{"id":3726,"date":"2014-11-15T15:27:49","date_gmt":"2014-11-15T22:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.coolkarma.com\/dharma\/?p=3726"},"modified":"2014-11-16T11:36:24","modified_gmt":"2014-11-16T18:36:24","slug":"data-data-everywhere-and-not-a-spot-to-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.karmabytes.net\/?p=3726","title":{"rendered":"Data data everywhere and not a spot to think"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"spuds\"<\/a>We watched an EDS\/POTS webinar<\/a> recently that reiterated the long held belief that exercising will improve POTS.\u00a0 I remember that first study 10 years ago when they took a bunch of military recruits and had them running 50 minutes in three weeks<\/a> … I was appalled at the leaps and bounds made by the authors that we could in any way equate “healthy” military recruits with those of us managing a chronic illness.\u00a0 And yet there’s a thread of small studies<\/a>\u00a0 that followed where they have “sick people” do 30+ minutes of aerobic exercise and poof no more POTS.<\/p>\n

\"From
Source:Wikimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Can deconditioning cause orthostatic intolerance<\/a>?\u00a0 Sure thing.\u00a0 The space program 20 years ago<\/a> affirmed this when they noticed that the returning astronauts couldn’t stand up after doing time in zero gravity.\u00a0 But that doesn’t mean that all of us who have dysautonomia are couch POTStatoes.\u00a0 Or as a well meaning medical professional recently told one of my kids … just drink some water, it will fix that.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

And while I could go on at great length about the potential pitfalls in studies that try to glean causation from correlation data <\/a>I don’t want to spend my energy standing on that soap box preaching to the chronically ill choir.\u00a0 Each of us have our own Truth and our own limiting factors that contribute to our view of the world as we see it from inside our being.\u00a0 The thread that I wanted to pull from the fabric of our collective mind is how we use these circumstances and pomp to construct meaning in our own N=1 reality show.<\/p>\n

There was a period of a few weeks after the webinar where my boyfriend and I collected data<\/i> on exercise and outcomes.\u00a0 What happens if I spend 20 minutes on the elliptical?\u00a0 Can I lift weights for 10 minutes?\u00a0 How ’bout I try both things together?\u00a0 We established a nice routine of listening to a loud music stream of 70s (I hesitate to use the word) oldies<\/i><\/b> while working out together in the living room each afternoon.\u00a0 And while we try to have some consistency in our practice, like most things … we are able to do this more or less based on a wide variety of contributing factors.\u00a0 Some day the pain is too great to exercise.\u00a0 Some day the tachycardia is too high even to be upright.\u00a0 And some days we need to spend our energy actually DOING something productive (like cleaning, cooking or concocting something creative … as meaningless as each may seem).<\/p>\n

Exercise is one of many targets that our collective culture uses as a litmus test to determine our value.\u00a0 Sign up for an annual membership at the local gym … 10 points!\u00a0\u00a0 Train for a 10k marathon to support your insert worthwhile cause<\/em> … 20 points!!\u00a0 Tune in to the Biggest Loser<\/a> and pretend that it counts for actually exercising … 30 imaginary points!!!<\/p>\n

But then, what happens when you have a lull in your exercise commitment?\u00a0 Or you don’t finish the race?\u00a0 Or you tune in to the Big Bang Theory<\/a> on Thursday night instead?\u00a0 What meaning do you layer on top of your actions (or non-actions)?\u00a0 Could it be you secretly want to sabotage your goals for a healthier life?\u00a0 Do you want to stay sick?\u00a0 Are you afraid to get better?\u00a0 Do you tell yourself you should try harder?\u00a0 Do you hear a punishing inner voice tell you that you have somehow failed or otherwise broke a personal promise?<\/p>\n

Because you see there is an underlying assumption here that .. if you want it bad enough … you’ll do it.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 Its so engrained in our brain that this alone keeps us on the hamster wheel of the blame game.\u00a0 Some take it so far to believe if they didn’t have this primordial guilt they would have no motivation to ever take another step forward.\u00a0 So we beat our self up over our circumstances and try to imbue meaning into our motives when we see that our actual actions aren’t the same as our anticipated activities.<\/p>\n

Its easy to be the Monday morning quarter back with a post-hoc-sack of a story that inflates or more likely deflates our status woe.\u00a0 I suggested to a friend recently … perhaps the reason you feel better when you are exercising is because you exercise when you are feeling better.\u00a0 Its the chicken and the cracked eggshell of causation and correlation<\/a>.\u00a0 Everyone has their own take on why shit happens <\/a>… my own meaning making machine still goes down that path every now and Zen.\u00a0 Until I stumble on a POTShole and remember that sometimes … “Its just one of those things<\/i>“.\u00a0 It may not mean anything, or if you prefer, it may mean everything.\u00a0 But when the voice in your head sounds mean<\/i> I would suggest you look at it closely and see if perhaps its simply misinterpreting the data.<\/p>\n

\"spuds\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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