Sometimes you can have your cake…

Tags

Birthday, cheesecake, coincidences, gluten free, I Quit Sugar, job interviews, picnic

On Sunday I did something that’s a bit scary for me: I held a picnic for my birthday – a couple of weeks early – down at the beach.

That in itself doesn’t sound too scary, does it? But I’ve never been very good at throwing social gatherings. Plus, having a December birthday means that most of the people you invite to your get-together can’t come. Even when you invite them a month or two before the date.

I know, it’s just how December rolls with the crazy social whirlwind. I’ve always hated that about my birthday, though. I used to see it as a personal reflection. Surely if people liked me enough they’d go out of their way to come to my party? But that isn’t how life works. We each have our own priorities.

So I went ahead and had a picnic, even though the only people that could make it were my family and my very good friend and her lovely hubby. There were a few others who were going to come or at least try to, but it just didn’t work out like that.

Never mind. I no longer take these things personally.

Those of us who could be there all had a blast, down by the sea.

And cake. We had cake. Actually, there were THREE cakes*, but I made this one…

I adapted this gluten and sugar free cheesecake recipe by adding lemon juice and zest. I also used stevia instead of rice syrup. It was given a resounding thumbs up by one and all. The first time I’ve ever made a cheesecake!

*I certainly didn’t expect two other cakes! One was for my little nieces who like very plain things like sponge cake with vanilla icing. The other was a complete surprise. My mother went out of her way to make a gluten free chocolate mud cake.

So even though it wasn’t sugar free, I had a sliver anyway. Because I cannot tell you the last time my mother ever baked a cake for me. Seriously.

Other things of note:

• Since writing last week about taking a more relaxed approach to being supported, I scored two job interviews. Both of them happened today and both were positive.
• One was with a guy who is REALLY cute. Which was kinda distracting. 😉
• The cute one has already called me in for a second interview tomorrow. The other I’ll probably hear from very soon, too.
• For said interviews, I wore a dress that’s been just a little bit too tight for most of this year. On a whim, today I pulled it out of the cupboard and was able to zip it up very comfortably.
• So without being over-zealous, my I Quit Sugar experiment has caused me to shed a few pounds already. I don’t weigh myself, so I’m not sure how much. But enough for that dress (one I really like) to fit me very nicely indeed.

And now it is almost time for yoga.

Tomorrow I’m meeting with a client for a small freelance job – helping someone set up a WordPress site for their business. Then I’m meeting a friend of a friend, who might be need a freelance copywriter.

All of these things could still possibly fall flat but it’s amazing that until I made the call to chill the heck out, nothing much was happening for me. Now, there’s kind of a lot going on.

Maybe it’s all just a giant coincidence, or maybe not. I don’t really believe in coincidences much anymore.

And I’ll keep you posted…

~Svasti

PTSD can cause real physical health problems

Tags

adrenal exhaustion, Anxiety, auto-immune, Ayurveda, Chronic stress, Depression, dis-ease, exhaustion, game on, gluten free, gluten intolerance, Healing, Health, himoto’s thyroiditis, hypothyroidism, leaky gut, PTSD, self-nurture, Spleen, thyroid, yang energy

It’s a little challenging sometimes to get the facts of life through this thick noggin of mine. For some reason, I’ve a tendency to not believe things are real.

So this whole: yes, my body is sicker than I was aware of thing is taking some getting used to. Of course I knew I was having bouts of exhaustion, but I hadn’t associated that with anything in particular. And thyroid issues it seems, are known to be difficult to diagnose because their symptoms often appear as other things – like depression and anxiety, for starters.

I’ve no way of knowing how long this has been going on, but based on my sketchy knowledge of Ayurveda I’d say it’s been a while. The organs and glands are not the first parts of the body to break down during dis-ease, but they’re also not the last.

What’s been really impressive has been the vast amount of information I’ve gathered from Twitter, including several excellent pieces of advice.

