to people with CFIDS (PWCs), but the experience did allow me to put my Type A personality to good use. I use my inherent organizational skills, driven personality, and attention to details as strategies for living with CFIDS, even from the very beginning, and it is these valuable weapons in my arsenal for fighting CFIDS and FM that I want to share with others.

In my search for a diagnosis, I used the same organizational skills that allowed me to accomplish so much when I was healthy. I kept informed, reading voraciously, as I went from doctor to doctor attaining knowledge about my condition.

I then approached my recovery with the same careful attention to detail. I set a schedule and planned my activities around it.

I take the same vitamins, herbs, and supplements at approximately the same time each day. I get up early and go to bed early. I take a warm, soaking bath each night. I wrap my neck in moist heat for 20 minutes three times a day. I eat my meals at approximately the same time each day.

My "health regimen" begins with gamma globulin, an allergy, and a B-12 shot one Friday a month, acupuncture and rolfing (bodywork) one Monday a month, and physical therapy and a massage every other week.

Each morning I do low-impact aerobics for half an hour. With the aid of cart carrels and packing bags lightly, I am able to do at least half of the household grocery shopping. I cook, do laundry, dust, and load and empty the dishwasher. I work on the computer, but for no more than an hour or until my neck and shoulders begin to ache. I try to do the most physically demanding activities at midday when I am least stiff.

This schedule allows me ample time to pursue personal activities on my "days off" and between stretching periods. And although this routine seems limiting and trivial, it ensures that I never overdo it and minimizes the chance of a relapse.

It does take some of the spontaneity out of life to be so regimented, but the reward is well worth it. By following my own routine, I am able to get out of bed and be somewhat free from pain and minimize my relapses.

There is no doubt that others have regimens that they find helps them manage their own illnesses, but what newly diagnosed PWCs don’t always understand is that by organizing your activities, you can begin to feel as if you "have a life." It may not be the "Energizer bunny life" you once enjoyed, but it is far from being the worst it could be.

For those of you who may be severely ill with CFIDS or FM, perhaps too ill to even get out of bed for more than a few minutes at a time, I can only tell you that I feel your pain. There have been times when I was too ill myself to even get out of bed or too tired and sore to do more than that. On top of the suffering these illnesses caused, it was upsetting to be relegated to bed, able to do little more than watch television talk shows, game shows, or soap operas.

So when I became able, I used my skills to live a meaningful life, not as a victim, but as someone who is still in control of her own destiny.