10 Supplements to Try for Chronic Pain

It's no secret that I take a lot of supplements. When you have two diseases that have zero cure and are life long...you have to get creative. Lately, I've had a lot of people reach out to me asking advice for dealing with adheasive arachnoiditis. Several of you have asked what I take specifically. That list has changed over time for me and I will include it, but I want to focus on some basics to try. 10 Supplements to Try for Chronic Pain 1. Bovine Colostrum
Bovine Colostrum is a complex, nutrient dense fluid produced by cows after giving birth. It is loaded with immune, growth and tissue repair factors. Bovine Colostrum has remarkable muscular-skeletal repair and growth capabilities. Studies have shown that colostrum is the only natural source of two major growth factors. These growth factors have significant muscle and cartilage repair characteristics. While not a pain killer or an inflammation reducer, the two growth factors promote wound healing with practical implications for patients with chronic conditions. Colostral growth factors have multiple regenerative effects that extend to all structural body cells. Repair = Pain Relief 2. Taurine 3. Arginine 4. Glutemine and 5. Carnitine These amino acids play a pivotal role in pain management. Taking extra amino acids, on top of what you can get by eating protein, effects the three key pain modulating neurotransmitters, endorphin, serotonin, and GABA. Check out this article here from Practical Pain Management. 6. Curcumin with Black Pepper Turmeric's main active component, curcumin, is what gives the spice its yellow color. Curcumin has anti-inflammatory properties, making it a potential treatment for a number of health conditions, including reduced pain and inflammation. In order for curcumin to be absorbed by your body you need to take it with black pepper, so make sure your supplement has black pepper. 7. Michael's Naturopathic Recovery Zymes™ Proteolytic enzymes circulate throughout the body, supporting tissues and organs by digesting proteins left over from healing processes, such as immune system action. You have an increased need for enzymes due to aging and chronic pain. It also encourages recovery from muscular exertion, which is helpful because people with chronic pain often experience muscle atrophy and muscle death. 8. Ginseng 9. Ginger and 10. Ashwagandha These adaptogens are a select group of herbs that support the body's natural ability to deal with stress. They are called adaptogens because of their unique ability to “adapt” their function according to the specific needs of the body. This may be physical, chemical or biological needs. Adaptogens, relieve pain by suppressing inflammation in the body. Stress relief also contributes to lower pain levels.

Essential Oil No More Scars Blend

I have so many scars on my body.

So many.

I always like to think of that line in the movie The Replacements with Keanu Reeves...Chicks Dig Scars...Glory is Forever..etc.

Well, I don't think men dig scars on women as much as we dig scars on them. #leohusband has this awesome scar on his back and he likes to tell people, in jest, that it's from a bar fight. He is 180° different in appearance than someone who would have a bar fight scar.

I have 23 surgery scars on my body. You can't really see them because I have a magic trick.

Abracadabra...

Essential Oil 'No More Scars' Blend

For the carrier oil, you are going to use vitamin E oil.

In your rollerball vial:

Frankincense 15 drops
Helichrysum 10 drops
Sandalwood 7 drops
Top off with Vitamin E Oil - I prefer Jason 5000iu Skin Oil

Use twice a day after moisturizing so it stays in place. If on your face avoid makeup in that area, if possible. Let's put it this way, there's a reason I styled my hair differently for 6 months.

[instagram]https://www.instagram.com/p/BynL9OlhgMW/[/instagram]

Can Fasciablasting Help Intractable Pain?

If you haven't heard of the latest trend in health, Fasciablasting, you are not alone. While it may seem to those "in the know" that Fasciablasting is on everyone's radar, it isn't.

Last month when I got together with #breadwinnerbff, I had to explain what it was to her, and it didn't help that I hadn't brought either of my blasters with me.

I showed her some YouTube videos and she was already in the know about fascia and how it can affect your muscles and pain.

So first what is fascia?

Fascia is a connective tissue within your muscles. It can become tight and inflamed contributing to muscle spasms (knots), muscle weakness, tenderness, and a host of other issues.

When you get a deep tissue massage the therapist is often working on breaking up some of your fascia that has clumped and thickened.

What is Fasciablasting?

Fasciablasting is a term created by Ashley Black, the creator of the Fasicblaster, where you use a many-pronged device to break up the fascia that you can use in the comfort of your own home. Back when I started Fasciablasting there were only two devices, the original and the travel. Now there are so many that I can't even keep track.

Can Fasciablasting Help Intractable Pain?

Let's get down to the nitty-gritty, I'm not going to make judgments about levels of pain and so on, suffice to say that while fasciablasting is recommended for things like fibromyalgia, my problems and pain levels are much more serious.

I have Adhesive Arachnoiditis which is classified as one of the worst pain conditions. It ranks at the top of the list along with metastatic bone cancer, renal colic, chronic regional pain syndrome, and migraine.

So when I say I Fasciablast, I do it completely different than what is recommended for fibromyalgia.

First, if you have inflammation, I have neuroinflammation, do not use heat.

I fasciablast only the areas that have a hard time keeping muscle strength and are consistently tight. I never fasciablast along the nerve pathways that are affected by my adhesive arachnoiditis. I save those for dry needling. I fasciablast my upper legs and stomach.

Second, I do mine in the shower. I have a process. First, I dry brush my entire body and then get in a warm shower. I start fasciablasting my legs then my stomach, finish the shower and get out.

