No, I haven't abandoned this blog. I've just had some weird health stuff going on, and I think that stress may have contributed to it in one way or another. I just thought I had the flu. My neck and jaw were tight (still are a bit, in fact). I had Intense fatigue, like I've never experienced before. I felt as if I had deadweights on my shoulders. At first I could sleep for 16 hours straight, but then later I had insomnia, with this oppressive heaviness all of the time. While in bed, I felt as if I was being pressed into the mattress, and then came the migraines, dizziness, and vertigo, not to mention the nausea. Just awful. These phantom pains started to turn up...I felt as if parts of my body were sunburned, but they weren't. I held out for two weeks before I succumbed and made an appointment with a doctor. I hesitated, as I haven't exactly had the best of luck finding doctors that listen. Anyway, one doctor's visit turned into five. (And they're still calling me to make follow-up appointments--FAT CHANCE!). I saw a few different practitioners in the office, and everyone had their own guesses as to what was going on with me. My first blood test showed that I was deficient in vitamin d, and that I had "high" cholesterol. A urine sample showed that I apparently had a very high number of white blood cells, so I was first told it was a UTI, which I thought was weird, because I didn't have any symptoms. I was prescribed Cipro, which I wasn't very enthusiastic about, but I was feeling so crappy, that I just agreed to take it. Before starting the antibiotic, I went through another round of follow-up tests. It took a week to get the results back, and it was determined that my hormones were okay, kidney and liver function was okay, and that there hadn't been a UTI after all, so I had taken 6 days of Cipro (500mg, 2x/day) for no reason. I was barely tolerating the antibiotic and it killed my stomach, and led to a whole host of other problems.
All this time, the doctors in this practice were just guessing at what was wrong with me. One thought Lyme Disease, another Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, or some Auto-immune disease, and yet another thought depression. But these were all guesses. The last doctor I saw sent in a physician assistant with a clipboard questionnaire for depression. Um, I've had depression (well-controlled, by the way!) and this wasn't it. But I'll tell you, the moment this was suggested as a possible cause, I did begin to feel depressed. I felt as if I was being disregarded. And the questionnaire itself was ridiculous. The options for number one were as follows (I had to pick one): (a) I am never depressed. (b) I am depressed most of the time. (c) I am always depressed. (d) My depression is so severe I have lost interest in things I used to enjoy. Seriously? I argued that the questionnaire was flawed, and that the most accurate answer for me would be "I am depressed once in a LONG while." Who isn't? I asked the doctors whether or not all of this could be related to the vitamin D deficiency, and they seemed unsure that such a thing would cause all of the above. And that's when the office phlebotomist shared with me that he had gone through something similar years earlier, and that taking 50,000 IU of D3 each week for a few months, really helped. Once his levels were within normal range, he felt better. He asked how much I had been taking, so I told him I was taking between 2,000 IU and 5,000 IU/day. He told me, off the record, that I'd have to take almost twice that daily to see a difference, so I started to do just that. A quick Google search convinced me that a vitamin D deficiency could in fact cause a whole host of weird symptoms, so I figured there was no harm in trying, and there was no danger of toxicity at those dosages.
The first night, I slept all the night through. The second night, wasn't so great, so it's not like the supplementation is a magic bullet--I have to make sure to get more direct sun exposure as well. This has meant my wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts for the first time since high school, with no sunblock or screens. It'll take some time, but I'm confident that this deficiency was at the core of what was wrong with me. It's funny, too, as I do a lot of supplementation, a la Dr. Linus Pauling, but vitamin D3 wasn't even on my radar. Wishing to accelerate healing, I started researching other stuff to do alongside the D3 supplementation. I found this one discussion about how the Budwig diet's signature recipe (i.e., blending cottage cheese and flax seed oil, with a hand blender, and then topping it with freshly ground flax seeds) has helped more than just people with serious illnesses, like cancer. At least a few people were using it to combat fatigue, so I thought, what the heck, I'll try it. It can't hurt. All I can say is WOW. I wasn't expecting it to work, but it seems to be working very well for me. And it's tasty, too...I blend 4 Tbsp of organic cottage cheese with live cultures, with 2 Tbsp of cold-pressed organic flax seed oil. I add a tsp of raw organic honey, blueberries, and raspberries, then top it with the ground flax seeds. I'm having this 2x/day, and once I'm 100% with my energy levels, I'll go to just 1x/day. It's really neat...this recipe (part of an entire protocol) was something that Dr. Johanna Budwig figured out during her research. Blending the cheese (a sulfur protein) and the oil together, makes it water soluble, and therefore more easily absorbed by the body. I've used flax oil as an anti-inflammatory for years to treat my allergies, but never had this effect using it alone. Omega 3's are good for combatting fatigue as well. There are loads of testimonials from people with all sorts of ailments using this, and seeing the benefit. Many people have even reported that their tumors have shrunk or disappeared altogether. Crazy.
Anyway, I just wanted to drop by with an update, and to share in case any of you are feeling especially run-down. It's worth it to get your D levels checked. I was told that normal ranges are between 30 - 100. I was 20. It's weird though, because I've heard of people who have even lower levels than that, and they didn't seem to have as great a level of fatigue as I did, but perhaps it's all relative. As mentioned above, I had been stressed as well, so that couldn't have helped.
If you are fatigued and you try the supplementation or the Flax seed oil and cottage cheese, let me know if it makes a difference for you!
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Friday, July 6, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
"Shaolin Family" Experiment Update, Take One
Sheesh! I've been MIA, and I'm sorry. Lots of stuff going on in my head and in my life. Nothing major, but definitely time consuming. Even my precious Korean dramas have taken a back seat. And if that doesn't tell you something, nothing will.
This whole "Shaolin family" experiment (in reference to a previous post in which I shared my lofty goals on how we were to address the needs of our bodies, minds, and spirits) has been tough, yet unbelievably rewarding. Finding time for everything is challenging, and we haven't stuck to it as closely as I would have liked. More often than not, it's the physical/body stuff that gets tossed to the wayside. We really need to work on that. That said, our prayer life is AWESOME. We went from a few prayers said at bedtime and before meals, to (recently) starting Morning and Evening prayer (Lauds and Vespers) using the Shorter Christian Prayer book, followed by a Morning Offering, Trinity Prayer, and Guardian Angel prayer. At noon we say the Angelus, at 3:00 p.m. the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and then we recite the rosary in the evening (as well as Vespers as mentioned before). That sounds like a lot, but it's really been such a great change for us. It has introduced a steady rhythm to our days, one that we had been lacking. And in addition to that, it has also given us all a sense of calm. The peaceful reflection, particularly in the morning, just feels right. We feel more capable of managing whatever the day brings with it. It's kind of hard to put it into words, but my soon-to-be 16 year old said, "Mom, this feels great," and I agree with her.
In addition to the above, my plans for personal spiritual enrichment have also included making adoration once per month, and finding time for more spiritual reading. We made it to adoration on the first Friday of the month, and I hope that this remains consistent. The spiritual reading however, hasn't actually happened yet (aside from the Divine Office that is). Again, I think it's more of a time management issue.
As mentioned above, my plans for how to address the physical/body bits of this whole undertaking are sorely lacking. I've determined that perhaps I was being too ambitious. Understatement alert! Rather than fit it ALL in, i.e., conditioning, tai chi, forms, weight training, etc., I'd do best to just choose one or two on which to focus each day. Being up early for Lauds really helps with the morning alertness factor, and makes me more likely to just "do it already." I also figured that I could give us some days "off" on kung fu class days. Okay, so technically, those really aren't off days at all since we'll be in class later anyway.
As for the mind bit of this lofty plan, things are moving along nicely. Another positive that has come out of this is that I'm realizing just how much time it takes us to do things. Some of those realizations have been positive, others haven't been exactly positive, but rather, enlightening. For instance, I've found that my son is lagging considerably behind his sisters when it comes to written work. He composes well, it's just the physical act of writing that is arduous for him. I can't decide if it's a perfectionist trait, or if he just finds it genuinely difficult. I always knew that this was an issue, but I didn't realize just how much of an issue, or how time consuming a problem it was until now. It doesn't appear to be dysgraphia either. He doesn't reverse his letters, and he's generally neat, with all of his letters being of consistent size. He's also a decent speller, with a broad vocabulary. I find that when he's composing something and writing it as he goes along, he is faster than when asked to recopy what he's written, as in the case of writing a final draft. We'll be taking him in to get his vision checked as well, in case it's a tracking problem, or just that he may need vision correction, and in the meantime, I'm checking online for ideas on how to address this issue (i.e., what I can do here, or where I should go for help with this). What's weird is that he doesn't seem to have a fine motor skill problem either. He's a tinkerer, and he puts models together with small pieces, and he's able to make the tiniest paper airplanes known to man. Seriously! He also handles his utensils properly, even chopsticks. Frankly, I'm confused by all of this. This week, we'll probably be focusing on handwriting, and I just may make it into a game or something as a motivator.
There's more to share, but I'll save it for another post and another day. ;-)
This whole "Shaolin family" experiment (in reference to a previous post in which I shared my lofty goals on how we were to address the needs of our bodies, minds, and spirits) has been tough, yet unbelievably rewarding. Finding time for everything is challenging, and we haven't stuck to it as closely as I would have liked. More often than not, it's the physical/body stuff that gets tossed to the wayside. We really need to work on that. That said, our prayer life is AWESOME. We went from a few prayers said at bedtime and before meals, to (recently) starting Morning and Evening prayer (Lauds and Vespers) using the Shorter Christian Prayer book, followed by a Morning Offering, Trinity Prayer, and Guardian Angel prayer. At noon we say the Angelus, at 3:00 p.m. the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and then we recite the rosary in the evening (as well as Vespers as mentioned before). That sounds like a lot, but it's really been such a great change for us. It has introduced a steady rhythm to our days, one that we had been lacking. And in addition to that, it has also given us all a sense of calm. The peaceful reflection, particularly in the morning, just feels right. We feel more capable of managing whatever the day brings with it. It's kind of hard to put it into words, but my soon-to-be 16 year old said, "Mom, this feels great," and I agree with her.
