Appointments:
I’ve made an appointment for March 30 to see a new doctor I really don’t care to see because I need a new primary health care physician and the one I wanted wasn’t taking new patients. The nurse practitioner listened to R and that means I could probably make an appointment with her and be glad I did.

I called our old dr.’s numbers, which R said should get me to the new dr. Didn’t.

Karen C went to her doctor (the one I tried to get in with) and said she was falling apart and needed to do something. She got a lot of tests run and is excited that things are changing for the better. Carol E has been dealing with a skin rash since the wedding in August and it turns out to be an autoimmune disorder. (Why didn’t those same dr.’s figure that out before?)

I decided I should write them all down and do it here so I don’t lose it.

Head to feet issues:
No sex drive. Not just low. Just none. It’s enjoyable, but I don’t miss it physically. Weird, after my adult life being so different.

All joints ache some. Muscles too, though less often.

I’m slow to get things done. Even stuff I know I can do in x time takes x3. Even reading a book takes hours now, instead of a short time. (Since I don’t buy paper books, I don’t know how long per page exactly. I need to get a new book in paper and read it to test that. But, for instance, last night, I was trying to read a book I’d already read and it took me three hours not to finish it. It’s a fairly short, easy read.)

I’ll sit down to do something and find 15 other things to do and not finish any of them. I don’t even know why. I need to get over this, because I’m not getting my work done.

Hair is thinning. I know that’s thyroid, because on thyroid it gets thicker. But I also know I run in the low normal range and that I’m more likely to be hot (hot flashes) than cold (thyroid) now.

Lots of front right headaches.

My eyes are not as good as they were. The right seems to be worse than the left. They burn a lot recently, but I’m assuming that’s my recent illness. Of course, they burn right now and I think I’m better.

Jaw is getting worse but is nowhere near as bad as it was at 16 or 19. (Makes it low on the priority list.)

Neck. I’ve had pain, discomfort, for about three years. Won’t let chiropractors mess with my neck though. Usually I have a bump on the right hand side. I figured/hoped it was mostly muscle. All three of my siblings have had neck surgery. … Must be muscle because it isn’t there now. Have bone on bone sound when I turn it sometimes.

Right elbow is more sensitive since I hit it when I was carrying the table and fell down. However, it seems not to be a permanent injury because it comes and goes.

Hands… right thumb and middle finger have bumps and weirdness. The thumb just looks ugly. The finger, however, hurts when someone folds it down to give me something. This summer I felt like I had strained both my middle fingers, but the one on my left hand is fine now.

My right hand falls asleep very easily now. If I lay on my side and throw my arm over R, it goes to sleep. Driving in the 10 and 2 position it falls asleep after a few minutes, but the left one does not.

Back is mostly fine. Occasionally lower middle back pain.

Right back hip has been hurting since April 2014. Chiropractor in US put in right in a visit, but simply went back out again. Am I sitting wrong? I should see the chiropractor. Called have a visit at 2. Now it I can just remember all the exercises the chiropractors in the UK gave me. One of those actually helped. Dr. White’s, I think. The only one I remember for sure is the first guy’s.

Knees hurt often. The right more than the left. Both can slip out of and into place again. I’ve had some swelling of the right knee this year–enough for me to notice it and ice it. Don’t remember having done anything to it, but that was fairly close to when I fell carrying the table, so I might have injured it then. It’s mostly fine now (if I can stay away from nightshades and it isn’t cold and rainy).

Feet are the biggest issue, in terms of pain, probably.
1. Right heel hurts often. Right now, though, I can’t remember if it’s inside pain or outside pain. The skin gets really dry and starts scraping if I haven’t scraped it off. That’s new since coming to Abilene, so it’s probably the skin and dryness.
2. Right foot’s smallest three toes feel like they are in the precursor to numbness. They are getting better. They used to feel like a rubber band was tied around them. That started when the hip was really bad in UK and has gotten gradually better. (i.e., they still feel odd, but nowhere near as odd as they did.)
3. Left foot, have a bump of bone sticking up on the top, just body-ward of the big toe. It does not go away.
4. Flat shoes tend to hurt my feet. I feel like I am walking on bone.
5. High heels tend to hurt my feet. The balls of my feet, especially left, have too much pressure. Also when on high heels the left big toe always hurts.
6. Right toe joint (where big knot is on left foot) hurts when I move it.

