Discovering Body Logic study group

Discussion in 'Your Living Room' started by oaktree8, Jan 1, 2008.

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  1. deercharmer1

    deercharmer1 Somewhere in the forest....

    Amen to that, kass.....
     
  2. Titus

    Titus New Member

    Sarita, Slowing down to me feels two different ways, depending on my brain chemistry. When I'm having a good day, slowing down feels relaxing. It looks like a good place to be and I want to stay there.

    When I'm having a bad day, slowing down makes me anxious and worried. I'm not sure but I think I get the same type of relief in charging ahead as cutters do when they hurt themselves. Rushing relieves tension and replaces my racing mind with something physical. I guess the replacement therapy would be to work out. I've tried doing the opposite: yoga, tai chi, meditation. During a bad day doing something like that is pure torture. As it is now, there are only a few things I can tolerate in the way of working out....walking and stretching. Everything else gets my herniated disks or the lack of balance gets in the way. I'm hoping all that will change as I discover more and more about my body and listen to the clues....and take my body's advice.

    I've been on medicine for my brain since March 2003 and it helps tremendously. My highs aren't as high and my lows are nowhere as low....not even close. But I think what is happening is when I'm hypomanic I agree to take on all these duties and then I'm stuck. Not really.....I can change it. But it's been going on so long that it'll take work.

    Kathy, thank you for your kind comments and support. I made a decision when I was hospitalized and that was to share my experience so that others experiencing this condition will not feel alone and will believe they can get help and function once again. Both times I was in the hospital I was hopeless. I truly believed I would never get well, no matter what everyone else was telling me. It was so scary and I felt so alone. But I did improve and I did get better. The counselors at work send students to me :D It's a blessing to be able to listen to and encourage someone who doesn't think they have a way out or things are as good as they get.

    So....onward DBLrs! What are your bodies telling you tonight? Mine is telling me to go to bed early and work on my neck trigger points.

    Oh, last year I splurged and bought an organic mattress that was custom made for people with fibromyalgia. They took my measurements, weight, height and designed it for total comfort. It really is a luxury to sleep in. They've since gone out of business through a merger.
     
  3. pardonme

    pardonme Guest

  4. Goomeri Spinner

    Goomeri Spinner New Member

    Well Kim it ain't night here yet ;D but my body is telling me to STOP torturing it :D just like it did last night when I just had to get horizontal :eek: and almost immediately, it went to sleep....that was at 8.30PM and I NEVER go to bed that early ::) I slept until 8AM today with a only a few wakies throughout to re-adjust the bods position. I'm pretty sure it was also telling me to work on just some of the trigger points but the Zzzzzzzzzz's came first...LOL. I hope you have a great nights sleep darlin :-* and ain't this thread just wonderful.

    ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D I'm trying Kass :-* And yes, I do have access to a swimming pool...just down the road actually but I have to walk the "long" way round cause I can't handle the steep hill to get to it from my place. I actually have a season pass...a friend and I usually swim 3 times a week (she picks me up in her car) but that has gone by the by at the present time cause of the rain and its been a bit cool (I'm a wuss when it comes to cold water ::) ) I swim with a snorkle and goggles cause I can't turn my head to breathe...makes me too dizzy...I have gotten used to the pool floor undulating :eek: and the bad depth perception I have. I really have missed it and we hope to start again this Sunday. btw I do know how to use a noodle :D

    DUH....I completely forgot about my guest rooms and checking in them for legs up correct height...one is ideal ::) and I'm gonna try later today, that is if my bod will let me. I had a bit of a partial fall yesterday (my bloody drop attacks :mad:) and hurt my back twisting to get a hold of something...just muscular my bod is telling me and the hot packs and Panadol (tylenol for you up there ;) ) are helping.

    I am like Milo in that I have NO idea where to start...just by doing a few things that Lee has suggested in her book, like posture (also like Milo I am "pulling up" into correct posture and that has put my muscles into revolt) I cannot believe how hard it is to just get my ears over my shoulders :eek: but I must admit to loving the "pain" of pressing into my trigger points (must be a bit of a masochist :D)...but ALL my upper musles appear to be one bloody trigger point :-\

    I have been working on my strategies and think that posture, trigger points and diet are where my body is telling me to get going and if nothing else I WILL get the legs up posture exercise going, as Lee suggests...in the couple of minutes I was able to do it the other day I certainly felt my body (or at least my shoulders) "sink" into the floor and it was wonderful.

    OK, after that long yak ::) onto Chapter 2.

    Like Lee, my faulty assumptions about my health have had me thinking that "I just have to learn live with it" and I have been doing this virtually all my life. I was very resistant to change but the more I read about Lee's approach (and that was before I got the book) the more I realised that just maybe I could improve my quality of life MYSELF. Her book has confirmed that to me. I can identify and address things in my control, I will not let my mind decieve me any more.

