Health Chart Update!

I am really glad that I had the idea to keep track of what I am eating and my supplements daily with a chart! It has been 12 days since I began using my chart and it shows me what I need to eat more (greens) as well as showing me trends in my diet. The first page of my charts is finished (I made 5 copies of the original, which I drew up by hand, no need for complicated computer work!) and I wrote a conclusion at the end to sum up all my data. This weekend I was feeling some mild pain in my legs and arms, which felt like they could have been crisis pain, and yesterday I did take 1000mg of paracetamol (acetaminophen) for it, but other than that, I've been okay. It seems like the Nattokinase has been doing its work to keep my blood from clotting, for which I am thankful! I have been feeling good since I added it to my diet.

I had to stop working out due to what I mentioned earlier, but I walked a lot today. One thing I must note, my body feels different when I drink tap water, and from what I have read about parasites, which I talked about in another post, I feel like I have an infection. For that I am eating carrots on a empty stomach (eat nothing else for 30 minutes afterward) and will be trying the garlic cleanse mentioned on this website. Today, I also started with something I hope to keep up, which is to eat a clove of raw garlic on an empty stomach 15 minutes before a meal (yes, I am worried about how I will smell -_-'). I had to take it with two spoonfuls of honey because it is very strong. Garlic is also good for the flu and many other things! Though it did give me a bit of an upset tummy! I am going to try eating it the way it's suggested on this website. Sorry to have to talk about parasitic infections here, I know it's totally gross, but it's very real and incredibly common and is affecting my health! Definitely won't leave that stone unturned!

Working Out Bad for My Heart?

I feel terrible at the moment. I am unable to sleep, and for the past few days, my heart has been pounding and I have been unable to pinpoint why. I thought it might be due to low calcium in my body because my nails have been breaking as well, but only my fingernails have been showing signs of breakage, and I'm wondering if it's just wear and tear taking it's toll and not low calcium. The feeling of my heart pounding is really worrisome as I've never experienced a feeling like it that's lasted for so long. It's also keeping me from sleeping. I just feel really terrible right now and it worries me. I will stop the working out. I had previously tried and quit a workout schedule because it was causing inflammation in my ribs. Now with this elevated heart rate, it just seems that even a gentle workout won't do. I guess I will turn to walking as my exercise. That will be harder to be consistent with. I'll see if I can start walking for 20 minutes a day.

Insomnia or Waking Up Too Early

Yesterday was day 5 of my new workout routine, which made me really happy. I was also rather fearful as well, because my health has been very good. Yet this is such an unpredictable disease and it could turn at any moment, so I've been wondering, since last night, if my health will continue to remain in a good condition, or if it may suddenly all go to pieces. Of course, I have been keeping up my daily health practices, but yet the worry still remains. 

A few days ago, I began taking the Nattokinase that I finally ordered. I'm not sure I feel any different from taking it, and I also feel that a few other factors might be masking the effects that I could be feeling. I have a really bad cold with a pretty deep cough right now, that I have been remedying with a tea made of lemons, onions, and honey, but I also have to use my inhaler because of my asthma. The cough that I have gets deeper and more painful if I don't use my inhaler, and I think I could have prevented it from getting so bad if I had used it a bit more consistently, and sooner, while the cold was developing. One of the side effects of the inhaler is that it increases my heart rate (I guess that means it raises my blood pressure?). Because of that, I've been having trouble sleeping for the past few nights and have been waking up around 4am, and I don't know if it's because of the Nattokinase or because of the inhaler (I use Ventolin).

Workin' It Out!

I must say, I am incredibly proud of myself today! I feel absolutely terrible, I have a cold/flu type thing going on, but not only did I make it to work and saw most of my students (was late to my first class so the first batch got a free period!), I also did my 10 minute workout today! I figured that if I am already feeling terrible, I might as well work out anyways because it could help me feel a bit better. In any case, I have spent years dreaming of being fit and not breathing heavily when I go up the stairs, and am still at point A because I've never had the stamina to see me through to point B. If I don't take now, the beautiful present moment, as my time to seize upon and take advantage of, then I know I never will. It really is now or never! Very happy to have noted down on my health chart that I got in my 10 minute workout today :D

In other news, I received my shipment of health supplements from Amazon.co.uk (thank you Amazon for your loyal and quick service!), so today is my first day on Nattokinase! We will see how it makes me feel as I progress with it, and whether or not I notice a difference. From my chart, I can see that I am on quite a few supplements, but it is better than not having taken any steps and constantly being afraid of my next hospitalization! Also, a word about supplements, if you can get something naturally from food, go for that as your source! The more natural it is in form, the more beneficial it is to your body. The natural form, such as fruits for instance, which have natural sugars, also have fiber in them. When fruits are eaten, instead of imbibed as a juice, the sugars are more slowly absorbed, because the fiber from the fruit is there to help slow down the sugar absorption. That's one tiny little example, but I hope you get my point. The more natural it is, the better it is for your body, because it also comes with the fibers and other nutrients that will benefit your body. I wish you good health, my friends! :)