Update:
Texted R for info on new dr. Got number. Called. Appt Thursday at 4.

Called chiropractor. Have appt at 2.

Called eye doctor have appt Friday at 2.

Wow. Writing all the issues down at least got me thinking about who I need to see about what.

Note: I have an April 30 visit with a dr for ADD and one in May. can’t remember who first one is (female). Second is Dr. Cusack. But don’t remember what day. Wrote them down somewhere, but not in my computer calendar. Not good. Hope they call to remind me. Gotta get better about that.

I have osteoarthritis and had surgery for it in my jaw when I was 19. That surgery made my life significantly easier to live, though the doctor quit doing the surgery after a while because it made a difference for so few. I am grateful that I was able to have the surgery because it meant at least 33 additional years of eating and talking like an average person.

My OA, however, is now causing bone spurs in my hands and feet to form. I probably have similar problems, though not as advanced or at least not as visible, in my shoulders and knees.

What can I do for that?

Glucosamine chondroitin has been found to be effective for some people. I’ve been taking that regularly for about a month now. I think I am getting some relief in my larger joints from that.

Avocado-soybean unsaponifiables, according to Mayo Clinic, “is widely used in Europe to treat knee and hip osteoarthritis. It acts as an anti-inflammatory, and some studies have shown it may slow down or even prevent joint damage.”

In a study, 260 people aged between 45 and 80 with documented osteoarthritis of the knees, taking regular NSAIDs were given either 300 mg or 600 mg of ASU or placebo in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial lasting three months. Even though the duration of treatment was relatively short, there was a significant improvement in the measures of pain and function and a significant reduction in both the number of days taking NSAIDS as well as the overall dosages of NSAIDs required to control pain. Ad for supplement

So I need to get some of this. One problem with it is that Round Up (used on American soy crops) has a nightshade additive which can be adapted by the soy plant, according to one source here. So I want European soybeans… Wonder how I can get that.

Walgreens has a version of it, so I guess when I get out for Dad’s medicine, I will pick some up.

Found that Dasuquin for dogs has the ASU stuff in it mentioned above. Maybe I need to get some for Serenity, too.

Here are some notes from a very long sales video I watched.

Leptin
What controls your body’s fat. High levels signal your body to let go of fat.
Women have 2x leptin as men.
BUT
1. Women 3x less responsive to leptin. “leptin resistance” (1 unique problem)
2. When dieting, leptin can drop 2x as fast 2x as men… leptin drops significantly, slowing your metabolism.
After baby, leptin problems get harder. Body hardwired to fight a losing battle with leptin.

Women have 2x as much leptin as men. It’s just almost completely untapped.
You can reset the way your body uses leptin.

from Venus Factor

NOTE: The first page has a transcript, without the pictures of women and the testimonials, that covers all the information the video gives. It also offers almost the same bonuses.

So what to do?
I don’t want to buy the information. I want to know the information. So I started looking elsewhere. Here’s what I’ve found…

Despite what the video says, it does look like a diet and exercise are required. However, the diet is mostly a low carb diet and exercise is fairly simple. According to this site, how and when you eat is as important as what you eat.

Eat a high protein breakfast immediately upon rising.
Don’t snack.
Eat 3 meals a day initially, though can be dropped to 2 later.
Don’t work out at breakfast time. (before or after)
Limit your carbs to 25 grams a meal. (No potatoes or rice.)
Eat lots of fat with your carbs.
Work out after 5 pm, if you want to exercise.
Eat supper 4 to 5 hours before bedtime.
If you have trouble falling asleep, do 3-5 minutes of body weight exercises (pushups, air squats).

While reading on Leptin and on Jack Kruse’s website, I found discussion of adrenal fatigue–which I have been diagnosed with by the same practitioner who recognized my nightshade allergy.

Kruse said that adrenal fatigue is a brain problem and, while discussing other things, wrote:
“at its core obesity was an inflammatory brain condition of bad signaling”

Interesting.

I know my brain signaling is haywire because I have epilepsy (which is basically defined as brain signaling gone haywire).

from Jack Kruse

Mayo Clinic says adrenal fatigue is not a medical diagnosis.
Read more on adrenal insufficiency–which is a medical diagnosis– at the government’s website.