In the beginning, I started with five strokes down my IT Band, 5 stokes down my quad, 5 down the inner thigh, and 5 down my hamstring and over a period of 4 months, increasing by 5 each month, I worked up to 20. The same for my stomach.

In the fifth month, I added on horizontal strokes at 5 and worked up over a period of another 4 months.

In all the effect I have received is my legs are less sensitive to touch which for me is major. My stomach blasting has allowed me to work on my core since the blasting helped me to lose some inches. It also has helped digestion issues.

Do I blast my whole body?

No, and in honoring my body and what I need to do for it, the energy expended blasting my whole body would dampen the benefits of the blasting itself. Plus, I did that once and the inflammation it caused and the resulting pain flare took me months to get over.

When I get out of the shower I immediately put ice on my "nerve pain" areas and follow up at night (or afterward) with an Epsom salt ice bath for 20 minutes.

Fasciablasting is not pleasant but I did eventually find relief in combination with all of the other things I do to stay on top of my pain. Again, doing natural, alternative medicine treatments can take months if not a full year to see a benefit. Stick with it chronic pain warriors.

Chronic Pain Crafts: Learning to Crochet

Recently, #LeoHusband went on a trip to Scotland. He always likes to surprise me with something on his trips that speaks to my soul. This trip was no exception he brought me yarn from the Isle of Iona.

From an arts and craft store called Iona pebbles that he literally ran into on his hike across the island. He got to meet the sheep that the yarn was made from and spoke to the owner.

Back before the s*** hit the fan and I was able to keep up with my blog every day, I was talking about national craft month.

I really enjoyed talking about my love of sewing and quilting because it keeps my body moving, which is so important when you have a disease like arachnoiditis. In fact, keeping moving helps other diseases like fibromyalgia and MS as well.

Sometimes though, we, chronic pain warriors, are in such pain that all you can do is be in front of the TV and try to get through a really bad pain flare. This is when I turn to things like knitting and crochet.

I keep a box next to the couch of crochet projects, and I swore that I was going to start knocking projects off my crochet to do list. Needless to say, I was very surprised when #leohusband brought me seven skeins of yarn.

Instead of sitting on the yarn and not doing anything with it, which is my usual MO, I decided to immediately find a pattern and start working on it.

I found this gorgeous shawl by Mama in a Stitch called smoky mountains triangle crochet wrap.

I don’t know why but making a wrap/shawl felt right with yarn from Scotland.

She also has a YouTube video on how to get started.
This is a very easy project so if you have never crocheted before you should have no problem doing this with her instruction.

She also has a nice pdf version of the pattern for sale which I highly recommend you support another artist by purchasing her patterns. I have several of them and she is a great pattern artist.

I am in no way getting a commission from Etsy for this pattern sale. All proceeds go to Mama in a Stitch. Support Independent Artists.

Chronic Pain Crafts: Learning to do Brush Lettering

One of my goals for 2018 was finally sitting down with the Brush Lettering course I ordered in 2017 and learn how to do all the super fancy brush lettering you see all over Insta, Pinterest, and Bullet Journal fanatics.

I initially wanted to learn hand lettering for my bullet journal to be pretty. However, it turned into something to do while I was stuck in my chair (or the bear chair as #leohusband calls it) in pain and the distraction of a funny TV show was not enough to take my mind off of the hurt.

I do crochet and it's a great distraction, too great in fact. I tend to get sucked into my crochet project and forget to take breaks where I walk around. Even when I set timers I tend to usually turn the timer off with the intention of getting up when I reach the end of a row, and I hardly ever do.

Chronic Pain Crafts: Learning to do Brush Lettering
Brush lettering or hand lettering, whatever you want to call it, is beautiful. It harkens back to the days where handwriting meant something. Penmanship was a goal everyone wanted to obtain and get this, they practiced it and kept it up because there wasn't phones or cell phones or the internet. Even in the 1980s, where I grew up, long distance phone calls were still really expensive so people wrote to each other. *Gasp*

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So if you have zero clues as to what I'm talking about here are some examples:

Get it now? I actually love that hand and brush lettering are becoming popular since they just don't teach cursive in school anymore. The last year I taught, 2014-2015, I actually had kids not be able to read my comments on their artwork because they couldn't read cursive. There will be a whole generation out there that won't be able to read historical documents because of this, and if you can't learn from history you are doomed to repeat it.

Again, this is why I'm excited that people actually seem to be into this.

So hand lettering vs brush lettering, what's the difference?

Hand lettering is usually done in pen and then you draw the weighted part of the letter on.

Brush lettering is done with a brush. You can get a refillable water pen and use watercolor paint or liquid ink in the chamber.




Or you can use a brush marker, like a Tombow Brush Pen, etc.




I have both, but for practice, I like my Tombows because they don't require clean up.

Now, where to learn...

As I said before I initially downloaded a practice sheet program from Random Olive. I did like it because it had weekly goals but it wasn't really doing it for me for some reason. I may go back and use it now since I'm a bit more used to the practice now.

I think I didn't like it because I'm visual. I need to see someone do it first. That's where Skillshare comes in. I love Skillshare and if you are into everything Internet you have probably heard it on YouTube ads or seen ads for it on Insta or Facebook.

