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Old Lady Supplements

I’ve suffered insomnia for over a decade and now I get to add hot flashes to it. Yay. I’ve tried many supplements without success (SEE note at the end!!), but I have finally dialed in a good combo of supplements to beat back the evil hot flashes. The supplements I take specific to hot flashes have an * next to them:

DAILY
1 multi vitamin (Vitacost brand)
1 B complex (you need LOTS of B as you age!)
*1 Selenium 200mcg (hot flash relief)
2 Turmeric 450mg (for inflammation of joints and carpal tunnel, I’ve had very good results!)
*1 E 100mg – 400mg (finishing the 100 then going to 400; works with selenium)
OR 1 evening primrose oil cap ~500mg (for inflammation and arthritis) it also has E in it

*Plus these tinctures for old lady crap:
1 dropper 2x/day chasteberry (aka vitex)
.5 dropper 2x/day black cohosh (full dropper if you’re not on hormones)
I only take motherwort now for insomnia, not daily.
.5 dropper 2-4x/day motherwort (also helps with insomnia)

I’ve recently come across L Theanine (200mg), which was indicated for anxiety and calming. Nick takes it for anxiety and I found that it knocks me right out, so I use it for insomnia. It is an amino acid with no known drug interactions.

Yes, I take about 8-10 pills a day. Yes, it is a PITA. But it is working! Get a big ass 2wk pill thingie and put all the various things in it for 2 wks then you just grab and go in the morning!
IMG_1343

My insomnia solution that mostly works is the following: one naproxen, one OTC sleep aid (doxylamine succinate, NOT diphenhydramine, which revs me up) and one valerian cap. I’ve also used Sleep Assure (Nature’s Plus) but the melatonin can often backfire and I’ve used Deep Sleep (Herbs Etc.). Here is a Slate article about various sleep aids.

Speaking of melatonin, I’ve preached about this, but no one listens: DO NOT USE LARGE DOSES OF MELATONIN FOR INSOMNIA. Anything more than 3mg is a HIGH dose and will likely backfire on you. Melatonin is a sleep regulator, NOT a sleep aid. Read this article and stop using melatonin the wrong way!

Warning about Dong Quai for Old Lady issues: I got a supplement that had dong quai in it and it turned ON the hot flashes, like ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT hot flashes. After doing some research, I found out that in some women, dong quai is very bad for hot flashes. YUP, I can confirm this. Not everyone, mind you, just some. So be careful about taking that if you’re old.

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Invisible Gorillas and Bad Medicine

I am writing this post in the hope that it may help someone who is sick and not getting any diagnosis or help from his doctors. Someone who perhaps finds this post via Google. I hope I can help someone, since I can’t help my own family. Just remember: it’s YOUR body. It’s YOUR care. Do not hesitate to question doctors and demand alternative treatments if you are not getting better. Sickness is NOT normal, health is. Don’t be bullied by the medical system!

I read about a study the other day called the Invisible Gorilla experiment. Basically it is to demonstrate that we will miss unexpected events if we are concentrating on something else.
The Invisible Gorilla Experiment
Go read the details about the Invisible Gorilla Experiment here. I’ll wait.

Ok, so people who were concentrating on one thing completely missed a huge thing that popped up. What does this have to do with anything? Well, for one, it illustrates that anyone can miss important events or facts if they are not looking for them. ANYONE. Now, let’s take this and apply it to medicine. Radiology, for instance. Another study was done at Harvard Medical School with radiologists, who are trained FINDERS. They are trained to find tumors, abnormalities, etc., and paid huge sums to do so. You would think that they would find a gorilla picture inserted into an xray of a lung, wouldn’t you? Not so much, actually.
Radiologists and the Invisible Gorilla
Can YOU see the gorilla?? Then you did better than 83% of the radiologists. Keep in mind this was on a full sized xray, which is about 14″x20″. The gorilla was about 2″x2″ IRL! Go read the Harvard study. I’ll wait.