I found a new source, while looking at Leptin sensitivity issues, that gave a list of nightshade foods that made a lot of sense to other/additional sensitivities I have noticed:

What are Solanaceae? If you have an AI, DDD or DJD consider avoiding them:

A. American-grown soy! It has been hybridized with petunias, a nightshade, to be pesticide resistant (Round-Up)

B. All potatoes (NOTE: this does not include sweet potatoes because they are from the Marigold family)

C. Tomatoes (green are worse than any other type if you eat them as I do. The lycopene issue is offset by eating other red fruits of veggies. Watermelon for example blows tomatoes away as a source of lycopene.)

D. eggplant

E. sweet and hot peppers (including paprika, cayenne pepper and Tabasco sauce, but not black pepper)

F. ground cherries

G. tomatillos and tamarillos

H. garden huckleberry and naranjillas

I. pepinos and pimentos

J. Only the cape gooseberry is a nightshade (Physalis peruviana), Most gooseberries are not in the nightshade family. They are in the genus Ribes and are related to currants.

K. Blueberries, Strawberries, okra, artichokes, have some solanaceae toxin in them, but are not strict nightshades. If you have arthritis or another inflammatory condition you might want to rethink the ‘dogma’ that surrounds them. (kills me to tell you this too)

American grown soy will be a problem for me. Strawberries is sad, because I like those.

The source is Jack Kruse.

I got this recipe from a friend at church after tasting her amazing salad.

Wild Berry Pistachio Salad

3 heads Romaine lettuce
1 ½ cups blackberries, rinsed
1 cup pomegranate seeds
¾ cup pistachios
12 oz feta cheese

Sweet Pomegranate Dressing

1 ½ cups vegetable oil ½ tsp. salt
¾ cup pomegranate vinegar ½ tsp coarse black pepper
1 ¼ cup sugar 2 tbsp. dried chives
½ cup water 2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix well. Chill. Toss with salad just before serving.

ENJOY!!

Note: I used pumpkin seed instead of pistachios. This is a huge salad. The small pitcher of dressing was 1/3 the recipe.

I got the pomegranate vinegar at United.

We’ve been working out for a year.

Last July Ron read a book which said that the older you get, the more you need to exercise. It made sense and we started working out.

First we did FMS testing with a personal trainer. And we have worked with her for 2x a week for the last year. It’s been good, but hard. She changes stuff up all the time, so you don’t really know what you are going to do. I have been improving, however.

Besides working out with a trainer, I was walking 6 days a week. I walked at least 2 miles a day and some miles I walked 6. I also lost 10 pounds by Christmas, so 2 pounds a month without really trying.

Somewhere along the way, I quit walking and changed medicines. I gained those 10 pounds back. So, here I am again, on the old medicine and starting to walk again. Today I only did 1.5 miles, but I started.

Yesterday I had intended to get up early and go after it, but I didn’t go to sleep until really late (2:30) and didn’t sleep well, so I didn’t get up. I did today, though, and I will. I need to get in shape, lose at least that 10 pounds again (though 20 would be better), build up my strength training, and work through all the problems with my feet and knees.

Problems:
right knee cap pops off, rolls over the bones
left knee cap shifts, managed to break a blood vessel all by itself
left foot, the joint between the big toe and the ball of my foot has been swollen/inflamed and painful for about 3 years now. Sometimes it will relax for a couple of weeks, but then it is right back out there.
both elbows appear to have weak attachments of muscles because those get stressed really easily

Good thing:
my left elbow, which felt just like it did when I broke it (but I didn’t do anything to break it), took 12 weeks to heal, but it is mostly done

I am taking DSF again. Taking magnesium and D3 (10,000 units). I have a bone scan scheduled for August 15 at 2 pm.

I have given up soda pop. In the last year I have had fewer than 10. (I had already given up DP and Sprite, because I was having allergic reactions, so I just had to give up Coke Zero and Diet Mountain Dew–which I don’t really like anyway.)

For fibromyalgia sufferers, pain can be good. It can mean that your body is getting rid of the stores of pain that you built up over the years. They basically go backwards in time back through the same pains. I don’t know if it takes about the same amount of time, but it might.

