Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder that causes intense, painful muscle contractions. It does not affect my mental capacities and I can’t die from it, but it does place certain limitations on my life at times. I am a registered nurse, a certified Professional Kripalu Yoga Teacher and a Usui Reiki Master Teacher who has worked all her adult life. When I started having involuntary turning of my head to the right accompanied by very painful neck muscle contractions in approximately mid 1997, I thought it was related to an auto accident I had 6 months before. I sought help from my primary care physician, who told me to take ibuprofen and it would go away. It just got worse and I went to another primary care doctor, who was very nice, but just didn’t know what was going on. We tried physical therapy and muscle relaxing medication. Sometimes the pain was so bad, I wasn’t sure I could continue to bear it. When I told my doctor, he thought perhaps I needed an anti-depressant and possibly an admission to a mental health facility. Interestingly, he was unable to hear that I was a pretty upbeat person, except when I was in such terrible pain. I found it difficult to drive because the pain would be so bad and my head turned so much to the right, I was concerned that I wouldn't see everything I needed to see on the left-hand side of me.

Life was pretty unpleasant and my only relief seemed to be when I slept. I went on the Internet and found a related disorder, restless leg syndrome. Again, my physician was very nice when I took him the literature and stated I thought my situation was like described in the information. He felt I had a nervous tic. But, we finally agreed that it was time to go to a neurologist. The neurologist knew when he examined me what was wrong. No, it wasn’t all in my mind or a nervous tic, it was dystonia; in my case, cervical dystonia or spasmodic torticollis. I eventually was referred to a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician who started me on BOTOX injections in the muscles of the neck, which ease the painful spasms.

I share the diagnosis of dystonia with 300,000 other people in North America. Why am I telling you all this? I have now done a great deal of research on the subject of dystonia and I have learned that it probably affects many more than are diagnosed. When it affects children, the dystonias become generalized, interfering badly with the many things a child would like to do. When it affects adults, the symptoms may progress for up to five years, but then tend to stabilize. Dystonia can be a very disabling disorder without treatment. Many primary care physicians, like mine, do not know about this disorder. I would be thrilled if even just one person heard the message about dystonia and got help. The feeling of helplessness can be considerable and perhaps this would give hope to others who haven’t had their disorders diagnosed. I have found yoga to decrease the pain while I am maintaining my flexibility. Without it, many days I would be unable to leave bed, let alone do and teach yoga. If you would like to know more, I urge you to contact the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation at www.dystonia-foundation.org .

Thank you for taking the time to read about this disorder.

COLLATERAL CIRCULATION &

DEEP BREATHING

Many of you know that I was hospitalized in 2005 for Deep Vein Thrombosis (aka DVT) which means I had a blood clot in my left lower inner leg and multiple clots that broke away from my leg and traveled to both lungs (called pulmonary emboli).

I had none of the usual symptoms in my leg (redness, swelling, pain in the calf when foot is flexed and very warm to the touch). So, I didn’t know about the leg clot until I became very short of breath with mild exertion (such as walking 150 yards from my car to a ballgame bleachers), which were the signs of several blood clots in both my lungs. Many die from the lung clots. I did not. Why?? Through my yoga and deep breathing I had developed collateral circulation (growth of many smaller blood vessels that feed the same tissue that the blocked vessel does). Therefore, my leg suffered none of the usual tissue damage. As a result, there were no symptoms, either (good and bad, I guess in relation to having some warning of impending lung clots). Pieces of the leg clot had broken off and gone to the lungs which caused the severe shortness of breath with any exertion. My lungs, due to deep breathing and doing yoga had also developed extra (aka collateral) circulation. My lungs were being nourished with these small blood vessels. Without pranayama (breathing techniques) and yoga, these areas of the lung would have suffered severe damage with multiple clots in both lungs. My lungs, and therefore I, would have died.

All my life, I have felt that everything, even bad things, happen to provide me with a learning opportunity I might not otherwise have. I see this situation as something that happened to teach me that yoga and pranayama are very important to my life. It’s also important to you for all the same reasons. I am very glad we all found YOGA!!

"Let us rise up and be thankful,

for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little,

and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick,

and if we got sick, at least we didn't die;

so, let us all be thankful."

Buddha

Pris Constantino, CPKYT, RPYT, RMT, RN, MS
1839 SE 1st St.
Cape Coral, Fl 33990
Phone: 239-573-0820

E-Mail: theyogalady@comcast.net
Serving Cape Coral in SW Florida

PLEASE NOTE THAT MY E-MAIL HAS CHANGED.

Please feel free to contact me by phone or e-mail.

Registered Professional Yoga Teacher with

updated 10/2/07