During our office lunch break, instead of taking our meals, a  power nap  is what I really deserve.  Locked in our room and side by side with  my pregnant officemate who  cannot be outdone if we talk about catching up the zzzzzzz’s, we can reach dreamland in our ergonomic chair for an hour break  from the busy office work.  I must admit that I had developed this bad habit of staying up till the  wee hours doing my blogging, chatting and on the sideline watching  TV news  hoping not to miss any single turn out of events happening around the world esp. the the political turmoil in Egypt.   I am like a zombie in the morning and hubby always have difficulty waking me up.  Since I don’t have the liberty to be late reporting to work, even how still sleepy I am, I need to do my morning rituals and dress up as fast as I can.  We need to hit the road early to avoid getting caught up in traffic.

I found the calmness of the night inspiring and made me more productive working on things that I can’t simply do early in the night.   Because that’s when ideas are flowing and my momentum going!   Although, I’ve noticed lately that I don’t look “pretty”(lol) with noticeable dark circles under the eyes and the skin seemed dry.  That I believe are the effects of bad… bad sleeping habits.

I made  scrutiny of bottles of anti aging and anti wrinkle cream in the beauty section of a department store one time we had the chance to shop.   I would like to believe that it would help in a way but my husband said that if I won’t stop with being a night owl, no amount of creams or even make-up can camouflage the dryness of my skin especially around the eye area.    Yes, I thought so too!   But sometimes this stubborn side of me… usually puts me into trouble.

OMG, I simply can’t contain my exasperation when prominent lines on my forehead and the laugh lines can’t hide the signs of aging.  Really,  I am certified old!    I then made a pact with myself that I will go slow and initially, I will try to be a Cinderella for a week, meaning I will not go beyond the 12 midnight mark, I will do it gradually till I develop the habit of sleeping around 9 to 10 pm.

This is it!  Almost 12 midnight now.. as promised I should be sleeping around this time.  In fact, it should be much earlier but ..oh well… goodnight….

Until I met Ana M. this morning that I was really convinced about the “miracle coffee diet” that they have been talking about.  She was holding her little insulated thermos which according to her, she carry  with her  anywhere she goes.  This diet craze (or a fad) is very popular among her co-teachers because she is the perfect example of one who lost so much weight by just drinking coffee.  Yes, I was really amazed how she did that!    She swore that the diet is very effective  (I think so too!).  As she recounted , she only changed her eating habits and she only take coffee as often and as much as possible and sometimes she only take an apple or orange to go with the caffeine.

Though I was impressed, still I believe that what she is doing is unhealthy!  So, even when she mentioned the coffee brand, I showed no interest at all.   Now that I am trying to recall the brand name, really it did not registered on my mind.   When I got home, because I was intrigued, I browsed the web to check if there is really a coffee diet.  True enough, there are articles posted about it.   However, I  need to find out  the coffee brand she is using.

I don’t know why I am beginning to visualize a new me (lol…in case I will try the diet!)

It’s not a girl’s name.  It is a forewarning signal that an impending headache is coming and in fact, it is not new to me because almost every month, I am having this aura thing.  I can see spots, wavy and flashing lights when my eyes are closed about 30 minutes before the headache starts.  I dread the feeling of having pulsating and throbbing pain on the left side of my head, then moderate headache ensues that usually get worse with physical activity.  As soon as I had this feeling of nausea, I already on guard for vomiting episodes sometimes accompanied by disturbing stomach pains.   There is also  increased sensitivity to light and noise and that’s the clear signal for me to lock myself in a dark and quiet bedroom.  Everybody are aware that I should not be disturb during those times for I will sleep all my aches away.  However, it is of no help because the moment I wake up, it is still there.  Usually, my migraine lasts 12 to 24 hours.   That’s my calvary!  Oh my!

I have done research about its prevention and what I’ve learned are the following worth sharing:

• There are foods like consuming chocolate, monosodium glutamate (MSG), red wine and caffeine can trigger the attack.  It also includes stress, change in daily routine and hormonal thing.     Hmmm.  I don’t use MSG, or drink red wine but I love chocolate and coffee.
• Not enough or getting too much sleep.   I may say not enough sleep doesn’t have any affect at all but getting too much sleep does.  I have noticed that if I get out of bed way beyond my waking hours, I feel sluggish and feeling nauseous.
• Fasting or skipping meals.   Nope, I don’t skip meals.  Fasting ??? Yes, Fast eating!!!!.
• Stress or intense emotions.   Might be….
• Strong odors or cigarette smoke.   Our house is a No Smoking area and nobody smokes.  Strong odors?  We do take a bath regularly….lol
• Bright lights or reflected sunlight.  Probably true…

Oh my!  I dread days of having migraine!

