Life with Meniere's - Overdoing It

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As most of you know, my mother suffers from a mild to moderate degree of Meniere's Disease. While she no longer passes out, she can still suffer from violent attacks where she can't do anything but sit until the attack passes.

Do you know what brings on most of the violent attacks? Overdoing it. Overdoing what, you ask? Everything. There are some things she cannot spend a lot of time doing it, because it does cause an episode if she overworks herself. (Yes, we do help her. But she is super independent, so there are still some things she wants to do on her own.)

Many people, according to people my mother has talked to, suffer from the same problems - getting a sudden attack if they overdo it, no matter what the physical activity is. But sometimes you can't really put off doing something because it needs to get done right then and there. So when my mom continued talking to them, they came up with really great ideas on how to keep attacks at bay but still continue on with your activity:

* Doing it in increments (for example, take a break every 5 minutes) helps keep everything balanced.
* If you can, plan chores and heavy activity for a day when your Meniere's isn't as bad.
*Avoid caffeine and salt on days you have a lot to do. This might prevent a heavy episode.
*Do the activity with a friend or family member. That way if you need to take a break, they can either take the break with you or continue doing the activity.
*Challenge and reward yourself. See if you can do it for 10 minutes and then reward yourself with a 20 minute break.

Meniere's Disease is not an easy condition to live with by any means. But if baby steps are taken, it can be manageable.