Project 365 (Day 7): Empties — Plus Some Ponderings

You wouldn’t know it from looking at my desk at work, but I really have cut way down on my caffeine. I’m just way too sleepy now to carry the empties to the recycle bin.

By the way, I edited this picture using the online editor at pxn8.com, which I heard about from Amber Rhea (PXN8: Awesome online photo editor) a while back and for some reason saved the post. Maybe I fore-knew that I’d be lured into this challenge.

One of the things I’ve noticed just in this week is that I’m going through life looking at things just a little bit different already. I look at everything as a possible picture, as a possible future picture…I think I’m even going through life a little slower. I’m definitely taking a closer, observatory look at the world around me as I drive to work or walk around or get ready for work or whatever. When I look at other people’s pictures, I’m trying to figure out how they captured the shot, the lighting, the angle, etc. I have a deeper appreciation for the more difficult shots.

I’ve been wondering if other folks have noticed this change in themselves.

And…it’s encouraged me to improve myself. I’ve ordered books on beginning photography and gadgets like the Monster Pod and Gorillapod Flexible Tripod and put a better camera on my wishlist all in the hopes of improving my ability so that by the end of this project, I’m not just snapping shots, I’m creating art.

Tags: project365, photaday, oneaday, Pepsi One, Diet Coke, Snapple, Nikon, Monster Pod, Gorillapod, tripod, photography, photo blogging, pxn8, caffeine, recycle, sepia, blue

For All Of You Just Starting Your New Year’s Diet

(click to see bigger image)

Tags: New Year, Dilbert, Diet

Trying Something Alternative

I spent Monday focusing on my stomach.

Well, sort of.

Monday morning, I met with two GPs, who specialize in alternative medicine, specifically nutrition.  Rather, I was referred to them to get counsellings on what changes to make to my nutritional diet to decrease inflammation in my body since I can no longer take anti-inflammatory drugs due to my kidney disease.  I guess I kind of expected to get a list of foods to avoid and a list of foods to eat and a sample diet and have that be it, but that’s not really how it went.

First, I’m being referred to an acupuncturist for the pain.  I’m going to try it out.  I’m not all that excited about the needles thing, but at this point, I’m willing to try it.  They got me after a week of moving and being slave-driven by my parents who don’t believe in taking rest breaks, so I was particularly tender and in no mood to argue.

As for nutrition:

• Gradually decrease the caffeine in your diet.  For some reason, they think I’m an addict.  Who didn’t see that coming?  They said not to do it cold turkey though…apparently I’m not as young as I once was.
• I have to do half my morning coffee as decaf.  Bah!  That’s just wrong!  A crime against nature.
• I need to start cutting my Diet Pepsi with Diet Rite (which is not caffeinated).  Another crime.
• Take out foods with aspartame.  Substitute with non-aspartame products.
• Again with the Diet Rite.  Though Pepsi One is made with Splenda.
• I need to find a yogurt I like that doesn’t sweeten with aspartame.  I loved Blue Bunny in the South but haven’t been able to find it here.  I’ll be making my own again once I get settled in my house, so it’s just for a short time.
• Use Olive and Canola Oil.  (I already do that.  Vegetable oil is too heavy.)
• Decrease how often you are eating out down to 1-2 times per week to keep dinners healthy.  They got me there.  I had gotten to the point where I was eating out pretty much every night and you can’t control what other people put in your food.  It’s a good thing I love cooking.
• Add Ginger and Tumeric to foods.  Apparently these have anti-inflammatory properties but they take a few weeks to build up in your system.  They said to just toss a little into my soup or whatever I’m having for lunch.
• Substitute Soy and Seafood for red meat and poultry.  Apparently red meat and poultry have pro-inflammatory properties.  I already wasn’t eating much red meat.  The poultry will be harder to give up.  I find it a little odd that I already had been unconsciously making this move toward semi-vegetarianism.  I’d been naturally making the choice to use Soy substitutes of meat for about half a year on my own, not out of any pro-animal or anti-meat industry ideology but just because I felt it was better for “me” personally.  Who knew?
• Increase fruits and vegetables.  The goal in anti-inflammatory diets is 6-8 servings a day.  Damn, 5 servings a day was hard enough.  Well, I just have to work at it.  V-8 here I come.
• Try adding small amounts of nuts or seeds (especially almonds) for a snack.  About a handful a day would be good.  Almonds have particularly good anti-inflammatory properties.

