Kris InSight Lifestyle Changes for a Healthier You

Winter hang over is a common expression in Minnesota this year. Yes, the calendar says it is May. Yes, we were warming up (it is snowing as I write). No, this is no longer normal and yes, we are sick of  this achy breaky winter that will not end and we long for a summer that we fear may not make it this year. All that out-of-the-way, we are Minnesotans and we are proud of our bad weather, so, at the very least, we smile whilst we grouse.

This month I have decided to do a roundup of sorts because I have lots to say and not much room to say it, so let’s get right to it.

On being “glutened”

If you have been a reader of Krisinsight for a while you know I have waffled a bit on eating food with gluten. I think I can safely say I waffle no more. After months of being gluten-free I realized I also had been arrhythmia free then I was “treated” to lunch out and when my “safe” salad arrived it was covered with tortilla strips. Covered and also incorporated in to this chopped salad because I tried very hard to remove all that laid on top. Within a few minutes of eating the salad my pulse rate increased and I started feeling odd (at the time I put it down to a small panic attack which in part it was). That night my heart woke me up with that awful hard irregular beat. My head was pounding and the only solution was to get up and wait it out. I know from experience that it will settle within three hours and it did but I spent the rest of the weekend feeling like I had the flu, aches and pains and sleepless nights. I had, as someone said so aptly, been “glutened”.

Have you experienced this reaction to gluten? Have you had a few days when you felt crappy but because you avoid gluten you could see no clear reason? Check your cosmetics. Check your supplements. I gather even sharing the same cutting board with gluten bread can cause a malaise to set in. I am not happy about this level of sensitivity but I will learn to cope with it as we all learn to cope with so many thing.

Magnesium Chloride vs. Magnesium Sulfate and other forms of magnesium

I have waxed poetic about magnesium chloride and magnesium threonate and now in this roundup I can say I think magnesium threonate really does help one think more clearly, recall more accurately and generally remove brain fog (which is a problem for thyroid types). As for magnesium chloride  and its effectiveness for me, I am not so sure. I am so not sure that I am soon to embark on a new type of magnesium lauded by Carolyn Dean, the magnesium expert. It is called ReMag.

It is magnesium in a pico-ionic form that she says is more capable of getting to the cells where it is needed to do its work. Rather like threonate crosses the blood brain barrier to help with cognitive abilities it makes sense to me that the magnesium I am taking is not getting to the source of the problem. Perhaps because I tend to run a bit dehydrated (without adequate salt and potassium I urinate frequently) my needs are not being met and every so often cramping feet and calves still plague me not to mention general pain in areas that just shouldn’t “pain” me. I can unequivocally say that epsom salts baths with baking soda do take away pain and relax me totally but I am not inclined to take baths everyday, so I found I needed an easier more effective source of magnesium and thanks to a friend of mine ( thank you Bonnie Scott) who said she had used ReMag with success I am giving it a try.

Low cortisol and low body temperatures

For my thyroid friends I wanted to mention a light bulb moment a few days ago. I have Paul Robinson’s book “Recovering With T3” on loan from another thyroid friend (thanks Lisa Olko) and in reading it I finally realized what I did wrong at the very start of my “recovering with T3″-only. I knew it intuitively at the time but I took everything I read very seriously and what I read said I needed to guide my increases of T3 by my body temperatures.

I kept taking my temperature and no matter the amount of my T3 dose after clearing T4 from my thyroid cell receptors (aka clearance) I simply could not get a normal body temperature. This caused me to take far too much T3 after clearance and I suffered hand tremors that made my job as a dental hygienist really difficult for several months. Approximately 7 months after my official clearance of T4 I finally decided (with much hesitation I might add) that I was an anomaly and quit obsessing over my below normal body temperatures. I dropped my dose of T3 to 25 mcg and the tremors went away. My temperatures didn’t rocket up but they also didn’t do anything frightening.

That was three years ago and I have really struggled with my adrenal health ever since. This week in reading Paul Robinson’s book which involves acircadian rhythm to taking your T3 (known as T3CM) he said, and I quote “Once again, adrenal insufficiency can cloud the picture and cause misleading temperature readings. If the adrenal glands fail to produce enough cortisol then this may have a profound effect on cellular energy production (ATP production by the mitochondria.) If this is the case, then low cortisol issues need to be addressed first. The same comment also applies to some essential nutrients like iron, B12, Folate and vitamin D.”

