Health- middling
Today was one of resting (gee, what a shocker, right?) and trying to rebuild my energy. In other words I got nothing accomplished.
It is hard not to be depressed, but I have decided that I have wallowed long enough and it is time to start to find things that will help me cheer up again and start working hard at Awareness once more.
This means that I have to start accepting my limitations and listening to my body better.
As a start I did a little experiment.
I 'Googled' my symptoms (what happens when I stand for more than a few minutes, exercise intolerance and heat intolerance plus the fact that the only place on my body that sweats anymore is my face) and it kept going to pages about Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke so I took my temperature then stood up for a few minutes and took my temperature again. Before standing my temperature was 99.2... after standing for a few minutes my heart started pounding and I felt incredibly weak so I took my temperature again and it was 101.9! it had climbed almost two points just from standing.
To double check my findings I took my temperature before brushing my teeth and after (99.6 to 102.4) and after sitting and brushing my hair (98.9 to 100.9). These are pretty consistent results and confirm my thought that somehow I am not regulating my body temperature at all and am in fact repeatedly going into Heat Exhaustion!
What is causing this to happen, I am not sure... it could be Autonomic Neuropathy (something that was suspected and mentioned as something a Dr was sure I had but never was tested for because I lost my insurance) or it could be due to my level of dehydration, a combination of the two or even something completely unknown.
All I know is that I now have an even more limited world because the things I used to just push through (and rest a few minutes then push more on) I have to stop doing because this is just not something I can mess with, especially since I have no access to Medical care I can trust.
When this happens my Gastroparesis also acts up because the dizziness makes the nausea far worse than normal and if I still had the ability to vomit I would.
It is hard to impose still more restrictions on my life... I cannot tolerate any heat at all, the simple act of walking (with my cane) or standing at the sink sends me into Heat Exhaustion as does sitting and brushing my hair. I have to be kept in an environment of between 68-70 degrees and though I used to absolutely LOVE cold weather (I have not owned a new winter coat in years because I loved the feeling of the cold air) I noticed last winter that I could not stand anything under 65 degrees.
It drives my husband mad that I need the room cold enough yet have to use a blanket to stay warm enough... drives me mad as well.
I want my life back... but I will strive to make the life I have worth something.
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