So, What Do You Eat?

I have eliminated white flour, potatoes, and white rice from my diet. It's not that I don't like baguettes, french fries, and rice, it's because they don't like me, or rather, they cause symptoms I'd rather not experience.

When I make baked goods, or need to replace white flour in a recipe, I generally reach for Quinoa flour. Sometimes I’ll add oat or buckwheat flours, too.

For store-bought breads I stick to sprouted varieties. For rice or potatoes, I substitute Quinoa, Wheat Berries, brown rice, (I eat Basmati rice even though it's white because it is a slow sugar uptake into the bloodstream). 

I avoid dairy, too. I go for the goat when it comes to cheeses, sheep or goat for yogurt, and soy for milk. LaLoo makes amazing ice cream from goat's milk. My favorite is Rumplemint - yum! I love French toast, and by using sprouted bread and soy milk, I can have it. Pancakes, too, by using Quinoa and other flours, and soy milk.

There are some things that I love, but I can't eat because it sends me into a sugar shock, not fun, watermelon, for example. There are some things I eat and it seems like I shouldn't, maple syrup, for example. Maybe because I pair it with food items that are high in fiber and I only use a little bit. It's okay to have things like pasta or rice noodles on occasion, and I enjoy red wine on occasion, too. I simply avoid foods that have a high glycemic index because they either triggers various neuropathies or induces a sugar shock, brain fog, sweating, muscle weakness, or sleepiness. Not so much fun, but totally workable and easy to interact with water, exercise, sleep, or some combination thereof, depending.

To help me figure out what I can or can't have, or discover after the fact why I'm having a reaction, I check out an online GI database.

Related Post:  (non) Dairy Queen, Grains in Focus

Related Links

• Online Glycemic Index Database
• Glycemic Index and Diabetes

All That Glitters

For years I've had an allergy to metal. I know there are many who are similarly afflicted. Hang tight, here's where the story becomes interesting.

A few weeks ago, a close friend gifted me with a lovely gold bracelet from Greece. It's unusual, beautiful, meaningful. While I was fumbling with the clasp, I gave a mental shrug, thinking I will wear it until the rash develops. After a few hours, I noticed... nothing. No itching, swelling, or reddening of my skin. After a day, I noticed the same nothing. I wrote it off thinking I haven't worn metal in a couple of years; maybe it will take longer before symptoms appear. At the end of the week, I was convinced that I had in my possession a magical bracelet. There could be no other explanation. Clearly, my friend has mystical powers! I wore the bracelet, made of metal - which I am allergic to - for over two weeks without removing it, and I remained symptom-free.

I decided to push my luck, and I gave earrings a try. Usually, I'll feel discomfort immediately. Nope, I felt neither irritation nor pain. I wore earrings with metal finding for over a week, and my ears stayed infection-free.

What the heck!?!

I decided that there must be a connection between allergies and illness. Specifically, I believe there is a relationship between PCOS and allergies. For me, now that I'm eating a high protein, low sugar (and very low glucose-rich foods), it seems like my body can now handle wearing metals.

Does this mean I get to go earring shopping?

Yes, yes it does.

Related Links

• How to Buy the Right Jewelry When You Have a Metal Allergy
• Infections may trigger metal allergies

CPAP and Gas, who knew?

I noticed an increase of stomach air when I began using my CPAP machine. Over time, that diminished. Then, after my hysterectomy, it returned with a vengeance and hasn't decreased. Is there a correlation? I thought so, at first. Turns out, I had accidentally increased the pressure and hadn't noticed. Go figure. As it happens, one of the causes of increased belching and flatulence is a pressure setting that is too high. 

That's an easy enough fix, and it did help enormously! 

Even so, the topic of CPAP gas can be bigger than simply adjusting the air pressure setting on your machine.

When you swallow the pressurized air from CPAP, you may notice:

• Burping or belching
• Flatulence
• Bloating
• Stomach pain

While none of these symptoms are life-threatening, they can be pretty embarrassing. If reducing the air pressure setting doesn't help, you may want to try a full face mask rather than the cute nose option. 

