Cat's Exercise Diary

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Usually I wrap gifts, but this year I also decided to go with gift bags instead as it just seems so much easier. It takes a lot of effort and energy to actually wrap gifts - this way, by just stuffing everything into gift bags, I can save some of my energy for other things.

I'm still jealous of your bike rides, Carol, even the cold and windy ones. It's been so cold and wet here (mostly rain with some very wet snow mixed in) that I haven't even been able to walk Lily around the block. Getting outdoors just hasn't happened at all this week. I think both Lil and I are getting a bit of cabin fever! And tomorrow a walk likely won't happen either, because I have my scan in the early afternoon, and when I get home I'm surely going to want to stay near the bathroom for the rest of the day while my body rids itself of the contrast. Hoping to walk Lily on Saturday.

Sunday it's supposed to snow 1-3 inches, yuck. If the weather isn't too bad, then hubby and I are likely going to go out and do some more xmas shopping. If it's fairly snowy, though, then I think we will just stay in. Lily loves snow, it's her favorite thing, so if we get a decent amount of snow then I'll just let her run around in it to her heart's content. She zooms through the snow at top speed, it's really funny to watch. My neighbors will all have pristine white yards with no footprints, while my yard looks like a herd of 100 dogs stampeded through it. :p I wouldn't mind a cozy snow day to bake and wrap gifts and drink tea and watch movies, so I'm actually sort of looking forward to the snow (I hate driving in snow, so a snow day where I get to stay in and not drive is ideal).
 
Great idea! Exercise diaries are a great way to hold yourself accountable. Keep up the great progress, it helps get out that stress we all have built up! Your body seems it will also appreciate it. :D
 
Cat-a-Tonic said:
How are you today, MissLeopard? I'm okay, I didn't seem to catch the bug (yet) (knock on wood). I gave myself quite a lot of gas from being so worried yesterday so I'm pretty gassy today, but other than that I'm okay. Hopefully you are as well.
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I woke up feeling about the same as I did yesterday - exhausted like I hadn't slept all night. I went to bed last night with an upset stomach and cramps, but no nausea or vomiting has occurred. Another co-worker called out yesterday and today so things are definitely going around. I really hope my flu shot provides some protection. :(
 
Our weather has been very kind (mostly) up to now.So we try to make the most of it while we can.6 miles is not a great distance I know,but I can't usually leave the house until close to lunchtime And of course not having to go to work makes a huge difference.I have the utmost respect for crohnies who manage to hold down a job and run a house.And Cat,those of you who have a great enthusiasm for hobbies on top of everything else.Hugs for tomorrow.
 
MissLeopard, the stomach "flu" isn't really a flu, that's a misnomer. The flu is a respiratory virus. Tummy bugs are usually things like norovirus, rotavirus, etc. So unfortunately the flu shot wouldn't give you any protection against that. :( I hope you haven't caught it!

On that note, things at my workplace are looking up. Nobody else at work has gotten sick to my knowledge, and my co-worker who was sick yesterday is already feeling much better today (I'm still avoiding her though, because I've read that you can still be contagious for up to 24 hours after symptoms abate, and I'm not taking any chances - still being really careful to wash my hands a lot too and not touch my face, etc).

Carol, it's definitely a juggling act to work and take care of a house and pets and cars and hobbies and husband. ;) I really have no choice but to work full-time, it's through my job that we have our health insurance (hubby isn't offered insurance through his job as a chef, I think they have too few employees so they aren't required to offer insurance) and of course we need the money that comes from my income. So I have to work, it's not an option. But I'm okay with it, most of the time I can get through work okay - it's only a struggle when I'm feeling really unwell. And my hobbies, they pretty much just keep me sane. :p I'm an antsy sort of person, I have a hard time just sitting around watching TV in the evenings, it feels like I'm doing nothing and that drives me nuts. So if I have something to do, like sewing or crocheting, I feel worthwhile and that relieves the antsiness.

And 6 miles is great! Before this flare, 6 miles was a pretty typical distance for me to ride my bike as well - 6.5 miles if you want to be exact. The gym that I go to is something like 3.25 miles from my house, and my favorite workout in the warmer months is to get on my road bike, ride fast and hard to the gym. The ride there serves as my warm-up. Then at the gym I'd lift weights and do my stretches. Then ride my bike home at a slower, more leisurely pace as my cool-down. That's my favorite thing to do, it's an ideal distance to bike (if I cycle for too long, my guts start to yell at me) and a workout like that always makes me feel so good. Like I've done everything, like I've left nothing on the table - I did my cardio and I did my weights and I did my stretching, everything is accounted for and there's nothing else I could do, I end up completely exhausted but also completely satisfied with what I've accomplished. So, don't feel bad about 6 miles, that's a great distance to cycle. :) Really makes me miss cycling! As soon as it's springtime, I'm determined to get back on my beautiful road bike!
 
Well, today's the day of the MRE. I have everything set to go. I think I'm going to be getting my exercise by running back and forth to the bathroom this evening. :p If it's not as bad as I'm expecting, then I will get out my gift bags tonight and start wrapping gifts so that I can move things out of the way of my treadmill (it's the type of treadmill that folds up or down, it's currently folded up and the gifts are in the way of it folding down - if I can just get them wrapped and moved elsewhere then I can use my treadmill).

Tomorrow I'm hoping to walk Lily. It should be cold (high temp of 35 F, brr) but at least the rain has stopped for now. I can deal with cold, it is December in Wisconsin after all so it's to be expected. Sunday they're still saying we're getting 1-3 inches of snow, so I may get my exercise in the form of shoveling that day if the snow sticks to the pavement.
 
The MRE contrast went much better than I expected - it made me super gassy yesterday, but honestly there hasn't been much/any diarrhea, if anything it seemed to firm up my stools! I've had one perfectly formed stool today, and that was it. I also feel quite well and was able to do a lot. I did take Lily on a long walk, even though it was quite cold out (I don't know if the temp even got up to 30 F, and it was lightly snowing all day). She, of course, loves the cold, so she had a great time. I was freezing, but at least my guts felt well (maybe I should drink MRE contrast more often, hah!). I did a bunch of other stuff today as well, I wrapped some gifts and bought more gifts and did grocery shopping and vacuuming. It's been a busy day!

I didn't get all the gifts wrapped though, there are still piles of unwrapped gifts blocking my treadmill. :p Hubby wants to go down to the Chicago suburbs tomorrow to do more xmas shopping, but I'd rather stay home and take care of more stuff like that around the house. It's supposed to snow 1-3 inches tomorrow, so I guess we'll see what the weather is doing when we get up in the morning. I'd really just love to stay in, wrap gifts and sew, drink tea and watch xmas movies. That sounds so nice! I really don't want to go all the way to the Chicago area in the snow (it's about 2.5 hours each way, so it's a lot of time in the car).
 
I had a fairly active Saturday. Walked the dog, did grocery shopping and other errands, and then in the evening hubby and I went to the zoo. I got my 10,000 steps in that day and felt quite well.

Sunday, guts were still backed up and I could feel my full guts start to push on and irritate my bladder, so I didn't feel quite as well. We did stay in, by the time we woke up it had already snowed and was still snowing (it snowed all day, we got about 5 inches total which is more than they were predicting!). So I mainly stayed in and rested that day, although I did get outside to help hubby clean off the cars (we don't have a garage) and shovel the driveway. It was very heavy, wet snow so that was a workout in itself just to clean off the cars and shovel. So I wasn't totally idle. But for the most part I stayed in, stayed in my pajamas, baked cookies, watched football on TV, drank hot cocoa, and crocheted. All in all not a bad day!

Today I'm still backed up - I was able to have 2 bowel movements so far today, but it was little hard poos like rabbit poo and my bladder still isn't feeling great. So I'm going to try to walk as much as I can and drink as much water as I can to get things moving. I might also eat something I shouldn't, just to get my guts to speed things up a bit. The things we do to try to achieve some sort of balance!

Hah, I still haven't cleared the area around my treadmill at home. :p This might be slightly OCD but I'm waiting for more presents to arrive (I've ordered some things online that are coming in the next few days). We do a few different xmas get-togethers - one with my parents and brother, one with hubby's parents and his sister and her family, and one with my aunts and uncles and cousins on my mom's side. So, I like to only wrap gifts once I have all the gifts in hand for that particular group. I don't have everything for my parents nor hubby's parents yet so I haven't wrapped any of those yet, they're all still just sitting by the treadmill. My aunts/uncles/cousins gifts I do all have, so I did wrap all of those, but those are the only ones I've wrapped. Hopefully though by the end of the week, I'll have everything and can wrap it all and be done with it. And use my treadmill again! (In the meantime, I can use the treadmill at work, and I can also walk outdoors as long as the weather is okayish - it's in the 30s F and not snowing today, and the snow from yesterday has mostly been shoveled off of the sidewalks already, so I am hoping to walk Lily after work tonight.)
 
I walked into town and back today,and around the shops for an hour.Not great,but better than nothing.It was very cold 3c and down to 0c now at 4-30pm,so to cold to cycle.But the temp.is going to rise to 13c on Wednesday so we'll def.be on two wheels then.I think I've mentioned before that walking really does my back in now.By the time I got home today I was almost in tears.I couldn't get in quick enough to take some pain meds.I used to love walking and did some miles walking my dogs.In fact if I had a penny for every mile I'd be pretty rich.Not your fave man D.T.rich though hahaha.:hallo 3: I hope your tum gets back to normal soon,whatever normal is for us.Take care if you walk Lily tonight.
 
It sounds like we are having similar weather, 0 c is 32 F which is about what it is here right now. Too cold to cycle but not too cold for a walk as long as it's not windy/raining/snowing. Yes, you've mentioned your back before with regards to walking, that's not good. I'm glad you can cycle without pain.

Our weather is going to get colder, not warmer - by Thursday it's maybe going to get as "warm" as 20 F, brr. No more snow though for a few days at least. But 20 F is quite cold, probably too cold for me to do much walking. So I really should make more of an effort to clear the area around my treadmill...

As for my belly, I had some oatmeal a little while ago which sometimes gets things moving along, and I plan to have Mexican food for lunch if that doesn't work! And then a very gentle dinner of rice and fish to apologize to my body for the Mexican food, ha ha. :p
 
Cat-a-Tonic said:
It sounds like we are having similar weather, 0 c is 32 F which is about what it is here right now. Too cold to cycle but not too cold for a walk as long as it's not windy/raining/snowing. Yes, you've mentioned your back before with regards to walking, that's not good. I'm glad you can cycle without pain.