As for exercise, they checked on my water physical therapy referral which is still in the queue and suggested I start wearing my pedometer again and start increasing my steps.  Like I’m going to be able to find my pedometer in the chaos.  The idea is that I should take short walk breaks at work.  Do these doctors have time to take short walk breaks at their job?
They wanted to suggest some vitamin supplements but decided to hold off until my next appointment so they could do some research on how the supplements my affect my IgAN.  I like doctors that research how things will affect your illnesses.

Tags: Wellness, alternative medicine, nutrition, acupuncture, IgAN, fibromyalgia, anti-inflammatory diet

Trying Alternative Medicine

Well, I saw my GP on Monday.  You know, to follow up on all of those new diagnoses and to get my ambien dosage increased per the Rhuemy and get the water PT referral, etc.  She and I discussed my concern with not being able to take anti-inflammatory meds anymore what with the whole kidney disease thing and especially since I was still in pain with the whole fibromyalgia thing.  In particular, my left elbow, right knee and lower back have been really bothersome and are only getting worse with the packing and the move.

Well, of course she asked me if I was taking my Tylenol twice a day.  No.  Of course not.  I’m wary of taking too much Tylenol because that could lead to liver damage.  *sigh*  Well, she scolded me, of course.  She told me to get back on a regimen of  2 extra-strength Tylenol twice a day (when I get up and in the afternoon), but no more than that.  Of course, I pointed out that the Tylenol doesn’t do a whole lot because I’m not treating the inflammation too.

I mean, I’m trying all sorts of things here.  I’ve been trying cold packs and heating pads.  I’ve tried wearing a brace on my left elbow.  The pain doesn’t go away while I’m sleeping.  Neither she nor I could find a tender area where you touch around the elbow and it’s particularly more painful. It seems to be inside the joint itself and it just aches.
I said that at this point I was willing to try anything.  I even mentioned that I’d read a blurb in one of my health magazines that some journal had done a study that found that cherries were a natural anti-inflammatory.  I told my GP that my mother laughed at me when I said I was going to buy some and start eating a bunch every day.  (The study had the women eat 45 every day.)  I’d drink juice if I could find it, but I’ve not been able to find pure cherry juice, which I hear is really bitter.

So, apparently there’s an alternative medicine program I can get into, a nutritionist I can see who’ll put together an anti-inflammatory diet for me — you know, tell me what foods to avoid, which ones I should be eating to help reduce the pain.  So she put in a referral for me.  So, I’m going to try it.  My mother thinks it’s crazy.

Tags: alternative medicine, anti-inflammatory diet, wellness, fibromyalgia

Hunger Strike Ends: Parties Compromise!

I don’t know what’s wrong with my cats. I swear!

Out of desperation last night I opened a can of chicken, drained it a little and put it on a plate. I mean, they were on day four of not eating and I couldn’t take it anymore. If they wouldn’t eat the raw food I was trying to feed them, maybe they’d at least eat some canned meat. (I refused to give them that grocery store kibble with it’s disease-ridden meat-part bits and who knows what else!)

At first, things looked good. The two of them huddled around the plate, tongues lapping at the meat.

Then, I realized…they were just licking up the chicken broth. They didn’t touch the tasty, tender chicken chunks!

So, I had to take Pugly to obedience training at the pet store that evening; I went early and did some bag read on Innova Evo products. During my research last week, Innova Evo was one of the top pet food products recommended next to feeding a raw diet because it’s formulated based on a raw diet — and no “by-products”! The cat foods are high protein and low carb which I’m kind of iffy about. I don’t necessarily agree with that line of thinking, but the good news is that they have a kibble version — Innova Evo Food for Cats and Kittens!

O.K. But would they eat it? That was the real test.

After obedience class (which Pugly did very well in, by the way), I went home and put about 1/2 cup in their cleaned out cat food bowl and set it down for them and waited.

It looked like kibble.

It smelled like kibble.

It felt like kibble.

It tasted like kibble.

It ate like kibble.

It passed the test.

Today they are eating the next-best-thing-to-raw-food-diet kibble. It’s not what I would choose for them, but this is what they want. They are not great hunters. They just want their kibble.

Meanwhile, I can sleep a little easier knowing that they aren’t eating the diseased parts of animals that humans wouldn’t eat or cardboard filler or somesuch.

It’s a compromise I guess.