If you are interested, use my link and get 2 Free Premium Months. Signing up under my link is no cost to you at all and helps a starving health blogger out. It's so worth it, not only did I learn hand lettering, but right now I'm also learning about Podcasting, WordPress, and Audacity. Remember how I was talking about crochet? They have that too. Thousands of classes!

The class I used to learn my awesome new skills was Hand Lettering: 4 Easy Steps to Modern Calligraphy by Peggy Dean, The Pigeon Letters | Lettering & Illustration.

She had simple straightforward instruction and printables to help you practice. She starts with a pencil and pen and then takes you through to using a brush marker.

If you have thought about learning this new skill and especially if you are stuck in a chair or in bed this is a great way to work your brain. Learning something new speaks to the soul and that is one of the best medicines out there.

Chronic Pain Treatment and You Are The Placebo

In January of 2017, I had enough of the pain I'd been in since July of 2015. My back surgeries made it worse. The epidural injections I had in pain management sent me to rock bottom. Lyrica showed me that there is a basement below rock bottom.

I decided on my own that I was going to get better because my only other option was not one I wanted to take.

My journey has been long and hard. Two steps forward, three steps back. I've done and tried just about everything in my quest to feel better, to have days without pain, to reclaim some of my life that I had lost.

About 20 months into that quest, I started seeing a clinical psychologist and it was the right decision, at the right time, with the right person.

Chronic Pain Treatment and You Are The Placebo

In our second session, she told me to read You are the Placebo by Dr. Joe Dispenza.

This book has changed my life and I haven't even been able to put it into practice yet.

I do not want to go into the book heavily because I honestly want you to read it. What I will tell you is this, the human brain is capable of amazing things. It can hurt you or heal you if you are open to it.
Dr. Dispenza goes over the history of the placebo, why placebos work, and documents several medical studies (not just one) to support his findings. He's appealing to the type of audience that needs to logically work out this concept of healing through your own brain. He also appeals to the spiritual side of an audience that may believe in miracles. I feel that he brings enough information for each camp of science vs spirituality to appeal to both.

Now, I will say that the language of this book can be daunting at times but don't let that discourage you enough where you put the book down and walk away.

When discussing some of the science behind his theories, he talks about quantum mechanics. I was in the groove for it, because I had just read What We Talk About When We Talk About God and that talks about science and quantum mechanics as well. Plus, I was totally into The Universe when it came on The History Channel back in the day. I'm such a nerd.
Stick with the book even if it is high minded!

Around the end of the book, and in conjunction with my psychologist visits, I had a real breakthrough. I actually felt joy. I was happy. Happy is the start of healing and it's such a wonderful start. Check out my 7 Steps for Learning to Live with Joy.

I wouldn't have had my breakthrough without this book and I hadn't even started his meditations. Which, by the way, I will start Thursday because that's when my current Headspace pack wraps up. I can't wait to see how much more I'm going to grow when doing his exercises, and that's exercises for your brain y'all!

If you have chronic pain or illness, this book, if put into practice will absolutely change your life. I feel like it should be required reading for every patient by every pain management doctor in the United States.

7 Steps for Learning to Live with Joy

I am learning to really live with Joy and Gratitude because I honestly think it's going to help with my pain.

That sounds weird simply because I have always thought I have been happy but the truth of the matter is that I'm not.

I have been coming to this conclusion for a while now, and what really blows my mind is that I don't think I've ever been joyful and happy. I don't know how to live in joy.

Sure I've had joyous moments like getting accepted to grad school, meeting my husband, getting engaged, getting married. However, I don't actually live in joy. Joy in the good times and the bad.

My mom always told me when I was growing up the story of the wrecked car. You can be happy and have a wrecked car or you can be upset and have a wrecked car, but either way, you have a wrecked car.

I couldn't ever do it though. I have been a slave to my emotional state since, um, forever.

7 Steps for Learning to Live with Joy
I've completed You Are The Placebo and am clued into the fact that to get out of pain I have to literally become a completely different person. Living in negativity for my entire life got me here, I turned on genes that are damaging by being addicted to stress and when tragedy struck, pain.

That's right.

Addicted.

You know how I truly figured this out in the last week?!? I honestly have been doing so well with my pain and working on transitioning to my new positive self that I totally sabotaged this direction by thinking that #leohusband is secretly having an affair everytime he works late.

How insane is that?

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I'm doing better in my consistency and my positivity that my brain simply said no I need stress like a crack whore on the street.

I want to bitch slap my conscious brain so hard.

Honestly though, how do you live each day in joy?

Well, this is what has worked for me.

1. Happy Memories

I like to first conjure up a moment of pure joy. Oftentimes I picture me walking down the aisle toward my soon to be husband. As soon as I came out I peeked around the corner because I just couldn't wait to see him. We locked eyes and it took my breath away.

I can feel the overwhelming happiness enter my chest and almost explode out of my limbs. Everything is affected and I feel my energy change. I feel lighter.

2. Joy for All Occasions

I know what you are thinking, how can I be joyful all the damn time? Well, it's a choice. I had a ton of stuff planned to do today. In fact, I even had this post completely written out and somehow deleated it. After one choice word, I reached inside and pulled up some joy. I was able to recover and not go into Disterville USA. The old me (literally a few days ago) would have bemoaned the rest of the day losing all that good writing.

So I turned to laundry, and I know what you are thinking, seriously Adina, how does laundry bring you joy?

