Fatigue and Hair Cuts

Just saw a video of someone with long COVID describing how hard it is to get their hair cut. Bright lights, loud music, hair dryers, people; it can be exhausting.

My strategy starts with my hairstyle. It allows me to only need to go to the salon 4-5 times a year. I have bangs that I rough cut, not aiming for that perfect straight line. Having my mistakes fixed every few months seems to work. I have my stylist cut it as short as it can go and still be able to pull it back. I don’t have the energy to blow dry and style my hair before work. The back of my hair can grow for months before it noticeably needs to be cut.

I try to make morning appointments, even better if it’s a weekday; less customers and less stylists at their chairs. Finding a ‘one stylist salon’ would be great but it’s difficult and likely expensive. I also have a person I like that caters to my quirks. Like wanting an extra towel under my neck at the sink and knowing that I want to sit up if there is a reason for waiting at the sink (conditioner, getting more towels from the dryer). Most stylists seem good about chatting or not chatting depending on their clients’ mood, and mine is certainly good at that.

The rest of the day’s schedule is kept as light as possible; a short trip to the store on my way home or a couple hours of work at most.

Almost no effort put into getting ready for the appointment. Comfortable clothes, no make up, but do make sure to brush my hair really well to limit any knots they need to work out. If you do not need any processing, you can wash your hair before/after as needed if the hair bowl thing is uncomfortable for you.

Do you have any energy saving tips and tricks?

ME/CFS and Long COVID Fatigue – Activity Scale

I was looking about online for some information for some of my patients having fatigue issues after COVID and came across a site that had an interesting scale on it. Thought to share in case anyone else found it useful. I added some links at the bottom to store for myself and in case anyone was interested in more information.

I think I am at 50 because I have been going up to level 60 for a couple of weeks and my symptoms have started to flair up. Maybe somewhere in the middle. You are supposed to ask yourself: what activity level am I able to sustain without increasing symptoms?

Click to access rating_scale.pdf

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pmrj.12684

http://www.cfsselfhelp.org/pacing-tutorial

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VfENjAiOBKryT-dIOFyU8CyEAAKVR5xk9WyvlZF-u4M/edit

SUP Saturday Rebellion

Lil' Red and FriendsPatience, recovery, and rehab…

I teach it. I preach it. I skipped it.

Lil’ Red’s whispers grew in my ear.  

Echoing, bellowing, 

“Let’s go to the river,” He shouted.

I ventured out for a short stand up paddle boarding session today.  Tie down straps did not work, the launch fees increased from 3 to 10 dollars.  The crowd started by 9AM when the grounds used to be ghostly until closer to 10:30.

My legs were shaky and my balance faulty.  There were no falls or splashes.  It was clear that I had skimped on my preparation.  My flexibility was surprisingly constrained when transitioning from kneeling to standing.  The muscles in both feet have been spoiled.  A few minutes later, I was back on shore.

It was nice to be back out on the water!

With new exercises in mind, I put Lil’ Red away for another day.

 

Putting My Head in the Sand – hiding from lyme

My Last doctor’s appointment was a couple of months ago.  My cortisol was low.  My pregnenalone was non existent.  My brain was in meltdown mode.  I began using pregnenolone supplements.   The benefit was being able to finish sentences.  The anti-benefit was that the left side of my brain seemed to lose contact with the right side.  However amusing and adventurous it is to think “change radio station” then reach for the garage door opener, I knew the fun would have to come to an end.  When I forgot to turn my car off when filling up with gas, it became apparent that maybe I should stop the supplement.  What amazes me is that there are healthy people taking it just for a little memory boost.

I am back to talking like a fairly intelligent being and have stopped all supplements except Vitamin D and Lymphomyosot.  My vitamin D level was 37 while taking 10.000 IU daily.  I am trying different brands but still no joy.  At least it is up from 15.  The lymphomyosot keeps the lymph moving.  I am still dairy free and low sugar and gluten.

My blood pressure and cholesterol are up. (105/70 and 163) I think that is good. It just sounds so counter culture to declare that a positive. I do not get dizzy nearly as often and I have been able to stop adding salt to everything. I am pretty sure that it is more because of the weight that I have gained in the past 6 months rather than any miracle cure.  Whatever…

So, I decided to just ignore everything until next year.  The story I tell myself is that I just need time to recover and rebalance after all of the antibiotics.  The truth is more likely that I am just sick of going to doctors and taking pills.  Either way, it will be a nice little vacation.

I did get a cool new toy that seems to have gotten rid of neuropathy symptoms in my feet!!