Tags: Innova Evo, raw food diet, the cats, the puppy

Official Statement: Negotiations Are Still In Process. Please Wait For An Announcement.

This morning I am in danger of having a blink turn into a nap. I am so sleepy working on just 3-1/2 hours of sleep, but at least I feel less stressed out this morning about the goings on of the pbem.

I don’t know how much of this will make sense to anyone because I am so friggin’ tired that I’m having trouble formuating sentenses.

Anyway, I did talk to the doctor yesterday (or her nurse at least) and was told that the amitriptyline couldn’t be causing the racing heart and horribly high blood pressure (once it was 153/89). Also, the sugar withdrawal from a few days on The South Beach Diet wouldn’t cause that either. So, that left the stress of the drama involving the pbem.

By the time it came to talk to SQ, I was resigned to whatever happened. I just couldn’t think of anything else that I could say or anything that she would say to make me agree with her actions.

I will say that while I still don’t agree with her action of shutting down the pbem without warning, I do now understand her point of view and respect her strength in doing something that was obviously as distasteful for her as it was for the rest of us.

I have been saying that this pbem has always been for the players; it is how the original creator wanted it. In fact, it’s what NetPoet, who did express my feelings but I now understand was a bastard in doing it so publically, insisted — “as long as there is at least one player the game should go on”. The truth is that SQ and I are speaking the same language to each other but it is a different definition than theirs. The game is about the players (without them there is no game), but it isn’t run by the players, though I believe that was what the original creator meant. It simply can’t be. There have to be guidelines and management tasks and parents. Otherwise it’s just chaos. She and I agree that the game needs moderators, especially ones who are involved and committed.

J wrote us both a rather lengthy email about how she preceived the situation and what things she thinks need to be done to “rebuild” the game. Ironically, if she had done this two weeks ago, this whole thing might have been avoided — but as I told SQ last night, if something good comes out of this, then maybe it was worth it.

Anyway, J wrote that this occurred through a series of misperceptions, lack of communication, personal grudges, and general frustration.

I think it is fair to say that the three of us put some blame on NetPoet, who was a consistant source of frustration to the three of us when all four of us were moderators. NetPoet would start a new plot/storyline without discussing it with the whole group or with anyone at all, which was against the guidelines we set up to stop that nonsense. He would get everyone riled up and then lose interest and often disappear. This was frustrating to players who sometimes couldn’t figure out what was going on in the plot and who wanted to continue to post. Further, he would make his main player character the hero more often than not and one of my constant complaints that SQ agreed on is that storytellers should never use a story to make their character the center of the universe, but he often did…and so did J, I’m afraid. I was frustrated that he was running a brainchild of mine (I am not a storyteller in this game, but I am an idea person) and he not only wouldn’t tell me, the moderator, what was going on but he wouldn’t give clear directions to the players involved to make the story make sense. In the end, SQ had to go in and clean up the mess once he lost interest and since he hadn’t laid out the details for a plot that SQ and I believe had so much potential for being so much more fun and even humorous, the end was sort of stunted. This happened often with NetPoet’s posts and SQ was more than frustrated with having to pick up the pieces once he dropped them.

SQ and I also agreed that while J is a nice person and has great ideas, she doesn’t have the commitment or drive to be a moderator, and I used the example of an old pbem that died once it was handed over to her. She easily becomes distracted with other things in life and has a full life and should learn to accept that if she can’t find a balance, then she shouldn’t be running the game. It takes time and commitment and taking over two weeks to reply to admin emails, particularly ones that are trying to get the game active again, is just not fair to the other moderators or the players. SQ is supposed to talk to her about stepping down to player status. We both think that J wants to step down but doesn’t have the strength to do it herself. I offered to be present, but SQ said she would handle it.

SQ and I talked for a long time about what we wanted in the game and what our compromises were. We want to bring in two new moderators to help take up the slack and we easily agreed on them. These two are folks that volunteered in private emails on Monday to help me run the game if we had to move it elsewhere.

We both think that encouraging players to run approved stories themselves with moderator back-ups is the way to go. We both agreed that the players have to make certain commitments to the game for it to succeed and if this doesn’t occur and the game returns to a low post rate with people being reactive rather than pro-active, then per a discussion between at least us, the game will be shut down. We agreed to share this “threat” with the other players.

