Wow-amazed that so little stress can cause such flare-ups

[Celebrant]

I did not consider stress as a component of my PMR--after all I'm in my seventies and I didn't get my gray hair and wrinkles from living the highly protected easy life. My daughter and her wife and the cat have just come to live with me for a few weeks while in house transition. I am surprised at how much it has affected my sense of comfort--noise levels, other people, etc. I have either become too set in my ways or too unbending. This has kicked in some PMR flares--let's say I am now a believer in the part change and stress plays in this disease.

[SheffieldJane]

I can so sympathise Celebrant. No matter how much we love them we need our quiet retreat.

I am being driven mad by builders who are working on a building about 3 metres from my bedroom. They are doing the roof at the moment, we’ve had the scaffolding and the cutting of stone slabs. I feel like a hunted animal in between being lost in admiration for the first fix carpenter who made the beautiful wooden frame for the roof. They start work at 7 am even last bank holiday. They put their radio on, so I blasted a Bach symphony back at them. They have been a little more thoughtful since. The stress feels quite physical I agree. My lot are coming for Christmas ( from Australia) I am worrying already and I adore them. Sorry for the rant. Stroke the cat, take yourself off for an Autumnal walk, breathe.🍁🍂🐿

[kay7954 in reply to SheffieldJane]

I can understand as well. My 24 yr old daughter and her 6 yr old daughter live with us and I want them to move out, but rent is too high. So, here she stays. The house is quiet when the little one is at school and my daughter is busy and out of my hair. Love them, but I could really use some quiet as well.

[bunnymom in reply to SheffieldJane]

They have been building forever it seems.

[SheffieldJane in reply to bunnymom]

3 summers. We have a building entrepreneur in our midst. All very nice when it’s done but no haste at all.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Hmm - to me it sounds like a mini-hell! I struggle with my daughter for 3 DAYS never mind 3 weeks! Never mind her dog...

[Suffererc in reply to PMRpro]

We are supposed to say stay forever, but if most are honest a day trip is heaven

[4840 in reply to PMRpro]

It surely can be......

[CT-5012]

You definitely need Me Time when you have visitors, family or friends. Peace and quiet choose your time and insist that it is respected, you are ill, I’m sure they will understand when you explain that constant company tiers you out. All good wishes.

[Pym1]

Stress does make a difference. Son’s wedding, with people staying, followed by a 6 and 3 year old for a sleepover. Phew. Never mind ‘pass the port’, it’s ‘pass the Pred’.

My spouse is amazing with them. Love them dearly, but it’s bliss when they’ve gone again. 😊😊

[Hidden]

My OH either has the radio on or the TV, we live in a small bungalow so I can only get away from noise when I'm out of the house, my allotment is my retreat, wish I'd put a shed on it!

[Constance13 in reply to Hidden]

Is it not possible to build/buy a shed now? Think of the winter coming up.😏 You could always fiddle around with the electrics a bit!!!😀

[Hidden in reply to Constance13]

Too late now Constance, probably giving up the lottie next year if this PMR business is still ongoing. Earplugs will be cheaper 😊

[maria40]

However active we may be and have been, we do now have our routines which don't like disruption. I've just had my grandson staying for a week. He wasn't too badly behaved but just a nine year old who wanted to do much more than I would normally undertake.: go-karting, walks on the beach, etc. etc. and, of course, the constant question answering. I had thought that a couple of days rest would put me back to normal but two days later I am still exhausted and was knocked out by a 20 min walk this morning. I'm putting off my 9-8.5 reduction until I've recovered fully.

I hope you're feeling better now and have found a way to relive the stress.

[stellafmdm in reply to maria40]

I know this is a a naughty solution to the exhaustion, but it is wonderful what drinking a can of coke can do in an emergency!!!

[maria40 in reply to stellafmdm]

Glass of rioja does it for me!

[piglette in reply to maria40]

No, a good Bordeaux!

[Constance13 in reply to stellafmdm]

Surely you mean give “them” the coke and you add a good dash of brandy in yours.

[Constance13 in reply to maria40]

I very rarely invite friends round now and I know some of them are upset, but just their ‘talking’ gets me tired. My darling husband once said “you should have got PMR 30 years ago”.😂😂😂

[Gaijin]

I was going to start a thread on this subject when I saw your post.

I was coming home from a relaxing, stress-free 10 day holiday in Switzerland, where I was feeling great till the last couple of days when I started to feel symptoms of adrenal insufficiency. I went up 1 mg on the prednisone and was feeling OK on the flight home. When I got to Madrid, my OH had "surprised" me by picking me up at the airport. I hate riding in the car with him driving (his behavior and cognition are becoming increasing impaired) but didn't have the heart to refuse. Well, in the short ride home, he tried to race another car and was really aggressive, chasing drivers that had passed him, etc.

By the time we arrived home, I could hardly get out of the car and was extremely drowsy. OH took my BP which was 80/50! I immediately took 10mgs of Prednisone and about an hour later I was fine. Talk about stress affecting you physically!!

I am now in the process of procuring a synacthen test.

[4840]

Good stress --- being active in a pleasant way --- does not hurt. Bad stress does, and when it happens, it affects me physically!

[teesher]

Visitors are stressful when we are in good health but I'm convinced PMR makes us ultra sensitive to noise and anything that upsets our equilibrium, starting off a flare. I have become particularly sensitive to noise. If I walk into a cafe/shop with music playing, I have to leave again. It never seems to be nice and low, on in the background. Don't be too hard on yourself.

[Ladybird25]

I had my first flare when my sister and her daughter came to stay and they fell out. I was also the taxi driver who had to drive my niece to the station to travel to her internship in London early every morning and collect her in the evenings. I’d just packed them both off and the flare hit. I’m now a believer in the power of stress!

[PMRinsdca]

Hi,

Wow! What timing for your post! I made the mistake of renting a room in my home to a couple for a month. Airbnb... but they have taken over my house! They cook meals constantly and even bake as well as do laundry almost daily. They are so in my space and not friendly! They speak Spanish to each other and ignore me.

I wrote recently about bumping down to 4 mg of Pred and having a difficult time. I have been feeling so fatigued and horrible! I didn't really put a lot of thought into the fact that the stress of strangers in my home was really affecting my health! I cannot wait for them to leave! I will not do this again. Any $ made is not worth it!

Also can relate to SheffieldJane's post. I have numerous homes under construction around me! Also have the nail gun, saws, tree grinding, etc. starting at 7am! I am not a morning person and not getting enough sleep.

Have to nap these days to be able to make social plans in the evening. I am 58 and single. Don't get me started on dating! Ha ha.

Thanks for your posts.

[Fieldofdreams]

Hi Celebrant, i am also worried about the flare ups due to stress levels. What did you notice first in your symptoms? I have to move around quite a bit in the next 3 months and terrified of how I am going to cope without wearing a badge that says 'leave me alone GCA sufferer'. At the moment I know if I am talking too long my head hurts. At some point my job relies on all talking!!!

Sending you a stress free hug.

[Reethebeat]

Thank goodness for this site, that says it all, and makes you realise you are not alone in your worries about visitors, family staying, husband with the tele on too loud, and friends that dont listen. Maybe ear plugs for a while so you cant hear all the noise going on in the background. Think you just have to be a bit selfish and retreat to a quiet place if you can. Stress seems to be part of life today, bit it doesnt help us with our illness. Hugs to everyone.