Make Decisions to Protect Your Health

John, the Sand Dune Stepper looks like a good way to exercise...just be certain you think every second you're using it about what your feet can tell you. Even with neuropathy, if you use your head as well, your feet aren't totally stupid. I don't need a Sand Dune Stepper, as I have miles of both soft and hard sand a quarter mile away. <g> FWIW, walking barefoot or in socks gives you far more info than walking in shoes. Until the flooding season (!!) started three weeks ago, I was also using our long driveway as an exercise...walking in the narrow old gravel ruts (driveway is nearly 100 years old) made it easy to know when I was veering off in one direction or another, with the added inducement of knowing that veering off more than a couple feet could mean falling into the creek! Even though we've had a series of dry days (unusual on the Oregon coast in winter), the place where the driveway crosses the creek is still slippery and muddy, and most of the gravel went downstream when there was some actual current over the culvert. It's amazing how the hill up to the house seems to be a bit steeper and longer, especially when carrying stuff! This week, I'm carrying groceries in, fixing hot lunches for all the people working to clear lots burned during the Echo Mt fire in Sept., and carrying all the food back out to where I've parked the car at the very edge of our one-lane road. This lot clearing effort is a wonderful thing, a spot of hope as more and more people are able to now live on their own land, albeit in a travel trailer or camper until they build a home or get the manufactured home they ordered. Even though everyone in that neighborhood lost everything (the fire came upon them during the night), there's a great upbeat mood because they've taken their destiny into their own hands by clearing their own lots with help from volunteers to take down huge old trees that are now standing dead, cut up metal debris, and haul the debris and bags of ash to the dump. This week is an extra effort with additional volunteers working every day, and we all have the example of the first manufactured home now livable with a second delivered to the owner's lot in two sections yesterday. Exciting! I am so fortunate that our neighborhood was spared that the least I can do is keep everyone fed.

Joyce... I was happy to see your recent posting. I had been looking for an earlier one about your Menier's and could not find it. I have some questions, really for anyone who can relate to my situation.
I have had balance problems for four years. They started a few days before I first lost hearing. My physical therapist said I do not have Meniere's but something close to it. The exercises did help but over time as I lost more hearing balance got worse. Three months ago I was able to hear someone it they were very close and looking right at me. Then overnight I lost what little hearing I had and could hear nothing, even with hearing aids. Then, again suddenly, my balance became much worse to the point where I have trouble walking even on a flat surface. In addition I am constantly nauseated, to the point where food has no appeal. The nausea is not a new issue but has worsened. I have lost 35 lbs over 3 years without trying and I was not overweight before. People comment on my thinness and tell me to eat....I wish I could.
So one of my questions: Do any of you with balance issues have nausea as well? If so how do you combat the nausea?
My life has narrowed so much. I don't like going places because I'm afraid I might fall. I have to have a driver and I am even more dizzy and nauseated riding in a car. I take supplies with me in case of vomiting.
So most of the time I am just home and finding it very difficult to do anything because of the dizziness and nausea. I read a lot but even that is becoming more difficult. Also working on the computer makes the dizziness worse and gives me a headache. l feel at the end of my rope. I am doing the exercises but does anyone have ideas on what else to do? I'm also looking for a vestibular rehab specialist and I just went to my first orientation meeting for a coclear implant.
Joyce, it was also very interesting about the hormone therapy you are doing.... I'm wondering if that might help me. Have not spoken to any of my doctors about it yet. Judy

@judyca7, Judy, with your collection of very upsetting symptom's, I am wondering what kind of diagnoses have you been given?

Reply to Judy and Barb: I suspect you really have a "GORK" (God only really knows) diagnosis. Judy, if you're mid 30s or older, I'd certainly talk to a doc about a short course of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). You'd probably need a very high dose to start and then be able to taper it down over time. There are other inner ear diseases that offer the same miserable lifestyle, but diagnosing any inner ear disease is luck as much as knowledge...luck finding a doc that is an excellent diagnostician plus willing to try various things. There is no way a doc can look at your ears or MRI or anything else and know what's wrong. One disease you should mention to your neurotologist (not an ENT, please) is MAV (migraine-associated vertigo). This is a relatively new diagnosis, with the hearing, balance, and nausea issues you "enjoy." Good news is that is can be treated with standard migraine meds, even though you have no aura or actual pain.

Absolute first thing to do is to keep a diary (or large calendar). Choose three or four colors to indicate the kind of day it was in general (good, so-so, bad, godawful, for example) and color that square or entry to indicate the level of symptoms. Then, very carefully, write down even the smallest variation from whatever is normal for you: sleep, stress, exercise, diet, weather, etc. Regardless of what your actual disease may be, certain things will "trigger" worse days. Inhaled allergens like pollen, mold, mildew are more common than food allergies, but a few people have severe reactions to some certain food or food group. I know one person who was entirely miserable until he realized that dairy products were the problem; once he eliminated them from his diet, he was able to lead an ordinary, active life. You should start to see some pattern within a month or so. You can't eliminate all triggers, but you can avoid some completely. You can also consider doing a series of allergy shots with an allergist--which may or may not help. In my case, I did learn that mold and mildew were particular problems, did the two-year shot program, and found that it didn't ease Meniere's at all. It did, however, mean that I was able to quit taking anti-allergen meds (we live on the coast in a very old place that's a veritable mold factory), and I've enjoyed the freedom from sneezing, coughing, and having clogged sinuses for over 40 years, so I'm glad that I got the mold allergy dealt with.

