Floating

 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012 – Floating

I woke up Monday morning with a strange feeling.  I don’t know exactly how to describe it, except to say that I felt lighter than usual, especially my head.  It was almost like the feeling I’ve had from drinking a second glass of wine – that feeling that I’m not really all here.  But I certainly hadn’t had anything to drink in the past 24 hours.  So I went off to Lifetime for my usual post-breakfast workout, which turned out to be anything but usual.  First of all, I kept yawning as I went through my routine, even though I’d gotten a full eight hours of sleep the night before.  Furthermore, I didn’t feel like I had my normal strength, and even more disturbing was that the feeling of lightheadedness seemed to intensify as I continued to work out. 

I decided to spend the rest of the day at home, where the sensation that all the molecules that make up the cells of my body were doing a little dance continued.  In fact, when Elliott asked me to take him to see a friend on Monday evening, I told him I didn’t feel like I should be driving. 

I went to bed around 10, my head still floating, but certain that a good night’s sleep would take care of this bizarre condition.  Unfortunately, as soon as I got up Tuesday morning, I realized that things had only gotten worse.  With every movement, even just a slight turn of my head, the lightheadedness increased.  Along with the lightheadedness was a sense of queasiness that made it impossible to finish my bowl of oatmeal.  This was definitely interfering with my life.  So, instead of changing into exercise clothes, I called our family doctor.  She surmised that my allergy symptoms (sinus congestion, fluid in ears, coughing, throat swelling), which started to get really the weekend of Elliott’s party, may somehow be contributing to the extreme motion-sensitive lightheadedness I’m experiencing.   

I’m now taking several medications to treat the allergy symptoms, and I now feel much less like my head is about to float off into the clouds.  However, I made an appointment with my neurologist, just to make sure there’s nothing more serious going on.  (Yes, I admit that I’m one of those people who always imagines that some dread disease or condition is responsible for even the most minor medical problem.)