Re: Clumsy?

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/10/06 10:28:12 AM, bvanOmega@... writes:

> But with one knee on the ground I should have recovered but didn't. It was

> just like I tipped over the rest of the way and that seemed almost in slow

> motion. Other times I have just " tipped " over like a bowling pin.

>

>

I take balancing exercises for older people .

It really helps, I would suggest this for anyone who is prone to falling.

Also exercises on how to get up from the ground and a chair.

Look on the Internet for videos....

Good luck,

Pris

[Guest guest]

Darcy,

I appreciate your responses. I had thought there were 2 types of action. The

fall that was outside I had just moved the door mat, dropped is a few feet out

to blow the leaves from the door. I dropped the mat, and after that I'm not

sure, but I may have turned around too quickly and stepped a few steps, probably

too quickly also. I MAY have started to reach for the blower. It was like I

had stumbled over something. There was nothing there to stumble over, just flat

cement. One knee hit the pavement, That would have been one action. But with

one knee on the ground I should have recovered but didn't. It was just like I

tipped over the rest of the way and that seemed almost in slow motion. Other

times I have just " tipped " over like a bowling pin.

My mom, blind for many years had perfected her falls, and have sure been trying

that with no success. When she started to fall she could make her whole body go

absolutely limp. So she would fall like a wet noodle and that probably

protected her from many a damage.

I don't know how, but I have to if at all possible head this off. My body just

won't take too much more of this.

Betty

Re: [ ] Clumsy?

.

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message -----

From: " Betty " <bvanOmega@...>

> I dropped the mat, and after that I'm not sure, but I may have turned

> around too quickly and stepped a few >steps, probably too quickly also. I

> MAY have started to reach for the blower. It was like I had stumbled

> >over something. There was nothing there to stumble over, just flat

> cement. One knee hit the pavement, That >would have been one action.

> But with one knee on the ground I should have recovered but didn't. It

> was just >like I tipped over the rest of the way and that seemed almost in

> slow motion. Other times I have just " tipped " >over like a bowling pin.

I would have said " like I suddenly had no balance mechanism in my body " for

the sudden tipping over, but I can buy " bowling pin " too. It sounds just

like me. I've always had a tiny problem in tripping over nothing, but since

I got fibro, it's gotten much worse. Sometimes my tipping does seem as if

my body over compensated when I went to take a step forward and goes

sideways more than forward, other times, there is absolutely no sign, I just

go over. The ones where I totally went over and hit the ground (except

backwards, I still have that) decreased since stopping work, that's the only

factor that I can figure out changed.

As for the rest of them, I usually try to walk next to walls and will

periodically put my hand out to steady myself, it almost looks as if I'm

being obsessive compulsive in touching walls, but it's a steadying

mechanism. I'm sorry I don't have a solution on how to get rid of it. My

doctors kinda raised eyebrows at me when I mentioned it to them. The other

" weird " thing I've noticed is I tip to the left when I'm on the computer for

more than a few minutes.

Darcy

[Guest guest]

Betty

wow your fall was a lot more serious than mine, you poor thing.

I hope you rheumie gives you some extra help. Can you move up

the appt.?

Joy

Betty <bvanOmega@...> wrote:

Joy,

I think that would be mortifying. I have fallen 4 times in less than 4 months.

Two sent me to ER and one of the others should have. One I wasn't really hurt.

My husband watches out for me and when he hears a crash band he jumps up so

quickly that he hurts himself. I told him he had better slow down or he won't be

able to help.

I'm not really " stiff " when I am up and around and my movements look normal.

Walking wouldn't give anyone a hint that I am having problems. I can walk at a

normal pace and in a normal manner. The fall that really got the worst of my

fractured my sacrum and for a while after that I didn't walk normal and had to

have help with just about getting up and down. I had to use a cane to walk at

all. Afterwards when I was better I tried to hang onto the cane to see if it

would give me added stability but I end up leaving it somewhere and don't have

it. I don't know how to handle this as I am afraid I will fracture my hip. I got

so angry and upset with him that I feel like I don't want to go to a doctor for

anything. I do have an appointment Tuesday with him so I guess I will. He is the

one that writes my prescriptions and I need some new ones otherwise I'm not sure

I would even go. I like that doctor and he has been my GP for 15 years or so.

The event that made me so mad at him was

not really his fault but his office. But he should be the boss there and

anything that goes wrong he is responsible for. My daughter is a boat captain

and whatever happens is her responsibility even if she wasn't on the boat at the

time. So, he is the Capt.. of his office and therefore I blame him. Grrrr

I don't see my rheumi I until about 3 months from now.

