My Multiple Streams

  • Home
  • About me
  • Financial
    • Debt
    • Savings
    • Investing
    • Niche Marketing
  • Health
  • life
    • Motivation
    • Recipes
  • Streams of Income
    • Adsense
    • Amazon and Ebay
    • WordPress
  • Reviews
  • Resources
  • Spreadsheet
    • Sales Spreadsheet
    • Instruction Videos
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My Account
  • Advertise

Best Way to Start Your Day: Lemon Water

May 16, 2014 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

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?

 

 

Filed Under: Diet, Health Tagged With: anxiety, Diet, Fibromyalgia, Health, Juice, Lemons, water

Fibromyalgia, A Cause Found?

October 29, 2013 by Jeff Davidson 2 Comments

Fibromyalgia Cause

PRNewsFoto/Intidyn

An article was posted in the Washington Times Communities a week or so ago about how a couple of Doctors doing research and a study have found the cause of Fibromyalgia. Little googling and you can find the actual press release was back in June on the company’s website.

Their research in a nut shell (at least as I understand it) believes the cause comes from AV shunts in our hands and feet. These little guys act as thermostats to regulate temperature in our extremities. Doing this by controlling blood flow, which not only cools and heats but brings nutrients and takes away the trash from our muscles. When these do not work right temperature can go haywire affecting nerves and muscles, thus giving the multitude of Fibromyalgia symptoms. Also can cause build up of lactic acid in the muscles causing pain that can travel through out the body and overall fatigue.

It sounds interesting, and plausible to me with how I have felt. The biggest take away I see for those with fibromyalgia is that there is a cause and it is real, it is not just in your head as some would have you believe.

Just wanted to get this out there in case others with fibro haven’t seen it. Along with the article in July  about there is now a blood test for Fibromyalgia, there is hope and people are working on it!

Original article: Fibromyalgia solved; a pathology, not in the mind

News Release: Fibromyalgia not in your Head

If you have Fibromyalgia what do you think about a cause being found?

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Fibromyalgia

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

September 10, 2013 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

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?

 

Filed Under: Diet, Health, life, Supplements Tagged With: anxiety, Diet, Fibromyalgia

Pain Management Therapy

August 24, 2013 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

pain relief or management I think I mentioned back in the post about my last  rheumatologist appointment that I received a referral to join Sharp’s pain management program. Skeptical on what it was all about I had my first appointment about a week and a half ago.

It was the ‘evaluation’ appointment, which was about 2 hours long. For the first hour I meet with one therapist and basically chatted. It was I’m sure an interview of sorts, with a brief examination of pressure points and range of motion. In hind site she was the physical therapist. Next was another hour long interview that was more physiological in nature, going over anxieties and depression and family history (hate those types). Afterward they mentioned that the whole ‘team’ gets together on Tuesdays to talk about the evaluation and determine the best course for me and they would get in touch with me shortly afterwards to let me know what they thought. With most things with doctors and such I thought I was in for another lengthly wait but to my surprise I got the call early Tuesday afternoon, they even asked if I wanted to come in that day for the orientation! Well wasn’t feeling that great so the orientation waited till this past Thursday.

Orientation was another two hours with the first being a tour of the facilities and a little discussion about fibromyalgia as well as all the information I needed for the actually therapy sessions. The second hour was a sample of what I could expect next week, only with others with me, during the relaxation and stretching portion. The actual therapy starts tomorrow (Monday) with water therapy (hopefully in a heated pool) for an hour. Then I have an hour to eat a lunch and jet back up to the rehab center. No pressure, thankfully thats where I’ll do relaxation and stretching exercises for about an hour followed by another hour in the fibromyalgia group discussing all sorts of things. First two parts I can handle, not to sure about the ‘group therapy’ thing but we shall see.

Funny thing is the past couple days the pain and soreness has been better, still fatigued quite a bit, overall been feeling better and in a better mood. Hope it continues and maybe the therapy will just help me improve that much better or give me tools to use when it flares back up again . You know, when I get that crazy ass idea to try going up Cowles Mountain again.

Anyway I’ll be sure to update you later on how it went.

Have you tried and kind of Pain Management Therapy? How did it go for you?

