MS Fatigue

Anyone with MS knows the feeling of fatigue. Here is an interesting article about the causes and different kinds of fatigue that we might suffer.


http://link.about.com/view/54378a9bfa13a184078b4ad52itlf.2mu/f22dd94d

http://ms.about.com/od/signssymptoms/f/fatigue_causes.htm?utm_source=exp_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_term=list_ms&utm_campaign=list_ms&utm_content=20150422

Just Desserts

The downfall to a good night’s sleep is you feel good the next day. And feeling good, when there are so many days you don’t, makes you want to accomplish something, be active, scratch something off that damn to-do list.

I’ve had this itch to get caught up on the scrapbooks I started for my grandchildren, obviously more than seven years ago as I only made four and there are seven now. I pulled everything out of the storage cupboard, the albums, the papers, the stickers and photos, and was amazed how much space it cleared out. I want this done, finito, fait accomplish, completed and cleared out.

That morning, while still feeling good, I started putting pages together, selecting the final touches from a large plastic container of stickers, scraps and other embellishments.

I felt so good, had so much fun, I forgot lunch, until almost three in the afternoon. I took a break, feeling a little stiff from sitting so long, got my dishes done, and made myself something to eat. I went back to work, as I was on a roll with everything spread out all over the living room.

It was close to eight that evening when I quit, deciding I had done enough for the day and should make dinner. I could barely get out of the chair, hobbled my way to the kitchen, and had a bite of cheese and some cold meat and struggled to clean up a bit of my mess.

I went to bed, laid on the heating pad, and read. By that time I was in such pain I had trouble turning over in bed and it was a real challenge to get to the bathroom.

I know better than to sit that long, reaching, bending over the table. It’s too much for my back.

I’ll be paying for this feel-good day...for days to come, but I really did get a lot done, so I guess it was worth it.

Sensitivity to the Sun

I know my ‘water pill’, otherwise known as Lasix, has a warning about prolonged exposure to the sun, but I don’t know what they mean by prolonged, and how long it lasts, as I don’t take the medication daily.

We’ve had some nice spring days, with lots of sunshine. My exposure has been walking from my car to the store and back again, not exactly like sunbathing, or sitting in the park, and yet I’m getting a rash, most particularly on my face as that’s what is exposed.

All I can think of are the people I see with their noses covered with a thick coating of sun screen, and I shudder. You know the stuff I mean.

My skin cream has a SPF 15 sunscreen in it, and I admit I haven’t been consistent in putting it on before going out; it’s more of a bedtime routine for me. But, since my rash has started already and the sun is not at its worst, I need to invest in something stronger and make a habit of using it.

I don’t really think this is from the pills, though they may make it worse, but whatever the cause, if I want to enjoy this summer I better take the appropriate precautions.

Being Social

It’s evident that my life is very quiet, and that I am a homebody. Not always by choice, but because of fatigue, pain, and maybe just feeling ‘off’.

Winter is hard, with the roads covered with snow and ice, I’m afraid of falling, of becoming that old commercial that made everybody laugh...”I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”.

Since the snow is almost gone, and the temperatures are higher, I’ve found a bit of renewed energy, for a day or two at a time at least.

Last week I finished my taxes and some other government papers, got them photocopied for my records and in the mail. While I was out I had my blood work done, and decided to get gas in the car.

I had been watching the gas gauge and watched it get below half, time to fill up. With the job done I decided to clean out all the gas receipts that I had tucked under the visor. I don’t know why I keep them, it’s not like I pay any attention to how much gas I use, why bother when I am out so infrequently.

But this time I checked, because I was curious. Here it was end of March and I had put $50 worth of gas in and filled my tank, proof there was more driving to be done on that less than half a tank. The only other gas receipt I had for 2015 was January 21^st. Unbelievable.

One trip out of town for the doctor, and maybe one a week for groceries. I know there were weeks when it snowed that I never left the house for days on end, and often only then when someone else picked me up.

Good for the budget, but not good for me, as being shut in, and isolated can be depressing. Spring is here, and the sun is shining, and though it still feels cold it’s not a biting cold. I’ve been out for dinner twice this week, Easter  celebrations, and running errands on two other days.

I’m becoming such a social butterfly; don’t know if I can keep up with it all.

A Stolen Parking Spot

The other day I was going out to dinner with a friend, and as I hadn't been out of the house in almost a week wanted to stop in the store on my way. It was pouring rain as I made my way around the parking lot looking for an empty handicapped parking spot.

I could see a vacant spot a couple of rows ahead and drove in that direction. A red van pulled out in front of me from one of the parking lanes, and proceeded to 'my' parking spot. First come, first serve I thought, until I drove by the van and saw that the driver was young.

I watched as three young people, in their early twenties, got out of the van and walked to the store. One of the three did have a bit of a limp, but still managed to walk with what appeared to be speed and ease. I continued on my way and found another parking spot a short distance farther from the store.

