Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Vertigo

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Ironically, the title of this post is not a theme of my coparenting life, although it definitely could be applied in more instances than one!

I’ve been experiencing vertigo since last Friday—and what with all the dizzy walking and whoozing around, I've wondered who has time to be dizzy when there’s work to do, kids to take care of, volunteer work, etc? 

The problem is that the medicine to make the dizzy go away knocks me off of my feet, and also makes me feel depressed, booooo.

I wonder if this is just a sign of getting older and my inner ears are striking.  Or, maybe I’m just a complete and utter anxiety mess and I have to embrace it already.  I have to figure out a way to no let anxiety build up so much.  Therapy and regular exercise is what I've been attempting for the last few years...clearly I have to rethink some strategies...any advice is most welcome!  And obviously, that is my unscientific theory that high levels of stress/anxiety is causing my anxiety, maybe it's not.  I do know that I was under an extreme amount of stress the night before I woke up with the vertigo however...

For anyone experiencing vertigo, however, I’ve tried this half-somersault which seems to help a little bit:


It’s put out there by Dr. Carol Foster, an MD who experienced vertigo herself and the University of Colorado-Denver medical campus posted it online.

This is better than what my primary care physician told me (once I finally dragged myself in to see her): as long as you’re not barfing, go to work! 

LOL.


And THAT is finding some humor in life—as long as you’re not barfing, you can do anything!

3 comments:

  1. OMGosh, I can't help but feel your body is sending you a strong message. Slow down. Period. I'm in awe of your doc telling you to go to work if you're not barfing (maybe she was literally joking)? I had the same advice here. After having my breast cut open, lump removed (benign) and sewn up, the surgeon said I could go back to the office immediately. Luckily I didn't have to and went home to rest. The more I thought about that post-mini-op advice, the angrier I got. Why do we not know how to rest and slow down? Because our health care pros are telling us to go, go, go. Um, sorry but an afternoon to recover from breast surgery seems reasonable to me.

    Back to you. Sorry, I went off on a side story there. You should rest until the spells subside. I get migraines and know when they're coming and exactly why. Rest is the only way to alleviate them. Hope you have some down time to heal up. There is no doubt that the things you're dealing with cause anxiety, then a spin-off of health issues.

    Bah. Sorry this is so long. Sending a hug your way.

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    Replies
    1. Lisa, thank you so much for your kind words! I decided to reach out to other people I trust and now I'm going to get PT--apparently it's an inner ear thing and there's lots thatyou can do. I'm hoping to get in tomorrow or next week. I still have dizziness but it's not as bad as last week!

      And please don't apologize for your side story, I appreciate you sharing your experiences!!

      One last thought--I'm working on trying to step back from the drama, I think that's part of what's causing the (what I think) physical reactions to stress.

      My therapist told me to practice taking deep breaths and backing away from the battles, especially the ones that are not mine and are not my emotional responsibility (ex, work, even hubby when there is conflict). <3

      So PT and practice to decompress! Thanks again for your kind words and also for the hug! <3 <3 <3

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