Three of the most important things I’ve learned in the last week are:

• Chronic stress can cause adrenal exhaustion, which in turn can trigger hypothyroidism and/or the auto-immune version of hypothyroidism, called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
• Generally associated with thyroidism is some level of gluten intolerance and/or leaky gut.
• There is PLENTY that a person can do other than take synthetic hormones to sort out this imbalance in the body.
  Here’s one woman’s story of what she did.

Bottom line #1: If you ever had any doubt about the body and mind being one and the same, seeing PTSD translate into a very real physical illness should be all the proof you require.

Bottom line #2: Never, ever, accept the standard western medical treatment without researching other options.

So far it’s been a wild learning curve and I know there’s plenty more to come.

Right now, I’m temporarily taking synthetic hormone medication for one month because it’s part of the protocol my current doctor wants me to follow. I’m not terribly happy about this! After that, I’ll have more blood tests to work out if I’ve got plain old hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s.

In the meanwhile, I’m also taking a small army of supplements including:

• Olive leaf extract (which I’ve been taking for ages to support my immune system)
• Fish oil (another one I’ve been taking for ages – good for joints and cholesterol)
• L-Tyrosine – this made me feel SO. MUCH. BETTER. The almost ever-constant anxiety I was experiencing, that’d flare up without much cause is now gone. Yep, GONE. This is an amino acid and it’s referred to as “neuro-transmitter support”. It is incredible!
• Liquid iron (better for absorption, and doesn’t cause constipation like the tablet form. Also includes vitamin C in the blend) – related to adrenal exhaustion
• Magnesium – to support iron absorption
• Huge doses of B12 and vitamin D – which I am deficient in right now and this is also related to adrenal exhaustion

But that’s not all. I’m working with my acupuncture guy on my spleen/yang energy – which is also connected to the thyroid. He’s gonna give me some herbs and needles to see what can be done to support my body.

AND I’ve started – somewhat fitfully – eating gluten free. I can report that the first few days my body was having a little celebration at the change in my eating habits. I felt like it was literally singing to me!

But I’ve had to work out what’s okay and not okay to eat. Obviously things like bread are totally out (unless it’s gluten-free chia bread!), but other things I’d eat occasionally like dumplings, fries (cross-contamination issues), and even most potato chips are OUT. So is blue cheese (*cries*). My breakfast cereal, which I thought was okay as it was wheat-free, just isn’t. Barley and rye also have to go, you see.

The weird thing is that after even just a few days without gluten, then slipping up with stuff I wasn’t aware of… WOW, my belly hurts! That’d also be me just double checking to see if this thing is really REAL (thick noggin, remember?).

Interestingly, I noticed that I’d been having this sort of tight, bloated pain for a while. Only I hadn’t realised before now that this was a symptom of gluten intolerance. Amazing what we put up with, isn’t it?

So mostly I’m sticking to very simple meals – fish, organic chicken, rice, steamed veggies (drizzled with tahini – YUM!) and salads. Stuff like that. I’ve found a wonderful gluten free breakfast cereal and the previously mentioned chia bread. The other thing I’m meant to do is eat smaller meals more frequently.

Basically, I’m not taking any of this lying down (see bottom line #2). I’ve already got some leads on doctors that work more holistically when it comes to thyroid issues. So once I get my test results, I’ll probably switch doctors because I want someone who knows this stuff inside out and is prepared to go further than just giving me replacement hormones!

Food, exercise, proper rest, yoga and meditation – along with the appropriate supplements etc – all appear to be the way to go.

I’m also doing some work on my self-nurture abilities: today I had an awesome “me” day! Post-yoga class, I had myself a lovely time – getting my eyebrows waxed, a massage, going to a movie, buying some lovely fruit tea, a new light for my push bike, and wandering at a leisurely pace back towards my part of the world.

Game on, people. It’s game-freakin’-on.

~Svasti