Betty

[Guest guest]

Since I sent that last post I have done some rethinking. I have been so

obsessed with the falls that was tops in this category. At this point I realize

I am clumsy also. I have broken so many cups I won't even use the ones from a

set or any that is special to someone. Dishes in general are getting the worst

of it. A while ago my husband was fixing something that had a tiny spring. He

took it off and handed it to me so that I could see it. That was the end of

that even though I took a good flashlight and looked where I was standing.

That's what prompted my rethinking of this. Yep, I'm clumsy too.

The other thing is I too frequently drop food when I am eating and it lands on

the front of my shirt. Others have pointed this out to me so often it is like

everyone is waiting for the next bit to drop so they can point it out to me.

That really gets to me.

Am I hopeless or what? Do you, or anyone, have any suggestions about this?

What could the rheumie might be able to do? Before this question arose here I

had not considered it to be related.

Betty

Re: [ ] Clumsy?

.

__,_Betty

wow your fall was a lot more serious than mine, you poor thing.

I hope you rheumie gives you some extra help. Can you move up

the appt.?

._,___

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message -----

From: " Betty " <bvanOmega@...>

> The other thing is I too frequently drop food when I am eating and it

> lands on the front of my shirt. Others have pointed this out to me so

> often it is like everyone is waiting for the next bit to drop so they can

> point it out >to me. That really gets to me.

We don't eat at a table, so we are probably leaning back as we eat in our

lazy boy chairs. I use to never drop food on my, while dh use to somewhat

frequently do it. Since developing fibro, I often drop food on myself.

It's gotten to the point, where I often will put my free hand under my fork

as I'm guiding the food to my mouth. I'm pretty sure the cause for this is

tiny tremors in the hand holding the fork, so small you often can't see them

and/or my wrist jumps a bit which is very typical of fibro.

Darcy

[Guest guest]

Some days, it just seems like my muscles, especially my hands and fingers,

just don't get the messages from my brain. I think I've got something, and

it falls from my hand, etc. It's like my hand sends a signal back to the

brain saying it's done something it hasn't! And I don't have a single shirt

that doesn't have food on it, most are stained! As for the falling, I use a

forearm crutch to walk, mainly because I have a shredded meniscus in my left

knee, but it has stopped so many falls I've lost count. I'm terrified of

falling, and won't even take a shower on really bad days unless my hubby is

there to help me. He also grabs me when we're walking if we come to steps

or uneven spots.

I also find myself forgetting the word I need, or the wrong thing comes

out. Like talking with my daughter-in-law about cooking recipes, and saying

" pattern " instead of recipe! Or reversing numbers, like I was dyslexic. At

first I thought it was fibro fog, but hubby found an interesting article on

" chemobrain " . It was about women who have had chemo for breast cancer and

end up with cognitive problems that don't go away when the chemo stops.

Since I've been taking a high dose of MTX for a couple of years now, I have

to wonder if that has anything to do with my cognitive problems. Anybody

else have that experience?

--

Shoreview, MN, until April! brrrr!

South Pasadena, CA

You can see my galleries at http://www.pbase.com/arenared986

[Guest guest]

Much of the posts connected to this subject sounds a lot like me.

I know birthdays do a lot and some of my limitations are due to that, but I

can't blame all on age. Since there are so many saying they have such

happenings that I don't think age could be the total answer.

One reply to mine, sorry I don't know who, asked me about exercise and I did not

answer. I hope it will be seen by that poster. Walking is an ideal exercise

but conditions here almost totally eliminates that. I have an elliptical

exerciser that I use. I cannot do it long enough to be of real benefit to my

cardio system but try to make up for it by doing it several times per day. I

can watch TV from it so that helps. I don't know why and it seems my doctor

doesn't either I get a sharp pain in my groin within in a couple minutes. The

pain is such that I cannot keep going. I have a small stool, lower than most.

I step on/off it and can do that longer than the exerciser. But since the fall

that hurt my sacrum I can only do a limited amount of that. For a couple months

I could not even step on it once. Now I put it in front of the exerciser and

hold on to that. Without that for balance I cannot do it. Also now I do not

step up on anything at all. I have a stool in the kitchen to help with the

higher cabinets but I do not do that now either.

Incidentally, I work 40+ hours per week and that requires me to move around

walking from one area to another.

Betty

Re: [ ] Clumsy?

We don't eat at a table, so we are probably leaning back as we eat in our

lazy boy chairs. I use to never drop food on my, while dh use to somewhat

frequently do it. Since developing fibro, I often drop food on myself.

It's gotten to the point, where I often will put my free hand under my fork

as I'm guiding the food to my mouth. I'm pretty sure the cause for this is

tiny tremors in the hand holding the fork, so small you often can't see them

and/or my wrist jumps a bit which is very typical of fibro.

