No Microresolutions for the Rest of the Year

After writing the last few posts about stretching/massage/physiotherapy and the skin issues I've been having, I've decided to pause microresolutions and goal setting on this blog. I have a lot going on right now, and I don't have the mental space to be working on anything else. Besides, I'm quite proud of myself for taking the stretching seriously and making a point of doing it almost daily (the only days I didn't were when I was too sore after a massage).

I do hope to revisit using them at a later time. But for now, I'm going to remove the stress of worrying about them from my life and focus on the physiotherapy process (and on rebuilding some mental resilience!)

Oh yeah, skin issues...

In the middle of everything else that's been going on, I've also been fighting some eczema/dermatitis. This all started back in February. My skin got dry from the cold weather and I developed a few little dots by my thumb. I've had this happen before, and normally I moisturize a whole bunch and they go away. Well this time, the dots sort of migrated to my little finger and refused to go away. And they started getting worse and worse. I fought this on my own for a few months (even using some of the cream I had to help me with the skin reactions I get with continuous glucose monitoring devices) but I was never able to clear it. Finally in May, things got really bad that I had to consult medical help. I made an appointment with my doctor, but it was so bad that I ended up getting in with a nurse practitioner first. She prescribed Protopic, which is a non-steroid cream. I was to use it for six weeks and hopefully that would deal with the problem (she told me that Protopic, being non-steroid, is safer for your skin to be using. Plus you can take a brief break from it then use it for another six weeks).

The Protopic seemed to work beautifully. By about the fourth week, the eczema seemed to be gone, and I felt silly to still be using the Protopic (but I intended to use it for the full six weeks. I happened to miss one 24 hour period while I was on vacation in June, and the eczema came back with a vengeance. So in early July, I made another appointment, this time with my doctor, to get some more help.

My doctor right away thought I had "Dyshidrotic hydrasia," a form of eczema. He knew of a compound that should work specifically for dyshidrotic hydrasia, so he gave me a prescription for that. Unfortunately the eczema just slowly got worse and worse. I went back to see him about a month later, and he recommended I use the Protopic again to clear the eczema, then use the compound to hopefully keep the eczema under control. Again, the eczema wasn't really 100% cleared, and slowly came back even under this regiment. Thankfully during that visit, my doctor also referred me to a dermatologist at that time. Unfortunately it took a few months to get in, so I've been doing my best to keep the eczema at bay in the mean time. 

I saw the dermatologist a few weeks ago, and he confirmed that I have dyshidrotic hydrasia (he also mentioned that it is caused by some sort of irritant; unfortunately I've had high stress, grief, and skin problems from continuous glucose monitoring devices, so who knows what could be causing the eczema). So he gave me a prescription for a stronger steroid (Clobetasol, which I actually used in spray form back when I was having issues with the Freestyle Libre). So I'm going to be using this for a few weeks to hopefully get the eczema under control, then switch back to the Protopic to hopefully keep it under control and finally clear it up. If that doesn't work, I'll be heading back to the dermatologist for next steps.

In terms of possible irritants, I'm doing my best to wash my hands mainly with olive oil soaps (and to wash my hands less often than I have been in the wake of Covid). I already wash dishes using gloves, so that's a good thing. I'm trying to get my stress levels better under control and hopefully build some mental resiliency back up. So the daily stretching will hopefully help (daily activity that is somewhat like yoga). Plus I was able to cut out a major stressor from work, so that was good (it's just taking me longer than I expected to destress from it!) I happen to have a few days off right now, too, so I'm going for another massage, and taking some time to read, relax, and maybe take a few things off my mental to-do list where possible (like updating this blog!)

Massage and Physiotherapy

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been stretching more lately. This is a bit of a convoluted story as to how I ended up stretching consistently every day. And it all started when I was last visiting my chiropractor. I mentioned to her that I have really tight muscles. I read in a book (I think it was Diabetic Athlete's Handbook by Sheri R. Colberg, but I'm not positive now) some time ago that people with Type 1 Diabetes like me are prone to having tight muscles. I've never been a super flexible person, and I just assumed this is something that I will have to deal with as being naturally inflexible AND having diabetes. My chiropractor, who had previously recommended some stretches to me for my right calves (which have not been working even though I've been doing these stretches every day before bed) recommended that I go see a massage therapist who was new in her clinic and taking clients. 

I should note, my partner has recommended that I go to massage therapy in the past as well, but I honestly just never got around to it. I was going to try a massage therapist someone I know tried, but they didn't have the best results with that particular therapist, so I was really hesitant to try them. 

This was my first time visiting a proper massage therapist ever. The lady I saw seemed to really know her stuff. The first time I went, I booked a shorter appointment because I had no idea how long I should book (the second appointment was longer). I told the massage therapist that my back had previously been injured, so she set to work on trying to correct that. At the end of the first appointment, she gave me a list of muscles that she wanted me to stretch every day. At that time she told me to Google the muscles to find appropriate stretches, which I did. I had to wait a few days because I was really sore after the massage (she warned me that would happen); after a few days I started stretching those muscles every day until my second appointment two weeks later. The second massage didn't hurt nearly as much (nor for as long), which I thought was due to all the stretching I had been doing, but my massage therapist said that was also because she had more time as the second appointment was longer. At the end of that visit, she recommended I visit a physiotherapist to get some extra help in the stretching department.

I was able to get in with a physiotherapist at the same clinic about a week later. The physiotherapist was fantastic! With her help, I discovered not only that I am crazy stiff, but I'm putting all my weight on my left side when I stand (and no one else has noticed this!) So even though I've had more pain in my right calf muscle, it's my left side that's tighter (probably from compensating more for my right side). So my physiotherapist gave me a series of eight stretches to do every night (unfortunately I can't do two of them right now - I'm waiting for a foam roller that I ordered to arrive, which I need for these two) which includes "nerve flossing" (a term I was unfamiliar with, but basically stretches to gently mobilize a compressed or irritated nerve). I asked her how often I should do the stretches, and she said that the gold standard is twice a day (though once a day is probably more realistic). She also said that some of the exercises can be done more often through the day, but the nerve flossing should only be done a maximum of twice so I don't irritate the nerve more.

So while I've only been doing the particular stretches that my physiotherapist gave me for about 4 days (and I've been able to do them twice a day two times!) I've been doing more consistent stretches almost every day for three weeks now! I also noticed that I have what feels like a tiny bit more mobility since I started. It isn't much, but I'm excited to be feeling results, especially when I've been doing the stretches my chiropractor recommended for a number of months now and didn't feel like they were helping much. I'm going to trust the process and stick to what my physiotherapist recommends for now, but I am hopeful that I'll be moving better than I have in a long time with her help. :)

I'm also feeling more realistic about everything now, too. Most likely, once I gain some more mobility in my joints, I'll probably have to fight to keep it (and so continue to do some stretches every day or most days for the rest of my life). But thanks to using the Finch app, I've already started building more exercise into my day, so I'll hopefully be able to use it to build more good routines in the future. :)

Weight Updates from the last little while

With everything that was happening in my life last month, it took me a little while before I even thought to/cared about checking my weight, never mind actually posting it here....

November 25:

weight: 234.0
fat percentage: 56.2
hydration: 30.1
muscle: 21.5
bone: 10.4
cal: 2434

December 4:

weight: 234.0
fat percentage: 54.5
hydration: 31.2
muscle: 22.3
bone: 10.4
cal: 2434

One thing that I found interesting was that, while my weight remained the same between these two check-ins, my fat percentage dropped a little and my muscle increased a little. I'm hoping that isn't a one-time fluke; right now I'm crediting that to an increase in stretching, which is itself another story...