Our weather is going to get colder, not warmer - by Thursday it's maybe going to get as "warm" as 20 F, brr. No more snow though for a few days at least. But 20 F is quite cold, probably too cold for me to do much walking. So I really should make more of an effort to clear the area around my treadmill...

As for my belly, I had some oatmeal a little while ago which sometimes gets things moving along, and I plan to have Mexican food for lunch if that doesn't work! And then a very gentle dinner of rice and fish to apologize to my body for the Mexican food, ha ha. :p
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Are you a regular coffee drinker (drink everyday)? If not, I would recommend drinking 2 cups of coffee to spur on a BM. I found this helps me tremendously without having to take on laxatives. Anytime I'm feeling backed up, coffee helps 9/10 times. Apparently, it's backed by science, too. ;)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-coffee-make-you-poop/?utm_term=.42d71b81f341
 
Unfortunately not, caffeine gives me migraines so I've had to cut it out altogether (except for a small bit of chocolate at times - I can't have soda, coffee, nor even decaf tea, though). I used to drink coffee on occasion before IBD came into my life and I do recall it giving me a laxative effect! But then when I got sick, I also started getting migraines, and right away I found caffeine to be a trigger. So I haven't had coffee in over 7 years now. :( I miss it a bit, sometimes I walk down the coffee aisle at the grocery store just to smell it, and it smells wonderful. But that's as close to a coffee fix as I can get without setting off a migraine.

I had taco bell for lunch and still no further movement! I did, however, do some more reading up on interstitial cystitis, to see if there were any home remedies I could do to make my bladder feel better. I came across a link that said that sometimes allergy meds can help, so I tried taking a claritin. I think it's helping? I haven't really had bladder urgency since taking it, and I don't think my bladder feels as irritated. So I may just start taking claritin on a regular basis and see if that doesn't help my bladder. I'm definitely going to take it on a trial basis for a week or two and see how I'm feeling.

Walking-wise, even though it was a bit colder and windier than I expected, I still took a walk through the woods on my lunch break. Got about 5,000 steps in so far today and had a nice time. I found a new walking path nearby which is paved but goes through woods, which is a win-win! With yesterday's snowfall and with it becoming very melty today, everything is muddy, so a paved path is a must on days like this. But I also really prefer walking through woods to walking through the city - I read that there's a Japanese term called "forest bathing" which I'm trying to do more, it's literally just go to a forest and soak up the nature and de-stress. So this was a perfect place to walk today. I can definitely see myself doing more walks there.
 
Cat-a-Tonic said:
Unfortunately not, caffeine gives me migraines so I've had to cut it out altogether (except for a small bit of chocolate at times - I can't have soda, coffee, nor even decaf tea, though). I used to drink coffee on occasion before IBD came into my life and I do recall it giving me a laxative effect! But then when I got sick, I also started getting migraines, and right away I found caffeine to be a trigger. So I haven't had coffee in over 7 years now. :( I miss it a bit, sometimes I walk down the coffee aisle at the grocery store just to smell it, and it smells wonderful. But that's as close to a coffee fix as I can get without setting off a migraine.

I had taco bell for lunch and still no further movement! I did, however, do some more reading up on interstitial cystitis, to see if there were any home remedies I could do to make my bladder feel better. I came across a link that said that sometimes allergy meds can help, so I tried taking a claritin. I think it's helping? I haven't really had bladder urgency since taking it, and I don't think my bladder feels as irritated. So I may just start taking claritin on a regular basis and see if that doesn't help my bladder. I'm definitely going to take it on a trial basis for a week or two and see how I'm feeling.
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Decaffeinated coffee works, too. You could try some of the low acid coffee - Puroast - if you have acid reflux or heartburn issues. I've tried it before and, while it's not the best tasting, it definitely didn't set off any problems. ;)

As for the IC and Claritin, I've never read about that connection, but that's interesting. I am taking Singulair for allergic rhinitis, hay fever, and chronic asthma and I've noticed that I'm not using the bathroom nearly as often as normal. I have both IC and overactive bladder. I've tried Oxytrol patches in the past but I am allergic to the adhesive. I've tried Vesicare back when I was first diagnosed with OB but it was kind of pricey and really didn't make much of a difference. I've tried Myrbetriq with better luck, but don't have a prescription (it was sample).
 
Decaf coffee still has some caffeine in it, so I can't have that either. It has less caffeine than regular coffee but still enough caffeine to trigger a migraine. Same with decaf tea, it still has enough caffeine to give me a migraine. Literally I can only drink ginger tea at this point - it's got zero caffeine (herbal teas have no caffeine at all). And since I'm doing the low-FODMAP diet, I'm not allowed chamomile tea since that's too high in FODMAPs, and I can't do peppermint tea because of my GERD, so ginger tea is literally the only hot beverage I can have. And that does not trigger bathroom trips.

At any rate, I finally was able to have a decent bowel movement! Phew! It was actually so large in volume that I clogged my toilet this morning. :p But I feel better, not so backed up now.

I have no idea the science behind the claritin and IC thing, but that sounds like it makes sense. I'm definitely going to keep taking it if it helps, which it seems to so far (but obviously it's still very early on in my claritin trial). It still seems odd to me that an allergy med would help my bladder, but hey, if it works it works! And I'm not complaining! And I don't think there are many adverse side effects to taking claritin long-term, so I'm fine with this.

As for walking - I did walk Lily around the block yesterday. Today's weather is supposed to be similar to yesterday's, so low/mid 30s F, just warm enough for the snow to be melty and for the ground to not be slippery. I am hoping to do another walk at that paved path through the forest. Yesterday, where I parked, you could basically take the path in either direction. So I walked in one direction - today I'm going to try the other direction.

Tomorrow it's supposed to start getting colder, so my walks will probably have to be moved indoors to a treadmill. I'm feeling okay lately so I'm tempted to throw in a few bodyweight exercises as well - things like squats (no lunges though, that's how I injured my toe about a month ago and it still hurts at times). I've just tapered down to 10 mg pred which is slightly dangerous territory, recently any time I've tried to go below 10 mg is when I flare up again, so I'm going to have to be very cautious about exercise and listen to my body. I need to focus on getting well, and getting off of pred. That's the priority now, and exercise has to come second to that and has to be complimentary to me getting well and not hinder my progress or put me in more pain. So, the bodyweight exercises and walks in the future will be dependent on how my taper is going.
 
That's sensible Cat.It's impossible to everything.Getting well is more important than exercise.You can easily catch up because like me exercise is part of daily routine.Having said that I'm having a "can't be bothered" day.I have been for a supermarket shop though.I'm glad you managed to get emptied,what a relief that must have been.I'll be interested in how the Clarityn experiment works.I'm also interested in coffee to get things moving.Would that be black coffee ? I do drink weakish milky nescafe,not fresh.
 
Yeah, I know I'll be able to catch up pretty easily, I definitely do try to make exercise part of my daily routine. I don't know the answer to your coffee question but I would presume that any type of coffee would have some laxative effect? Maybe stronger coffee would have a stronger effect, I'm not sure. Back before I got sick, when I would have the occasional coffee, I'd always splurge for fancy coffee with flavors and whipped cream and chocolate syrup and so on. :p It was more like a dessert than like coffee. And those would go right through me, but I always presumed it was because I'm lactose intolerant (I've been lactose intolerant since my early 20s, well before IBD came into my life) and I'm sure those fancy coffees had a lot of dairy added - milk, whipped cream, etc. So I don't know! Maybe it was the coffee or maybe it was the dairy, or maybe both.

I'm having a stressful day. Work has been a nightmare, and I'm always stressed around the holidays anyway. So I already snuck down to the treadmill at work and did a 10 minute walk on that, which feels like it did help somewhat with my stress levels. I'm also still planning on walking through the forest and walking Lily later today, so hopefully between all my walks I'll be able to offload a good chunk of stress.

Specifically the holiday stress right now is that computers are stupid. :p I've got some video files on my computer that I took of my grandparents a few years ago, it's them telling some of the well-known family stories. I want to put burn these files onto DVDs and give one to each person in the family. Sounds great, right? But my computer keeps giving me error messages and won't burn the files to a disc. And I'm not sure why, the error message is vague enough that I don't know what to do to fix it. I do have a DVD recorder that basically records right off of the TV, so the current plan is to put the files onto a thumb drive and run that through my blu-ray player, and record it off of the TV like that. But my hubby has to hook up the DVD recorder to do that and it sounds very complex (I have no idea how to do that or I'd do it myself). So this project has now stressed both of us out. We're going to work on it tonight and see if we can't at least make some headway. I'll be super happy if we can get this stupid thing to work! I just want to share happy family memories with my family, it shouldn't be so difficult to do.
 
I get the "error" message quite a lot.The only thing that works for me is to switch off and re-start.But I'm a techno phobe and certainly don't use this lap-top to any where near 10% of its full potential.How much time do you get off at xmas Cat ? I expect your hubby will be busy.I love the Japanese idea of the forest walk.I feel really sorry for people who perport to "hate" the countryside and have no interest in wildlife.I mean,what's not to love ? I'm just out of the bath and have my PJs on ready for evening TV staring.Unlike you, I'm happy to sit doing nothing in the evening.
 
I also don't understand people who don't like being outside in nature. Weirdly, my own brother is one of these people. And I can sort of understand in a way - when we were kids, our parents would take us on nature hikes, but our parents are bird-watchers. So we'd have to stop every, like, 10 or 20 feet so that they could stop and look at a bird. That type of nature walk we definitely found to be very boring, especially as children, and they wouldn't let us walk ahead because of course we'd scare the birds. But as an adult, I love walking in nature, and I love seeing birds (though I don't stop every 10 feet to look at them) and animals and insects. The few times we've tried to go on a nature walk as a family of adults, my brother complains the whole time and is in an extremely foul mood. Did I mention he's 31 years old and really should have learned how to behave like an adult by now? I guess the Japanese notion of forest-bathing is lost on him. Or it brings back childhood memories of being bored and he can't get past that? I don't know. There are lots of things I don't like/don't understand about my brother, that's just one of them.

