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Friday, April 27, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Health Notes
This is going to ramble a bit as I'm fairly crashed today. I am unwillingly participating in an experiment with my meds. Last week due to a lack of rides and the Marino Center being closed for Patriot's Day (a MA holiday and totally weird since they have been open for other federal Monday holidays), I skipped my glutathione IV. My ride called Friday to tell me she is flying down to see her daughter and won't be back until next Tue so I had to cancel tomorrow's appointment as well. So, I'm playing lets see what happens when I skip my weekly IV. I'll let you know what happens. In the meantime....
Sun Exposure
This is going really well. I spend about an hour in the sun 2-3 days a week. I'm loving the results of my low grain low sugar diet. I haven't even gotten pink never mind a sunburn. I'm going to save a small fortune on sun lotion this year! I'm generally feeling much better for the sunbathing. I'm reading books again. I can't read for very long, about an hour, but I'm reading again! Yay!!
Going 'Poo-less
I'm still only using baking soda in water to wash my hair. It has never looked better. I've given up on the vinegar rinse. I don't like the smell and my hair gets greasy faster if I use it. My hair does much better with just the soda.
Laundry and Dishes
We are now using Biokleen for both. I like it because it has no toxins in it and no fake smellies. Hubs likes it because, gosh darn it, it works better. Yup. Our clothes are coming out clean without the use of spot removers and precleaners. I'm beginning to believe that they started to make lousy laundry detergent on purpose so that you are forced to buy pretreaters which are hideously expensive. Tide will no longer take salad dressing spills out of my clothes. Biokleen on the other hand works fantastic! Nice clean clothes with no pretreating required.
Diet
Still needs work. I'm sneaking too many grains in. I'm doing pretty well keeping sugar out though. I still eat ice cream once or twice a week but even that is too sweet most days.
A few things that have changed about my food intolerances. I seem to be able to eat wheat now. I used to get brain fog, intestinal cramps and constipation followed by diarrhea. These all seem to be gone now. I can eat a piece of bread or sandwich once in a while with no consequences. Or at least nothing discernibly different from the normal ups and downs of CFS.
I now seem to have nasty reactions to corn. Particularly regular corn which is heavily tinkered with and possible contains Bt toxin (a pesticide: yes, Monsanto now has a strain of corn that has toxins in the actual kernels). I had enchiladas at a restaurant the other day (it was a GF dish) and the following day I broke out in zits all over my face and horrible joint aches. I've also noticed gut reactions to organic non-GMO corn. I tend to get diarrhea the following day. So I guess corn is now off the menu. I might cheat with the occasional piece of cornbread but I'm swearing off corn tortillas and switching to flour ones. I never thought I'd see the day...
I have also noticed that I don't do well with vegetable oils anymore. I snuck some of hubs potato chips the other day and I did nothing but burp and have heartburn. I have noticed the same thing after I eat french fries. I'm giving up on stuff fried in veg oil. It doesn't even smell good to me anymore. It smells rancid.
In General
I'm doing better than I was. I no longer have to plan out my trips across a room (which route to take to get things done with the fewest steps). I can read for short periods of time. I can drive short trips to the other side of town for my appointments. I don't have to lie down as often. I'm not stuck in bed all day as often. I'm cooking meals more often. I've been showering more often. I've started to catch up on all the canceled appointments from the last three months. I'm bored more often (always a good sign). My period seems to be back to a regular schedule which means my hormones are more balanced than they used to be. I'm even interested in nookie again ;-) Hubba hubba!
Sun Exposure
This is going really well. I spend about an hour in the sun 2-3 days a week. I'm loving the results of my low grain low sugar diet. I haven't even gotten pink never mind a sunburn. I'm going to save a small fortune on sun lotion this year! I'm generally feeling much better for the sunbathing. I'm reading books again. I can't read for very long, about an hour, but I'm reading again! Yay!!
Going 'Poo-less
I'm still only using baking soda in water to wash my hair. It has never looked better. I've given up on the vinegar rinse. I don't like the smell and my hair gets greasy faster if I use it. My hair does much better with just the soda.
Laundry and Dishes
We are now using Biokleen for both. I like it because it has no toxins in it and no fake smellies. Hubs likes it because, gosh darn it, it works better. Yup. Our clothes are coming out clean without the use of spot removers and precleaners. I'm beginning to believe that they started to make lousy laundry detergent on purpose so that you are forced to buy pretreaters which are hideously expensive. Tide will no longer take salad dressing spills out of my clothes. Biokleen on the other hand works fantastic! Nice clean clothes with no pretreating required.
Diet
Still needs work. I'm sneaking too many grains in. I'm doing pretty well keeping sugar out though. I still eat ice cream once or twice a week but even that is too sweet most days.
A few things that have changed about my food intolerances. I seem to be able to eat wheat now. I used to get brain fog, intestinal cramps and constipation followed by diarrhea. These all seem to be gone now. I can eat a piece of bread or sandwich once in a while with no consequences. Or at least nothing discernibly different from the normal ups and downs of CFS.
I now seem to have nasty reactions to corn. Particularly regular corn which is heavily tinkered with and possible contains Bt toxin (a pesticide: yes, Monsanto now has a strain of corn that has toxins in the actual kernels). I had enchiladas at a restaurant the other day (it was a GF dish) and the following day I broke out in zits all over my face and horrible joint aches. I've also noticed gut reactions to organic non-GMO corn. I tend to get diarrhea the following day. So I guess corn is now off the menu. I might cheat with the occasional piece of cornbread but I'm swearing off corn tortillas and switching to flour ones. I never thought I'd see the day...
