What's Going On

I must admit that this is a post about my RL situation, but it is applicable to the site as it affects how often and how much I'll be doing on the site. I'm.. awful sick. I have a sinus infection that I'm trying to kick and I think I'll be able to to that.. but I can't keep down my antibiotics. Two out of three pills I've puked up after a few hours. I just can't keep them down no matter how hard I try. I eat a light meal every time, and it just messes me up.

On top of that, my dog is at the vet. She's coming home tomorrow, but if her symptoms come back I'm taking her to a different vet. A few days ago, she swallowed a 3 inch piece of rawhide.. mostly flat from her softening it and unrolling it. I.. freaked. I called a 24 hour emergency vet and they said not to worry unless she had vomiting and stomach sensitivity or seemed to be in pain. A few days pass. She's passing stool although it is loose, is playing just fine and is eating normally. Last night, her stomach was bloated and she was vomiting almost every hour. She was taken to the vet in the morning, and we called them at 2pm and they said she was improving and would stay overnight and would be able to come home tomorrow. From what I understand, they couldn't find much wrong with her and said it was probably and upset tummy. I'm suspicious and worried, and unless she's 100% normal when she gets home I'm taking her to another vet.

So, with the dog having puked everywhere and me having puked everywhere, and with me feeling too sick to do much without being absolutely miserable and coughing so hard I puke, it's like.. nothing has gotten done. The house is a wreck and I need to wash the countless towels we've used to clean things up and also the bedsheets.. and then some clothes I managed to spray with vomit.. Ugh. I just.. I'm going to have to do some cleaning tomorrow no matter how I feel.


Why am I getting sick so much? I opened a book just today that tells of a woman's story of eating diet foods and diet drinks, and preservatives and the sort.. and her thyroid nearly killed her. Now, I'm not drinking things with the synthetic sugars that was causing her harm, but I drink so much Dr. Pepper in a day that I wouldn't be surprised if my body is working overdrive to either metabolize or expel the sugar I'm taking in. Basically, I think my immune system is compromised by an extremely poor diet and stress on my body. I nearly cried after reading a few pages, because I was feeling many of the symptoms she felt, though mine isn't illness from the synthetic sugars, but rather from the other half of her problem; poor diet filled with preservatives and synthetic chemicals. I think that I'll be going cold turkey off of all soft drinks, and I'm going to be very.. very careful about what I eat. I need to get healthy again. She was talking in her book that at her lowest point, she felt like she was dying. I've felt for nearly a year that I've been going down that same road. I can't concentrate, can't focus on anything. I have mood swings and aches and pains and I don't know what they are from. I'm tired all the time even if I get nearly 12 hours of sleep. I'm falling apart. This has been a long time coming, and I know I need to make a change in the way I eat now before it's too late.

I'm not even sure why I'm typing all this. I just feel frustrated with my body and my health and I want to vent. I can't really say all this to Thomas. I think he'd just freak out. So... bear with me guys. I'm about to try and turn my life around starting today.



In Other News....

Even though my mother can't see this because she doesn't even know this site exists, I'd like to wish a happy birthday to my mother, whom I couldn't go visit due to projectile vomiting and a frikking evil headcold. I'll be calling her during the daytime to wish her happy birthday as well... I don't even know why I'm posting it here. I just am. Haha.


Health and Help

First off... don't eat anything with aspertame! It will KILL you!

On another note.. are any of you guys health nuts? If so, I'm in desperate need of nutrition advice and maybe some recipes. I'm not about to spend 500 bucks to see a nutritionist right now.. because my dad sort of stopped paying my health insurance so I don't have it any more... and I'm not in school at the moment and can't -handle- school until I'm well enough to cope.. so no health insurance for me.



Sorry to unload this on you guys.. and believe it or not.. this is only the tip of the iceberg. I have a lot in my life that I need to fix right now.

Aww Nako, I had no idea things were that bad. :( *hugstight*

I'm not particularly health-food crazed, but from what my mother tells me, WATER WATER WATER!! I used to live off Pepsi, but after mom took most of it out of the house, I've been forced to switch my drink loyalties. ;) Now I'm also a little bit strange and I've never liked to drink water. It tastes funny, imo. Don't ask me why, I have no idea.. So instead I drink Propel like there's no tomorrow. Yummeh. Mom also lives by the power of cranberry juice. Cranberry juice is an acquired taste, for me at least, but crangrape or cranwhatever is also delicious. It's got all kinds of vitamins and natural sugars and stuff if you get the right brands.