I get a few days off at xmas and another few at new year's. I am off of work from Dec 23rd thru the 26th, so that's a nice 4-day weekend there (although obviously it'll be a very busy weekend!). And then for new year's, I get to leave at half-day on the 30th, and don't have to go back to work until the 3rd. New year's is going to be a much more restful and relaxing time, hubby and I rarely go out on new year's and this will be no exception. Usually we cook a nice meal and stay in and watch TV, sometime we don't even stay up until midnight. I'm not sure of hubby's work schedule - I know he's taking off Dec 24-26th as we have family stuff to do all those days, but I suspect he'll be working a lot during new year's (the restaurant he works at is also a bar, so they'll likely do a lot of business over new year's). So, I may have some time to myself at new year's, which I'm just fine with (I'm a huge introvert and love my alone time). I'll probably use that time to clean up and recover from xmas, and of course do some crafts. ;)
 
Since our son emigrated to Australia 18yrs ago,hubby and I don't do xmas at all.(we have had 2 in OZ,nightmare) We'd take a pic-nic into the hills and go for a ramble,then come home and relax.We have no other family now to celebrate with.Since losing Alfie almost two years ago,we've lost the inclination to do things we did with him (and all our other dogs)it's to upsetting.Hence the cycling.So if the weathers reasonable we'll go out on the bikes,if it's bad weather,well.we'll have to see.
 
Well then, I'm glad that you have cycling to look forward to, and I hope you have nice weather on xmas and can go for a bike ride. The thought of a bike ride or a picnic here on xmas, it just wouldn't happen. We get too much cold and snow this time of year - could maybe go skiing or snowshoeing, but definitely not a bike ride nor picnic! We're supposed to get another 3-6 inches of snow this coming weekend, ugh.

I walked on the forest path yesterday in the other direction, and it wasn't as nice as the first direction (from the parking area, you can either walk east or west on the path - the first day I had walked west, and yesterday I walked east). It was more urban and less foresty - there were some trees but also there were clearly visible office buildings, a school, cars, etc. It did not give me the impression that I was in a calm, relaxing forest. So in the future I'm only going to take the path that goes to the west as that path is much nicer and feels like a proper forest, you can't see buildings nor cars from that side.

Today it's getting colder. It was only 18 degrees F (about -8 C according to google) this morning when I drove to work. Brr! And it's only going to get colder from here, yuck. One of the things I inherited from my grandpa were a couple of his blankets. One is a blanket that I had crocheted for him a few years ago - it's red, his favorite color. And the other is an electric blanket, it's wonderfully toasty warm (and also is red). So lately in the evenings I've been cuddling up with my grandpa blankets. They're comforting on multiple levels.
 
Blerg. I have had a headache all day and it seems to be getting worse instead of better. No walking today, not even on a treadmill, so far. I might push myself to walk Lily around the block tonight although it's very cold out, but maybe the cold will shock/numb my brain into having less pain. :p Tomorrow I have a work holiday luncheon, so I can't get out and walk on my lunch break (it'll likely be too cold anyway so probably a moot point). I just hope this headache is gone by then. Sometimes my headaches/migraines can last up to 5 days. I've taken some tylenol and it seems to have done precisely nothing. Ugh. I really need to be able to at least pretend like I'm a normal human at this luncheon tomorrow, so I hope this headache is gone soon.

When I'm not feeling well, I make stupid decisions. I've been trying to stick to the low-FODMAP diet, but I totally cheated on that for lunch today. I decided to have shrimp and veggie tempura, got take-out from a local Japanese restaurant. Fried foods generally do not sit well with me, but it sounded yummy. My guts are just slightly unsettled now, nothing too bad (knock on wood) so far. The stupid part is, sushi is totally safe for me. Fish, rice, seaweed are all okay on the low-FODMAP diet but obviously something fried in batter like tempura is not. I could have gotten sushi and been okay. I am kicking myself slightly for that. I need to make better decisions even when I'm in pain. That's apparently a part of myself that I need to work on.
 
We all need to loosen up occasionally Cat.Being disciplined all of the time is soul destroying.At least you knew you were making the wrong decision and that you would pay for it,but I would have taken the chance too.Hope your migraine passes quickly.
 
I'm still somewhat headachey but better than yesterday. I've been taking claritin as a trial to see if it helps my bladder issues (so far so good there) but I think it's messing with my sinuses as I've been blowing my nose more and having more nosebleeds than usual, and my headaches usually start in the sinus area too and this one is no exception. So I think this headache is maybe because of the claritin? I don't know. I'm sure I've taken claritin in the past and I don't recall having issues with it, so maybe it's just the cold & dry winter air screwing with my sinuses (I often get nosebleeds in winter because of the dry air) and it just coincidentally happened at the same time that I started taking claritin daily?

My guts aren't super happy with me today either, probably because I ate poorly yesterday. I'm getting back on track today with my diet. My department is having an xmas luncheon today at work, and for my lunch I've ordered baked salmon and rice which is very safe for me. I'm also planning ahead for some meals to keep myself on track. It's supposed to be quite snowy all weekend, so the other day I took a whole turkey out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw - I'm planning to roast that either tomorrow or Saturday, then we can have turkey leftovers to get us through the snowstorm. Yum!

Exercise-wise, I just don't feel up to it today. Between the headache and my guts, plus the fact that I'm exhausted (I tried going to bed a half hour earlier than normal last night, but instead of getting more sleep, I lay awake for an hour - ugh!), I just don't feel up to exercising, not even walking, today. I'm hoping tomorrow is better. Saturday, the snow is supposed to start in the early afternoon, so I'm tentatively planning to get Lily out for a nice long walk in the morning before the snowstorm hits. And I'm sure I'll be shoveling and cleaning the cars off once the snow is (at least temporarily) over with. It's supposed to snow from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning, take a bit of a break, then start snowing again Sunday mid-afternoon. So there'll be a few hours there of no snow where I can get out and clear off the first round of snow, before the second round starts. So yeah, with all of that, I'll definitely get some exercise in this weekend!
 
I'm feeling a little better as the day has gone on. I just got back from the work luncheon, it was actually a fun time. We had a white elephant gift exchange which was really fun. I managed to eat my salmon and I feel okay-ish. At any rate, I don't feel any worse than I did before eating, so I guess that's success. I was able to eat without making myself feel worse. And I had a fun time and had some laughs and mentally feel better than I did this morning.

I'm becoming slightly more ambitious, too. Looking at the weather reports, I feel like I want to do as much as possible outside the house on Saturday morning before the snow hits. I'm now toying with the idea of going to visit my grandma on Saturday morning. I could get there around 10 AM, visit with her briefly, give her a small xmas tree and some small ornaments that I got for her, and the DVD that I made for her. Lunch at her facility is served at 11 AM, so I'd leave shortly before then so that she could sit down to her lunch. Short visits with her are best anyway, so that'd be an ideal time to leave. It's about a 45 or 50 minute drive to get home, so I'd get home before noon - the snow is supposed to start at some point between noon and 3 PM on Saturday. So I wouldn't be driving in snow which is good. And if the snow holds off just a bit, I could quickly walk Lily once I got home. Then I could settle in for the rest of the afternoon and watch the snow and do some sewing and wrap more gifts, etc.

So, that's the current plan. Zip over to my grandma's and have a visit with her, zip home and walk Lily, then have a more relaxing time for the rest of the weekend and stay in while the snow flies. Once again hubby has been wanting to go to the Chicago suburbs on Sunday to do shopping, but once again the weather is almost certainly going to stop us from doing that (it stopped us from going to Chicago last weekend, it's stopping us this coming weekend, and it sounds like it may even stop us the following weekend - there's a lot of snow in the forecast all of a sudden, it is going to hit us every weekend it seems!).
 
Well, I had a rough evening yesterday. All day I was sort of wondering if I was developing a yeast infection (pred can cause those), and by evening I knew it to be true. So I went to the pharmacy and got some yeast infection medicine. They have different time spans for treatment - you can get a 7 day course, 5 days, 3 days, or even 1 day. Since I'm getting an IUD inserted on Monday, I opted for the 1 day treatment course.

In the past I'd only done the 5-day courses (I think that was all they had when I was younger?) and I don't recall those being painful at all. Well, the 1-day course apparently is stronger, and it burned a lot. My lady parts have sort of been weeping blood today, although I do feel much better now - it's not burning anymore and the infection does seem to have gone. Still, in the future, I think I'll opt for more days!

Today I am very tired. I kept waking up, couldn't stay asleep, and when I was asleep I had bad dreams. I dreamt that an acquaintance of mine was trying to assault me and I only had a pair of scissors to defend myself. Then I woke up again. When I fell back asleep, I dreamt that my dog ran away and I couldn't find her and I was so sad and worried. So after that, when I woke up, I just stayed awake - couldn't take any more bad dreams!

Today has made a turn for the better, though. I got a call from my GI's nurse, saying that the LDN prescription has been sent over to the compounding pharmacy!!! :D Finally! I can't make it there after work as they close shortly after I leave work and the pharmacy is on the far opposite side of town from where I work, so I couldn't make it in time. I am going there first thing tomorrow morning. (I'll call them this afternoon just to make sure everything is all ready to go.) I'm so excited for LDN! Tomorrow is going to be a good day. :)

But on the subject of bad dreams, apparently people have some very weird dreams and interrupted sleep their first week or so of taking LDN. So I guess I better get used to bad dreams and not sleeping well because it's going to happen some more! But it should only be for a week or so, I can deal with that.
 
What an awful night you had Cat,I hope you get a better sleep tonight.
Good news that your LDN is ready.I hope it does what you want it to.Fingers x'd.
 
Thanks Carol! My LDN prescription finally going through, that more than makes up for a crappy night. My mood is so much improved now.

I did some reading, and it sounds like I should take my LDN at bedtime. So the plan is that I will pick it up tomorrow and will take it for the first time at bedtime tomorrow. So on Sunday I should maybe have some inkling of an idea of how it's going. I know it can take weeks or even months to kick in, so probably I won't feel much different by Sunday. I'm down to 10 mg of pred, so my hope is that as I'm coming off of pred, LDN kicks in fully (and has at least started kicking in before then so that it helps me get off of pred). And from there I hopefully have a nice long remission (that would be so nice!). My longest remission in the past was about 2 years, from spring 2011 - spring 2013, and those were wonderful years. I exercised so much, I kayaked, I rode my bike, I lifted weights, I took Lily on lots of long walks. I really want to get back to that! I want to be able to exercise often and intensely! I want to go on adventures and travel as well! Lasting, stable remission is my goal and I'm going to fight like heck to get there. I really hope LDN is the key to that goal. It's certainly made me feel energized, like I have a good weapon in the fight now.
 
