In this Friday Fable, I tell the story of a village emerging from a long winter - where the return of sunlight sparks bursts of energy, celebration, and rebuilding… followed by unexpected exhaustion.

This story is my way of gently exploring something I see all the time in chronic illness, and something many of us experience ourselves: feeling worse after a “good” day.

Through this metaphor, I reflect on what it means to live with limited or fluctuating energy - where doing more on a high-energy day can lead to delayed crashes, fatigue, and setbacks. Not because you’ve done anything wrong, but because your system is still rebuilding.

In this episode, I share:

• A softer way to understand the “good day → crash” cycle
• Why pacing and consistency matter more than intensity
• A different perspective on progress that isn’t all or nothing
• A reminder that recovery is built in small, repeatable steps

Like early spring, healing doesn’t arrive all at once.

It flickers.
It builds.
It asks for patience.

If you’re learning how to work with your energy instead of against it, this is a soft place to land.

Happy Friday 🌿

Why do you feel worse after a “good” day?

In this clinical episode, I break down the physiology behind the all-too-familiar cycle of having a productive, high-energy day, followed by a sudden crash of fatigue, dizziness, pain or brain fog.

This pattern is common in conditions such as dysautonomia, long COVID, autoimmune disease and post-viral syndromes, and is often linked to nervous system dysregulation and post-exertional symptom exacerbation.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why symptoms are often delayed after activity
• How adrenaline and stress hormones can mask fatigue
• What’s happening in the nervous system during a “crash”

I introduce the concept of analeptic exercise - a structured approach using short, controlled bursts of activity followed by full recovery to gently retrain the nervous system.

You’ll learn:

• What analeptic exercise is and how it works
• The science behind short-duration activity and recovery
• How it can help reduce boom-and-bust cycles
• A real clinical example from a long COVID patient
• Why this approach is not one-size-fits-all and requires individualisation

This episode is designed to help you move away from “all or nothing” activity patterns and towards more sustainable, consistent progress.

As always, this podcast is for education only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. If you are experiencing significant post-exertional symptoms, speak to a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your routine.

🎧 Listen now to learn how to work with your body, not against it.

Stay measured. Stay informed. And build progress that lasts.

Some days everything fits neatly together. Other days, the pieces fall faster than you can place them.

In this Friday Fable from The Dizzy Diaries, we meet a girl trying to build a tower in a strange game where blocks fall from the sky. Some pieces slide perfectly into place. Others pile up in awkward shapes she never expected.

Just when she thinks the tower is steady, a new piece arrives and everything must shift again.

Through the game, she learns something important: progress isn’t about stacking every piece perfectly. It’s about learning how to keep playing as the shapes keep changing.

This gentle story explores the reality of non-linear recovery in chronic illness, where energy, symptoms, and capacity rarely line up in tidy rows.

A short reflective tale for anyone who has ever felt like their health is a puzzle that keeps rearranging itself.

Recovery with a chronic illness rarely moves in a straight line.

One week you feel stronger, the next you feel like you’ve slid backwards. It can be confusing, discouraging, and make you question whether what you’re doing is actually working.

In this episode of The Dizzy Diaries, we unpack the science and reality behind non-linear recovery.

We talk about why symptoms can fluctuate, how the nervous system adapts over time, and why setbacks are often part of the process rather than proof that progress has stopped.

If your recovery has ever felt like a zig-zag instead of a straight road, this episode is for you.

Today's Friday Fable is based on the clinical episode from earlier this week.

This short story offers:

• A compassionate reframing of nerve dysfunction
• Validation for those experiencing sensory loss
• A calming, metaphorical explanation of what neuropathy feels like
• A reminder that injured nerves need protection, not punishment

If you live with neuropathy, dysautonomia, or sensory changes, this fable is a soft place to land at the end of the week.

Sometimes the messengers aren’t failing you.
Sometimes they just need time to heal.

Happy Friday.

In this clinical episode, I break down small fibre neuropathy in a clear, science-backed and accessible way.

