This time weight gain due to a mix of tablets and being in and around the house most of the time. Guess I still have that weird fear of going out myself after the encephalitis. So many things I stop myself from doing due to this weird fear and what ifs, the weight gain isn't helping at 144kg now and can feel it while walking. Lacking motivation or the kick up the rear to get me into gear
Still struggling on.: This time weight... - Encephalitis Inte...
Still struggling on.
Written by
Heavychunky1
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3 Replies
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Good to hear from you again. Even though life is tough at the moment for you. I definitely empathise with that weight gain. I reckon I put on a good couple of stone and I’m only 5ft 2! It took a serious stomach infection to get rid of that weight plus another stone, not something I’d recommend. The positive is I can do more physically now I’ve lost the weight. Like you it was so hard to do before with all the tiredness from E.
On going out. Again been there. And even now nearly 5 years later I have to nerve myself for something new. So I’m going to the dentist on my own for the first time on Thursday. I’m more nervous about that than the dentist and that’s saying something!! Seriously the only thing I can offer may not be appropriate for you but my life saver was walking to and round our local park. Because I did that on my own, I interacted with others without someone with me. That gave me the confidence to do a bit more. Now I will walk to places more happily than for instance driving somewhere I haven’t been for a while. And I’m still scared of driving my husbands car rather than my little one.
Keep going HC. This is the really dragging part where you’ve recovered enough to feel you should do things but not enough to do them. And it feels like a plateau you’re stuck on. I’m sure people have told you like they did me ‘take it slowly’. ‘One step at a time’ till you want to scream. But unfortunately they are right. Not the slowly bit. No choice there. But the one small step forward at a time. A little bit more every day (some days that’s impossible I know) and things will get better. You’ll get off this plateau and reach another better one.
I can sympathise how tough it can be to feel motivated . I can’t swim unsupervised now due to the epilepsy that encephalitis left me with which I found frustrating , but walking with my dog has helped . My dog is so eager to walk in the morning that he leaves me with no choice, and I have to get out every day with him. Dog walking has helped me not to feel depressed , as a lot of my neighbours smile & say ‘hello’ now, whereas pre - encephalitis I used to always be rushing to work in my car and never had time to speak to them.
If walking outside seems like an ordeal, maybe you could try an exercise bike in your house ? On an exercise bike you can listen to good music or watch tv . There are also some virtual journeys you can watch on YouTube while you cycle .
Definitely don’t be hard on yourself . Recovering from encephalitis and finding what’s ‘do-able’ isn’t an easy journey , but you will get there .
Hey Heavychunky1 – hang on in there as best you can. I sympathise, I’m sure we all do here. It’s hard to get motivated sometimes. I think all I can suggest is to hold on to the positives – no matter what they are – and make the very most of them but, by all means, you can share any problems your having here – hope it helps to get them off your chest with people that hopefully understand in a way that’s different to many others who’ve never had encephalitis.
