Update and personal findings

General Blog
1

Hi all,

I hope everyone is doing well in the early days of 2014.

Just to update you all, I have tried the following and so far I feel slightly better:

(PLEASE NOTE that I do not have EM as severely as others,so this may be specifically applicable to my case, where it is temperature and exercise induced)

1. Regular mild activity is better than no activity at all: I move a little bit every day, walking a bit, doing Tai Chi or pilates or stretching. Just one thing that will keep my circulation mildly going. Ischemia is very bad for me, and often it is what causes the EM flare ups in the first place.

2. I have stopped the contraceptive combined pill: Even though my specialist doctor said he doesn't think the pill has anything to do with it, I didn't feel comfortable, knowing that it can cause blood clots. How can something that causes blood clots in the legs not affect my circulation? I feel better off the pill, but I will give it an entire year and see how I feel next winter. I also feel psychologically better about taking care of my body and not bombarding it with hormones, although that is entirely personal and not "scientific."

3. LOTS OF WATER. I never leave the house without my water bottle. I drink regularly throughout the day.

4. Good shoes (and socks). Leather shoes and quality shoes are much better than polyester or cheap quality shoes that makes your feet sweaty but do not keep them warm. Humidity does not help with EM.

Obviously, as I always say, I am not a doctor at all, but this has helped me quite a bit recently. A huge trick for me is to not allow my feet to get too cold (which causes ischemia i.e. the complete STOP of blood flow where my feet turn black) in the first place. But still, I cannot do my dance routine performances. When I really need to, I do them with no shoes on, and it still hurts a lot. But I cannot stop performing, it is what keeps me alive...

Best of luck to everyone!

2

Hi jsy01. Thanks for sharing your update. I find the same things work for me. I have to keep moving or my muscles get tense my feet ache all the time and the burning is worse in the evenings. But if I stay too long on my feet at once time - the max is about 15 mins - it can bring on the burning really badly and last for hours. I do an exercise class on Mondays for 45 mins. The first 15 mins is a dance routine and that’s as long as I can bear to wear trainers. If I get my feet cooled down straight away and do the rest of the class, usually weights and on the floor, in bare feet then I find it really helps keep EM at bay! Also I find going to the pool and walking in the water or playing ball means I can exercise my feet for 30 mins without bringing on the EM symptoms. I’m waiting to see an EM specialist in Newcastle I will add her to the list of EM experts when I get my first appointment. I hope you improve and can keep dancing xxx