All Medicines Are Poison

One of my doctors told me "all medicines are poison".  Well he is right.  They can do more harm than good if not used with great care.

I have managed to wean myself off two medications.  Neither by any means were the strongest dosage.

I found that the Zanaflex that was prescribed years ago for muscle spasms was not needed.  Maybe the last back surgery fixed the cause?  It was no problem going off the Zanaflex.  I was on a low dosage.

Lyrica was prescribed many years ago for burning, biting pains in my legs. Much like fire ants.  I had to reduce the Lyrica dosage down any time that I needed to take antihistamines or any medication that a side-effect was dizziness.... such as some antibiotics.  Forget about taking opiates with Lyrica.... their side-effects were intensified.  They even built up in my system after back surgery in 2008... so much so that I had to go back to the hospital.

The Lyrica was a problem to go off of and I really had not set out to go off of the medication.  It was to a point that I had to go to just one pill a day in order to take antihistamine and antibiotic.  I was taking the antihistamine because I had an allergic reaction to Flagyl.  I had taken the antibiotic before, but this time I had stinging, itchy hives!  The antibiotics (2 different ones) were for diverticulitis... and fortunately I did well with the other antibiotic.

By this time I have an appointment with a podiatrist because I had injured my foot a couple of months before and it was only getting worse.  The podiatrist wanted me to try the nasal anti-inflammatory spray Sprix.  We were hoping since this medication was delivered through the nasal passages that it would cause no side-effects.  With only one Lyrica I had horrible dizziness.. to point of being very off-balance... with the addition of the Sprix.  The spray made me sneeze and irritated my nasal passages and my stomach.  I tried to stick it out using the Sprix by stopping the one pill of Lyrica which I had only been on one a day for  4 or 5 days.  No... did not help so I had to stop the Sprix.

I decided since I had gone a couple of days without the Lyrica that I would try and quit it and see what happened.  I did not think I would make it.   I think I should have stayed on the one pill for a few more days.   I had anxiety and very little sleep for about two weeks.  My heart rate was 95 +... well over a 100 at times.
  
It has two and a half weeks since I stopped Lyrica.  I sometimes feel a little anxiety.  My heart rate has been down in the 70s.  I am actually feeling less pain in my joints.  I am feeling better.... better than I have in a long while.  I am sure I will feel even better in the weeks to come.

I am having allergies acting up now as Spring has decided to arrive early here.  I took an antihistamine yesterday and was very excited that I did not have the excessive dizziness and drowsiness I had combined with the other  medications.

This last year I have lost 8lbs or so.  I was doing well at losing the weight until my foot problem.  Frank had been walking with me and we walked two and a half mile several times a week.  Sometimes close to the three mile mark depending on what trail we took.

I had an MRI of my foot and it does show some inflammation and a neuroma.  The neuroma is not where my foot hurts.  Right now it is wait and see if it gets better on its on.  I go back in a few weeks to see the doctor if it is not better and get another steroid injection... the two I've had already have not helped.  He is talking of going through the top of the foot next time with the needle.

All Medicines Are Poison...  I do not recommend you quit your medications.  I do recommend you talk to your doctor about your medications.  Sometimes we take medications for so long that we forget why we are taking them or they plain do not work any more.

I am not saying that medicines do no good.  Just that we need to be careful and access our medicines.

I encourage you to keep print outs of your medications and surgeries.  It is very easy to do on the computer.  I made tables.  First column is name of medication and amount of MG.  Second column is dosage... how many pills or inhalations with how many times a day and the third column is the prescribing doctor's name.  Do not forget to list the over the counter medications you take.   At the top of the page I have my name, address and phone numbers.  I have my family doctor's name, business address and business phone numbers.  Then I list the medications I am allergic to.  I keep a folded copy with me in my wallet.  I also have a table with my surgeries... type of surgery, when and where it was performed and by whom.


I really do think life is going to better in the coming weeks without these medications.

So I Gained A Little weight.

that is no big deal... after all I was presented with lots of tasty things over the holidays.  Three pounds isn't much... if I had been  doing my normal walking it would be nothing.  I've had a hip bothering me.. so less walking.  It seems to be a bit better and I really need to get out and try to do a bit of walking.  It is too cold to walk around the yard or neighborhood... so maybe soon a walk in the mall.    Time to get away from the games on FB and do a bit more moving around !  Today is laundry day... so shouldn't be much of a problem moving around.