Darcy

[Guest guest]

I sure do, ...I tell my coworkers I'm just having a Thoughtful Moment

when the words sort of trail off and quit coming for awhile...lol....but it's

really weird we're all having that clumsy-mental stuff with this disease.

Re: [ ] Clumsy?

Some days, it just seems like my muscles, especially my hands and fingers,

just don't get the messages from my brain. I think I've got something, and

it falls from my hand, etc. It's like my hand sends a signal back to the

brain saying it's done something it hasn't! And I don't have a single shirt

that doesn't have food on it, most are stained! As for the falling, I use a

forearm crutch to walk, mainly because I have a shredded meniscus in my left

knee, but it has stopped so many falls I've lost count. I'm terrified of

falling, and won't even take a shower on really bad days unless my hubby is

there to help me. He also grabs me when we're walking if we come to steps

or uneven spots.

I also find myself forgetting the word I need, or the wrong thing comes

out. Like talking with my daughter-in- law about cooking recipes, and saying

" pattern " instead of recipe! Or reversing numbers, like I was dyslexic. At

first I thought it was fibro fog, but hubby found an interesting article on

" chemobrain " . It was about women who have had chemo for breast cancer and

end up with cognitive problems that don't go away when the chemo stops.

Since I've been taking a high dose of MTX for a couple of years now, I have

to wonder if that has anything to do with my cognitive problems. Anybody

else have that experience?

--

Shoreview, MN, until April! brrrr!

South Pasadena, CA

You can see my galleries at http://www.pbase. com/arenared986

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message -----

From: " Overell " <patricia.overell@...>

> I also find myself forgetting the word I need, or the wrong thing comes

> out. Like talking with my daughter-in-law about cooking recipes, and

> saying

> " pattern " instead of recipe! Or reversing numbers, like I was dyslexic.

> At

> first I thought it was fibro fog, but hubby found an interesting article

> on

> " chemobrain " .

I have those problems and they're pretty common on the fibro groups I'm on.

Unfortunately, dh is really lousy at charades so it makes for an interesting

conversation when I can't think of the right word and he can't guess it.

Mine gets worse as I get tired which also seems pretty common. In my case,

old age can't be blamed for the memory or clumsy problems as this all

started in my mid 30's.

Darcy

[Guest guest]

Does anyone walk into things? like doors or tables? i always think i'm

going to walk through a doorway, but sometimes i end up walking into

it instead!! i have no idea how i happens! I haven't actually fallen

over yet though. I don't think it's anything to do with age, as i'm

only 19!!

[Guest guest]

On 12/11/06, catstamp <catstamp@...> wrote:

>

>

>

> Mine gets worse as I get tired which also seems pretty common. In my

> case,

> old age can't be blamed for the memory or clumsy problems as this all

> started in my mid 30's.

> Darcy

>

>

>

> Oh, so true. It's one of the things hubby uses to gauge how tired I am.

When I start being clumsy or confusing words, he knows it's time to quit and

go home. I often push too hard, but he's getting very good at making me

stop.

As for age, I just turned 58, and had NO problems like this until about a

year after I was dx'ed, and started taking all the meds.

--

Shoreview, MN, until April! brrrr!

South Pasadena, CA

You can see my galleries at http://www.pbase.com/arenared986

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message -----

From: " Overell " <patricia.overell@...>

>> Oh, so true. It's one of the things hubby uses to gauge how tired I am.

> When I start being clumsy or confusing words, he knows it's time to quit

> and

> go home. I often push too hard, but he's getting very good at making me

> stop.

My husband is the same way. And by dinner time, I've frequently run through

all of my energy, good feeling (if I have it that day) and willingness to

deal with life. When I suddenly feel like bursting into tears for no

reason, I know it's time to stop.

Darcy

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message -----

From: " emma " <emma.collins@...>

> Does anyone walk into things? like doors or tables? i always think i'm

> going to walk through a doorway, but sometimes i end up walking into

> it instead!! i have no idea how i happens!

This is another thing I've always done all my life, although before getting

sick, it was mostly getting my hip slammed into beds, tables or desks.

Since getting sick, it's definitely gotten much worse. Anything and

everything " leaps " out to viciously attack me. I always joke that I'm

constantly trying to try to disprove that physics law " two solids can't

occupy the same space at the same time. " Funny how the other solid always

wins the battle. I run almost constantly with some kind of bruise on my

legs. I have a huge one right now(along with a lump) and I have no idea how

I got it.

Darcy

[Guest guest]

I had to laugh when I read your post. I have been walking into doorway frames

for a long time. Last year I broke my toe TWICE, by not clearing a corner and

catching it on a baseboard. Now I'm very much aware that the doorways are out

to get me !!

