My Multiple Streams

Best Way to Start Your Day: Lemon Water

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lemon water for healthWhen my anxiety and stomach issues started up a few years ago I cut out a lot of things from my diet. First sodas then coffee, basically every thing with caffeine and sugars. So now all I drink is water and smoothies, and the water tends to get a little boring after awhile.

So now I drink nothing but filtered water with fresh squeezed lemon, sometimes to cure the carbonation craving ill use Perrier. Typically I will do a 32oz bell jar of iced water and a whole lemon. You can squeeze these by hand but one of the best inventions ever invented is the Lemon Squeezer! You just put a half of a lemon in it and squeeze and you will get so much more juice out of the lemon than hand squeezing, and the best part is that you won’t get the seeds in your drink. If you don’t have one of these you have to get one, just be sure you get a good quality one that is made of metal. I first bought a plastic one to try and save money and it broke after a week. The little bit extra for a metal one will go a long way!

lemon squeezer

Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Lemons are packed with vitamins and minerals and great for pain management. Some of the health benefits are:

  • Aids Digestion
  • Boosts Immune System
  • Helps Lose Weight
  • Reduces Inflammation
  • Helps Fight Viral Infections
  • Reduce Anxiety and Depression
  • Prevention of Acne and Wrinkles

Now since I have started (over a year ago) Ive been doing this almost everyday, starting first thing in the morning (best before breakfast) and through out the day. Hasn’t eliminated my health issues totally of course but I do believe that it has helped quite a bit. I’ve even planted a lemon tree last year in hopes to not have to shop as much. Lemon prices seem to have been going up. I still get them at Sprouts at 3 for a dollar but that still seems high to me. Problem is the lemon tree only puts out a handful a year, maybe I need to plant a small grove.

Oh if you want to grab your own lemon squeezer from amazon the one I use right now is OXO Good Grips Citrus Squeezer

Do you drink lemon water? Have you noticed any benefits?

 

 

How Can You Tell What’s Working When You Try So Much

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20130910-214743.jpgWith fibromyalgia different treatments effect different people in different ways. It’s often like that expression lets throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. When you are trying so many things at once how do you know what is really helping and what is not?

Treating Fibro is very much trying many things and finding a right combination that helps you the most, most of the time. Along with this thought process I have been doing many things and adding more to the tool box as I discover them. Starting of course with medications that got me to a point where I could focus on doing more here is my list of what I am currently doing:

Effexor
Ambien
Gabapentin
Vitamins D3, B12, B Complex
Fish Oil
Magnesium

Meditation
Mindful breathing
Yoga
Cycling/Walking
Swimming

Chiropractic
Massage therapy

Diet changes
Pain Management Therapy

May seem like a lot but again you want to try any and everything to find relief. I didn’t just start doing everything at once but been adding things the past couple months. Some are daily, others a couple times a week or month.

So there in lies the problem. I have been for the most part been feeling better. More tolerable may be a better term. Of course I still have those days that are not so great (especially with this last heat wave) but overall decent and more functional. So how do I know what has worked and perhaps what is a waste of time?

I ask more rhetorical cause like I mentioned I think it’s a combination of treatments so I really don’t see me cutting anything out. Well I would of course like to be more drug free but we’ll see how that goes.

So for any of you that are still seeking a solution, I say keep trying new ideas. Add to your tool box of relief until you find the right combination.

Whats in your tool box?

 

A New Conclusion, I Hope

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Been having issues of late almost everyday and a timely blog post came across my feeds that reminded me of something that I had forgotten about this past year, REFLUX! You see the post was from the Dropping Acid Cookbook Blog and was the results of a poll on the most common symptoms of reflux sufferers. The result may surprise you that heartburn is not number 1, but quite further down on the list. The top ones are post nasal drip, chronic throat clearing, hoarseness, and lump in throat feeling. All symptoms of LPR which I had (have).

