I HAVE JUST SPENT AN HOUR IN A WHEELCHAIR ( WAITI... - PMRGCAuk
I HAVE JUST SPENT AN HOUR IN A WHEELCHAIR ( WAITING FOR A HIP REPLACEMENT). EMULSIONING, I AM EXHAUSTED AND HAVE BEEN PHYSICALLY SICK. WHY?
Perhaps you are just expecting too much of yourself? Even in my relatively mobile days the last thing I would have been able to do is paint a wall - which I am assuming you have been - whether in a wheelchair or not. The arm movement alone would have finished me off even supposing I could hold the paintbrush/roller in the first place.
Is the emulsioning totally, absolutely necessary? If it is, is there someone else who could do it for you? Given the hot weather today, PMR/GCA, and the smell of paint of whatever kind, would be enough to induce nausea in many of us I would think.
The physical effort, the pain from the hip (been there!), the heat of the day and the fumes from the emulsion would certainly make me nauseous if not actually sick. I don't think you need to look very far for a cause, Albatross. Take it easy.
The others are so right!
Having PMR means that your muscles are unable to cope with acute exercise never mind chronic exercise. If you had just run a half marathon would you have been surprised that you felt sick? That is the sort of effect even mild exercise can have on people with PMR. Particularly bad is any repeated action with one set of muscles as they get exhausted easily and you aren't allowing them any chance to recover between actions.
After 10 years of PMR, five years of pred and now being on under 5mg/day I still wouldn't even think of cleaning a window never mind painting! The arm movement is enough to make me feel absolutely exhausted very quickly.
You have a decent summer day by my standards, a very warm summer day by UK standards. And pain fumes are bad when it dries slowly - in the current UK weather it'll dry even faster.
No, no wonder you feel a bit fragile! Go and sit in the shade with a nice cold drink and a fan. THAT's the way to deal with hot summer weather - not painting!
I really thought "emulsioning" must be an unfamiliar medical term...it simply never occurred to me that anyone with PMR would even consider painting a room... yikes! Even in good health I wouldn't dream of trying to decorate in this heat...
Hope you rest up and feel better soon.
Many thanks for all your replies, I tried to do it my self for financial reasons and also because I feel such a whimp !! I have always done things for myself and just try to carry on but I have been feeling so ill and sweating so badly it has been a job to cope. I did "take a day off" yesterday and dozed for most of it. I think I will give myself permission to just sit and look at the flowers. I think pmr, a spinal compression fracture and needing a new hip and a new knee is reason enough.
Sometimes the old paint will do when you can't find the pennies for a professional! Many of us have always "done it ourselves" - but the first thing you have to learn with a chronic illness is that, whatever else you may be, you are NOT a wimp! If you abuse your body it will hit back - and then you might end up too frail even to feed yourself never mind doing the decorating! With PMR it is rest and pacing that are YOUR responsibility - the doctors can't help there.
Albatross
I am astounded that anyone with PMR and waiting for a hop op, would even contemplate painting, never mind do it. When I was in a wheelchair, the effort of wheeling it was enough for me to cope with, how you managed that I will never know.
You need to treat yourself like a Queen and not a skivvy. PMR is an unforgiving illness and it bites you back bigtime when you try and push yourself.
One tip, when painting, cut onions in half and spread them round the room (a couple will do) they kill the fumes and absorb the smell.
I have a vision of hundreds of people who did not get as far as the full posting busy googling the medical term "emulsioning" to no avail. To address the question, I feel physically sick when I am over-tired, especially
mentally when I need actual time asleep, presumably to catch up on what your brain normally does when you get a full night's asleep. Even if you are a naturally good sleeper which I am it is hard to get your full quota of quality sleep when you have painful conditions and you do tend to become used to this state of affairs