Other Factors that Affect my Health

Recently, I began eating raw carrots as a method of doing a cleanse, but since they are also high in Thiocyanate, I think I will continue eating them after I'm done with the cleanse. (They also taste yummy!) The cleanse is to help rid my body of parasites, which are quite unaddressed in Western Medicine, and yet can make the body feel off center. There are many different types, and sometimes when I feel things are not right with my body, when I have persistent joint pain for example or my stomach feels different in a gross sort of way, I suspect that the culprit might be parasites in my body from drinking unfiltered water. I'm very sensitive to the type of water I drink and therefore usually only go for filtered. However, when I'm incredibly thirsty and don't have options besides buying an expensive bottle of water, I usually opt to refill my water bottle from the tap. That's what I did last weekend and my body took to feeling weird a few days after. Hence, the cleanse. You can read more about parasites and their symptoms here.

As a woman, another factor that affects my health is my period, which, unfortunately, comes around every month. Back in October and November, when I had my two crises in my back, they both came right after my period. When I realized that was happening, I decided to go back to my diet and see if things improved. Looking back, I also realized that I had the same back pain, but not crisis level, in August before leaving. Looking further back, I realized that in my first few months of high school, I also was having crises in my back, though I can't remember if those were linked to my period or not. Realizing that my body feels a certain type of way (weak!) at a certain point in the month helped me to make my decision to go forward and be healthier. Starting an observation routine, by using a chart or a journal, can help you to figure out what's happening to your body and when, because our bodies do have their own rhythms, and can best help you figure out how to manage your health.

Starting a New Workout Routine

Tonight, I did a workout routine after months of being turned off from working out. I took a health class last spring semester that got me really motivated about working out, and I wanted to begin right away, but alas, I began too fast and too soon. Everything I tried was too difficult, or I just didn't stick with it very well. What I found was that after working out, my ribs would hurt, and I attribute that to having done too fast, too soon. But I now realize the necessity and great importance of starting off slow. A slow start will allow me to work up to a good level of aerobic health, which I especially need because I have asthma and going up a flight of stairs usually kills me! I do think my aerobic health has improved a bit here because I've been doing more walking. However, I want it to continue to improve and to do so faster, and I also want to build up my strength, especially in my legs and arms. Down with weakness! I say yes to strength and health and no to all else! My goal is to keep doing my 10 minute workout, and I started with this video, but mostly kept it on as background noise and moved along at my MUCH slower pace, for a week, after which I will update about how my workout routine is going. I think that after two steady weeks of the same 10 minute workout,I will be ready to increase it to 15 minutes. For now, I am going VERY SLOWLY and at my own pace, because it's better to start off slow than not to start at all! Wish me luck in my workout journey! :)

P.S. It's about 15-20 minutes after my workout and I feel the need to note that I feel great, I feel like there was a boost of serotonin and energy and I am definitely looking forward to my next workout tomorrow! :D

This is My Story

When I was sixteen and learned what my disease truly entails, I became convinced that I would die by the time I was thirty. Up until that point, I hadn't really understood what it was, though the doctor had once given my sister and I a booklet explaining the disease, and what causes the pain. I began doing research about it as a result of having persistent wrist pain while playing the clarinet. My music teacher took it upon himself to call my parents and tell them about the pain I was experiencing because he wanted me to be well. I was taught to be independent, and didn't want my parents more involved with anything than they had to be, so him calling my parents was a big thing for me. He got in touch with my mom, and told her about my wrist pain, and she revealed my big, shameful secret. I had Sickle Cell Anemia, and that's what was causing all my problems.

Dealing with SCA all my life and being excluded from my gym classes as a decision by my mom had made me feel like an outcast. A guilty outcast who was different and had something to be ashamed of because I had a disease that I didn't understand that kept me from participating, and sometimes made me have pain. (I was also lactose intolerant which sometimes made me sick, but I didn't figure that out till I was fourteen. It was a difficult journey.) Because of that shame and guilt, I always felt that I had to hide it, so having my mother tell one of my favorite teachers my secret was a HUGE deal for me. Suddenly, he knew that something was wrong with me, and he as well as my mom and doctor were now advising me to take my Folic Acid regularly. At the time, I wouldn't, because when I would remember to take it was always at night, and whenever I take vitamins at night I have trouble sleeping. I always preferred having a night's sleep to taking the vitamin. 

