The Lymey

Body… Achy, Blurry, Exhausted, Headache, Froggy

Mind… Foggy, chance of meatballs

Mood… Huh, what?

In order to keep my voice as clear as possible, my doctor said NO DAIRY at all.

ME:  So that means, cow dairy, right?  Since I’m allergic to COW dairy?

DR:  No dairy.

ME:  But specifically no cow’s dairy?

DR: No dairy at all.

ME: How about sheep? Like sheep’s feta?  I’m not allergic to sheep.

DR: No dairy.  At all.

ME: Goat?

DR: …

So, I LOVE dairy, (cheese especially) and it sucks that I shouldn’t have any.  Anyway, since I cut out dairy, there has been a little less junk down on the chords, meaning less work and strain for my voice-overs.

Avoiding dairy, not to mention other types of foodstuffs, makes eating out tedious and boring.  Well, a couple of Friday’s ago we went for Italian food.   I did okay–I had the bow tie pasta dish with steak tidbits, broccoli, sun dried tomatoes in garlic and olive oil.  (It was delicious–Portofino’s in Forest Hills, I highly recommend it.)

See, no dairy.  Except…

Ahhh… garlic bread, how much do I love thee?!  Let me count the ways.  Oh, about two baskets.  All that yummy, warm, crusty bread with buttery garlic.  And let’s not forget the lovely yeast in the bread.  Did I mention that I have an allergy to yeast?  I’m sure I did in a previous post.

ME: What about butter?  That’s not dairy, right?

DR:  Meh.

So, I woke up the next morning all congested, face puffy, back of throat thick with junk.  That’s why I did this on a Friday night, I should be clear for work by Monday.  Sort of.

I know I ’shouldn’t’ have, but I did.  I am testing how things work, one food at a time, but two bread baskets filled with butter and yeast, was a little overboard.  While staying away from dairy helps minimize that froggy feeling, I have other food allergies that can dramatically effect my voice without any junk ( mucous/phlegm), just inflammation.

So, anyway, garlic bread is done for a while.  Chicken (allergic to chicken and turkey) is next.  Definitely on a Friday.

FYI – All these various food allergies did not appear until after several years with Chronic Lyme.

4 Comments | In: Day to Day | tags: Chonic Fatigue Syndrome, chronic, Chronic Lyme Disease, dairy, Fatigue, food allergies, Lyme Disease, voice-overs, yeast. | #

Body… Achy, Sluggish

Mind… Clearing, with chance of fog

Mood… Decent

I visited my doctor regarding the horizontal episode.   An increased dosage of a hormone supplement, Pregnenolone 50 (sounds like a cross between pregnancy and provolone cheese) might have contributed to my horizontal state, which might, in itself, be indicative of a hormonal imbalance.   It’s been a year since my last blood panel, so we scheduled a blood collection for the next morning, checking for the usual, but including hormone and vitamin levels.

I also have to bring in a 24 hour collection of my urine.  They gave me a bright orange container to pee in.  I keep it in the refrigerator.  My wife LOVES that.

I received a voicemail  from my doctor, last week.  First thing he said after ‘hello,’ was the blood test results were in and that there were some irregularities–a vitamin D deficiency, and that it looked like something is up with my thyroid.

Neither is surprising to me.  I usually take supplemental vitamin D, among other things, due to my body’s inability to efficiently absorb nutrients from food sources.  I stopped taking it when I was on the Candida diet–at the time, I couldn’t find a non-yeast brand.  Once I jumped off the diet, I forgot to add D back.

As for my thyroid, I’ve been on Thyroid medication for a few months, now.  Based on a previous blood test and ultrasound, my thyroid was slightly enlarged–that’s hypo, right?  I think so.  Anyway, I’ve been taking Cytomel since.  As I fasted for the blood collection, I obviously did not take Cytomel  that morning.

I haven’t seen the doctor, yet–he wants to wait for the urine test results.  And I haven’t felt horizontal since I stopped the extra dosage of the pregnancy provolone, though my regular symptoms persist.  We’ll see how the rest of the test results pan out over the next couple of weeks.  We are holding off on the chelation question till then.

No Comments | In: Day to Day | tags: candida, Chonic Fatigue Syndrome, chronic, Fatigue, Lyme Disease, supplements, yeast. | #

Body… Achy, Sluggish, Eyes blurry

Mind… Groggy

Mood… Whatever

One of the symptoms of Chronic Lyme, and other maladies, is poor sleep.  I find this ridiculously funny–poor sleep, a Chronic Lyme symptom, exacerbates Chronic Lyme symptoms.  Puh-lease.  Kind of self-perpetuating.