A. First go watch Tidying Up with Marie Kondo (which is a joy bringer in and of itself)
B. It feels good to pour love into and thank my clothes

3. Breathe and Step Back

Part of this journey of learning to pull those joyful feelings up throughout the day is forgiving yourself when you fail. Be flexible with your emotions and don't feel guilty for a slip back into negativity. I've spent the last 30+ years being negative, this is going to be a long process. For instance, the day I had my breakthough I ended up driving almost 200 miles around my city.

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There's nothing like a little road rage to put you new positive, joyful, mindset like terrible traffic. When someone cut me off I felt that negativity and anger fill me and then I took a breath and pulled up that joy. I told myself that I actually had plenty of time to get where I'm going but the person ahead of me might not. I didn't berate myself for my slip.

4. Know your Triggers

Learning to live with joy everyday is also about knowing your triggers. Too much on my plate is mine. I feel overwhelmed and that leads to stress. Negative people could be one as well, or surrounding yourself with drama...sorry Handmaid's Tale you are just going to have to be put on the back burner.

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5. Immerse Yourself in Happiness

On that note, drive into fun and happiness. Start a family game night or spend time with entertainment that makes you laugh. We've started watching Brooklyn 99 and it's one of the funniest shows I've ever watched. You know the old addage about The Laughing Cure where the man healed himself from cancer by immersing himself in comedies. Then try it for you.

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6. Practice

So let's recap. To live in joy remember one of your happiest moments. Feel that feeling. Then try in 5 minutes to bring up that feeling without the memory. Practice throughout the day. If you don't succeed the first time then repeat the memory or try a different one and start again. Practice bringing up the joy throughout the day, especially if it's a task you don't want to do. Try bringing up the joy first. I find it amazing for my energy level as well as my ability to do more throughout the day.

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7. Bring Someone on your Journey

Tell friends and family, journey's are always more fun when shared with others. You are changing into a new, more positive person. Who do you want to bring on this journey? It will benefit the both of you more than you know.

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Tell me about your Joy Journey in the comments!

Yoga for When you are Sick Part 2

Last week I talked about doing yoga while sick or that phase of getting sick. You know that terrible feeling you have that something is just not right, no it's not a poltergeist, it's the beginning of a cold or flu or bronchitis. Ugh, the worst. I shared an awesome YouTube yoga session for just that occasion.

Yoga for When you are Sick Part 2
This week I want to share another awesome YouTuber, Yoga with Adriene.

I love this woman. I, of course, found her by one of my searches...yoga for shoulder pain. She had an amazing no shoulder class which I desperately needed at the time (still do). I had an inkling she was a fellow Texas girl and come to find out that yes, she is. I could tell by her colloquial phrases. Texans have some amazing catch phrases.

Anyway, her Yoga for When you are Sick is much more low key. I found it helpful when I was in the middle of the "I'm going to die" part of being sick. This flow is gentle and relaxing, plus Adriene's voice is very soothing, especially when she talks about honoring your body and your immune system.

Definitely check her channel out and subscribe to her videos because they are amazing.

5 Self Care Ideas for When You Are Sick

I think we can all agree that as a society we are starting to embrace the idea of self care. If you are burned out, stressed out, suffer from mental or physical pain, it's good to take some time to access what your body, mind, and spirit need.

This is especially true when you get sick. I've spent the better part of the week trying to turn the corner with my strep and sinus infections, which seems like to no avail, but I did wake up with a jot more energy this morning. I feel the light is at the end of the tunnel soon.

I've worked, literally, worked at getting better as fast as I can, so here is some of the self care ideas I put into practice.

5 Self Care Ideas for When You Are Sick

1. Lemongrass Epsom Salt Baths

Lemongrass is a natural anti-inflammatory and epsom salt relaxes your muscles helping with those body aches and pains. Also, if you are like me you slow down from your normal routine and almost round yourself into a ball just because you are not feeling good. Let your muscles unwind, let the warm to hot water help sweat out your toxins, and let the lemongrass relax your muscles and open your airways.

Make sure you set a 20 minute timer so you don't spend to long in the bath and overheat your body. If you are running a fever, do this with caution.

2. Hot Lemon and Ginger Water

It's good to drink a lot of water when you are sick. I however find it easier to drink hot water. I tend to get congested right at the top of my chest, bottom of my throat area, and cold water (in the winter) just seems to keep me congested. Ugh! However, hot, just before boiling, water with a slice of ginger and a squeeze of lemon is amazing and I could drink it all day long. The hot liquid seems to keep my congestion loose which is what I definitely need.

I also have a tisane that I drink when I'm sick so look for that recipe Friday.

3. Moist Heat on Your Chest

This is also a nice soothing go to. You're sick, you've got the chills, and you're trying to cough up the crud in your chest. Similar to the Hot Lemon water above, take a rice pack and microwave it and place on your chest. No rice pack? Dampen a washcloth and put it on your chest with a heating pad on top. This drives away your chills and also helps to loosen the congestion. I also like to pair this with DoTerra's Breathe if I have chest and nasal congestion.

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4. Watch Somthing Funny

Being sick sucks so after your warm bath, and you've got your hot water and heating pad set up, put something funny on TV. Now is not the time to catch up on The Handmaid's Tale. While compelling that show is depressing AF. Nope. This is when you need your funny go-tos like, New Girl, How I Met Your Mother, Parks & Rec, The Office, or Brooklyn 99. Whatever makes you laugh consistantly, that's what you need to watch to release those endorphins that will help your healing.

