Pushing through can do more harm than good when living with PH
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You wake up exhausted. A long night of chest pains and other pulmonary hypertension (PH) symptoms meant you barely got any sleep. Work and daily tasks take monumental effort, or they just don’t happen at all. By the afternoon, frustration sets in. You feel behind and worry about what tomorrow might bring.
Lying awake in pain is incredibly hard, but what happens next is often worse. Running on little sleep and a strong cup of coffee, your mind starts a vicious cycle, and the pressure to catch up kicks in. You feel the urge to push even harder the next day, terrified that one difficult patch will derail all your hard work. Does this sound familiar?
As a Type A personality, I struggle to strike a balance between pushing myself and pacing. Living with PH and several coexisting conditions, my body drags tirelessly. My mind, however, expects me to operate at full speed or faster. It’s a frustrating dilemma.
Resetting properly after a difficult day matters much more than simply pushing through it. Pushing only fuels those damaging mind games. When you manage PH, bad days or even bad seasons are a given. I tend to think of them as simply part of the package.
Lessons that may be helpful
What can we do about this? Over 21 years of managing PH, I’ve picked up a few helpful lessons. Full disclaimer: I still fall into these mental traps, but I am learning to be proactive and better prepare for the tough times.
Everyone has bad days. With PH, you might experience them a bit more often than the average person, and that is fine. It doesn’t mean you failed, missed the mark, or that your whole week is ruined. You are not alone in this “PHight.” Acknowledge your emotions and let your body feel them, rather than trying to erase or fix them immediately.
If you’re like me, your immediate reflex is to compensate. You try to work faster, rushing to check off yesterday’s tasks alongside today’s. But as I’ve learned the hard way, trying to make up for lost time only pushes your body further away from recovery. Instead, you must prioritize.
With a background in nursing, and after two decades of living with PH, I can assure you that your most important task is your health. Ask yourself what you can do today to avoid pushing your fatigued, aching body past its limits. Sometimes, taking a full day to reset and recharge is necessary. To make the most of a reset, you must listen to your own body.
Stay in the know and look for a future column on how I’m learning to better embrace a dedicated weekly reset day, and what that actually looks like in practice.
Note: Pulmonary Hypertension News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Pulmonary Hypertension News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to pulmonary hypertension.
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