Lately these symptoms have been getting worse again after being dormant for a long time and I have been ignoring them. Not to say that I still dont have the anxiety issues, I know this cause once I start concentrating on the symptoms wondering whats going on I can feel it getting worse. Then I do the breathing exercises and talk to myself it comes back down. But one of the symptoms, the heaviness in the chest like I just ran a marathon may be from the LPR rather then totally from the anxiety (at least it starts that way)

You see I havent been taking the Prilosec for awhile maybe once in awhile if I remembered. Diet hasnt been the best for LPR and the wife took the wedge pillow for herself ages ago. Mornings of course have been the worse. I’d eat right before bed and go lay down flat to sleep. Classic scenario for night time refluxing making me wake up with the big ole lump in the throat, bad case of post nasal drip, and all the drip in my stomach making my stomach ill and not wanting to eat for quite awhile. As well as that acid (and/or Pepsin) in my upper respiratory giving me that feeling in the chest which has lead to anxiety as well. Seems all logical to me, now to fix it.

So I’m diligently taking the Prilosec twice a day (at least for a couple weeks) and going to call in a refill today in case I need the doctor to ok it. Back to a low/no acid diet as much as I can. The common thought now is that the main culprit to the damage is not really the acid but pepsin from the stomach. The pepsin comes up with everything else and bonds to the tissues. It does need acid to activate it but that can be from the stomach acid or acid from your foods. It takes about 2 weeks for the pepsin to disappear so the idea is to limit the acid in your foods to about zero as you can  along with the meds and eating/sleeping habits to start the healing process. Meaning back to eating about 2 hours or more before bed and taking the wedge pillow back from the wife.

Ill try to keep up here on how it goes, even after one night on the wedge I seemed to feel a bit better upon wake up but that could just be in my head.

Changing Diet and Recipe

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Creamy FettuccineWhen of the big things in controlling acid reflux, cholesterol, and even anxiety is to change your diet. All the processed foods and especially fast food have so much stuff in it that is not good for any of these or just general health. You look at the ingredients of your processed foods you will see many names of things you cant pronounce and definitely not food. If you are trying for a low acid diet look again most have acids added for preservation.

So in a bid to remove these things from my diet Im slowly moving to a whole foods diet as much as I can. Now with work (and just being lazy at times) Im still eating some processed foods, but I am looking at labels a lot more and going for low fat, low cholesterol ones. Even the frozen vegtables I’m looking for organic and no preserevative styles. Increasing more fresh vegetables and fruits to the diet as well.

So in my quest for a healthier diet I actually cooked my first whole food meal from scratch last night. With one minor problem it was actually pretty good. Wife and daughter enjoyed it as well. The minor item was didnt read right and used the quantity for dry sherry (1/2 cup) instead of for the sherry vinegar, so it was slightly tangy tasting (but still good).

INGREDIENTS

  • 12 ounces whole-wheat fettuccine (I used spinach fettuccine)
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 cups sliced mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, oyster and/or shiitake
  • 4 cups thinly sliced Broccoli
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup dry sherry, or 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
  • 2 cups low-fat milk (used rice milk)
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I used a gluten free flour)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup finely shredded Asiago cheese, plus more for garnish (store was out so used parmesan)

PREPARATION

  1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, return to the pot and set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and Brussels sprouts and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms release their liquid, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add sherry (or vinegar), scraping up any brown bits; bring to a boil and cook, stirring, until almost evaporated, 10 seconds (if using vinegar) or about 1 minute (if using sherry).
  3. Whisk milk and flour in a bowl; add to the skillet with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the sauce bubbles and thickens, about 2 minutes. Stir in Asiago until melted. Add the sauce to the pasta; gently toss. Serve with more cheese, if desired.

Original recipe had the following nutritional info Per serving: 385 calories; 10 g fat ( 4 g sat , 2 g mono ); 22 mg cholesterol; 56 g carbohydrates; 19 gprotein; 10 g fiber; 438 mg sodium; 467 mg potassium.

With my substitutions hopefully decreased the fat and cholesterol even more

Original Recipe came from www.eatingwell.com