5. Lay Down with Soft Music and No Distractions

Ok, so I'm really talking about a nap here but let's be honest, napping is hard. It's also hard when your throat hurts and you can't breathe. However, you need to rest so at some point turn off the TV, go into your bedroom and shut out all distractions. Put some soft music on, if you have Headspace put on their Doze section, and lay down. Just close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Best case senario you do actually fall asleep. Worst case senario, you rested by engaging your entire body just by laying fully down and closing your eyes for 15 minutes.

Hope these ideas help and if you have your own self care ideas, leave a note in the comments!

Understanding Chronic Pain Sufferers

Last week I was contacted by a fellow health blogger, Shannon Johnson, who asked me a very pivotal question.

What do I wish I could do that I cannot because of pain?

Understanding Chronic Pain Sufferers

Honestly, I almost hate this question because admitting that I alter my life because of my pain is something I'm actively trying to overcome. My psychologist is convinced that I can completely overcome my adhesive arachnoiditis with the power of my brain, and gosh I sure hope she's right. However, that is another post for another day.

That said, I want to bring awareness to my readers that don't suffer from chronic pain to hopefully understand what it's like and what you take for granted on a daily basis. Maybe your spouse has chronic pain and you just don't get it, maybe it's your mom, or an uncle. Either way, I feel like their answer to this question would be very similar to mine.

What do I wish I could do that I cannot because of pain?

I wish I could bend over and wash my face without pain shooting through my back and up my body.

I wish I could be spontaneous without having to plan out social events, day trips, or vacations to finite details to ensure I'm not going to be in so much pain I can't go.

I wish I could go bowling with my family or play board games all day.

I wish that my life never fell apart.

I wish I could have children.

I whish I could sneeze without bracing myself for a wave of level 8 or 9 pain.

The fact is, there are too many wishes that I wouldn't even be able to narrow it down to three for the geine in the lamp.

I wish, I wish this never happened to me.

How to Fly with Chronic Pain

This crazy girl decided to finally go on a long vacation with #leohusband.

Well, the vacation needed to be taken for several reasons. One #leohusband has been working himself to the bone and traveling all over the world. While that may sound very exciting, he spends most of his time on planes, in airports, and hotels.

If you had a conversation with him about it, he would tell you that he's working the entire time so sight-seeing is out of the question. He'd rather sleep in his own bed and have a home cooked meal from me.

So he needs a vacation.

Two, I need a vacation from my job of fighting my disease all the time.

However, the problem is I haven't traveled more than a 3 hour flight or a 5 hour car ride (with extensive breaks so I can walk, stretch, and rest) in my awesome air-conditioned super comfy car seat.

So where to go, not break the bank, or break me in the process.

We settled on Hawaii after seriously kicking around the idea of Venice, Italy.

How to Fly with Chronic Pain
So now I'm sitting on the plane, in Economy Plus thanks to #leohusbands fight miles, five hours into the flight, three hours to go, and I'm not dying.

I'm uncomfortable for sure. What all do I have with me? My bear pad and pillow for the seat. You can see #leohusband carrying both in the above picture. I've got my back brace on underneath all my clothes so it's definitely chaffing my skin. My old-fashioned ice bag is currently under my left hip and I'm probably going to switch it to my right in a few more minutes.

I'm getting up every single hour and walking around, taking the long way to the bathroom. I'm drinking as much water as I possibly can because staying hydrated is key to my success in this adventure.

I took my prescribed pain medication about 2 hours into the flight, right when I started getting above a 5 and luckily I've stayed at a 6.

I stretched for a few minutes by the bathrooms at the halfway mark.

I've also got my tens unit, although getting that on in the tiny airplane bathroom doesn't sound appealing. If I hit a 7, then we're about to try that out.

Lastly, I have a compounded topical pain relieving medication that my pain management doctor gave me to survive all the physical demands that this trip will do to my body.

I will have to write a separate post on the experience of getting this medication filled...because getting that medication required jumping through flaming hoops, in the middle of a lightning storm, on a dry field, in the middle of summer, covered with gasoline.

In other words, it was really difficult, but I got it, and we booked our flight, our Air B&B's, and our rental cars. I contacted my #sororitylil who lives in Maui, the lucky girl, and told her we were coming.

I'm doing it. I'm actually doing it.

What I really think I want to communicate with other chronic pain sufferers today is this, I spend every damn day of my life trying to survive. I never really feel like I'm thriving. I wake up and I fight my disease and it's exhausting. I have felt that my life stopped, or on sad days, ended, when I got Adhesive Arachnoiditis.

That's why this trip is important. If I don't make the effort to keep living my life and doing the things I've always wanted to do, then my life really did end April 14, 2016.

So I'm scared, and I'm probably going to have pain, and have bad days, but Hawaii is a place I've wanted to see and experience with #leohusband and I'm not going to let this chance pass me by.

I hope that this is the beginning of a new chapter where I still can dream big and see those dreams come true.

Except for Japan, definitely can't travel there with their super strict medication laws...sigh.

Vitamin C The Superhero Supplement

I've always been a lover of Vitamin C. A long time ago in a lifetime far away I was an art teacher. Somewhere in the middle of my teaching career, I was doing my open house duties, meeting all the parents of my high schoolers, and I was sick.

I always got sick around the second week of school and I think I hosted open house with a terrible sore throat and congested more often than not.