In my defense, I had tested my adrenal status twice, once before starting T3-only and once when things did not improve after my clearance. The cortisol tests showed a low normal cortisol rhythm all day until evening when as result of low normal all day I had slightly high cortisol production. Nothing really indicated a need for hydrocortisone but did show a need for adaptogens which I took. Now despite those test results I think my poor adrenal health was clouding the picture completely because the more T3 I took the more I challenged my poor struggling adrenal glands and the lower my temperatures went. Now three years late when I have already figured this out I find my affirmation in this book by Paul Robinson. Too bad I didn’t have it three years ago but I guess this is how we live, learn and why I share what I learn on Krisinsight.

And now for a treat

On a lighter note I have been experimenting with recipes that don’t call for nut flour nor gluten-free grain flours and I have found a couple of fabulous treats. I am going to include a link to the brownies I baked this week. The only substitution I made was less sugar and I think you could adjust the coconut sugar according to your taste and add Vanilla Creme Stevia for added flavor as well. Cocoa powder makes a bit of a mess if you stir too vigorously at first, so do stir gently until mixed in and then stir more vigorously after that.

http://thecoconutmama.com/2013/04/brownie-cheesecake-bars-grain-free/

Krisinsight

My biggest light bulb moment this week was yet another experience with gluten. I decided I needed to take a multi-vitamin to be well-rounded, so I started taking Mercola’s Multi last Tuesday. On Wednesday, I started having GI problems and restless nights with cramping legs and feet, anxiety filled dreams and a thumping heart and head. On Saturday, yesterday, the light bulb flashed on (you would think I could figure this out sooner by now). The only thing that had changed this week was the Mercola vitamins.

I finally and reluctantly looked more closely at the label and noticed barley grass juice and wheatgrass juice on the list of ingredients. I then looked at Mercola’s FAQ section on his multi-vitamin and there was the critical question: “Are these vitamins gluten-free?” Answer: “They are not strictly gluten-free”. Ugh! Urgh! And then, “Wait a moment!” Why would Joe Mercola put his name on a vitamin that is not strictly gluten-free?

I contacted the company and to their credit they got right back to me. They refunded my money, no questions asked and apologized saying “we will be happy to forward your comments to the appropriate department” and we “sincerely apologize for an inconvenience this may have caused”. I really wasn’t expecting so much from them but I did want to return the product and also I thought they should know I was really disappointed to find gluten in a product sold by the very person who told me gluten had no benefit to any body and not to eat grains in the first place. Bravo to them for being so quick in their response and for refunding my money with no questions asked but I hope they reconsider the addition of the barley grass and wheatgrass, make them strictly gluten-free and help people like me who want a well-rounded multi-vitamin.

Now I start over, yet again, but the aches and pains are already better and I slept much better last night. I have learned that I must be strictly gluten-free if I want to live comfortably without heart irregularities and general malaise. I have to say, now that I have learned it I sincerely hope I don’t have to experience this anytime in the near future. I repeat what I said at the beginning. If you are suffering from aches and pains and general malaise please remove gluten from your diet. Check your body care products and all of your supplements (including green powders, Midori greens from iHerb has barley and wheatgrass juice) and give it several months to get out of your system. It isn’t fun and yes, it changes your lifestyle but it is worth the effort.

Santé,

Kris

Winter, on the calendar, was over several days ago but to look outside my window you would never know. We still have several feet of snow on the ground and despite brilliantly warm spring sun the air has a distinctive chill to it. However, I am happy to say most of my birds do not  know spring is delayed and last weekend I heard the pleasant, if mournful, “Who, who, oooo?” of my mourning doves. I love my pair that seem to return year after year and look forward to a summer full of their offspring at my feeder.

In the news

I really don’t know about other states but here in Minnesota our news has been too saturated with spousal abuse, specifically spousal abuse that ends in the death of young vital women and sometimes their abuser. This abuse crosses all social and economical barriers. Spousal abuse, like mental illness, is the elephant in the room. Most people know it is happening but no one wants to talk about it and then suddenly the unthinkable happens and a woman is found dead, or not found at all and everyone’s life is changed forever.

