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emilyyhill · 5 years

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Doing the health thing.

As many of you know, the past four to six months has been an absolute roller coaster for me health wise. I have had more diagnoses than I can count on one hand but nothing was drastic enough for to elicit a dramatic response. So I kind of just wandered through this ridiculous season until everything clicked and we worked something out.

Now I’ve only felt good for three weeks, so I’m still taking this very slow. I am not getting too excited just yet. But:

I went super MIA for a good while there. As I’ve reemerged and shared what’s been happening with friends, I hear so many people saying “I feel like that too!” or asking “How on Earth did you get better?” So here we are. The list of things I’m doing to help get/keep me healthy.

Now I’m not a doctor or health professional by any stretch – this is purely what I’ve done and what MY TEST RESULTS informed MY DOCTORS and HEALTH PEOPLE. So please don’t take this as gospel truth.

But I feel like I have some advice for those feeling a bit stuck in a cycle of health that definitely isn’t what it should be.

First things first, it’s not normal to be exhausted. Full stop. We live in a society where we are busy all the time, and a lot of us are unknowingly addicted to a substance (*cough* coffee *cough*) to try and alleviate underlying sleep deprivation. This is not sustainable – you should never be that busy that you are always feeling like you need a weeks worth of sleep.

It’s also not normal to feel tired after 8-10 hours of sleep. Fatigue and daytime sleepiness is a HUGE indicator that your body is not functioning at its peak. It means that something is lacking: whether it be sleep, nutrients, water, positivity – all of things contribute to our energy levels.

For example, fatigue and daytime sleepiness can be a symptom of: • Low iron or excess iron – iron’s can be annoying like that; • Mental health conditions like depression or anxiety; • Food intolerance and IBS; • Sleep apnea or poor sleep routines; • Low blood pressure; • Glandular fever or cytomegalovirus (or a bunch of other viruses); • Super simple things, like dehydration, jetlag or overeating (that post Christmas nap is definitely supported by s c i e n c e); • About a million other things.

So if you are feeling tired even after a regular night’s sleep, first consider your schedule and then consider a further investigation into the inner workings of that hot lil bod of yours 😏

I hear you: “That’s great Em. But who can help me? My doctor doesn’t care because I don’t have blood gushing out of a limb that’s falling off!” I feel you: My doctor ignored me for YEARS until I crashed real bad, and even then, he didn’t really care. *sigh* Not a fun time. Obviously I don’t go to that doctor anymore.

Go see a naturopath. But a good one. Not a hippie one.

Not that I’m against hippie naturopaths, I’m sure they are helpful too. But if a naturopath is going to be your main port of call for recovery, make sure you are seeing an experienced, degree qualified natural health specialist. Looking into your eyes with a shiny light is not enough on it’s own. Make sure they know their stuff.

Make sure they are using reputable brands of supplements (Metagenics, BioCeuticals, MediHerb etc.) that require practitioner prescriptions – in other words, you can’t just buy the supplements “over the counter”. And, they should recommend more than just essential oils.

Naturopathics can be a slow process, and it might take a while for you to see some changes. They look for the cause of the problem and try to resolve that, rather than putting band aids on things (an approach typically taken by mainstream medical doctors). But, for me, once we worked out what was causing my issues, it was a BINGO moment and I hit the health jackpot within DAYS.

Heads up: naturopaths by definition are a bit alternative. They’ll definitely ask about your poo, want to poke you and their machines make weird sounds but hey, it’s usually pretty non-intrusive.

It can also be expensive, especially when you start taking supplements and vitamins. It’s also not recognised by Medicare or most private health insurance, so it’s usually an out of pocket expense. I totally understand that may not be feasible for everyone. But – if you can, I totally recommend.

I go to Don Graham at Vitage Naturopathics (Springwood). He and his wife Sandy are AMAZING, drop them a line here.

Don’t abandon your general practitioner or specialist.

Look, when things hurt or are causing significant disruptions – GO TO THE DOCTOR. When I’m covered in a heinous rash and I can’t sleep because of it, I can’t wait another three weeks to see the naturopath and then go on an elimination diet and try this, that, and the other. I NEED TO SLEEP DAMMIT. Get me onto those steroids, stat. But not before I take photos to show the naturopath later. It’s teamwork, look it up.

Keep a symptom diary.

We all like to think that we have a pretty good memory. You don’t. Your memory is shit. Write stuff down. Track your period, track your headaches, track the days you have explosive diarrhoea and the days you are constipated. TRACK ALL YOUR SYMPTOMS.

Whether you go to a naturopath or a doctor, having it all on paper with dates will help you figure out if there are any patterns or if you’re just a loose cannon (still sad about Luke from Survivor, so here’s a meme in his honor).

Find yourself some good friends.