Patsy

El Mirage, AZ

DX 2005 Stage 1 PBC

AIH/SLE/RA/COPD

Just a woman of letters....

[Guest guest]

Emma:

I've been walking into door posts since I was a kid. Once, I did it with my

oldest son on my hip, who was two at the time (now 17). So, instead of my

shoulder getting the brunt of it, his head did. There's nothing worse than

hurting your kid with your clumsiness! He was okay, but to this day, when he is

aggravating me, I remind him that something happened to his head that day. Of

course, he shoots back that I abused him. We're joking with each other, of

course. I have a 12 year old that has actually managed to fall down while

standing still doing nothing at all! Must be hereditary!

in Texas

emma <emma.collins@...> wrote:

Does anyone walk into things? like doors or tables? i always think i'm

going to walk through a doorway, but sometimes i end up walking into

it instead!! i have no idea how i happens! I haven't actually fallen

over yet though. I don't think it's anything to do with age, as i'm

only 19!!

[Guest guest]

Here's a new twist to this subject.

When my daughter (now 38) was small, about 7 or 8 she was and still is, a

natural born monkey. She could hang up-side down and such with ease. She could

be sitting on a chair and suddenly fall off. She ran into buildings and other

things that required ER. I am quiet sure they were looking for child abuse. If

that were today they would have probably be taken from us. Things like " she was

just sitting on a chair and fell off " or " she ran into a building " would not

hold up under much scrutiny.

When she was 9 we met a doctor that transformed her life. She was diabetic and

the high glucose levels were doing it to her. At that time chasing diabetes in

children was almost unheard of. With that doctor's help I have become totally

distrustful when it comes to diabetes. He taught us how to handle things which

was almost impossible in the absence of tools to work with. Other children were

in/out of hospitals like a revolving door. She was never. As an adult she is

still taking care of herself. Now I as a diabetic found a doctor who allows me

to control it. Type 1 diabetes is an immune system issue. I don't know how the

immune system problems talked about here can relate to such things.

I am not implying that to be the issue her and just saying that diabetes can do

that.

Betty

[ ] Re: Clumsy?

I had to laugh when I read your post. I have been walking into doorway frames

for a long time. Last year I broke my toe TWICE, by not clearing a corner and

catching it on a baseboard. Now I'm very much aware that the doorways are out to

get me !!

[Guest guest]

That is interesting. My son went undiagnosed for awhile and didn't have issues

with balance but it certainly makes sense! His highs caused him to be

lethargic. If it wasn't for the typical weight loss, drinking, urinating,

looking grey issues you would have never had known His school never

suffered, nor did his sports.

DH and I are both walking autoimmune nightmares. It was just a matter of when

and what our son would end up with.

This whole discussion has been interesting and just goes to prove there are a

zillion and one reasons for clumsiness.

[ ] Re: Clumsy?

I had to laugh when I read your post. I have been walking into doorway frames

for a long time. Last year I broke my toe TWICE, by not clearing a corner and

catching it on a baseboard. Now I'm very much aware that the doorways are out to

get me !!

[Guest guest]

Interesting. I have steroid-induced diabetes (from long term prednisone

use) and know that I have problems when my blood glucose drops too low, I

never thought about high blood glucose having effects, I will have to test

my bg next time I notice I'm getting really clumsy or foggy!

On 12/12/06, Betty <bvanOmega@...> wrote:

>

> Here's a new twist to this subject.

>

> When my daughter (now 38) was small, about 7 or 8 she was and still is, a

> natural born monkey. She could hang up-side down and such with ease. She

> could be sitting on a chair and suddenly fall off. She ran into buildings

> and other things that required ER. I am quiet sure they were looking for

> child abuse. If that were today they would have probably be taken from

> us. Things like " she was just sitting on a chair and fell off " or " she ran

> into a building " would not hold up under much scrutiny.

>

> When she was 9 we met a doctor that transformed her life. She was

> diabetic and the high glucose levels were doing it to her. At that time

> chasing diabetes in children was almost unheard of. With that doctor's help

> I have become totally distrustful when it comes to diabetes. He taught us

> how to handle things which was almost impossible in the absence of tools to

> work with. Other children were in/out of hospitals like a revolving

> door. She was never. As an adult she is still taking care of herself. Now

> I as a diabetic found a doctor who allows me to control it. Type 1 diabetes

> is an immune system issue. I don't know how the immune system problems

> talked about here can relate to such things.

>

> I am not implying that to be the issue her and just saying that diabetes

> can do that.

> Betty

>

--

Shoreview, MN, until April! brrrr!

South Pasadena, CA

You can see my galleries at http://www.pbase.com/arenared986