My mom was convinced that if I just took my Folic Acid, I would be fine, and that's what she told my music teacher. I wasn't so convinced, and with the research that I began doing online, finding out what my disease really entailed made me pretty depressed. I remember sitting in my purple bathrobe one night, holding my clarinet after a practice session and a bout with wrist pain, and I'm pretty sure I burst into tears that I was going to die young because of my disease. With the ideas I had in my head by that time, all I wanted was to be married in my early twenties so that I could give my best years to my husband and my kids. I also developed a pretty morbid sense of mortality that I didn't stop talking about until my guidance counselor died of meningitis when she was twenty-eight.

Throughout the years, my sense of guilt about my disease did not diminish. As I got older and my symptoms grew worse, and I had to rely on my parents and sister(s) to take care of me when I was sick, it grew. Though my father almost died from it when he was in his twenties, he and my mother seemed to believe that I would be doing better if I only went to church more and had greater faith. Some of the things they would say did nothing to boost my morale, so I was really grateful to have my sister(s), who did take care of me without judgment and understood me. 

I must say that when I started taking my Folic Acid regularly, I did start to feel a bit better. But high school and college were incredibly demanding in their schedules, college less so than high school, and with their work loads, and with my small understanding of my disease and lack of information about healthy, natural alternatives, I know I abused painkillers by taking too many at once, and I may have done lasting damage to my body. I'm sharing my story because I don't want this to be yours or your child's. 

SCA can be devastating with the way Western medicine treats it. It doesn't offer up much besides heavy painkillers, and medicines with terrible side effects. I am sharing my story so that more people will know what they can do for themselves to get to a healthier place. It may be expensive to order extra supplements to take daily, it may be expensive to buy more vegetables to eat, but it is a lot more expensive to pay those hospital bills and to have to miss days or even months of school or work and to deal with all the pain. I am not in a picture perfect state of health, but I am in a much better place than I was in November, when all I wanted to do was kill myself, or over the summer, when the suicidal thoughts began crossing my mind in earnest. Please share this blog, please share my story, because it can get better. This is my story and it is real, and there are so many more out there who are doing better on natural alternative. Sickle Cell - Natural Healings is just one example. Maybe one day Western medicine will invent a cure that doesn't endanger patients lives as they go through it. For now, this is what I have to offer. I hope this helps.

Pain Pills: The Debate

I often debate with myself quite a bit before taking a pill for my aches and pains, knowing that with each pill I take, my resistance to its effectiveness is being increased. Here in France, I'm starting to feel a bit self-conscious about buying my painkillers. It's not like back home where I can walk into a large Walgreens and pick up a bottle of 100 Tylenol/Acetaminophen and pay for it with little interaction with the cashier. I have to ask a pharmacist for my Doliprane, and one night, when I was having crisis pain in my arm (I mentioned this a few posts back, it was more mild than an actual crisis because of my diet), the pharmacist asked me if I had a lot of pain, and I said yes, in my arm. Her words, "Vous-avez des douleurs importants?" still stick with me. Should I have explained to her that I have SCA? Not that I was really in the mood to explain anything as I was feeling pretty down. 

Based on the food list that I put up in my last post, I made a handy little health chart today. When I am able to scan it, I will add it as an image here. For now, visualize with me a bit. The chart starts with a list of (Thiocyanate) Rich Foods to Eat Daily or Multiple Times per Week - I added eggs to my list since they are packed with vitamins and I eat them almost everyday, so that is why I put Thiocyanate in parentheses. After that I have a list of my Daily Supplements, which are listed on the side of my blog, and hopefully next week will include Nattokinase, as I am preparing to order it from Amazon. I also have a space to note down if I took painkillers, if I stretched, and am using the back to write down any notes I have about the day. Today, for instance, I noted that I had pain in my right thigh (it's been there all day on and off and I have finally given in and taken a pill for it). On the chart, there is a slot for me to write the date for each day that I jot down information. I made 5 copies of it and am looking forward to being able to see more solid information about what works for me and what does not and how it makes me feel. The charts, combined with my blog, should be a good way to continue on my journey to health. :)

The Mighty, Mighty Egg

Yesterday and today I was feeling weakness in my bones, and I haven't eaten eggs in about a week. Given those two facts, I made a correlation and think that maybe the weakness in my legs is due to the fact that I haven't been eating eggs, which are packed with natural nutrients that are great for the body. Two things that eggs have that are wonderful are naturally occurring Vitamin D and B12, and Vitamin D is important in helping the body use Calcium to build healthy bones. I take a 5,000 i.u. Vitamin D3 supplement every other day (as recommended on the bottle), but it is important to get any type of vitamin or mineral in its most natural form rather than as a supplement. There is more information about the benefits of the mighty, mighty egg here. From now on I will go back to eating eggs daily as part of my nutritious breakfast. I've always found that they are a great way to start the day, but was worried that I wasn't getting enough thiocyanate in my diet and was replacing eggs with thiocyanate heavy foods for breakfast. But given that eggs are full of so many nutrients, I think it will be safe to keep eating them and reaping their many benefits. I will just make sure I get my thiocyanate at other times during the day. 