In addition to the above, my plans for personal spiritual enrichment have also included making adoration once per month, and finding time for more spiritual reading. We made it to adoration on the first Friday of the month, and I hope that this remains consistent. The spiritual reading however, hasn't actually happened yet (aside from the Divine Office that is). Again, I think it's more of a time management issue.
As mentioned above, my plans for how to address the physical/body bits of this whole undertaking are sorely lacking. I've determined that perhaps I was being too ambitious. Understatement alert! Rather than fit it ALL in, i.e., conditioning, tai chi, forms, weight training, etc., I'd do best to just choose one or two on which to focus each day. Being up early for Lauds really helps with the morning alertness factor, and makes me more likely to just "do it already." I also figured that I could give us some days "off" on kung fu class days. Okay, so technically, those really aren't off days at all since we'll be in class later anyway.
As for the mind bit of this lofty plan, things are moving along nicely. Another positive that has come out of this is that I'm realizing just how much time it takes us to do things. Some of those realizations have been positive, others haven't been exactly positive, but rather, enlightening. For instance, I've found that my son is lagging considerably behind his sisters when it comes to written work. He composes well, it's just the physical act of writing that is arduous for him. I can't decide if it's a perfectionist trait, or if he just finds it genuinely difficult. I always knew that this was an issue, but I didn't realize just how much of an issue, or how time consuming a problem it was until now. It doesn't appear to be dysgraphia either. He doesn't reverse his letters, and he's generally neat, with all of his letters being of consistent size. He's also a decent speller, with a broad vocabulary. I find that when he's composing something and writing it as he goes along, he is faster than when asked to recopy what he's written, as in the case of writing a final draft. We'll be taking him in to get his vision checked as well, in case it's a tracking problem, or just that he may need vision correction, and in the meantime, I'm checking online for ideas on how to address this issue (i.e., what I can do here, or where I should go for help with this). What's weird is that he doesn't seem to have a fine motor skill problem either. He's a tinkerer, and he puts models together with small pieces, and he's able to make the tiniest paper airplanes known to man. Seriously! He also handles his utensils properly, even chopsticks. Frankly, I'm confused by all of this. This week, we'll probably be focusing on handwriting, and I just may make it into a game or something as a motivator.
There's more to share, but I'll save it for another post and another day. ;-)
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The Wannabe Shaolin Family
It’s not unlike me to get all carried away with making big plans. Often the instigating factor is a cool news article, a message board discussion, or a Youtube video. One time I saw something about making your own soap. That’s not a huge deal, right? But within minutes, it wasn’t just a bar of soap I was envisioning. I was envisioning my own line of soaps. Then there was the time I wanted to be a polyglot after watching videos of Tim Ferriss speaking about a half dozen languages. This is me we’re talking about here, so of course I zeroed in on the most difficult language ever. I watched one video lesson for Mandarin, and got so anxious over the enormity of learning such a difficult language, that I abandoned the idea. I’d still love to learn Mandarin, just not right now. We are already learning Greek, Latin, and Korean in our homeschool, but those don’t inspire nearly as much anxiety in me as Mandarin does. At least they’re all phonetic. And then there was that time when I joined Flylady’s housekeeping email list, only to burn out by day two. I haven’t entirely abandoned Flylady though. I just found her book much less anxiety inducing than all of those emails I was receiving.
Now lest it be assumed that I have absolutely no stick-to-it-tiveness, that’s not the case either. I do stick with things that matter…like the homeschooling, which I’ve been committed to for eleven years. For a lot of other things however, I think I’m part magpie, getting perpetually distracted by anything shiny. Whether this new plan we’re envisioning really matters enough to me, and to us as a family, or whether it is just another shiny thing to distract us, is still to be determined. That said, it’s something the kids say they want to do as well (read: it’s not just my idea), and I feel good about it. And that’s not exactly the feeling I had with all of the soapmaking- polyglot-Flylady stuff.
It all started as a discussion with the kids over working on improving ourselves, stemming from an earlier discussion we had had on Lent. We talked about leading a lifestyle that would focus on improving our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. The more we thought about it, the more our ideas started to resemble a simplified, hybrid form of Benedictine monasticism replete with Shaolin conditioning. It’s so funny that my kids are sometimes so much like me; it’s crazy. We all seem to be attracted to the idea of asceticism. We find the idea incredibly romantic. Now of course, I don’t mention asceticism here to suggest that that is our intention. That would be a way bigger plan than the one we had envisioned. In reality, our plan is simply to find our balance—a healthy balance. One that would help keep us focused on things that already matter to us. The key here is simplicity.
We figured that we already had the “mind” aspect covered, what with homeschooling already being such a large part of our days. Granted, there is always room for improvement. Autonomy on all things school related continues to be an issue. While I can trust my teen to work well independently most of the time, the younger two still need a bit of prodding along. My presence has an almost magical effect on their output. If I’m as far away as the next room, they’re less productive. The plan is to schedule well-organized time blocks, and set clear initiatives and goals to meet each day.
The “spiritual” aspect has had a bit of a spike in recent weeks, thanks to it being Lent. There has been more stuff going on at church, and more related discussions about relevant spiritual issues at home. But as with the “mind” stuff above, there is still ample room for improvement here as well. I’m thinking more time spent on meditation and reflection on the rosary, the stations of the cross, the Divine Mercy chaplet, etc. More silence would definitely be welcome as well. I figure that at the very least it would be an exercise in self-control, for all of us! Our plan here is to start the day simply, with a Morning Offering, and then move on from there.
The “body” aspect of this glorious plan of ours is quite possibly the part that needs the greatest overhaul. We’ve already been striving to eat healthy, cut our sugar intake, and avoid overly processed foods while out of the house. Our fitness levels, while better than they were once upon a time, are still lacking. On our Kung Fu nights, we do okay, but our days off are primarily spent on sedentary activities. The plan here is to incorporate more Kung Fu. We would want to include daily conditioning (my son is petitioning hard for iron body training), as well as stretching, stance drills, and forms. Tai chi and Qi Gong would work best in the morning, while the other higher intensity work would fit best in the early afternoon.
The kids and I brainstormed ways on how to fit it all in, and while we have a rudimentary idea as to how our schedule would look, it hasn’t been put into practice yet. It doesn’t look crazy or outlandish, or even all that difficult to follow (I think). I’m sure that many families do a lot of the same, with some subtle differences. I’m envisioning a Catholic family that sends their children to school, where they also partake in sports as an extra-curricular activity. Their children would already be getting a lot of what I describe above, so in that sense, this is not a novel idea at all.
I’m thinking that after a bit of tweaking, next week will be our first full week trying this out. We’ll either feel healthier and stronger in body, mind, and spirit, or we’ll burn out. I’m hoping for the former. If not, it’s back to the drawing board. This is not an idea I’d want to just abandon.
Now lest it be assumed that I have absolutely no stick-to-it-tiveness, that’s not the case either. I do stick with things that matter…like the homeschooling, which I’ve been committed to for eleven years. For a lot of other things however, I think I’m part magpie, getting perpetually distracted by anything shiny. Whether this new plan we’re envisioning really matters enough to me, and to us as a family, or whether it is just another shiny thing to distract us, is still to be determined. That said, it’s something the kids say they want to do as well (read: it’s not just my idea), and I feel good about it. And that’s not exactly the feeling I had with all of the soapmaking- polyglot-Flylady stuff.
It all started as a discussion with the kids over working on improving ourselves, stemming from an earlier discussion we had had on Lent. We talked about leading a lifestyle that would focus on improving our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. The more we thought about it, the more our ideas started to resemble a simplified, hybrid form of Benedictine monasticism replete with Shaolin conditioning. It’s so funny that my kids are sometimes so much like me; it’s crazy. We all seem to be attracted to the idea of asceticism. We find the idea incredibly romantic. Now of course, I don’t mention asceticism here to suggest that that is our intention. That would be a way bigger plan than the one we had envisioned. In reality, our plan is simply to find our balance—a healthy balance. One that would help keep us focused on things that already matter to us. The key here is simplicity.
We figured that we already had the “mind” aspect covered, what with homeschooling already being such a large part of our days. Granted, there is always room for improvement. Autonomy on all things school related continues to be an issue. While I can trust my teen to work well independently most of the time, the younger two still need a bit of prodding along. My presence has an almost magical effect on their output. If I’m as far away as the next room, they’re less productive. The plan is to schedule well-organized time blocks, and set clear initiatives and goals to meet each day.
The “spiritual” aspect has had a bit of a spike in recent weeks, thanks to it being Lent. There has been more stuff going on at church, and more related discussions about relevant spiritual issues at home. But as with the “mind” stuff above, there is still ample room for improvement here as well. I’m thinking more time spent on meditation and reflection on the rosary, the stations of the cross, the Divine Mercy chaplet, etc. More silence would definitely be welcome as well. I figure that at the very least it would be an exercise in self-control, for all of us! Our plan here is to start the day simply, with a Morning Offering, and then move on from there.
The “body” aspect of this glorious plan of ours is quite possibly the part that needs the greatest overhaul. We’ve already been striving to eat healthy, cut our sugar intake, and avoid overly processed foods while out of the house. Our fitness levels, while better than they were once upon a time, are still lacking. On our Kung Fu nights, we do okay, but our days off are primarily spent on sedentary activities. The plan here is to incorporate more Kung Fu. We would want to include daily conditioning (my son is petitioning hard for iron body training), as well as stretching, stance drills, and forms. Tai chi and Qi Gong would work best in the morning, while the other higher intensity work would fit best in the early afternoon.
The kids and I brainstormed ways on how to fit it all in, and while we have a rudimentary idea as to how our schedule would look, it hasn’t been put into practice yet. It doesn’t look crazy or outlandish, or even all that difficult to follow (I think). I’m sure that many families do a lot of the same, with some subtle differences. I’m envisioning a Catholic family that sends their children to school, where they also partake in sports as an extra-curricular activity. Their children would already be getting a lot of what I describe above, so in that sense, this is not a novel idea at all.
I’m thinking that after a bit of tweaking, next week will be our first full week trying this out. We’ll either feel healthier and stronger in body, mind, and spirit, or we’ll burn out. I’m hoping for the former. If not, it’s back to the drawing board. This is not an idea I’d want to just abandon.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Title? I Don't Need No Stinkin' Title!