Related Post:  A Breath of Fresh Air

Related Links

• CPAP and Things That Go “Burp” in the Night
• CPAP Gas Problem - Aerophagia
• The Causes and Treatment of CPAP Gas

Crouching Sugar, Hidden Glucose

I stumbled on my current eating strategies by accident. I made note of the foods with a high glycemic index, and eliminated them from my diet. I'd like to think it was an insightful move, a new way of thinking! But no, others have come before me; in fact, they've even wrote the book. While I might not be as original in my thinking and strategies as I previously thought, I still feel proud of myself for connecting the dots. Now, had I read the book 20 years ago, and had followed the writer's advice, would I have avoided the insulin resistance portion of PCOS, maybe avoiding it completely? I think the answer to that question is a resounding yes, but...  I doubt I would have followed the strategies, because I was 20 years younger and not really interested in the long-term health ramifications.

Knowing what I know now, and having children on whom to impart my hard-won wisdom, I'm all about showing how the sugar in our diets, not only refined white sugar, but the hidden sugars in whole and processed foods, have negative, long term health affects. Whether or not I read the book, the guiding principle resonates:

"The Sugar Busters diet is a diet focused on eliminating foods containing refined carbohydrates such as refined sugar, white flour, and white rice, as well as naturally occurring carbohydrates rating high on the glycemic index such as potatoes and carrots." Wikipedia

Regardless of the state of one's pancreas, constantly flooding your bloodstream with sugar, no matter the form, places a tremendous burden on one's body. For a teen, who feels invincible, that statement would fall on deaf ears. Heck, I ignored the "sugar is bad" and "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" adages for nearly 50 years! It wasn't until I felt the results of my poor food choices, and had to make changes or face a serious decline in life quality, did I sit up and pay attention.

I think it's high time I read Sugar Busters.

Related Links

• Ask This When Controlling Blood Sugar Levels
• Blood Sugar in Diabetes
• Sugar Busters! - Wikipedia

I've Been Spayed

Once I made the decision, it was easy to schedule the surgery. I chose the traditional method rather than the laparoscopic, because the procedure was a shorter duration, and I had already decided whom I wanted as my surgeon. 

The hospital and staff treated me well from the moment I was admitted. The prep part went smoothly, and I was under sedation quickly and easily. Then I woke up. I chatted and joked with the nurse, who was administering morphine to keep my pain levels manageable. Pain was okay with the meds, as long as I didn't laugh or breathe too deeply. I had no sense of time, so I'm not sure how long I stayed in the recovery room. At some point, I was transferred to the room in which I'd stay the next two nights. I didn't like the moving part, especially when the gurney went over thresholds. I'm not going to sugar coat it, it hurt like hell, with a side of barbed wire. The gentleman who was stuck with transporting me felt awful for torturing me, and gave me time after crossing each of the nine threshold to breath through the pain.

My nurses were outstanding.  I was up and walking in no time, and they were with me every step of the way. I was given lots of advice before surgery, and I want to share the hints and tricks that worked best for me. The best advice was to suck it up, and stretch out. Don't give in to clutching a pillow to your tummy. When it's time to walk, stand up straight and breathe through the pain.  I took the "suck it up" advice, and I know the intensity and duration of pain was greatly reduced because of it. Essentially, it's like ripping off a band aid. You can go slowly, and prolong the pain, or you can rip it off and get it over with. I chose the latter.

Things I enjoyed doing before surgery were unpleasant for a while after surgery. Laughing, taking deep, cleansing breaths, going from laying down to sitting to standing, and vice versa. Each day, the pain lessened and it wasn't long before I was driving. I am not ashamed to sat how painful navigating speed bumps were. Yes, I drove slowly and cautiously in general, and I crawled over speed bumps in particular. I loved being mobile, but I was careful to follow another piece of advice: don't do too much too quickly. I was (mostly) pretty careful about not overdoing it.

I was struck with a stark reality about 1/2 through my recovery: there's an empty spot in my body cavity. I felt all sorts of things, depression, fear, and incomplete, for a while. I was expecting it, so I knew what these feeling were when they crashed over me. I was worried for a while that I wouldn't be able to enjoy an active sex life as I had before. I was afraid that I had mutilated my body and would no long experience orgasm as I once did. I can assure you, that fear is groundless. My missing parts and pieces do not in any way reduce my sexual appetite or the ability to experience pleasure.