One mom came up to me after my introduction and what your kid is going to learn in art this year, to tell me that she was an ER nurse and that if I feel a cold coming on...you know, the first tickle in your throat, to take a Vitamin C every hour and drink a gallon of water that day.

I've since added on a zinc lozenge to this routine, and let me tell you it works. It kicks the common cold in the ass and prevents my tendency to get a sinus infection, that gets treated but then turns into bronchitis.

However, I will say that if it is bacteria - like strep - this will not keep you from getting sick because bacterial infections need antibiotics, but viruses, on the other hand, it works like a champ.

And that is what we usually get right? Viruses?

However, what if Vitamin C did so much more?

Vitamin C The Superhero Supplement

If you have chronic pain, illness, or adrenal fatigue, Vitamin C is your powerhouse. It is the foundation you should be building your new health routine on.

Most people think that the best way to get their Vitamin C is through oranges or orange juice.

This is actually the least effective way to get Vitamin C. By the time ripened oranges get to your grocery store most of the bioflavonoids that give you the vitamins are depleted, and the part we eat - the delicious fruit part, has the least nutrients.

The best part to eat for actual nutrients is the rind and who the hell wants to eat that?

Most juicing processes do not use the rind either and if it does use it, then you are probably exposing your body to a host of chemicals that have been sprayed on the orange in the growing process.

So stop saying you are getting your Vitamin C from oranges and orange juice because you actually aren't.

You can get relatively good amounts of Vitamin C from dark leafy greens like Kale or sprouts, but if you have a chronic illness, pain, disease, or a highly stressful and erratic lifestyle, you need to take a supplement.

I'm taking about 3,000 U of Vitamin C a day. This is a good amount for me especially since I do suffer from several illnesses, take multiple medications, and I have adrenal fatigue. The max amount for an adult over 19 years of age is 2,000 units a day.

When you do take more than 2,000 units it should only be for a short time period. For instance, recovering from surgery, a night of zero sleep, heading off a cold, and other stressful situations like moving or grief.

When you get ready to back down to your normal dose decrease by 500 units a day. You can have an adverse reaction if you go back to your normal dose overnight.

Also, check to see where your supplement is getting its ascorbic acid. Some companies use ascorbic acid from corn products, which can be counterintuitive if you are avoiding corn.

How to Give Up Coffee

As I've mentioned here and here, I've given up coffee before.

Why am I giving up such delicious nectar from the gods?

Well, my thirty day hormone test results came in and I have severe adrenal fatigue. Which is good because in August of 2017 I had Adrenal Failure. My cortisol was at zero, meaning my adrenal glands were completely depleted.

Adrenal Failure if not given proper medical attention can lead to organ death...in other words, it can kill you.

So most of 2017 and 2018 has been to get out of Adrenal Failure, which I have achieved, but I still have a long way to go because I'm now in severe adrenal fatigue.

Like all things in my life I immediately started researching.

This led me to two different paths.

I already did yoga and meditation which are key in dealing with adrenal fatigue. I knew I was going to treat this with diet changes because my mantra is food is medicine, but which diet?

The so-called adrenal fatigue diet, which has a lot of criticism based on some of the food recommendations or the anti-inflammatory diet which doesn't address key issues of adrenal fatigue?

Either way, both diets suggest giving up coffee because elevated cortisol is indicative of inflammation and adrenal fatigue.

How to Give Up Coffee

I don't want to give up coffee. Talking with my #breadwinnerbff this morning we discussed that the ritual of coffee, the smell, and the richness. You just don't get that richness from tea. You just don't.

Therefore after my adrenals heal, I will probably go back to coffee. Maybe.

When I gave up coffee in my 20's it was easy, I just switched to green tea and that was it. Easy peasy.

In my late 30's (I'm a year and a half away from 40) it's damn near impossible. I'm treating giving up coffee like a Whole30. I'm planning it out and stepping myself down slowly.

1. Pick a Good Date to Start

Just like a Whole30, where they advise you to pick a time when you are not traveling or have a special event - like a birthday or wedding where you would want to eat cake - I started my journey on August 15. I don't have anything special planned for the next month. I'm not going on any trips. I don't have any commitments beyond physical therapy and yoga.

2. Step Down Slowly

There have to be thousand of caffeine charts out there that show you the caffeine content of each drink, I know because I spent a good hour looking at them.

In summation of my research, if you drink a Starbucks Tall Coffee, you may have a problem. It has the most caffeine out of any coffee product on the market weighing in at an average of 260-300 mg per 12 oz cup. Comparatively, Dunkin Donuts (in store) has an average of 150-200 mg per 12 oz cup.

Home brewed espresso at 1.5 oz has 50-80.

Decaf coffee actually has 4-8 mg per cup.

Why ranges? Well, it really depends on how much coffee you use. I like weak coffee, according to #leohusband, so I do 1 Tablespoon for 16oz. This is because I drink it black. Most people who add cream to their coffee like it much stronger so they still have the coffee taste. #leohusband's family would do 2 Tablespoons to my 1 Tablespoon, or 1 Tablespoon for every 8 oz.

via GIPHY

So obviously it would have more caffeine...

Step down the amount of coffee you are brewing, and if you are using a K-Cup, stop.

