The Importance of Modifying Your Treatment

Like with anything else, what you need now, can be very different from what you needed then, or will need in the future. That's why it is so important to regularly check in with your doctors. Updating things like symptom changes, concerns, or whether a specific treatment or therapy is still helping you, are preventive measures, one should take very seriously.

I recently ran into an issue I'd like to share with you. As many of you know, I've had severe tinnitus, hyperacusis, vertigo induced migraines with processing issues, since I was diagnosed in April of 2013.

In those FIVE years, I've had to find the right doctors, advocate for myself, and go through numerous trail and errors to find the right managed care plan for me. During this time, I've had three ear surgeries, restrictions and accommodations put into place, multiple forms of therapy such as vestibular, walking, and cognitive therapy. As well as being bedridden from the extreme sickness brought on by my t and h.

My lifestyle changed in ways no one would imagine. And I even came very close, to losing all my hearing. Through it all, I joined a support group to help me deal with accepting my condition, as well as the grieving process that comes with loss.

Loss of self, the activities I loved, confidence. Loss of social connections, loss of control over my body on any given day. I went through all the stages of grief and came out on the other side having learned to accept, cope, and adapt to the hand I was dealt in life. I learned to embrace my condition, and accept the ME, I am today.

You would think I've got it all figured out! Mastered my disability! But what many fail to understand and accept the most is, that it's not black and white. Your body will forever be changing. And therefore, so too, will your treatments and therapy.

There's no one size fits all! No magic pill! And the care you start out with is almost always never the care you end up with.

I've always said a huge part of my success with my condition has been walking therapy. However, recently my body started telling me something was seriously wrong. All that walking caused an IT Band issue. Causing pain in my hip, knee, lower back and sometimes just shooting all the way down my leg.

I didn't see that coming! But like with anything, enough stress on a specific body part can cause injury. Part of the problem was walking too much and the fact that my imbalance was causing stress on those body parts.

Once we knew what was happening and why we modified my managed care plan AGAIN. I started physical therapy to stretch and strengthen that part of my body so that walking therapy wouldn't be an issue, but for a short time, I had to stop walking.

This caused a few flare-ups. You can manage things as much as you want, but the overall remaining fact is, flare-ups can come on at any time. My tinnitus went off the charts, my hyperacusis spiked, which in turn caused my imbalance to flare and a migraine from hell. It was DAY 1 all over again.

Thankfully, five years later, I was better prepared. Armed with the knowledge of my condition, its history, and what works. I took the necessary steps to minimize symptoms best I could and waited out the storm.

I remembered my diet for migraine triggers, nausea, and vomiting, as well as energy levels. I took the medication prescribed to me by my doctors for my specific case, got plenty of rest being it made me bedridden for a day or two, and remembered that even when I could get back out of bed, my imbalance issue could linger before settling back down too.

The good news is, "This To Shall Pass" and it did! Setbacks can be difficult to go through, allow yourself those setbacks, because with each one, your body is learning how to fend off this foe.

What used to take me weeks to get better or even eat, can now last anywhere from a single week to just a day or two. That's a huge improvement from any flare-up! And my physical therapy team works with me! They are very flexible to allow accommodations where needed so that I can continue my treatment.

You may even notice a symptom you've never had before or a health issue may arise like in my situation with my treatments. That's why it's so important to make your General Practitioner your #1 contact. Because other health issues can be brought on by some forms of therapy, which means you just need to modify your treatment for what's best for your body.

The sooner you document new symptoms or changes in current symptoms, the better chance you have of finding the right managed care plan for you.

So, if you haven't seen your doctor in a while or are still asking yourself, "why should I even see my doctor" nows a good time to bridge that gap and update your managed care plan.