One Stop Boy Shop

Well I don’t have a whole lot of great progress to report. My migraines and headaches have been out of control. Supposedly migraines and headaches are not related… they’re mostly caused by two different (and for me “unknown”) issues. I’ve been having at least 2 excruciating migraines per week and even if there’s no migraine, I almost always have a headache. I’ve been going to physical therapy and although they were able to provide me some relief for my lower back issues, they were not able to help fix my neck. They’re sending me back to the spinal doctor today for whatever the next step will be.

For those that don’t know, I have a lousy spine. I was in a really bad car accident around 1996. I hit the median wall of the freeway, head-on going 55 mph, did a 360 and hit it again. Since then, I’ve had to have vertebrae in my neck (C5) replaced with a piece of my hipbone and covered with a titanium plate (over C5&6) and continue to have a lot of pain in my back with numerous compressed disks, bulging disks and herniated disks. Anyway, the doctors are suspecting my bad neck is the culprit behind my migraines.

I was taking medication that was supposed to reduce the amount of headaches (not migraines) that I was having, which were (are) almost daily. I was taking 50mg of Elavil, which as a side effect made me eat like a starved wild animal. Not only have I not lost weight, I gained 23 pounds in the 2 1/2 months while on the meds! Since I was getting minimal if any relief from the medication, I decided that I could either be REALLY fat (and I was headed there quickly) with all of the problems and dangers that comes with that or I could live with headaches. I chose to live with headaches, at least they won’t lead to my early demise. And even though they may be uncomfortable, they don’t completely put me out of commission.

The migraines are a different story and I want those FIXED ASAP. I plan on going in today and am prepared to get down on my knees and beg the Doctor to find and fix the cause if that’s what it takes to get some relief. I need them to be more aggressive in helping me fix these debilitating migraines. The two migraine medications they’ve given me to try do NOT work and I need something that does but preferably, I want to find a way to resolve these migraines without meds.

I’m going to use SuZen from Erasing the Board philosophy of giving myself 3 month goals rather than yearly or “forever” goals. She uses the 4 solstices to make resolutions for that quarter of the year. Over the next 3 months, my goals are “find my migraine trigger”, exercise twice per week on non-migraine days and lose 5 pounds. I’ve got to get my cholesterol down, so I’ll also start taking the cholesterol meds that I’ve been supposed to be taking for months now.

I’ve given up my morning espresso’s in the hopes that was the culprit… nope. I also gave up my beloved flavored water (artificially sweetened) and that hasn’t helped. I rarely drink soda so I can’t give that up . I don’t know what else to try. A friend suggested giving up fructose corn syrup, but since I don’t know what that is (and I’ve heard it’s in almost everything), I’m not sure what to give up! I’m going to research that and see if I can figure that one out.

So Fitness Friday this week is all about how “unfit” that I am. I can say that since I went off the headache meds, my appetite has decreased dramatically, I’m also not craving carbs like a crazy wild animal so I’m eating healthier and much less. I also have more energy (when I don’t have a migraine) and have been much more physically active. The normalized appetite and increased energy has been helping as I’ve lost 3 of the pounds I’d gained while on the meds in just the week and a half since I went off of them.

I guess until the docs “fix” my migraines, I’m going to continue to be a chunky monkey but I will continue to find that trigger and will give up any and all comfort foods until I find it. I’ll also work towards lessening my weight and lowering my cholesterol. I’ve discovered several foods that can naturally help lower your cholesterol and I’m eating some of these like oatmeal (yuck), cheerios, apples, garlic, potatoes and carrots.

That’s my Fitness Friday report. How healthy are YOU being!?