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: anxiety, Fibromyalgia

Know Your Limits and Put Ego Aside

August 21, 2013 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

md_58434df012222701431269If you have Fibromyalgia exercise can be a great distraction and help in your pain management. The small print is to know your limits! Im not talking the limits you may have in the past, you now have new limits you must learn. If you push your self to hard you may not feel it right away but it may cause a flare up of your fibro.

This has been hard for me to learn. I’m a man I can do anything!!

Let My Lesson Begin

A little over 2 weeks ago I joined 24 hour fitness with the intention of getting more active and back into shape. I started on a Sunday evening thinking I would do some swimming, after all swimming is a good overall exercise and I used to be on the swim team (shhh I know it was in high school). So I jumped in (ok wait I eased in, the water was colder than they lead you to believe) and started swimming laps. I was out of breath after one! But after a short rest I kept going, it was actually painful. Joints and muscles moving in ways they haven’t for years (maybe decades) so Im hoping most of the pain was just from being out of shape. My second time swimming went a little easier but did less laps.

Later that week I decided I should do some light weights, you know to start building up muscle strength again. I read that if your muscles are stronger you can endure the pain better. Doctor said I should keep it to 5-10lbs and just focus on reps. Well I got to the gym and most of the machines dont go that low, and the ones that did I was like this is way to light. Besides Im a man right? I can do more! Well most of the exercises I did 20-25lbs and that kicked my ass! I was exhausted and I felt it for days! Not just, you know the typical soreness you would feel from a good work out but my entire body was in pain and I felt exhausted for days and I only did some upper body. So even through this I kept up my daily walks, only now at the gym on the treadmill so I was doing longer walks (2 miles plus).

Oh There’s More

To top it all off this past Saturday I decided it was time for me to tackle Cowels Mountiain. It’s been over a year since my last trip up and I used to do it a few times a week a couple years ago. For those not in the San Diego area Cowles is one of the most popular hiking trails in San Diego. It is about 2 miles up (4 miles round trip) with about 90% of it vertical. I made it to the top going nice and slow. Felt good afterwards but later that afternoon it all hit me. I was beyond exhausted and my upper body was in pain, ya upper body go figure. This lasted for days and yesterday even started coming down with flu like symptoms, first time in ages.

The heat and humidity lately hasn’t helped either, it also seems to flare things up. But the moral of the story is to recognize your limits and even take it down a notch or two, break up your activities and get plenty of rest in between. Even if you are feeling great and think you can take anything on be careful or it will bring all the pain and fatigue back. Fibromyalgia leaves no room for your ego, who cares what you look like lifting 5lb dumbbells, its your overall health that matters. Start slow and you may be able to build up over time.

What about you? Have you tried to overdo it think you could handle it? Leave me a comment and let me know about it.

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Fibromyalgia

Walking as Exercise and Pain Relief

August 19, 2013 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

Walking For Pain ReliefYes walking can be a great exercise, especially for those with fibromyalgia or other joint pain. I actually got into walking a couple years ago for my anxiety but like most things I tried as soon as I started feeling better I would stop. Each year when anxiety would rear up I would get my butt walking, as I felt better I would find something ‘more important’ to do.

Exercise is highly recommended for those with fibromyalgia as long as you don’t over do it, know your new limits (something I have a hard time with). Exercise can increase your stamina and muscle strength to better equip you to handle the pain. Exercise also causes your body to release endorphins which are your natural pain killers. Walking is a great form of exercise as it is low impact on the joints and best thing is that you can do it anywhere. Just get out of the house and walk! Start slow like 10 mins a day (less if you need to) and work your self up  with time. With me as I start I often will feel the pain more but after 5-10 mins it fades away as the blood gets pumping. Sometime this is a problem as I will feel pretty good and just keep going and going. It’s when I stop that I then feel the pain again and if I over did it… I can feel it for days.

This time round I have gone for a walk of at least a mile everyday for at least the past 2 months. Some days yes I just dont feel like going but I push myself out the door. Most of the time I look forward to my walk time. I started out just walking around the block, then extending my walk further over time. Trying to listen to my body some days I just do the short walk of about a mile if I’m particularly sore, others I will perhaps walk the long path down to the lakes and back. Depending on how many of the lakes I decide to go around it can be 2.5-5 miles. I enjoy being outside with the cool evening breeze, it really helps to relax. Recently I joined a gym and have been going there more just to walk the treadmill instead of outdoors.

Outdoors is nice and I will continue to to walk outdoors but it does have some disadvantages over a treadmill.

