Literally. I'm fah-reeeeezing! Well. Only at night. Wait. And first thing in the morning. During the day at work? I'm hot. It was 14 degrees this morning, yet I was unphased on my walk to my car...sans jacket. Up and down goes my body temperature.
I typically do have ice block hands and feet. I use my husband as a warmer, which he frowns upon. He yells out, "would you go to the doctor! My goodness, woman! You have no circulation in your body!" Oh I know he didn't go and call me "woman". He may want to be more selective in his noun choice when referring to me, on account of how my temperature isn't the only thing about me that's up and down. There's my emotions, afterall...which can best be metaphorically represented by the roller coaster, Kingda Ka;-) Invisible symptoms are closer than they appear in mirror...
I blame ms, but ms says, "what if it's not all about me?"
So I humored ms by spending yet another insomniac night online, reading way too much about my most significant symptoms of fatigue, tremors, body temperature issues, and bladder woes. And you know what I found? Stuff like "low blood sugar" and "excess caffeine" and "high sugar intake". Hmph. I was dx'd with hypoglycemia waaaay back. Never thought much of it.
When I say in my profile that I "run on Dunkin'", I'm not kidding. I measure my sugar by depth, not packet or teaspoonful. Throughout my day, I'm Dunkin', I'm snacking on dark chocolate, I'm reaching for a Coke and some other sugary thing. Caffeine and sugar make my mind feel happy. And then I crash, requiring more. Enter Kingda Ka...form of: interchangeable fatigue/energy rush, body temperature ups and downs, emotional highs and lows. Add to that a head/neck tremor for good measure.
After all that reading and a healthy amount of prayer - because really, I mess everything up when I do it on my own - I was convinced that I should eliminate caffeine and sugar from my diet. Back in 2006, I made a very sudden and drastic dietary change which resulted in an 80lb weight loss and significant reduction in overall symptoms. If cutting out caffeine and refined sugar could potentially result in less fatigue, a more level emotional playing field, less trips to the bathroom, and a somewhat normal body temp? I'm going all in.
I went off of all caffeine and refined sugar - cold turkey. For 24hrs. Clearly, I underestimated the power of coffee. And sugar.
When a dear friend wanted to get together late last night for some conversation, approx 24hrs post coffee and refined sugar, I was reduced to a collection of gelatinous material, uncomfortable in my very skin, feeling as if I was one wooden piece away from systemic Jenga. We met up at a diner and I ordered a cup of coffee, because I couldn't not. It was speaking to me, and it was right. It never tasted so good. So good, in fact, that I asked my friend, who was mid-sentence, to pause her speech so that I could close my eyes, tap the mug in appreciation with both hands, and enjoy the ride.
I will eventually eliminate these two staples from my diet and sincerely hope to notice some improvements. But if significant strides are not made? I'm so running back to you, coffee...
This is me...respecting the mug!
2 comments:
You could try green tea - a little less caffeine, a little more other good stuff like antioxidants. But one step at a time! :)
Thank you so much for the tip! Last week, I was possessed to purchase some ginger to make green tea with for my son. As you see, I allowed it to slip my mind! Maybe we'll have to have "Mom and son tea" this evening!
Post a Comment