Good Morning! I think. What I’m trying to say is it is
early. Very early for me. I just couldn’t
sleep. I was in bed, eyes closed, but my mind was running in circles.
Why? You might wonder. I had too many thoughts that I needed
to get in order. First was a plot for a story. Another story idea to jot down
for future reference. However, it was the other thing that forced me to take a
long hard look at my life. More accurately, my health.
This entire episode may have started last evening when I
found a health site on the web that seemed to be created just for me. I know I’ve
thought that before, but this described me perfectly. Well, my health issues,
that is.
Do I dare list them all? Oh well, I was accused of TMI
before, so here I go. I have bouts of IBS, and now I may understand what has
made my bowel so angry. Okay, that was a joke. You can laugh.
As well as IBS, I have been extremely tired lately, I also
have bouts of dizziness, and the doctor recently told me I’m anemic. Apparently,
as I learned last night, these conditions may all be linked. Even the dreaded hemorrhoids
I have. Yikes they are a pain in the butt!
Seriously, none of this is a joking matter. However, joking
is the only way I can handle the embarrassment and shame caused by these
conditions. If I allowed these things take over my mind, I’d be depressed all
the time. By the way, I also learned depression and anxiety are also linked to
these conditions.
So what to do?
Of course, the video and article I was reading had a point –
a selling point. They were selling these state-of-the-art probiotics. They didn’t
exactly call them state-of-the-art, but you get my point. These pills were a
combination of all the most needed probiotics to stay healthy.
Funny thing, though. A friend recently told me about Kefir,
another potent probiotic you usually drink. Instead of running out to buy the
ingredients to make my own Kefir, since he told me it was easy to make – I ran
out and purchased a simple over-the-counter probiotic. I took it for several
weeks.
I honestly didn’t think they were doing anything. Until I
ran out of them. At that point I realized my IBS symptoms had lessened while I
was taking them and came back with a vengeance when I ran out.
Perhaps, there
was something to this whole thing. I then purchased one of those flavored Kefir
products you find at the grocery store and started drinking it in small
amounts. That was only the other day so I’m not certain what it may be doing
inside me.
To be fully honest, my IBS was so bad last week I resorted
to taking medication for it. You know that minty, chalky liquid stuff. That, of
course, creates new problems of the opposite sort. I realized taking the
medicine was just masking my symptoms and I shouldn’t be taking it over long
periods of time.
So, it was important I figure out what I was going to do next.
I dreaded the thought of going to the doctor. Seems every
time I do that I get put on another medication. I’m on 13 prescriptions
already! Please, there must be an end to it. I know there is – but, I’m talking
about a different ending. One where I continue breathing. And I’d rather not
suffer through life until I stop.
Back to the search results from last evening. There was a
great deal of information. It was almost as bad as a history lesson. Yet, many
of the things being said rang a bell. It told of the changes in our “healthy
diets” through the years.
The final result – before the sales pitch – was what we
should already know: we eat too much sugar, refined flours and over-processed
foods. Simply stated, the closer to the
earth and its natural form the better. It warned about soft drinks and too much
coffee. I can live without the first; but my coffee!
I’m not too sure about
that.
Not to worry, they say, once all this healthiness kicks in,
one desires less coffee. That is something I have to see to believe. I know I’m
not alone. Have any of you counted the number of coffee posts you find on
social media? Probably more than wise cracks about the government and pet
photos combined.
So, as I sit here drinking my . . . ah, my coffee, I am
going to confess that I fell for the sales pitch. Through sound reasoning I
decided to give the risk-free month a try. Sound reasoning sounds so much
better than impulse buying, don’t you think?
So now you laugh! I hope you at least smiled at some of my
jokes.
More seriously, I need what they are offering. I realize no
pill of any kind, whether it be from the doctor or from some company that
heralds claims of getting rid of most the worm-like bacteria inside, is going
to be the cure all for my ails. I know I will have to make my best effort at
eating the right foods. By the way, they say we need a little of those worm-like
things, just not as many as we have.
I will be shopping mostly from the outer isles of the
grocery store as the experts (Doctor Oz and associates) suggest. I will eat
fresh when possible, where tolerated. I will try to do away with processed
foods, sugar, artificial stuff and refined flours. But I will not stop drinking
my coffee! A girl’s gotta do what she’s gotta do. My motto, I will give up my
coffee when they pry my cup from my cold dead fingers. (That may be someone
else’s motto too.)
Once again, being honest, I have already cut back on coffee
do to all the digestive issues I’ve been having, so I’ve got a head start.
This will be a challenge. My body is so used to many of
these things, it craves them. In fact, lately when I eat healthy my body
actually rebels. That is when it feels like Rocky and Mr. T are duking it out
inside me, and all the hot air from their trash talk is. . . Well, you get the
picture.
I’ll be back in a few weeks to fill you in on the results of
this challenge I’ve set up for myself. I hope it will be good news. If not, I’ll
admit that too.
Until then, I’ll be back with other articles. For now . . .
maybe I should go back to bed. I’m not used to writing at 4:30 in the morning.
It’s the freaking middle of the night, not morning! Now that I’ve gotten this
off my chest, maybe I can sleep.