These tragic deaths have been haunting me and I knew I had to, at the very least, share my story. All I can think when I see yet another woman has died at the hands of her significant other is the utterance of John Bradford as he watched prisoners being led toward their execution at the Tower of London “There but by the grace of God, go I.”. If telling my story can help even one person escape the snare of spousal abuse it will have been worth the hours it took me to compose this posting because I know, all too well, the pain and fear of physical abuse at the hands of someone who supposedly loves you.

First the good news

First let me say, I have been married for 34 years this year to a wonderful man. He is my soul mate and I love him deeply with a great appreciation for his gentle nature. We were introduced in December of 1978 by a childhood friend of mine who knew all I had been through and just wanted my daughter and I to find happiness. Nine months after John and I met we were married and became a family of three. My years with this man have been full of  joy and we have experienced a life I never thought was possible all those years ago.

I probably appreciate his calm demeanor even more because of my past, namely a first marriage at a very young and tender age of 18. It was a marriage of short duration, about two years, I think. To be honest, too much time (38 years) has passed and too many good memories are filling my memory bank to recall specifics of number of months we were married. I do know I escaped the marriage with my approximately two-year old daughter and she and I went on to a very happy and full life.

Now that we know some details will be missing or inaccurate let me try to tell you my story of abuse as best I can recall.

Boy meets girl

I met the boy who would become my abusive first husband in junior high school. Let’s call him Vincent. Vincent was my age but a year behind me in school. His gang of friends were all the “bad” boys, cute but naughty and I didn’t find that very attractive. He, however, pursued me relentlessly or as relentlessly as a teenage boy can pursue a teenage girl. I found his attention somehow flattering but off-putting; he was just too different from me and the world I was accustomed to living in. His pursuance prevailed and what had started as an initial repulsion for me turned in to a crush and at the very gullible age of 15 I was puppy lovesick.

When we entered the high school years the fun and games ended and the infatuation began. My teenage infatuation was so bad that if he didn’t call me for a few days I would be physically ill. If he “broke up” with me to date other girls, which he did several times over the years, I wouldn’t eat for days. I suffered inane jealousy if he paid attention to other girls which he often did. Suffice it to say, I was young and naive (I should add he was very young and naive as well) and what should have caused me to run the other way as quickly as possible just left me even more engaged.

My high school years, to this day, remain marred by this harmful relationship but I cannot blame him entirely, I was an active participant in this debauchery. That he was the product of a very unnurturing childhood (and possibly even abusive) does play a role in the person he was and actually it was yet another reason I justified his bad boy behavior (“bad boy” being drugs and alcohol). After all, Vince couldn’t help who he was. He told me over and over his broken home was to blame. I have always been a bit of a warrior for a cause and I just knew he would be good if only he could. (Lesson number one: We all can choose good over bad behavior no matter our circumstances, so never fall for the excuse that life is to blame for their behavior).

As if things weren’t ugly enough

In my senior year of high school he became physically abusive but honestly I cannot recall how it even started or even the very first time. What I do recall, is that I was knocked around in the hallways of my school and in front of other students, mostly for being seen talking to other boys. I remember being pushed in to lockers and as spittle from his rage ran down my cardigan bodice I cowered and prayed that no one was really looking nor hearing what was happening. In the privacy of my childhood home (both of my parents worked and were away from home all day) the violence was much worse. The worst of which occurred after I gave a commencement speech and appeared to get a standing ovation. I guess, nothing good was supposed to happen to me and if it did it was cause for a beating.

The audience that late spring eve stood up not for me, nor my speech but for the person I talked about, our hard-working principle. Not to belabor the point but this man, one  William Shannon, had just suffered an entire year of ridicule from some difficult parents and I was mad as hell, so I made him the center of my commencement speech. Sadly, the ovation was too much for Vincent and the next day in a fit of his jealous rage I suffered the wrath of his anger that to this day is evident in a dining room table that belonged to my parents. I received a full on body blow that knocked me in to the solid cherry wood dining room table, cracking the extended leaf in two. I can’t even recall how I explained that broken table to my parents because worse than a broken table, I was three months pregnant and I knew there was no escape now.