“The Richway Amethyst BioMat Professional 7000MX is an amazing healing tool that has changed thousands of lives for the better.   It’s most important function is to produce far infrared rays of light that penetrate deeply into the body, warming all the cells and tissues evenly throughout.  These rays are produced by rows of amethyst crystals that cover the entire surface of the Bio Mat.”

 I found a used one with a full warranty from a licensed dealer and made the plunge.  It is a FDA approved medical device but like most things for sale, the hype around it is a bit much.  It did help me, so, I guess I will add to it.  Some people sleep on it, but I find far less than comfortable. You are laying on crystals, why would it be comfortable?  I have taken naps on it.  If nothing else, the BioMat is a giant hot pack that happens to have negative ions and and infrared rays.

 

 

Oops!! I lied in my last post

I will blame it on brain fog from my pregnenolone levels being too low.  Any excuse you can add will be welcome.

I used the wrong brand name on my last post.  It is all fixed now but good grief.  I give a review and name the wrong product.  Sorry!!  The mistake was realized while I was doing dishes 5 seconds ago.

 

WearEver Ceramic Cookware

Pure Living 10 Piece Set in Champagne

I having been using a set of WearEver ceramic cookware since December.  I wanted to make the switch to ceramic to get away from Teflon and still retain non-stick options in the cabinet. There was also the issue that my old pots were, well, old and did not cook evenly.

I really enjoy using these ceramic pans.  They cook much more evenly and clean up easily.  If you are looking for the infomercial style non-stick, these are not it.  While they do clean easy, they require a few more wipes than the Teflon pans.  I also find it necessary, or at the least, very helpful to use a little bit of oil (usually coconut) when cooking items like eggs and salmon.

Care:  As per the directions that they came with, I seasoned the pans with oil prior to using the first time.  They are dishwasher safe, however, I do hand wash to preserve the finish as much as possible.

Con:  The handles are attached by rivets on the inside/cooking surface of the pans.  My perfect cookware would not have these as they make it a bit harder to clean and can be an area where germs hideout.

Overall I am so glad that Santa brought these WearEver pans to me and I would recommend these if you are in the market for ceramic cookware.

This post brought to you courtesy of a week’s vacation:

Beach Getaway

Made new friends this week:

Friend oneFriend 2

Tried new food:

Best Burgers!

Best Burgers! Diet blown…

What to try next time I eat on the run.

What to try next time I eat on the run.

Tried a new Recipe:  thanks to The Savvy Sister

I had to substitute a bit but it still came out fabulous!

I had to substitute a bit but it still came out fabulous!

A great week to be sure, I must do it again sometime.

Bubble Burst

Adrenal Fatigue – One year later

It has been about a year since test results showed that my cortisol and aldosterone levels were really low.  Click for first post on symptoms and causes.

I did not wish to wait until my next doctor’s visit to test again so I found the lab they used and requested a cortisol test.  If I retest aldosterone levels, it will have to wait for a regular MD visit and traditional lab work.

Drum rolllll:

Before

Before

After

After

Something seems to be working!!

I also did an AM blood sample that showed a level within the normal range.

For a few weeks prior to the test, I was not taking any adrenal support supplements.  I was still using an increased amount of salt in the form of Himalayan salt.

Yonanas!

 

I have a new toy!  It took me a month to get it out of the box and play with it but I think its a winner for occasional useFrozen bananas and strawberries.

Whenever I had spotted bananas that I would not get to in time, I peeled and threw them in the freezer.  I also cleaned, prepped, and stored some strawberries when there was a BOGO free deal at the store.

 

I let them defrost for 15 minutes…well closer to 30 after  talking with a Fruit mashneighbor.

You put the fruit in the chute and out comes some soft serve ice-cream type food.

 

Where's the hot fudge??

Where’s the hot fudge??

I Failed Spring

Spring cleaning is not just for closets!  You may recall that I have an unusual way of cleaning.

Last week, I decided to clean the mold off of the back patio.  My tools: water pressure and bleach.  It worked before, it should work again.  Nope.  I poured some bleach in a small area and decided to let it soak in and work its magic.

Gutter Sense Gutter Cleaning Tool - Improvements

Best thing ever! Click for link.

In the meantime, I would be productive and clean out the gutters.  I cleaned a small section and went back to the patio.

Nope still covered in nasty, stubborn mold and grime.

Back to the gutters.  I made it half way through one side and headed back to the patio.

Started to focus on water pressure from my little water hose.  It worked, a little…

My shoulder was sore from the gutter reacher pole thing and I was dizzy from leaning over to spray the patio at close range.

The only solution at this point:

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