Health Update

I went for a massage in October and was recommended to see a chiropractor at one particular clinic. Turns out the clinic is 5 minutes from my house. My massage therapist that I had by chance gone to, told me this chiropractor would be able to help me. So I went. I swear he is the first chiropractor to really listen to me and understand where I'm coming from. I have been going to him every Saturday for the past 6 weeks. We've now moved to a bi-weekly basis and adding a massage treatment in between.

I’m in total shock that this guy was able to have 2 sessions with me and make a difference to my arm/wrist pain. I have a large amount of scar tissue in my shoulder, lats and forearm that he’s working diligently on breaking up. He’s also said that my pain is pinched nerves, coming from my shoulder, armpit and pecs. He’s been able to recreate the pain easily from those three areas that it’s hard to deny that’s where it comes from. 

I’m still skeptical that someday down the road I’ll be pain free, but for now, having little to no pain every week and going in for treatments is the best possible situation I could be in. The fact that treatments are every two weeks with chiro and every two weeks with massage is a step in the right direction. It makes me incredibly thankful my husband and I have health benefits we can rely on.

Being able to play piano for more than 15 minutes at a time is wonderful. I feel like I can play for enjoyment and keep going through songs with little to know worry about suffering pain later. I’m not cleared to start strength training yet. My body is itching to do something, but I know I have to wait. For the mean time, I can do cardio, legs and abs.

As for the mental side of things, I feel lighter. I feel like something is lifted, but not entirely gone. Like a veil has been removed and I am standing in sunshine, rather than in the shadow. The supplements my Naturopath has me on are making a world of difference. I’m happier, I feel more equipped to deal with things that otherwise would have me in an anxious heap. There is still something hiding deep within, some residing fear that it won't last. That maybe this will all disappear some day and I’ll be that anxious mess again, but for now, I’m enjoying every minute of this light feeling.

I had blood tests last week and will go in this week to get my results. We’ll see what the Dr. says and if I need to adjust my supplements or start taking more. Feeling healthy is a wonderful feeling. Feeling like you’re awake and seeing life in a new light is refreshing. 

Anxiety Treatment

There is something to be said about getting second opinions, and trying new health professionals.

About 3 years ago I was going to a Naturopath for prolotherapy for my wrist pain. It helped, for a while. At the same time I was suffering from brutal panic attacks and anxiety. The Dr recommended Rescue Remedy as a way to help me cope and it worked, most of the time.

Over the past month my anxiety has come back. It’s been draining, and with winter setting in, will be harder to combat. A lack of vitamin D is a problem and Seasonal Affective Disorder is something a lot of Canadians go through, even if they don’t realize it.

I decided that going to my medical doctor likely wouldn't do much for me since there is no medical test for anxiety and I don’t really want to be on anything resembling anti-depressants. I don’t believe I’m there and would like to deal with this naturally versus pumping more medication into my body. The closer we get to maybe starting a family, the more I’m pushing for getting off all the medication I've been put on for various problems. Most of them are “safe” for fertility and baking a baby, but I’d prefer to not have the risk if it can be avoided.

I went to a different naturopathic doctor this time and after a 1.5 hour consultation, she has made a small difference. We talked about my past, present and future plans. She told me that although my environment maybe giving me symptoms of anxiety and causing stress, it’s not the underlying problem. Rescue Remedy may help the symptoms, but it’s not the solution. “You can’t change your environment, you can adjust your perspective and how you deal with it”.

She has determined that my body is a little backwards. It’s low on serotonin, which also means it’s low on melatonin production. Cortisol is high based on my stress levels which could be pulling progesterone from my body, leading to other womanly issues. I have a lot of trouble sleeping because of the first two chemicals being imbalanced. I have incredibly horrible periods where I’m more likely to take a day off work than come in dealing with the pain, nausea and heaviness because of the second hormone being less than it should be.

Her first course of action is to help me sleep. More sleep = better coping function = less anxiety = happier me. I’m taking one 5-htp capsule in the morning to help produce serotonin which in turn helps my body naturally create melatonin. It will also help even out my mood throughout the day. An hour before bed I’m to take 2 Phosphatidylserine capsules. This will stop my body from using cortisol at night, keeping me awake and my brain doing circles. Allowing my body to use the melatonin it created all day.

It’s been 4 days and I've slept well 3 out of 4 nights. I feel lighter mentally. It’s still too soon to say that everything is “normal” but I definitely feel like it’s tipping the scales that way. Still a long way to go, but every day is getting brighter.

Compliments

I ran into some old coworkers and it spurred me to write this post.


Some of the best compliments someone can receive aren’t the ones saying how beautiful you are, how nice your clothes look, how thin your look, or even how nice you are. For me, they are the ones that mean more than that and reach something inside of you.

I have received the same compliment from several past coworkers on different occasions, my close friends and my family. This particular compliment means so much to me because it truly shows how good my life has turned out to be since I got laid off. How what I though was a bad thing turned out to be just what I needed. I attribute this to God looking out for me. My favorite quote is:

God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle.

