So you like 24 x 7 Availability? Is it really a good thing?
In my last blog “It’s ‘OK’ to Set Boundaries’, from August 9, 2015, I talked about the importance of setting boundaries; to have down-time in order to recharge and re-energize. I suggested starting with 5 minutes, working up to at least 30 minutes per day; creating time to read, nap, bathe, pray, meditate or even exercise. The options are limitless.
Today, I want to provide additional information and background related do the physical impacts to our bodies of being available ’24 x 7’. Lifestyle diseases are one of the leading causes of disability and death today. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2012, half of all adults had at least one or more chronic health condition and one out of four adults had two or more more chronic health conditions. 1. A lifestyle disease is associated with how a person lives; it can result in chronic health issues, that can be reversed when lifestyle is modified. High profile lifestyle illnesses include heart disease, some types of cancer, diabetes, chronic pain and depression. These illnesses are often the result of poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, and insufficient sleep. Sounds simple right? Eat healthy, exercise and get some sleep, and you’ll start to feel better! Well, I’m a first hand example that doing so is easier said then done. In addition to these illnesses, I believe too, that some cases of dysautonomia, including POTS are also a result of lifestyle. Dysautonomia is a disorder of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is responsible for enabling our bodies to do all the things we don’t think about, like heartbeat, breathing, digestion, regulation of body temperature, sweating, regulation of blood pressure (including Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome aka POTS), and more. In many cases of dysautonomia, our sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous systems fail, but in some cases, it can be because our autonomic nervous system is actually overactive (which can cause symptoms like rapid heartbeat).
Over the past 10 years, I have been diagnosed with POTS, dysautonomia, sleep apnea, small fiber neuropathy, and more. Based upon my personal experience, and information I am finally starting to see that links random health issues with stress, I believe there is a connection between issues people are experiencing with their nervous system and how they live there life. There is the well-known impact smoking, alcohol, drugs, and eating a diet comprised mostly of sugar and fat, has on long-term health. It seems obvious right? Don’t smoke, don’t drink in excess, don’t take drugs and eat healthy. Definitely easier said then done. It may not always be obvious that our chosen lifestyle is unhealthy. We may in fact think it is natural, and what we are supposed to do, in order to be a successful and productive member of society. Let me explain.
I don’t think any of us wake up one morning and say, I’m going to stop taking care of myself and my body so that I can have the pleasure of experiencing chronic and debilitating illnesses. I suspect it sneaks up on of us, over a period of months and even years. Some of us may not smoke, or drink in excess or take drugs, but we still live a life that is ultimately unhealthy. I used to smoke, but I quit for the last time when I was 30. I drank, maybe more than the average person, but did not qualify as an alcoholic. I don’t use drugs (other than what has been prescribed over the past 10 years) and I tried to keep my weight down, so all in all I thought I was doing a good job being healthy. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
I describe myself as a ‘Type A’ personality. At least I used to be. I wasn’t ‘born that way’. Life morphed me into Type A Debbie. I remember quite distinctly being the procrastinator in grade school; playing basketball before homework and doing my book reports quite late the night before they were due. I am not sure when my behavior changed and into Type A. I think it might have started in high-school, due to peer pressure from class-mates and teachers, and then turbo boosted in college and continued as I became an adult and joined the workforce of corporate america.
I grew up in what I consider a lower-middle class environment. We did not have money to do anything really beyond live. My dad got sick when I was 8 years old, and there were occasions when if it weren’t for my grandma, we would not have had food on the table. We lost our home and our possessions, and were forced to switch schools. I got my first job when I was 14, so I could save for a bicycle, and buy things that ‘other kids’ had, and I’ve been working ever since. I bought my own car, my own cloths, cosmetics, etc. I made the decision to go to college, get a job that would pay a lot of money and continue to work hard so that I would be able to give things to my kids, that my parents couldn’t give to me. So it began. I had consciously made the first decision that would lead to my unhealthy lifestyle. A lifestyle I would initially embrace and eventually endure, until I could no longer function. I would continue moving at a fast pace until my body started to scream out in ways that I could no longer ignore. This process occurred over a period of about 25 – 30 years.
My unhealthy lifestyle started with my desire to be thin, to be visually appealing to others. I had determined that if I was visually appealing, I would have friends. I think I gained my weight after my dad got sick, maybe because we could no longer afford healthy food. I’m not sure. My attempts to lose weight and stay thin resulted in me practically starving myself to do so. I ate little, and drank a lot of diet soda. As I got older and chemical filled low-cal food became readily available, I opted to eat that too. I had no idea what a balanced, and healthy diet was. Sure, I learned about the food pyramid in school, but I didn’t really learn why it was important to eat healthy, or how poor diet would ultimately harm me as I aged. I never understood the information in a way that would help me realize the potential impact on my life and longevity.