Marriage, of course

I was secretly pregnant, by the way, and no one but Vincent and I knew about it until much later in my pregnancy. To his credit he quit abusing me after that day and the entire time I was pregnant. When our daughter arrived in December and after everyone knew of my pregnancy, and met our lovely daughter, he asked, no, told, me we had to get married. He really wasn’t very interested (nor was I) his father had insisted that our baby have their family name, so we married.

I have to admit I no longer loved this person. I was no longer even remotely infatuated. What I was, was threatened with death if I didn’t do what I was told as in “I’ll kill you if…..”. Believe me, dear reader, I understand if someone is telling you they will kill you! At that point, if you are too scared to do the right thing you do as you are told but also know this, if a significant other is threatening you with death it is time to confide in someone, anyone who can securely keep a secret, and then get the hell out. I didn’t do that for almost two years.

The intervening years

At first after our “marriage” we lived with my parents but since that meant he really couldn’t yell at me and use his fists we had to move, so we moved in to a hovel about 20 miles from my parents and all our friends. I worked part-time at a bank and loved my co-workers and my job but once home I knew things would be ugly especially if he had been or was drinking. One night I was holding our daughter in my arms trying to fix supper when because supper wasn’t coming along fast enough he socked me in the stomach so hard it knocked the breath out of me. Hitting me was one thing but hitting me and possibly hitting my baby was another thing entirely and I made it clear that was the end, “IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN”.

Well “it” didn’t, he never hurt our daughter and I know he never would have, his wrath was directed at me and me alone. The violence ended for a few months (again I think it was months) and then we moved again. This time in to a trailer home being rented out by a nice older couple we had come to know. I loved that trailer and made it as cozy as I could for the three of us but one day after a particularly long night of drinking and drugs he came home and I looked at him wrong (seriously that’s all it takes).

I have never been thrown on a floor so fast nor had my head bashed in to the ground so hard and so repeatedly as happened that day, so when I saw my chance to escape I ran out the door screaming for help from our neighbors (the couple who owned our trailer home). Vincent came stumbling after me in a drunken rage but by the time he caught up with me the neighbor was standing there and in no uncertain terms said “This is never to happen again, not here anyway!” Hmm, I wish he hadn’t added that “….not here anyway” clause.

Needless to say, we moved, again. We had been found out and that necessitates a move. This time we moved in to town. Thankfully this house was very near my parents. The previous owner had just died and my mom and dad bought the house for us to live in and we paid them back every month. Talk about love, I loved this house. It had previously belonged to an elderly woman whom I thought the world of and now I got to live in her house with its well cared for interior and lovely brick fireplace. Trouble is the violence did not end.

I would go to work with hair that had missing patches, tear streaked cheeks and bruises that were probably not too well covered by clothing or makeup. To the credit of nearby neighbors they did call my parents a time or two to report screaming coming from our house but when my parents confronted me I lied. Yup, I said nothing was wrong. Oh God! Everything was wrong and I knew it and I also knew if I didn’t get out of this marriage very soon I would be dead. I also knew if I did get out my parents might be dead because he had threatened them as well.

By the light of the full moon

Then one night after a heated argument over something that was directly due to his drinking too much, I lay in my bed beside Vincent who was now snoring, noisily sleeping off yet another 12 pack of beer. I couldn’t sleep and as I looked up through a window above my bed I saw the full moon bathing me in white. I suddenly felt very peaceful, I really did, and at that moment I resolved I would not spend my life this way. I didn’t deserve it and I wouldn’t put up with it anymore.

I was lucky I had family to support me, so I went to my parents and confessed everything they already were suspicious was occurring. Together, we hatched a plan to get me out, safely and quietly. It actually was quite ingenious and needless to say, it worked but I won’t go in to details as I promised not too much verbosity. What I will tell you is it took an entire family. My parents, bless them put it all together. All my siblings and their wives were extremely supportive and involved. Even my uncles and aunts had a part to play in our escape (a family reunion I needed to attend was the ruse to get me out of the house). I am still grateful and in awe of that entire sequence of events that put an end to a very abusive segment of my life.

I am also happy to say those character building years were over within months of my full moon resolve. I try not to have any regrets only lessons of life because without those few years of my relationship with Vincent I would not have my lovely daughter nor her two boys who light my face every day with their smiles. My strength comes from knowing that I made the decision to stop living that life. My self-confidence comes from my ability to learn that I never deserved to be treated that way. All this knowledge of who I am (or who I was) made me stronger and more sure of myself.  I was woman. I would survive.