I can't believe it's been over a month since I last updated this blog. I've wanted to. I have! As usual, I've been keeping busy. If my laptop were still in working order, I'm sure I'd have updated earlier than this. Sitting at the desktop often feels like torture for me. I miss the portability.
Quick run-down...
CCD started, and I have a smaller class of first communicants this year. The first grade class is HUGE though, so I'll be kept on my toes next year. I wonder if I can petition to have the class divided then. It's so much easier with a smaller class. I find that I'm getting way more covered during each session. I want to make a connection with each of the kids, but when the classes exceed twenty or so students, I spend more time on classroom management than I do actually teaching the faith. I have a really great bunch of kids this year, too. They're asking great questions, and are really absorbing a lot each week. Again, it makes a huge difference that there are so few of them. It's so much more manageable!
Last week was our first break from homeschooling. It was welcome, but it didn't feel like much of a break. I think we only really rested one day. Note for next break: DO NOTHING, or close to nothing. ;)
Sometime in September we went into the city, and stopped by Trinity Church where they had a display of items and photographs related to 9-11. (Thanks go to my sweet niece for taking these pictures).
Ten years later, and I still have difficulty wrapping my mind around what happened that day. I found that I had to just tear myself away from the exhibit as it was just too overwhelming for me. Ten years ago, and a few months before the planes hit, I had been worried and upset that my husband had lost his job (right across from the towers), but on that particular day, I regarded the job loss as a blessing. Seeing the images of the people lost that day, just bore a hole into my heart, and I couldn't get out of there soon enough. Again, it was so overwhelming.
The visit to Trinity Church was followed with a pleasant, and welcome romp through Chinatown. We had a few items to purchase to satiate our Kung Fu addiction. My purchases consisted of Chinese liniments. Not terribly exciting, I know. But we did manage to pick up a rubber knife for kali practice. And there were a few other purchases, such as Jay Chou posters for my teen, and a pair of sneakers for me (a gift from my husband, who no doubt was tired of being kicked by my old sneakers. The old ones had a broken zipper on them, and made them extra dangerous. He gets kicked when we practice of course, so it's allowed).
After Chinatown we went to the Whitney Museum with my niece to check out the Cory Arcangel exhibit. I didn't really "get it," but I seldom understand what is regarded as modern art. It was more like a pop culture exhibit, and I did appreciate it in that sense. It seemed a rather loose interpretation of the word "Art." But what do I know? In any case, Arcangel (cool name, though) is a digital artist. But his pieces are quite unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's kind of difficult for me to describe, but one piece was made up of a regular television playing back-to-back related clips from Seinfeld. Another piece had a chronological array of bowling video game clips--the first showing a very rudimentary, highly pixelated early version, and at the end came a more detailed, better resolution, more modern clip of a bowling video game. These were all projected onto a huge wall. There were two benches situated before the wall, and seeing as we walked at least a gazillion blocks that day, it was oddly relaxing to just sit there and gaze at the series of clips which played on a continuous loop, with the echoing of electronic noise.
Let's see...what else?
Oh, yeah, school. It's been great! Yes, still! I think a lot of this is due to using the right materials. I'll have to write another blogpost listing our new curriculum picks, which reminds me--I have to update the items listed as our "current" resources here as well. The big winners so far this year? Campbell's "Exploring Life" for Biology, and Larsen's "The Art of Argument." I've also got to add the Teaching Company's DVD lectures on the Iliad and the Odyssey. Dr. Vandiver is very knowledgeable, and I find that her insight greatly enhances our enjoyment of these great epics. Good stuff!
As for other stuff...
My girls were so excited when they heard that their favorite k-pop acts were playing a free show near us. We didn't realize we'd need tickets though, but thankfully we managed to pick some up on the last day of distribution. There was a two-day Korean festival, in part, celebrating Korea's 20 years as being part of the UN.
Saturday we spent a large chunk of the day there, just wandering around, and visiting all of the booths.
Yesterday was the concert, and it was a LONG day.
One daughter was lucky and got to see her favorite of the bandmates.
My other daughter wasn't so lucky, as her favorite had a schedule conflict and couldn't make it.
It was uncharacteristically hot for this time in October, and it was oh-so-crowded, too. I thought I was going to pass out when I got stuck in the middle of a crowd. But the girls had a great time, so I couldn't be happier. They were able to see B2ST, SHINee, 2PM, 4Minute, TVXQ, SISTAR, and several other soloists. Even the Village People were there. They have sure gotten a lot of mileage out of their act! We all had a great time, even though the start of the day was kind of crazy.
I just have to add that I'm so proud of myself though, because I really have learned to control my breathing, and keep myself from getting anxious. On a hot day like yesterday, that couldn't have been more useful. This morning however, I've been coughing up bits of blood. I'm thinking that it's due to yesterday's over-exertion, particularly as I don't appear to have any other symptoms other than some chest tightness. I had been meaning to update earlier that after the antibiotic regimen, I have been much, much better. But I honestly don't think that's all there is to it. I have been high-dosing Vitamin C, and am taking a daily multi-vitamin, as well as vitamins A, B, and E separately. The result is that I haven't gotten as much as a sore throat in the past few months. That's a new record for me! I've been more energetic, too, and it feels so good.
Quick run-down...
CCD started, and I have a smaller class of first communicants this year. The first grade class is HUGE though, so I'll be kept on my toes next year. I wonder if I can petition to have the class divided then. It's so much easier with a smaller class. I find that I'm getting way more covered during each session. I want to make a connection with each of the kids, but when the classes exceed twenty or so students, I spend more time on classroom management than I do actually teaching the faith. I have a really great bunch of kids this year, too. They're asking great questions, and are really absorbing a lot each week. Again, it makes a huge difference that there are so few of them. It's so much more manageable!
Last week was our first break from homeschooling. It was welcome, but it didn't feel like much of a break. I think we only really rested one day. Note for next break: DO NOTHING, or close to nothing. ;)
Sometime in September we went into the city, and stopped by Trinity Church where they had a display of items and photographs related to 9-11. (Thanks go to my sweet niece for taking these pictures).
Ten years later, and I still have difficulty wrapping my mind around what happened that day. I found that I had to just tear myself away from the exhibit as it was just too overwhelming for me. Ten years ago, and a few months before the planes hit, I had been worried and upset that my husband had lost his job (right across from the towers), but on that particular day, I regarded the job loss as a blessing. Seeing the images of the people lost that day, just bore a hole into my heart, and I couldn't get out of there soon enough. Again, it was so overwhelming.
The visit to Trinity Church was followed with a pleasant, and welcome romp through Chinatown. We had a few items to purchase to satiate our Kung Fu addiction. My purchases consisted of Chinese liniments. Not terribly exciting, I know. But we did manage to pick up a rubber knife for kali practice. And there were a few other purchases, such as Jay Chou posters for my teen, and a pair of sneakers for me (a gift from my husband, who no doubt was tired of being kicked by my old sneakers. The old ones had a broken zipper on them, and made them extra dangerous. He gets kicked when we practice of course, so it's allowed).
After Chinatown we went to the Whitney Museum with my niece to check out the Cory Arcangel exhibit. I didn't really "get it," but I seldom understand what is regarded as modern art. It was more like a pop culture exhibit, and I did appreciate it in that sense. It seemed a rather loose interpretation of the word "Art." But what do I know? In any case, Arcangel (cool name, though) is a digital artist. But his pieces are quite unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's kind of difficult for me to describe, but one piece was made up of a regular television playing back-to-back related clips from Seinfeld. Another piece had a chronological array of bowling video game clips--the first showing a very rudimentary, highly pixelated early version, and at the end came a more detailed, better resolution, more modern clip of a bowling video game. These were all projected onto a huge wall. There were two benches situated before the wall, and seeing as we walked at least a gazillion blocks that day, it was oddly relaxing to just sit there and gaze at the series of clips which played on a continuous loop, with the echoing of electronic noise.
Let's see...what else?
Oh, yeah, school. It's been great! Yes, still! I think a lot of this is due to using the right materials. I'll have to write another blogpost listing our new curriculum picks, which reminds me--I have to update the items listed as our "current" resources here as well. The big winners so far this year? Campbell's "Exploring Life" for Biology, and Larsen's "The Art of Argument." I've also got to add the Teaching Company's DVD lectures on the Iliad and the Odyssey. Dr. Vandiver is very knowledgeable, and I find that her insight greatly enhances our enjoyment of these great epics. Good stuff!
As for other stuff...
My girls were so excited when they heard that their favorite k-pop acts were playing a free show near us. We didn't realize we'd need tickets though, but thankfully we managed to pick some up on the last day of distribution. There was a two-day Korean festival, in part, celebrating Korea's 20 years as being part of the UN.
Saturday we spent a large chunk of the day there, just wandering around, and visiting all of the booths.
Yesterday was the concert, and it was a LONG day.
One daughter was lucky and got to see her favorite of the bandmates.
My other daughter wasn't so lucky, as her favorite had a schedule conflict and couldn't make it.
It was uncharacteristically hot for this time in October, and it was oh-so-crowded, too. I thought I was going to pass out when I got stuck in the middle of a crowd. But the girls had a great time, so I couldn't be happier. They were able to see B2ST, SHINee, 2PM, 4Minute, TVXQ, SISTAR, and several other soloists. Even the Village People were there. They have sure gotten a lot of mileage out of their act! We all had a great time, even though the start of the day was kind of crazy.
I just have to add that I'm so proud of myself though, because I really have learned to control my breathing, and keep myself from getting anxious. On a hot day like yesterday, that couldn't have been more useful. This morning however, I've been coughing up bits of blood. I'm thinking that it's due to yesterday's over-exertion, particularly as I don't appear to have any other symptoms other than some chest tightness. I had been meaning to update earlier that after the antibiotic regimen, I have been much, much better. But I honestly don't think that's all there is to it. I have been high-dosing Vitamin C, and am taking a daily multi-vitamin, as well as vitamins A, B, and E separately. The result is that I haven't gotten as much as a sore throat in the past few months. That's a new record for me! I've been more energetic, too, and it feels so good.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Weakness Leaving the Body
Yep, that's me. That photo was actually taken several months ago, shortly after having earned our orange sashes. And now just last weekend, we all earned our blue sashes. It feels like it's all going by so quickly.
