Challenges and Slide Show

The food picture is my lunch packed for work. People think you don't get to eat on this program. That is 1/2 cucumber, 1 small apple and 1-100g priced of grilled chicken. I don't always eat the melba toast. At the bottom are the supplements I take to keep my blood thin. 

I just wanted to post that yesterday I was hungry for awhile. Not so bad I wanted to cheat, but bad enough I wanted a cup of decaf...and didn't have it! I think what I wanted was some flavor, which means I wasn't really hungry, but craving something to satisfy my tastebuds. I chugged some water instead. 

When DH got home from work, we went for a 2.5 mile walk, had my protocol dinner (which looks a lot like protocol lunch for me, since I hate fish and seafood and gain on beef) and went grocery shopping. By the time we went to the store, I was not the least bit phased by being around all that food. I even stood in front of the Ben & Jerry's freezer (because of course it was right across from the frozen veggie freezer, which is what I was buying) and marveled that I was not tempted in the least. 


Later...
Funny how different today was than yesterday. I ate 1/2 apple and my chicken, but forgot to eat the rest! I wasn't even hungry when I got home from work, so by the time I realized I still had food, it was close to dinner. I put the cukes and other half of the apple (didn't take the melba) in the fridge. If I get hungry later I might eat them. I probably should. I tell my clients they need to get all of their calories in! 

I planned to come back and post after work regarding something that was on my mind this morning. I had someone ask me how I monitor the blood thinning efficacy of my supplements. When you are on warfarin, they poke your finger once a week to get your "INR" number. If it's too high, they adjust your dose down. If it's too low, they adjust your dose up. And it's a big crap shoot where it will fall, because so many foods and medications can mess with it. 

In the meantime, they tell you that you may have bleeding gums, or nose bleeds, freaky bruising or heavy menstrual bleeding. Not to worry though, as long as your stools aren't black (indicating internal bleeding) or there is no blood in your urine (ditto), all that other stuff is NORMAL. 

Hell no it's not normal! That is one of the reason I could not continue for months and months, or perhaps forever.

Some of the supplements I take my doctor recommended (like the vitamin C and E combo that lowers homocysteine levels, the B12 that does the same, the oils I'm currently not taking, and the Nattokinase and Lumbrokinase). Other supplements I take because I have taken them previously, and while they may thin blood (like ginger, Neem or Triphala) I'm not taking excessive amounts or anything. I'm taking either the recommended dosage or less. 

In any case, I'm watching for...drum role please...unusual bleeding or bruising. And what would I do if I noticed it? I'd stop taking stuff. The way I see it, the only thing I've done is cut out the step where someone tells me to to stop taking stuff, whether that determination is made via in INR number or spooky blood stuff I notice myself. 

I took that pile of pills all summer because I was dissolving the clots and didn't want more to form. I continued with them because I knew I'd be sitting for hours per day doing dictation AND I'd be on protocol. I'll taper down this weekend, and by next week be taking about half. Once I'm done with protocol, I'll likely stay on several...B complex, the C and E, D, fish oil, triphala, neem and either the natto or lumbro. I'll take low doses to balance out the propensity to clot caused by the genetic mutations, and bump them up when I'm in a situation where I'm sitting a long time. By doing this, I have every reason to believe I can avoid aspirin therapy and further mishap. Could I screw up? Sure. I doubt more than another person shooting in the dark at what may or may not happen if I put something in my body. And I take responsibility for that. 

The Hcg situation was the same. I had people ask me why I was so comfortable taking it without supervision, as the first 4 times were. 

First of all, when I was pregnant, my body made this stuff in far higher doses than I was taking to lose weight. When I was taking it to lose weight, I could just stop taking it if there was a problem. It wasn't like I could just not be pregnant. Again, I cut out the middleman. Instead of asking someone to verify that I felt wonky and have them tell me to stop, I just would have stopped. That seems so simple to me. 

Anyway, that answers those questions.