    After being in health care as an RN for so long I know what Lee means about the lack of a "holistic" approach to health care. This IS NOT how it is meant to be...ALL students, no matter what discipline, are taught that one must approach health from the holistic view, but once they become practictioners that appears to go out the window :mad: I am a bit different in that my MM is not idiopathic, but immune mediated though this was only "discovered" 8 years ago (OMG is it really that long, seems like yesterday....how times flies as one gets older :D ) It doesn't really matter cause the same things happen and my body has been trying to tell me this with numerous health clues....I just refused to listen, and just continued to force my body to cope and adjust. It will be bloody hard cause my clues have turned into real symptoms and the damge I have is permanent, but, if I can get even a little bit more "normal" (for want of a better word) function, I will be over the moon.

    I have a bit of trouble here in that if I let my body dictate my choices instead of rationalising with it I will be in bed nearly 24 hours a day :eek: ::) cause that is what my boy tells me ALL the bloody time. It is totally exhausting for me to be upright or participate in life (being upright is a mind issue with me, not natural, I have to "think" about it all the time). I had to force my body through VRT so I could at least be upright (a poor version of upright I now realise) and not end up in a nursing home at the age of 53 and the same thing is happening now...I really want to "do" what Lee is suggesting but in order to do anything my mind HAS to to tell my body to get with it ::) Does that make sense or am I still making faulty assumptions? Ever since I got Lee's book I have been "forcing" my body to do what it don't want to do and I am paying for it big time with increased balance issues, plus the worst headache and muscle pains I can ever remember having....and I have hardly done anything :mad: cept the mundane things like my sitting at the puter, trying to keep my ears over my shoulders, legs up and assess the body clues, the tensions that are there.

    I'm a whimp ain't I ::) :D but I'm not sure what to do.

    Maggie

    ps you beat me to it Lee.....how did you do it?????????????????????

    edit: ooops, not Lee but Dianne :-[
     
  5. milo

    milo New Member

    Hi, my neck is killing me right now. It's not a full scale muscle explosion but it's pretty tight. Most of the muscles are tight and that one (don't know which or what it's called) is downright painfull. My problem is that I don't have a baseline. I don't know what's "normal" as far as how they should feel when looking for tp's. I'm going to find a massage therapist that can at least start me on the right path.
     
  6. SpinininOhio

    SpinininOhio New Member

    Diane, very wise, of course.

    I did not go through vestibular rehab, but rehab to 'restore normal spinal/cervical biomechanics'. The doctor prescribed this because while not dizzy, I still had milli-second type misgivings when functioning - very very brief spinning, imbalance, felt like my body was going too far when I would turn or turn my head et cetera. He said that I no longer 'trusted my brain and my inner ear' (same word - trust - same concept). He sent me to rehab to learn to trust my brain again. It seems to have worked.

    Spininin
     
  7. Mnme

    Mnme Guest

    Yes, that is the heart of the problem. I agree with you Mary, very wise Diane.

    How do you trust a body that you believe has let you down...

    That trust occurred for me in an instant: my 'turning point'. Before that night, I saw Menieres as an external, evil thing that had invaded and overwhelmed my weak body. But that night I realized it wasn't like that at all. In fact, quite the opposite. My body had been fighting for me for decades. 'I' let it down.

    I remember hearing a wonderful poem by Gardenfish describing Menieres as the 'beast'. In beautiful prose, Paul captured how I felt prior to that Tuesday evening. But by morning, I realised that all those terrible symptoms weren't the 'beast' at all, they were responses from my own body ... overwhelmed by being ignored for so long. Deep down I knew that I was driving myself way too hard. Yet still I would push and push and push. My body forced me to stop and listen.

    Kim, like you, I want to share with people how much is possible from such a low point. Your answers to Intrepid's questions were excellent. You provided an insight into how it feels on different days. Thank you for your honesty.

    Kass, you are so right that we need to do our best to lay aside ego as a part of a supportive group. That can be a hard thing to do!

    Maggie, I'll bet you were quite some nurse! Very practical and helping people to laugh again. I imagine you saw some amazing examples of people fighting through impossible situations. Do you have a story that sticks in your mind? Your biggest task will be learning to trust again and working through all the layers of suffering that will have accumulated. But there is no rush. In time you'll work out the difference between symptoms and health clues. You'll know what to ignore and what to focus on.

    Milo, a good massage therapist will be a nice kickstart. See if they can set you some 'homework' to do every day so you can aim for lasting results.

    I have to say, we have a wonderful group of people here. Thanks everyone.
    Anyone thinking of joining us, the more the merrier!

    Lee.
     
  8. Mnme

    Mnme Guest

    It's impossible to know exactly what we're on about without it (although the thread can still be thought provoking). Your book should arrive any day now. :)
     
  9. Titus

    Titus New Member

    OK....today I asked another professor to take over a student club that takes several hours or more per week out of my time. The VP was concerned the Club would not run efficiently and successfully without me ::) But I stood my ground and told her I was spread too thin and that I would have to cut back on more things during the coming year. So, I'm going to be transitioning the new faculty advisor in and pulling back.....should be done with it by May ;D
     
  10. oaktree8

    oaktree8 New Member

    Hi everyone

    What resonates for me in chapter 2 is where Lee talks about a conflict between the body and the mind, how pushing the body to its limits is the mind taking full control. I've struggled with this problem for years and years--I tend to push my limits, and I can't seem to stop this pattern.