Cat-a-Tonic said:
Well, I had a rough evening yesterday. All day I was sort of wondering if I was developing a yeast infection (pred can cause those), and by evening I knew it to be true. So I went to the pharmacy and got some yeast infection medicine. They have different time spans for treatment - you can get a 7 day course, 5 days, 3 days, or even 1 day. Since I'm getting an IUD inserted on Monday, I opted for the 1 day treatment course.

In the past I'd only done the 5-day courses (I think that was all they had when I was younger?) and I don't recall those being painful at all. Well, the 1-day course apparently is stronger, and it burned a lot. My lady parts have sort of been weeping blood today, although I do feel much better now - it's not burning anymore and the infection does seem to have gone. Still, in the future, I think I'll opt for more days!
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That's been my experience, as well, with the 1-day treatments. They are much too strong. In fact, I used one at night one time that had Tioconazole as the active ingredient instead of the usual Miconazole and woke up with swelling and pain in a very sensitive place. I had to call-off work and make an emergency appointment with my OB/Gyn who said it caused a severe rash and he applied lidocaine to the affected areas because it was too painful for me to even sit normally. Not fun at all! I'm also allergic to white petroleum - I get contact dermatitis from it - but regular petroleum doesn't seem to do any harm. White petroleum was in the treatment and caused even more problems (that's before I knew I was allergic). :(
 
Oh my, that sounds horrible! My experience fortunately hasn't been that bad - there definitely was a lot of burning last night at bedtime after I inserted the medicine, but it gradually eased up over the course of maybe an hour or so. And I can sit just fine today and I don't think there's any swelling or anything like that. There might still be an ever so slight burning feeling left over, but that isn't surprising because I'm also still bleeding ever so slightly (just the faintest light pink tint when I wipe, it's hardly anything at all). I just need things down there to be okay by Monday afternoon as that's when I get the IUD put in, which is why I initially had thought the 1-day treatment would be best - it didn't occur to me until I actually put the medicine in that I realized, duh, it's going to be very harsh and strong because it has to do everything in one day as opposed to multiple. I do think I'll be fine by Monday, but I've also learned my lesson and will never do the 1-day treatment again! Fortunately I don't seem to get yeast infections very often - in the past I've only ever gotten them when on certain antibiotics, and this one was caused by pred, so I only seem to get them from certain meds. Fun times when you have to take meds for your side effects from meds. :p
 
I hope your plan to see your Gran and walk Lily go as hoped.But like I said earlier, don't push yourself.We must take notice when our bodies are trying to tell us something,and not do what we "think" we should be doing.Enjoy your day.
 
Fortunately the day went well and (almost) everything went to plan. I got my LDN, I then proceeded to laugh-cry in my car for about half of the drive to my grandma's (I really, really, really wanted to try LDN and I fought hard to get my doc to prescribe it to me, so to finally have it in hand, my emotions just sort of all came out at once in a big mess, ha ha).

I made it to my grandma's just fine and we had a lovely visit. I brought her the DVD with my grandpa on it, and at first all she could say was, "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Then later she started saying, "It's like you dug him up and brought him back to me!" Which was pretty macabre of a thought in my opinion! It didn't help that she then kept repeating that phrase. She was very happy though, happy to see me and happy to have that DVD (which I'm sure she's already forgotten about, but oh well).

After that I went to the grocery store, which was kind of crazy. Very busy - with the impending snowstorm, apparently everybody in town decided to do their grocery shopping today. So long lines and big crowds and general craziness there.

Then, and this is the part that really didn't go to plan - I came home and was going to cook a whole turkey. I had put a frozen turkey in the fridge days ago to let it thaw, but when I took it out of the packaging - still frozen solid. Ugh, oh no! I cannot cook a frozen turkey, I don't know how or even if that's advisable. Sooo, no turkey dinner for me tonight and I'm a bit grumpy about that. Hubby is off work tomorrow so I'm going to assign him to deal with the stupid frozen turkey. I wash my hands of it.

I did walk Lily after that. It was very cold but she of course loved it. The snow started just as we were leaving the dog park, so that was good timing. The snow is coming down now so we're hunkered in for the evening. If it's really snowy tomorrow, I might get my snowshoes out for a bit. And of course will shovel too.
 
LDN went fine, I didn't have vivid dreams and don't really feel any different. I know it takes awhile to kick in so I wasn't expecting it to do a whole lot on the first day anyway, so this is fine.

Hubby put the turkey in the slow cooker, so we'll see if that works. He's just going to cook the stupid thing all day, so we're planning to have it for dinner. Cooking it for 10 hours!

It's still snowing! We probably already got 5 or 6 inches of snow and they're predicting 7-10 inches of snow total by the time this snowstorm ends. I think I pinched a nerve in my neck/shoulderblade area, I've had some neck & shoulder pain yesterday and today. Hubby has had similar pain lately, so we're going to have a rough time when it comes to shoveling. I don't think I'm going to get my snowshoes out, as I need to save my energy for shoveling (and for recovering from shoveling).
 
Yesterday I shoveled and ran around in the snow a bit with Lily. Did not go snowshoeing but was very active around the house. I did a lot of sewing (got all my fabric cut and pinned, and sewed 3 of the 6 Bambi pillowcases - going to try to sew the rest tonight so I can get them mailed out to my cousins). I also wrapped almost all of the xmas gifts that I had sitting by my treadmill - just a few more gifts to finish up making (making a pillow for my youngest niece) and then everything will be done as far as xmas gifts! And I can access my treadmill again which is really nice. I also did a bunch of stuff like cleaning, baking banana bread, vacuuming, etc. It was a very busy day, especially considering that I was hunkered down inside at home all day due to the snow!

LDN still going fine, I've had zero side effects and I think I'm starting to see some benefit? At any rate, I haven't gotten worse and no side effects, so I'd say it's going fine so far. It's only been 2 days so still too early to really see any benefits anyway.

Today I get my IUD inserted, so I'm guessing I'm going to be resting with my heating pad for much of the evening (hopefully things will be okay enough that I can still sew). Any future walking/exercising for the next little while is going to be dependent on how crampy my lady parts are. I was told to expect very bad cramping for the first 20-30 minutes or so, and from there it should hopefully get much less crampy, but that I should expect intermittent cramping for the next few months. Sooo, we'll see how much and how intense of cramping my body throws my way. It is important to me to get this IUD - with those horrible men coming in to office soon, I want to make sure I get my birth control all set for as long as their administration might last - so in the long-term, the cramping will be well worth it. But for now, it might suck a little bit. We'll see! I've got tylenol and bentyl (I know that's for gut cramps, but it seems to help with menstrual cramps as well, and I can't take anything like ibuprofen so I'm going to give bentyl a try) and I have my microwaveable heating pad. Hopefully everything will go okay today! If all goes well then I'll start up with my walking again soon - going to have to be indoors on a treadmill, though, because the weather is supposed to become extremely cold this week.
 
At least you'll know where the cramps are coming from,and of course you may not get any trouble at all.It's probably worse case scenario.I'm waiting for the weather forecast to see if we can get out on the bikes tomorrow.Hope so.We don't have snow yet,but it has turned colder,which is OK as long as there's no wind.
 
We've gotten snow every weekend with more in the forecast for this coming Friday and Saturday. It is pretty but I'm sure I'll be sick of it very soon! I am hoping though that the cold and snow means that the outdoor ice rinks will be opening in my city in the near future. I love getting out for some ice skating even though I'm not very good at it (I can skate forwards and usually not fall, but I cannot do anything remotely fancy, just moving forward and staying upright is my main goal when skating, ha ha).

A couple of hours to go until I get my IUD put in. I'm not too worried. With all the invasive stuff I've been through lately, even with the cramping I think this will be not too bad. I mean, I don't have to drink prep nor contrast, so right there it's already better than the last few medical things I've had done. :p And it sounds like I won't have a period anymore, since the IUD is hormonal, so right there I'm already fairly excited about that prospect. No babies and no periods, that makes me happy! :)
 
IUD insertion went fine. Cramping wasn't as bad as I was led to believe - I did spend Monday evening with my heating pad on, but the cramping was totally tolerable. It was nothing compared to my IBD flare cramps. And I've felt fine since then, no bleeding since Monday and only the occasional cramp here and there but it's momentary and tolerable. So that's been fine overall, not a big deal.

LDN is going fine - the last 2 nights I did have some trouble sleeping, so that side effect has started. I've read that poor quality sleep usually only lasts about a week when first starting LDN, so fairly soon I should be able to get better sleep again.

I haven't done any exercise lately, not even walking. Monday was my IUD insertion, and yesterday our furnace broke and we were dealing with that nonsense (it's fortunately fixed now). It's been very bitterly cold outside so walking outdoors is not happening right now. We're supposed to get more snow on Friday/Saturday, so possibly Saturday I'll take Lily out and I'll go snowshoeing while she romps in the snow. Sunday hubby and I plan to deep clean our house. We're hosting my parents and brother on xmas, so I want to scrub and clean a lot of the house, particularly the kitchen and bathroom. So that will sort of be like exercise, it'll definitely be a very active day.
 
Glad the IUD went well and you're not suffering to much.It's a good job done and worth any little niggles.We decided to stop at one child and hubby had a vasectomy at 25 bless him.It wasn't my idea at all.Men are real babies,well mine is,so I was quite surprised.We even went private.I had a walk into town this morning,came back and did hubby's lunch then had a really enjoyable time on the bikes.It's still v. mild here but wet underfoot.
I'm sure your parents won't be giving you're home an inspection at xmas,but I like to have things done,then I can enjoy being lazy for a week or two.As to your sleeping problems re: LDN.....are you still taking Ami.? I sleep like a baby on just one a night.It's made a huge difference for me as I'm a really light sleeper usually.If the doc. took me off it I would have to fight him.hahaha.
 
Yes, I take 25 mg amitriptyline every night. It usually helps me sleep, but it doesn't always work 100% for that (I take it for migraine prevention - a higher dose would probably help me sleep better, but on anything higher than 25 mg, my migraines come back/get worse). I do have some OTC sleep aid tablets that I might try one of tonight - I don't like taking those things, but on rare occasion I do give in and have one when I really need to sleep.

That's great that you've still got mild weather and can go for a bike ride! Not a chance here, it's way too cold for that now. I'm just hoping it warms up a bit so that I could go snowshoeing without completely freezing.
 