There are a lot of articles and information out on the interwebs, but I'm not going to link to any of them, as I didn't find the concerns they raised either true or helpful. My hysterectomy experience went well, and I achieved the desired results: I no longer have uterine pain from fibroids.

I take a daily estrogen supplement, and I am free of menopausal symptoms. All in all, I consider my hysterectomy a success.

Numbers Have Genders

Well, they do when it comes to test results.

The health management organization to which I belong lets me log on to their portal and see all of my test results. For this data gal, that's like being given the keys to the candy store! While some candies are sweet, others are tart, and still others leave a downright bitter taste in your mouth.

I was looking through the list of my pre-op labs, and noticed that the results of a test for my Kidney function, 51, fell into the mild to moderate Kidney damage zone. I decided that, although I could panic, I wouldn't, at least, not yet. Because, I got people in high places with all sorts of esoteric knowledge. I sent my buddy, who just so happens to be a practicing Nephrologist, aka Kidney doctor, a hey, "is this bad?" text. I figured that she'd set me on the path to calm or drop-kick me to the fast track to panic, accordingly.

Her initial response of "eGFR usually underestimates renal function in women" was both calming and disturbing. Calming because I took that to mean that the results, couple with my creatinine values, were okay for me, because I'm a woman. Disturbing because why wasn't the fact that I'm a woman reflected in the results? Why wasn't I given results based on my biology? How many other tests have results scaled for men but not women, and how is this male-focused scaling affecting the quality of healthcare women receive?

While the above questions go far beyond the scope of a personal health blog focused on PCOS, Insulin Resistance, Hursuitism, and the host of symptomology I've mentioned throughout many of my topics, those very questions cause me concern as to the confidence the medical profession truly has when it comes to treating women in general, and me specifically. I admit that my looming hysterectomy, which takes place on Monday, is causing me not a little angst; but maybe, some of that angst wouldn't exist if things like tests and their results were based on my biology versus that of some other sex.

With today's technology, it's a pretty simple thing to check a box to filter results by sex. Why is the medical profession lagging so far behind in gathering, standardizing, utilizing, and reporting sex-based tests?

Clawing out of Depression's Grip

Not long ago, depression had me in its insidious grip, squeezing every shred of self confidence with which I manage to shroud myself. Clawing and writhing my way out of its clutches leaves me first pondering how I found myself there in the first place, and then tending to the wounds it inflicted. These wounds, some of them merely scratches that will heal quickly; others deeper with darkening bruises, which will turn to sickening green (how I feel about them, and sometimes me), and then fade completely.

With the significant changes I've made in my diet and the increase in exercise, I definitely experience fewer depressive states. When I do have them, it seems that they are still intense and I still feel anxious, but I think that the anxiety is a result of the tachycardia I experience during the luteal phase of my cycle, which is also when I tend to succumb to depression.

After my hysterectomy in another couple of weeks, I won't have ovaries, ergo, no luteal phase. So, might it be possible that without the surge of progesterone and testosterone, I will no longer experience tachycardia? Without the tachycardia, will I no longer have that feeling of anxiety? I don't think that my depression will be eliminated completely, but wouldn't it be lovely if it were simply a shadow skittering across my mental landscape rather than the monster I described above?

Medication Experimentation

I got to thinking that what I experienced as anxiety and depression was actually the effects of insulin resistance. I felt that I had enough personal data and supporting evidence to warrant a decrease in Cymbalta, which I have been taking for about eight years. I was at the maximum daily dosage of 120 mg. I chatted with my doctor about cutting the dosage in half. He supported my decision to try decreasing my dosage and we agreed that I would take 90 mg for 14 days and then 60 mg after that. I'm happy to report that I'm doing quite well on the current dosage. Perhaps in the next year or so I can wean off of Cymbalta completely. With my doctor's permission, of course.

A month or so ago, my endocrinologist put me on Spironolactone for Hirsutism. While the literature states that it takes a few months for noticeable effects, I've already seeing a few. For example, my skin and hair is not as oily. I need lotion now when I didn't prior; however, I love the various lotions I've purchased, and using them makes me feel feminine and girly.  I no longer need to wash my hair every day, every other day works out well. 

Fewer meds and feeling better is a great way to start this new year. 

Related Links

• Spironolactone