I am exhausted it is 10.25 am and I have not been to bed. I am at the stage where I sleep has passed me by.
It all started yesterday. My wife (C.A.) who is never sick started to get dizzy and lose her balance and two of her fingers were numb. I got her to the doc who said she had to go to hospital immediately. Our hospital services are in chaos and regardless of insurance if you have to go to hospital as an urgent vase you must queue at A&E. We had a six hour wait before she saw a doctor and then tests etc etc. It is ok now. they suspected a heart problem but it turned out to be vertigo as a result of tow vertibrae in her neck fusing together and trtapping a nerve. She is to have treatment.
Where am I going with this non fibro related story. Well, I amazed myself that I was able to look after C.A. all night and be physically capable of doing all that was necessary for her. When I finally arrived home about an hour ago I collapsed in a heap. I did mind myself during the night by moving around regularly. I did have pain but was able to work through it. Where ddoes this reserve of energy come from in a time of need. If I can do all I did in the last 14 hours why can't I find that energy and use it to improve my life generally. This is a mystery to me. Any thoughts.
Brain is not functioning. I am having to check and rewrite every second word. I give up for now.
Brend
Firstly may I say I am so pleased that your wife got a diagnosis, albeit not a very pleasant one. I hope she continues to do well. Secondly, please do your best to rest now. I know this is difficult, but do try.
Waiting for so long in A&E itself is so stressful. You know, it is amazing how we find this kind of strength when a loved one needs our help. We seem to go into overdrive. You read quite true stories of people moving cars physically on their own, and running as though in a race when normally their strength is so little. I think it is an inner force that gets our adrenaline going with such a rocket, that we can and do anything for the time it is required.
When someone perceives a life-threatening situation, epinephrine (adrenaline)is automatically released into the bloodstream (for more energy) and alters our body’s system. Our bronchial passages dilate (pumping in more oxygen) our heart rate increases (giving us more endurance), our pupils dilate (helping fine focus, but causing tunnel vision) auditory exclusion and Tachy-psyche occurs (the misperception of the passage of time).
Your whole body goes onto alert and the flight or fight syndrome comes into play. You needed to fight and your body responded to the situation. In our "normal" daily lives, this situation thankfully doesn't come into play so our bodies and minds don't gear themselves up to do this all of the time. Our minds and bodies would burn out in such a short time if we had to live day by day like this. You had one aim and your goal was to "save" your wife, and your body responded to your mind and did just this.
Gosh, I have gone a bit deep, but I find this type of thing very interesting. I myself think it is a truly physical and mental reaction, but I do know others who have a religious faith believe that it comes from their God and their beliefs. Whatever way you look at it, it does happen and thank goodness it does in times of such stress and trouble.
The thing now though brend is that your body will really stop itself in its tracks and say "hey, what happened there". Try to take a warm bath and relax and go to to bed, even if not to sleep, to rest your body completely and also your mind. I hope that you will not suffer too much from the after effects of this, and that you do get time to take it a bit easy. Regards to you and your wife.
Plese take care.
goldenwings
__________________
I am not a medical doctor, I only speak from my own experience of the illnesses I discuss here.
Last edited by goldenwings; 09-22-2005 at 11:45 AM.
brend,
the body human is a wonderous magical machine. give your dear c.a. a hug from this lady on the lake. how can we be of service to both of you?
good explanation golden. we have so many amazing chemical reactions in our bodies.
brend old man you may or may not pay physically for the night. it is always a crap shoot with fm.
peace,
bluelakelady
Thanks Golden and Blue. It is now 3.50 pm and I went to bed but could not sleep. Adrenelin still pumping. CA is doing fine and so am I.
I plan to go to the leisure centre this evening and not swim, just relax.and hopefully an early night.
I have re-read my post and I cannot believe the amount of typos and that is after me doing many corrections. I must have been out of it this morning.
Thanks for the support.
Brend
Brend, I am glad to hear your C.A. is doing better. When someone we love has a health problem that needs immediate attention our bodies say hang the fibro and the old adrenaline kicks in. Your job now will be to not let yourself crash and fibro to take over. I have had that adrenaline crash and it is not fun. Please try to relax and be gentle to yourself and give your C.A. my best. I am sending a soft gentle evening to both of you.
So sorry to hear about your ordeal and am glad your wife will get better. I understand about how you went into hyperdrive due to her crisis. When my son was sick this summer, I had to drive nearly 500 miles, leaving at 3:30 pm, got there at 10 pm, rushed him to the hospital and then was up for another 48 hours without sleep. I went from sleeping on Saturday night to not sleeping again until Tuesday night. I was wide awake and able to function. It was afterward that my body crashed, however, please take the advise and get those muscles relaxed (I used those self-heating pads) and allowed myself to sleep whenever possible over the next few weeks.
You need to protect yourself now that the crisis is over and recoup your energy.
So glad that your better half is ok.... Fibo is a tough one to have, but during a crisis we tend to be amazing. After that we aren't worth anything, but we do make it when needed. Hang in there.
UPDATE.
It is 9.25 am and I slept for 6 hours. I dont feel like I slept at all. CA is doing well. She had physio yesterday and feels the benefit this morning. I am in work and have arranged an easy day for myself and then I have the weekend to recover. Again thanks for all the support, I really needed it over the past few days. It amazes me how the fibro family on this board can be so helpful and supportive. Think about it, we do not know each other in the normal sense but yet we are there for each other. We can open up and say things we cannot say to other people because other people just do not know what we are on about.
Thanks friends.
Brend
we know each other more deeply here than some of us know the people we see face to face. there is a freedom here that all of us realize is very special and unique. this spot is like a safety net. we weave with our words the fabric of the net. we are the site. the computer and the good people who commit to keeping this place here are the hooks that hold our net to the poles. we are a symbiotic created organism of love and compassion.
pretty cool.
peace,
bluelakelady
Fibo is a tough one to have, but during a crisis we tend to be amazing. After that we aren't worth anything, but we do make it when needed. Hang in there.
