[b's sister]

My brother is a quad and I am just wondering if anybody has had trouble with low blood pressure and he starts sweating when he gets up. I will tell you he is a smoker and hardly ever leaves the bed. He does get up most of the time for his bowel program but not all the time. Any help appreciated.

[Apparelyzed]

Hi b's sister,

If your brother is in bed nearly all the time, his system will never get used to sitting up, and his blood will go straight to his legs leaving him faint. He needs to get up as much as possible to build his stamina up, and over time his low blood pressure should get better.

As for the sweating, again, this could be tight muscles and joints stretching whilst in his wheelchair, causing slight autonomic dystreflexia. Also, if he doesn't get up much, his skin probably hasn't toughened up either, which can cause A.D.

Is there a medical reason why he can't get out of bed, or is it his choice.

If it's his choice, I would encourage him to get up and mobilise, he is missing out on so much!

As for smoking, he should know better. Smoking, quadriplegia and a bed ridden life usually lead to one thing, a severe chest infection or worse, pnumonia.

What level of injury is he, and how long has it been since his accident?

Regards

Simon

[carolline]

Hi b's sister...
How long your brother been injured? And when he got injured is he lying on bed eversince?He need to get up step by step and litle by little.Like try to put a three pillows on his back like nearly in sitting position.Ask if he's feeling dizzy,did you ever check his blood pressure?If you have a sphigmomanometer try to check first his blood pressure.Then put him on sitting position while he's on bed,then check again his bld.pressure then compare it.If you notice there's a lowering his bld.pressure and if he's not dizzy.Let him stay sit for 15 mins.If he's feeling okay nothing change you need to do it everyday and increase the lenght of time.Till he used that way,then try to sit him on edge of the bed and dangle his feet as he tolerated it.And again you need to check and observe his blood pressure every time you move him.

I'll be back.
I have urgent to do something.

[b's sister]

Thanks so much for replying. My brother has been paralyzed since Jan. 2001 and he is a c5/c6. After he got home right after the injury he got up but after he got a bed sore that seemed to really knock him down. The sore has healed but he seems to have lost his drive. We are lucky to have the home health aid that we have and she encourages him to get up but he just won't. I think he is depressed or needs to talk to someone because life does go on. I think he takes something for depression but I am not sure its helping. He says hes not depressed but he lays in bed pretty much 24/7 with the door closed and the shades pulled. I really don't know how to help him. Thanks for letting me sound off.
b's sister

[Joed]

Hi b's sister...

My heart aches for your brother, because like Simon said, he's missing out on so much! There is life after a spinal cord injury. And in many ways, certain aspects of life are even richer and have more texture, if that makes any sense. (?) Of course, most of it sucks, there's no denying that ...but there are still joys to be had in this life.

Other than his bowel routine, is there anything else that might motivate him to get out of bed? Interests, etc.? But, since he's depressed, I doubt that any interests he may have had would seem very interesting to him right now. Is the health care aid ever able to get him up at all? If she succeeds occasionally, what might have been the thing that made the difference?

You may want to try printing off a few select posts from this forum and let him read. Maybe if he hears about others who are in the same boat and finding ways to enrich their lives, he will see that it is possible.

I can only imagine the anguish and grief he's enveloped himself in...and it keeps playing like a broken record. Something has to interject itself into that cycle and get his attention. At this point, he may not have the wherewithall to do it for himself without some help/intervention from the outisde.

I'm genuinely concerned for your brother. I wish I had a perfect nugget of truth to impart that could truly help, but I don't. Treating the depression is paramount...make sure he's taking his medication regularly. Is it possible to get a counselor to come to the house on a regular basis?

Your brother will be in my prayers. And I hope you'll keep us updated on how he's doing? Tell him we all said, 'hey'.

[carolline]

Hi b's sister
Hope...your brother will explore the environment,as JOED hitted the right point.
You need to do extra motivation to move him out of bed.Is he underwent for counselling?And family also has a big and important role to support your brother.Keep talking to him and dont let him to stay on bed at least he have a program for a day.Like 3x a day getting out on bed and go outside like just around the house.And at least a day in a week to bring him outside going to some place to unwind him.Show this site to him,so that he may nkow that he's not alone in this world having that kind of situation.All the people here in this site having SCI are so though and with humours on their mind.If I were in your shoes...keep talking to him and encourage him for a positive life.Life must go on for him,and let you feel him that he's still important.
Let us know how is he doing.
Say OUR REGARDS FROM US!!!!!

[hillarymcarter]

It will take awhile for him to get used to sitting up. It took my husband 5 months before he could sit for more than 4 hours without throwing up. Actually, for the first 3 months he would throw up everytime I took his wheelchair around a corner. He got to the point where he thought it would be easier to stay in bed but I just had to give him a HUGE dose of tough love. Not fun at all, but now he is very active and very happy!

[AHolland]

Does he have a computer, or one that he could borrow for a while. I may not get him out of the house, but it may get him sitting upright to use it.

I had to use a "binder", which is basically a poor man's girdle for the first 6 months after my accident. That gave me better balance and the tension helped with the blood pressure. Eventually I was weaned off of it and don't use it any more.

I wonder if I could use it to suck in that disabled belly syndrome (DBS). I think I will try to coin a new phrase....

[b's sister]

I told my brother about the site and he seemed encouraged. He does have a computer and that was what I talking to him about sitting up and getting on the computer. I need to check with him and make sure that his computer is ready for him. I also told him that his health aide that comes in would enjoy visiting the site because you never know what you can learn from others that are the same way you are. I copied the posts that had been written to let him read. Thanks for all the encouragement.
b's sister