Continue reading “Invisible Gorillas and Bad Medicine”

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Direct Pay or Concierge Medicine Will Work

Remember the post from a coupla weeks ago about why Obamacare is not the answer, but direct pay or concierge is? Well, here is another example of a doctor who is using direct pay for his practice here in Georgia. That article is from the Gwinnett Daily Post.

It CAN happen, people. If we just leave this shitty, broken system AS IS and allow doctors to get paid directly, more and more doctors WILL want to get paid directly. Fuck having to spend three hours a day filling out paperwork for insurance. Doctors are tired of being driven by the insurance companies. If we allow them to make a choice, I promise MANY will choose to stop taking insurance all together.

If you demand it, if you ask your current doctor if she’d like to be paid directly, it will send a message.

NO MORE INSURANCE SLAVERY! DEMAND THAT YOUR DOCTOR PRACTICE MEDICINE NOT FILL OUT PAPERWORK! PAY YOUR DOCTOR FOR HER TIME AND GET BETTER CARE! TELL INSURANCE COMPANIES AND THEIR WASHINGTON LAPDOGS TO SUCK IT!

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The Paradox of Being Fat and Healthy

There was an article about a news anchor who got a snarky email from a dude who said she should not have a public job because she’s fat. (It’s here at Upworthy.) From that article, I found fatnutritionist.com. This site’s author reflects what I’ve been saying for years: you can be fat and healthy.

For the record, I *do* think dieting is a huge problem. I have dieted my whole life and I think it’s what started and ensures my obesity. I think starving so much when I was young messed up my metabolism. I also think that genetics has a HUGE impact on your body type and how much weight you’ll carry. You can NOT fight genetics, people.

I’ve been called fat my WHOLE LIFE. And that’s not a lie, I have BEEN fat my whole life. I was called Fat Pratt in elementary school (this is the first time I’ve publicly admitted that, btw). In High School, I ate saltines for lunch every day and was still 15 pounds heavier than my peers. I didn’t look fat, but at 120 pounds, I certainly FELT it. How crazy is that?

While I’ve always weighed more than the charts say I should, I’ve looked OK. I have photographic evidence that I looked pretty damn fine at 165 pounds (the famous vinyl dress photo). I never looked like I weighed as much as I did – I could always fool the age/weight guessers at the fair. But you know what that does? It sets up a fucked up little vicious circle in your brain that goes like this: you’re fat -> no, I look pretty good -> but look at the scale -> Ok, I’ll diet -> but I look pretty good -> you’re fat. Which leads to constant self loathing and dissatisfaction with yourself. No bueno.

Middle age has been horrific for me. The weight gain is awful and by gods it’s STAYING. I exercise at least 5x/wk. I count calories. I have to wonder, why do I do this? I really think it’s habit at this point. I’ve lived my whole life this way! I agonise over the weight, exercise as much as I can without hurting myself and count calories until I’m blue in the face. AND FOR WHAT?

I really can’t answer that question. It’s not like it’s working! Again, how crazy is that? Pretty damn, if you ask me.

I have a beautiful husband who loves me even at this tonnage. Yet I am disgusted with my body and I hate to be touched. It is a BIG problem in our relationship. Some days I feel a bit better about myself, then I get a glance at how fat I am and that’s the end of the self esteem.

THAT is the tragedy of all of it. The self loathing is pretty intense. I try not to indulge it, but it’s there every time I get dressed. It lurks in every corner of my existence.

I’m not into blaming others for my fat ass, but dammit, the societal pressure is pretty huge! NO, it’s not anyone’s fault (including my own, I try to remind myself), but it certainly FEELS like it’s all my fault and I should just stay out of public until I can lose 75 pounds or so. Being at cons is excruciating – despite the fact that I’m surrounded by fat nerds who totally do NOT judge. I feel like a total failure for being unable to shed this weight that’s glommed onto me in the past decade.

