Blog

It’s been awhile since I posted anything other than recipes and the occasional promotional post. I want to post about things that I am learning about, but each day just marches by. I am becoming acutely aware of how the days and weeks and months are speeding along. And I don’t seem to be making much progress in the things I want to do.

Before my mom came to live with me I worked four days for my employer (one day at home) and the other three days I could spend that time cooking, researching, writing blog posts, etc. After rescuing my mom, my time was greatly impacted. She was so very ill for so many months. Finally this spring she began to recover with the help of allopathic medication (we felt we had no other option) and she is feeling so much better now that she is actually holding a volunteer position at my job! At home she has taken a great burden from me by helping with many of the household chores. I sometimes feel guilty because I feel I should be doing it all, but at the time so grateful that she is able to and willing to help. It is like a miracle to have her help when for so long I have had to do most of everything myself, plus work.

Unfortunately, my mom is not yet well enough to drive and we live a long way from the big city, and from her chiropractor. I have pledged every Friday to helping my mom and losing that one day has placed a huge dent in the time I have to spend blogging.

But I thought I would take a little while to let you know how I’m doing.

I’m actually doing quite well!  I’m able to function well on 7-7.5 hours of sleep each night and sometimes less. In the past if I didn’t get enough, I had a very hard time coping and would feel overly sensitive and tended to cry easily. VERY embarrassing at work. My goal is 8+ hours but I struggle to get to bed early enough. I am grateful that I feel well on less sleep. I am sleeping very well. I find it is pretty easy to get up in the morning. I am grateful for that.

I feel for my sister who has miserable mornings. I wish I had endless amounts of money because I think she would benefit greatly from an adrenal saliva test. She is most likely in the early stages of adrenal fatigue and hydrocortisone is not necessary then. Early stage adrenal fatigue can be managed other ways, with herbs for example.

I think I am sleeping better because I’ve added in more carbohydrates (in the form of starches), but I just don’t know. I used to wake up a lot at night and have this hungry feeling and rarely have that. Then again, maybe it’s just that I’m eating dinner so late at night. I would like to eat dinner no later than seven, but I can’t get to work before 10am and that means I’m not home until 8-9, or if I have to stop and buy groceries, even later.

I feel like I have enough energy to do what I need to do in my life. Just a couple of years ago I didn’t have the energy to do the grocery shopping and had to leave that up to my husband, but I have been able to take that chore back. Every day I get up around 7am and go and go and go until 10 or 11 or midnight. After I get off work, drive an hour home, sometimes shop for groceries I bring the groceries in and start making supper. Years ago I had to sit down and rest after driving!

I’m transitioning off of GAPS and adding in some non-GAPS foods, and while I feel like I am tolerating them well, I am gaining weight. I’ve gained ten pounds. I feel like I’ve opened Pandora’s box and can’t get it shut again. I think the biggest problem is that I pig out on starchy foods. The only way I can stop myself is to cook one portion. Otherwise I want to eat the whole pot in one sitting. It just seems easier to stop eating them altogether.

I had to stop chelating when my mom got here because caring for her while chelating just wasn’t possible. Chelating took a lot from me, especially if I missed a dose, I could really feel the mercury displacing. At this point, I don’t know if I’ll get back to it. I just hope the fact that I no longer have mercury fillings will be good enough.

I am still on adrenal support and would like to get off it as it was supposed to be a temporary thing. If I had known about Paul Robinson’s Recovering with T3: My Journey from Hypothyroidism to Good Health Using the T3 Thyroid Hormone I would have tried that first.

In January of this year I again attempted (this was the 3rd or 4th time) to begin decreasing my adrenal support. It is to be tapered down slowly every two weeks. I felt I was doing good and handling it well, and thought my adrenals were picking up the slack and beginning to work. But then I started to feel extreme anxiety when I woke at night, all kinds of things would be on my mind and I would just be in a panic. I would wake up in the morning and feel just horrible. I mean, miserable. I tried and tried to find a way to feel better upon waking. I tried going out onto the porch and getting sunlight in my eyes. I tried reading my Bible first thing. I tried to be positive and thankful. I remember crying and wondering how to get past the miserable feelings. After being awake for a few hours I would feel better, but still felt down. I didn’t connect what I was experiencing to lowering my adrenal support but finally I realized that some theories suggest that when one is one adrenal support the body maintains a reserve. It seems that was why I was doing well for a few weeks, but then my body had no reserve and not enough cortisol and I was just hitting the wall. When I increased my dose, I started to feel stable again. I have tried to decrease several times with the same results.

My hands have started to ache again. They seem to do better when I’m consistent with the herbal calcium my sister has taken for years and swears by. I recently ordered The Iron Elephant: What You Should Know about the Danger of Excess Body Iron and it says if the joints in your hands hurt to check into hemochromatosis. If my joints are rusting, no amount of calcium is going to fix the problem.

So, that’s where I’m at. I know this was really long. Basically I’m doing well and coping with my life. Some days are harder than others, but I am thankful to be who I am today. I have enough energy to do what needs to be done. I am still seeking more energy, and better health, but for now I am doing well. Thanks for reading.