MS Has Got Me Going In Circles

MS Has Got Me Going In Circles

Another day, another symptom, oh...wait, an increase of a symptom.  There is a litany of symptoms that accompany MS.  There is crippling fatigue, vision problems, memory and concentration problems, balance problems, sleeping problems, incontinence problems, numbness and tingling, well you get my drift.  For as many symptoms that are present with MS, there is a drug to assist in either alleviating it, or at least living with it.  On any given day I deal with many or all of these symptoms. Today, it is vertigo.

Dizziness is a common symptom of MS. People with MS may feel off balance or lightheaded. Much less often, we have the sensation that our  surroundings are spinning, this is a condition known as vertigo. Today, I have spinning. I always fear the feeling of dizziness or vertigo.  It makes me nauseous most of the time and unfortunately, after years of dealing with this disease it normally is a precursor to a relapse.  A medication that I am prescribed for vertigo is Atarax.  Atarax can be prescribed in place of Antivert. These drugs reduce the histamine levels in the central nervous system. It is also used to reduce anxiety, but used for neurology patients to reduce the symptoms of vertigo and reduce nausea.  Well...today all the medication that I am taking is not diminishing the nausea or this vertigo.

I, like any other human being have things to do throughout the day. Just because I am no longer able to work, does not mean I sit and watch soap operas all day.  My children are with me throughout the day for school. And no, I do not homeschool them. They attend school online, and their classroom is wherever there is a computer. Vertigo does not care that I have a home to take care of, children to assist in school and a wife and mother to be.  It is, debilitating.  Besides being nauseated, I do not like the feeling of the room spinning.  I hear well intended advice of resting, lying down to combat the vertigo.  This unfortunately does little to alleviate the symptoms of vertigo where literally everything seems to be spinning including the bed you lie in.

As I "rest" I heard an oldie but goodie this morning. The beautiful ballad of "You Got Me Going In Circles", song by the group, Friends of Distinction.  When I heard the song as I was trying to get out of bed and stop my spinning world, I thought, "How appropriate!" MS does many things, robs us of many things, and today...it has me going in circles