Heck, chronic illness can be lonely as hell. You miss out on parties, on coffee catch ups. you have to drop activities that you did with friends (like going to gym classes or walking your puppies together).

Research has shown that people who report high levels on loneliness are also more likely to develop both short and long term illnesses, ranging from colds to dementia. Loneliness will make it so much harder for you to get better, both physically and mentally.

So what happens when you might drop off the radar for days, weeks, or months at a time?

Rely on incredible friends who understand that every plan is tentative pending health. Find those people who will check in with you when you’ve been a bit MIA, and are willing to ditch the cute café for a cup of tea in your lounge room when can’t get yourself out of the house.

In saying that, reach out to people. Don’t expect everyone to know what’s going on, and still try to take the small steps you can to show people you still care (and just need a little extra love right now).

Be gracious with yourself and the state of your home – you don’t have to have everything perfectly together to invite someone over. Maybe you sit on the couch in your pyjamas and chat for a grand total of half an hour because that is all you can manage. If so, that’s okay! You made an effort, and when you have such little capacity, that will scream volumes to your friends.

Embrace the discomfort of making changes.

I cringe a little bit every time I, a girl wearing a dress with cons, order a soy flat white in my pink Pottery for the Planet keep cup, but hey, we’re embracing the discomfort.

I had to give up God’s most precious gift to humanity: the humble smoked almond. Don’t even get me started on hummus. Yet here we are, feeling a million times better for it. Thank God for a sneaky cheat moment here and there (not a whole day or I’d look like a 22 week pregnant lady…).

Problem was – unbeknownst to me, I relied on food for comfort. It was always familiar; I KNEW I’d feel emotionally better after some cheese and a choccy milk. I had to realise that I needed healthier coping strategies now other than food – like meditation and exercise and… actually dealing with my problems. Ugh.

I also had to embrace the fact that people loved me even when I couldn’t do anything for them. I was still a part of my church when I couldn’t serve on team. My family still loved me when I didn’t contribute to the dishes for a while.

My worth to people isn’t attached to what I can do for them and that was a huge thing for me to learn. I probably would not have fully understood that lesson had I not been so absolutely unable to do anything for anyone but myself.

Embrace the discomfort – you’ll grow from it. I promise.

Find things that you like!

Let’s talk about healthy juices. With this list of food intolerances rounding up at SEVENTEEN, a lot of my faves got the cut (see ya honey, pineapple, mango etc. etc.). You know what didn’t get the cut? BLOODY SPINACH. What is full of iron and good for your belly? SPINACH. What am I eating a lot of right now? SPINACH.

I don’t love spinach, but when combined with other things and blended to a pulp, it can be good. The only way you are going to stick to a new lifestyle is by finding things you like. Plus, life is way to short to drink gross smoothies every day.

It could be that you try to find new forms of exercise that are better for your condition - I recently discovered yoga and climbing, both of which are heaps less taxing on my adrenal glands and therefore better for my fatigue.

It may be new routines – I have to go to bed earlier than before which means I often can’t spend time with friends on “school nights”. I had to shift my hours at work from 8 to 4 to 10 to 6 so that I could do what I need to do in the morning before work.

It might be swapping to new products - I changed my skin care products because I was allergic to one of the chemicals in the one I had been using for years.

It’s trial and error – you have to be open to trying new things, and deal with the fall out of some changes doing more damage than before. But when you work out what works, it’s like a whole new person. Trust me on this, yeah? It pays off in the long run.

Be diligent.

It can be frustrating and it can be so hard not to see the pay off until the long run. Taking your pills twice a day, drinking your veggie smoothie thing twice a day, consistently putting your health first when you just want to go out and eat freaking cheese pizza. I get it, it’s tedious. But consistency is key. It’ll happen and you’ll build a new routine and relish in all your new found health and wellness. YAY.

Pay attention to your mind, not just your body.

The way we think about our body has HUGE implications on our physical health. I touched on this earlier with the loneliness thing. The same principle expands to positivity, to courage, to telling ourselves that our body is strong and rebuilding, not a piece of shit that’s not doing its job. Spend time meditating, reading, reflecting, feeding your mind good thoughts while we feed our bodies with good food!

Wow this got pretty long. If you’re still here, congrats. I really do hope you got something good out of it – even if it’s that you should definitely go buy some smoked almonds because they are something wonderful that this Earth does not deserve.

Hit me up if you ever want to chat! Always open, always keen, available sometimes (because recovering and still kinda tired…).