The benefits have been many. For starters, I've lost twenty pounds! I was kind of disappointed for a while there, as I seemed to plateau with the weight loss, but I know that I'm also building muscle, so I'm trying not to get too discouraged.
Some other benefits...
My breathing. I think the tai chi especially has helped with that. I feel that the deep, steady breathing has increased my lung capacity. Obviously, I can't say for certain that this is the case, only that it certainly feels as if it is.
My strength. I just generally feel stronger. You know that heaviness you feel when you're getting out of a pool? Well, I used to experience something similar to that just going up steps and getting out of bed in the morning. I can't remember the last time I've felt that.
My back. For about a year or two before starting Kung Fu, I experienced mild, intermittent lower back pain. This kind of freaked me out, because back problems seem to run in my family. Up until I started feeling the aches myself, I thought I had been spared. When I started Kung Fu, the pain just gradually dissipated. It got to the point that I had completely forgotten I had ever had it, that is until I got sick and missed an entire month of training. It's alarming how quickly one can fall out of shape. When the aches came back, I realized just how much I had improved with the Kung Fu, and it kind of renewed my resolve to stick with it.
My stamina. It hadn't occurred to me how this had changed until I spoke to someone else, who expressed disbelief over my having taken several back-to-back classes. It was a Saturday, and we had all taken a record five classes, four of which were taken in a row. We're usually at the school all day on Saturdays, so it just makes sense to take advantage of all of the available classes while there. It didn't register with me at the time however, that just one short year ago, I had trouble making it through just a third of a single class. Progress!
And last but not least, I can't articulate how fun it is to be involved in all of this with my family. Really, I never even fathomed our finding one common activity we would all enjoy this much, especially now that the kids are getting older, and that their interests and hobbies have become so varied. We always have willing practice partners, so that's just an added bonus. Because we're able to practice so much, I really feel we're all getting the most of this experience. And while our tiny apartment is over-run with sparring gear and practice weapons (five of everything!), it's been more than worth it.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Sick of It
It was pretty late last night when we got out of our Kung Fu classes, and we had just missed going to Trader Joe’s by a few minutes. We LOVE Trader Joe’s, and decided a while ago that it was to be our regular go-to spot for nearly all of our food shopping. We still head out to Whole Foods from time to time, to pick up some of their bulk grains and legumes, and the occasional bottle of kombucha, but aside from those few items, we still prefer Trader Joe’s for everything else. It’s much more reasonable, especially compared to Whole Foods. It does my heart good to read their labels and not see a laundry list of ingredients we can’t pronounce—primarily icky dyes, additives, and preservatives.
But TJ’s was closed last night, and I needed to go food shopping. I had only a few ingredients on-hand, but not everything necessary to prepare a complete meal. “Not a problem,” I thought, “we’ll just go to the regular supermarket.” Oh, but what a nightmare experience that turned out to be! Not only was there no organic produce, the regular produce was exorbitantly priced. The two aisles devoted to healthy alternatives were just awful, too. I mean, their products were just fine, but they were marked up so much, it was ridiculous. One gluten free cereal we usually purchase at TJ’s was a whole $2 more expensive there. I figured we’d try our luck elsewhere in the store. By then I had already given up on purchasing anything aside from what I had been craving all day—potato salad. Generally, I would prefer to make it myself, but with the lack of organic options available at the store, I was dangerously close to just caving and buying a little container of the premade stuff, just to tide me over. Frankly, I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t tend to think clearly when I’m craving something as intensely as I was then. So yeah, I was dangerously close to succumbing, but only until I took one look at the ingredient label, listing items such as high fructose corn syrup and sodium benzoate. And those were only the couple I recognized and remember at this writing.
And frankly, those ingredients were bad enough, with HFCS increasing risks of obesity, diabetes, and liver damage, and the Sodium Benzoate being a potential carcinogen, causing an increase in free radicals all on its own, and a proven carcinogen when combined with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). Considering this, it’s ridiculous that Sodium Benzoate is added as a preservative to many fruit juices, jams, and jellies—foods more apt to contain ascorbic acid, and products often marketed to children. Also on its own, Sodium Benzoate has been shown to contribute to mitochondrial damage, causing neuro-degenerative diseases—Parkinson’s is one. It’s also been implicated in ADHD.
This kind of stuff pisses me off so much. Actually, I’m holding back here. It more than pisses me off. This is the stuff that keeps me up at night. I keep thinking of children developing ADHD or any other condition, and then having some doctor diagnose them, and insist on their taking medications that can lead to other health problems. It’s such a HUGE freaking domino effect of awfulness. And we’re doing this to them. And the FDA allows it. It’s absolutely disgusting, and a social justice issue that needs addressing BIG time.
But TJ’s was closed last night, and I needed to go food shopping. I had only a few ingredients on-hand, but not everything necessary to prepare a complete meal. “Not a problem,” I thought, “we’ll just go to the regular supermarket.” Oh, but what a nightmare experience that turned out to be! Not only was there no organic produce, the regular produce was exorbitantly priced. The two aisles devoted to healthy alternatives were just awful, too. I mean, their products were just fine, but they were marked up so much, it was ridiculous. One gluten free cereal we usually purchase at TJ’s was a whole $2 more expensive there. I figured we’d try our luck elsewhere in the store. By then I had already given up on purchasing anything aside from what I had been craving all day—potato salad. Generally, I would prefer to make it myself, but with the lack of organic options available at the store, I was dangerously close to just caving and buying a little container of the premade stuff, just to tide me over. Frankly, I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t tend to think clearly when I’m craving something as intensely as I was then. So yeah, I was dangerously close to succumbing, but only until I took one look at the ingredient label, listing items such as high fructose corn syrup and sodium benzoate. And those were only the couple I recognized and remember at this writing.
And frankly, those ingredients were bad enough, with HFCS increasing risks of obesity, diabetes, and liver damage, and the Sodium Benzoate being a potential carcinogen, causing an increase in free radicals all on its own, and a proven carcinogen when combined with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). Considering this, it’s ridiculous that Sodium Benzoate is added as a preservative to many fruit juices, jams, and jellies—foods more apt to contain ascorbic acid, and products often marketed to children. Also on its own, Sodium Benzoate has been shown to contribute to mitochondrial damage, causing neuro-degenerative diseases—Parkinson’s is one. It’s also been implicated in ADHD.
This kind of stuff pisses me off so much. Actually, I’m holding back here. It more than pisses me off. This is the stuff that keeps me up at night. I keep thinking of children developing ADHD or any other condition, and then having some doctor diagnose them, and insist on their taking medications that can lead to other health problems. It’s such a HUGE freaking domino effect of awfulness. And we’re doing this to them. And the FDA allows it. It’s absolutely disgusting, and a social justice issue that needs addressing BIG time.
Friday, June 24, 2011
A Light at the End of the Tunnel? Quite Possibly.
This is for anyone who has been following my asthma story, now turned saga. If you don't know the goings-on, feel free to look to the right and click on the "Health" tag for the beginning of the story.
In my last post, I left off with a blurb about my looking into natural antibiotics. My intent in doing so however, was not sufficiently clear. I still fully intended to try Dr. Hahn's recommended treatment protocol, but after my experience with the Biaxin, I just wanted to give my body some time to detox a bit first. I was experiencing nasty side effects for several days after quitting the Biaxin, and in addition to that, my chest congestion and constriction came back, and was even worse than before. I expected that this was going to happen, but I figured that I would just try to stave off anything worse by taking some natural antibiotics in the interim.
Despite being somewhat informed as to natural health, and striving to live a healthy life, natural supplementation, and particularly which supplement was good for what ailment, always alluded me. I figured I'd ask people who were more informed on that topic, and I got some really good suggestions from this very kind couple I met through Twitter. I took what they and others said, and did a little of everything. I took colloidal silver for a period of about 10 days, high dosed vitamin C (about 10,000mg/day), and added turmeric and garlic to everything. I also cut out sugar and dairy, which I had been having in small amounts in my coffee, which I also quit. I had already cut out gluten, although I had had a few slip-ups prior to this period. I greeted every morning with a mega dose of vitamin C and yerba mate. I had already been taking probiotics due to being on the antibiotics, so I continued that, and I had some kombucha every few days. I did this for almost two weeks. I noticed that after I took the colloidal silver, I would have a short period of productive coughing followed by a period of some relief of my symptoms. But the periods were brief. I had to keep to the air conditioning at all times. It didn't help that the weather was just awful--at times hot and muggy, and at times cold and damp. Nevertheless, I kept up with these natural antibiotics, and I believe they kept me from getting too much worse. Nevertheless, I was having asthmatic episodes daily. They weren't like isolated attacks, but just large periods of wheezing and chest constriction. Talking was difficult, so I just stayed silent. I was uncomfortable as well, so it's not like I could even concentrate on doing anything like reading. I did my best at silently directing the kids to keep up with some of their independent work while I was essentially confined to the air conditioned areas. After a week and a half of this, I decided that I had had about enough. I wanted my life back. I figured it was time to try another doctor.
My husband called to make the appointment. As mentioned, I couldn't even speak. I was so hoarse at that point, and sleep deprived, that I probably wouldn't have made much sense anyway. We got all of the relevant information together, and stuck it all in a manila folder. I was to be the first patient of the day. I had seen this doctor before, and I wasn't sure what to make of him. I knew him to be especially chatty, unlike many of the other doctors I had seen in my life, but I figured that this was a good thing. He had another physician do the preliminary "interview" for him, and I was pleasantly surprised that this man seemed to be well aware of the effects of diet and nutrition on overall health. Most doctors, in my experience, play down this connection, as nonsensical as that may sound. One of the first things he told me was that I should eliminate gluten and dairy from my diet. He was pleased when I told him that I had already done so. He then proceeded to urge me to high dose vitamin C. Check. I was doing that, too. He also told me that it appeared that my adrenals were spent, and that I would need to take something to help with this. This, by the way, was something else my knowledgeable Twitter friends suggested. During this part of the appointment, I mentioned Dr. Hahn and his research on antibiotics and asthma, but he wasn't very receptive. At first I think he assumed that I was bringing up some unsubstantiated internet claims. Well, there was that and the fact that he generally seemed to be into pursuing more natural options to supplement my traditional prescription corticosteroids. I explained that while I understood the risks of long-term antibiotic use, that I was considering the big picture--i.e. a few months of regulated antibiotic use as opposed to a lifetime of steroids to treat my asthma. Now, to be fair to those who counseled me to eschew all forms of standard pharmacological options in favor of healing via diet and lifestyle, I freely admit that perhaps I didn't give the non-standard dietary course of treatment enough time to take. But frankly, I was miserable, and my family was suffering the consequences of having a mother and wife that was unable to function at the capacity required of her.