I’m a firm believer that if you can’t handle something, He will figure out a way to get you out of it as long as you let Him.

As my readers, you’ve seen my Tuesday Therapy posts and read just how stressed out I was a few long months ago. Over the past 2 weeks, I have received this compliment from several people:

You look relaxed. You look happy.

Those words touched me. They reached me because that is not something people say to me. It means that my mental well-being has done a 180° and it’s noticeable from the outside. It means I’m not just feeling this way, I’m projecting it as well. Remember when I was using Rescue Remedy to help me work through my panic attacks? I still carry it with me, but I’m sure it will expire before I have to use it again. (Knocks on wood)

I thank God that I have come so far, and I do truly believe He is a big reason I’ve changed in the past 3 months.

Therapy Tuesday: Anxiety and what Beta is teaching me

My anxiety is almost reaching it's peak. I'm exhausted and tired and almost ready to give up and quit caring altogether. I feel like I can only fight for so long before it doesn't matter anymore.
I know this is probably blind-siding most of you readers. I typically don't like to blog about this stuff.

1. 1. I find it embarrasing because I know I am a strong person, I'm just being beaten at life
2. 2. I don't think anyone really wants to hear about it.

So, if you fit into category 2, stop reading now.

I've been taking my B-complex as suggested by the naturopath and it's been helping. I don't get anxiety attacks as often. If you remember back when my fiancé first left for work, they were happening really frequently. I remember thinking they were caused because of his being gone 10 days at a time, dealing with a brand new puppy and learning to cope with living alone most of the month. Now this isn't an expert opinion by any means, but I think that was just the jumping off point.
I've been stressed and on my way to a burn out since last year. (I won't go into details as it's work related, and I do want to protect myself out here in internet-land.) The stress has mounted slowly and when my life changed drastically without warning, it exploded into some sort of monster I was not equipped to handle.
Frenchie has been doing his work rotations coming up to 5 months now. I've gotten used to the way things are, I've learned to deal with raising our puppy on my own when he's away. It's life, and I'm used to it. Yes, I still get sad and think about how nice it will be when he's back home. Yes, I still cry a little when I think of something fun he's missing. That's normal, that's not what it was like in the beginning. I've even gotten used to planning our wedding with only his input by email or phone, or waiting until he's home.
The main anxiety and stress source goes much deeper and it took something drastic to happen and subside for me to see that. I have no way of knowing how to deal with this issue now since it doesn't seem to be in my control.
Am I at the point where I need to move on to something new in my life? Frenchie will be always be there to support me and he's said we'll get through whatever happens together and make it work. I'm at a crossroads and I'm staring at it from a mile down the road. I'm not ready to choose my life's direction just yet. There's a lot of ground for me to cover first, starting with what I really want out of life.

Beta has taught me a few things over the past couple of weeks. I'm taking a Canine Communication class and learning to recognize signs of stress and how to help Beta get through those situations. She's a very timid dog and this is a big problem for taking her to new places and introducing her to new people.

The first class, we talked about "Calming Signals". These are things the dog does in order to calm themselves down when they are feeling stressed.

• avoid eye contact, turn head away, turn body away, walk away
• displacement - this is when you think your dog is ignoring you because they go off and do something else when you're upset with them for some reason.

I look at those two things and think they might be useful for humans. Displacement is something we all do anyways, without even realizing it.  We distract ourselves by doing something else, or changing the conversation when we feel we are becoming stressed or see a situation coming that could be stressful.
Interesting how the canine language would be useful for humans to use too.

Therapy Tuesday: Prolo #4 and Natural Medicine

Since my last treatment (2 weeks ago) my wrist has been up and down with pain. I am definitely seeing some results and a lot happier. The first week after the last treatment brought about some odd things. The Monday and Tuesday after, my wrist was very sore. This was odd since the pain usually didn't set in until later in the week. Luckily, those were the only two days I had any significant pain. There was some discomfort at the end of the first week, but nothing out of the ordinary from working on a computer for 5 days.
The second week went much better. The Tuesday was the worst pain and it didn't require any Advil or heat on it. The wrist was just weak and made it a little difficult to pole for any length of time. (How convenient that it hurts on the Tuesdays I have dance class)
At my appointment, the Dr. assesses the area where he puts the treatment and noticed the affected area is becoming smaller. The places he has to put the serum has become a lot smaller and that shows great improvement.

We will probably go on to do 6 or 8 treatments in total, depending on how things progress. I am over the top excited that I'm getting less and less pain, and when it does occur, it's less on the scale.

While I was getting my treatment, I thought I'd inquire with him about stress management and stress relief. He is a naturopath and deals with that sort of thing. I told him I have been experiencing anxiety attacks, some weeks more than others.  He said that the most common reason for people being unable to handle stress and stressful situations is due to a B-vitamin deficiency. He recommended that I take a Hi Potency B complex daily. For when the anxiety attacks occur, he recommended I buy a spray/pill/drop (it comes in all those forms) called Rescue Remedy. It it supposed to help calm me down during the situation as it happens. I opted for the spray. I haven't had to use it yet, but I will certainly let you know if it works or not.