Have just noticed my clean black trousers are absolutely covered in mud at the back.It's a good job I didn't go to the shops AFTER my bike ride.It wouldn't occur to my other half to tell me.I only take 10mg of Ami.,any more gives me dreams and restlessness.It's supposed to work in conjunction with Tramadol for my back pain.I used to use OTC sleep aids before that.They worked v.well for me.I hate not sleeping.
 
I never have clean black pants - I wash them, fold them, put them away, later I put them on, and somehow magically they have accumulated pet hair. :p I swear black pants are like a pet hair magnet! I never notice it as much on other color clothes, but on black I always see the pet hair. Oh well.

You wear trousers on bike rides? Is that not uncomfortable? I always wear workout capris/leggings when I go on bike rides, if I have to look nice for some reason then I'll wear a skirt over leggings, but I don't think I could do a bike ride in trousers!

I just looked at the weather report and I'm discouraged. Although we're getting another 10ish inches of snow on Friday/Saturday, I won't be able to snowshoe. The bitter cold temperatures are continuing, ugh. There's a high temp of -6 degrees F on Sunday. (That's about -21 C according to google - very cold, and that's the high temp, so that's the warmest it'll be that day - brr!) That's too cold. So I guess I'll hunker down in the house, again. Will definitely get on my treadmill though! It's finally clear of gifts!
 
My pants are pull ons but quite smart.I had been to the shops earlier and never thought to change.I have worn jeans on the bike,accidentaly,and that's a definite NO-NO.I plan to get some leggings for next summer.Our weather is still mild but cloudy,it might reach 15c at the weekend.We are going up the coast with the bikes tomorrow.But I won't be wearing black pants.
 
I'm jealous of your weather, 15 C is almost 60 F which is springtime weather! That sounds perfect for a bike ride, so I hope you get to have a nice ride and enjoy that balmy weather. Here it's once again -6 (-21 C). Brr! Although I did see that my local outdoor ice skating rink is now open. It's currently a bit too cold to skate, when it's this cold I lose feeling in my legs when I'm outside and will likely fall. But next week it's supposed to warm up a bit, into the 20s F, so I could totally go ice skating then. I'm excited about that prospect! I love ice skating! :)

Oh I agree, jeans are definitely not happening on a bike ride, that sounds like the worst! I don't think I'd get very far on a bike in jeans, that would be way too uncomfortable. My backside has already been through enough, ha ha. ;)

This morning hubby and I were admiring the fact that our treadmill is now accessible again. We didn't actually walk on it, but we admired it. :p I'll walk on it this weekend for sure.
 
Gosh, well, I've been active at work today! I'm sweating, like I have noticeable pit stains on my shirt (yes, I put deodorant on this morning!). We've been ordering a bunch of items at work that we'll be giving away to customers throughout next year, so right now a LOT of stuff is being delivered and we have to store it in some way that's organized. So I've spent a big chunk of the morning organizing things, moving boxes around, etc. And I feel pretty good now! It feels like I had a mini-workout. I really need to start working out properly again. I keep telling myself I will when I'm a little bit more well, when I've tapered down on pred a bit more, when I've been on LDN for longer. But frankly, I'm sick of waiting. I'm going to start working out again!
 
Cat.you may as well wait until after the festivities.But a walk on the treadmill wouldn't hurt if you really must.Of course,when you put things off it's so much harder to get motivated again.But I have faith in you because I know you WANT to do it.That makes a huge difference.
 
I've been wanting to get back into properly working out for awhile now - basically since this flare began. I'm sort of always motivated! I love fitness! I hate not working out at all or not working out the way I want to (frequently, intensely, with heavy weights). I've always had the motivation, I just wasn't physically well enough but I think I might be now. I know I should ease back into it, so I'm going to start by just doing a few exercises with lighter weights, and gradually up the weight and intensity etc. I don't want to wait for the holidays to be over, I want to get a jump-start on things now. (I also don't want to be mistaken for a New Year's resolutioner - I sort of loathe those people, they get all gung-ho to exercise starting on January 1st, and by January 5th or so they've already quit, but before quitting they hogged every piece of equipment in the gym while taking selfies, ugh.)

I'm going to take things slow & easy. Last time I went to the gym, I injured myself (I was doing lunges and I felt something go "pop!" in my left foot just behind the big toe - turns out I gave myself turf toe, which has mostly healed now but still gives me a little bit of pain at times.) I will be careful not to injure myself this time. I have a home gym so I'm going to start there - I have dumbbells and a barbell and a weight bench, so I can do a lot from home. I just want to do a few things and see how my body responds. If it goes well then I'll continue from there.
 
I did it, I worked out at home yesterday, and I feel mostly good today (I do have a throbbing headache, but that's because there's a big snowstorm moving in - aside from the headache I feel fine). I walked on the treadmill to warm up, then did some weights - nothing too heavy nor strenuous, mostly barbell with a bit of dumbbells. And then I did some nice stretches at the end. It felt really good! I haven't lost much strength which is very good.

I think I'm going to try to lift weights again on Sunday. Tomorrow I will likely be shoveling snow at some point - we're supposed to get up to 10 inches of snow between this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon. Hubby works tomorrow, so I'll probably end up shoveling by myself. That will be a good workout, I don't think I'll need to do anything else besides that! :p

I am still pretty tired today. I took another OTC sleep aid, but it didn't help as much this time. I still woke up a few times during the night, and once again I woke up at 5 AM and couldn't get back to sleep - for some reason, my brain on LDN feels that 5 AM is the proper time to wake up (my alarm goes off at 6, so that's an hour of sleep that I'm missing out on every day now). It's been only 6 days though that I've been on LDN, so I'm sure in a few more days once I've adapted to it, then I'll be sleeping better. That's what I've read and that's what they told me at the compounding pharmacy. So hopefully just a few more days of waking up at 5!
 
We had a really good couple of hours on the bikes today.Had to stop a few time to visit the loo,but there are a few at the coast so no problem.WWe came across a path we hadn't used before,but we had an idea where it would take us.It was only about 18ins wide and I'm not very good on narrow paths,but it widened out after about half a mile.Then we came across what can only be described as a swamp.Impossible to cycle through.Go back or push on ? We pushed on and pushed the bikes.What a mess I was in.hahaha.I wear very light weight soft ankle boots and the mud was almost over the tops.Pants were a mess too,and the bikes of course.But it was good fun and we had a laugh.Have cleaned my boots and am about to have a bath then put a wash on.Glad you managed to do some exercise.I,like you always feel so much better afterwards.(and smug)
 
I don't know if smug is the word I'd use, but I do feel much more self-confident after a workout. Usually I feel like I am not very good looking and am a bit chubby, but after a workout I feel like I'm hot stuff and skinny. :p And yes, I feel very good as well after a workout, both mentally and physically. I feel satisfied, I think that's the best word to describe it. My mind and body are at ease after a workout, it's like every part of me becomes content for a little while.

Oh yuck, there's no way I would have gone through that mud, you are braver than I am! Enjoy your bath, you've earned it!
 
I ended up not exercising over the weekend except to shovel snow (which is sort of a workout in itself). I got the news on Saturday that my grandma had almost died - she was found pulseless, not breathing, but then she took a breath on her own and came back to life. She's alive and apparently okay for the time being, but that's terrifying that I almost lost her. So I ended up crying a lot this weekend and worrying. And eating ice cream. I know, that's not good. (And isn't allowed on my low-FODMAP diet either.)

I know that the cure for stress and sadness is exercise - I always feel better, less stressed and happier after a workout. So today I'm getting right back to it. I'm going to go down to the little gym in the basement at work and do a lunch hour workout. I'm back to eating healthier today as well - I have fruit (banana and tangerine) and oatmeal with blueberries for my snacks, and for lunch I packed baked fish (red snapper) and white rice. Dinner will also be fish, hubby is going to make smelt. So yeah, I'm getting back on track diet-wise and fitness-wise. I won't let a couple of sad/bad days deter me from my fitness goals.

I know that fitness also requires planning, so I'm planning my workouts for this week. Tomorrow I might take a walk - the weather is supposed to get up to 30 F, which is much warmer than it's been (it's been like -25 with the wind chills, so 30 degrees above zero sounds tropical in comparison). Wednesday I plan to do another weights workout. Thursday maybe another walk or maybe a rest day, depending on the weather and how I'm feeling. Friday I have the day off of work and I have to do a few errands, but once my errands are done I plan to lift weights again, probably in my home gym. Or I could also go to the big paid membership gym that I belong to and lift weights there - it's nice having several gyms to choose from!
 
Glad you're back on track Cat.We've been cycling at the coast today.It was quite cold,but ok when we got going.Kept away from "MUD" today though.
 
Glad you kept out of the mud this time! I get a chill just thinking about cycling in winter, though. Brr! It sounds very cold to me although we are still in a cold snap at the moment here. I have seen some people here in my city who are very stubborn about bicycling even in the coldest/snowiest weather - I saw at least 3 cyclists this morning on my drive to work, in the snow and the cold (it was -8 degrees F and that's not even factoring in the wind chill!). Hopefully your weather is a little warmer than ours!

I just got back from my workout a little while ago and I feel good. It feels great to be working out again! And I'm feeling good physically, although I'm not quite where I want to be mentally. I'm not back into the gym mindset yet. Like, I knew I wanted to work out today. But I forgot to pack extra Ranitidine with my lunch - I always need to take reflux meds before a workout, so I don't know why I neglected my Ranitidine like that - my brain just wasn't thinking "gym" I guess. Fortunately I did have extra in my purse that I put there in case of reflux emergency. I'm going to make sure to pack extra from now on. Also, I didn't shave my legs! :p That's silly, I know, but I felt a bit self-conscious about it. I used to always remember to shave my legs if there was even a 1% chance that I'd be doing a workout in the near future. So I need to remember to do things like that now that I'm starting to work out again. I'm just not quite in the right mindset yet. Working out, especially with a chronic illness, requires certain things to be planned/done ahead of time, and I'm just not there yet. The unshaven legs thing was silly, but I really do need ranitidine or I cannot work out, I will vomit, my GERD is too severe to go without it. So yeah, forgetting that was just a symptom of me not being in the right mindset yet. I need to work on thinking like an athlete again and remember to do the things I need to do to work out.
 
You've had a lot to deal with lately,so don't beat yourself up.But I know what you mean.I'm particular about stuff like that,and it spoils things for me when I forget.But I expect there will be lots of hairy legs in the cold weather hahaha. No bikes today.It's sunny but cold and breezy,so off to the supermarket for a last shop before things get mad.
 