After that patient interview, I was ushered in to the next examining room where I would see my doctor. I overheard the first physician speaking with my doctor, and heard mention of a few words in fleeting--something about the internet, and a cure for asthma. I immediately figured that my first assumption was correct, and that they thought I had fallen for some unsubstantiated internet claim of a cure for asthma. A few seconds later, the doctor entered the room and proceeded to tell me that there was no cure for asthma. Gutted again. Then he went on to tell me for over an hour (yes, this is no exaggeration...I was in there for a very long time), that all I could do was move to Arizona. He assured me that the drier climate would be as close to a cure as I could hope for. I am not the sort to break down into tears in front of strangers, but I almost did just that. My husband had been with me in the examining room for the interview part of the visit, but had to leave abruptly when he got a call from his dad, asking him to come right away and pick up our kids. An emergency came up, and he had to take my mother-in-law to the hospital (she's much better now, by the way) and would be unable to watch the children after all. When my husband ran out, as he had to of course, I felt I was missing my advocate. Thankfully, he was back long before I was done, and helped me find my voice again. As mentioned, I was in there for a long time--just over two hours I'd say. After finally getting the opportunity to plead my case, the doctor actually agreed that I might be a good candidate for the treatment. I nearly died of shock when he started writing the prescriptions. Because I was in such bad shape when I came in, he suggested I take a Z-pack first, then follow that with a 3-day burst of 1800mg of azithromycin. That would come to a total of eight days of daily antibiotics. Once that course was followed, I was to graduate to the once per week dose of 600mg.
It was suggested that in addition to high dosing vitamin C, that I needed to increase my intake of probiotics, start taking SAM-E 400mg for liver support, take green tea extract to ward off any yeast infections, and take Adrenotone to enhance my adrenal function. I have taken all of these daily, as well as following a healthy diet free of dairy and gluten. Once upon a time, I followed a vegan diet and felt the best I had ever felt when on it, and I have since considered going strict vegan again, but I'm not quite there yet. I'm not completely discounting this as a possibility in the near future however, especially as I think that particular diet would only enhance what I'm already doing to cure myself.
My results so far? Normally when taking antibiotics, I get immediate relief. This time it took a bit longer. I had completed the first eight days' worth of doses before feeling a significant difference. I am now currently at the one dose per week part of the regimen. Today I will take my second weekly dose, and so far so good. I was able to return to my kung fu classes last week, and I'm feeling stronger with every passing day. There have been a few rough patches here and there, but nothing like what I was experiencing before. I'm planning on staying the course, and I'm not letting those little rough patches deter me. I've read that in some cases, the full benefits of this treatment can take up to a year or so to become apparent, so I've got a long way to go. I expect to be taking these pills until some time in September. I'm hopeful that this will work for me. It's a glass half-full kind of day.
NOTE:
See Here and Here for the beginning of the story. I hope to get another post up on this soon!
In my last post, I left off with a blurb about my looking into natural antibiotics. My intent in doing so however, was not sufficiently clear. I still fully intended to try Dr. Hahn's recommended treatment protocol, but after my experience with the Biaxin, I just wanted to give my body some time to detox a bit first. I was experiencing nasty side effects for several days after quitting the Biaxin, and in addition to that, my chest congestion and constriction came back, and was even worse than before. I expected that this was going to happen, but I figured that I would just try to stave off anything worse by taking some natural antibiotics in the interim.
Despite being somewhat informed as to natural health, and striving to live a healthy life, natural supplementation, and particularly which supplement was good for what ailment, always alluded me. I figured I'd ask people who were more informed on that topic, and I got some really good suggestions from this very kind couple I met through Twitter. I took what they and others said, and did a little of everything. I took colloidal silver for a period of about 10 days, high dosed vitamin C (about 10,000mg/day), and added turmeric and garlic to everything. I also cut out sugar and dairy, which I had been having in small amounts in my coffee, which I also quit. I had already cut out gluten, although I had had a few slip-ups prior to this period. I greeted every morning with a mega dose of vitamin C and yerba mate. I had already been taking probiotics due to being on the antibiotics, so I continued that, and I had some kombucha every few days. I did this for almost two weeks. I noticed that after I took the colloidal silver, I would have a short period of productive coughing followed by a period of some relief of my symptoms. But the periods were brief. I had to keep to the air conditioning at all times. It didn't help that the weather was just awful--at times hot and muggy, and at times cold and damp. Nevertheless, I kept up with these natural antibiotics, and I believe they kept me from getting too much worse. Nevertheless, I was having asthmatic episodes daily. They weren't like isolated attacks, but just large periods of wheezing and chest constriction. Talking was difficult, so I just stayed silent. I was uncomfortable as well, so it's not like I could even concentrate on doing anything like reading. I did my best at silently directing the kids to keep up with some of their independent work while I was essentially confined to the air conditioned areas. After a week and a half of this, I decided that I had had about enough. I wanted my life back. I figured it was time to try another doctor.
My husband called to make the appointment. As mentioned, I couldn't even speak. I was so hoarse at that point, and sleep deprived, that I probably wouldn't have made much sense anyway. We got all of the relevant information together, and stuck it all in a manila folder. I was to be the first patient of the day. I had seen this doctor before, and I wasn't sure what to make of him. I knew him to be especially chatty, unlike many of the other doctors I had seen in my life, but I figured that this was a good thing. He had another physician do the preliminary "interview" for him, and I was pleasantly surprised that this man seemed to be well aware of the effects of diet and nutrition on overall health. Most doctors, in my experience, play down this connection, as nonsensical as that may sound. One of the first things he told me was that I should eliminate gluten and dairy from my diet. He was pleased when I told him that I had already done so. He then proceeded to urge me to high dose vitamin C. Check. I was doing that, too. He also told me that it appeared that my adrenals were spent, and that I would need to take something to help with this. This, by the way, was something else my knowledgeable Twitter friends suggested. During this part of the appointment, I mentioned Dr. Hahn and his research on antibiotics and asthma, but he wasn't very receptive. At first I think he assumed that I was bringing up some unsubstantiated internet claims. Well, there was that and the fact that he generally seemed to be into pursuing more natural options to supplement my traditional prescription corticosteroids. I explained that while I understood the risks of long-term antibiotic use, that I was considering the big picture--i.e. a few months of regulated antibiotic use as opposed to a lifetime of steroids to treat my asthma. Now, to be fair to those who counseled me to eschew all forms of standard pharmacological options in favor of healing via diet and lifestyle, I freely admit that perhaps I didn't give the non-standard dietary course of treatment enough time to take. But frankly, I was miserable, and my family was suffering the consequences of having a mother and wife that was unable to function at the capacity required of her.
After that patient interview, I was ushered in to the next examining room where I would see my doctor. I overheard the first physician speaking with my doctor, and heard mention of a few words in fleeting--something about the internet, and a cure for asthma. I immediately figured that my first assumption was correct, and that they thought I had fallen for some unsubstantiated internet claim of a cure for asthma. A few seconds later, the doctor entered the room and proceeded to tell me that there was no cure for asthma. Gutted again. Then he went on to tell me for over an hour (yes, this is no exaggeration...I was in there for a very long time), that all I could do was move to Arizona. He assured me that the drier climate would be as close to a cure as I could hope for. I am not the sort to break down into tears in front of strangers, but I almost did just that. My husband had been with me in the examining room for the interview part of the visit, but had to leave abruptly when he got a call from his dad, asking him to come right away and pick up our kids. An emergency came up, and he had to take my mother-in-law to the hospital (she's much better now, by the way) and would be unable to watch the children after all. When my husband ran out, as he had to of course, I felt I was missing my advocate. Thankfully, he was back long before I was done, and helped me find my voice again. As mentioned, I was in there for a long time--just over two hours I'd say. After finally getting the opportunity to plead my case, the doctor actually agreed that I might be a good candidate for the treatment. I nearly died of shock when he started writing the prescriptions. Because I was in such bad shape when I came in, he suggested I take a Z-pack first, then follow that with a 3-day burst of 1800mg of azithromycin. That would come to a total of eight days of daily antibiotics. Once that course was followed, I was to graduate to the once per week dose of 600mg.
It was suggested that in addition to high dosing vitamin C, that I needed to increase my intake of probiotics, start taking SAM-E 400mg for liver support, take green tea extract to ward off any yeast infections, and take Adrenotone to enhance my adrenal function. I have taken all of these daily, as well as following a healthy diet free of dairy and gluten. Once upon a time, I followed a vegan diet and felt the best I had ever felt when on it, and I have since considered going strict vegan again, but I'm not quite there yet. I'm not completely discounting this as a possibility in the near future however, especially as I think that particular diet would only enhance what I'm already doing to cure myself.
My results so far? Normally when taking antibiotics, I get immediate relief. This time it took a bit longer. I had completed the first eight days' worth of doses before feeling a significant difference. I am now currently at the one dose per week part of the regimen. Today I will take my second weekly dose, and so far so good. I was able to return to my kung fu classes last week, and I'm feeling stronger with every passing day. There have been a few rough patches here and there, but nothing like what I was experiencing before. I'm planning on staying the course, and I'm not letting those little rough patches deter me. I've read that in some cases, the full benefits of this treatment can take up to a year or so to become apparent, so I've got a long way to go. I expect to be taking these pills until some time in September. I'm hopeful that this will work for me. It's a glass half-full kind of day.
