Zero Energy Increase

I had to miss my second-to-last boot camp session on Wednesday as I was sick. I wasn’t quite normal person sick, and not quite having a spell – somewhere in the middle! Major headache, loud tinnitus, a bit nauseous, and just generally crummy. I am recovering, but still not feeling great two days later. Sigh.

I was thinking while home feeling unwell, how despite my regular workouts and generally healthy eating, I haven’t been feeling any increase in energy. This is one thing that I long for, and it seems although despite getting lots of sleep, drinking lots of water, eating well and working out, my energy levels just do not increase. This may be due to my low blood pressure level, but when I do have it measured, it is never so far below normal as to cause concern. I have at various times lowered the dose of my diuretic in the hopes that it would affect my blood pressure less, leading to higher level of energy, but it did not make a difference in my energy levels.

The other factor that makes us Meniere’s folks tired it the extra effort required to keep us steady and focused all day. Spells knock us out, and personally I can (and have!) slept for up to 18 hours at a time when I have or am recovering from a spell. I have read that this is because our brains have to work so much harder to keep us going when we’re sick – even if it’s just getting up to stumble to the bathroom to throw-up, we have to work really hard just to make it there! It makes sense to me that this happens on a day-to-day basis as well – the seemingly small bit of effort that it takes to ignore the tinnitus, re-celebrate if I’m feeling dizzy, keep my eyes focused if I’m feeling dizzy (extra challenging when you already wear glasses with a -8.5 prescription!), fight the brain fog and basically act ‘normal’ even if I’m not feeling normal, is sure to add up over the course of a day. I’m tired just thinking about it!

I will continue my search for a good energy solution. I am going for a ‘BodyTalk’ session in the next couple of weeks, and while I approach most alternative medicine with what I believe to be a healthy dose of skepticism, I look forward to new possibilities for treatment and management of my condition, as well as anything that can help make my life better, even in a small way. For today, that will be a glass of wine after work, and maybe some pizza for dinner! Aka – being thankful for the small things!