I'm wondering how many other people are being ultra careful about going out in the snow and ice. I'm scared of slipping and breaking something which would make it harder for me to go back to my anti tnf treatment. I'm on my own for the next week and have stocked up so I don't need to go anywhere. But older friends are scooting around and I've started to feel that I must be wierd. It would be comforting to hear from others who are similarly cautious.
More snows expected here tomorrow so I'm planning to get a grocery delivery- it's amazing how difficult it is to spend £50 to get your free delivery...
Hope everyone's comfortably hunkered down for a good night
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cathie
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I totally understand your fears. I'm very wary & when I do get a grip on them & attempt to go out my OH says no,just in case you fall. I feel a prisoner in the house& sometimes in life. Our condition can control us in so many ways,yet my head tells me to look at what we achieve despite the limitations our disease. My advise is to snuggle up with a good book, DVD & pamper yourself until you can get out &about the you can catch up with chores! I am!!
I only go out if I really have too then I have someone with me like you I don't want to fall and break something hubby (when here) goes to shops or grandsons with go its snowing heavy here now so looks like I'm in for the day take care x
Just top your shopping up with things you'll need at some point, maybe tinned stuff which is heavy to carry. Think of it as getting ahead for next week.
I also have peripheral neuropathy which makes my feet very clumsy. I had a fall just after the new year in my house which shook me up even moving in my own home! Luckily no breaks or I would have been on the sofa, not the comfiest of beds! I've also fallen down the stairs a couple of times. We are going to have to move because of this to a bungalow as our stairs make it possible to put a stair lift in. I also have bipolar and somedays it just feels everything isn't going fast enough. I was in bed with a sick bug the other day and was scared of going down to get a drink I risked dehydration until a friend risked getting it and came round. So going out in snow on my own no way!
Yes there's always the possibility of falling at home isn't there. We moved from a house with two stories to a ground floor flat and this has made life much easier though I do try to keep up practice on stairs. We made sure were up a hill in case of. Floods! I think I'm becoming more fearful not helped by the dreadful stories on the radio!
Janeywom, I hope you get your bungalow, it should make your life easier
I have always hibernated as much as possible with the snow about and more so now. Not sure if any of you are of the age but I can well remember the snow fall in 1963, I was unable to go to school for two months as the school bus could not get through.
As to the £50 limit, you always require soap powder, loo and kitchen rolls, and the basic tinned stuff, as Dotty says use those to make the order up. It will then help you when you are able to get out as the delivery will have done the heavier work. Take care xxx
You're right georje, also good red wine for my husband when he gets back at the weekend!
I do remember the 1963 snowfall I was at school in Wiltshire and the school bus determinedly got us there through amazing snow drifts. But once I missed the bus home and my father had to come to drive me back about 15 miles!
I hate to make you two feel old but I was born on 7th of January 1963, fifty years ago right in the middle of the terrible snowfall - it must have been a nightmare for my mum just getting to the hospital - she did always tell me it was a dreadful experience!
Get some grips for the bottom of your boots I have them and find that I can walk normally (define normal!) with them. The only down side is that you have to take them off before going into shops etc or you WILL fall. I also have crampons when the snow is quite deep and compacted.
If I want to go out when its snowy/icy then I wont be beaten. Take care
Those grips can be treacherous fir the reasons you give. I dont want to see it as a challenge but better to be cautious and all in one piece! But good luck!
I have not been out of the house since Thursday. I am so scared of falling, I have enough problems when there is no snow or ice (dyspraxic). The fear of falling is so huge, I am trying to think that it is nice to be in, when else can i rest this much without feeling guilty!!
My art class has just been cancelled and its started snowing heavily here. Somehow I find it so much better to know you're not alone in being hunkered down. Lisarob, you're right to make the most of the rest
Hi Cathie,I can understand how you feel. For me going out in this weather just makes my fingers & toes that much more painful. I've got lots indoors that I could be doing but this weather makes me feel lazy,I think it's the roaring fire!!
I wish I had trouble spending £50 I always buy more than I need but I'm trying!!
Snow is falling here so I'm giving myself a lie in!
I'm feeling it too, Cathie. I used to be as indifferent as any teenager to slippery surfaces but that's changed with RA. I reckon even a small loss of agility & suppleness makes falling more dangerous & don't even want to think about how my joints would feel if they took a hard knock. Plus the thought of nursing a broken limb when things are going so well - no way! So I am begrudging the snow & am extra marooned as the road here is a bit treacherous / sometimes impossible for driving. The dreary weather doesn't help - most years snow has come with brilliant sunshine but alas not this one. Luce x
I bought some lovely boots (at half price in our local shop that has demonstration models for sale) before Christmas. They have good moulded deep cut soles that grip well, ankle support and a deep gusset with laces so that they are easy to get on. And - bonus - they look quite smart too! They are waterproof and I'm so pleased with them as they make walking in the snow feel so much safer (with my stick as well, of course).
I've been out every day. The only problem was the day it snowed (I had a dental appointment to walk to), as by the time I came back the snow was over the top of the boots in places. So I got wet feet anyway and it was VERY tiring, like walking in sand, so I had to keep stopping for a rest. But I was proud of the fact that I hadn't let it stop me.
Walking in the snow has made my feet and ankles (and the rest of me a bit!) hurt in different places, though. I suppose that we have to walk slightly differently in snow.
