Thursday, April 12, 2012

Influenza Observations

At the end of March I caught a bad flu. I haven't had the flu for about six years. This one was pretty bad. I slept in the other room for a couple of nights so my husband could sleep while I coughed.

When the primary illness was done, a serious fatigue set in. I was worried about this because I look everything up on the internet and learned that sometimes post-viral fatigue can last a long time.  And I already have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Fortunately, after a few days I recovered from that.

Getting over the apathy took longer. Turns out, the flu-fighting cytokines can seriously deplete your levels of serotonin.  For a couple of weeks I had no interest in anything.  Not crafting in vinyl, not clothes sewing, and I didn't even care about my blog reading list.  I felt that I had experienced everything that this life had to offer, there was nothing left to become interested in, and the only thing to do is figure out how to slog through the rest of the dreary days I've been given on this earth.

Fortunately, that's over, too!  I'm enjoying life, walking the dog, painting WarHammer figures with my son, and thinking about getting after some of those projects that are outstanding.  It is amazing how a suboptimal level of a brain chemical can affect one's thinking and motivation.

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