I hope the supermarket wasn't too busy, and that you can get back on your bike again soon.

Ah, well, the best laid plans... I'm coming down with a cold. So no working out for me for a little while. I woke up this morning feeling run-down and with a sore throat, and as the morning has gone on, I've also felt a bit sniffly and my voice is just starting to get scratchy and I'm coughing a little bit too. I can tell it's a cold because my guts are also unsettled - when my immune system turns on to fight a cold/virus, it always attacks my guts a little bit too, it's like a mini-flare. So it's not just that I'm tired and sniffly, it's definitely a cold. Ugh, no fun. Oh well.

Sooo, scratch all my fitness plans that I had laid out! I'll be resting and having soup and tea and orange juice instead. I'll get back to the gym once this cold is out of my system.
 
That's a shame Cat,just when you were getting in the groove again.
But it's sensible to take it easy when you're feeling icky.You may as well leave it until after the hols.Your body is not in the same frame as your mind and is telling you so.Take heed.
Got the shopping plus, a few calorie laden treats,so that's me done for now. I might have to peddle extra hard to work them off.
 
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Yeah, I know from experience that I cannot exercise with a cold, I just end up in coughing fits and getting nothing accomplished and feeling more exhausted. I need to wait until this runs its course and gets out of my system first.

Yum yum, calorie-laden treats are the best! :D I'm going to go to the grocery store at some point this week and pick up some chocolate treats since I'm not feeling up to baking xmas cookies.
 
Have just noticed I put an extra "body" in my last post,Have amended it,but oh,if only.

Haven't opened any treats yet.....this girl has a will power of iron.
 
I bought an exorbitant amount of dark chocolate peanut butter cups at the store yesterday. :p I wanted to fill my candy dish, because we're hosting my parents on xmas, and I know my mother loves chocolate as much as I do. So I bought a LOT of peanut butter cups. Like, probably wayyy too much. (Just kidding, there's no such thing when it comes to chocolate!)

I'm continuing to rest. My cold isn't too bad, but it's just bad enough that I know it's there. I know I couldn't do a workout like this. So I'm resting. I do have to go through some boxes that were delivered to work and sort out their contents and put the boxes in the appropriate spot, so that will be a little bit of exertion, but it can't be helped. I'm just going to take it slow with the boxes and not do too much too quickly.
 
I love Reese's Peanut butter cups too.It annoys me that I have to peel the paper cups off.I bought some "cupfree"ones, but they're tiny and I have to eat four at a time to make up for it.
 
These are ones I got at a store here called Trader Joe's (not sure if you have that chain in the UK?). They're not Reese's, they're TJ's store brand. They're dark chocolate instead of milk - I'm allowed dark but supposed to limit milk on my low-FODMAP diet. I love dark chocolate though so that's no problem. They're really yummy! Like, I had to stop myself from scarfing a lot of them. Fortunately (?) my GERD gets riled up quickly by chocolate and peanut butter, so I have to limit myself to only having 2 or 3 maximum per day.
 
Cat-a-tonic
Enjoy life brand makes choc free of milk and all other top 8 allergens
They have chips, bars and chunks for baking

https://enjoylifefoods.com

Hershey"'s has a simply syrup that is mainly sugar and cocoa to use as well


Nana cream is an ice cream with many flavors that is free of milk and most things not allowed on the fodmap diet
https://nanacreme.com
Diaya has "cheese" pizzas and "cheese cake" etc that is milk free

Pm me if there is a specific holiday treat you are looking to replace
I have been cooking for ds food allergies and gastroparesis and Crohns for a very long time

Another one if you don't like to bake is Katz 's

Their stuff including choc covered chocolate cupcakes is dairy and wheat free
 
Thanks! I've looked at the Daiya brand of pizzas, but I can't have them - they have either onion or garlic or both, and I'm not supposed to have any onion nor garlic on low-FODMAP. So that's out. I do make my own belly-safe pizza at home sometimes, using rice flour in the crust, and tomato slices instead of tomato sauce, and goat cheese (doesn't affect my lactose intolerance and is low-FODMAP friendly). I'll have a look at the other things you mentioned, thanks for the links!
 
Ds likes follow your heart cheese
Check out king Arthur's gluten free pizza crust mix
Not bad if you add extra flour
 
I need to stop at the health food store soon for some more psyllium, so I will look for those brands when I'm there. Thanks again for the suggestions!

Carol, I was bad. :p I exerted myself. At work, we're doing this big project where basically we're ordering a ton of stuff (trinket-type items) that have our company's logo on them, to give away to our customers. I've been put in charge of this project and I've been ordering thousands upon thousands of items. We need to organize and store these items once they come in, so that's also my job now. I've been receiving and moving big boxes of stuff almost every day. Today I was organizing our storage area in the basement at work and I had to move at least 20 or 25 large boxes. I'm definitely tired now and a bit sweaty, and my nose was dripping like crazy. But my coughing and other symptoms haven't increased, in fact I don't think I coughed at all the whole time. That's encouraging - it hasn't been a very bad cold, and I don't think I made it any worse by exerting myself. I promise I will rest the rest of the day. Tomorrow, though, I will probably have to deal with more big boxes. If my cold is not any worse and/or is getting better tomorrow, I think I might try a workout on Friday. I won't push myself, I'll keep it simple and relatively easy. But I think I can do it!
 
There's not much you can do when there's work to be done.At least you've got time off for the weekend and will be able to snuggle in after the festivities.It's bright and sunny 7c.so we're going cycling soon.It might be our last chance as the forecast isn't good for the weekend.Last week I read that a cold glass of water first thing,kick starts the digestion etc.So I have been doing that while waiting for the kettle to boil for the tea,and I have noticed the difference.Then I read hot water and a slice of lemon has all sorts of benefits,so started that today.It might just be that I'm having an easy time lately,but it can't do any harm.
 
Well, I have a short bit of time to snuggle in before the festivities, but not really after. Friday I'm off of work and have to run some errands (I have to get Lily's nails trimmed at the dog groomer - she's too squirmy for me to trim them myself - and I have to pick up a lamb roast from the butcher shop) and clean my house a bit. That's my "rest" day. Saturday we're going to my in-laws' house, Sunday my parents and brother are coming over, and Monday I'm going to my aunt's house. It's 3 straight days of xmas for me, I'm slightly dreading it as it already sounds exhausting. And then Tuesday I'm back at work already. I'm much more looking forward to New Year's - I get a few days off then as well (Friday I work a half day, then I'll be off Sat, Sun, and Mon). We don't go out or anything for New Year's, so I'll get to stay in and relax then. But not so much for xmas!

I've read that as well, about drinking a big glass of water. I do drink a lot of water when I first wake up, as I take a bunch of pills first thing in the morning (Lialda, Nexium, pred, and claritin, plus a few supplements). So I do end up drinking a fair bit of water just to get all those pills down. My guts have been very quiet since I've been on LDN - lately I'm having about 2 bowel movements per day, one in the morning and one in the evening, perfectly formed and firm. I'm sure that's due more to LDN than to drinking water, but surely the water isn't hurting anything and may be helping too.
 
Let's try this again since the forum has been a glitchy mess lately. It ate my last few posts that I tried to post.

The short update is, I caught yet another cold at xmas thanks to my nieces & nephews. This is a pretty bad cold, too, so no exercise for a little while longer. I plan to spend my long New Year weekend sewing and crocheting and resting. Will get back to fitness once I'm over this cold! This is 2 colds in 2 weeks, very annoying.
 
I hope your cold (s) didn't spoil your xmas.That's the trouble with little ones,if they've got something,they insist on sharing hahaha.Had a bike ride yesterday.Lots of frost where the sun doesn't reach,so kept on the sunny side of the path.The trouble with that is,the sun is very low in the sky,so I had to wear my baseball cap pulled well down.We made the mistake of ending up at the coast again.Too many people,too much traffic,utter madness.
A lot of ignorant people too.Although we were on a dual pedestrian/cycle path,and I always rang my bell,would they move ? would they hell !!! But at least we got some air and exercise.I had to get a script for the cystitis after all.I hope the tabs don't affect my tum adversely because I've been doing OK lately.I hope your sniffles clear up soon.
 
No, the cold didn't spoil my xmas. I was exposed to the cold germs on the 24th when I saw my nieces & nephews, but I didn't come down with cold symptoms until the morning of the 27th, right as I was headed back to work. Ugh. So it's been a bit of a rough work week, I did call in sick one day but the rest of the week I've been snorking and hacking and sniffling away at my desk. I think I'm getting better, though. I now can sometimes breathe through one of my nostrils. :p

I've experienced that on bike paths here as well, people blocking the full width of the path and won't move out of the way. There have been times where I've had to ride up on the grass just to get around stupid people who won't move. I previously didn't have a bell on my road bike, but I've recently bought a bell for it, so maybe that'll help. Probably not though if your bell didn't help!

Sorry to hear about the cystitis - I presume you're taking antibiotics for it now? Whenever I get a UTI, I'm always told to take good-quality probiotics to try to replenish what the antibiotics destroy. That does seem to help, I think. But yeah, antibiotics are never easy on me regardless, so I know how you feel. Hopefully it's just a short course of them and you can be done with this soon.

Speaking of meds, I'm increasing my dose of LDN as of tomorrow night. :) I'm going up to 4.5 mg, which is the ideal recommended dose for IBD. Up until now I've been taking 2 mg as my GI wanted to start me at a very low dose to make sure I did well on that before moving me up to the 4.5 mg. All has gone well on 2 mg, so hopefully I'll also do really well on 4.5 mg.
 
I still have a bit of a lingering cold, but it's nice weather this morning and Lily needs a walk, so I'm going to try to walk her shortly. Hopefully that will go well. 4.5 mg of LDN is going fine so far. My guts are very quiet, extremely quiet! I've had no cramping, no urgency, very little frequency (at most I'm going twice per day, I might need to up my soluble fiber intake a bit), no pain, etc. I think that once I'm finally over this cold, I might be feeling almost normal! Which seems very odd to me. :p I don't trust it! Normal isn't normal for me. But maybe this really is me getting into remission. Maybe LDN really is my miracle drug!
 