Kris Insight

I feel breathless. That was a whirlwind summation of several years of unhappiness and I have skipped many details but you, the reader, get the gist. The gist being, a person who is in an abusive relationship must first admit to themselves the relationship is harmful and possibly deadly. That is the first and most important step. Then find a confidante who is trustworthy, not a friend who knows you both (unless it is your mother or father, brother or sister) and tell them the gory details. Do not be embarrassed, you are not the one who is abusive, you are the one who is the object of the abuse, there is no embarrassment in that and no good comes of letting it be the elephant in the room, believe me.

Also believe this, despite what an abuser says it is not something you said or did. Once the abuse starts it does not take a catalyst to cause an explosion. It often takes drugs and alcohol but sometimes not even that. Perhaps you talked to another man or went in to a bathroom with another woman (this one happened to me and the woman was my mother). Seriously, any normal behavior can ignite the anger and once the beating starts, adrenaline flows and the blows get harder and harder. You are not the cause; you are just the easiest thing to strike out at when their anger builds beyond the boiling point.

There are many organizations that will help abused partners (not just women are abused and these organizations will help men as well as women). You (and your children if there are indeed children) need a safe house you can go to where the abuser cannot reach you, reach out to you, nor harm you in any way. The people at these safe houses, hopefully, can also put you in touch with counselors who will listen to your story and help you understand why this happened and teach you how to prevent it from ever happening again.

I can tell you from my experience you will need help rebuilding your self-worth and confidence. I am eternally grateful for my friends and family who helped me get back my mojo in those dark days but not everyone has friends or family who can be there when you need them, so the counselors are there to assist you in this process.

They may even be able to provide you and your abuser with counseling and put the pieces back together but I am not a great believer in this. Once a partnership is broken by violence it is difficult to assemble the remaining pieces in to a whole that is really worth saving. Yes, I know it can happen. I just read about an older couple who travel the country counseling people on how to put the pieces back together after an abusive relationship. This couple has now been married for 50 years but for the first 20 years he beat her ruthlessly. Seriously, how could you forgive and forget 20 years of abuse? I also think the abuse may just take on a different personality. Emotional abuse is no better than physical abuse it just doesn’t leave physical evidence.

My wish is that the abuse would stop. No more “Top Headlines” about husbands killing their wives in front of four little ones. No more husbands dismembering the spouse they have just murdered in cold blood and hiding her parts everywhere and nowhere. No more pregnant women being stabbed and baby and mother both dying. But the reality is it won’t stop, it has gone on for eons, so my wish has to be more realistic. My more realistic wish is if you or anyone you know is being physically or emotionally abused please talk about it. Do not let the elephant in the room remain. Admit there is a problem and then find the help you need or your friend needs to solve this life threatening issue.

I have completely and unashamedly exposed myself today but I am hoping if more of us come out of the closet and tell our stories of success and happiness after abuse others will see the light at the end of the tunnel and seek the help they need to improve their lives. Please, please, please if you are being abused by a significant other, or know of someone who is, reach out before it is too late. Someone will receive you with open arms and someone will help you. I know this to be a certainty because if you can’t find it anywhere else contact me, I will help you in any way I can. Just leave a comment. All comments are approved by me and are not public until approved, so what is private stays private.

Santé,

Kris

As I start this month’s blog entry our great land (the good ol’ USA) has just enjoyed a day of giving thanks and being grateful, Thanksgiving. Then, as many acerbic critics are wont to say,  we head out to start Christmas shopping and accumulating more things. Apparently we aren’t quite as satisfied as we thought.

This morning, the infamous Black Friday, as I let the dogs out for their early morning wees, snow graced the landscaping (and their paws) rather like a plush carpet. You know that inexpensive mauve colored carpet you really didn’t want but the price was right, so you bought it. Now that it is laid you might just as well step on it, enjoy it and know that someday it will be gone (which, in the case of snow, will be whenever spring arrives in Mini- Snow-duh!).

Ouch! That stings

A few weeks ago I had an unusual experience and I just have to share it with you, both to help should it happen to you, and to just say I thought it was my greatest trial and error and later success. What was this cataclysmic event? In one powerful word, shingles.