I have also noticed that I don't do well with vegetable oils anymore. I snuck some of hubs potato chips the other day and I did nothing but burp and have heartburn. I have noticed the same thing after I eat french fries. I'm giving up on stuff fried in veg oil. It doesn't even smell good to me anymore. It smells rancid.
In General
I'm doing better than I was. I no longer have to plan out my trips across a room (which route to take to get things done with the fewest steps). I can read for short periods of time. I can drive short trips to the other side of town for my appointments. I don't have to lie down as often. I'm not stuck in bed all day as often. I'm cooking meals more often. I've been showering more often. I've started to catch up on all the canceled appointments from the last three months. I'm bored more often (always a good sign). My period seems to be back to a regular schedule which means my hormones are more balanced than they used to be. I'm even interested in nookie again ;-) Hubba hubba!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Slow Recovery
I am doing better. I still don't feel up to writing long blog posts though. I'm getting as much sun as I can. It is hard to find places in the yard where I can go topless without being an exhibitionist. I'm actually looking forward to when the trees leaf out so I can have some more privacy.
I'm sunning from 30-60mins a day. I'm at the 45th parallel if you were wondering. The Paleo diet has resulted in no burns and only a very slow tan just starting to form. While the sun exposure has the immediate effect of making me sleepy, I find that I have more energy over all. That combined with the glutathione IVs, diet and weekly chiropractic visits I'm seeing a definite upward trend. I'm well enough to get bored.
Another couple bits of good news, I'm driving very short trips across town (5-10mins). And, I'm reading trashy novels again. I last about an hour before getting wiped out. It has been such a pleasure to read again. I've over done it almost every day this week and had to sleep for several hours in the afternoon on two different days when normally I don't nap.
My skin rash is back with a vengeance so I'm ordering supplies so that I can try a poultice. I figured modern meds aren't working so lets try the old fashioned stuff.
I've seen a bunch of good movies including Hugo, Contagion and The Rebound. During my three month long crash, I watched all ten seasons of Stargate SG-1. I'm now watching Eureka (again), Bones, X-Files and Sliders. I'm also hooked on Person of Interest, Smash, Fringe, Scandal and, of course, Dancing with the Stars. I was really bummed Sherri Shepard got voted off this week. She is a way better dancer than Gladys Night (sorry Gladys).
Oh, I just got back from seeing a new dentist. They are much more accommodating. I loved my old dentist but he was on the second floor of a building with no elevator so no more seeing him. The new place is not only accessible but they are very concerned about my comfort in every sense of the word. They adjusted the temp of the treatment room, changed the speed of the chair so I wouldn't get dizzy, used numbing gel on my gums so the cleaning wouldn't hurt. They constantly asked how I was doing and if they could do anything else for me.
I also got some brand new treatments that weren't available from my old dentist. They checked my mouth with UV for cancer. They checked my teeth with a laser for cavities. They also had a new digital X-ray machine so I got a much lower dose of radiation (I hadn't had a full set of x-rays done in over ten years) and the images went straight to the computer. Yup the "film" was attached to the computer via USB cable. That was a bit weird but really cool for a tech nerd like me.
All in all a great experience at the dentist. Woohoo!! I didn't leave there white knuckled and with a headache. How great is that!?!
I'm sunning from 30-60mins a day. I'm at the 45th parallel if you were wondering. The Paleo diet has resulted in no burns and only a very slow tan just starting to form. While the sun exposure has the immediate effect of making me sleepy, I find that I have more energy over all. That combined with the glutathione IVs, diet and weekly chiropractic visits I'm seeing a definite upward trend. I'm well enough to get bored.
Another couple bits of good news, I'm driving very short trips across town (5-10mins). And, I'm reading trashy novels again. I last about an hour before getting wiped out. It has been such a pleasure to read again. I've over done it almost every day this week and had to sleep for several hours in the afternoon on two different days when normally I don't nap.
My skin rash is back with a vengeance so I'm ordering supplies so that I can try a poultice. I figured modern meds aren't working so lets try the old fashioned stuff.
I've seen a bunch of good movies including Hugo, Contagion and The Rebound. During my three month long crash, I watched all ten seasons of Stargate SG-1. I'm now watching Eureka (again), Bones, X-Files and Sliders. I'm also hooked on Person of Interest, Smash, Fringe, Scandal and, of course, Dancing with the Stars. I was really bummed Sherri Shepard got voted off this week. She is a way better dancer than Gladys Night (sorry Gladys).
Oh, I just got back from seeing a new dentist. They are much more accommodating. I loved my old dentist but he was on the second floor of a building with no elevator so no more seeing him. The new place is not only accessible but they are very concerned about my comfort in every sense of the word. They adjusted the temp of the treatment room, changed the speed of the chair so I wouldn't get dizzy, used numbing gel on my gums so the cleaning wouldn't hurt. They constantly asked how I was doing and if they could do anything else for me.
I also got some brand new treatments that weren't available from my old dentist. They checked my mouth with UV for cancer. They checked my teeth with a laser for cavities. They also had a new digital X-ray machine so I got a much lower dose of radiation (I hadn't had a full set of x-rays done in over ten years) and the images went straight to the computer. Yup the "film" was attached to the computer via USB cable. That was a bit weird but really cool for a tech nerd like me.
All in all a great experience at the dentist. Woohoo!! I didn't leave there white knuckled and with a headache. How great is that!?!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
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