Muscle spasms are a regular part of living with a spinal cord injury, and other disabilities. Mine are usually pretty well controlled through medication, regular stretching, and just general body management. The last few days have been hopping though.
Some spasms are good in that they help to maintain muscle mass, improve circulation, and help with bone density. However, they can make regular daily activities a challenge if not nearly impossible sometimes. This weekend, my legs wouldn't cooperate for anything despite having good stretching exercises and foregoing footwear. These two usually are all I need, but they didn't stem the jumping. Today when sitting in bed I was still resembling a jumping frog, but it has thankfully improved this evening.
My routine of sitting for 90 minutes and going flat for three hours has been going on for over a month now and is starting to get to me. Spending so much time flat, just playing games or watching YouTube or Netflix, is really starting to get boring. It makes me feel like I'm being lazy and not contributing anything to society, and it's true.
Trying to write while flat though is very hard to do, especially if I want to see what I'm writing! Making the most of my short sitting periods is becoming more important, but gets hard when I get stiff and need frequent re-positioning.
I have become very familiar with eating my meals when flat and it almost seems strange to eat while sitting! From what I'm hearing, the increased down time helped immediately after returning from camp, but doesn't seem to be making a big difference now. In order to keep some remnants of sanity, I think I'll be returning to two hours up and two hours down routine soon.
At least with plenty of down time, I have opportunity to think and do some reading. The quad life has its ups and downs in many forms, but I can remain thankful for the time I do have and look forward to what's ahead. Whether it's less spasticity, the next up time, or whatever God has planned.
Hey Joel. Did returning to two hours up and two hours down help how you wanted? Another option you might consider is doing a 5-10 minute weightshift after 30 minutes of sitting up. At least you would gain some productive time sitting up, and your body might like going flat more frequently even if it's for a shorter duration. That's kind of what I do in my chair, and has worked well for many years. Just a thought. God bless buddy.
ReplyDeleteI just started two hours today, but I'll keep your schedule as a reminder as well.
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