As for food, dark leafy greens like spinach or broccoli, and add some carrots in a daily salad will help boost those nutrients you need to get better. When the vomiting subsides (cause I know it will, this won't be the last of you dear :P), I suggest going out and finding a women's multivitamin pill that you can use in conjunction with whatever meal plan you end up going on. I personally find it impossible to get all my daily servings of whatever in any of the meals I eat, ever, so the vitamins will obviously make up what you're lacking. After I started using one, I experienced better skin and more energy, for instance.

I'm not sure about organics. Obviously I've heard the health nuts in college rave about it, but I don't have enough money to invest in more expensive foods when a cheap processed alternative is right next to it. And I doubt I'd even experience much of a difference eating it, except for noticing that my wallet is muuch lighter. ;) But don't take my word for it, find someone who swears by organics and ask some questions. Maybe certain foods are better organic and others are okay when they're processed? Who knows.

Also, I've got to add that old doctor's warning to not self-diagnose. I learned about this in an old psych class. The more you read about something, the more you search and pick out certain characteristics that you attribute to yourself, or you start to worry about it so much that the problems begin to manifest. So while it's good that the book woke you up to the damage soda does, try not to live by it or to put yourself in her same situation, because in the long run it just damages you.

I'm sure things will get better soon- it's impossible that they won't if you're taking steps to mend them. :) <3 And I'm sure your puppeh will be fine, too! Poor babies! *hugsyouboth*

Hehe, yes I'm certainly not trying to self-diagnose, but it's.. obvious that it's my diet. I'm not eating right at all and I'm drinking way too much sugary drinks for it to be good for me. I think I'd knock out most of my problems by eating healthy and be able to reveal if there is anything more serious wrong with me. I think my depression could easily be lifted by a better diet, though.


The puppy is in rather rough shape because of her dietary habits as well... though hers is more of the gross sort. She's got dysentery from eating anything and everything fecal. She eats it if she finds it out in the dog run, she steals if from the litter pan.. snags it from the ferret's litter pan if she can... this dog is just gross, and from what I've heard from other Boston Terrier owners, every Boston they've ever had did it. So she's on medicine now and is feeling a lot better, but if we had not taken her into the vet and let it progress, it very well could have killed her.


But so far with my health, I'm drinking lightly sugared koolaid to help soothe my throat along with water. What I've been trying to do is keep two cups that way if I'm just thirsty I drink water, but if I start coughing I drink the koolaid. I don't know if I can wean myself completely off that much sugar without crashing and having near fainting spells. It's happened when I tried to quit before. As far as the antibiotics go, I throw them up nearly every time. I might try again in an hour or so but if it doesn't work this time I think I'm going to call up the doctor.


But thanks for the concern and input, Wolfie =) *snugs* And I'm sorry for being all emo. I was just rather emotional when I wrote all that along with feeling like crap.

I have to agree with Wolfie. Cutting out all soda is pretty much a huge step in the right direction. All I drink anymore is water, juice, and tea with an occasional root beer in the mix. Eating healthy is important too. Make sure you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables as often as you can. I'm guilty for not doing this myself, but it really will make you feel a lot better.

Also, when you get to feeling more like yourself, exercise at least once a week. Its really good for your heart and body overall.

And Nako, I totally feel you on being sick. I myself had a one and a half year long sickness and the frustration is incredibly hard. Hopefully doing these things will give you a step in the right direction as far as getting better. It took me numerous trips to one doctor and several hospital bills later it turned out that I had an overlooked ear infection, which caused all the horrible stomach symptoms I was having.

So never feel bad about getting a second opinion!!! I wish I had much earlier on. Then I wouldn't be paying thousands of dollars out of pocket for something that could have been prevented.

I hope you get better.

*loves and hugs*

I hope you feel better soon. I don't really have any advice to give and this is a really short, lame post, but if I were you I'd go see the doctor... though that can be tough with no health insurance. I've got my share of long-term stomach problems, starting with a vague intolerance of lactose and ending with acid reflux-- and I can say that I sympathize with you 100%. Vomiting is perhaps one of the worst things you can experience, in my opinion. So I hope you get better soon.

