It's no secret that the holidays can often bring joy and good will -- and, unfortunately, high stress. For someone with hepatitis, mixing a high dose of stress with chronic liver disease is not ideal. Here are 5 easy tips to help reduce your stress and help keep you healthy during the holidays.
1. Keep Your Diet in Check
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Food and the holidays go together like "a partridge in a pear tree." Fortunately, many people with hepatitis won't need to significantly change their diet because their liver is still able to function. However, many holiday foods aren't appropriate for people with certain types of liver disease, such as cirrhosis. If you have any degree of cirrhosis, you should completely avoid alcohol (beer, wine, mixed drinks, and liqueurs). If you have advanced cirrhosis, you will need to be even more careful and eat small, frequent meals with smaller amounts of meat, according to your dietary needs determined by your physician. For more information about what you should eat during the holidays, read Chronic Hepatitis Nutrition.
2. Sleep Your Stress Away
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It's easy to find yourself in stressful situations during the holidays. When your schedule becomes chaotic, it's important to make time for one thing that helps you manage stress: sleep. Getting enough sleep can be challenging, but it's a challenge worth taking. Many experts say that Americans aren't getting enough sleep, which can affect their health and ability to deal with stress. There's not a specific number of sleep hours needed for everyone, but most of us know how much sleep we need and we should strive to get no less. For more ideas on getting enough sleep, read Getting Quality Sleep When Stressed.
3. Keep Your Stress Under Control
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Regular, moderate exercise is important anytime of the year, but it's especially needed during the holidays. You can benefit from moderate exercise even if you have liver disease, unless your doctor limited your physical activity in some way. The benefits from regular exercise are weight control, stress management, cardiovascular fitness and sleep improvement. Here are some great ideas on staying fit during the holidays.
4. Resolve Conflicts Healthfully
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Conflict can be as much a part of the holidays as food and gifts. However, since conflict can add to your stress, it can definitely affect your health. Conflict isn't necessarily a bad thing, but how you handle it certainly can be. Here are five good ideas on managing holiday stress and conflict.
5. Keep Your Medications on Schedule
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Medications are a fact of life for many people with chronic hepatitis or other liver disease. Just because the holiday season is here doesn't mean you can take a break. Treatments work by providing a specific amount of drug to your body over a period of time. When you change this, it can interfere with how the body responds to it. Make sure you keep taking your medications at the appropriate times unless you change this with your physician. Even though you may have no trouble remembering to take your medications correctly normally, the holidays can be a huge distraction for many. Make sure you're not one of them.
