[Mental Care] How a late-30s office worker recovered from autonomic ataxia on their own
Self-Introduction
Nice to meet you.
I am a 37-year-old technical office worker.
I developed autonomic ataxia.
I believe the cause was overwork and stress from working until midnight for six months due to guidance from my supervisor regarding a promotion exam.
Specific symptoms included insomnia, abdominal pain, stomach pain, headaches, nausea, fever, tinnitus, and depression. In particular, regarding sleep, I experienced frequent middle-of-the-night awakenings, leaving me with only 2 to 3 hours of sleep per day.
I also lost consciousness and collapsed several times (vasovagal reflex).
At first, I went to an internal medicine clinic, but there were no abnormalities, and I was told it was due to overwork.
Next, I went to a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with autonomic ataxia and adjustment disorder.
Fortunately, thanks to the support I received from people who stood by me, and by gathering information from books and taking measures with the desire to recover, I was able to eliminate almost all symptoms of autonomic ataxia in three months without taking a leave of absence.
However, I still occasionally experience physical discomfort (abdominal pain, headaches, etc.), so I am careful about my daily lifestyle habits to maintain good health.
As a personal memo, and in the hope that it might help others suffering from the same symptoms, I would like to write down what was effective for improving my condition.
Efforts Toward Improvement
I plan to write about specific coping methods in separate articles, but the main things I implemented are as follows.
I believe that resting and improving sleep are the top priorities, and focusing on recovering physical strength is essential. I also felt improvements in my anxiety by taking morning walks and doing yoga (stretching). After recovering my physical strength and reducing anxiety, I further stabilized my condition by improving lifestyle habits such as diet to prevent recurrence and by correcting my way of thinking (accepting things as they are and focusing on what I can do). It took about three months for the symptoms of autonomic ataxia to almost disappear.
Effort 1: Rest at all costs (Improving sleep)
When you have autonomic ataxia, you become exhausted and unable to move. In my case, my summer vacation happened to coincide, so I took nearly two weeks off, including paid leave, and did absolutely nothing.
Also, by taking the sleep aid (Dayvigo) and anti-anxiety medication (tandospirone) prescribed by the psychosomatic clinic, I saw improvements in my sleep and signs of recovery in my physical strength. Since physical strength does not recover if you are not sleeping, I made an effort to get about 7 hours of sleep. Recently, there are sleep medications with lower dependency, so I felt that it is important to rely on medication at times. Conversely, if you continue to be unable to get continuous sleep, I think taking a leave of absence becomes an option.
I thought the benchmark for whether you can continue working while relying on medication is 'whether your sleep has improved and your weekly fatigue balance is heading toward improvement.' In my case, by starting the sleep aid and working on the sleep improvements described later, I was able to fall back asleep immediately even if I woke up in the middle of the night after about two weeks, and my physical strength improved.
At the same time, I dropped out of the promotion exam (I believe the root cause was my supervisor's power harassment). When you are in a state where sleep abnormalities occur, avoiding the source of stress is more important than anything else. I have some regrets, but considering my future life and family, health comes first. I have no regrets about dropping out.
Effort 2: Relying on trusted people
I was blessed with a reliable wife, parents, an industrial physician, and a psychosomatic physician.
I honestly told these people that I was currently weak both mentally and physically.
By talking, I realized I was not alone and was able to view myself objectively.
In particular, I was resistant to going to a psychosomatic clinic, but accepting my current state and taking sleep aids and anti-anxiety medication led to the recovery of my symptoms.
Above all, I realized that having a family is the most important thing, and expressing my gratitude every day became my greatest emotional support.
Effort 3: Improving lifestyle habits (Sleep, diet, exercise, mindfulness)
I will list the things that were effective in improving lifestyle habits.
〇 Sleep
Keep a sleep diary. (Record what time you go to bed and what time you wake up every day. Find the bedtime that suits you.) (I found that I had middle-of-the-night awakenings if I went to bed before 22:00, so I go to bed at 23:00.)
Record sleep with a smartwatch
Wear an eye mask
Use earplugs
Do not look at smartphones, PCs, or TVs from one hour before going to bed.
Do not bring your smartphone into the bedroom
Take a bath (soak in the tub) 2 to 3 hours before going to bed
Do stretches before going to bed (rotate shoulders, neck, and ankles)
When you wake up in the middle of the night, go to another room and do some stretching.
Go to the bedroom once you feel sleepy.
If your sleep does not improve after two weeks of making the above efforts, rely on sleep aids (recently, internal medicine clinics can prescribe them, and there are convenient, non-addictive sleep aids available).
- Diet
Stop eating sweets and drinking sugary beverages entirely.
Reduce carbohydrate intake (halve the amount of white rice per meal to half a bowl).
Take vitamin B, C, E, and iron supplements.
Limit caffeine and alcohol intake.
Avoid overeating, especially at night (eat until you are 60% full).
- Exercise
Morning walks.
Stretching before going to bed at night.
If possible, do strength training (push-ups, squats, jogging, etc.).
- Mindfulness
Do not think about multiple things at once; focus on what is right in front of you.
Stretching and yoga.
Meditation and deep breathing.
Cut off addictive things like smartphone videos, pornography, gambling, and alcohol.
Approach 4: Improving your way of thinking (cognitive distortions)
Work on cognitive behavioral therapy by referring to books. Ultimately, how you perceive things yourself is everything. I kept a record of the parts of my perception that needed correction and made an effort to adjust how I think.
In my case, I unfortunately had to drop out of the promotion exam this time, but I decided that living a healthy life with my family is the most important thing, so I chose to focus on that. I also started to think that just being healthy and able to work at my own pace is wonderful.
I made an effort to accept myself as I am, focus on what I can do now, and give up on what I cannot do (by not pushing myself).
In conclusion
I have written down tips for lifestyle habits to maintain my physical health as a memorandum.
I hope my experience can be of help to everyone struggling with autonomic ataxia or adjustment disorder.
I plan to compile the details of the aforementioned efforts into individual articles.
If you liked this article, it would encourage me if you could give it a 'like'.
Thank you for reading this article.
Postscript:
I have summarized the lifestyle habits I am working on to prevent the recurrence of autonomic ataxia, so I hope you will find this helpful as well.