I completed the first part of the caregiver stress study I am participating in thru our Medical school in Portland (OHSU). Very interesting day...saliva tests the previous day, three hours at the med school answering questions, taking cognitive tests (woe is me), blood tests... then being wired for reaction overnight. I had 20 elecrical nodes attached to my head and upper body with a charming carry case for the wires to heft with me until the next morning. One of the study folk came to my house and undid all the mess early the next morning..oh..respite was provided during my away time for my husband. Apparently this study has been ongoing for a couple of years. The next part is a seven week class participation..1 1/2 hours once a week broken into three groups..actual education class, meditation class and then a nothing time to spend as you wish..all with respite provided...no clue what group I will be in, but it should be interesting.
I remember all too well a social worker coming to my house when Bill was still home. She gave me a more simple stress test and I scored a perfect 10! Like I needed an eval to know I was stressed. However I am really interested in the results of Kathy's much more sophisticated program. The scientist in me still lives.
having gone thru hormone shock and intense flashing etc, i am into my hormone levels now and bioidentical replacement therapy and all that entails-- blood work saliva tests. hormone drs...etc...i found my cortisol levels are wayyy off in the morning and then again in the pm. cortisol is the trigger for stress and weight gain esp round the middle!!...hummm..both we do not want! divvi
If you are open to the herbal supplements approach, I have had a good experience the second one on this page: http://us.naturalfactors.com/search.asp?mode=cat&cat=57 I take the Serenity Formula once a day in the morning and it brought down my fasting blood glucose 20 points. I believe that the higher level was caused by stress and the supplement reduces my body's stress reaction. It also took the edge off the depression for me, but I am very medication sensitive.
Today was the first meeting of my study group....VERY long 1 1/2 hours...I surely hope it improves as I don't need someone to tell me about how hard this life is!!!Especially when he has no one with any kind of dementia, but is considered an expert. He was nice, but wordy beyond belief. Too bad I didn't get the meditation group :-). Could be a long 7 weeks. The flip side is the respite person was very good with G, but isn't a dog person which our pup didn't understand at all.
Charlotte, after the fact, I received a info letter stating that I will be assigned to one of the three groups after yesterday's meeting, so perhaps it will improve. I had very negative feelings with all the handouts and explanation from the "leader"...did he really think any of this was new to us? I will stay in there, but with a cautious attitude.
I have been in the meditation group for five meetings ...interesting to say the least. The leader admits no first hand knowledge of caregiving, so offers no advice on that point, but is expert in the meditation study. I have been the only constant in this group with others missing some or all of the meetings for various reasons. I wasn't thrilled to start, but now find that the CD home work assignment helps me get to a place where I can fall asleep at night when totaly stressed. I can say now that I am enjoying the meetings more than I anticipated....perhaps some due to having a caregiver at home so I don't worry...that part has been nice, and G likes the woman who stays with him...even though she isn't a dog person, but is managing with our pup. Some of the homework I find tedious, and haven't been faithful in following through ...describe a good feeling you had...how did you react, did you have a physical reaction, etc. Then the opposite (that was easy) lots of bad feelings that week!
Two more weeks...if nothing else, the CD has helped, and I discovered that my particular Pilates classes are a definite form of meditation, so circles are forming.