In early November, I experienced a setback to my "New me" transformation in the form of Benign Positional Vertigo (BPV.) Now, if you have ever experienced this occurrence, you know it feels anything but benign!
While performing yoga that morning, as I rolled over to open the pectorals, the room did a huge 360! I stopped, wondering what the heck happened, and the spins just kept coming. I struggled to sit up and called for my husband, sleeping upstairs. I began to feel tension up my neck and numbness in my face on one side. My fear was I was having a stroke. My husband called 911 and EMS arrived within minutes. As I tried to stand, waves of nausea and dry heaves forced me to sit again.
A ride to the hospital, several hours of tests including EKG, MRI, and blood work, rendered the BPV diagnosis along with anti nausea meds and something for motion sickness. The ER doc made it sound rather harmless and assured me I would be back to normal within a few days.
That was not the case...
A follow up trip to my doctor the next day affirmed that this might not pass quickly. She had me perform coordination tests in her office, of which I failed miserably. I had visions of "Cops" and field sobriety tests. The doctor told me to come back if the symptoms had not improved in a month, and told me stay in bed like I had the flu for the next several days.
For at least a week, I could not walk without feeling as if I would fall down. It was as if my head was not attached to my body (very disorienting!) I had to think about the movements as I made them. Any sudden turns of my head, shifting of my focus from near to far, or vice verse, triggered disorientation and that falling down feeling again.
The next few weeks were better. I returned to work and made it through best I could. Driving made me nauseated, and exercise triggered vertigo. I was missing my yoga and the barefoot running I had started before this happened. And I had to pay more attention to what I was eating, without the exercise to burn calories.
It has now been six weeks and I have experienced several days of feeling mostly normal. The good news is I have maintained the weight loss from pre-vertigo. The challenge is easing back into a daily routine of exercise. And at the holidays! I am committed to living a healthy, active life, so holidays or no holidays, I'm back!
Today I resume my food diary and will perform at least 20 minutes of exercise. The rain makes it difficult to walk or run, although if Kyle can run barefoot in the rain, so can I! And I will adjust my projected weight loss goal to reflect the time out of commission. It's kind of like a do-over without starting back at the beginning!
I know I am not alone in experiencing a setback while making lifestyle changes. We all have our challenges. This experience rocked me to my core, made me appreciate my sense of balance. And I am truly grateful to be healing. Isn't the human body amazing?
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