(Thiocyanate) Rich Foods To Eat Daily or Multiple Times Per Week

Today, again, I was feeling down because I was feeling under the weather, and so, even though I bought prepared lentils and white kidney beans to eat for dinner and also planned on eating spinach, all I really wanted was chips (comfort food). I didn't even want all natural chips, I wanted the French imitation of Pringles. The ingredients listed on the package aren't too promising. In a previous post, I mentioned meal planning so that I would have preventive actions instead of just writing food down after I eat it. That fell through because it is difficult to stick to exactly, especially when I spend a good part of the working day away from home. At least, for me I've found it difficult to add to all the extra things I have to keep track of. So what I just thought of, about 20 minutes ago, is to write down a list of Thiocyanate rich foods that I enjoy eating and that I should eat multiple times per week or daily. Here goes!

(Thiocyanate) Rich Foods To Eat Daily or Multiple Times Per Week
Bananas (daily - great source of potassium as well!)
Carrots (daily)
*Oranges (multiple times per week)
*Pears (multiple times per week)
*Apple/*Pear or *Apple/Peach Sauce (multiple times per week)
Lentils (multiple times per week)
Spinach (multiple times per week)
*Beets (multiple times per week)
Plantains (multiple times per week)
Brussel Sprouts (multiple times per week)
*Mixed Veggies (multiple times per week)

**Starred foods are not rich in thiocyanate but are packed with other vitamins!

These are the things I eat on a regular basis, but I don't think I eat enough meat. I'm actually having trouble trying to eat a well balanced diet. Oh life! Why you gotta be so difficult! Sigh. Suggestions for balancing things anyone? My bones are feeling weak today which is what has me feeling down. I guess that means I haven't been getting enough Calcium. 

I must note, one of the things that has put a dent in my plantain eating flow is the fact that the store I usually go to to buy them has been closed for the past week. Talk about super inconvenience! On another note, Blogging JJ conveniently reminded me to look into using Nattokinase, and I am looking into it to see what units I should order. I will be doing a bulk order of Nattokinase, Serrapeptase, and Liquid Chlorophyll shortly to make sure that I have enough supplies to last me for a while. I have a lot of Serrapeptase left, but my Liquid Chlorophyll has been running low. Blogging JJ referred me back to Sickle Cell - Natural Healings as a reference for the Nattokinase, and I began reading her blog from the beginning to get the most out of it. It's quite informative, and I highly suggest reading it for anyone who is looking for natural ways to deal with this.

Moving On, Getting Healthier

Last night, I was feeling pretty down. I mentioned before that I have a skewed relationship with pain from having to deal with so much of it for so long, and I posted about my troubles in the Sickle Cell Warrior Group. People got back with their comments, and there are others who feel the way that I do, who are just tired of the pain. Thankfully I am feeling better today, and someone also posted a link about Discovite, which I am looking into and will also spread the word about. She said that she has been taking it and her health has been great. These natural alternatives are so much better than the harsh medicines with heavy side effects that the doctors prescribe to us. I think I mentioned before that my body has been feeling tense due to the winter cold, and I remembered that back in the Spring of last year, when I was taking a health class, I began a stretching routine that relieved some muscle pain in my legs that had been recurring for several years. Since I started that stretching routine, though I haven't continued with it, I have not had that pain get so bad that it made me have to stay home in bed. I have had muscle inflammation in that place, but because of the stretching, it never got back to the point where I couldn't walk, which was what it did before. Remembering that made me decide to go back to a stretch routine, and my body has been feeling a bit better though it is only my second day back to stretching. Simple yoga exercises, since the stretching exercises that I do are very close to yoga positions, seem like a good and easy way for me to build up my strength, which is something I really want to do. Back in the Spring when I was in my health class, I tried  to start a workout routine, but the things I was doing were too fast, too difficult, and too soon, so I will work on building my strength slowly but surely. One easy thing that I can do is to hold my leg stretch positions for longer because they don't overstretch my muscles, but will allow my legs and arms to become stronger. One thing that I really took away from my health class was something my professor said, which was that our genetics determine a small part about our body's health, but what we do for ourselves, our lifestyles, plays a greater part than genetics. With that in mind, I am encouraged to keep on the path I am on, and to go farther and keep getting better.