After experiencing months of numbness, tingling and burning pain that I initially dismissed, a simple neurological pin-prick test revealed significant sensory loss up to my elbows and mid-calves. In this episode, I share that experience and explain what is actually happening inside the body.

You’ll learn:

• What small fibre neuropathy is
• Why symptoms can include burning, numbness, electric shock sensations or reduced sensation
• How small fibre nerves overlap with autonomic dysfunction and conditions like POTS
• Common causes including autoimmune disease, vitamin deficiencies, diabetes, infection and chemotherapy
• Why nerve healing is slower than muscle recovery

As always, this podcast is educational and not a substitute for individual medical advice. If you are experiencing new or worsening neurological symptoms, speak to your healthcare professional.

Stay informed. Stay curious. And take up space in your healthcare story.

This book was written during a season where I couldn’t see very far ahead and early on in my journey with health challenges.

In this episode, I’m sharing the story behind the book. Not the polished “author journey,” but the real one.

The fear, the uncertainty, the survival mode writing, and the quiet hope that crept in along the way (yes, this took a long time to find).

I talk about:

• Writing when you don’t feel well enough to dream (supporting reflection)

• Creating something while grieving the life you thought you’d have

• How chronic illness reshaped my relationship with time, ambition, and identity

• Who I was when I wrote this book, and who I’m becoming now (hello Dizzy Diaries)

This isn’t just about a book. It’s about what it means to leave proof of yourself behind when the future feels blurry, and how sometimes the things we create end up carrying us.

If you’re navigating illness, burnout, uncertainty, or a season where you’re rebuilding, I hope this feels like a hand on your shoulder saying: you’re not behind, you’re becoming.

If you get a chance to read it, let me know what you think!

This podcast does not serve as a substitute for medical advice.

Structuring time with chronic illness isn’t about productivity. It’s about sustainability and consistency where and when you can.

In this video, I share how I structure my weeks in a way that supports my health, my work, and my life, without constantly pushing myself into crashes.

I talk about energy budgeting, separating non-negotiables, flexible tasks, and “life things,” scheduling rest before work, and letting go of comparison with hustle productivity culture.

This is a gentle, realistic approach to weekly planning for anyone living with chronic illness, fatigue, POTS, or dysautonomia.

This podcast does not serve as a substitute for medical advice.

Today we have our first special guest!

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, or CAH, is often explained in textbooks through hormones, enzymes, and pathways. But real life with CAH is far more layered than a diagram.

In this episode, I’m joined by my best friend, a specialist in healthcare and biotech, to unpack CAH through both a clinical lens and a lived one.

We explore what CAH actually is, how cortisol and aldosterone dysregulation impact the body, and why managing CAH goes far beyond “just taking medication.”

We talk honestly about energy levels, stress tolerance, illness, and the invisible calculations people with CAH are making every single day. We also dive into why CAH is frequently misunderstood, how gaps between clinical knowledge and patient experience can form, and what better education and advocacy could look like going forward.

This episode is for anyone living with CAH, supporting someone who is, or wanting a clearer, more human understanding of how rare endocrine conditions show up in real bodies and real lives.

Educational, grounded, and deeply relatable. This is CAH, explained without the white noise.

This podcast does not serve as a substitute for medical advice.

If exercise makes you feel worse instead of better, you’re not imagining it. In this video, I explain what exercise intolerance actually is, why traditional fitness advice often fails people with chronic illness, and how movement can be adapted to support your nervous system instead of overwhelming it.

We talk about the science behind exercise intolerance, the crash cycle, and gentle programming principles that prioritise safety, recovery, and sustainability, especially for people with conditions like POTS and dysautonomia.

I talk about my personal thought process towards exercise and how I have actively worked to reframe it.

This is a supportive, science-backed conversation for anyone who wants to move their body without triggering symptom flares.

My course is available online for guided exercise support - POTS Starter Programme on www.tovewoodexphys.com

This podcast does not serve as a substitute for medical advice.