This Past Week Was an Incredibly Stressful Week. I Tried to Cope But…

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months-in-a-doctors-office-so-far-so-good-7eceaa76465e">I work in the administration of a busy family practice.</a> On average, we cater to 50 patients daily. Usually, I work with someone. Fortunately or unfortunately, she took a 4 weeks vacation, so the office workload doubled. Of course, by the end of the day, the migraines hit again.</p><p id="f5dc">As soon as I got home, I killed the lights again; no dinner, no shower, no prepping for the next day. I just hugged my sheets and pillow. The next morning when I woke up, the headaches had reduced significantly, but I could still sense them. I thought of calling in sick, but it would be short notice, as I had no one to cover my duties.</p><p id="5ac2">So I packed my breakfast and lunch and left for work. It was now Friday. I was thankful. I also told myself that I would not do any work that was not priority one. I was functioning below par and my brain would not take it.</p><p id="053d">As I rode to the office, I drank up the veggie smoothie and then had soup when I got to the office. I was loading up more than usual cos I knew my body was in deficit and I still had to work.</p><p id="c0de">When my boss walked over to my desk, he asked: “what is it about the monthly period that knocks a woman off?” I responded: “A woman is losing all that blood and her body feels the loss. Besides, those hormones ain’t playing. Everything she does gets affected <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/menstrual-depression">physically and mentally.</a>” “Oh,” he responded. I wondered why he didn’t know that, but then I remembered that most doctors weren’t familiar with what they didn’t see often in practice.</p><p id="9c57">As I paced myself and worked, I remembered hubby’s words to me when this crisis hit: “You know you have been under a lot of pressure lately. You wrote <a href="https://readmedium.com/this-test-result-put-some-serious-bounce-in-my-step-the-whole-day-c3cd5b850c66">an exam</a> the previous week and you are prepping for two more in the coming weeks. You have been skimping on sleep as well. Your body is protesting.”</p><p id="9a12">That wasn’t all. My periods were here and the office workload had doubled. One person, one body, the same system taking all that

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hit… If you know, you know. Well, thankfully, I had a weekend to recoup. No study, no unnecessary outings. Just cook, eat, sleep, play, and repeat.</p><p id="1dd3">I really had no space to study or think of when I would do my board exams. I needed something more sustainable than TGIF. My body was reminding me again that I needed a life that was incredibly balanced. <a href="https://readmedium.com/this-one-is-on-self-care-a390ff20d7a6">It had done so in the past and it was doing it again.</a> I can’t ignore the writing on the wall. It’s foolish to do otherwise.</p><p id="9549">Update: 2 months after I wrote this article, I broke down completely. I couldn’t function optimally at work. I was deadbeat at home. I had not taken an optimal vacation in almost a year and my system was screaming.</p><p id="21a4">Clearly, I had taken out much more than I was taking in. As I type this, I have not been at work for 10 days. Most days, I eat, sleep, and drink fluids. It was foolish to ignore the writing on the wall.</p><div id="46dd" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/ill-too-often-you-might-be-stressed-ac81da6c9c3c"> <div> <div> <h2>Ill Too Often? You Might Be Stressed.</h2> <div><h3>“You need to listen to your body because your body is listening to you.” — Phil McGraw</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*IqjjYvrJsNQBUNtq)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="423d" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-i-survive-my-menstrual-cycle-c81fc3c47618"> <div> <div> <h2>How I Survive My Menstrual Cycle</h2> <div><h3>“Leaders bleed, period.” ― Silvia Young,</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*gztoPUm4oCJDUM2gV5NHfA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Some lessons are repeat lessons.

There are many people whose health conditions influence their lifestyle choices. I am one of them. I am a huge fan of veggies and fruits because of their pro-inflammatory properties. Not just that, I eat them to be one step ahead of anemia, fatigue, and depression.

Well, I had kept up with my daily veggie routine and it must have had its due impact, but my body had to fight other battles last week. For a really long time, I have not suffered migraines. Sure, they herald my periods and disappear soon after, and that’s it. Life continues.

On Tuesday night, my periods showed up. It was early. The next day, I had a fitness test downtown. I had a smoothie, a bottle of water, a banana, and an apple in my bag. I drank the smoothie in transit.

At the fitness center, the exercise hadn’t even begun, and I was already having dizzy spells. When it was time for the fitness exercise, I spoke to the instructor about how I was feeling and excused myself.

A friend of mine lived 20 minutes away, so I went to her place to chill. I ate breakfast and then called the office that I was coming in. Somewhere between that phone call and when I called the taxi, migraines hit. I had to go home.

As soon as I got home, I killed all lights and hit the sheets. I did not wake up till hubby got home. The next day, I felt better and went to the office.

Now, I work in the administration of a busy family practice. On average, we cater to 50 patients daily. Usually, I work with someone. Fortunately or unfortunately, she took a 4 weeks vacation, so the office workload doubled. Of course, by the end of the day, the migraines hit again.

As soon as I got home, I killed the lights again; no dinner, no shower, no prepping for the next day. I just hugged my sheets and pillow. The next morning when I woke up, the headaches had reduced significantly, but I could still sense them. I thought of calling in sick, but it would be short notice, as I had no one to cover my duties.

So I packed my breakfast and lunch and left for work. It was now Friday. I was thankful. I also told myself that I would not do any work that was not priority one. I was functioning below par and my brain would not take it.

As I rode to the office, I drank up the veggie smoothie and then had soup when I got to the office. I was loading up more than usual cos I knew my body was in deficit and I still had to work.

When my boss walked over to my desk, he asked: “what is it about the monthly period that knocks a woman off?” I responded: “A woman is losing all that blood and her body feels the loss. Besides, those hormones ain’t playing. Everything she does gets affected physically and mentally.” “Oh,” he responded. I wondered why he didn’t know that, but then I remembered that most doctors weren’t familiar with what they didn’t see often in practice.

As I paced myself and worked, I remembered hubby’s words to me when this crisis hit: “You know you have been under a lot of pressure lately. You wrote an exam the previous week and you are prepping for two more in the coming weeks. You have been skimping on sleep as well. Your body is protesting.”

That wasn’t all. My periods were here and the office workload had doubled. One person, one body, the same system taking all that hit… If you know, you know. Well, thankfully, I had a weekend to recoup. No study, no unnecessary outings. Just cook, eat, sleep, play, and repeat.

I really had no space to study or think of when I would do my board exams. I needed something more sustainable than TGIF. My body was reminding me again that I needed a life that was incredibly balanced. It had done so in the past and it was doing it again. I can’t ignore the writing on the wall. It’s foolish to do otherwise.

Update: 2 months after I wrote this article, I broke down completely. I couldn’t function optimally at work. I was deadbeat at home. I had not taken an optimal vacation in almost a year and my system was screaming.

Clearly, I had taken out much more than I was taking in. As I type this, I have not been at work for 10 days. Most days, I eat, sleep, and drink fluids. It was foolish to ignore the writing on the wall.