I was born with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy. My kind of cerebral palsy means I have an overabundance of muscle tone in my body. The most common symptom I deal with is tight muscles, which can, and often does, lead to muscle spasms. My general practitioner prescribes muscle relaxers for me to take as needed. ½ of a pill is the dosage I start with. If that does not help, I take the other half. He trusts me to monitor and medicate myself as needed. He has been my general doctor, minus a few years when he switched practices because the doctor who owned the practice retired closing his practice, since undergrad. My general doctor knows I am responsible and trustworthy with medications.
The last several weeks I have experienced a prolonged flare up of my condition symptoms. I am feeling better after consulting with my doctors, childhood physical therapist, parents, and chosen family (see post before this one). My childhood physical therapist says what I am experiencing is just my body adjusting to all the happenings in my world since June 2022. I agree with her assessment. I feel much better, and therefore calmer, except for the first thing in the morning now.
That is when I am experiencing intense and painful muscle spasms. Once my leg braces and shoes are on and I can sit up on the edge of my bed: the spasms dissipate. Once they do, I can get up, and get my day started. My childhood physical therapist said yesterday during a text conversation my early morning spasms, and any others, should become less frequent now that I am taking the magnesium citrate supplement she recommended. Trusting her expertise is easy, but being patient with myself and my body is not.
Keeping up an open, honest, dialogue with my doctors, childhood physical therapist, parents, and chosen family members is not my first response. My default is to say I got it or am fine when that is furthest from the truth. Wanting to be independent and not bother anybody must be balanced with what my reality is, and what I need to feel my best and thrive. Together: it is how life is best lived, thriving in my world but does not work unless I allow it to. That is how struggles are overcome in my world, and it is my belief the rest of the world can benefit from overcoming struggles together, too.