BDSM and Chronic Diseases

[ecstaticsub]

This is key for me and my condition. My hypoglycemia can look a lot like this when I hit a low and a lot of physical and/or emotional stress can send me into a low quickly. So my PYLs or play parnters always learn to look for signs and tell the difference between these two states. They also learn to ask a lot of questions because for some reason I always answer any question asked of me.

We also keep orange juice, small candies, and peanut butter close by to help give me a jolt quickly if I need it. I also eat a high protein meal an hour or so before any heavy play. When I was in Ireland I planed all of my meals to be the highest protein and lowest carbs I could just incase he got the idea for some heavy play later.

I also have a safeword specific to my condition that I kind of just in every day life as well as when in the throws of passion. "Juice" every one around me knows this word and knows it means "get some sugar in me now". The reason this came to be was because it comes so naturally. Something like my self preservation kicking in. I was lucky enough to be playing with some one who knew my condition well enough to react properly the first time I slipped into subspace and then out of no where hollared "juice".

I think a lot of it is self knowledge and knowledge of your own condition and sharing that knowledge with your PYL or pyl.

What a perfect idea!! With any use of a safeword play would stop immediately but with a medical condition safe word then appropriate assistance can be given without delay.

 

[ecstaticsub]

Sir is diabetic, and one of the first things He taught me when I visited Him was what to do if He started acting funny - how to use the glucometer and what to do if His sugar was low, and what the Australian emergency phone number was....lucky He did because I had to call an ambulance three days into my visit when He had a really bad hypo and was unresponsive

We check His sugar before we play and most especially if I'm going to be in restraints! There are jellybeans all around the house (bedroom, lounge room and other sweets in the kitchen cupboard) along with sugared Pepsi in the fridge. He can usually feel when he's low but sometimes it sneaks up on Him - He's one of those who can function when he's very low so things can be deceptive. Mood changes are a good sign that something isn't right and so I will suggest that He check His sugar....more often than not it's low!

Bandit your situation brings up a excellent point. I was thinking more as a Top having to know the medical history of the bottom(s) i would playwith but it is important for the pyl(s) to know the medical situation of the PYLs also.



Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences, it is appreciated.

 

[BiBunny]

I've got asthma, but mine is allergy-induced (let's not talk about how bad my freaking allergies are). It rarely sneaks up on me; it's much more likely to gradually get worse. And my attacks don't involve my airway closing completely, thank God. It's mostly just wheezing and a WHOLE BUNCH of coughing. We know now to grab the inhaler when the coughing starts to head it off before it gets bad because it never resolves itself on its own. It takes the albuterol to calm it.

I'm lucky that mine is annoying, especially the coughing so hard you come close to passing out part, but not particularly life-threatening.

I also have deep morphea, one of the localized forms of scleroderma. I do show limited symptoms that are often seen in systemic scleroderma patients, though I (thank God) don't have the systemic kind myself.

Basically, I have a big, ugly brown spot on the outside of my right thigh. The disease has destroyed a lot of the connective tissue in that area, and there is no fat whatsoever under the skin. The rule of thumb is "don't hit me there unless you want me to rip your balls off." It's easy enough to remember.

In all actuality, I can forgive the occasional rogue whack because everybody makes mistakes. But repeated hits in an area that has no fat protecting it gets you on my shit list pretty fast.

Other than that, about the only thing I have to prepare people for with the scleroderma is that my right leg won't spread as far as my left one, and my feet sometimes turn funny colors when they get cold. *Shrug*

I have random issues, but I'm very lucky that mine aren't very bad.

 

[graceanne]

Graceanne raises a good point. Different medications can affect the mind as well as the body and prenisone is a prime example of this. I watched it turn a mild-mannered cool older gentlemen into a defecating in front of the church manic insane-seeming psych-patient. But he needed the prednisone or he would have died from fluid filling his lungs.

Its an extreme example and I hope Graceanne's wasn't quite that dramatically altering, but it can happen. Coping with that kind of behavior change was incredibly difficult from a patient care perspective. I can only imagine how difficult it would be with a loved one, submissive or dominant.

I wasn't psychotic, but I was a raging, screeming, STUPID bitch. I flipped out and threw a royal tantrum (throwing things, etc) because I couldn't find my barrets. It makes my skin hurt, and my heart beat funny, and I couldn't think, not to mention that massive amount of weight I gain on it. It's the evil drug from SATAN and I hate it.

I've never had a med that stripped as much of my personality as quickly and replaced it with fear-riddled, hallucinating, fixated oatmeal-for-brain. Even in small doses and fast doses it tends to make people really nasty and prone to spouting awfulness.

QFT

 

[ecstaticsub]

I've got asthma, but mine is allergy-induced (let's not talk about how bad my freaking allergies are). It rarely sneaks up on me; it's much more likely to gradually get worse. And my attacks don't involve my airway closing completely, thank God. It's mostly just wheezing and a WHOLE BUNCH of coughing. We know now to grab the inhaler when the coughing starts to head it off before it gets bad because it never resolves itself on its own. It takes the albuterol to calm it.

I'm lucky that mine is annoying, especially the coughing so hard you come close to passing out part, but not particularly life-threatening.

I also have deep morphea, one of the localized forms of scleroderma. I do show limited symptoms that are often seen in systemic scleroderma patients, though I (thank God) don't have the systemic kind myself.

Basically, I have a big, ugly brown spot on the outside of my right thigh. The disease has destroyed a lot of the connective tissue in that area, and there is no fat whatsoever under the skin. The rule of thumb is "don't hit me there unless you want me to rip your balls off." It's easy enough to remember.

In all actuality, I can forgive the occasional rogue whack because everybody makes mistakes. But repeated hits in an area that has no fat protecting it gets you on my shit list pretty fast.

Other than that, about the only thing I have to prepare people for with the scleroderma is that my right leg won't spread as far as my left one, and my feet sometimes turn funny colors when they get cold. *Shrug*

I have random issues, but I'm very lucky that mine aren't very bad.

Thanks Bunny for sharing. My asthma is mostly allergy induced, too. I've never had to use my inhaler during a sex/play session but I keep it out in the open just in case.

For a while there I was also getting orgasm headaches. Nothing kills the mood like a headache so bad that my head feels like it will explode. But we seem to have gotten that under control, too.

___

Thank you all for your responses...

 

[sammies_place]

BDSM & Chronic Diseases (Slightly OT)

Thanks :

The second reason was more of a geeky interest professionally. One of the frustrating parts of being a pharmacist is that we know in theory how drugs react in a persons body, we know drug-drug interactions etc etc. But to really hear first hand experiences is so valuable, and I thank you very much for that. (I once had a professor tell us that he thought we should all try a drug before dispensing it...he was sort of kidding but his main research was on Valium and other benzos so I think he was thinking specifically of just those drugs )

Thanks again

I've recently started experimenting with Absinthe. I've heard from a few BDSM friends they take it during play with no effects. Considering the hallucinagenic properties of absinthe and how it CAN (not necessarily will) react with even low dose aspirin that they'd do this is surprising. I get two responses from others who take Absinth: yes they hallucinate or no they don't. Out of 5 experiences with Absinth I hallucinated 1x - about 3 hours AFTER taking 1/2 the regular dose. Beside my NPH dose the only other thing I had in my system at the time I had the Absinthe was Alieve. I cannot imagine what someone playing with weed/absinthe, salvia d/absinthe, x/absinthe does to the mind - not to mention all the anti-depresents and other meds out there.

 

[sammies_place]

Ty Rida!