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ET and stress: How do you manage stress?
I've had ET-CALR for 17 years. Doc first assumed my high platelets were stress-related. I was doing elder care for my very difficult mother, trying to hold down a job, deal with husband's heart attack, and get my kid thru high school. But when platelets kept moving up I got my ET diagnosis.
Lots of folks here emphasize keeping stress down as an important part of taking care of yourself. But a lot of stress is unavoidable.
Exercise and short, daily yoga sessions help me. Used to get a massage twice a month, but that got too expensive. What does everyone do to keep their equilibrium?
(Keeping stress down will not lower platelets significantly, cure ET, etc. But it will improve quality of life and some side effects of ET.)
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I agree that stress is a factor in quality of life with this disease. I walk in nature. Self-Massage techniques like using a roller, massager or tennis balls helps as well.
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3 ReactionsYes, stress is unavoidable! I found a great beginner Tai Chi class that also incorporates Tai Chi for arthritis, and it really seems to helps me. I also attend a weekly group therapy session (something I never thought about doing) and it really helps me process a lot of what I'm dealing with.
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3 ReactionsI’ve had ET CALR 4 years now - side effect of early COVID.
Platelets down from 1.1 million to 400k taking Hydrea. Now I’m on a low maintenance dose.
Now I deal with POTS which has bad physical side effects and no helpful drugs found…
Check YouTube videos for chair or regular yoga, Levine protocol exercises, tai chi - many free choices.
Find something you like doing, or rotate like I do!
Good luck!
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5 Reactions@janetbender Yes, YouTube is a great resource. I got in to yoga with an easy chair routine that way and "graduated" to more challenging things.
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1 ReactionGood discussion topic, @nohrt4me @lisanell @janetbender @eloise999 and appreciate your tips for managing stress.
Mayo Clinic's Cancer Education Center created this self-learning course to help people (patients and caregivers) to manage stress.
You can work through the modules at your own pace to help you better understand how the body may respond to stressful situations. You'll get various tools and techniques to meet physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, as you learn to manage stress.
Go directly to the free online course
- Stress Management for Cancer https://mccmscontent.mayo.edu/LSC/CEC/stress-management-for-cancer/index.html
Follow the Cancer Education expert blog to be notified when new posts are made. Their blog is a rich source of helpful information, events, online courses and more.
- Cancer Education https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/cancer-education-center/
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2 ReactionsI will be following this closely. I had a Trimalleolar ankle fracture followed by a broken hip in March and was diagnosed with ET last month. I'm struggling to handle the hip and ankle pain and disability in addition to the ET and associated hydroxyurea side effects.
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1 Reaction@colleenyoung
I went to the stress management link but got "page not found," Any suggestions?
@colleenyoung PAGE NOT FOUND when I clicked on it.
Using the search box, I found this link:
https://mccmscontent.mayo.edu/LSC/CEC/stress-management-for-cancer/index.html
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2 ReactionsGot page not found message.