A. Heating up plastic alters your body chemistry and hormones.
B. Heating up plastic has shown to create or accelerate abnormal cell growth which leads to cancer.
C. Molds and fungus have been found in the holding water tanks.
D. K-Cups are extremely bad for the environment.
E. It's expensive.
F. K-Cups taste like s---

Need I go on.

3. Make the Switch to Tea

After stepping down the amount you are brewing, start mixing in a little decaf.

This was my first step. My scoop is 1 tsp or 5 ml of coffee grounds. So for my '4' cups of coffee that is three scoops. 2 of those scoops are regular and 1 is decaf for this week. Next week 2 scoops of decaf to 1 regular will be next week. My step down day is Saturday because I don't have die-hard commitments on the weekend so it's easier on me.

The half-life of caffeine is about 4.9 hours so at about 10 hours it's technically out of your system.

Once you are down to 2 decaf scoops and 1 regular scoop for about a week, make the switch to black tea.

4. Step down your caffeine intake to Green, White, or Herbal Teas.

You need to decide where you want your caffeine intake to be. Green tea has less caffeine than black tea, white teas have even less, and herbal teas have none. This is where I recommend you treat yo self. If you love a tea - for instance, I love, love, love Numi's Organic White Rose Tea, it feels indulgent with the rose smell and the taste is delicious.

Side note - I love the smell of coffee so I need to replace it with something equally as aromatic.

It's a little expensive but I see it as worth it to stay track on my goals. It won't be forever and if it helps me from falling off the wagon back to my coffee, I can spend a few extra dollars.

5. Make a New Ritual

I'm so happy to be receiving a teapot in my fall Fab Fit Fun Box. This is going to make the transition so much easier. I do love the ritual of making coffee, and I'm going to replace that with using a beautiful teapot. I suggest getting something that gives you joy to use or maybe you have a family heirloom that needs to be dusted off and appreciated. Marie Kondo would be proud.

Coffee is it Good for You or Bad? Part 2 of Adrenal Fatigue

So health watch, coffee is it good for you? Is it bad for you?

I talked last week about my 30 Day Hormone Test Results and my Elevated Cortisol with 4 Foods to Avoid for Elevated Cortisol based on preliminary internet research.

Well I now have my Adrenal Fatigue book in so let us dive in and really look at a hot-button topic: Coffee

Coffee does have good health benefits. It has antioxidants. It can protect your liver reduces your risk of liver cancer. In a recent Harvard health study, it also lowered the risk of suicide and depression. Seriously though???

Coffee is it Good for You or Bad? Part 2 of Adrenal Fatigue

I'm going to cut through the bull honkey (Super Southern I Know) and just come right out and say it.

If you are a completely normal person with normal everyday problems and stresses...

IE: getting your kids on to the bus with lunch, preparing for the presentation you're giving at work, fitting in a quick workout, and cooking a meal or purchasing one on your way home from work, your significant other and you have the usual stress of cohabitating but nothing that is relationship ending, or maybe you're wondering if you are ever going to get married (speaking from past experience here).

You are normal.

There are a lot of people out there like you. You don't really suffer from pain, except for maybe that sprained ankle you got on your morning jog or a headache every now and then. Maybe your shoulders are a little tight, but nothing a good one hour massage can't help. You are in decent shape and eat relatively healthy or maybe not all the time because you've never lost your awesome metabolism. You have an occasional or the rare head cold, but that's it.

You maybe have dealt with the death of your grandparents but your parents are still alive and kicking, even if they are divorced or were never married in the first place.

You have a job that pays the bills, maybe you're not keeping up with the Jones's but you are doing ok for you or your family.

You've never honestly experienced a great tragedy even though that super painful breakup a few years back felt like one.

You may feel mired in stress but you don't stay in the valley for long, you get breaks in between stressful times.

Coffee is good for you. Drink it but don't go overboard and get the Marble Mocha Macchiato at Starbucks. This is a hidden menu item and I do suggest getting it at least once in your life...for a special occasion.

However, if you have experienced real actual gut-wrenching tragedy, grief, or severe illness, you might want to stay away from coffee (or switch to decaf for a while).

If you experience multiple painful chronic conditions or illness, you might want to stay away from coffee.

If you have had one stressful situation after another in a snowball effect that has gone on for a year or more.

IE: financial difficulty making ends meet, job loss, surgery, extensive dental work, hospitalization, moving, bronchitis or pneumonia, miscarriage, changing jobs (even if it's a better job), death, car accident, injuries, short incidences of severe - sharp pain, long-term chronic pain and debilitating conditions or diseases, unpleasant side effects to prescription medications, separation or divorce, abuse and trauma, etc.

Guess what? Any of the above issues can lead to Adrenal Fatigue and the more incidences you have the greater your risk for end-stage Adrenal Failure which is life-threatening.

On a scale of:
0 for Rarely or Never
1 for Occasionally or Mild
2 for Often or Moderately Intense
3 for Always or Severely Intense

Answer the following questions and be as pragmatic as possible

1. I suffer from Anorexia or Bulimia
2. I am chronically fatigued, a tiredness that is not relieved by one or two good nights of sleep.
3. I sometimes feel week all over
4. I have decreased tolerance for cold.
5. I have low blood pressure
6. I have times of nausea or vomiting for no apparent reason.

If you scored 12 or higher on the above six questions and answer yes to more than two of the next few questions you need to get checked for Addison's Disease immediately by your doctor. I would highly suggest getting the book Adrenal Fatigue by Dr. James L. Wilson.