I did walk Lily yesterday. I don't think it made my cold any worse, so that's good. I'm planning on a lunch hour walk today as the weather is fairly nice today but is supposed to be quite cold for the rest of this week after today. This might be my only chance to get outdoors for a bit, so I'm taking that opportunity. I still have some slight cold symptoms, mainly a bit of sinus congestion, but the cold is definitely on its way out. Hopefully in a few more days, I'll be able to start working out properly again.

I was thinking about going ice skating, but my local outdoor rink is closed due to weather (it rained yesterday which apparently messed up the ice too much). And I can't snowshoe either as the rain has melted a lot of the snow, too. Hmph!

Meds-wise, still doing mostly fine. I was planning to taper my pred down this morning but I forgot. :p So I'll taper down tomorrow morning instead. I'm on 9 mg and I'll be going down to 8 mg. LDN 4.5 mg is going fine, I didn't sleep very well last night which I expected, so tonight I'll take an OTC sleep aid.
 
It's a struggle to make plans for out door exercise at this time of year.Hubs went out cycling alone today and almost got blown off his bike,so I'm glad I didn't go.I got some anti-bi's on Friday,just three days worth.I was hesitant but felt I needed something.Took the last one yesterday but there's been no improvement really.I get the urge to go,but it takes ages for the stream to get going.I'm drinking lots of water.I looked it up on the web and apparently Amitriptilyne can be to blame.So although I only take one at night I'm going to stop for a few days to see if it makes a difference.I will miss it though,as I sleep really well while on it.I might take an OTC in it's place.
 
That's interesting about amitriptyline! I have bladder issues and am on ami as well, but I think my bladder issues are separate and not caused by ami (I've been on ami for about 5 or 6 years now, but my UTI issues go back 15+ years to when I was in college, and honestly I've had bladder issues my whole life - I was a bedwetter up until about age 12). I've been taking a generic claritin every day as I read somewhere that that could help with bladder urgency & frequency, and sure enough, it does seem to be helping. LDN might be helping my bladder as well, I'm not totally sure if it's that or the claritin or both.

My GI once tried switching me from amitriptyline to nortriptyline as he thought it'd help my migraine & gut issues, but I hated not being able to sleep well on it, so I went right back to ami after a short time. I hope you can sleep okay without ami! While my body adjusts to this new dose of LDN, I need ami AND an OTC sleep aid, ugh.

It definitely is difficult to make outdoor fitness plans this time of year, and the weather sure isn't helping. It's been more rainy than snowy lately! For a short time we had a decent snow pack, but now it's mostly melted with lots of grass peeking out in spots. Lily isn't happy because she loves snow, the more the better as far as she's concerned. And I like snowshoeing, but I haven't had a chance to get my snowshoes out once yet this year. There's no snow in the forecast, either, but there is more rain, ugh. Yesterday when we walked Lily, the dog park was about half mud and half ice (or "mice" as hubby dubbed it). I'd rather there be snow than mud/ice! It makes for difficult walking/hiking, and obviously no snowshoeing and no ice skating. So, for now I'm sticking to paved paths for my walks until conditions change.

We're planning more indoor workouts, too. I now have everything set up in order to do some boxing - I have my heavy punching bag hung up from a rafter in the basement, and I have my boxing gloves. Hubby wanted to try it as well so I've just ordered him some boxing gloves online too. And we have the treadmill and a stationary bike, as well as lots of weight equipment at home. So once I'm over this cold, I will be making use of a lot of that equipment.
 
I'm having a lazy day today, mainly because I'm quite tired. I'm currently adjusting to my new dose of LDN and not sleeping well/having odd dreams. I still have a lingering cold, too - I've probably gone through about a thousand kleenex in the past couple of weeks. :p

I'm also a bit depressed because of our incoming president-elect (I still don't like saying his name). I know that fitness helps when I'm depressed, so I'm starting to make plans for that. I'm taking off of work on inauguration day and I'm going to stay off the computer and not watch TV except for netflix that day. I don't want to see, hear or even think about that awful man. If the weather is nice that day, I'm going to run away for a few hours and do a lot of walking in the woods with Lily. I'm going to do as much self-care as I can that day, which for me means exercising and getting out in nature.

And if the weather is bad that day, you'd better believe I'm going to be using my punching bag. :) If I can't get out in nature, then I will almost certainly feel the need to hit something!
 
I think most people share your feeling about him,Cat.It's minus 2c here so far to cold for cycling,especially at my age !!! Going to town for a hair cut.
 
Ha ha, It's about 2 degrees F here (very cold, and it's well below zero with the wind chill) yet I still saw one person riding a bicycle as I was driving to work! I guess for a very crazy few it's still bicycling weather. :p Not for me though!

You'd honestly be surprised, some people here like the president-elect. My brother is one of those people, my brother voted for the guy. I know I've complained about my brother before. I just don't understand him at all. He and I are about as different as two people can be. I know he's intelligent (he lacks common sense but he has a high IQ), so I really don't understand his views or why he voted the way he did. (I don't understand why anybody voted for that horrible man!)

Fitness-wise, I think I'm ready to jump back into things. I still have a slight bit of a cold, but it's mostly just mild sinus congestion at this point. I read somewhere some advice about working out with a cold - it said that if you have symptoms below the neck, like chest congestion or coughing, then it's best to rest. But if your symptoms are only above the neck, like sinus congestion, then it's probably okay to exercise as long as you don't push yourself too hard. So, I'm taking that advice and am going to try a workout today. Obviously I won't overdo things, but I do want to get back into it. I slept well last night and I have pretty good energy levels today, and I think I can do it!

I'm motivated, too. Yesterday I got a new gym bag, so I took everything out of my old gym bag and organized my new gym bag. That led to me also organizing ALL my workout clothes (and there are a lot of them!) and getting rid of a few that are old or no longer fit, etc. It was nice seeing what I've got, I have a lot of really cute workout clothes that I want to wear! But obviously I have to work out to wear them, so that makes me really want to go to the gym a lot. :)
 
Oh,I'm way too old for "cute" work out gear now.I am quite annoyed though, because I had a couple of pairs of leggings in the back of the cupboard from my fitness class days,and I thought I'd sort them out for the bike.Of course they've gone.I must have donated them to the charity shop.I do send a lot of stuff there.Never mind,I will buy some new.I'm looking forward to rolling them up to my knees in the summer.I've got loads of nice t-shirts too.It's funny,but by the autumn I look forward to warm sweaters and coats,now I'm looking longingly at my summer stuff....sigh !!!
 
Leggings are very popular right now! You should be able to find some cute ones. Although there are also very ugly ones out there. My sister-in-law gave me what might be the world's ugliest pair of leggings for xmas. :p The pattern on them is very bright orange and yellow geometric shapes. Orange and yellow aren't exactly my colors though! I've only worn those leggings in the house to sleep in, I will never wear those outside of my house. They're very comfortable but extremely hideous, ha ha.

I did recently buy myself a very cute pair of leggings. They have an outer space/galaxy type print on them, so they're mostly black but with smatterings of stars and galaxies. MUCH cuter than the hideous orange and yellow monstrosity. :p I also got some pink fleece leggings for walking Lily in cold weather. Leggings are definitely easy and comfy, although I do like to wear either a skirt or a longer shirt with them so that people don't see the shape of my backside!

Mostly though I wear black workout capris to the gym. I like capris, because I tend to get very warm during workouts, so long pants are usually a bit too warm, but I don't like shorts because nobody needs to see my thigh cellulite. So capris are a good compromise, and I only have to shave my legs below the knees to wear them. :)

I tend to do that as well, look fondly through my summer clothes during winter and vice versa. Although I am an addict of coats and jackets at any time of year. I just got myself a new winter coat, it's very high quality and seems brand new. I got it for $7 at the thrift store, score! It's slightly too big on me, but you know me and sewing. I'm going to do a few tweaks to make it fit me better - moving over the buttons and removing the shoulder pads, mainly. So, as if I didn't already have enough sewing projects to do, I gave myself another one. Ha ha. Good thing I got my new sewing machine!

Oh, and seriously, you're never too old for cute workout wear! Although it is easy to overdo it. There was a lady who frequented my gym for awhile, she was maybe in her 50s/60s? She would always come to the gym immaculately dressed. Her outfits were just the tip of the iceberg - she'd of course show up in a spiffy matching outfit and perfectly white shoes that never saw a speck of dirt, but she'd also be in full makeup AND jewelry! Seriously, she always wore large gold dangly hoop earrings. In my experience, most women who go to the gym in full makeup, they aren't there to work out but rather to be seen and/or to pick up guys. I have to give this lady credit, though, she actually did work out rather than just sit around taking selfies or whatever, she was a serious exerciser. So you apparently can rock a cute look in the gym even when you're an older gal, but for me I'll be skipping the makeup and jewelry. :p
 
I put make on EVERY day.I always wake with sticky out hair so have to damp it down and blow dry it.I then put on pencil liner,blusher and pale lippy.That's it.No foundation or eye shadow,so I did do my fitness classes wearing make up of sorts.I love perfume too.
Yellow and orange are not my colours either,or purple or irridescant green.My fave colours are black and navy blue,with maybe a touch of colour to brighten it up.I have loads of coloured scarves,too many,but I know I've mentioned that before.So it will be black and navy leggings.Once we get Jan.& Feb.over with we can start looking forward to Spring....bring it on !!!
 
I had a pretty good workout yesterday. My stamina is still quite low, I struggled to do 5 minutes on the stationary bike as a warm-up. 2 minutes in and I was ready to quit! I made myself do 5 minutes but it was a challenge. I know I just need to keep working at it and my stamina will return, but in the meantime it's a bit frustrating and embarrassing.

My GERD was a bit active during my workout. I belched a fair bit, which is an indicator for me that my GERD is not super happy. I also had an acidy taste in my mouth towards the end of the workout. I'm a bit surprised, as I did take my pre-workout reflux meds. I always take 300 mg ranitidine and a handful of Tums before hitting the gym, and that's what I took yesterday. I think pred might be affecting my GERD, though. When I was on higher doses of pred - 20 mg and above - I had horrendous heartburn regularly. I'm down to 8 mg pred, and no longer experiencing heartburn, but that's not to say that it isn't affecting my GERD still. So I will make sure to be mindful of my GERD in future workouts.

