Blog on the Lillypad
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
 | Back to the Doctor's Office!
I had a good visit with the doctor. He respects my desire to stay away from anti-anxiety meds. There are a lot of contributing factors to the throat spasms. Stress is the biggest, but so is previous lack of exercise, phases of my monthly cycle now that I am in periomenopause, diet, and my allergies. We agreed that in one sense I need to make my life more quiet and tranquil, so I will use my web logs to document the abuses and the lack of accountability in the IFB-KJVO movement, rather than continue to argue with men too badly educated and influenced by legalism and tradition to change their ways. (After all, I never had any intention of warning *them* of the corruption they have created and/or shielded. I want to warn innocent people.). And there are other opportunities I am taking advantage of, but I will not enumerate them here. |
He told me that there still needs to be more of a lifestyle change for me to get away from stress. I’m not social enough, and the lack of support from my church has always been a problem, especially in view of how stressful it’s been to take on these IFB-KJVO people. So even though he did not (and probably would not) recommend that I change my church, when I said I plan to, he agreed that this might be an improvement. Yet finding a new church is a longterm thing. Hence, the need to engage in social activities with people who share my interests. Right now I am looking into book clubs and other social clubs that have a stated purpose (rather than---{{{shudder}}}---singles groups.)
He also wants me to try St. John’s Wort. And he recommended keeping Prilosec on hand in case of severe spasms. Just one Prilosec will probably stop the throat spasms from being as severe as the worst ones have been. (The spasms are a result of sinus drainage from allergies and acid reflux.)
So creating and implementing strategies to lower stress remain the goals. And that’s where I am. I’m taking a lot of mullein, and that seems to limit the throat dryness and reflux. Not entirely, but pretty well.
In terms of how bad I have felt, he agreed to let me try progesterone cream, though he warned me it has never been proved effective. (“Doctor, wait until your wife goes through menopause. I guarantee you will line up to try everything on the market,” I told him. He broke out into a sudden smile and stopped just short of laughing.)
My blood pressure is down again to just about normal, and the exercise has begun some improvements. But he warned me that this situation is not going away. I have to change some things or it will get worse. But he was very optimistic about Barrett’s Syndrome, which is a precancerous state of the esophagus caused by acid reflux. He doesn’t think my GERD is anywhere near severe enough to put me in danger of that. Yet.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
 | Mullein
After nearly a week of throat spasms that went back and forth between annoying and frightening (and always disruptive), I read through my herb books and selected an herb that is reputedly good for both lungs and stomach (as acid in my stomach seems to be a contributor to this problem). I bought a bottle of mullein on Saturday morning and started dosing. It did offer a good measure of help. I gradually realized I need to take almost twice as much as the recommended amount, but there are no toxicity warnings for taking capsules of prepared mullein, as far as I can find. (Picking it yourself is annother matter. Most of the plant, apart from the flowers, is irritating to skin, so it should be handled only with gloves.) |
Mullein is a demulcent, and it has the quality of being a mucilagent. That means it gets squishy when wet. It soothes the stomach and lubricates the throat (even though I don't take it as a lozenge. I just swallow the capsules, but they appear to work, at least in part). It's not a perfect cure, but it has afforded me some relief, and I am very thankful that the Lord gave me patience and a reminder to search for a better remedy than what is available by perscription.
Monday, January 12, 2004
 | Visit to the Chiropractor
I visited the chiropractor today, now that it has been three weeks since I have cautiously resumed an exercise program. I did require several adjustments, but that's normal for me. But he was pleased with my progress. Currently, I do only four weight exercises for each session (all focused on different ranges of the back). We talked about increasing the number of exercises: what to do; what not to do; what nobody should ever do (angled leg press or any reclined, declined, or inclined leg press for that matter) |
He also okayed a judicious introduction to stair stepping (which I do only for five minute intervals and intersperse with five minute sessions on the inversion table). And he was glad to hear that I have resumed heavy bag work.
The bad news was that just a week ago I had pretty severe throat spasms again. I've been walking on eggs since then. But today I am starting to feel better. Just as they have done twice before, the throat spasms came on the day that I was ovulating. Could all of these recent health problems of mine be tied to perio menopause? There's so much that doctors don't know about that shift in a woman's metabolism. I resumed eating soy every day (usually in the form of baked tempeh) and am keeping up the fresh green vegetables.
Sunday, January 11, 2004
What do you think? Too cynical? After surveying banners for Christian women's websites and Christian women's books I've concluded that Christian women expect their websites and books to have lots of teddy bears, flowers, and hearts on them, with lots of pink and lavendar colors. Is imitation the highest form of praise? Or is it just yielding to the inevitable? |