Anyway, in 2007 I began taking Valerian Root, a mild herbal sedative, to help me fall and stay asleep.  It sort of worked, but its sedative effect lingered into the late morning hours.  I limited my intake to really bad symptom days–thinking straight was hard enough with the Lyme.  Then a new symptom appeared–a morning blurriness in one or both eyes, lasting, sometimes, till early afternoon.  Well, it was either a new symptom or  something else.  I went to the eye doctor and neurologist–nothing.  The blurriness went away for a while, then after Lasik surgery, it reappeared.  My Lasik doctor checked me out–again, nothing.

I never connected Valerian Root to the blurriness until one evening, after an almost sleepless night previous, I doubled-up on Valerian Root, intending for an extra long sleep (didn’t work, by the way) and woke without the ability to focus my vision.  I stopped taking Valerian Root and I’ve had no blurriness since…

…until this morning.  Not sure what caused it, but it’s almost 10:30 AM and my right eye is still a bit blurry.  At 7 AM, both eyes were having problems.  I’m not on any new medication or supplements… oh, I started back on dry Vitamin D, but I’ve taken it before,  the dosage is within normal limits, and side effects do not include blurriness.  Sigh.  Another fun day with Chronic Lyme.

No Comments | In: Day to Day | tags: Chonic Fatigue Syndrome, Fatigue, Lasik, Lyme Disease, neurologist, sleep, supplements, Valerian Root. | #

Body… Dizzy
Mind… Dizzy
Mood… Dizzy, Intense

Spent most of yesterday horizontal.

The morning started whatever–body achy, brain felt like somebodyplugged in a morphine drip (this drugged feeling without drugs is getting old, quick).  Right after breakfast, while emptying the dishwasher, started getting wobbley–couldn’t trust myself not to drop a plate or glass.  I laid down and stayed semi-conscious for a couple of hours.  And that is how the rest of the day went.  I would get up, deteremined to cook, and I’d have to go back to being horizontal.  Not sure what caused it.  Low blood pressure?  I took a salt tablet–no help.  Low blood sugar?  Fruit didn’t help, either.  Wife was great, though.

So that was my Sunday.  Had every intention of writing most of the day, but what’s the saying?  Man plans, God laughs.  Heh.

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Body… Achy
Mind… Less foggy
Mood… Better

Had a really bad reaction about three months ago.  The yeast in my body invited all their friends over for a party and wrecked the place–a total blowout.  Unfortunately, I’m the one with the hangover.  Thanks, Yeast!

Yeast came into the equation almost two years ago.  Since Chronic Lyme Disease (CLD) can cause nerve damage, my primary doctor suggested I see a Neurologist that specialized in CLD (and believe it or not, this is the short version).  More after the … bump.

more…

No Comments | In: Day to Day | tags: anti-fungal, candida, chelation, Chelation Therapy, Chonic Fatigue Syndrome, chronic, diet, heavy metal poisoning, Lyme Disease, parasites, supplements, voice-overs, yeast. | #

First posts are always a bitch, so I am going to practice the much desired discipline of brevity.

Body… Achy
Mind… Foggy
Mood… Cranky

Felt poorly most of the day.  Walked around feeling pretty wound-up, physically–a lot of bracing.  Stairs were a challenge, but not as bad as some days.  Walking made me breathe heavy–hard to catch my breath.

Had two auditions.  Meditated before I left the house.  Voice was okay, for a change.  Not great, but okay. The foggy brain giving me trouble with the copy, but I think I gave decent reads.

Went home before my acting class.  Ate, did some work, meditated again–meditation helps me with bracing.  It helps me relax the tension out of my body, with the by-product of pain management.  The less tension I have, the less bracing.  The less bracing, the easier time my muscles have of it.

Went to class.  Had decent energy.  By my second scene, had a wonderful headache, limbs got heavy.  The scene had some intense stuff going on.  I feel I didn’t fare well (what actor does?).  I mean, really… I felt pretty shitty.  There’s probably some kind of inverse square law going on, but from experience, when I’m having a heavy fatigue day, my emotional state after class tends to be rather not so generous to myself.  Knowing this, it’s easier to cut myself some slack–and I do.  Practice makes perfect.

No Comments | In: Day to Day | tags: acting, auditions, bracing, Chonic Fatigue Syndrome, Fatigue, Lyme Disease, voice-overs. | #