One morning I had what felt like a small pimple on the left side of my forehead. I reached up to touch it and it tingled. Then I touched my left eyebrow, for no apparent reason, and it tingled but I admit I ignored the tingle thinking perhaps I had some kind of neuralgia. The second day, they still tingled.

The third day, I looked in the mirror. Aachh! I had red spots on my forehead and now the left side of my throat was sore and I had a headache on the left side of my head and those damned spots persisted in tingling when touched.

Now I was getting suspicious and I posted this photo, and my symptoms, with this question to my Facebook group, “Do you think this is shingles?”

Group consensus: “Yes it looks and sounds like shingles”.

Alternative or traditional medicine, that is the question.

Faced with the reality that this was most likely a shingles outbreak I needed to decide what course of action to take. I was seeing a homeopathic doctor the following week, so I decided to call her on the off-chance she could see me that afternoon.

Fortune was on my side, her computer had gone in for a refurbish and she had cancelled patients knowing her computer was not working. It was healed and furbished more quickly than she thought and she was willing to see me in a couple of hours.

Dr. Kim Lane spent 4 hours with me that afternoon and I went home with a remedy, sulphur 200. Actually she popped two pellets in my mouth before I left her office and I made my merry way home with the warning that should the shingles head for my eye I needed to see a opthalmologist immediately.

Murphy’s Law Implemented

It must be a Murphy’s Law that nothing will happen when it is convenient, or if that isn’t one of Murphy’s Laws, it should be because nothing could be truer. Sunday morning, when no respectable doctor is in the office, I suddenly felt something in my left eye. It was an abrasive scratchy feeling and it scared me but I was confident that my sight was okay and that the remedy was working. My biggest mistake was mentioning my eye symptoms to my family and their frightened response scared me in to doing something which, ultimately, was useless. I went in to our local urgent care.

Anyone who has read my blog for a nanosecond knows my opinion of traditional medical care. Suffice it to say, there is a time and a place for  conventional medical treatment, of that there can be no denying, but it did nothing for my shingles. My body, helped by the remedy from Dr. Lane was fighting this off and my trip to Urgent Care was a total waste of time any way you look at it. To appease everyone I took Acyclovir for 24 hours and then stopped and let my body do its work which it did very well.

Treating the pox

A week later, I had no pain and, in fact, I had had no pain but I did have some rather ugly and slightly itchy pox on my forehead and one really ugly carbuncle on my left eyebrow. They were no longer spreading and they were slightly crusty.

As pox go they weren’t too bad but they were bothersome. Because I was still using a “wet” homeopathic Sulphur remedy I had to be very careful not to use essential oils on my unsightly spots but I found something even better than essential oils, raw honey.

I discovered the idea while surfing the internet looking for ideas on how best to treat shingles and came across Mercola’s idea for treating shingles once you get them. He suggested trying raw honey because it has enzymes and certain healing properties, so I started dabbing raw honey on the pox.

The only other treatment I used was taking the occasional Boswellia capsule and I have found the best Boswellia to be Boswell Relief by Life Enhancement. I found it at iHerb.com and if you have an interest in trying it for pain relief you can save money on first time orders by using my coupon code: YAN884. I use it for the occasional headache and it worked very well on the shingles’ headache, a one sided headache that many but not all sufferers have.

Back to work

As I am a health care provider I stayed out of the office for a week (actually they told me to stay home). Having a pox marked face hanging over yours just didn’t seem very appealing to me. If I was repulsed by the idea I could only imagine how my dental patients would feel and my office manager finally agreed once she saw my face (texting capabilities are a real convenience sometimes).

I did go back to work looking like the photo to the left. I applied a dab of makeup and wore my hair down. To that you add a mask and goggles and no one even asked what was wrong. Applying makeup to my eyebrow still stimulates the nerve endings but now three weeks later there really isn’t any sign of my pox just that slight very occasional itchy sensation in my scalp and on my eyebrow.

Kris Insight

My insight, that I feel would have helped me had someone told me, is to see a homeopathic doctor at the first sign of the pox. If you haven’t seen a homeopathic doctor before be warned the first appointment is really long and the questions are very soul-searching and sometimes difficult to answer. Just know that the questions are asked to help the homeopathic doctor pick the right remedy.

