Avoiding Relapse

As much as I'm celebrating my hopeful remission, I have to admit that a relapse is never far from my mind.  So, I've been doing some research & it, along with what I already know about my diseases, have led me to create the following list of things to do (or avoid - whatever the case may be) to prevent a relapse.

1. Avoid Sugar.  It's a fact that sugar is bad.  Bad, bad, bad.  Almost every disease comes with a line to avoid sugar.  Cancer feeds on sugar, Lyme spirochetes feed on sugar, yeast/candida feeds on sugar, sugar compromises the immune system, sugar causes irregular blood glucose levels - which is bad for a number of diseases including CFS and PCOS. So, avoiding sugar is #1 on my list to avoid relapse to keep my immune system charged and because of my insulin resistance and PCOS.
2. Avoid gluten.  Avoiding gluten, like avoiding sugar, is recommended for many diseases, including Lyme. It's even more important for me since I also have a true gluten intolerance. Celiac is an auto-immune disease so it makes sense that if I want to keep my immune system strong I'll avoid it.  Fact is I've been gluten free for many years so this one is pretty easy for me (except for the one time a few weeks ago when I just didn't want to cook dinner so the hubby went out for pizza.  Two slices and my milk production cut in half!  Took a few days to get it back.  Now, that's incentive to avoid it while I'm still breastfeeding!)
3. Exercise.  Now this one is tricky.  I want to exercise.  I need to exercise.  Exercise is proven to boost the immune system.  Not to mention that Lyme and many other bad guys don't like an aerobic environment so getting adequate exercise influxes the body with oxygen and literally starves out the bacteria.  It boosts energy (in normal people, that is) and in general makes one feel better.  The catch for me is going to be figuring out at exactly what level I can exercise without overdoing it.  Too much could cause a relapse.  Too much could actually weaken the immune system.  So.  Must Start Slow.  And focus on muscle strengthening since they are so weakened & atrophied from the Lyme.
4. Don't forget pacing.  As I'm able to do increasingly more & more I think it's important to keep pacing in mind to avoid overdoing it.  Of course, as my endurance increases I can adjust my pacing level to accommodate - just want to make sure I don't do too much and undo all the progress.

So, there you have it - the four main things I plan on doing to prevent a relapse.  I hope I'm not missing anything crucial!