NOTE:
See Here and Here for the beginning of the story. I hope to get another post up on this soon!
Friday, May 27, 2011
And So it Continues...
This is meant to be an update to my last post on asthma. At the close of that post, I stated that I was feeling a noticeable, positive difference after the first two doses of the antibiotic. I was. What I neglected to mention, was that the doctor, for some reason, didn't prescribe the antibiotic I was accustomed to taking--i.e., the Zithromycin. Instead, I suppose because she wanted me to receive a greater blast, she instead prescribed the generic form of Biaxin, called Clarithromycin. I was to take two 500MG pills per day, twelve hours apart, for ten consecutive days. So really, this wasn't the protocol that Dr. Hahn (the Wisconsin doctor involved in the asthma research mentioned in my last post) recommends. She assured me that it was chemically in the same family of drugs as the Zithromycin, so I just agreed to it. Now in hindsight, I wish I hadn't.
By the third dose, I was dizzy, nauseous, had awful stomach pain, a horrible metallic taste in my mouth, was completely exhausted, starting to feel phantom pains all over my body, got headaches, dry cotton mouth, and was starting to hallucinate. And I thought that that was the worst of it! By the other morning (heck, I can't even remember what morning it was, as I'm so confused still), my tongue and lips had begun to swell. Being the Mom of a child with allergies, I recognized that as one of the possibly not-so-minute reactions. I know that you're not supposed to stop antibiotics mid-course, so I called the clinic to ask if I could drop the medication. I was told to come in, and that this was something the doctor would have to okay. Thankfully, my husband was able to get out of work early and take me there within a few hours. The Doctor didn't seem at all concerned...at least not at first, and seemed more aggravated than anything else. I hate feeling like I'm disturbing people. It may have been his lunch time, I don't know. But still, I wished I was just anywhere else but there. I made sure to tell him that I would have been totally okay with not coming in and just stopping the medication. He seemed to relax and get a bit kinder as the visit progressed, so I tried not to get all upset over it.
He noticed the swelling, but assured me that there were no obstructions. I frankly hadn't been having a problem breathing at all really, since the 2nd dose. It was just all of the other stuff. I have three children to care for, and I've been a complete wreck for days because of this antibiotic. (Note: I found out later that this was one of the medications Brittany Murphy had been taking prior to her death. Yikes!) Immediately, he dismissed that I was feeling any of the above, except for maybe the stomach stuff, because of the antibiotic. It's always nice when doctors listen to your concerns, and believe you when you tell them things. Sigh. That said, when he left the room, and came back a few minutes later, he was more relaxed and communicative. He had a listen to my stomach, and it must have been making a terrible racket, because he immediately agreed to have me stop the medication. That was the only thing I wanted to hear.
Next he checked my sugar. He mentioned something about possibly triggering a pre-diabetic response?!?!? And then he took some blood. Thankfully, before too long, we were on our way out. The swelling on my tongue seemed to have gone down. As we were making our way out of the building, he handed me my replacement antibiotics--a seven day dose of Levaquin, 500MG. I smiled and thanked him, not sure if I'd be able to stomach another antibiotic after all I had gone through.
When I finally got home, I read the FDA warning about Levaquin , and that made my decision on whether or not to take the antibiotic all the simpler. I love Kung Fu, and I just couldn't see myself taking a chance on something like tendonitis, particularly when this wasn't the antibiotic protocol I had wanted from the get-go. I had never had a reaction to any medication before, but I'll tell you, once you experience it, you start really identifying with that 1% of people who do react. Percentages almost seem not to matter.
As expected of course, not having completed my course of antibiotics, I'm getting the chest congestion again. Today has been kind of rough, and I'm keeping to the air conditioning. I'm still considering my options. Right now, and for the time being, I'm looking into natural antibiotics to get me through this hiccup. I hope to update again with something more positive.
NOTE:
Click Here for the beginning of the story, and Here for the post that follows this one.
By the third dose, I was dizzy, nauseous, had awful stomach pain, a horrible metallic taste in my mouth, was completely exhausted, starting to feel phantom pains all over my body, got headaches, dry cotton mouth, and was starting to hallucinate. And I thought that that was the worst of it! By the other morning (heck, I can't even remember what morning it was, as I'm so confused still), my tongue and lips had begun to swell. Being the Mom of a child with allergies, I recognized that as one of the possibly not-so-minute reactions. I know that you're not supposed to stop antibiotics mid-course, so I called the clinic to ask if I could drop the medication. I was told to come in, and that this was something the doctor would have to okay. Thankfully, my husband was able to get out of work early and take me there within a few hours. The Doctor didn't seem at all concerned...at least not at first, and seemed more aggravated than anything else. I hate feeling like I'm disturbing people. It may have been his lunch time, I don't know. But still, I wished I was just anywhere else but there. I made sure to tell him that I would have been totally okay with not coming in and just stopping the medication. He seemed to relax and get a bit kinder as the visit progressed, so I tried not to get all upset over it.
He noticed the swelling, but assured me that there were no obstructions. I frankly hadn't been having a problem breathing at all really, since the 2nd dose. It was just all of the other stuff. I have three children to care for, and I've been a complete wreck for days because of this antibiotic. (Note: I found out later that this was one of the medications Brittany Murphy had been taking prior to her death. Yikes!) Immediately, he dismissed that I was feeling any of the above, except for maybe the stomach stuff, because of the antibiotic. It's always nice when doctors listen to your concerns, and believe you when you tell them things. Sigh. That said, when he left the room, and came back a few minutes later, he was more relaxed and communicative. He had a listen to my stomach, and it must have been making a terrible racket, because he immediately agreed to have me stop the medication. That was the only thing I wanted to hear.
Next he checked my sugar. He mentioned something about possibly triggering a pre-diabetic response?!?!? And then he took some blood. Thankfully, before too long, we were on our way out. The swelling on my tongue seemed to have gone down. As we were making our way out of the building, he handed me my replacement antibiotics--a seven day dose of Levaquin, 500MG. I smiled and thanked him, not sure if I'd be able to stomach another antibiotic after all I had gone through.
When I finally got home, I read the FDA warning about Levaquin , and that made my decision on whether or not to take the antibiotic all the simpler. I love Kung Fu, and I just couldn't see myself taking a chance on something like tendonitis, particularly when this wasn't the antibiotic protocol I had wanted from the get-go. I had never had a reaction to any medication before, but I'll tell you, once you experience it, you start really identifying with that 1% of people who do react. Percentages almost seem not to matter.
As expected of course, not having completed my course of antibiotics, I'm getting the chest congestion again. Today has been kind of rough, and I'm keeping to the air conditioning. I'm still considering my options. Right now, and for the time being, I'm looking into natural antibiotics to get me through this hiccup. I hope to update again with something more positive.
NOTE:
Click Here for the beginning of the story, and Here for the post that follows this one.
Monday, May 23, 2011
For Those of You Struggling with Asthma
It's been a long time since I last posted, but I wanted to share something I recently learned in the hope that it will help someone else.
I've had a long history with asthma, first diagnosed when I was a toddler and still living in Florida. When we moved north, I was asymptomatic for years. Practically cured we thought. It wasn't until about age eleven, that the dreaded asthma word started to come up again, this time in relation to allergies I had just spontaneously developed. Looking back, I don't think it was really asthma, just allergies--mostly to animal dander, pollens, weeds, and molds. I was put on asthma medication as a preventative measure, but really, I think allergy medication would have worked all on its own.
Asthma wasn't an issue for me, that is until just a few years ago. My son was about four or five at the time. I remember that I had gotten a cold, and that that cold had turned into bronchitis. Not being the sort to run off to the doctor for things I think I can ride out at home, I waited. I waited a long time, but I never got better. After a few weeks of this, I finally succumbed, and went to the doctor. I was diagnosed with bronchitis, and sent home. After the antibiotic treatment, I felt better. But ever since that episode, I found that I was getting sick at the drop of a hat. After several relapses I was re-diagnosed with asthma--specifically asthmatic bronchitis. For a while there, as I switched doctors from time to time, always searching for someone who could help me, I received conflicting diagnoses. One doctor told me that I couldn't possibly have asthma because I had a productive cough. His diagnosis? Anxiety. He came to this conclusion when I didn't improve after treatment.
Again, I found myself getting "bronchitis" or something like it, several times per year. I was re-re-diagnosed with asthma, and every time I was symptomatic, my pulmonologist would prescribe the same medication--Azithromycin (Z-pack) and Prednisone. Every time, I felt an immediate relief of my symptoms. I assumed it was the Prednisone.
This past March, I got sick again, and delayed going to the doctor. When I woke up on a Saturday morning, about 10 days after I had first gotten sick, I was coughing up blood, and figured I'd better get seen. My doctor didn't have hours on Saturdays, so I went to one of those Urgent Care clinics. Again, I was diagnosed with bronchitis, which I was told had exacerbated my asthma. I also had an eye and throat infection. Yep, I was a mess because I waited too long to seek treatment. Again, I was given prescriptions for a Z-pack and Prednisone, as well as a few other medications for the coughing and eye infection.
On May 13th, just a little over a week ago, I got sick yet again. By Monday, I decided that it was starting to get out of control. I liked the Urgent Care clinic so much, that I decided to go back there again. I saw a different doctor. She told me that I didn't have bronchitis. I thought I did, as that's what I'm always diagnosed with whenever I go (sometimes up to 6 times per year). She said I was having an asthma exacerbation...i.e., an asthma attack. She checked my peak flow, gave me a nebulizer treatment, and I improved slightly, but not enough. Next I got a steroid shot, and left there with a 15 day prescription for Prednisone, and a prescription for Singulair (which I had taken before, without much improvement). I was to take these in addition to my Advair and Ventolin rescue (which I had been using up to 4x/day). The doctor felt that I didn't need antibiotics this time, as technically, it wasn't an infection, just an asthma flare-up.