SQ’s frustrations weren’t really with the players so much as the arguing and disrespect amongst the moderators. I promised her that I would personally concentrate on less negativity and more creativity and constructive criticism. I had gotten in the habit of waiting for someone else to reply to an admin email because I was annoyed that I always seemed like the only one resonding and I wanted to force NetPoet and J to respond. I admitted to SQ that perhaps this was the wrong way to handle it and in the future I will be prompt. Moderators who consistantly don’t have time to help with admin tasks will be asked to step down.

There was so much more that we discussed. There is a secret agreement between us that while we both have thought of NetPoet as a friend and a productive member of the list in the past, it would not be the end of the world if he left and I have left it up to SQ as to how she wants to handle him due to his passionate, angry email that was broadcast to the list. She said she was fine with my angry email because it was just to her, but I still appologized to her. Really I do try to wait a while to think about things before I write angry email. It never helps the situation but the way the situation came about pushed me over the edge.

We also began making some admin decisions on how the game will be run in the future, though we want to hold off on final decisions until we have the new moderators on board and SQ officially announces the re-opening. Part of the agreement there is that she should write the email and she has the right to state her side of the story, including talking of in-fighting and sluggishness and lack of respct amongst the moderators. That email should go out sometime today and until then, I am answering all inquiries by players with “Official Statement: Negotiations are still in process. Please wait for an announcement.” Not terribly exciting but everyone else has had their say in the matter and I believe that SQ has the right to explain why she did it and that she had reasons and while I don’t agree with her method, I do see the train of thought. In fact, she admitted that it never occurred to her to ask people for help in getting the game going again, but on the other hand, and she’s right, no one really stepped up and volunteered (except me two weeks ago). A year and a half ago when the game was dying the slow death and I simply didn’t have the will do anything with it on my own as NetPoet was in one of his MIA modes (which happen fairly regularly, usually at pivotal points in storylines), SQ asked to take over the game and while I do not regret turning the decision over to her, I do regret giving her technical ownership of the game. I do believe, and I told her, that she did a good job with what she had and she did bring new life to the pbem. I told her that we took her for granted and maybe it’s good this happened to remind us of everything she did for us and how she kept the dream alive.

She and I (mostly she) came up with an interesting analogy for the evolution of the game. The original creator was the mother of the game and when she left, she sort of unexpectedly dumped the game on me and I became the Foster Mother, but SQ took the game and adopted it and made it her own and it is her child and she wanted to protect it from a slow, agonizing death. That bit about the game surviving even if there’s one player left is downright silly. We discussed the minimum number of players that we would consider the game in trouble and right now we have 15 players (including us, NetPoet, and J) who want to play and most want to help make the game work and want to help run stories and help with admin tasks. The game is always about the players, but there still needs to be a parent, a moderator, someone to watch over and protect. SQ will be the adoptive mom and the other mods and I will be the protective aunts and uncles. SQ will have right to make decisions that need to be made when no one else will make them, but for the most part, we are meant to work as a democracy of sorts.

I think things will be o.k.

Now, if I could just get my blood pressure and heart rate down…and another five cups of coffee wouldn’t hurt my constant need to curl up under my desk and sleep.

And by the way, I restarted my diet on Monday and I have successfully lost 2 pounds, eaten a lot of food, and not cheated once even when there were donut holes, piles of doughnuts, cookies and brownies laid out in the common work kitchen. I think I deserve some sort of standing ovation for not once thinking that a rice krispy treat or a sundae would solve all my problems.

And also, I was so glad to talk to SQ on the phone. I really like her. She really is all bubbly and babbly and blunt and honest. I admire her. I think she will make a good friend, even if neither of us is perfect and we admit it.

Tags: PBeM, dysfunctional drama, wellness, South Beach Diet

Should have’s & Must Pays

Well, Cingular did finally let me out of my contract, sort of. Basically, we cancelled the account last night and they are sending me a bill for $10/month left in the contract minus any credit on my account for previous payments.

Aparently, JB’s little brother has a “friend” who received a $700 bill from Cingular because the rate package she signed up with was no longer available at Cingular and they didn’t bother to notify her. As a sort of appology they took $100 off the bill, but the poor girl is a college student working in a coffee shop. $600 is quite a lot of money.

JB and his wife have Cingular but on a month to month contract and they have been considering other options. Upon hearing about my frustration with Cingular and his brother’s friend’s experience, he is definitely considering a change.