My trick is not to go into town....icy pavements are just the worst. But out here in the countryside it's not as slippy and I have proper walking boots, gaiters and canes so can get out. Luckily people are very used to snow here, and the plough comes through regularly, even tho' we're near the end of a dead end road. It's also so deep now that even if I did fall I think I'd bounce. And it is rather nice to sit I doors and look out at it all - very pretty.... Pollyx
I live at the top of a long, steep hill and work is at the bottom, I have to work (we don't get any benefits and my wages pay for the food) so I just make sure I take little careful steps and allow myself a lot more time to get there. Sometimes I walk in the road as they are more likely to be clear than the pavements. I do worry about falling, I'm in enough pain as it is without adding to it! xx
A real bugbear is when people clear snow from pavements just outside their houses - don't they realise this makes it worse and they could be liable if someone slips there?
I'm terrible - I can spend £50 in the blink of an eye, I'm not a hoarder but I like to know I've got stuff in. I'm famous for my larder (well, cupboard under the stairs!) - there's lots of wine in there too! Always prepared!
I agree with you about clearing snow. They should grit it as well!
You'll be pleased to hear that I have managed to spend £50 ! Decided to add a chicken and various nibbles to list of essentials. I just hope now that the delivery gets through. We're on a fairly busy road. And it gives me a treat on Thursday! I've decided to read Les Miserables during this confinement! Its rather large and intimidating.
Hi Cathie, I'm going stir crazy. Sitting at my computer or in front of the telly for ages, gives me a pain on the left side, just below my neck. There seems to be no relief. Would have been more bearable if I could have a glass of red wine, but I'm told that with methotrexate tablets alcohol is not advised. Just waiting for the sun to shine. Will resort to my new Kindle,
thanks to my son's gift, but Les Miserables is just too large a packet for me.
I wear Yaktrax Walkers under my boots for outdoors - absolutely wouldn't be without them. But I'm a dog walker so need to be able to get about. They're no good for indoors - and definitely not on hard floors or you will skid - that's the only downside.
But for making one trip to, say a supermarket, you could maybe carry a pair of light shoes in a bag to change into, once inside.
I swear by Ice Treads and a walking stick/crutch spike to be able to get out and about 'safely', I also have home deliveries especially for the heavy items!
Hmmmm they're no good in fresh deep snow, that's when I also stay in till other people have trodden it down a bit lol!
I'm not sure if it's me but I seem to have a really poor spacial awareness now and often feel I'm going to miss steps and do fear falling much more than I ever used to especially because my back is so sore. But it could just be my varyfocals or something although I've been wearing them for years now - but I get really panicky. I bought pull on crampons but they are tight and it really hurt my hands and wrists to get them on properly - and as others have said you can't really go into shops with them on although once on they make me feel invincible!
You know how steep our driveway is going up and down just as I know how nice and central your flat is so I think you should just relax inside and only go out when you really have to once your shopping arrives. Ice frightens me far worse than snow because at least with snow there's some traction and a softer landing if I do fall.
It's snowed a bit on and off up here but hasn't settled - there have been gale force winds with flurries and a bit of lying stuff and it's absolutely bitter. We got caught in a blizzard on Scapa beach today and had to fight our way back to the car like arctic explorers. I'm really hoping it doesn't settle here for once because it basically means I can't get out either up the hill or down the path and I do want to take Ruby to her first puppy training class tomorrow night if possible - but won't risk it if the weather warnings are bad. Tilda xx
I can imagine your hills quite a challenge at the best of times. I read somewhere today - will have to check source that mtxate can make you anxious and confused. I wonder if thats contributing to my feelings at the moment. Im trying to think of this as hibernation winter equivalent of a beach holiday xxx
Sorry im distracted by mrs brown , paddy wont let me but i think its quite funny !
Well folks, You all have dsscussed a topic we don't often mention here, ie The Fear of Falling! It is definetly a concern for all of us, at any stage of this disease, especially those who may have been on long-term use of steroids, which leads to Osteoporosis, which makes all the bones even more fragile.
For this alone, I dread winters! It's not so much the snow in itself, I am originally from Northwestern Pennsylvania, mountainous and hilly territory with heavy snowfalls from November through March! I used to live outdoors in the Winter, sledding and iceskating, building snowforts and snowmen, making snowangels, etc.
But now, the fear of falling is associated with having had 8 spine surgeries, all fortified with titanium rods and plates and screws, so falling is a big NONO! Therefore I really am homebound most of the time! It's not that I don't have plenty to do, I live alone, do all my own cooking, cleaning, laundry , vaccing, all that fun stuff. I am an avid reader of mostly the talented likes of James Patterson, David Baldacci, John Grisham, Robin Cook, Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown,,there, go find those at the Library, great reading.
I think it is more the fact that I might fall that keeps me indoors and knowing I must not go out when it is snowey or icey, makes it that much more intolerable! You know...tell a kid not to do something, and that is the one thing they want to do!
So, I commiserate with Lisarob, Luce, Cathie and all of you homebound!
I also walk with a walker, as I have no sense of balance, due to the loss of all the nerves in my inner ears. Canes are too unstable, even on dry land!
I did have one fall outdoors, in May! My friend had just arrived to take me to Bible Study Club and I was rounding the corner of my L shaped sidewalk, when I realized I was falling, slowly, but surely! Right into the Rosebushes. I remember thinking, "Why am I falling". Went to use the handle of my walker, and my friend Margie, to get back up, a small fete on two artificial knees! Noticed the walker was broken. The heavy hollow tubing supporting the wheels had snapped right in two as if cut with a blade! I was not hurt, except for my dignity. Poor Margie was shaken, knowing I might have been the worst of all.
So fear of falling, is only one aspect of the dread for winter weather! I can fall in warm, sunny weather just as easily. Maybe writing stories to each other is another way to pass the time! Stay in, stay warm! Love and hugs to all! Loretxxx
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