  • if you walk neighborhoods you have the pleasant car fumes to breath in
  • more than 30 min walk an you can start to notice a bit of a sunburn so have to lather up
  • hard to keep a steady pace

A lot of people think the treadmill is boring but I have a different opinion. I believe the treadmill has many advantages over walking outdoor.

  • able to monitor and keep a steady pace
  • consistent environment, temperature and no sunburn (wish they would turn up the AC a bit more though)
  • taylor your work out, add inclines if desired or adjust your pace
  • you can read or watch tv while you walk, helps pass the time and catch up on Doctor Who
  • and for me there is a hot tub at the gym for post walks 🙂

No mater where you decide to walk I encourage everyone to just get out and do it. Especially those with fibromyalgia, even if its just 10 mins down the street and back. Get your blood flowing and it will make you feel better (even if its just temporarily). The key thing with fibro is to understand your limits are different than before. You may feel great and think you can go ‘the extra mile’ but watch it you may pay for it later with a flare up. More on that in a post very soon, yes I dont know when to stop sometimes.

Do you walk to relieve your pain? Any other exercises?

 

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: anxiety, Fibromyalgia

Rheumatologist Follow Up Visit

August 8, 2013 by Jeff Davidson 1 Comment

pain levelsJust a little update, as I mentioned last post I had a follow up visit with my rheumatologist last Friday. We went over how things have improved a bit since switching meds but with a flare up in the upper body the past week.

He decided that we should increase the gabapentin to 600mg then to 900mg. All was fine till I mentioned having a few fuzzy head moments which he thought was most likely due to the gaba. Not wanting to switch to lyrica yet, no generic so most likely an expensive co-pay and hey so far the gabapentin seems to be helping, we decided to slowly ramp up. So adding a 100mg at night for a week or so, then another 100 till at 600 then start adding 100 in the morning till up to 900 a day.

Also did an ultra sound on my shoulders and turns out I have bursitis as well as tennis elbow. Got a shot of cortisone in the right shoulder and have to wear silly bands on my forearms (silly but they seem to help). Also got my appointment to the Sharp pain management program finally, start it this morning!

Well 2 months till the next appointment unless something happens. Do have another visit to the vampires this month for cholesterol check up, hoping it has come down with the changes to diet and increased activity (crossing fingers and toes).

Off to be poked and asked “does this hurt” for a couple hours. Have a great day!

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Fibromyalgia

Guinea Pig for Evil Pharmaceuticals

July 30, 2013 by Jeff Davidson 1 Comment

fibromyalgia medicationsNow a days when you get diagnosed with something you will get all sorts of advice to avoid drugs and try to cure yourself the natural ways. To not pollute your body with with all those artificial chemicals, who knows what they do to your body. I was that way when my anxiety first started up and again after I thought I was cured and stopped the meds.

Since then I have come to the conclusion that medications can be a good thing. It’s hard to get on track with with natural regimes or exercise if your anxiety is through the roof or pain is holding you back. Meds can help you get to a point where you can start exercising and get your diet under control.

In fact with fibromyalgia it’s best to find a nice balance between medications and natural means. There is no cure for Fibro so managing the symptoms is all there is. Problem is that people react to meds differently so you may feel like a guinea pig as you and your doctors try finding the on that helps you.

Experiment One: Savella

savellaMy first round was with a fairly new drug, Savella. It’s been around as an anti-depressant overseas but was recently approved for Fibro by the FDA. It is a SNRI meaning it effects both serotonin and norepinephrine, blocking their absorption. Seems that blocking both of these is supposed to help with the pain, not to mention anxiety and depression.

I had to stop taking the Zoloft, which I did cold turkey just switching to the Savella. I had no problems with it anxiety remained in check and the pain and soreness seemed to decrease but only marginally. I did seem to give me more energy though. Of course the one side effect that can hit a man with Fibro happened to me (prepare, TMI moment ahead). I devolved painfully urination as well as, well lets say other discharges 🙂 I mean painful. So back to the doctors and experiment number 2.