The following areas on the body have become bluish or black in color:
1. Inside of lips or mouth
2. Around nipples
3. For women only: Vagina
4. I have frequent unexplained diarrhea
5. I have increases of darkening around the bony areas, at folds in my skin, scars and the creases in my joints
6. I have light colored patches on my skin where the skin has lost its usual color.
7. I easily become dehydrated
8. I have fainting spells

So coffee?

If you have adrenal fatigue coffee is not going to be good for you. You need to get your body, adrenals, and hormones back in order before you decide to reintroduce coffee or at least decaf.

Coffee actually has cortisol in it which will throw off your already stressed adrenals even more. The caffeine also raises your cortisol higher in conjunction with the natural cortisol in coffee. It is simply not good for you.

That said, going off coffee is hard. I've done it several times in my lifetime and I always have to have something to replace it in the morning. For a while it was green tea, then it was white tea, but I always picked up coffee again.

Well, it is delicious and I do love the taste and its ritual.

I even tried to give up coffee a week or two ago. I made it three days and then I was like nope, I'm not even functioning without it and I have an event coming up that I need to prepare for.

So just like a Whole30, I'm going to treat my coffee detox with picking the right time to do it. August 15 sounds like a good day. I don't have anything pressing on my schedule for the rest of the month provided nothing weird happens. I'm also going to prepare by doing black tea for a week, then green tea for a week, to work my way down to white tea.

When fall hits I'm going to live for some yummy hot drinks like the Paleo Sachlav I just discovered as well as more yummy treats.

So coffee is it good for you or bad?

It is good for some people but not for others. It all depends on your overall health.

15 Exercises You Should Never Do

Today I was sitting here contemplating life while crawling off the couch (I'm on day three of no coffee) to do my physical therapy exercises for my left shoulder.

In case you are just going me, let me catch you up. At the end of April, I severely hurt my left shoulder in yoga. It took me much too long to get into my orthopedic and by then, I had chronic throbbing pain.

So my diagnosis was shoulder impingement, rotator cuff tendonitis, and bursitis. It also took me much too long to get a steroid shot. Damn summer vacation and the doctor's taking off work.

Apparently, summer is not the time to hurt yourself!

So my PT is going ok...but I felt it could be better. I'm just not progressing fast enough or maybe I'm just so tired of being in pain. I'm on week 4 of my PT and my awesome Physical Therapist is on a much-needed vacation. I realize the irony here of saying he needs a vacation and my doctor's do not but - my doctor has literally taken off 6 weeks this summer - 6!

So I went to my favorite YouTuber's Bob and Brad the PT Guys as I like to call them. While I initially went there to see their shoulder impingement video, I found this gem.

15 Exercises You Should Never Do

A-MAZE-ING!

I have done almost all of these - flashbacks to my high school Colorguard days where we warmed up with windmill's every day. Ours looked prettier than the PT Guys but still! I'm seriously not questioning why I have joint pain now...of course if I actually do have Elhers-Danlos then that just makes it worse.

Definitely check out their YouTube Channel - it's amazing and has helped this chronic pain girl out on more than one occasion.

5 Ways to Defeat Painsomnia

Friday night I had a pain flare that dramatically increased from a 5 to an 8 within minutes. I was already in bed and knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep due to the intensity of the pain.

So I started my 5 step process to get the pain under control in order to fall asleep. I think that if you suffer from chronic pain the things that I recommend are worth talking to your doctor about.


5 Ways to Defeat Painsomnia

1. Lidocaine Patches

I immediately slap on a lidocaine patch. It is my first line of defense. I set a 15 minute timer and...

2. Headspace SOS Pain Flare Meditation

I listen to the Headspace Mediation on Pain. If my heart is racing and my body is tensing from the pain this helps it calm down. If the pain is not coming down within the 15 minute timer, I go to the next step.

3. TENS unit

I put on my tens unit around the pain area and then set a 30 minute timer. I either turn on the TV and put a funny show on to laugh or listen to a book on Audible. When the 30 minutes is up I access my pain, if I'm still in as much pain as when I started...

4. Frontline medication

I take my muscle relaxer. It's a prescription and while it does absolutely nothing for my nerve pain, it helps my muscles relax because they are tensing and tense muscles lead to more pain and migraines. The last thing I need during a pain flare is a migraine. The muscle relaxer can also help me sleep, so it's a piece of my bedtime pain strategy in combination with my sleep medication and melatonin.

5. Ice

Last I get ice, and this is last because I will fall asleep with it, which isn't great for your soft tissues.

If it comes to it there is a 6th step and that is my last resort and frankly, #leohusband usually has to talk me into it.

If nothing has worked I finally break down and take my prescribed pain medication. I usually have a Larabar or an RX Bar in my nightstand drawer for emergencies.

I feel that in today's climate it's important to talk about the people who actually need pain medication. I do. I'm not a drug seeker or an addict. I rarely take mine and I go through all of the above steps before I do. Treating people with serious conditions like Adhesive Arachnoiditis like criminals bodes ill for the future of medicine and medical treatment.

Even then, my pain medication sometimes doesn't work. Then I'm stuck until the nerve pain finally decides to just turn off.

There have been many times that #leohusband has come downstairs to find me asleep with my cell phone still playing Netflix. Luckily we now have an Amazon Fire Stick in the bedroom so I can watch TV during emergencies.