Unfortunately, Mickey contacted me after I managed to cancel the account about taking over my contract. It’s just as well. They’re struggling so much and while I see him as mostly responsible, circumstances and his wife’s spending habits make me leary anyway. Besides, JE really wants my phone. He asked me for it while he was here. Apparently, he wants it for parts or something. So, I’ll have to mail it to him later this week.

***I really feel nickled and dimed this month, but it’s not nickles or dimes; it’s a hundred here and fifty there.It’ll be $180 to Cingular.

I was told by the unfriendly man on the phone from the BMV that it’ll be $40 to change over my driver’s license. Apparently, even though I don’t have to take the test, I have to pay for it. The driver’s license I get in Portland, but I have to get my auto registration and title in Yarmouth (can’t get both in the same place) and I have to pay taxes on my vehicle since it’s newer than 1989.

I also have to get bolts to put the license plate on the front of the car as well as the back (in LA they only have them on the back).

Plus, there’s a state auto inspection which apparently is very intense and could lead to required repairs on my jeep. Hope they don’t complain about the paint job.

I’m taking the jeep today to an auto upholstry place to get the headline fixed. Right now the front part is being held up by masking tape. Esitmates on the phone were $300 which is twice what it was in LA, but I also think the auto shop folks think that I have a soft-top jeep, which would probably make it more money.

Those are the things that need to be done.

I have stuff on my list that I would “like” to have:

• New computer chair (cannot describe how bad the current one is)
• Washer & Dryer (It’s $2.50 to wash and dry a load of clothes in a laundry room that I have to walk across the parking lot and down the hill to)
• New Wireless router with print server (my old one is only for parallel port but my relatively new printer is USB)
• A wall phone with built-in caller-id and answering machine

I don’t think my tax refund and my deposit refund from the old apartment are going to cover all of that. My withdrawal of my local checking and savings accounts from my credit union in LA should mostly cover the headliner.

I am going to give my dad the money from the relocation expense check when I get it from the hospital. It’ll be about 1/3rd of what he’s given me over my time of unfortunate unemployment.

I’ve also decided to go back to putting $100/paycheck into my savings account, but this time I’m just having one savings account — none of that Christmas Club or Vacation Savings Club for me anymore. When you really need the money, you should be able to get to it without further penalty.

Plus, I need to get to a place where I’m not living paycheck to paycheck. After all, with my salary and at my age, I should be doing better financially. I need to cut down on spending. I need to concentrate on paying off my loan/debt. I need a new plan that hopefully won’t be utterly destroyed by unemployment again.

***Meanwhile, the bedroom is completely unpacked. The kitchen is completely out of boxes. The two bathrooms are quite livable for the moment. The office and living/dining room are full of boxes (the office more than the other). Because I was sick on Friday and busy shopping for things like a kitchen trash can, a run to cover the tv cable snaking through the hall, a shower caddy, curtains, and new pet tags and was exhausted and bodily sore after 6 hours, my bedroom didn’t get out of boxes until Sunday. I did set up my stereo and DVD player in the living room on Saturday, but haven’t really done anything in the living room/dining room.I should have done some unpacking last night but I was extremely sleepy all day — to the point where I was falling asleep reading my Anne Rice book during my lunch — and that’s just an excuse for not doing anything but watching tv, arguing with Cingular, grocery shopping, and eating a bag of cookies. Oh, I did go through a bunch of boxes in the office looking for my contract with Cingular, but I couldn’t find it.

This morning I couldn’t make myself get up despite having planned to get up at 5:30am to have more time in the morning for things like making lunch, eating breakfast and watching the news. Instead, I didn’t crawl out of bed until 7am, though I did watch 20 minutes of news from the saftey of my covers before then. I wish I could figure out how to pipe the sound from my tv into my radio in the bathroom so I could at least listen to CNN while I get ready in the morning. The ceiling fan in the bathroom, which comes on when you turn the light on, blocks out any noise from the televisions in either adjacent room. So, I just listen to WPOR’s morning crew, which isn’t bad as they aren’t incredibly goofy and they do have the news and weather in the hour or so that I listen.

Anyway, I bought this isotronic or isometric pillow — one of those “memory” foam pillows. It’s shaped with a dip in the middle and a short lip and a big lip on the bottom and top respectively. It’s supposed to give you the right, natural support for your neck and head. I’ve been using it since Saturday night and so far, I’ve not woken with a stiff neck that hurts and has a weird numbing sensation eminating from it as I have since I left New Orleans. I also haven’t woken with a headache; however, though I slept fine the first night, the last two nights, my sleep was restless as I keep waking up and in fact Sunday night felt like the slowest night of my life. I don’t know if the restlessness is associated with the pillow or if it’s my old insomnia rearing it’s ugly head again.