Couple that with the fact that, although I enjoyed the puzzle solving part of my computer programming career, there were so many other aspects of it that caused me stress. Like I said, I did enjoy programming, but I was slower than many. This resulted in me having to work overtime to meet deadlines. This was kind of OK when I was single, and less OK after I got married. It was something I justified after I had kids, because it was a means to be able to provide for them. Over time, I wanted more than the money, but I had become afraid to loose the income that we had become accustomed to. Unfortunately, I traded my true happiness and health time with my kids for my career. I did so because I really believed I needed to work hard, to continue to make more and more money, to give my kids the things I did not have. Can you see how the cycle was like a snowball rolling quickly down a snow covered hill? The snowball continued down hill, gaining momentum and getting increasingly out of control, until it hit a rock and crumbled into everywhere.
The negative impacts to my lifestyle did not stop there. Sleep became a luxury. I remember coming home from work on time, spending time with my kids, and then staying up until 2am, or getting up at 4am to keep up with emails, and items in my ‘to do’ and ‘follow up’ folder. I worked my way to Team Lead, Project Coordinator and eventually Manager. I no longer had to write the code that would make ’the wheels turn’, now I managed the people that did the coding, which is not an easy task either. I remember thinking I would be recognized for my hard work, and rewarded with promotions and pay increases which motivated me to keep going. I would sometimes get 2 to 3 hours of sleep per night. I assure you, this is not enough sleep to effectively live on. For a while, I was able to push my body to exercise several times a week. The kids would be doing their homework in the basement area, and I would do sets on our home gym in between helping them. Eventually, though, I no longer had the energy to exercise and I eventually could not even take a walk around the block without feeling completely exhausted and debilitated.
My fast paced, ‘I thought I had control over my body and could make it do anything’ lifestyle finally caught up with me. It got to the point where I would get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, and literally pass-out at the dinner table. I would drag myself upstairs to bed, sleep and then do it all again the next day. That was about 10 years ago. That was when my journey to find out why my body was failing me began. That’s when I thought I was being slowed down by a disease that would continue until I was completely incapacitated – forever. It was a difficult time for me, I was no longer able to be the person I had been for so many years. No longer able to help others 24 x 7, no longer able to work 24 x 7, no longer able to take care of my kids, clean the house, cook dinner and be there for others 24 x 7 and I clearly had no time to take care of myself; or did I?
Looking back, it was the worst and the best thing that could have happened to me. I was fortunate enough for it to occur while my kids and I were still relatively young. I still had time to learn what was going on with my body in order to start making decisions and life choices that would help alter and eventually improve my overall health and well-being. It has been a long journey comprised of many doctors, medical tests and several pain management and exercise programs. The road has challenging and has required me to become my own patient advocate. I encountered physicians who were unable to help, because they didn’t understand the symptoms I was experiencing. With much persistence, I also encountered physicians who were like miracle workers to me, because something I told them would spark a realization of what was going on. I was diagnosed one tiny step at a time, and I learned how to alter my lifestyle to further improve my overall health.
I made time to learn how to listen to my body. I started slow, first 5 then 10 minutes a day. I practiced paying attention to how I felt, and when something was ‘off’, I would take a step back and consider what had just occurred to cause my discomfort. I eventually stepped down from my Management position. The girls had grown and moved out, and I could see that the money was no longer more important than my health, well-being and happiness. I slowed down and I’ve expanded my me time to be continuous throughout the day. I’m able to listen to my body and identify when something is not good for me. I then make the decision to keep up with it, or to turn down a different path. My ability to do so did not occur over night. Like I said, I’ve been on this journey for at least 10 years now, probably longer. My hope is that by sharing information, including my story, I will help you or someone you know. If you or your friend or member of your family are experiencing health issues today, it is possible to get better; even if it seems hopeless today. It may take some time, but it can happen; one small step at at time.
I have so much I want to share with you! So many things I have learned the past several years about the importance of living a balanced life; consisting of equivalent amounts of work, rest, and play, combined with healthy eating and proper hydration. I wish I could share all the information all at once, but perhaps it’s best to learn a little at a time in order to gently shift to a consistently improved and healthy lifestyle that can be maintained over time. I hope you will continue with me as I share information and experiences I have had on my journey. Next time I will talk more about the changes I made and how they positively impacted my over all health, including the science behind why these changes helped.
ttys ~ debbie
- Ward BW, Schiller JS, Goodman RA. Multiple chronic conditions among US adults: a 2012 update. Prev Chronic Dis. 2014;11:130389. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd11.130389.
