Original Photo Credit: Flickr
As I type this, I am at my desk, sitting ramrod straight. I am trying to not make any quick, jerky movements, as I don’t want to aggravate Labyrinthitis that is currently affecting my inner ear. Or ears. It might be one or both. Thanks to a savvy ER doctor, I’m on two separate medications to treat the two horrible symptoms I am feeling - nausea and vertigo/dizziness. Apparently, Labyrinthitis is brought on by a virus or bacteria. Who knows what the heck I was exposed to that brought on this awful irritation and swelling of my inner ear?
The last time the stress monster seized me with ridiculously painful and unknown symptoms was during the four month move from San Diego to Pennsylvania to Maine to Hawaii. During a particularly long drive from Pennsylvania to Maine to collect my husband, I was afflicted with God-awful headaches and an odd rash on my face. I didn’t know what in the heck it was. I went to the doctor and found out that it was the Shingles, which is such a stupid, pedestrian, innocuous name for such the horrible bought of headaches and rashes it delivers. Shingles are closely related to Chicken Pox (which I suffered through during my childhood). Narcotics helped with the pain. Just in case you were curious, stress is a contributing factor for Shingles.
I got pills to numb me; they didn’t work. I had wine to calm my nerves; that didn’t work, either. Finally, I succumbed to the need to speak to a psychologist regarding my grief. The talks were not helpful, though, as I did not feel like I was divesting myself of a secret pain; I’d made my unhealing disrepair well known. My friends and family knew and felt my devastation and commiserated with me. My husband was wonderful, too, even grieving as he was. Finally, I was over the farce of speaking to the psychologist. I politely thanked her, but told her that I would no longer need her services. She politely disputed my decision, but I stayed on the course I’d set for myself.
Only two days after speaking to the psychologist did the funniest thing happen. My hives stopped. The chest pains reduced a bit.
Online literature suggests that time and talk are good cures for stress. Shingles, Labyrinthitis, and hives and chest pains are only cured by time, too. Perhaps my long term prescription for stress is time; time to know that pain will come, and time to know that the painful things will go away, too.
Many Kind Regards,
Cyndia
Cyndia is combatting stress. Read here how Editor-in-Chief, Katie, copes with her ADD.