But even how cautious I am and how hard I tried to avoid those triggering factors,  I still continue to experience this migraine thing.   I have never consulted a neurologist about this but one day I will!

Just early this morning, aura was in sight…

Not a good day!

When I opened our hospital email this morning, these 5 letters caught my attention, A.A.A.D.D.  It is said to mean  Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.   Is there such a thing ?  Well, I just thought of sharing this email  from someone.   Please read on.

Symptoms of A.A.A.D.D

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D – Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

I decided to water my garden.  As I turned on the hose in the driveway, I looked over at my car and decide it needs washing.  As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up form the mail box earlier.

I decided to go through the mail before I wash the car.  I lay my car keys on teh table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decided to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.  But then I think, since I’m going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.  I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.  My extra checks are in my desk in the study room, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Pepsi I’d been drinking.

I need to go for my checks, but first I need to push the Pepsi aside so that I don’t accidentally knock it over.  The Pepsi is getting warm, and I decided to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.  As I head towards the kitchen with the can of cola,  a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye – they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I’ve been searching for all morning.  I decided I better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers.  I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill the container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.  Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight  when we go to watch TV. I ‘ll be looking for the remote, but I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I’ll water the flowers.  I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.  So I set the remote back ont eh table ,get some towels and wipe up the spills.

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.  At the end of the day:

the car isn’t washed, the bills aren’t paid, there is warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter, the flowers don’t have enough water, there is still only 1 check in my checkbook, I can’t find the remote, I can’t find my glasses, and I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really baffled because, I know I was busy all day, and I’m really tired.  I realize this is a serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it, but first I’ll check my e-mail….

Well, as a warning –  if this isn’t you yet, don’t laugh now because your days are coming!  Is A.A.A.D.D for real?  If you can relate to the story.. maybe it does exist now.

Overindulgence !  … to food and drinks during the past Holiday season… It was the  season when most of those  who were on diet , threw their cares away and indulge in merry making, endless food and drinking.  And I was one  of them… actually I broke my “no rice diet” which I have painstainkingly withstood for more than 11 months and on the 12th month that is December, I started to care less.   Bad.. very bad me……

Who would not gain with generous servings of these food?

So I believe, now  that the New Year has started… I will start to go back to my diet because when I stepped on my new scale yesterday, I  was not at all  surprised if I am 1 kilo heavier.  I don’t have any misgivings because it was to my own doing and it such a waste of time of feeling sorry that I overindulged.    That is the result of depriving one’s body of food you love so much to eat and once you started to eat what you had avoided, you can’t help but get more than enough of servings.

For over 5 days now, I have started detoxification… Actually it is not the rigid detoxification my friend recommended.  I have started to psyche myself and I am now on the  initial phase of slowly cutting back of calories intake.  Initially, I am experimenting with drinking a glass of water mixed with  2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to a glass every meal.  I am aware that there is no miracle diet really but it is better this way, at least I am doing something to arrest my cravings.  I am just hopeful and I wanted to belive that this might work for me.  Of course, self discipline, cutting back on calories plus exercise  are proven means to shed pounds.

So, after the gain… there should be pain…

We’ve been to a Rheumatologist  who checked on my husband’s chief complaint of persistent neck pain.  The pain has been crippling him no end to the point that he can’t even drive well and if he does, there should be someone to assist him in giving him the go signal whenever he wants to turn either left or right.  His limited neck and head movement is really deterrent to his activities.  Moreover, he is obviously irritated and it is a lot harder for me to deal with a grumpy husband!

Prior to his check up he had undergone fasting for his scheduled early laboratory test.  The test  yielded high triglycerides and uric acid.  So, it’s clear now, the cause of his discomfort is  the high level of uric acid of 11 mg/dL. compared to the normal values  between 3.0 -7.0 mg/dL.  Dr. Lina advised him to take easy on foods that usually trigger the increase of urics in the blood.  The assisting  nurse pulled out a  ready copy of  Low Uric Diet  and I believe,  it  is worth sharing here.  Please read on. 

Foods to avoid:

1. organ meat like liver, heart, brain, kidneys
2. meat that contains high amount of fats like red meat, camel, duck, rabbit meat
3. luncheon meat
4. hotdog and sausages
5. seafood like shrimps, tuna, sardines, anchovies
6. lentils, lentil soups
7. mushroom, cauliflower, oatmeal
8. hummus
9. spinach
10. bean and peas (dry)
11. chocolates
12. Yeasts, and yeast extracts (such as beer, and alcoholic beverages)

As soon as we got home, I’ve done my reseach about Uric Acid so I can understand it better.   I found the following answers:

“Uric acid is a chemical created when the body breaks down substances called purines. Purines are found in some foods and drinks, such as liver, anchovies, mackerel, dried beans and peas, beer, and wine. Most uric acid dissolves in blood and travels to the kidneys, where it passes out in urine. If your body produces too much uric acid or doesn’t remove enough if it, you can get sick. High levels of uric acid in the body is called hyperuricemia.