I made it to about mid-day yesterday following the no-no list, but I was so sleepy as I’d said that I ended up walking over to Starbucks and getting a Caramel Macciato, which I was surprised was just as good hot as iced since I forgot to order it iced). I also had one of their rice krispy treats, which I find very difficult to resist — particularly since I’d been relieved there weren’t any in the display cabinet but the girl remembered I like them and mentioned they had some behind the counter…Then I ate a whole bag of cookies for dinner, I’m afraid to say. The cookies are a special kind that I’ve not been able to find in LA in a long time and I just couldn’t seem to help myself. That however has passed now.

However, I ended up getting an iced caramel latte at Dunkin Donuts when I stopped to get a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast — a bitter reminder that I should have gotten up earlier to eat breakfast at home. :O I did pack my lunch but I have to go out to get an estimate on my headliner and depending on how long that takes, I may just stop somewhere and pick up a salad on the way back — I will try very hard to remember “no cheese”, but I love Feta on my salad.

Speaking of the no-no list, I’m discovering that so many of my recipes call for vinegar and/or cheese. I also like nuts in my food. I also love citrus fruits & juices, raisins and other dried fruits, and bananas. I especially miss yogurt, sour cream, and chocolate. *sigh*

Tags: Cingular, migraine, insomnia, diet

Big List of No-No Foods

So, here’s the big list of dietary triggers for headaches/migraines. These are the things you should eliminate from your diet because they could be triggering head pain.

Caffiene
• Coffee, tea, iced tea and cola. Even decaf coffee and tea (which contain additional chemical triggers) may be a problem. Also, beware of coffee substitutes. Try caffeine-free herb tea (without citrus and other trigger flavors).

Chocolate
• White chocolate (no cocoa) is okay; carob is questionable.

Monosodium Glutamate
• Chinese (and other) restaurant food; soups and bouillons; Accent and seasoned salt; flavored, salty snacks; croutons and bread crumbs; gravies; ready-to-eat meals; cheap buffets; processed meats; veggie burgers; protein concentrates; and low-fat, low-calorie foods. Watch out for hidden MSG.

Processed Meats and Fish
• Aged, canned, cured, fermented, marinated, smoked, tenderized — or preserved with nitrites or nitrates. Hot dogs, sausage, salami, pepperoni, bologna (and other lunchmeats with nitrites), liverwurst, beef jerky, certain hams, bacon, pates, smoked or pickled fish, caviar and anchovies. Also, fresh beef liver and chicken livers, and wild game (which contain tryamine).

Cheese and Other Dairy Products
• The more aged, the worse. (Permissible cheeses include cottage cheese, ricotta, cream cheese, and good-gulaity American cheese.) Beware of cheese-containing foods, including pizza. Yogurt (including frozen yogurt), sour cream, and buttermilk are also triggers.

Nuts
• Avoid all kinds, as well as nut butters. Seeds are okay.

Alcohol and Vinegar
• Especially red wine, champagne and dark or heavy drinks. Vodka is best tolerated. Clear (ideally, distilled) vinegar is allowable. Don’t overdo condiments (ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise) made with vinegar.

Certain Fruits and Juices
• Citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes, tangerines, clementines and pineapples) and their juices — as well as bananas. Also avoid raisins (and other dried fruits if preserved with sulfites), raspberries, red plums, papayas, passion fruit, figs, dates and avocados.

Certain Vegetables, Especially Onions
• Plus sauerkraut, pea pods and certain beans (broad Italian, lima, fav, and navy, and lentils). Allowed: leeks, scallions, shallots, spring onions; also garlic.

Fresh Yeast-Risen Baked Goods
• Less than one day old: homemade (or restaurant-baked) breads, especially sourdough, as well as bagels, doughnuts, pizza dough, soft pretzels, and coffee cake.

Aspartame (Nutrasweet)
• Saccharin (Sweet’n Low) may also be a trigger for some. As far as I know, sucralose (Spenda) isn’t a problem.

Others?
• Perhaps soy products, especiialy if cultured (miso), fermented (tempeh) or otherwise highly processed (e.g., soy protein isolate//concentrate). Watch out for soy sauce containing MSG. Less risky are unflavored tofu and soy milk and flour. Soy oil is safe. Possibly tomatoes (and tomato-based sauces), mushrooms…whatever gives you a headache.

