Chronic Rants

While a lot of folks are venturing out into the world again, I am mostly staying in my apartment. During the hot days of summer I generally stay indoors anyway, since the humidity and heat trigger my symptoms. This year, with no other indoor places as an alternative, I am at home. And I am surprised at the impact it is having (and not having) on my health.

It became clear over the years that too much activity would lead to more fatigue, more pain, more gastrointestinal symptoms, and more random symptoms, but I could never be sure what constituted “too much” activity. I knew that resting helped, but how much rest was needed? More than that, I never knew if an increase in symptoms was from “too much” activity or from something else.

Then there was the food angle. If I had diarrhea, for example, was it from something I ate, “too much” activity, the weather, or something else? Even if I ate my own food, when I was out of the house I would wonder if I could have gotten gluten cross-contamination somehow. What if I ate food made by someone else? Would that be safe?

With so many variables eliminated, it is fascinating to see what remains. Aside from a couple of carefully chosen convenience foods (mmm, gluten-free frozen pizza!) I have eaten an item made by someone else only once in the past 5+ months: a birthday cake. My mother made it, and I trust her to make sure it is gluten-free, corn-free, and free of any cross-contamination. I have not eaten at a restaurant or even gotten takeout. My avoidance of takeout is partly from Covid concerns, partly from convenience (there aren’t many places near me with food I can eat anyway), and largely because I am enjoying the safety of eating my own food. Yes, I’m tired of constantly cooking and constantly washing dishes, but I love the confidence that my food is safe.

Of course, it’s not all easy peasy. Twice I was about to eat frozen vegetables when I realized they weren’t my usual brand (the downside of having someone else do my grocery shopping.) I checked the bag and each time, there was a risk of cross-contamination. Yikes! I am so thankful that I caught them both in time.

For the most part I have felt pretty good. That tells me a lot about the impact of activity level on my health. I was especially aware of this through mid-June. I had almost no pain aside from the predictable pain that came from not attending physical therapy. Then the weather shifted. I am so incredibly thankful to live in an apartment with central air conditioning. None of my previous apartments had it, and when I moved several years ago, I made it a priority. I am especially grateful for that now that I am in isolation. In previous summers, when my window units weren’t sufficient, I would sit at the library, exercise by walking around a craft store, or spend several days at my parents’ house, enjoying their company and their air conditioning. With none of those as acceptable options now, I am stuck at home. Still, even with the door closed and the air conditioning on, the weather seems to be impacting me. And when I do venture out to check the mail or take a short walk, I feel it even more.

I am glad that, as I wrote last month, I am less heat intolerant now than I used to be. Still, “less than before” still doesn’t mean I can handle it well. For two weeks I barely left my apartment. It wasn’t good for me physically or emotionally, but the alternative seemed worse. Even while staying indoors I had increased fatigue (perhaps from the lack of outdoor movement? but probably not), increased joint pain (ditto? but probably not), increased inflammation, and increased gastrointestinal symptoms. The inflammation is bad. My knees are so swollen that my knee braces barely fit. My physical therapist (the one person I get within 10 feet of) put her hands on my neck and shoulders and instantly said that she felt the inflammation. This is not good.

Two weeks ago I received test results: I am hypothyroid. Again. I have had to adjust my medication many times over the years, sometimes in the summer and sometimes in the winter. However, this time I can rule out a lot of factors that could be impacting my thyroid. After all, not a lot else is going on!

Yesterday I felt lousy. I had diarrhea followed by fatigue. It was easy to cancel my “plans” for the rest of the day, which consisted of writing a blog post here, taking a walk, doing my physical therapy, and doing some organizing around the apartment. Instead, I watched tv and crocheted. It was relaxing and it helped. Normally I might have thought I had done “too much” that day, or wondered about something that I ate outside of my home. Instead, I could narrow the culprit down to two things: the weather and what I ate. I had eaten ice cream after lunch, which is usually fine, but I’ve had a lot of dairy lately and maybe it was just too much. And right before lunch I had felt hot on my way home from my walk. The humidity was bothering me, which is never a good sign. And then I ate immediately after I got home because I had a therapy appointment online that I needed to be ready for. Oops. I’m pretty sure those two things combined were the problem. It was good to at least have a reasonable guess as to the cause of the problem, and then to be able to easily rest afterwards.

The other day I met up with a friend. We took a walk, sat and chatted, walked some more, and went home. We kept our distance and wore masks. We were safe. But part way through the visit I felt ill, and I know 100% it was from the heat. On a cooler day I had met up with my parents. We didn’t walk as much and just sat. I felt fine afterwards, just tired. I’m not used to even small amounts of socializing any more. The difference was definitely the weather.

So what’s my point? My point is that I am getting a better understanding of how the many different variables of a “typical” day impact my life. I can figure out what makes me feel ill, and what doesn’t have an impact or even makes me feel better. The goal for me will be to use this information when, one day, I am able to go out and do things again. I will need to find a balance. Avoiding symptoms 100% is obviously not possible; if I can’t do it now, then I’ll probably never be able to do it. I also don’t want to cut off the rest of my life in order to sit at home and hide from my symptoms. Still, my hope is that I will get a better sense of where the balance lays, so that I will be able to focus more on the things that are worth the increased pain and other symptoms, and avoid the ones that aren’t.

I have also learned how big of a difference telehealth makes for me, and will advocate for its continuation. Several of my doctors have already said that they plan to continue with it, so I will need my insurance to cover it. Not having to drive for an hour to sit in a waiting room before finally seeing my doctor for a 15 minute conversation that involves no physical examination is waste of everyone’s resources, and I will be glad to see that end. I want to reserve my appointment-related energy for the appointments where attending in person actually matters.

With isolation far from over, I know that I will learn many more lessons. These are an excellent start, though, and I am glad that there will be at least one positive thing to come out of all of this for me.

What about you? How has your health been during isolation? Are you learning anything new or clarifying previous assumptions? Please share!