Stormy, it's awful that you're not feeling well. I'll try to give you some basic advice from my own experience, but keep in mind that within certain parameters, the nutrition one person needs can vary quite a bit from what another person needs. I'm used to listening to my body, so by now I can tell when there's something missing or wrong, especially if I'm tuning up for a big event. As a general rule, I eat a lot of chicken and broccoli. Build your menu around a couple of simple staples like that - there are lots of different ways to prepare them to keep them from getting boring.

For the pop/soda thing...I once had a coach who told me it was okay to have a pop or a candy bar once in a while, as long as it wasn't every day. I've tried to always follow this advice. Two or three days a week, I'll drink a Coke with dinner instead of water or milk. Same with snacky cake things or candy bars. It can be really hard to quit cold turkey, and I have a hard time believing that eating a single Snickers bar once a week is going to compound or create health problems. Sometimes you have to give in to your vices, within reason, to keep from going crazy.

You might also consider trying a 4-day juice fast as a way to jump-start your system into cleaning itself out. I do have a recipe for this! In addition to your juices (which should include plenty of carrot, apple, beet, pomegranate, and blueberry), get a ginger-based herb tea and brew it twice a day with a teaspoon of honey, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. I usually do a juice fast twice a year; once just before I start spring training, and once in the late fall after the cycling season ends. It is difficult and irritating at first, but gets easier to the point that you start to look forward to the extra focus and mental quiet that fasting gives you. However, if you've been sick a lot, please don't do a fast unless you talk to your doctor about it first.

Oh! A good way to wean yourself off soda is to use fruit juice, like Wolfie said ... but to avoid the calories that juice is stuffed with, dilute it half and half with water. Works both ways - gives you a lighter juice drink, and also makes water a lot more interesting.

More later if I can think of it, but I applaud you for making a decision to improve your nutrition and I hope you stick with it.

*Ten minutes later*

Thought of more. Response to organic foods. I'm a pessimist; I think organic foods are a nifty idea that has been carried far beyond its original intent. I have a friend whose mother ate nothing but organic foods from her early 20s, and fed her children nothing but organic foods all their lives. Both my friend and her sister have terrible digestive problems. And their mother got breast cancer when she was 52. I'm not saying organic foods are the cause of any of these, of course. But their problems were not avoided by eating organic, as so many people claim will happen. Again, as long as you avoid processed foods, your diet and, by consequence, your health, will improve. So .... whole grain bread > white bread. Fresh fruit and a hunk of French bread > Fig Newtons. Basically, almost any food that's pre-prepared is in some way processed or contains preservatives. So buy your food plain and raw, buy a good cookbook, and start experimenting.

I may have some advice that could reduce your puppy's coprophagy (I love that word). You know those Kong toys? Get her a little one and get a can of cooked pumpkin. Just pure pumpkin; not the stuff with spices added. Fill the Kong with pumpkin and put it in the freezer for a few hours, then give it to her. She may get diarrhea at first, but she'll adapt very soon.

Why, you ask? Well, dogs are not pure carnivores like cats are. If you watch film footage of a wolf pack eating a deer, the alpha wolf eats first, and what does he eat? Not the filet, oh no. He tears open the stomach and eats the contents: partially-digested grasses and grains. Dogs and wolves need vegetable matter to have a healthy digestive system, but unlike herbivores, they can't digest it raw. If you've ever seen your dog eat grass and then throw it up, that's why. She's trying to get the vegetable matter she needs, but her system can't process the raw grass, so it comes back up.

The whole poop-eating thing is an instinctive response just like eating grass. She needs more veggies in her diet and is trying to get it by eating it processed through poo.

Now, that's the theory. It has definitely worked with Misha, who showed a lot of interest in deer and goose poop before I started giving her a Kong filled with pumpkin or cooked squash. She now ignores these nasty snacks completely (I also feed her pieces of cooked carrot and potato as a treat sometimes). I know that some dogs are more inclined toward coprophagy than others, and sometimes it becomes a habit that's hard to break. But try the pumpkin and see what happens; it might work for you too.