I've set myself the challenge of going Facebook-free for a month. All of June. Not just Candy Crush (which I'm proud to say I haven't played in months!). Not just lurking with no interaction allowed. Nothin'. Nada. No logging in, even. I've now gone over 24-hours...it would be longer, but I needed to check on someone's reply to something. But that's the last time.
I now don't know what to do with myself. Random, two-second FB checks were a staple of my day. Come home, open FB. Get bored, open FB. I never really did anything with it, but opening it was part of my routine. It structured my computer time, signaled bedtime, helped me wake up in the morning. Not having any of that has left me stupidly listless. I don't exactly feel lost, just...unfocused. Add to that the bummer that we went through yet ANOTHER power cord for the MacBooks (seriously - those are the shoddiest piece of electronic paraphernalia I've ever had the misfortune to use) and have to wait for a new one to be shipped, and it's left me restless, mindless, and always ready for a nap.
That, however, could be the combination of extra exercise and a functional circadian rhythm. I've been going to the chiropractor for about three months now, and I feel like a totally different person. Okay, that's mostly the Vitamin D supplements. I was desperately low on Vitamin D; I don't know how long that's been going on. Over a year, at least. Probably since I was pregnant with the Berrykin. Maybe since before that, even. 'Cause what those sunscreen ads don't tell you is that if you always apply sunscreen before going outside, you never absorb the UVA rays necessary for Vitamin D synthesis. If, like me, you also happen to be obese (it's a fat-soluble vitamin, so the more fat you have, the more vitamin d gets usurped before it can do its job), no amount of vitamin-d-containing foods are going to cut it.
Two weeks on a low dose of Vitamin D, and my depression was almost gone. Another two and my anxiety largely evaporated. I no longer needed to go back to bed after only being awake 2 or 3 hours...not to sleep (because I wasn't doing that), but just to rest because my body couldn't keep going. I also gained about ten pounds (which strangely happens to me every spring without a dietary change and an *increase* in activity). A few months later, my functional medicine chiropractor looked at my dose and said, "Uh, that's...that's way low. Quadruple that for a week, and then drop down to a double dose." After that week, I kept finding myself smiling for no reason whatsoever.
Vitamin D, man. It's awesome. (It's also part of, like, everything. Estrogen and testosterone production. Muscle growth. Metabolism. Neurotransmitters. Bone density. Skin sensitivity. Immunity. Everything. Practically, anyway.)
Chiropractor discovered that my left hip is sitting a whole inch higher than the right, which has caused some serious lower-body issues. (A regular spread, one hip to the other, is up to 3 mm. Just for reference.) After three months of adjustments, I no longer have back and hip spasms. My spine has started straightening back out again (the hip difference was making it sag to the right). We've brought the hips about 3mm closer to even. I can walk without pain! I can JOG! (Sort of - my feet and ankles are so weak still that I get massive cramps going...but I CAN jog if I stretch the heck out of my feet.) I gained another two pounds when I quadrupled my VitD intake, but my body is steadily changing shape, even without significant effort on my part. (I mean, I'm watching what I eat and JOGGING in intervals, but...yeah. Before, I could've done that and MAYBE seen a difference after three months. Not three weeks.) My berrykin belly is tightening up. After 4 years.
Functional med doc also took a look at my symptoms and suggested the likelihood that I suffer from Leaky Gut Syndrome, so I had blood taken on Saturday to run food allergens. I'm both excited for and afraid of the results. It's been suggested that my never-ending eczema is actually my body trying to flush toxins. And that if I improve the water inside my cells versus the water outside of them, I could potentially lose 35 pounds without doing anything else. Insanity? Yes it is. But if I'm chronically eating something I have an unknown allergy to and then stop eating it...yeah, I can see how that would make a difference. Plus, healing my intestines so I don't have junk floating around in my bloodstream is just a good call all around. :)
I'm also trying to find a new dentist. Berrykin was being wild the other night and jumped up into one of my front teeth, and I'm worried he cracked it. I think it would have been okay except that I have a permanent retainer behind my two front teeth and what happens to one sort of happens to the other, but not really. Plus, I haven't been to a dentist in years with all the moving around we've done. I've never had to find a new dentist (except for the Berrykin, and that was easy), but my childhood dentist that I loved retired pretty much exactly during my last appointment. That was...siiiix...years ago? No. I'm pretty sure I went in as a pre-pregnancy precaution, when his replacement told me I had HUGE fillings and would need essentially a whole new tooth next time I get a cavity anywhere. Fun stuff. But I do need to go. That's still been four and a half years. (Which is better than Jeremelon's "not since we've been together" stretch. He has one of those irrational fears of dentists.)
Might have to see a plastic surgeon in a couple weeks if the steroid shots I just got in my arm today don't help the lumps leftover from my last flu shot (back in October). I got to be one of those "adverse response" reports to the CDC. Hoo-ray! And I have an endocrinologist check-in in a couple of weeks. Hopefully she'll tell me I'm a bad girl for not getting my thyroid checked every six months like I'm supposed to (to make sure it isn't suddenly going cancerous) and that everything is fine. And then I'll be all done with health checks great and small, minus my functional med attempt to heal me from the inside out. Whew! (Although I still need to do some long-term TMJ treatment, that'll have to wait until we have money.)
Speaking of money, I have to get a job. I'm actually trying to get something outside of retail. In fact, my *perfect* job showed up within two days of finally being at an acceptance level amenable to applying...so I applied. I don't normally ask for this, but if you're a person who prays/sends out light/crosses fingers/etc., couldja direct a little of it my way? We REALLY need me to get a good job, and this one is seriously everything I've been looking for over the last three years. Spectacular opportunity, good environment, possibility of future tuition payments, enough income to pay for everything that needs paying and then some (including daycare, if necessary). I would be so grateful for any good thoughts you send my way. :)
And that's mostly catching you up on what's going on here. Berrykin is bigger, talks more, is FINALLY on the potty training road (mostly my fault that he's almost four and not there yet...see the paragraph on Vitamin D). He's a very focused, stubborn, active, and silly little boy. He loves dragons (and dinosaurs, 'cause they look like dragons), video games (he is seriously good at Ratchet and Clank), Tinkerbell, and "kickin sanwiches" from Chick Fil A (seriously - you could offer him a giant cake with cookies on top, and he'd still pick a chicken sandwich with great, wide-eyed enthusiasm). He's less than two months away from turning 4, three months from starting preschool, and both of those things seem utterly impossible.
How's everybody else doing?
Happy summer!
7 years ago
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