Headaches are a huge part of FTD. I seem to have them everyday and everyone I talk to who has FTD also has a headache problem. When I have a headache, the worse the headache, the worse my FTD. My brain just doesn't seem to function as well. I have more difficulty speaking. I get frustrated more easily, as well as more confused. My walking problems are worse when I have a headache. Then, the worse my symptoms get, the more my head hurts. So, is the FTD making my headache worse or is my headache making my FTD worse. And, the answer is... Yes. On both counts, a definite yes and a definite vicious cycle.
It is the same with most any illness. If you get a cold and feel miserable, can you work or function as well as you usually do? Probably not. If you break a leg, same question. Does the pain and inconvenience not reduce what you can do and your attitude toward everything and everyone? I know that when I had a broken ankle about 15 years ago, it impacted me immensely. Most everything I normally do was impacted. I would go to get dressed only to find that the outfit I had pulled together wasn't going to work because it wouldn't fit over my cast. I couldn't carry the laundry basket up and down the stairs. I couldn't walk any distance at all. I could hobble around the house and go where I absolutely had to, but that was about it. If I over-used my leg, I would pay for it with pain and agony.
I think you can get the picture I am trying to paint. Any extra drain on the body causes stress, physical, emotional, mental or a combination of all of them. I can guarantee you that this is true with FTD because I experience it constantly.
This week, I developed gout in my right foot. I have had minor flare ups of gout in the past, but I would eat a bag of dried cherries and increase my water consumption and it would be gone in a day or two. There was never any inflammation or swelling, just a nagging pain. Not this time, this time it is all of it... serious pain, bright redness and my big toe and most of the foot is swollen to twice its usual size. I never understood when people with gout would complain how bad it was. I thought all cases were as mild as my previous ones. To all those people, I apologize!
I have been behaving. I have been staying off my feet, elevating my foot, applying ice every few hours, taking ibuprofen, all that good stuff. I admit that following directions has helped immensely. I have also done the usual bag of cherries and lots of water. I hope you are really feeling sorry for me by now, because that makes me feel a little better.
Just like any illness, or the chronic headaches, the gout has affected me in more ways than I would have thought. I have been a total grouch and it can't be really pleasant to be around me. (God bless the caregivers who have to put up with someone with FTD) A lot of FTD problems are brought on or worsened by frustration which makes the FTD symptoms worse, which makes the frustration grow and it goes on and on.
With my foot is so much pain, I can't walk around much at all and when I do, ouch. I am staying off my feet, so I am set up on the couch with my foot up on the footstool topped with pillows. I have stuff all around me and on my lap. Getting up is a real inconvenience. My brain doesn't remember that my foot is propped up and there is stuff on my lap. I just kind of stand up and everything goes where it wants to. I get up and do whatever it was that prompted me to get up. Then I get back to my cocoon spot and have to figure out what to do with all the stuff. It is all so frustrating and brings out my downright meanness. The frustration makes my head hurt more. The headache makes it harder for me to get up and down because, as I said above, the headaches cause frustration which makes my FTD symptoms work.
So I should stay where I am and ask my husband to wait on me. I should only get up to go to the bathroom and go to bed. The problem with this plan is that the more frustrated I get, the less I can communicate. My words get all garbled up and I can't come up with the words or explanation for what I want. This leads to more frustration, which leads to my head hurting more. It also fails to remind me what a mess I make by getting up.
Okay, I will stop with the never ending cycle. I think you get the idea. It all feeds off each other and the FTD continually rears its ugly head. It also means that you do not want to come visit me for a couple days. That is, if you don't want me to try to bite off your head. Actually, that is probably not true. You don't have to worry about me attacking, I would have to get up off the couch and it's too frustrating to do.
The good thing is, gout kind of takes care of itself if you behave and follow orders. It is usually gone in a week or so. Next week, when I blog, I should be able to focus and make more sense.
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