Sunday Weigh In February 16, 2020

[Barb135]

Good morning... How are things this morning? I believe we're headed for a very pleasant day - maybe a bit too warm for this time of year, if that's possible.  I think it's supposed to be close to 80° today so it should be a wonderful day to get out and do something fun.  

My week has been relatively uneventful.  I've spent some time sorting through "stuff" and packing some things up to donate, others I'm setting aside for a yard sale.  In the end, I may decide to simply donate it all instead of dealing  with a yard sale, which is a lot of work.  I've had some yard sales that turned out very well, others that didn't, so I'll have to think about it.  If I do have a yard sale, it will have to be within the next month while we still have the snowbirds to provide the traffic.  A lot of what I've packed up, so far, is clothing, which doesn't sell well on yard sales here, so that will definitely be donated.

Health-wise, nothing has really changed so there isn't much to talk about there. I did see my dermatologist on Thursday and she froze off a small area that she said was actinic keratosis, which is often precancer.   I've been walking every day and really trying to cut down on the sugary snacks, though I haven't been able to kick the craving.  On Wednesday, my weight was down a pound from last week, but I haven't weighed this morning, so I don't know if I've managed to maintain that or not.  My weight is, typically, higher first thing in the morning so I'll weigh later and post that.

I'm off now for my morning walk - it's a bit chilly so it takes a little while to get enough layers on to stay warm (cold intolerance is a thyroid thing).  Can't wait to see the new endo in April, yet I dread it because I'm afraid it will be more of the same old stuff I've dealt with for years...

So - how's your week been?  I hope you reached the goals you set -or at least, most of them.  I'm looking forward to hearing about them.

~~Wishing you a wonderful, successful week~~

[AnnieBrooke]

I'm up .8 of a pound this morning, and not pleased. This bouncing around in the tenths of a pound is getting kind of irritating.

The walking my son and I have been doing has been surprising in that I find I genuinely can't run more than a block, and also, after the walks, my legs have really ached. I'm also exhausted in the middle of the day. I finally set up a doctor appointment, concerned about either artery problems or nerve problems. Looking at conditions that can cause the leg pain has made me take a long look back at my years of sugared Dr. Pepper, and I've also never watched my fats. I've been told in the past that I have white-matter disease ("not MS!" the doctor said encouragingly, when I had no idea why she would bring up MS, or what white-matter disease even is). But when reading up on sore legs and the tiredness, one condition mentioned was MS, and since the doctor had mentioned it that time it has me concerned. Leg pain can also come from artery issues, which we have in my family in a big way,

Anyway, I don't know what the doc will do to try to rule out these more serious things. I hope there are tests and it isn't just guessing by symptoms. (Though, some tests I could live without. They found the white-matter disease by an MRI of my head -- those are claustrophobic and it would be nice to never have to have another one.)  It would be embarrassing (but good news) if she just said my problem is that I hadn't been exercising enough and my legs aren't used to it. Unfortunately, I just get the feeling there is more going on..

Anyway, I'll weigh in the middle of the week and see if that .8 holds. I'm trying to scare myself out of the soft-drink world into the nice-glass-of-iced-water world, and if I do, I should see some tenths of a pound go down.

Will check back later in the week!

[Barb135]

I'm sorry your legs are still so sore when you're running.  

I wonder why your doctor diagnosed you with white matter disease, then didn't tell you what to do about it.  According to what I've read about it, it's an age-related disease that shows up in about 1/2 the population by the time we're about 60 and can be slowed down or possibly reversed with diet changes and exercise.  You're kind of young to have been diagnosed with it.

They can do blood tests, of course, to determine your cholesterol and blood glucose levels.  That will determine how much damage the Dr Peppers have been doing since sugar has a tendency to raise triglyceride levels.   Transfats are the main ones that affect our cholesterol.  Sugar isn't going to cause diabetes or blood glucose issues but if you have a problem, you'll just need to separate from the good doctor again.  :-)

There are special ultrasounds they can do to make sure you don't have blood clots in your legs causing the pain - that would be Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).  

Let's just hope that you jumped into the running too quickly without building your muscles first and running every day didn't give them enough time to recuperate after each run.

I have a special bottle that I use for my "nice glass of iced water"...  it holds 20 ounces and I try to drink 3 of them/day.  My urologist swears that it's good for my kidney stones... as far as I can tell all it does is keep the urologist from yelling at me because I still have the kidney stones... lol

Anyway, good luck at your appointment.

[AnnieBrooke]

Thanks for the info on white-matter disease. When I looked it up  (only yesterday), I was pleased to see that not only diet and exercise can improve things, but meditation can too, and within a really short time, like two to four weeks! If my doc does recommend another MRI, I'll tell her we should do it in about 4 weeks and will meditate every day, just to stick it to her for not telling me a dang thing about it. lol  She really had left me with the idea that I was stuck with a brain that was beginning to resemble Swiss cheese in its white-matter aspect and pretty soon all the nerve sheaths were going to be gone and I was going to have MS or worse.

I don't think it's DVT, I don't have swelling and red spots. It's up and down the whole leg. When I was 40, at the drop of a hat I could sprint or jog pretty much until I got where I was going, and now I can jog maybe 30 steps. Part of it isn't leg pain, it's catching my breath, but a lot of it is the legs themselves. Even with the time in between, that's quite a change. I originally did suspect my arteries, since I was having pain walking up the stairs, which is apparently a telling sign, and there of course was my grandpa's example to look at. I don't suspect diabetes. Anyway, I'll just wait and see, and walk fast with my son every night despite my creaky legs. I had a friend who self-diagnosed by reading descriptions of illnesses, and he turned out to be right. I would love to be proven wrong, that is for sure.  

[Barb135]

Yes, meditation can help.  Have you ever considered trying yoga?  I've mentioned that I used to do it every day, but stopped a few years ago.  I keep saying I've going to get back to it, but keep procrastinating.  Yoga is an exercise that takes a lot of concentration and it centers on breathing, stretching and strengthening the core.  I felt so much stronger when I was doing it than I did prior or since.

Of course, you need to consult your doctor but the issue with breathing during exercise could also be because your lungs aren't used to the sudden increased activity.  They can lose a little elasticity if we don't exercise a lot on a regular basis, but like our muscles, our lungs can be built back up again, too, provided there's nothing wrong with them, such as COPD or something.

I diagnosed my hypothyroidism and had to struggle with my doctor's NP to get her to even test my levels because she thought I was wrong, but she finally agreed.  Sure enough, I was right.  I've diagnosed a couple other things as well, but so far doctors have declined to treat, even though they agree that I'm right. I hope your friend had better luck.  

[AnnieBrooke]

Well, his problem was diabetes, so there wasn't much argument when his tests came back. This was about 20 years ago, so, early for someone to be able to look up their symptoms online and guess accurately what they had. (Today it would be much less surprising to look online and diagnose diabetes.)

I do hope that the pain I've been having is mostly just from being out of the practice of exercise, and my doctor is able to tell me I'm worried about nothing. We'll see after the appointment. :)

[AnnieBrooke]

There is a "hot yoga" class near where I live, but a friend who went said it's very unpleasant. Haven't found a more standard yoga class, but it seems like a good idea and I've been kind of keeping my antennae up about it. I do know that there isn't any just watching a video and doing the exercises along with the instructor, for me. Despite my best intentions, I wouldn't do it. So it has to be a class.