    Recently I've been feeling much better, almost like my old self, so what did I do with all that precious energy? I stayed up too late, ate questionable foods, stopped doing the legs up exercise for a couple of days, went out shopping, did too much, basically. I spent all that energy and more, so that today I didn't feel well at all. Tonight I'm a bit better, because of doing a little stretching, the legs up exercise and working trigger points a little. (It's amazing to me what a difference it makes!)

    I'm so frustrated--why am I going back to these old self-destructive habits? Why did I start them in the first place? It sounds so simple, this DBL work, but it's not simple. It's the hardest work I've ever done.

    One positive thing--I've caught myself thinking, when I was trying to decide if I had enough energy to go out, "I could do it if I pushed myself." When I heard that, I told my body I wouldn't push it and I stayed home. It's uncomfortable, because I'm tired of staying home and resting all the time, but at the same time it feels good. I'm beginning to listen to my body and do what it says, not what my will says, because my will (my mind) gets me into trouble.

    I learn so much reading this thread....
     
  11. pardonme

    pardonme Guest

  12. milo

    milo New Member

    Good idea Diane, I'll have to find someone to touch. I guess my wife could volunteer ::)
     
  13. oaktree8

    oaktree8 New Member

    Thanks Intrepid and Pardonme for your responses.

    Today I am off, balance wise, and I've been feeling so angry at myself--your messages help me to stop that particular self destructive pattern and feel compassion for myself again. And thanks for framing it in a positive way, as testing--I certainly am learning that DBL works--if you do it!

    A day at a time, right?

    Thanks everyone, as always--
     
  14. Julie

    Julie New Member

    Hi everyone....can't sleep.....thought I would check in and see how everyone is doing. I am enjoying this thread. I am reading DBL as well as Heal Your Headache (thanks to those who suggested these books)!! They seem to compliment each other. I would never have thought trying to live with migraine this past 30 years would cause so much damage. I am looking at them from a completely different perspective now! My body has been trying to tell me something for years and I've just been treating the symptoms, instead of finding ways to treat the cause. Honestly, there wasn't a lot offered

    I am trying massage & trigger point therapy for migraine and tmj. I am also (this will be hard) trying to watch my diet for triggers. It will be interesting to see if reducing my migraines will reduce the mm symtoms. One Dr. dx mm, one said I didn't have mm. Very confusing. From what I've been reading I suspect MAV. or possible combination. :-\

    Julie

    Forgot to add...I can trace the first vertigo attack to viral, so I think that is one piece of the puzzle too.
     
  15. Titus

    Titus New Member

    Hi Julie,

    I have multiple dx, too. I really believe that we will make progress if we're willing to work at it. My doctors (both neurologists) are very curious about my discoveries and are wonderful in that they take as much time as I need to go over things with them. They are truly partners in my health. One is very interested in alternative methods; the other quite conventional but extremely bright and THEY BOTH LISTEN :)
     
  16. Julie

    Julie New Member

    Thanks Kim...I am very lucky to have a family doctor who listens and is open and willing to try different things with me. I just had an MRI and will be seeing my specialist in Feb. He dx mm about 6 years ago. He also said not to let a surgeon near me! Didn't offer any alternatives though. ::) I will be asking him about the migraine & tmj connection. :):)
     
  17. Titus

    Titus New Member

    My initial dizziness was brought on when I suffered trauma to my TMJ. Sorry for being off topic.
     
  18. Julie

    Julie New Member

    I'm not sure why you think your off topic, Kim. I think it's empowering (sp) to know what contributed to that initial dizziness. What I'm reading into DBL is that ignoring your body clues will cause trouble down the road. I was dx with tmj (right jaw) in 91. I basically ignored it, then hit with vertigo and dx with mm in right ear 2000. I'm also just realizing how my migraines and muscle tension have contributed. I've just taken pain killers and went on my merry way looking after everyone else until my body rebelled and completely shut me down.

    I think what I'm saying is DBL & Heal your Headaches is giving myself permission to take the time to listen to my body clues and do what I need to do to heal (without feeling guilty)...a process not easy for me, because it just doesn't feel natural.
     
  19. Mnme

    Mnme Guest

    Yes Julie, battling guilt can be a huge challenge - particularly in a situation like yours where you had to watch your daughter endure so many major surgeries. As a mum, I can only imagine how hard that would be.

    But modelling is the most powerful form of teaching. Our kids learn from watching how we treat others AND ourselves. And we sure want our kids to feel valuable - so we have to model self-care/appreciation to them. Besides, learning how to keep stress at bay helps everyone around us. Calm people are good to be around (can't fake this - though people sure do try!).

    Guilt only exists when we think we are doing something we shouldn't. So once we truly recognize that we help our children by helping ourselves, we remove the guilt. But like you say, it can be a hard lesson to learn.

    Julie your daughter sounds truly inspirational.
    Thanks for sharing so much of yourself with us.

    Lee.
     

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