Good luck!

Tags: migraine, diet

a little off

After I get settled into my new apartment, I really have to rethink this work schedule of 8:30am to 5pm. Around 4 or 4:30pm, I start getting antsy to go home though I don’t have anything particularly exciting to do once I get there.

***Today being Earth Day, there’s a festival for about half a block of Congress St. in Portland today. I walked over to have a look-see. It wasn’t nearly as exciting as I’d hoped it would be. The Green Party was there and so was The League of Pissed-Off Voters, which was interesting and amusing all at once. There was a booth for an eco-laundry, some booths about supporting local agriculture, a booth with potatoes from organic seeds, a booth selling beautiful wood cutting boards and hand-made soaps, several photographer booths seeling framed and non-framed art, a booth selling cactuses in expensive ceramic pots, a jewelry booth, a band, and a booth selling organic granola. There were some booths about tours and outdoorsy stuff too. What I didn’t see were booths of veggies and such. I would have thought that will all of those people telling us to support our local agriculture that there might have been a mini-farmer’s market too. Anyway, it was a decent way to spend 10 minutes that didn’t involve looking at documentation or creating documentation relating to medical applications and how they interface. ***My whole day has been a little off so far. I believe it has something to do with the fact that last night I broke the routine I’d created since getting to Maine — packing my lunch and laying out my work clothes the night before. I ended up trying on three outfits because after I got dressed the first time, I noticed the weather channel said it was going to rain today so I thought silk was not a good idea. The second outfit was sadly a little tighter than I recalled. :(Then I had to put thought into what to bring to lunch and didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast there. This of course means that I ate part of an organic wheat cinnamon roll (without icing) that someone put in the breakroom (a batch made by his wife) and a Rice Crispy Marshmallow Treat from Starbucks when I was easily tempted to go there for an Iced Caramel Macciato (with Skim Milk, thanks — though without the whole milk, it’s a little more bitter). I will have to be much stronger about my diet once I get settled and have no excuses. I really had no excuse today as I have packs to make Hot Wheat Cereal in the microwave hidden in my desk at work.I was also lied to by the weather people, or it felt that way. It was much colder when I got to Portland than it had been in Freeport, just 20 minutes away. It’s supposed to get up to 69 degrees but I don’t know. Also, the sky has cleared up nicely and it’s sunny outside, which I prefer, but that also means I could have kept on the silk. :crazy:

This week on a daily basis the weather for Saturday has changed from showers all day to partly cloudy to bright and sunny to showers in the mornign. I really don’t want to be moving anything, particularly my furniture in the rain on Saturday. Actually, I’d like to hire someone to unload the truck, but I know my dad will never agree and I don’t want to ask these people at work who not only do I barely know but I barely know to help. I’d be so embarrassed for them to see how much crap I have. I mean, everyone who’s ever moved me or helped me pack or whatever is always commenting on how much crap I have. If I could figure out how not to have all that crap and still be happy and get through life, I would. Granted there’s somethings I could probably get rid of — I have desk supplies I’ll probably never use. I’d like to copy all of my VHS videos over to DVD — that would cut down on space but then what would I do with that $300-500 piece of equipment you have to buy to do it? I could sell it to El for half the price maybe so she could do the same thing. I have my step-grandmother’s dishes which I would like to get rid of but haven’t been able to convince my mom. I have a lot of knick knacks, thoug I’ve been trying to give some of those away. I have a lot of books, but again, I purged 6 or 7 months ago. I also seem to have a lot of clothes and though I try to purge every 4-6 months, I seem to always have a lot of clothes — though the dream is that once I get down to my goal weight I can get rid of the larger sizes and only have one size in my closet (which is probably the problem now, multiple sizes in there).