All my love, E x

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redlemonz · 7 years

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Day #19

My liver feels quite betrayed this morning. Just lying in bed, dehydrated as hell in mind and body, and I can anxiously hear my heart beating the way it is with the after effects of the alcohol in my system. Although, that effect thankfully only lasts so long once I gulp down some glorious and thirst quenching icy cold water. The physical medicine to all my real troubles. Probably also helps that I healed rather quickly and am not hungover due to the fact that I ate a huge burger and 20 nuggets at 3am - I'm such a genius. Actually no, I'm not. The exact opposite in that regard because of how I got to that destination, but I'm not going to be able to disclose that now without further self hatred incurring so I'll leave it as it is. Nevertheless, though my memory is lacking in its details, it was a nice night hanging with my ex-work mate. Her dog was also very adorable - the poor thing is blind in one eye and quite deaf though, and is sadly nearing the end of her time supposedly. Even though she was rather smelly (even after a bath - wet dog smell, I believe it's called?) and riddled my sweater with fur, she was a joyous and welcoming new friend to me. I also got the chance of reliving my days as my high school's table tennis captain (we didn't have the most formidable team) which was exciting, as I demolished my friend in a game when we decided to start scoring (though she put up a good fight). My friend was telling me about the past weekend in which she happened to go to the same snowy mountain as her too, and stayed there around the exact same time. So obviously my mind was then fixated on her yet again, and questioned whether my friend was lucky enough to be in her presence as I wish I could've been, especially in the snow. Thankfully I didn't end up making too much of a drunken mess of myself and end up calling her. Though I did send a couple generic snaps, and I may have texted her a heart emoji at 2am.. fuck. So close. I acknowledged it today in another message, but haven't heard anything back at all - not that I need to. I'll just leave it there as it is. Here's just hoping I didn't awaken her from her beauty sleep in the middle of the night is all (though she doesn't need it). Overall it was still a good learning experience - Im pretty content now with not drinking again for a while, unless I'm comfortably with her somehow. Day 19 - personal security Spending my morning with all the nieces, as my sister and brother in law are busy cleaning their house and running errands during the day. The kids are running wild and causing havoc and destruction to everything in their path, as kids should I suppose. Someone's gotta do something though before things get too out of control and the house burns down - this feels like a job for.. The Godfather. Okay so I just wanted to hype up the scenario so that I could say that. It's actually a pretty chill time as the eldest one is watching some teen YouTube vlogger and I'm just playing catch with the 1 year old and my favourite one (whom is the only one I'm ironically not the Godfather for). Just kidding though of course - they're all my favourites. Because they all bring so much love and joy to my heart with their sweet innocence and adorability. But also because they all watch Pokemon with me. Anyhow, I picked up my guitar and started playing all that I could with my limited skill - and my nieces gathered around and loved it, and would dance along to it or simply listen in content. Except for the elder one - she's 7, so she's sensible and knows I'm probably shit at guitar. I'm actually procrastinating going to the gym and getting some exercise in too, even though I really should given the fact I actually do have decent energy right now. Fuck that unnecessary anxiety right now though, I'll just go tomorrow. I mean I'm still suffering from a busted finger from indoor (who knows how the hell it happened) so that's a valid excuse. But also primarily because I have to work security (and by that I mean we usually just stand around in a friendly red and yellow uniform for hours on end) tonight at some World Darts Championship that's supposedly a big deal. Should be entertaining I suppose, except that I'll be surrounded by old, drunk English men in the West part of town ( I've only agreed to the job tonight so that I have something to pass the time with, instead of wallowing in my thoughts and striking myself mentally further about how three weeks ago right now I'd be down there, by her side, feeling whole. Great, I miss her again - how flabbergastingly unusual. I don't think that's going to change much either when I transform into a security bitch tonight however - considering she use to be one of my colleagues too. I initially got her and a couple other friends the role, so we could all attend some free concerts essentially, and get paid for the minimal effort of work required. Also because I thought it'd be another avenue in which I'd just get to spend more time with her in general too. Except she'd be allocated the blue shirt role, which was sort of more like ushering and promoting the 'awesome events'. It made sense though - she's pretty good at putting people in their place after all, and at guiding them to where they need to be in life (yup, even ushering has philosophical undertones now). We would always try and meet up for our breaks, grab a delicious bratwurst or something - though she would've maybe resorted to a pie and donuts instead, and enjoy whatever performance was on. So you'd have me, in my red and yellow shirt (sort of like a red lemon, you could even say), and her rocking her favourite colour, but without the lime green tinge (which was a missed fashion opportunity on the Company's part - though what the hell do I know about fashion), and together we'd make one badass security couple who saved lives. Or maybe just strolled around aimlessly and showed people their seats. Wondering what she's up to this weekend as I eat some noodles and yam (thrilling meal, I know). Last she told me she'd be doing some domesticated duties such as helping around the house with cleaning and some gardening. Hopefully she's actually managing to keep an empty sink that's not up to its neck with dishes. Shouldn't be a problem considering that her parents should still be down there I think, cracking that whip. I'm actually so glad that they have been there too - ideally that's reduced any sense of loneliness she would otherwise feel when being alone in that house. That's