Obesity and weight loss are complicated things. They are inexorably linked and so very, very painful for those of us in the never-ending loop. Knowing that there are people out there who are actually exploring this concept of fat and healthy is comforting. People like Linda Bacon (Health at Every Size) who promote the idea that there actually is a wide range of sizes in humans and fat humans can be healthy is a good thing.

But it remains that I don’t WANT to be fat, yet I am. And it hurts my psyche every single day. I wish society would cut me a little slack. But even if attitudes change, I think the psychological damage is done. I don’t think I’ll ever cut myself any slack.

The paradox of being fat and healthy is that there’s nothing to blame. No disease, no disorder, not a thing to point to and go: “SEE! It’s not my fault!” Therefore it must be YOU. Which is also incorrect, but that’s what you think and feel. It’s insidious.

This is not a “pity me” post or a “fishing for compliments” post or most definitely NOT a “give me advice on diet and exercise” post. It’s just a post about my response to the fat newslady clip and the information I found on Fat Nutritionist and Linda Bacon. My obesity is not something I talk about and I feel it’s about time I did. I wanted to acknowledge that being fat is a shameful thing in this day and age and I’m not immune to those feelings no matter how wrong they are.

We all have our crosses to bear and this is mine. I’m glad to have found some tools to help myself get out of the self loathing and self blaming loop. I hope these tools will help others who are in my boat. I think there are a LOT more of us than we know – just hiding in the fat closet, dying to come out. If I can do it, anyone can.

Thanks to Michelle for a brilliant blog (Fat Nutritionist) and Linda Bacon (Health at Every Size) for doing the work you do. IT DOES MATTER!

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DNA results

So, we got our DNA results from Connect My DNA yesterday. I’m very glad I got a steep discount because I think the results are questionable at best.

Here is my graph of DNA hits:

Angela’s DNA hits

Irish I can dig. I’ve researched the family names and United Kingdom is a definite link. But all that Latin America? I’m not so sure. I also love that there’s no obvious Native American Indian anywhere to be seen. THAT doesn’t surprise me, although I’ve seen a pic of my great grandfather on my father’s side and he certainly LOOKS Cherokee. Or some sort of Native American, anyway.

But I dunno, could that dude actually be of Central American Indian descent rather than North American Indian? I suppose that’s a possibility. And on my mother’s side, her father’s lineage is a question because he was born out of wedlock (and of course in the 20s, one didn’t TELL no matter what). Whoever his family was (we think Hall is a good possibility) had black hair and eyes and could tan deeply – like my mother and brother. Also, my brother is practically hairless, which is another Native American trait.

I’ve always assumed their reddish skin full of melanin was the Cherokee or perhaps there was some African in there, but what if it’s the Central American causing their traits? I guess it’s possible. I assume that all the native tribes of the Americas intermingled at some point, so maybe that’s the deal?

Just read this on the wiki about indigenous peoples of the Americas:

“DNA testing is not sufficient to qualify a person for specific tribal membership, as it cannot distinguish among Native American groups.”

I paid for a STR DNA test, which cannot test for indigenous markers, sadly. You need a Y-DNA or mtDNA test for that specific information. Info on that (here). But I think you can extrapolate from this one that indigenous people are involved. I think maybe the family insistence that there’s “Cherokee” in us may not be entirely untrue.

Here are the actual tags:

LOCI values
LOCI values

If anyone out there can read that, HOLLAH, would you? All I know is that I can prove I’m a minority! Yay! LOL

The Irish did make me laugh, though, considering what a sot I am. Makes TOTAL sense! :)

Nick’s came back with Belarus as his primary and Polish at the very bottom, but it was almost all Eastern European, so that makes sense. After looking at the history of Belarus (Lithuania and Poland) it’s perfect.

I think these cheapo DNA tests are more parlour game than useful info, but it’s fun and for $30, why not? Perhaps use a better one than Connect My DNA if you want ancestry info, but do try it if you find a discount coupon. I’m intrigued and will probably do the ancestry one at some point.