***I woke up with a headache again this morning. Not as bad as yesterday, but frustrating. What I noticed is that the pain seems to start in my neck in a tingling kind of way. I find the pillows at the inn are very uncomfortable. I’m not sure what they are made of but they seem very lumpy and bumpy to me and I wonder if this discomfort is causing a neck problem which is triggering these headaches. Though to be honest, headaches in the morning are not new. Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve been having headaches for ages and that for the most part they start while I’m sleeping.So, I also made some other observations. I was curled up on my right side (facing left) in an almost fetal-like position, which I often am. I tried swithing to sleeping on my stomach facing right and that was more comfortable but the light from the window was bothering me so I switched to facing left. This seemed less comfortable. Now I recall that my chiropractor had once noted that I can turn my head further to the right than the left and I wonder if that has something to do with it.The headache did get better once I got up and started getting on with my day though it hasn’t actually completely gone away and I currently have a sharp pain in my neck on the right side. Also, the last few days I’ve noticed that the muscles on my left side of my neck seem a bit tender when stretched and my left-side jaw has been acting up as far as the weird occassional ache and the on and off numbness in my left ear for no apparent reason — again, the ENT guy said that it was probably TMJ and the dentist said that he could send me back to an orthadontist but there wasn’t much I could do about it other than wear the plastic splint, which I keep forgetting to wear but wore all through Christmas holidays while I slept with no improvement.

So, while I hope that having my own bed and pillows helps, I am somewhat doubtful that the condition will improve much. I do not have insurance until at least May 1rst and I have just sent off for my medical records from most of my doctors back in New Orleans. I won’t be able to see a neurologist without consulting my PCP because I chose the HMO which was cheeper and had better coverage but requires that I get a referal from my PCP for everything. Since I’ve been here less than a month and have no insurance, I had to randomly choose a PCP from the hospital list but I’ve not called for an appointment (or even to see if she is accepting new patients). And quite frankly, after several years of consulting ENTs, neurologists, GPs, and a chiropractor (who I say 3x a week for over a year) without much success and very little improvement, I’m really not anxious to start the process all over again up here.

I’m jut going to try that “diet” in that book my dad refered to me. Once I start it, it’ll take 3 months to see if it’s working anyway. The guy’s theory is that no one thing actually triggers a migraine (and all headaches, including sinus, are migraines). He believes that a combination of things trigger the headache; it’s like you have a huge reservoir of pain tolerance and there are a number of things that trigger this headache pain (like certain weather patterns, barametric changes, certain foods, stress, sleep deprevation, etc.) which each add to the level in the reservoir. When the level reaches the top of the reservoir, the next thing to pile on top sends it overflowing or exceeds the pain tolerance and triggers the actual migraine. Some things, obviously you can’t control such as the weather, the barametric pressure, how well you slept last night, whether your boss suddenly drops a load of work on you, but you can control what you eat — how ironic that once again, my theory that the one thing you can control in your life is what you put in your mouth resurfaces…One of the other big triggers is rebounds from pain medicines and other medications you take. Most prescription pain meds can help temporarily take the pain away but often as it wears off, it causes the headache to come back, sometimes worse than before.

Anyway, so he provides this huge, possibly impossible-to-really-maintain list of no-no foods and meds that have triggered headaches/migraines in other people. The idea is that you give up your prescription meds and all the foods on the list (this action itself can cause withdrawal headaches for a few weeks — though if you are having daily headaches as it is, you probably won’t notice); then after 3 months, your headaches will have been seriously reduced because of the “detox” and because you have reduced the possible triggers adding to that reservoir, then you can start adding one thing from the list a week, but never again caffiene or the prescription drugs. You eat that one thing you’re adding back in every day for the week or until you get a headache. If you get a headache, you eliminate it permanently from your diet.

Of course, as Meg pointed out, the problem with this adding back in is that if last week you added back avocados with no headaches and this week you’ve added back in oranges, unless you’ve temporarily given up avocados again this week, you don’t know if it’s the oranges or the combination of the oranges and the avocados. You could actually spend a year or two or longer exploring all of the possible combinations.

So, I guess I’m going to try it, though I’m going to miss avocados and yogurt and legumes. You really can’t be a vegetarian and be headache free, I guess. Where would you get your protien? Cheese is out, nuts are out, seeds are out, and legumes are out. You must be a fresh food, fresh meat, stale bread eater to survive on this diet. Heh. I really need to pull out the book with the whole list so y’all can see how obsurd it is.

But I’m going to try it. I’m just so fed up with medicine and the medical community (I know, I work for a hospital, but deal). I can never decide if they just don’t believe me or if they just don’t care or if they are just trying to get me out of the office or what, but I’ve not felt like anyone really worked that hard to help me with the headaches and since they can’t feel them, they don’t understand. It’s like male OB/GYNs and PMS.

Of course, I’m sitting here with a sugar-filled Vanila Coke…

Tags: migraine, diet