I have been hurting in my old broken elbow for the last three weeks. I was wondering if this might possibly be what the problem is.

My right knee and right thumb hurt as well, now that I have finished the gym for the day.

So I thought I would take a Benadryl and see if that would stop the pain.

I also thought I would see when I broke my arm and what that meant time-wise for my nightshade allergies.

To review on that:
I stopped eating all nightshades (as far as I knew) in June of 2010. So it has been a bit less than 3 years.

Because I was wondering when I broke my elbow, I looked in this blog and found out I broke it in May of 2007. So, a little less than three years before that.

That seems to be about right.

Could I be doing what fibromyalgia folks do and going backwards? That could be really bad, since some of the things were not being able to work or stay awake… Of course that was 15 years ago, so I still have some time to go. … But it could also be really good because it means that eventually the pain will stop.

The first thing I would guess was nightshades, though I am not sure, was my hospitalization for my back over Christmas of either 1975 or 1976. And really that could have been referred pain from my TMJ.

The first absolutely clear that it was nightshades thing was winter of 1987 when every time I ate I limped more. That’s 20 years earlier than when I broke my elbow, though, so I won’t have problems with my knees and hips to that degree (or close) until 2033. Then I might be through with the nightshades.

I would say “Forget this. If I have the pain anyway it isn’t worth it,” except that God said if I want to save my brain I have to give up nightshades. I don’t want to go crazy. I promised my kids I wouldn’t. Therefore, in order to avoid the brain cancer my poor mother had, I am not going back to nightshades. Period.

And who knows? Maybe it will speed up as it gets farther along.

I wonder if the sore right hip I’ve had for the last year is referred pain or something else.

from Osteopenia3.com

There was a time when people ate a more alkaline diet (vegetables, especially green leafy ones,fruits and dairy products). Today many people have switched to a more acidic diet (meat, fish, soft drinks, grains, legumes, nuts).

Some researchers say that this acidic diet means our bodies need to leach calcium from its storehouse in our bones and teeth in order to buffer the acidic state and return to our bodies to our normal slightly alkaline state.

My diet is very much acidic. Even though I have dropped the soft drinks, I don’t eat many vegetables period.

This new diet I am looking at isn’t alkaline, either. It has you eat legumes, meat and fish, and vegetables. No fruit. No dairy products. But if it works, it will be good to get weight off. I’ll work on the osteopenia while I am doing that–taking Vitamin D and calcium.

According to the same website, onions slow the removal of bone AND increases the formation of bone. So I need to add onions to my diet. Can I do that with Ferris’ diet? They can be white.

Dried plums (prunes) also increase bone density. So add them to the diet when I am on my day off.

Here’s another problem:

Caffeine in the diet is a negative for those with Osteopenia or Osteoporosis.

One of the meds I take is basically caffeine. So I really need to work on that. Can I get better and get rid of the meds?

Apparently tea helps slow bone loss. That’s good.

For exercises, the site mentions hip kicks (holding on to something for balance and not till it hurts). They say to go forward with your leg, then down, then back. Repeat 8 times. Do once a day.

GOOD THING: Osteoblasts (building bone) respond to “additional stress.” So I need to work out and I need to change up my exercises. That’s good to know that it will help.

General cardio is good. NOTE: Going DOWN stairs stimulates bone growth.

One mile a day for a year offsets the normal 1% loss a year; however, women after menopause (which includes me) lose 3-5%. Don’t want that.

Walking with a weight vest will increase the needed stress. Then you need to add weight about every 2 weeks. So… I need to be walking longer in about two weeks.

Change every two weeks what you do for cardio. Your osteoblasts then won’t get used to it. (The trainer said about every six weeks, but two weeks makes sense to me.)

When lifting weights, the best bone density exercise is to lift a weight heavy enough that you can only do 7-8 repetitions. When you can do 15 repetitions of a weight, go to the next higher weight.

So do them for two weeks and then increase.

In the event of injuries related to a crash, the average time to reach an emergency care facility in a rural area is 53 minutes versus 37 minutes in an urban area.

–quote from IDriveSafely

Two readings:
Your Kids Aren’t Sick
and
Does It Matter What a Doctor Believes?

You know how I feel about them.