Topic: falling or sitting and not being able to get up
lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
since my knees were replaced i have not been able to get down on the floor (or sand at at the beach) and up without a chair or other support
this required using my hands a lot...and they are full of arthritis and getting worse
this winter i had major rotator cuff problems and was dx with shoulder arthritis
and since thanksgiving my lower legs have become very weak and painful due to pinched nerves in my back and a slipped artificial knee
but i have been able to get up from sitting and lying on a bed-the lower it was the harder it was but i didnt think of it as something i couldnt do
a few weeks ago i i sat on a neighbors 2 stepps in front of her house. it was low...but i had been able to get up from that height-a log or rock at the beach-and I COUDLNT GET UP
i got really flustered-didnt want her to help me...so upset i forgot to ask her to just get me a chair or stepping stool to pull myself up.
it took awhile-i just couldnt get my legs under me enough to get up---but i did but it was really scary and painful and i tried to forget it happend
before that in the winter in a blizzard once i was 2 steps from the door...i park the car under the carport...2 steps form the door to the house. and one leg refused to hold weight and i was hanging on totes and the door handle while i unlocked it-another scarey time...but i wrote it off as just a one time thing
well-i think i need to face the facts here. last night i was alone in the house with the dog. it was just getting dark so i kneeled on a chair to lean over it and pull curtins closed. i slipped (well really i couldnt kneel so they gave way)and i ended up on my belly on this chair close to the floor but for the life of me i coudlnt get myself up...
id rest and try a different way and then a diferent way. thinking back if i had let myself down to the floor i could have repositioned myself or scooted over to where the furnitrue was in the right position to pull me up
but maybe not. this falling thing is scary. i dont think i can get one of those things you wear around you neck cuz i think you need a land line phone
i dont always have a pocket for my cell phone altho i try to keep it close. but then-i worry about having it too close too long cuz of waves and stuff.
anyway...thats my new thing to worry about. i have to face the deterioration of hands, shoulder s and legs is putting me in a more precarious situation and figure out what to do about it
how do you handle it? what do you do to be safe?
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
boy i could have written this.
i got up from the sofa the other day and go so dizzy i thought i was going to fall.
i can't get down to the lower kitchen cabinets anymore. i have to turn over on all fours, grab the top cabinet and pull myself up. and now that i've gained to 205, i can't do it.
i have my bathroom stuff all up on the counter so i don't have to bend down and open drawers.
can't ride in husband's car because it's very low and i have turn and pull myself up or down. very uncomfortable.
i can't figure it out either.
went out the other day and this store had a high curb in front of it. maybe two steps but you had to climb on it. i couldn't do it, i'd fall. so i walked further down where the curb was low.
i tell ya nothing is made for elevation challenged people.
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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posted
That is very scary, kayak! I'm thinking.... (this may take awhile!)
I hope someone else has an idea for you.
ugh
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Don't get back up. Seriously. Now that I may have your attention, it's best to NOT get back up right away but stay down, even lie down for at least 20 minutes.
I learned this after years and hundreds of falls and seizures.
Hope things get better for you.
Basically, talk to your LLMD about a LL vestibular therapist and maybe also a LL occupational therapist who can teach you some tricks. A LL Physical Therapist would also be of help.
If you can find all that in one person, best. If not LL, they might still offer some help but could also hurt if you don't know enough about all this.
Even if your mobility issues are due to other diagnoses, it is very important that any therapist working with you is LL so they know about how that affects strength, balance, and that all things can change on a dime, in an instant. A LL therapist should know about the adrenal issues, too, in light of endurance.
Then, how not to fall in the first place. Some of the vestibular training skills can do that.
I also learned to drop on my own speed before I was taken down. A cane saved me from becoming road-kill many times, too. Borrowed wheelchairs, too, at places like a museum. -
[ 05-07-2013, 07:06 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
hmmm. thx keeb. hopefully im just at a ruff spot...but with so many problems at the same time it makes me way more impaired. mainly it is slipped artificial knee, pinched nerves in back and dizzines from head injury...but when put together i get into trouble.
i have had a alot of PT and training...i'll kee going even slower...
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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