FITT Performance Studio

Acupuncture has been studied to be a helpful treatment option for dystonia. In combination with drugs, botox and sometimes with more aggressive treatments.

As you can see here the muscles of my neck are tight and active just existing.

Finally this week I've gotten some relief, drug doses have finally been dialed in.

I also qualified for an emergency spot at the Anschutz neuro center for early June. Im also on a critical waiting list to hopefully get in sooner.

Im still working less hours and exercise is minimal but getting my symptoms under control makes me hopeful that other aspects of my life will start to normalize soon.

Week 9 of my diagnosis and my workouts look very different.
I'm on two different muscle relaxers which have me feeling very week.
I still have to prioritize work over workouts so I only get to train after work if I'm feeling good. Lately this has been like 3 workouts of very low intnsity each week.
We change meds again this week, looking for something that will hopefully fix the misfirings in my brain but until I can get in to see the movement specialist my doctors are not sure these meds will work but we have to try them for insurance to be willing to pursue more intense treatments.

Ive built my entire business on referrals and I can confidently say it's not only good for my business but elevates the level of care for my clients.

My referral sources always send me the most amazing people.

My referral sources are an excellent demographic of professionals to learn from.

We work as a team when a client needs something I can't offer.

Living with chronic pain doesn't mean I don't exercise.
It means I'm learning what exercise is good for me, it's not the heavy weights and the really high intensity workouts of the past.
These workouts are shorter, stability based and completed at the end of my work days IF I have the energy and my symtpoms aren't getting worse.
Not every day is a good day, but when I get the chance I'm working to learn what exercise with this new body means.

It's been almost a month since my diagnosis.
In that time we've tried 4 new medications, scheduled an appointment with the neuro specialist (for the end of July:().
This has all left me learning to live in a new body. What can I do? What can't I do? Will I improve beyond this level before July?

Living your life on muscle relaxers and in constant pain makes every day living so much harder, let alone getting to get a workout in.

Its become clear that I won't improve beyond where im at until we can get more specialized treatments. So this month I want to push to settle into a more normal workout routine (drastically modified and only if the neuro gives me the go ahead).

This is going to be a long journey.

This human is my rock.

Over the last month he's sat for probably 24 hours in the ER with me, he's picked up meds, done so much research on oral mandibular dystonia, helped with my chores and has checked eagerly every morning so see how I'm feeling.

He's been positive when I can't be, he's helped me come up with questions to ask all my doctors.

This is why it matters who you marry, the person that will sit through the hard stuff and support you through it.

I can't even begin the imagine what getting through this without him would be like.

He's beyond perfect and I'm forever grateful.

I got to workout for the first time since my diagnosis 3 weeks ago. It felt great but it also felt different. I can't push as hard right now and it's still not clear how much function I will regain.
This morning was a win though

Our society's mindset is a disease management system. Instead of working to avoid disease and actually manage health people accept the decay they think comes with aging.
Aging is a natural process but if you eat well and exercise you'll maintain function and avoid surgeries and medications.
Muscle mass protects against the process of aging and you dont have to just let your body fall apart and say it's normal.

Over the past few months I've been asking myself "why the F*** is this happening to me?"
A less than 10% complication when I feel like my whole life has been rare complications or circumstances.
I try to tell myself I'm learning something through all of this but i still can't figure out what that lesson is.
While the new meds are starting to help I still have to be off the meds that make the biggest difference in my mental health, I still can't work a full work day or exercise with any kind of intensity.
Im trying to be grateful my pain is gone, and I am grateful for that but with so many unknowns out there I often find myself sad and frustrated.

Im back in a place where yoga is the only exercise I'm allowed to do right now, and I'm bitter about it.
Trying to be grateful to have yoga but honestly being positive right now is something im really struggling with.
Im starting week 3 of my treatment medication so this should be the week I start to see it starting to work.
Again, trying to be positive but really just feeling angry so I don't get too sad.

Over the last several months I've been dealing with increasingly painful muscle tension in my jaw and neck.
We finally determined it was a medication reaction, however after working more with various doctors I've been diagnosed with a rare form of facial dystonia.

While this was all started due to a drug interaction (a drug i stopped taking asap) it is now likely a permanent condition.
My brain can no longer process dopamine correctly which leads to intense, involuntary muscle spasms in my face and neck.

While we work to figure out a medication regimen to control the symptoms I've been taking time off work and avoiding exercise.
Trying to accept that my body will now forever move differently has been very hard. The condition itself is very painful and the constant drugs adjustments have worn me down.

I know I'll get through this, as I always do but of the myriad of health issues ive had in the last 14 months this one scares me the most.

talhealth

Full disclousure it's been tough over here the last few weeks.

For about 2 months now I've been dealing with intense jaw pain and no one could figure it out.
Finally at my wit's end I ended up in the ER and a doc finally diagnosed it as a dystonic reaction to medication. Further work with my medal team determined that one of my mental health meds has given me a movement disorder that affects my ability to control my jaw.

Getting off the medication was the first hurdle and now learning to treat this disorder that might be permanent has been really hard.
I'm still going through withdrawl from the medication in question and haven't been able to get any relief for my jaw yet.

The hope is the meds for my jaw will start to work in 2 weeks or do.

This has affected my ability to exercise and just feel like myself. I'm doing my best to continue to run the business while also giving myself grace as my nervous system recalibrates.
What's the point?

Transparancy, we all struggle sometimes yet society tells us we must hide this struggle, like it makes us less worthy and that couldn't be farther from what our health needs in times like these.