Thriving or Surviving

October -- less than two months from when I'm writing this -- will mark three years since the start of a cluster of frustrating health challenges. Every time I make progress, it feels as if something happens to cause a major backslide.  FIRST : Please, no advice. I am working closely with my healthcare team to untangle a complex set of symptoms and circumstances. SECOND : Anything I write is NOT medical advice. This is informational only about my personal health journey. Consult your own healthcare specialists before doing anything related to your own situation. THIRD : I am writing this due to my own frustrations over my situation and a need to have a healthy outlet for those frustrations.   Over the past three years, symptoms and issues I've had since birth suddenly have become worse--even severe, in some cases. Things that I thought I and my medical team had a good handle on started to unravel and become unstable.  I've felt like a total mess and it's interfering wit...

I have been struggling--mentally and physically. As I mentioned in my last post , my doctor had me trial a specific gastrointestinal health diet that did NOT work for me. I'm still feeling the negative effects and still will not be sharing the diet details--not only do I not want you to embark on that diet without your healthcare provider's advice, but nothing in this or any of my posts should ever be taken as healthcare or medical advice or input. This is exclusively about my experience. If anything I write feels like it might apply to you, please discuss it with your own healthcare team before trying anything I mention. Read all of my Personal Health Reset posts HERE . Ever since starting that diet, my wellbeing has been crashing. I initially thought maybe my iron reserves and my body's ability to use them was impaired--the last time I felt this way, my body had enough iron, but was not able to access and utilize it. My doctor and I checked my iron related labs, and all w...

Please note: some links are affiliate links and may result in a small commission to me, at no extra cost to you, if you make purchases through them.  Oops! My last post was 14 days ago and I fell hard from the my personal health reset wagon! It wasn't intentional, but I fell into a deep funk after seeing my primary care provider recently and embarking on a specific diet for my gastrointestinal issues. I'm not going to get into specifics about the diet or why my provider asked me to try it as I don't want to dissuade someone for whom it could be extremely beneficial.  For me, it did not help at all considering the impact on my mental health. In fact, the impact on my mental health became so negative over the course of the diet that I had to discontinue it. It took away a significant aspect of my enjoyment of life.  If the choice is to be miserable mentally while following a diet I detest or to be miserable physically but strong mentally on a diet I enjoy, I'll choose th...

Back in June, I shared a couple of posts about how I was getting a lot done. The downside was that I crashed a few days later as explained HERE . Well, consider this an "Oops, I did it again!" post! On Monday, my birthday , and the day after , I was feeling GREAT! The best I've felt in MONTHS! On Monday, I spent a ton of time exploring the city and enjoying my birthday. Tuesday, I spent much of my day cleaning, tidying, decluttering, and more at home.  Wednesday? I crashed, HARD. I started out strong with a few chores in the morning, but by lunch time, I was exhausted. I crawled into bed with a book and quickly fell asleep. I ended up sleeping for several hours and then was so tired that I just stayed in bed most of the rest of the day. I had a virtual healthcare visit with my vestibular physical therapist and then had an MRI for my right sided hip pain in the late evening. Otherwise, most of the bed was spent just resting or sleeping. Today, I woke up feeling pretty tire...

I had such an amazing day yesterday (my birthday!) and have still been feeling pretty darn well thanks to my Sea Bands * motion sickness and nausea acupressure bands! I've been waiting for the positive effects of the bands to wear off and for my nausea to come roaring back, but so far, so good! *This is an affiliate link. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase throught this link. Nausea, acid reflux, and hip pain have been the bane of my existence for months on end with myriad other issues also plaguing me for the past two years. The last few days are the best I've felt in soooo long! All of my nausea and reflux medications have become less and less effective over time, so I guess I'm waiting for the same thing to happen with these bands. . . Hopefully they will continue to be effective until we figure out what's causing the nausea and reflux--I have a big test in mid-May that should give us some answers. If that doesn't res...

Friends, I have had such a great day! After over two years of nausea, tummy troubles, hip pain, vertigo, and more, I can't believe today was so amazing! Please note: some links in this post are affiliate in nature and may result in a small commission to me at no extra cost to you.  The Sea Bands I mentioned in yesterdays post have been AMAZING! They are so simple but have truly transformed my life!  Expect a lot of exclamation points in this post! Sorry, not sorry! I have been experimenting with periodically taking the motion sickness bands off here and there (I must find them irritating at night even though they are fine during the day as I take them off in my sleep), and they definitely are helping to improve my nausea. They are working better than any medications I've tried! I woke up slowly this morning and eventually took myself and my dog to Starbucks for my free birthday drink and for my dog's favorite treat--a plain bagel for her--and then we came home and lounged...

Oops! I missed posting on day 6 of 30 for my personal health reset challenge!  On day 5 , I mentioned that I had ordered some homeopathic items for my nausea and severe reflux. They didn't arrive until fairly late in the afternoon that day, so I didn't really get to fully evaluate anything that day.  However . . .  I am SO HAPPY that I ordered Sea Bands ! These are a pair of wrist bands with a little hard bump inside each one that is meant to be positioned over a pressure point just below the wrist on the forearms.  And, they seem to WORK! Now, I've only been using them for about 48 hours, so maybe it's premature to proclaim success. However, I have played with wearing them and not wearing them quite a bit over the past two days, and I'm satisfied! Really, wearing these makes me feel like I've blown past my goal of feeling 10% healthier! Unfortunately, taking them off results in a slide back to severe nausea. They are quite tight, as well, and I've taken the...