I didn't notice any improvement after a few days. As a matter of fact, by day six of my course of Prednisone, I was still finding it difficult to draw breath, and the coughing fits kept me awake all night. It struck me that I wasn't improving. The only difference between this last visit to the the doctor and all of my previous visits, was that I had always been prescribed antibiotics along with the Prednisone. I was curious, so I Googled for info on the treatment of asthma with antibiotics, and I found this very informative website. The research page at the site has tons of links from reputable sources finding that there is a bacterial link to many cases of asthma, and that it can be "cured" with an extended course of antibiotics. Considering how quickly I improve with the antibiotics, it made sense to me. I made up my mind to find a doctor who would be receptive to this information.
On Saturday, I spent the day at my Mom's apartment. I still wasn't feeling well, and didn't want to be alone--my husband and the kids were out all day for kung fu and errands. I was still only on the Prednisone and Singulair, in addition to my other asthma medications. I had a very difficult time at my mother's. After my third nebulizer treatment, I was flushed, and I felt like I had tied tourniquets on both of my upper arms. The pressure on my arms was awful, and my veins looked as if they were bulging. I had a lot of pain in my chest. I refused to go to the ER, but I probably should have. Yesterday morning I woke up, coughing up blood again. I went back to the clinic as it was Sunday, and the only place other than the ER that was open. My peak flow was again, not so great. I had another nebulizer treatment, and the doctor wanted to give me another steroid shot. I refused the shot, considering that I was still taking the prednisone (on day 6 of 15). I told her about the research, and she seemed receptive. But she wanted to prescribe a preliminary dose of antibiotics anyway, as she figured that I was putting too much strain on my heart.
Now here I am today. I've had only two doses of the antibiotic (500 mg each), and I'm feeling a noticeable difference. I'm confident that if I follow the extended antibiotic protocol, I may even be cured of asthma. Seriously. I'm feeling very hopeful. When I weigh out the pros and cons of trying the antibiotic treatment (one weekly dose for between 9-15 or more weeks) as opposed to indefinitely using a ton of steroidal drugs to treat my asthma, the choice is clear.
In any case, I just wanted to share this information with all of you. I wish all of you who struggle with this to be well. If you respond to antibiotics during asthma flare-ups, this could help you.
Here are a few other links (in addition to http://www.asthmastory.com hyperlinked above):
Information For Interested Physicians – Dr. David L. Hahn – http://www.asthmastory.com/research/asthmamdinfov13.pdf
Model Demonstrates Infections Cause of Asthma – ScienceDaily May 25, 2010 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0524161240.htm
Asthma Linked to Chronic Chlamydia - http://www.drkaslow.com/html/asthma-_an_infection_.html
Infectious Asthma Research – Dr. David L. Hahn - http://www.dean.org/Foundation/resea...-research.aspx
Asthma Trial in Community Settings - http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00266851%20
Treatment of Chlamydia Pneumoniae Infection in Adult Asthma: A Before-After Trial - http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00266851%20
Additional Research w/ Several Links: http://asthmastory.com/theresearch/
UPDATES:
Follow-up posts. (It's been a long journey.) - Here and Here. More to come shortly.
I've had a long history with asthma, first diagnosed when I was a toddler and still living in Florida. When we moved north, I was asymptomatic for years. Practically cured we thought. It wasn't until about age eleven, that the dreaded asthma word started to come up again, this time in relation to allergies I had just spontaneously developed. Looking back, I don't think it was really asthma, just allergies--mostly to animal dander, pollens, weeds, and molds. I was put on asthma medication as a preventative measure, but really, I think allergy medication would have worked all on its own.
Asthma wasn't an issue for me, that is until just a few years ago. My son was about four or five at the time. I remember that I had gotten a cold, and that that cold had turned into bronchitis. Not being the sort to run off to the doctor for things I think I can ride out at home, I waited. I waited a long time, but I never got better. After a few weeks of this, I finally succumbed, and went to the doctor. I was diagnosed with bronchitis, and sent home. After the antibiotic treatment, I felt better. But ever since that episode, I found that I was getting sick at the drop of a hat. After several relapses I was re-diagnosed with asthma--specifically asthmatic bronchitis. For a while there, as I switched doctors from time to time, always searching for someone who could help me, I received conflicting diagnoses. One doctor told me that I couldn't possibly have asthma because I had a productive cough. His diagnosis? Anxiety. He came to this conclusion when I didn't improve after treatment.
Again, I found myself getting "bronchitis" or something like it, several times per year. I was re-re-diagnosed with asthma, and every time I was symptomatic, my pulmonologist would prescribe the same medication--Azithromycin (Z-pack) and Prednisone. Every time, I felt an immediate relief of my symptoms. I assumed it was the Prednisone.
This past March, I got sick again, and delayed going to the doctor. When I woke up on a Saturday morning, about 10 days after I had first gotten sick, I was coughing up blood, and figured I'd better get seen. My doctor didn't have hours on Saturdays, so I went to one of those Urgent Care clinics. Again, I was diagnosed with bronchitis, which I was told had exacerbated my asthma. I also had an eye and throat infection. Yep, I was a mess because I waited too long to seek treatment. Again, I was given prescriptions for a Z-pack and Prednisone, as well as a few other medications for the coughing and eye infection.
On May 13th, just a little over a week ago, I got sick yet again. By Monday, I decided that it was starting to get out of control. I liked the Urgent Care clinic so much, that I decided to go back there again. I saw a different doctor. She told me that I didn't have bronchitis. I thought I did, as that's what I'm always diagnosed with whenever I go (sometimes up to 6 times per year). She said I was having an asthma exacerbation...i.e., an asthma attack. She checked my peak flow, gave me a nebulizer treatment, and I improved slightly, but not enough. Next I got a steroid shot, and left there with a 15 day prescription for Prednisone, and a prescription for Singulair (which I had taken before, without much improvement). I was to take these in addition to my Advair and Ventolin rescue (which I had been using up to 4x/day). The doctor felt that I didn't need antibiotics this time, as technically, it wasn't an infection, just an asthma flare-up.
I didn't notice any improvement after a few days. As a matter of fact, by day six of my course of Prednisone, I was still finding it difficult to draw breath, and the coughing fits kept me awake all night. It struck me that I wasn't improving. The only difference between this last visit to the the doctor and all of my previous visits, was that I had always been prescribed antibiotics along with the Prednisone. I was curious, so I Googled for info on the treatment of asthma with antibiotics, and I found this very informative website. The research page at the site has tons of links from reputable sources finding that there is a bacterial link to many cases of asthma, and that it can be "cured" with an extended course of antibiotics. Considering how quickly I improve with the antibiotics, it made sense to me. I made up my mind to find a doctor who would be receptive to this information.
On Saturday, I spent the day at my Mom's apartment. I still wasn't feeling well, and didn't want to be alone--my husband and the kids were out all day for kung fu and errands. I was still only on the Prednisone and Singulair, in addition to my other asthma medications. I had a very difficult time at my mother's. After my third nebulizer treatment, I was flushed, and I felt like I had tied tourniquets on both of my upper arms. The pressure on my arms was awful, and my veins looked as if they were bulging. I had a lot of pain in my chest. I refused to go to the ER, but I probably should have. Yesterday morning I woke up, coughing up blood again. I went back to the clinic as it was Sunday, and the only place other than the ER that was open. My peak flow was again, not so great. I had another nebulizer treatment, and the doctor wanted to give me another steroid shot. I refused the shot, considering that I was still taking the prednisone (on day 6 of 15). I told her about the research, and she seemed receptive. But she wanted to prescribe a preliminary dose of antibiotics anyway, as she figured that I was putting too much strain on my heart.
Now here I am today. I've had only two doses of the antibiotic (500 mg each), and I'm feeling a noticeable difference. I'm confident that if I follow the extended antibiotic protocol, I may even be cured of asthma. Seriously. I'm feeling very hopeful. When I weigh out the pros and cons of trying the antibiotic treatment (one weekly dose for between 9-15 or more weeks) as opposed to indefinitely using a ton of steroidal drugs to treat my asthma, the choice is clear.
In any case, I just wanted to share this information with all of you. I wish all of you who struggle with this to be well. If you respond to antibiotics during asthma flare-ups, this could help you.
Here are a few other links (in addition to http://www.asthmastory.com hyperlinked above):
Information For Interested Physicians – Dr. David L. Hahn – http://www.asthmastory.com/research/asthmamdinfov13.pdf
Model Demonstrates Infections Cause of Asthma – ScienceDaily May 25, 2010 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0524161240.htm
Asthma Linked to Chronic Chlamydia - http://www.drkaslow.com/html/asthma-_an_infection_.html
Infectious Asthma Research – Dr. David L. Hahn - http://www.dean.org/Foundation/resea...-research.aspx
Asthma Trial in Community Settings - http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00266851%20
Treatment of Chlamydia Pneumoniae Infection in Adult Asthma: A Before-After Trial - http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00266851%20
Additional Research w/ Several Links: http://asthmastory.com/theresearch/
UPDATES:
Follow-up posts. (It's been a long journey.) - Here and Here. More to come shortly.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
We've Gone Gluten-Free
Obviously, I'm not doing too well with the blogging. I had all of these high hopes involving my posting with regularity. No matter. I have an excuse.
After my last post, in which I detailed how I aim to remain productive while sick, I found that I just didn't get better. After more than ten days of being sick, I started to cough up blood, and I finally decided to go to a doctor. Thankfully, it wasn't anything too serious. I just had been coughing for so long, that my throat was irritated. In any case, I went to see the doctor, who kindheartedly chided me for not having come in earlier, and I went on my way with a diagnosis of bronchitis, a throat infection, and an eye infection. After about three days, I started to feel human again.
