Seasonal Changes and the Effects on Chronic Illnesses

October is fun, right??

October is a crapshoot when it comes to how warm or cold it will be in Michigan. One year it was 30 degrees. This year it was 80 on some days and 50 on other days. Mother Nature, can you make up your fucking mind already??? I'm really not a fan of your menopausal mood swings and neither is my body, ok? Thanks.

When the season changes, my body freaks out. No. Seriously. This is the time of year that scares me the most. Last year I started going down hill around this time of year. I'm petrified that it's going to happen again. I just want to be normal and I know that's not going to happen but let me break this down for you...

When the barometric pressure goes wonky, my body goes crazy. My face gets flushed, my ears go red, my skin feels like it's on fire, but my hands and feet feel cold. My hands and feet ALSO feel like they have pins and needles going through them and they go numb.

Sounds like fun, right? I'm not done.

I get a little dizzy sometimes and I feel like veering to the left, or the right. I'm nauseated most of the time. Food doesn't sound like something I want to try. I'm bloated (so, for the love of g-d, please don't ask if I'm pregnant or I'll rip your face off!) and congested thanks to the mucus that allergies have created. Oh, and I have migraines on a constant basis. Don't forget about the orthostatic hypotension.

So, my body is going crazy. Thanks, October.

But I suck it up, put on a smiley face, walk into work and still ask you how YOUR day is going because you are still important, too. Fall is still beautiful. The leaves are still changing and my kids are going to have a great time running through them when they hit the ground ... even if all I want to do is lay on the couch and take a nap through most of October. And November.