Wednesday, January 23, 2013
More About Triggers
I saw this article on WebMD this evening. Sometimes their stuff is good and sometimes it is maddeningly paltry, containing no real substance to support some sensational headline. Those of you who follow my blog know I am not sold on there being reliable triggers for Meniere's symptoms based on my own personal experience anyway. Any Meniere's specialist worth his salt, however, will tell you to follow a diet, well, low in salt because it is thought to increase fluid in the inner ear and lead to symptoms. I plan to research the literature a bit to see how strong the evidence for this is because I've read it may actually be quite weak. Regardless, for the first two years after being diagnosed with Meniere's, I restricted my sodium intake religiously. In addition to those being the worst years of vertigo for me, trying to avoid sodium in my food certainly added to my overall poor quality of life during that time. This article touches on this very subject. Enjoy!
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I just saw a doctor who basically told me if a trigger is a trigger it is always a trigger. Which is what I have been saying for 15 years now. If I can eat salt to my heart's content for three years and it doesn't bother me but one night I eat a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and wake up the next morning in the throes of an episode -- the pizza was just coincidental. In a way this has been very freeing to me. The past few weeks have been a maddening blur of trying to figure out "what I did" to bring on this latest episode. A couple of days ago I quit searching. And you know what? I feel better. Also a coincidence perhaps, but at least it's in the right direction. I had a glass of wine last week and woke up feeling worse. I had a glass of wine last night and work up feeling great. This teaches me that there is absolutely no connection between my diet and my MM. Now, if I eat better, it's because it's good for me overall. Not because I'm in some mad pursuit of "the cure." Accepting that I am going to get worse has also been freeing. It has helped me to plan next steps and envision a full life even in the shadow of this wretched disease.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I've been trying to say. Very well said!! Obviously, you're a professional. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAcceptance of where we are at any given moment is freeing, you're so right. It doesn't mean we stop trying to manage our symptoms, it just syncs us with reality instead of wasting precious energy on wishing for something that isn't right now.