I highly recommend the use of raw, unpasteurized honey on the pox. You could warm it slightly to make it more spreadable but otherwise just dip your clean fingertip in a small bowl of raw honey and dab it on lightly. Be warned that if you use too much honey it will drip down your face making an ugly situation even more attractive (I was using raw buckwheat honey, so the dark streaks made me look a bit of a freak).

Essential oils like Tea Tree oil and eucalyptus are comforting but not useful if you are treating with a homeopathic remedy as anything of that ilk will negate the remedy (even drinking coffee is a no-no while using a remedy).

Do not believe people when they tell you that shingles only occur in the same spot. I can tell you that isn’t true. I now know I have had two shingles outbreaks before and they were both on my right side in the region of my lower back.

Those outbreaks were much uglier (more widespread and dark) and I didn’t know they were shingles at the time but they acted the same way, tingling at first and then itchy later,  and took about the same amount of time to clear up. They weren’t on my face which made it easier to cope and continue to work but they were on a different side and place than this outbreak. I believe that shingles don’t cross the mid-line during an outbreak but they do occur on different sides and places.

One last thing that there seems to be a lot of debate about. You are only contagious when the pox are moist and if you can cover them protecting others from the exudate you will not spread it to anyone, even those who haven’t had chickenpox. One Facebook friend has recurrent shingles and her husband has never had the chickenpox, so when she has an outbreak she keeps them covered and he has never gotten chickenpox. People are in far more danger from the unknowing public than from you the informed victim of recurrent shingles.

Holidays and Celebrations

I hope you and your family have a wonderful and healthy holiday season. At my house it will be Christmas we celebrate and I am looking forward to having my grandson around, so I can experience the wonder of  Christmas through the eyes of a child again. As hard as I try sometimes I really do forget my inner child.

See you here just before the new year with my third annual list of favorite things. I am seriously thinking about going back to weekly entries with more recipes and ideas for good health, so comments would be appreciated!

Santé,

Kris

Autumn colors reign at the moment. They are dull by some standards but better than I expected from this brittle dry year we have had. I love this time of year even though I know it is the harbinger of the winter to come. I just key up Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher and settle in for Thanksgiving and Christmas to come.

Thyroid goes on holiday

I have just returned from a two-week holiday in Great Britain. In catching up on long-lost reading I read a great post by fellow thyroid person, Sarah Wilson and I was reminded that not everyone goes on holiday with their thyroid but I can tell you that some of us do. One day is up, the next two are down and in the meantime you find yourself trying to find the right mix, that perfect combo of relaxing and managing your thyroid. Sometimes the perfect solution is elusive and sometimes it is just slow to come to mind.

This year was no different from many of my recent holidays. When I left for Scotland I suspected I was going quite hyper. I wasn’t sleeping well. I was having these stress dreams that wake me with a start  and make my heart beat out of my chest. My daily temperatures were pretty high although my basals were unremarkable (if I took them at all).

Krisinsight cure for jet lag

When you travel overseas, unless you are some super human, the time change has a destructive influence on your body. This year, similar to most recent years, I handled the jet lag really well. My spousal unit and I have this strange practice prior to overseas trips that all our friends laugh at  but I tell you it works and if you are very brave it is worth trying.

About  4 days prior to departure we start getting up early and going to bed early. The first morning we arise at 4 am. The next day it is 3:30 then 3. On the last day, the morning of the evening we leave, we pull our weary bodies out of bed at the ungodly hour of 2 am having gone to bed around 7:30 p.m. I make a cafetière of  tea and we enjoy reading time for a few hours. There are always lots of details to take care of before you leave, so this gives us ample time to catch up on loose ends and we pretend we are already on GMT. It is therefore 8 am and we are going strong.

When we arrive we are tired but not too bad because we were so tired when we got onboard the airplane it is all we can do to stay awake. In other words we do sleep most of the flight. The cool air slaps us in the face as we step outside the airport, we gather our wits about us, get in our rental car and start driving on the left side of the road.

Our first night we are ready for bed around 10 and trundle off to lay our heads down. I take Melatonin for the first two nights at lights out (as well as having taken it the night on the airplane). We wake around 8 the next morning and honestly we never look back. We were comfortable on our new time almost as though it is always where we are. Yes, it is hard on the home end, but not too hard, and we would rather enjoy every day of  our holiday.