Skin Care

Michelle at Chocolate and Marmalade Tea asked "what is your skincare routine?"

For many years I looked younger than what my actual age is.. so I'm told.  When I was in my mid-thirties I had a teen co-worker ask me why I looked younger than my age.

I told her one reason is probably just genes :-)  Here are some things that I do to take care of my skin.  I wash my face and neck twice a day.  I use the soap that Frank makes.  There are so many soaps I can't use because they contain perfumes I'm allergic to and Frank's soap doesn't have perfume.  It has coconut oil, olive oil and shea butter... and a few things I don't know what are.  When we don't have Frank's soap around I use Dove beauty bar, unscented.  After I wash my face I massage a bit of Cetaphil lotion onto my face and neck.  I like to massage my jaw muscles and my neck muscles to relax them. 

I use the soap Frank makes when I shower too.  I towel dry and apply either Cetaphil lotion or moisturizing cream.  My hands get Cetaphil lotion or hand cream treatment as needed throughout the day.  I use the cream mostly in the winter.  

I hardly ever wear makeup.  When I do put on a foundation I do it thinly.   Concealer is my friend for the dark circles.  

One bit of makeup I like to wear is lipstick or lip balm.

I don't smoke and I don't sun worship or use tanning beds.  Fifteen minutes to an hour of sun a day is good for the skin and it is probably okay to be out in the sun that long without UV protection.

I don't have perfect skin; I still get little bumps on my skin.  There is always going to be an allergen around.  

Okay, that is my skin care.   What is yours?

Breathing Exercises

We wake up and we are breathing... aaah a good thing :-D I have asthma and sometimes my breathing isn't so great. An attack happens when I do strenuous exercise. To prevent this I use my rescue inhaler about 15 minutes before exercising. I used my inhaler a lot on our walks on the trip we took out west last year. It made up hill walking a lot easier.

I try to do breathing exercises to help my breathing on a daily basis. This video is for menopause, but is the same exercise I do. It helps for panic / stress attacks too. Breathing correctly is important in physical exercise.... remember to breathe from the diaphragm and not the chest.

How to Do Breathing Exercises for Menopause

Diet, Exercise and Goals

Do you cringe at the word 'diet'? I do. It seems different when you think of it as what you eat and not a strict regiment of eating foods you don't like.

I've lost somewhere between 10 and 13 pounds the last few months. What helped me lose these pounds was to eat 4 or 5 small meals a day. Believe me I don't get hungry. I'm down to 4 meals because I can't hold 5.

My weight doesn't seem to want to go down lately.

Probably because of my diet... right? I'm eating too many calories. I need more will-power and more patience. Those are my two faults.

Or maybe it is lack of exercise? I exercise don't I?

I can walk 30 minutes or more at a time. I haven't done that much in a while. What are my excuses? The weather was so muggy, but now it is nice and better walking weather. I need someone to walk with. My walking companion passed away more than 2 years ago... has it been that long... Annabelle, our dog, was a wonderful walking companion and I still miss her. Sometimes Frank, my dear husband, is up to walking with me. We don't seem to be able to keep it up though.

I was going to try to ride my bicycle. Um.... last week just up the street a man was beaten and robbed. So I don't want to be out in the neighborhood riding my bicycle or walking without someone with me.

Our neighborhood is nice. The homes are older. Apartments have been built amongst the homes in recent years. With the economy so bad people are doing more bad things.

I found a few illustrations of exercises I do for my knees and shoulder..... it seems physical therapy is never over.

When doing this exercise I sometimes put a ball behind my back... small cheap playball from the discount store. I just roll or slide down the wall until I'm almost sitting.

This is close as I could come to one of the exercises for my shoulder. I basically walk my fingers up the wall as far as I can. I sometimes roll the playball up and down the wall.

This one loosens the muscles in the legs.

This week I got lots of exercise. Frank and I ran lots of errands that required a lot of walking. Then there was putting away the products which required stretching and bending. There was regular household chores of the laundry, dusting, vacuuming and mopping. I also weeded one of the flower beds. I potted some mums and cleaned up the rest of the garden pot flowers. I have muscles that are feeling the extra exercise.

Goals for me now are to eat less calories and exercise more. Now tell me how I get the will-power and patience :-D