If you suffer from any sort of balance disorder, you’ve probably come to realize that stress plays a big part in how good (or bad) you feel. For me personally, it’s taken me quite a while to realize the intimate connection between these two forces, but once I came to recognize it, it allowed me to better control when and where I feel dizzy.

As I said in my last post, I took a great vacation, and was able to unwind for a few days. I felt tremendously better (I did have my usual daily dizziness, but it was actually much better than usual). The lack of work-related stress really seemed to have a positive impact on how I felt.

I find exercise has the same stress-relieving effect — and it usually lasts for several hours after I exercise. And alcohol, while it certainly relieves stress in the short term, actually makes me feel more stressed in the longer term.

So while alcohol may be a quick fix for stress, it has a negative cumulative effect, and can often leave you feeling more stressed later in the day or the next day. Not to mention that alcohol is usually a motivation-killer as well.

As I’ve told myself many times, I need to avoid alcohol more, eat better and exercise more regularly (good advice for anyone, balance disorder or not). But for me (and anyone else with balance issues), the effects of not doing these things are not just felt in 10 or 20 years, but instead almost immediately.

It’s been a while since I’ve written here, and I hope no one thought I was gone forever! Things have been very busy at work, and of course quite stressful as well. This hasn’t really helped the dizziness in the past little while, and it’s been a bit tough to deal with. Even walking to and from work can be a chore some days.

So I’ve decided to extend this weekend, and take Monday and Tuesday off as well. I’m planning on traveling somewhere (it’s noon on Saturday, and I still haven’t decided where yet, I think it’ll be fun to just get in the car and go somewhere).

I’m looking forward to this much-needed break, and I’m hoping that I’ll come back rested (and less dizzy!). As I said in my last post, I’ve got my appointment with the new neurotologist at the end of the month (which I’m feeling hopeful about), so I’m hoping I can allow myself to feel a bit better before then!

On a side note, I did only 20 minutes of biking yesterday, and felt absolutely terrific after. I didn’t feel great while doing it, but for several hours afterwards, I thought: why don’t I do this all the time? I guess you can never really go wrong with getting more exercise.