Ms. Thyroid goes too hyper

With the time change behind us I foolishly think all will be well. I guess because the first night I always sleep wonderfully the next night when I don’t and I am awakened with that characteristic thumping heart I blame what I ate, what I drank even jet lag. I never blame being hyper or simply intolerant. By the next night I know I have to lower my dose of  T3 but I do it reluctantly, very reluctantly.

I was on 57.25 mcg when we left home and felt pretty hyper at that dose. My temperatures were running high. My pulse was fast; my blood pressure up. Anyone who knows T3-only knows we are told we need around 75 mcg of T3 to function properly. We need to have a FT3 that is above range and a TSH that is suppressed. That is what we are told, so I always have that goal in mind and 57.25 mcg doesn’t cut it, so, at first, it doesn’t occur to me that I might actually be hyper or intolerant of my dose.

Then I have a few nights of dealing with my achy breaky heart and I know it is time. “Lower that damn dose” screams from every corner of my mind. I lower it but still sleep is rough some nights and better other nights, probably that is the time change being hard on my adrenals and thus on my thyroid. Suddenly 37.5 mcg of T3 seems to be the dose that makes me feel best. My energy is good, sleep is okay and, in general, I feel human.

Thyroid person on caffeine

I actually felt pretty good on holiday. We hiked, I fell into brambles and mud and recovered; overall a huge success. I ate things I never eat at home including sugar and conventional bread. On the lower dose of T3 despite this irregular “unhealthy” diet my glucose readings were acceptable, nothing over 100 and mostly around 90. My sleep wasn’t great but it wasn’t horrible once I lowered my dose.

On the way home I limited my caffeine as I know it can stimulate me and cause me to fret and worry about flying. I made one mistake, I had a tiny cup of tea just before landing in Minneapolis/St. Paul. From the minute the lukewarm and tasteless tea hit my lips my anxiety increased and my heart acted like it hasn’t acted in a year or more.

Pretty soon I found myself coughing (that dry unproductive cough) to try to regulate my heartbeat. I felt panicky beyond my flying anxiety. My throat was dry and swallowing was difficult. To put it succinctly, it was awful for about thirty minutes.  Message to self  ”When you are flying consume no caffeine unless you are up for the panic attack roller coaster ride”.

Home, sweet home, and back to CST

So we landed safe and sound as I knew we would. MSP airport has never looked so good nor so welcoming. We got home, found our house in fine shape. We had company coming the next day, so our bags were unpacked and a load of laundry was up and running before we settled down for a cup of chamomile tea and in bed for the night.

Our adjustment to central standard time has never been as easy as it was this time. The first morning home we woke around 4 am. Thanks to our company we didn’t go to bed until almost 10 that night and the next morning I slept until 5:15, my normal time to get up. That has been the worst of it, and for me, that is remarkable.

Krisinsight

Jet lag is hard on lots of people with chronic disease (hypothyroidism is a disease, so if you deny you have a disease get over it, accept and move on). My friend with ME has a terrible time with time change and both of us suffer a setback when the blasted clocks go back in the autumn and forward in the spring.

One could choose not to travel but, in my opinion, to do that is to limit my horizons. A change of scenery, the power of tidal waters and time away from stress and the work-a-day world is vital to my good health and my spousal unit’s. The answer for me is to handle it. Adjust as quickly as possible and adjusting easily has been made possible with my Krisinsight Cure for Jet Lag.

If you change several time zones remember it is hard on our adrenals and thus your thyroid. For example, you should never test your thyroid health for at least 6 weeks after an overseas trip. That is how long it takes for everything to stabilize and show you an accurate picture of your thyroid health. My doctor won’t do blood tests for thyroid within that period of time because he feels it is a waste of time.

Before I close I would like to recommend you read the lyrics from a Nickelback song “If Today Was Your Last Day“. A friend of mine lost a friend yesterday and it has all come as a huge surprise for his friends and for his family. But for me it begs the questions that arise in the song by Nickelback and I cannot say it better. “If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late. Could you say good-bye to yesterday? Would you live each moment like your last?” I think I would but I am going to make sure I could.

Santé,

Kris

I have many reasons to love coming home and my grandson Odin is definitely one.