I can relate to the bit of taking supplies with you in case you begin to vomit. I lived that way for four years, with a kit in the car, next to my bed, next to the bed in the spare room, in my desk at work. I dealt with the driving problem by hiring someone to work for me who did all the many necessary trips to run my business in those days. I have a belief that sipping water or, better, citrus-flavored soda, can actually shorten the overall hours of a crisis; it certainly does prevent dry heaves, which can leave you feeling awfully sore the next day. I learned to maximize the time right after a crisis, when I had energy and drive and could get lots of work done. I flat refused to let the disease run my life entirely, so worked a demanding job that required not only travel but, gasp, fishing and photography...lots of wading fast rivers. During the four years I was really, really sick 2-3 times every week, I never missed a single deadline. I've been sick in all sorts of awkward places: fishing lodges, on small boats, on commercial flights, at restaurants and trade shows. I found that it helped a great deal to warn those around me that I could start to have a crisis and let them know what they should do. Once, while fishing a wilderness river in Alaska, I didn't do that, and the older gentleman we'd taken with us for the week at the lodge ruined an entire day of fishing for himself and my husband by insisting that we race back to the lodge. By that time, I was in no shape to climb the steep stairs from dock to lodge, but he insisted, and it was miserable for all of us. That was my error, and I found that I perhaps avoided having some crises simply because I warned those with me of what to do if I had one. Doing that removed the stress and fear.

So, please, try the diary/calendar effort and see where it leads you. FWIW, I suspect that stress increases the likelihood of having a crisis, so do whatever you can to avoid stress. When I had to speak at a friend's memorial service, I almost couldn't handle the two small steps down afterwards to regain my seat...definitely stress!

Believe it or not, some day you may wish you still had the nausea! I got down to 92 pounds, couldn't keep my shoes on, at one point. Now, back on a good HRT program, I'm eating like a pig and weigh 140--20 pounds more than I ever weighed while pregnant. I've been trying to lose it, but it's been damned stubborn. Once the nausea goes, you may find you enjoy food all too much!

That leads to the other thing you simply must do: work on balance every day. Don't be discouraged; it will work over time.

I subscribe to the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal and find they always share some good information. This one came this morning but was about a week late to help remind me to be a little careful when shoveling snow. I was carrying a 3 foot wide snow pusher and a heavy ice chipper out of the garage and tripped over the snow pusher. Fortunately I was wearing a heavy coat and a sweatshirt and only hurt my pride and a small scrape on the elbow. My new mantra - carry one tool at a time old man.

Watch your step! Helpful tips to prevent slips and falls: https://www.mcmasteroptimalaging.org/hitting-the-headlines/detail/hitting-the-headlines/2021/01/19/watch-your-step-helpful-tips-to-prevent-slips-and-falls

@johnbishop A while ago you posted a link to McMaster Optimal, and I signed up. I like their weekly posts, there is always something good to read, even if it may not pertain to me at that point. We have to be so aware of how we interact physically with our world, as we mature.
Ginger

While it IS good to avoid tripping hazards like the snow pusher, but I disagree with lots of night lighting...only teaches you to rely on vision, which is the main cause of disorientation. It's good to challenge your vestib system by walking in low light or dark situations, as long as you know there's nothing along your planned route to trip you. I chose to live on the Oregon coast (after living in the valley) because there's almost never any snow in the valley and snow here on the coast is a light sprinkle of white greeted with amazement when it happens once every few years. If I want to see snow, Mt. Hood is only an hour east of Portland...three hours from here, which is far better. <g> Wednesdays are my serious exercise days. I drive two hours each way to load 400-550 loaves of bread donated by Dave's Killer Bread to our local Backpacks for Kids program. That means lifting around 800 pounds several times (from trays to totes, totes into van, stacking totes in van)...and then doing the process in reverse when I get back to the pantry to unload. All the fresh bread is packed into our line of upright freezers, and frozen bread delivered to places than can distribute it around town. Just that's enough of a workout, but our driveway's been partially washed out for over three weeks, so I had to haul all the $200 worth of groceries I bought across the slick muddy stretch over the creek culvert and up the hill to the house, which is a distance from the road. By then, it had been more than 12 hours since I'd left early in the morning, and I was so tired that one of the loads on the handtruck slipped off sideways into the mud. Ugh! I didn't start volunteering for this grief to make my bones stronger, but after over six years, I can fall without breaking anything. Lifting is excellent for strengthening bones! Still, I note that every winter the distance from where I park beside the road and the house seems to get longer and steeper. <g>

If you’re talking about landscape lighting.. it never hurts to have some to prevent injury. If you are talking about night lights IN the house... BIG NO NO! It tricks your pineal gland and actually keeps us awake! I wear a Temperpaedic sleep mask! If I dont wear it.. I dont get restful REM sleep; it regenerates your brain & body!! I used to think masks were geeky... well not now!! I can’t sleep w/o one!

For soreness from all your lifting.. take a warm Epsom Salt bath. The Magnesium helps w/ muscle cramping!!
M

@onewhoknows My curiosity is piqued! Do I have to google pineal gland or could you explain more what you mean about "tricking the pineal gland". Also, what is a Temperpaedic sleep mask? I went to the Temperpaedic website and found no message of masks!

Thank you for reminding us of these important things, I just wanted to report that I had my eyes checked recently! My new year's resolution.