Ajijaak

Hey, Taurus -

"Torqued up" - man, is that ever the phrase for it! Happens to me when the weather changes, too.

I still have episodes - usually when I'm fightin some other bug or in a really bad flare - where my balance is off. I've fallen in the shower a number of times - fortunately, nothing more badly injured thus far than an incredibly painful elbow (nerve included). But before I was DX'd (but it had become apparent that something was terribly wrong), I had a much greater problem with ataxia. In my case, it usually manifested on the left side, feeling as though the entire left side of my body were dragging, although nothing was visible to others.

I've never been prescribed a drug or supplement that deals specifically with the balance problems, but I know they're out there - her rheumatologist should be able to offer some options. And if none of those is workable - contraindicated or whatever - the two things that *do* alleviate it somewhat for me are the two drugs that alleviate all of my symptoms to some degree: Ultracet and Adderall, preferably at the same time. They don't work on balance per se, but when the Ultracet has my pain under control and the Adderall has my fatigue under control, I find that I'm MUCH steadier all the way around.

Incidentally, I sympathize with the ill-parent problem. I moved here to take care of my parents six months ago - Dad, 80, severely advanced Parkinson's and heart disease, among a gazillion other problems; Mom, almost 75, triple bypass last November and now greatly heightened risk of stroke. Needless to say, she's no longer able to help him, and there are a great many days when I'm picking him up off the floor - full dead weight. And I'm still not as helpful as I'd like to be, because my own health so thoroughly sucks. So, now that I'm done venting ( ), feel free to use me to vent if you ever need it!

Ajijaak