Hope that hubby will follow what was advised.  It is hard to see a loved one in pain.  However, if he will still continue with his poor eating habits and lifestyle and will be in pain again… hmp.. I will ignore him so he will realize that he is misbehavin…..

Hubby woke up one day grumpier ever because of his limited head movement.  He can’t turn his head left and right and his muscles are really tight around the neck and shoulder area.   Initially, we suspected it was only muscle spasm or  maybe it is  because of the new prescribed hypertensive medicine he is taking.   To somehow relieve his neck pain, we bought him a neck brace to stabilize the neck and head movement while waiting for his appointment to his Internist.

He felt  temporarily relief on the affected area with the use of the neck brace and at the same time applied Voltaren Emulgel to reduce swelling and combats inflammation.  We will find out tomorrow on his hospital check up.

Hope there’s  nothing worry about….

My kin loves chocolates!  I used to often send them these sugary- laden candies as a treat because I knew well they are sweet toothed and I want to make them happy!  However, this well meaning gesture of mine seemed to have added to the chocolate addiction of my relatives and I was bothered for quite sometime because my brother sent me an e-mail asking me to buy him a blood glucose monitoring apparatus  because lately he was suspected to have diabetes.

As I have done my research,  these are the different myths about the cause of diabetes:

• Eating sweets or the wrong kind of food does not cause diabetes. However, it may cause obesity and this is associated with people developing Type 2 diabetes.

Stress does not cause diabetes, although it may be a trigger for the body turning on itself as in the case of Type 1 diabetes. It does, however, make the symptoms worse for those who already have diabetes.

Diabetes is not contagious. Someone with diabetes cannot pass it on to anyone else.

I wonder if there is any truth about the presumption that if you urinate on the ground and ants are attracted to the spot because of the sugar in your urine, then you have diabetes.   They say that diabetes is hereditary but I have not come across any of my relatives to have this kind of problem.  So, maybe my brother is only over acting and thought he had acquired the disease because of some symptoms he might have thought to be diabetes.

To be sure, I bought a glucose monitoring apparatus and box of  glucose strips so he will be able to check if there is really a need to worry.  Since they still believe that sweets are the culprit for diabetes, I will just go easy in  sending them chocolates so I will not be getting the weight of the blame just in case.

I will just keep these yummy chocolates at bay till they have the cravings again and the diabetes scare is gone!.

It seemed that we are having strings of medical problems these days one after the other.  I came ahead, followed by my son and now my husband is feverish and with swollen tonsils.  After the heavy sandstorm yesterday, the weather changed drastically.   At night, it was too cold for comfort, big shift from warm to cold temperature.  Apparently, that really triggered the already impending colds my husband has been feeling days before.  And this morning when he woke up, he was sick and sluggish.  However, he still took me to office and reported to his work but went home off sick at midday.  

We did not bother to go to OPD of a nearby hospital for consultation to avoid the long queue of patients who were also seeking medical attention.  Though we knew it is not a good practice but we opted to buy over the counter drugs since it was only few days apart since I got sick and we thought that the meds which worked for my inflammed tonsils will also do wonders for him. 

So far, we can see that he is getting better, can take solid foods with little difficulty in swallowing and he is not so grumpy anymore.   Good… good!

I know by tomorrow he will be up and about and in good mood.  We will see!  Good night then!

Another casualty in the family!  My son alarmed us no end when in the middle of the night, he woke us up complaining of non-stop vomiting, loose stools and headaches and was already having numbness in his arms.  I know that was something that need to be dealth with professionally and so we brought him to the Emergency Room of a nearby hospital.  He was given IV fluids as replenishment and laboratory tests were done stat (at once).  And the result was mild case of food poisoning.  We traced back what he ate the night before and we really suspected that it wast the fish balls that my husband bought from a Filipino store which he cooked and shared with my son.  Time and again I have been reminding my husband to minimize buying frozen foods and to always check labels.  And the unfortunate incident happened. 

The attending ER physician told us my son is for confinement, however we signed a waiver for ”against medical advice” because we opted to take him home with prescribed meds.  I believe I can take care of him while at home since they wanted him to be confined only for observation.  I guess, I wanted to rely on my self as someone who can give him the best motherly love and care.  

The main reason was, it was a month ago when my son was already deleted from the list of my husbands dependents eligible for medical insurance.  And no medical insurance will mean jacked up hospital bills!   It was too hard to decide that time knowing that room rates per day would surely drain our pockets.  So, having medical insurance counts a lot! 

With God’s grace, my son healed and recovered fast!  And it was because of patience, TLC (Tender Loving Care) only a mom can give!