Several Days of Self Care

Aka Why Saying "Don't Worry About It" Doesn't Work Being still is not my strong point. I'm not the kind of person that can sit on a sofa all day: I always have to be doing something. My life is a plethora of activity. Sunday is a good example. I got up, had coffee, went to a clothes sale, went to a charity shop and bought fabric, picked up some white spirit on the way home. Got home, painted a few things, varnished another, reupholstered a seat. Next thing I know it's 3pm. Made bread, cooked dinner, ate dinner, did another layer of painting, wrote a blog post, did a set of exercises from an app on my phone, had a bath, went to bed. If I am sat down with no activity I get fidgety and antsy. I have this time, I need to use it. I need to make something with it. I like reading and the odd video game but because I'm not creating something, they fall by the wayside whilst I pour my energy into arts and crafts. I enjoy doing these things - they're fun, and...

Aka How I Got Into This Mess in the First Place I started Several Days of Self Care because, as mentioned in the previous post, I was signed off sick from work for a week or so (hence several instead of seven ). As Julie Andrews' saccharine nun says in The Sound of Music, let's start at the very beginning. On 30 November 2018 I came back from my honeymoon. Feeling incredibly dizzy in the kitchen as I was about to cook dinner, I thought I was jet-lagged and went to bed. The dizziness however, persisted. After speaking to the audiologists we have at work and a trip to the doctor's, I was diagnosed with Benign Paroxysmal Positioning Vertigo (BPPV), a condition where crystals in the inner ear mess about with the balance system. I was told it would clear up within two weeks. It did not and I returned to the GP where I had the Dix-Hallpike manoeuvre performed (not as fancy as it sounds, you get pulled backwards over a bench and they look to see if your eyes are twitching), ...

Aka Things I'm Doing to Stop Myself Becoming a Sad Potato Yesterday I was signed off work with stress and anxiety. It's been brewing for a while and, whilst I feel guilty about not being there with my colleagues, it's probably the right thing to have done. Back in December of 2018 I was referred to the hospital as they suspect I have Meniere's Disease - a rare chronic illness that brings on bouts of vertigo and can lead to profound hearing loss in the affected ear. I won't go in to details here as I plan on leaving it for another post, but having the fear associated with that is where a lot of my anxiety and worries have come from. Alongside this, my hair has been falling out and I was diagnosed with alopecia areata, and I'm also going to have my bloods taken as well as my doctor wants to rule out any possibility of a thyroid condition. When I first had the Meniere's referral, and finding out it would take so long, I found myself despairing. Attacks happ...