One thing you need to know about me up front is that I have had health issues since I was a teenager. At sixteen, I was diagnosed with Mono and severe Anemia. I was one point away from a blood transfusion. I have not been the same since.
Recently I have been diagnosed with Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome, which is something many people sneeze at. Similar to the way Chronic Fatigue/Fibromyalgia was doubted in the 90's.
Just so that people understand, Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome occurs when the adrenal glands are no longer working as well as they once did. There are many different stages, and one of the reasons it is laughed at by some people is that "everyone has that."
A lot of people do, at the very beginning stage, and a lot of people will never get worse.
I have a pretty advanced stage.
A year ago, I had surgery on my tongue and I wasn't able to get out of bed for weeks afterward. I am anything but a lazy person, with a strong will and a high pain tolerance. It is not in my character to spend a day on the couch. Or a month in bed.
My doctor told me: there is no easy fix. She told me to start simple, to change the way I eat and to see how I feel.
I was a Diet Coke junky. I drank water about 5 times a week. I drank about 5 cans of Diet Coke a day. All day, every day. I knew it was wrong. I knew it was not good for me. I was addicted.
I left my doctor's appointment, and I went straight to the health food store down the street from my house which I will reference often in this blog as my Co-Op. I bought a glass water bottle with a silicone covering and plastic lid with a handle. This water bottle has gone everywhere with me since, from room to room, in the car, in to restaurants.
That day I made the decision: water is what I drink.
I made the commitment to ingest water before anything else. If I was hungry, I'd drink water first. If I wanted diet coke, I'd drink water first.
Before I knew it, I no longer wanted Diet Coke. I wanted water. I craved it.
Something that must be understood about Adrenal Fatigue is that it is brought on by stress, and stress makes it worse. The less stress I feel in my life, even in small areas like the car radio, the better I do.
I know that sounds a little crazy--like I'm straight out of the movie Safe. LOL I am a huge skeptic myself, but I will also do whatever it takes to feel better, to feel well enough to ride bikes with my kids.
Understanding how and why helps my skepticism as well. If my adrenal glands are exhausted and then my body is essentially asking them for cortisol in order to drive to WalMart, drown out the car radio and the car engine while I figure out how to diffuse the fight between my kids behind me... and then ignore the cookies I'm not supposed to be eating straight ahead of me when I walk in the door and tell my kids that they cannot have them and then ignore their begging... I feel worse. This makes sense to me.
So how do I deal with that? How do I help myself?
My health is the #1 reason my husband and I decided together to simplify our lives in a drastic way.
We have said goodbye to a lot. But it's funny. We don't miss any of it.
Our household is more peaceful. I don't have to drown as much out. I drive less. I have less to care for, and fewer decisions to make.
We are reaping benefits we did not even expect.
And all of these benefits, all the ways our lives are better, is why I started this blog. Because in the end I was shocked that it did not at all feel like loss, but instead it felt like gain.
Every day I feel more alive, more thankful.
Every day I feel I am living a more quality life.
In the end, isn't that the goal?
Recently I have been diagnosed with Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome, which is something many people sneeze at. Similar to the way Chronic Fatigue/Fibromyalgia was doubted in the 90's.
Just so that people understand, Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome occurs when the adrenal glands are no longer working as well as they once did. There are many different stages, and one of the reasons it is laughed at by some people is that "everyone has that."
A lot of people do, at the very beginning stage, and a lot of people will never get worse.
I have a pretty advanced stage.
A year ago, I had surgery on my tongue and I wasn't able to get out of bed for weeks afterward. I am anything but a lazy person, with a strong will and a high pain tolerance. It is not in my character to spend a day on the couch. Or a month in bed.
My doctor told me: there is no easy fix. She told me to start simple, to change the way I eat and to see how I feel.
I was a Diet Coke junky. I drank water about 5 times a week. I drank about 5 cans of Diet Coke a day. All day, every day. I knew it was wrong. I knew it was not good for me. I was addicted.
I left my doctor's appointment, and I went straight to the health food store down the street from my house which I will reference often in this blog as my Co-Op. I bought a glass water bottle with a silicone covering and plastic lid with a handle. This water bottle has gone everywhere with me since, from room to room, in the car, in to restaurants.
That day I made the decision: water is what I drink.
I made the commitment to ingest water before anything else. If I was hungry, I'd drink water first. If I wanted diet coke, I'd drink water first.
Before I knew it, I no longer wanted Diet Coke. I wanted water. I craved it.
Something that must be understood about Adrenal Fatigue is that it is brought on by stress, and stress makes it worse. The less stress I feel in my life, even in small areas like the car radio, the better I do.
I know that sounds a little crazy--like I'm straight out of the movie Safe. LOL I am a huge skeptic myself, but I will also do whatever it takes to feel better, to feel well enough to ride bikes with my kids.
Understanding how and why helps my skepticism as well. If my adrenal glands are exhausted and then my body is essentially asking them for cortisol in order to drive to WalMart, drown out the car radio and the car engine while I figure out how to diffuse the fight between my kids behind me... and then ignore the cookies I'm not supposed to be eating straight ahead of me when I walk in the door and tell my kids that they cannot have them and then ignore their begging... I feel worse. This makes sense to me.
So how do I deal with that? How do I help myself?
My health is the #1 reason my husband and I decided together to simplify our lives in a drastic way.
We have said goodbye to a lot. But it's funny. We don't miss any of it.
Our household is more peaceful. I don't have to drown as much out. I drive less. I have less to care for, and fewer decisions to make.
We are reaping benefits we did not even expect.
And all of these benefits, all the ways our lives are better, is why I started this blog. Because in the end I was shocked that it did not at all feel like loss, but instead it felt like gain.
Every day I feel more alive, more thankful.
Every day I feel I am living a more quality life.
In the end, isn't that the goal?
0 Response to "A Cry for Health"
Post a Comment