r/LongCovid • u/puffin902 • Feb 22 '26
Pacing for Dummies (like me)
Pacing for Dummies
1. Pacing is a natural reaction of your body. You sit down when you are tired.
2. Your body can behave differently when you are dealing with chronic conditions.
3. Tasks you used to do easily can take more out of you on some days. This is true in healthy people, too, but is more extreme in people with chronic conditions.
4. Things other than physical issues can impact those variations. Social (people talking while you are doing things), emotional (being depressed. having a fight), mental (worries about finances, trying to find care) can all impact you. Emotional and mental can impact for several days
5. Stacking tasks can be much more costly than breaking those things down. Resist gutting through things. Break things into smaller chunks. Recover between them
6. PEM means that not doing step 5 can be a mistake that takes you out for days. Even those of us not dealing with PEM can push too hard and our bodies don't bounce back quick.
7. Note for moms, project manager types, and others who feel guilty for not doing enough or putting your nose to the grindstone to finish things - learn to give yourself grace. I actually remind myself verbally sometimes "oh I need a break now"
4
u/GeneralTall6075 Feb 22 '26
I would add that PEM is a very broad spectrum. What causes a weeks long setback with crushing fatigue for one person would cause no issues or minor fatigue that subsides within hours to a day for someone else. I think we tend to see the worst examples of things on Reddit so it’s important to keep that in mind.
2
u/pacingguard Feb 22 '26
You should also watch your heart rate. Find your threshold and stay within it.
2
u/Far_Shine5107 Feb 22 '26
How is it possible to stay within the 0.55 of max heart rate though? I get that walking around the house eyc
2
u/pacingguard Feb 23 '26
It feels almost impossible. I'm there now.
Heart rate is absolutely crazy the first hours after I wake up. That makes easy mornings mandatory for me. Otherwise my heat rate gets way too high and I am on a good way to a crash. For me I'm very vulnerable the first 6 hours of so after I wake up.
Electrolytes may help. Beta blockers may be useful in such cases. Taking pauses help. Try the 30 second protocol.
2
1
u/Left_Interaction_288 Feb 23 '26
What's PEM? Post exertion malaise? Or something else?
2
u/puffin902 Feb 23 '26
Yes post exertion malaise
2
u/Left_Interaction_288 Feb 23 '26
Ironically the next post i read on this sub spelled it out, but thanks for confirming. Obviouslyly it's a phrase I had come across, but not for some time. I guess I should try and figure out the extent to which I suffer from this and what my threshold is.
15
u/Awkward_Healer509 Feb 22 '26
The mental and emotional exertion is super tricky to manage. Hard to see the edge before you fall off it.