I’m not writing this as a plea for sympathy but as an objective attempt to understand what is going on. I feel decidedly odd today. (Unkind commentators might observe that this feeling merely reflects my natural condition.)
I had planned to visit the garden centre this morning and then titivate the ornamental hay racks at the front of the house. Presently they are filled with the dead remains of geraniums and a few brave, lingering nasturtiums. However, when I clambered carefully out of bed, trying to avoid disturbing Winston, who sleeps on my feet, and Jenna, always pressed to my back, I had the peculiar sensation of being slightly off-balance. (Again, this leaves me open to cruel remarks.)
Now, a few hours later, I know I cannot trust myself to drive anywhere, so my day will be spent indoors, doing as little as possible (Nothing new there, then!) and hoping the fog will clear. My head is full of cotton wool (My detractors always suspected there was no grey matter in it!) and is threatening to ache. I suppose this is what one of my work colleagues used to refer to as ‘half a headache’.
Barry sporadically suffers from a balance problem – positional vertigo caused by crystals in the inner ear - which causes giddiness and nausea. Medication (betahistine dihydrochloride) helps him and sometimes exercises – the Epley manoeuvre, (similar to the Brandt-Daroff Repositioning Exercise) – are effective, though occasionally they aggravate the vertigo.
The Epley manoeuvre
He had a recurrence of this ailment after we came home from London at the weekend. It has lasted for several days and strangely, just as he is recovering I have developed a similar complaint, though I am not as severely affected as he has been. We are wondering now if we have picked up a ‘bug’. It just goes to show, it’s dangerous to go out! You never know how generous people are going to be with their germs. As Adrian Monk would agree, ‘It’s a jungle out there!’