why I suppose that I haven't felt as much worry as I did at the beginning, even though I constantly still continue to. Seems as though she's doing well and moving on with her life best as she can. It helps that she's a proactive and focused person who can potentially shove any negative thoughts aside and move forward a lot easier than others, especially me. That's just because she's always been a stronger and tougher human being. She did also mention that some twin lambs were born at the farm house at which she resides, but that unfortunately one was unable to walk, and ultimately did not make it through that evening. It was heartbreaking to hear the way in which that mother lost one of her babies, and that the other baby lost its twin sibling. In that moment I just wished I could be there and give her a comfort cuddle. There's more newborns to arrive in the coming weeks apparently too, so here's hoping things go swell in that regard. Nevertheless, I'm happy and I feel pretty lucky that she's kept me in the loop with her life and all the happenings, even though I've been demoted considerably and don't actually know where I fully stand, except on the other end of the bridge from her. She wasn't wrong at all though (classic) - it is nice that we're mutually navigating this weird after relationship zone and putting in sufficient enough effort to remain in each other's lives. Of course I'd say that though - I freaking love her after all. Star power! Myself and my mate, the leader of the pack were coincidentally working together side by side tonight, as we got designated the same team & duties. Supposedly we did an amazing job considering we were informed that our team leader sung our praises back to management as we were signing out at the end of our shifts. I actually had a reasonably great time as a result - and very enjoyable so, as none of it really felt like much work. I also ended up with a new free umbrella, which was left unclaimed. My first one since she broke mine a while ago - guess I can finally move on now, like Misty did from Ash when she finally received her bike after 5 fucking seasons. Despite everything, I still missed her presence tonight as my secutie (see what I did there). The sad part was just at the beginning as I was signing in, as the big boss was asking me where my girlfriend was. I just said that she moved down, out of our town - way too much effort and time to explain otherwise, when he's busy and doesn't actually give a shit. Just another crappy reminder of my reality though, and further makes me realise that a lot of friends (even close ones) who are presently unaware of these circumstances also. But again - I don't think they give a shit either. It's not like I've really had any of them even bother speaking to me anyway so yeah. That's probably why I'm enjoying and valuing time on my own significantly more than I believed I would initially. I don't require any fake or convenient friends, who likely probably judge me or don't want to make the effort to be present. Not that I can speak - I'm probably a hypocrite when it comes down to that too - primarily as I'm simply just not a very nice person. On the other hand, there's also been some really wonderful people in my life that I do in fact value so much more because they've reached out to me. Essentially everyone I've mentioned previously is included (local homie, mastermind, two thirds of the pack, the work-wife, my family, etc) under that, in addition to others. It's not an award ceremony so I'm not exactly going through the effort to name everyone. There's also Blondie, who was part of our New Years crew - she's always been lovely to me and is the tough yet kind, and caring yet non-sympathetic friend who slams down reality on you (in a good way - tough love). I'd definitely break more bones for her if it were ever required. So she's trying to sort out some dinner plans and catch up and everything which is rather nice. There's also my other indoor team mate who had described her similar relationship story which was almost reflective of mine - the dentist, who's been supportive and has always made the effort for me, and others whenever she's capable to. I have an incredible level of respect and admiration for her, as she's quite inspiring herself. A great dancer too - she taught me a few steps which was much more enjoyable than I imagined, once I started understanding how to move my feet. So she's taken the time to message me details about a potluck dinner which is tomorrow night - which I haven't decided upon whether I am attending yet, due to the crazy level of sociable activity this weekend has already involved. However, she has actively messaged me regarding the event, including the rescheduled date that turned into tomorrow, and has otherwise also been involved in generally just being the kind of friend I've needed. When people personally make the effort to invite you along to their events for which their social media usually simplifies the task on a broader, networked audience - it's just something a little more special. More so because they don't judge or question why you're taking a break away from the social media platforms - they simply just accept you and move on with life as your friend regardless. I mean as I've said before - I have enough self pity in my own endless hole of despair already, so I don't require any further of it from anyone else. These true friends are the ones that have shined a light as a result, and it's just a surprising comparison I suppose, because the ones I'm closest to usually (with exception to mastermind) have kept their distance. Even so, I'm grateful for all these people I constantly probably take for granted otherwise, for being the human beings that I could only aspire to be more like. Especially her - through everything we've been through, she's still been sticking by my side and has been making the effort of putting up with me and my 2am text messages. I ended my Saturday night with some late night snap message exchanges with her, right up until 1am. Though she did disclose to me that I did in fact unfortunately wake her up with my stupid heart emoji late last night, as aforementioned, so I'm not proud in regards to that. I apologised. She was much too sweet as usual, and constantly displays such care and concern for me that is simply heart warming, and brings a loving smile to my face. I really couldn't ask for a better conclusion as a result really - well, except for maybe if I had her head against my chest right now, and her arm wrapped around me. It's freezing after all.

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