Stress, Exertion and Symptoms

[Guest guest]

In the past few weeks, the stresses of everyday life (not even

counting the stresses of MSA itself) have been piling up. During this

time, my symptoms have all gotten much worse.

I've also had occasion to exert myself in multiple ways, some

physical some mental. Saturday I had the stress and physical exertion

of cleaning out the offices that my business occupied for six years,

but which we now must close due to my illness. Saturday night and all

day Sunday I was very fatigued, and Sunday night I woke several times

in the night with my heart alternating between racing and going slow,

the clear sensation of " hearing " my heartbeat, not to mention labored

breathing, even with my CPAP. I also had flu-like body aches, which

sometimes persist for days after I have severe periods of dystonia.

I was just starting to get " back on my feet " so to speak, when I made

my first visit to the physical therapist this morning. Although I did

not have to exert myself at all, just the fact that she put my body

into certain postures has lest me exhausted and cramped (and very

sore). Now I'm sitting in a chair feeling like a vegetable and having

difficulty even typing.

So, my question is, do other MSA patients suffer from this seemingly

disproportinate elevation in symptoms from what would seem to be

relatively little activity or stimulus?

I'm about to start a 4-6 week regimine of PT twice per week. My hope

is that over time, my body will adjust, but I also fear that I could

spend a lot of time in a pretty useless state, just when I seemed to

be finding some level of " groove " in this illness. I'm at the point

where I've made the decision to be a productive person and not let

the disease get the better of me, but I also frequently feel like I

not only missed the bus, but that it ran me over.

I have another question, which I'm going to write in another thread.

Thanks for your responses.

Pax,