Then, if that wasn't enough to deal with, I've been fairly concerned over my 14yo daughter, E. She was diagnosed with episcleritis several months ago. This is a fancy name for eye redness and inflammation. It only seems to effect her right eye. Well, we took her to the eye doctor a while ago, and he wasn't too concerned about it. He prescribed anti-inflammatory eye drops and it cleared up, but then he told us that if it came back again, to make sure that she gets checked to rule out any underlying issues. Well, it came back. Twice. And for the last few weeks, the redness has been a constant, sometimes getting better or worse at varying times of the day. I still wasn't worrying, but decided to call her pediatrician to ask if he could take a look at her. He suggested we take her to a pediatric rheumatologist instead, as there was only so much he could do before sending me to a specialist anyway. He figured he'd save us time, and he referred us to a pediatric rheumatology group in a nearby town. Imagine my surprise when I found out that there are only seven pediatric rheumatologists in our whole state, and four of them work together so close to us. In any case, having to see a specialist for something I had initially thought would be innocuous, was a bit frightening. Strike that, I'm lying. It was more than a bit frightening. And of course, it didn't help that I spent countless hours reading stuff online that did little to temper my anxiety. But the rheumatology appointment came and went without a hitch. The doctor, who we loved, told us that there was no outward, physical sign of systemic disease, and I felt like I could draw breath again. Of course, to be completely certain that my daughter didn't have any of the auto-immune disease markers, we'd have to take her to Labcorp for bloodwork. We did that last week, and I still don't have the results. And yeah, I'm frustrated with the wait, and am still anxious about all of this.
Well, I was getting increasingly frustrated with feeling completely impotent with regard to all of this, so I continued to research auto-immune issues, and how diet, particularly a gluten-free diet, can help in some cases. I figured it wouldn't hurt to be proactive, and just make some adjustments. Tangentially related, my son, age 10, has had ongoing (more like on and off) intestinal/bowel issues over the years. I had discussed this with his doctor, but he didn't feel it was a serious issue, as my son seemed well overall. He was thriving it seemed. In any case, the more I read about the gluten-free diet, the more I wanted to try it. I figured I could put the family on an elimination diet, and then after a while, reintroduce gluten and see what happens. I wrote out a detailed menu, made a few trips to the store and farmer's market, and we were set.
Immediately, I saw a difference in myself (no more bloating!) and in my son. I didn't see a difference at all with my husband or my daughters. But the changes, particularly for my son, were eye-opening. I noticed that my son was much more relaxed. He's a very restless sleeper, and in fact, just getting him to bed is difficult. It's like he has difficulty winding down. I think I may have written before how he is very active during our homeschooling. He gets up, walks around, sits down, gets up again, etc. I just assumed that this was the normal state of things for him. I just felt that he needed to move to think. But immediately after putting him on the gluten free diet, he was much less fidgety, and far more focused. Yes, it was *that* noticeable. He was also happier, and just generally more pleasant to be around. I figured his increasing testiness was just due to his age. But apparently it wasn't! More startling yet, was that his intestinal/bowel issues were no more. This was very encouraging, if not overwhelming in a way. This was really just an experiment of sorts, and here I was, faced with the very real possibility that this may be how we'll have to eat from now on. I didn't bristle at this fact for me, but rather for my son. He loves his bread, cakes, and pizzas, and I want to make sure he still has access to safe variations of these. But I'm not a baker, nor am I especially gifted in the kitchen, so I have a lot of learning to do.
Despite all of the changes I saw with the elimination of gluten, I still felt it necessary to reintroduce it. I figured it would provide me with the proof that we were going about things the right way. Thankfully, my family is very good about trying out new things, so I was met with absolutely no argument. This past Saturday, we were going to the grand opening celebration of our Kung Fu school's sister school, and I knew that there would be food there. I figured that I wouldn't make a big deal about it, and let the kids have some of the food there. Again, I saw no difference in my daughters or in my husband. I immediately felt "off." I don't know how else to describe it. I didn't have too much, but what I did have just felt heavy, and made me feel sluggish. My son's reaction was much more startling. By the time we left the celebration, he was very testy and argumentative. He also seemed a bit jittery and even twitchy to me. By the time we got home, it only got worse, and then came the intestinal/bowel issue again, after over a week of no problems. He had a terrible time settling to sleep that night as well. There was a lot of fidgeting, and even a twinge of anxiety. As I said, it was startling.
So now we're eating gluten-free. I don't know whether my son has a sensitivity or an allergy to wheat or gluten, but I know that not having him deal with the restlessness, anxiety, and bowel issues is infinitely better than the alternative. I don't even know if it's worth seeking a firm diagnosis, or if I'm just better off moving forward without a diagnosis. I do find that I'm hyper-focused on food now, more than I ever have been. My 14yo daughter has had food allergies her whole life (peanuts and nuts primarily, with very mild sensitivities to eggs and dairy), but gluten is a different beast altogether. It's everywhere.
In closing, for any of you out there that may be reading this, we'd appreciate your prayers. Really, I'm very concerned over my daughter and her eye issue. My husband thinks there's nothing to worry about, and I certainly hope he's right. Things have been so screwy lately, and there have been a lot of changes in our home. I don't fare too well with change, so a prayer for my peace of mind wouldn't hurt either. Thanks!
After my last post, in which I detailed how I aim to remain productive while sick, I found that I just didn't get better. After more than ten days of being sick, I started to cough up blood, and I finally decided to go to a doctor. Thankfully, it wasn't anything too serious. I just had been coughing for so long, that my throat was irritated. In any case, I went to see the doctor, who kindheartedly chided me for not having come in earlier, and I went on my way with a diagnosis of bronchitis, a throat infection, and an eye infection. After about three days, I started to feel human again.
Then, if that wasn't enough to deal with, I've been fairly concerned over my 14yo daughter, E. She was diagnosed with episcleritis several months ago. This is a fancy name for eye redness and inflammation. It only seems to effect her right eye. Well, we took her to the eye doctor a while ago, and he wasn't too concerned about it. He prescribed anti-inflammatory eye drops and it cleared up, but then he told us that if it came back again, to make sure that she gets checked to rule out any underlying issues. Well, it came back. Twice. And for the last few weeks, the redness has been a constant, sometimes getting better or worse at varying times of the day. I still wasn't worrying, but decided to call her pediatrician to ask if he could take a look at her. He suggested we take her to a pediatric rheumatologist instead, as there was only so much he could do before sending me to a specialist anyway. He figured he'd save us time, and he referred us to a pediatric rheumatology group in a nearby town. Imagine my surprise when I found out that there are only seven pediatric rheumatologists in our whole state, and four of them work together so close to us. In any case, having to see a specialist for something I had initially thought would be innocuous, was a bit frightening. Strike that, I'm lying. It was more than a bit frightening. And of course, it didn't help that I spent countless hours reading stuff online that did little to temper my anxiety. But the rheumatology appointment came and went without a hitch. The doctor, who we loved, told us that there was no outward, physical sign of systemic disease, and I felt like I could draw breath again. Of course, to be completely certain that my daughter didn't have any of the auto-immune disease markers, we'd have to take her to Labcorp for bloodwork. We did that last week, and I still don't have the results. And yeah, I'm frustrated with the wait, and am still anxious about all of this.
Well, I was getting increasingly frustrated with feeling completely impotent with regard to all of this, so I continued to research auto-immune issues, and how diet, particularly a gluten-free diet, can help in some cases. I figured it wouldn't hurt to be proactive, and just make some adjustments. Tangentially related, my son, age 10, has had ongoing (more like on and off) intestinal/bowel issues over the years. I had discussed this with his doctor, but he didn't feel it was a serious issue, as my son seemed well overall. He was thriving it seemed. In any case, the more I read about the gluten-free diet, the more I wanted to try it. I figured I could put the family on an elimination diet, and then after a while, reintroduce gluten and see what happens. I wrote out a detailed menu, made a few trips to the store and farmer's market, and we were set.
Immediately, I saw a difference in myself (no more bloating!) and in my son. I didn't see a difference at all with my husband or my daughters. But the changes, particularly for my son, were eye-opening. I noticed that my son was much more relaxed. He's a very restless sleeper, and in fact, just getting him to bed is difficult. It's like he has difficulty winding down. I think I may have written before how he is very active during our homeschooling. He gets up, walks around, sits down, gets up again, etc. I just assumed that this was the normal state of things for him. I just felt that he needed to move to think. But immediately after putting him on the gluten free diet, he was much less fidgety, and far more focused. Yes, it was *that* noticeable. He was also happier, and just generally more pleasant to be around. I figured his increasing testiness was just due to his age. But apparently it wasn't! More startling yet, was that his intestinal/bowel issues were no more. This was very encouraging, if not overwhelming in a way. This was really just an experiment of sorts, and here I was, faced with the very real possibility that this may be how we'll have to eat from now on. I didn't bristle at this fact for me, but rather for my son. He loves his bread, cakes, and pizzas, and I want to make sure he still has access to safe variations of these. But I'm not a baker, nor am I especially gifted in the kitchen, so I have a lot of learning to do.
Despite all of the changes I saw with the elimination of gluten, I still felt it necessary to reintroduce it. I figured it would provide me with the proof that we were going about things the right way. Thankfully, my family is very good about trying out new things, so I was met with absolutely no argument. This past Saturday, we were going to the grand opening celebration of our Kung Fu school's sister school, and I knew that there would be food there. I figured that I wouldn't make a big deal about it, and let the kids have some of the food there. Again, I saw no difference in my daughters or in my husband. I immediately felt "off." I don't know how else to describe it. I didn't have too much, but what I did have just felt heavy, and made me feel sluggish. My son's reaction was much more startling. By the time we left the celebration, he was very testy and argumentative. He also seemed a bit jittery and even twitchy to me. By the time we got home, it only got worse, and then came the intestinal/bowel issue again, after over a week of no problems. He had a terrible time settling to sleep that night as well. There was a lot of fidgeting, and even a twinge of anxiety. As I said, it was startling.
So now we're eating gluten-free. I don't know whether my son has a sensitivity or an allergy to wheat or gluten, but I know that not having him deal with the restlessness, anxiety, and bowel issues is infinitely better than the alternative. I don't even know if it's worth seeking a firm diagnosis, or if I'm just better off moving forward without a diagnosis. I do find that I'm hyper-focused on food now, more than I ever have been. My 14yo daughter has had food allergies her whole life (peanuts and nuts primarily, with very mild sensitivities to eggs and dairy), but gluten is a different beast altogether. It's everywhere.
In closing, for any of you out there that may be reading this, we'd appreciate your prayers. Really, I'm very concerned over my daughter and her eye issue. My husband thinks there's nothing to worry about, and I certainly hope he's right. Things have been so screwy lately, and there have been a lot of changes in our home. I don't fare too well with change, so a prayer for my peace of mind wouldn't hurt either. Thanks!
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