I was curious, and checked out the van but there was no disability parking permit on the dash. I know I've talked before about 'invisible' diseases, and making judgments because people do not look disabled, but I really don't think there was anything seriously wrong with any of these young people. I think they wanted a parking spot close to the building because of the rain, and didn't care who they inconvenienced.

It made me mad, I'll admit, because I was already tired with the effort of getting dressed to go out. It was damp and my joints ached. If I hadn't found a parking spot fairly close I would have given up on any shopping, gone straight to the restaurant and read my book while I waited.

I guess you never have the parking police around when you need them. Which is annoying because they once gave me a ticket when they didn't see the permit on the visor. That mistake, though it didn't end up costing me money, did take a great deal of my energy to go to the town hall, with it's horrible parking, in order to show my permit and get the ticket nullified.

And there ends my rant of the day.

Pain in the Neck

I’ve had neck pain most of my adult life and have learned to manage it, to know what I can do, and what I can’t. I have DDD, degenerative disk disease, and some nerves that are a bit pinched.

The head is heavy, and I find sitting without any head and neck support extremely tiring, and cause for pain. That’s why I love my wing back chair, and why I get so tired in social situations where the chairs available most often have low backs. Even with the high back I must rest my head on my arm as there’s a dent in the armrest on the left side from my elbow.

Last night I realized I only ever read in bed, and that is because in bed I have support for my head and neck, plus the book. This made me think of other ways I’ve adapted to protect my neck.

No heavy lifting. I’m stubborn (I admit it freely) and often used to carry too many bags of groceries, trying to save myself a second trip. This was difficult with the cane so the walker has been great as I just load it up and can tote everything at once. I still have to lift the walker in and out of the car, and it weighs just under twenty pounds. I’m lucky to have a van, and I store the walker in the back, without folding it up as some do to slide it behind the seat. This way I can step into the walker, hold it close to my body to give it a short lift, and basically roll it up over the bumper and in. Lifting it in the folded position would mean lifting away from the body, and more strain on my neck.

I find I need to look at things straight on, so the television is directly in front of me, and if someone is here and sitting on the sofa, I need to turn in my chair so I don’t have to turn my head. This means choosing my seat carefully when I’m out, like always sitting at the head of the table so I don’t have to keep moving my head back and forth.

When I feel the strain in my neck muscles I use my buckwheat heat thing. It’s long and narrow and perfectly wraps around my neck. I put it in the microwave and find the heat is soothing for all those tense muscles. I couldn’t live without it and go to heat before I reach for any other pain killers.

There are many times we adapt the way we do things, to accommodate the changes in our abilities. Some of these adaptations we make over time without any conscious thought, and others we do purposefully to make life more comfortable. Either way, it’s all about making our day the best it can be.

The Balance Dance

I was going to my neighbours the other day and was only a few yards away from my door when I began my dance. It was an awkward waltz of sorts, the two steps forward, steps to the side kind of thing, only without the graceful movement usually associated with a dance.

I don’t use the cane in the house, and it was a surprise that I had stepped out leaving it at home, and how bad my balance was without that third point of grounding. I made it there and back, and coming home realized just how afraid I was of open spaces.

Sounds like agoraphobia, but I’m not afraid to leave my place, its open spaces I don’t like. I just feel safer when I can touch something to help maintain my balance. I prefer the walker with the increased sense of support it gives me, and admit I walk better, straighter and with more confidence with it. Even with the cane I use my free hand to touch ‘base’ so to speak, with walls, furniture, and sometimes people.

I have a fear of falling and that old joke of “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” isn’t so funny anymore.

I remember when I was a kid and my Dad did the collection at church. Our church was round, with the altar table in the centre and five sections radiating out, four for the congregation and the fifth for the choir and the Minister’s pulpit. The seating was tiered, so the aisles went downhill from the back to the centre of the church.

My Dad was a big guy, an ex football player, well over six feet and about two hundred and fifty pounds, athletic, but not always graceful. He delighted in teasing his children by taking a few stumbling steps as he began down the aisle, scaring us with the potential mortification of seeing our father tumble down.

My fear of embarrassing myself in public, well, I came by it honestly.

And falling in public, been there, done that, and don’t want to do it again. I once fell in a public parking lot, on a hot summer day when I had walked too far and was weakened by becoming overheated. It was long enough ago that I was walking unaided, but the feeling of that day has never gone away.

Today the fear is greater because my mobility is more compromised, and I’d have a great deal of difficulty getting back on my feet. The smartest thing I’ve done in years was to get the walker, now if I’d only accept it and use it for more than getting to and from the car or the laundry room. I need to replace the cane, but the walker adds another whole set of challenges I seem reluctant to take on right now.

Baby steps, everything is baby steps.