Experiment Two: Cymbalta

cymbaltaRound 2 was to try cymbalta, the only other drug approved by the FDA for fibromyalgia. Again quitting the Savella cold turkey and starting with 30mg of cymbalta in the mornings. After I think a week ramping up to 60mg. After 2 weeks on this stuff my anxiety skyrocketed and was a constant everyday, didn’t feel any improvement on the pain and was more tired than before. Could not hack this stuff but I gave it 6 weeks to see if it would kick in. No dice. Of course two days before my next rheumatologist appointment they called to say my referral had expired and I had to go back to my primary first. You bet I was on the phone getting an appointment the next day and asking for a rush referral. No way I was staying on this stuff any longer. Oh and there is no generic so co-pay was $123, ummm no.

Third Time a Charm?

Round 3 was Effexor, while not FDA approved for Fibro it is another SNRI and is often prescribed for people with Fibro. This time I was to scale back to 30mg of the cymbalta for a few days then start in on the Effexor, 75mg twice a day. Along with that I was to start right away with 300mg of gabapentin which is mainly used for seizures but as the Effexor it can be effective in decreasing Fibro pain and soreness.

I noticed a difference in a very short period of time. Couple days off the cymbalta and anxiety was in check and the overall pain had decreased a bit, quite a bit in my upper body. Been 5 weeks now and pretty good over all, but this past week the upper body has been flaring up. Had another rheumatologist appointment today to follow up but will go into that another time.

If you have fibro what do you take? is it helping you? 

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: anxiety, Fibromyalgia

Hello Again, Lets Catch Up

July 28, 2013 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

fibromyalgia and meIt’s been almost a year since my last post here. I was posting a bit of the health stuff on my other blog but have decided to come back here and leave that blog on its original focus.

Since that last post many things have happen, to much to contain here in one post. So I may jump around a bit doing catch up posts on what has happened and other posts about what is going on now. I will try not to be so much doom and gloom as I have been in the past. I’ll try doing some more positive posts, information I have found and some about other things beyond the health. More like a diary 🙂 Think I’ll also be sprucing the site up a bit. This drab, plain white theme gets me down.

The latest Diagnoses

As I posted on my other blog back in March my fatigue was reaching new levels. Along with arms, legs and shoulders being so sore for no reason and various pains, numbness and tingling. It was becoming to much so I went back in to the doctors and had some more blood tests done. They showed a positive ANA test again and some inflammation so he decided to send me to a rheumatologist. So after a couple more exams and more blood test (I swear the lab guy and I are on a first name basis now) the diagnoses is Fibromyalgia.

Even now a few months later I find myself in denial at times. I mean only one in ten with fibromyalgia are men, I can’t be that one can I?  The more I read about it it does explain a lot of things, even the anxiety I have had over the past several years. So for now I’m accepting it and going along with the treatments being prescribed, and we have tried a few the past few months (I’ll go into those in another post). Some of it is the evil pharmaceuticals but I’m also trying supplements and of course exercise.

What is Fibromyalgia?

In a nutshell it is overall body pain and fatigue. Rather than me trying to explain it here is what it says on WebWD:

Fibromyalgia causes you to ache all over. You may have symptoms of crippling fatigue — even on arising. Specific tender points on the body may be painful to touch. You may experience swelling, disturbances in deep-level or restful sleep, and mood disturbances or depression.

Your muscles may feel like they have been overworked or pulled. They’ll feel that way even without exercise or another cause. Sometimes, your muscles twitch, burn, or have deep stabbing pain.

Some patients with fibromyalgia have pain and achiness around the joints in the neck, shoulder, back, and hips. This makes it difficult for them to sleep or exercise. Other fibromyalgia symptoms include:

  • Abdominal pain
  • Chronic headaches
  • Dryness in mouth, nose, and eyes
  • Hypersensitivity to cold and/or heat
  • Inability to concentrate (called “fibro fog”)
  • Incontinence
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Numbness or tingling in the fingers and feet
  • Stiffness

There are many other symptoms that can be associated with fibromyalgia as well but these are some of the top ones. Fun thing is that it effects different people in different ways, as well as men different than women. It can also overlap symptoms with other conditions so diagnoses can take awhile while you eliminate others.

Bottom line is if I do have fibro it can explain a lot of things that have been happening and it is nice to finally have an answer after about 8 or so years of doctor visits and going through this crap. Now its time to work through and manage it and improve my life a bit.

Thats it for now. I’ll catch you up on some of the treatments in the next post.

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Fibromyalgia

Follow Me On Social Media!

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Track Your Online Sales


Stay Connected With Free Updates!

Copyright © 2021 My Multiple Streams - Jeff Davidson | Site Design by Cosmic Frogs Web