I'm hoping I can do a workout tomorrow. I injured myself yesterday. I'm such a klutz, I was going to bed last night but I guess I walked wrong and smacked my toes into the leg of my dresser. And I smacked them really hard! There's still pain today, it's pain in my 3rd and 4th toes on the right foot and the pain sort of goes up into the foot bones. I'm not sure if I broke something, I don't think so, but I'm not entirely sure. I can walk reasonably well but the pain is still there. I'm just going to keep an eye on things for now I guess. I've broken a toe before (also due to klutziness!) so I know what to do if a toe is broken. I just hope I didn't break a bone in the foot itself, as I don't know what to do for that. Ugh! Hopefully it's just really badly bruised and that's the reason for the pain.
 
Didn't you hurt your toe at the back end of last year Cat ? I agree with your klutz theory hahaha.But I'm not going to rub it in 'cos I could be me next.
I don't know much about Gerd.,just occasional indigestion,thankfully.Is it usual for exercise to bring it on ? Strange.
 
I did hurt my toe last year - my big toe on the left foot. I had been feeling a bit better so I had gone to the gym, was just doing some bodyweight exercises at that point. I was doing lunges, and I felt a "pop!" in my left foot just behind the big toe. Turns out it was "turf toe" and is treated very similarly to a broken toe (tape the big toe to the second toe and try not to move it, wear hard-soled shoes, etc). It still causes a slight bit of pain here and there, but I'd say it's probably 95% better at this point.

Yes, I'm quite good at injuring myself. :p This latest injury is in my right foot, so it's the other foot now, not the same one that had turf toe. I think the pain has lessened a bit as the day has gone on, so hopefully this means nothing is broken.

When I did break my toe, that was back in college. I had a baby cockatiel and he was sitting on my shoulder (I had an apartment, didn't ever live in a dorm). My baby bird couldn't fly, he did have his flight feathers but his wings were trimmed. I also wasn't wearing shoes, just sock feet. All these details are important, I promise. I went to the freezer to get something out to make for dinner, and as I opened the freezer door, a can of frozen concentrated orange juice fell out. I could see that it was going to land on my foot, and I had a split second to make a decision - I could quickly jump back, out of the way, but the baby bird on my shoulder would likely fall off of me and get injured. So the choice was, injure myself or injure my bird. I chose to injure myself. The can of OJ landed right on the joint of my big toe and I heard and felt it snap. Very painful! And I guess not totally attributable to klutziness, but it is an odd story, to say that I broke my toe because of orange juice and a baby bird. :p

As for GERD, I have both a severe case of GERD (it scored a 95 out of a possible 100 in terms of how severe it is when I had a pH impedance test), and I have a hiatal hernia. The hiatal hernia means that the valve between my stomach & esophagus doesn't fully close, so stomach acid/contents can essentially come up my throat whenever they feel like doing so. My worst non-dietary GERD triggers are bending over/lying down, and using my abdominal muscles. So, in the gym, even if I'm not specifically doing ab work, I'm still using my ab muscles a fair bit, and that's pushing stomach contents up my esophagus. So basically I expect to reflux somewhat at every workout, and I take reflux meds prior to working out to try to counteract at least some of it. It's not ideal but it's workable. But, my reflux did seem worse than usual at yesterday's workout. More belching than usual, and I usually don't get an acidy taste in my mouth like I did yesterday. I only drink water, no food and nothing but water, for 2 hours prior to every workout, so that should dilute my stomach acid somewhat, and the reflux meds should in theory do the rest. But I guess pred is still making my stomach a bit too acidy. I can't wait to finally be off of pred!
 
I probably should elaborate more. Here's how bad my GERD is in terms of what the pH impedance test recorded - it's a 24 hour test with an NG tube in, the NG tube has sensors that check for things like how acidy my reflux is, how high in the throat my reflux gets, how many episodes I have, etc.

So, in 24 hours, I had 48 separate episodes of reflux. The longest single episode was over 5 hours long. When I'm sleeping, I reflux more often than not. Exactly half - 24 - of my reflux episodes reached the top of my throat. Those are the numbers that I can remember, it was a few years ago that I had that test.

So yeah, they take the data from the test and give you a score for how severe your GERD is. Zero would be you have no reflux whatsoever, you're fine. And 100 is the worst possible reflux ever. I scored a 95. That's one test that you do not want to ace, but I did. So I'll be on both PPIs (Nexium) and ranitidine probably for life, or at least for the foreseeable future. There is a surgical fix for the hiatal hernia, but I don't think that'll fix the GERD itself, just one symptom of the GERD, plus I've heard horror stories of the surgery going very wrong and people ending up feeling way worse afterwards. So I don't want to have the surgery. I'll wait for better treatments to come along.
 
Another quick update: I've been walking around a fair bit all afternoon, and my foot/toes are feeling better and better the more I walk. So definitely not a break then. Phew!

So, I'm still planning to do a workout tomorrow then since my foot & toes seem okay. I'm going to work out at home late morning/early afternoon before I head out to visit my grandma. Then I'll have a late lunch with my dad and brother (they're going to visit her too). I like having a plan for the day, particularly when it comes to my workouts - as I said in my posts above, because of my GERD, I need to only drink water and have no food for 2 hours prior to exercising. So I do need to plan ahead!
 
I did! Unfortunately I wasn't feeling great - stupidly had salad with dinner on Friday night and paid for it last night and this morning. I seem to be able to get away with salad about 50% of the time, so it's a real gamble, and it didn't pay off. Ugh. So I didn't end up working out before my visit. Hopefully tomorrow!
 
So, yesterday was... interesting. I was definitely active!

Hubby and I were doing some remodeling in our house. We have 3 bedrooms and it's just the 2 of us, so the smallest bedroom is my craft/sewing room, and we were remodeling in there. Adding in a countertop to put my sewing machines on and moving things around, adding some modular storage, etc. So that by itself was a workout.

Lily also needed a walk, so I took her out on the bike path and back. It was very cold out. When I got back home, I realized that my fitbit was missing! Oh no! I figured I must have lost it on our walk. So, out we went again for a 2nd walk in the bitter cold. I did not find my fitbit. Looked everywhere that we had walked - it was a clip on fitbit in a bright blue case, so it should have been easy to spot, but I didn't find it anywhere. I also searched everywhere at home and in the car, but couldn't find it. I think I must have lost it when we were out in the morning buying supplies to do the remodel. We stopped at at least 3 different stores so I must have lost it somewhere then.

Sadly I think it's gone forever at this point. I ordered myself a new fitbit online, and this time I'm ordering the wristband style instead of the clip, as I think that'll be less easy to lose. It'll arrive tomorrow, fortunately. In the meantime, I feel like I've lost a limb - I'm a big data and spreadsheets type of person, I like to know my metrics, and I feel adrift without my fitbit telling me my data! And I know my data would be good because of the two walks yesterday and all the activity with the remodel! Ugh. I just feel off today, not knowing my numbers is driving me crazy!

The remodel itself went pretty well. At one point a shelf fell on my head and I now have a big bruise and a bump behind my ear (it was totally my fault, my natural klutziness at work yet again). Other than that, things went fine, and the room looks much nicer and more organized now.

Guts-wise I'm mostly fine. I'm still getting an occasional cramp here and there, I'm still not quite back to where I was before I stupidly ate salad, but I'm getting there. I'm obviously well enough to take 2 walks, so I'm okay enough to work out. I didn't lift weights yesterday due to all the other activity I was doing. And today I don't think I will lift weights either - the weather is looking pretty ideal for ice skating. Upper 20s F so the ice won't be melty but it's also not as bitterly cold as it's been. My local ice rink is open and I got my skates out of the closet, so I'm ready to do some skating! Tomorrow it's supposed to warm up and rain, so that sounds like a good day to stay in and do some weight lifting, so that's the plan.
 
Well,that was a productive weekend,shame about your Fitbit though.We managed a longish ride this afternoon.It was a wet morning,so I did some laundry the went shopping.The sun was out when we got back,so Les got the bikes out while I put the shopping away.The weather is going to worsen as the week progresses,so I'm glad I made the effort.
 
It sounds like our week is going to worsen weather-wise, too. Snow is in the forecast for later this afternoon, rain tomorrow, and then apparently more snow Wed & Thurs. Then more bitter cold and more snow. :p Today is apparently the one good day to get out and skate! Although I did go ice skating during a snowstorm once last year and it was actually very beautiful, and with just a dusting of snow on the outdoor ice rink, it didn't pose a problem skating-wise. So it's possible I'll be able to get out again this week and skate, depends on how much snow we get.

I'm glad you were able to get out on a bike ride while the weather was still nice! It's been so cold here - it's been below zero temps lately, just bitterly cold. Yesterday it warmed up to about 12 F which is still quite cold, and a brisk wind too, I was freezing after 2 walks with Lily! You know when it's so cold out that you lose feeling in your legs? I definitely had that happen yesterday! Today it's something like 26 F so I should be able to retain feeling in my legs, which is good because I don't want to fall while ice skating.
 
So my grandma almost died, again, today. She stopped breathing and turned grey. Somehow she started breathing on her own again after about 45 seconds, according to my dad. Last month she did something very similar, no pulse and not breathing and turned grey. She has a DNR order so the nursing staff in her facility couldn't perform CPR on her. The ambulance was called and the EMTs showed up, and one of the EMTs literally just yelled at her to wake up - and she did. I don't know how many times a person can technically be dead and come back, but my grandma seems to be going for a record. It's extremely scary and worrying, and I know that one of these times, she won't come back from it. I don't think she's going to be around for much longer, and I hate that. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

My dad messaged me to tell me about her latest "incident" about a half hour before I was going to go ice skating. So I was sort of an emotional mess, but I know that exercise really helps me mentally, so I sort of forced myself to go ice skating anyway even though I really didn't want to in that moment. It was hard, but I went to the outdoor ice rink and I put on my skates and I made myself get on the ice and I kept forcing myself to move forward on the ice. Gradually it did get easier, and by the end of my lunch hour, I felt mentally and emotionally a lot better. I'm still worried about my grandma, but I no longer feel like bursting into tears and/or curling up into a ball underneath my desk. (Okay, I slightly do, but it's no longer an overwhelming urge.)

I tried to channel the awesomeness of my mom's friend when I was ice skating. My mom's best friend from when she was a kid, she's a very cool lady indeed. I've looked up to her my whole life, she's a strong single woman who doesn't need no man (apparently several men have proposed to her and she turned them all down), she's very cool and confident and independent. And a few years back, she was talking to my mom about how, when she was younger, she used to go ice skating on her lunch hour, in a skirt. :p I feel like that's such a cool thing to do - she was having adventuresome lunch hours rather than just being boring and sitting around and eating lunch. And in a skirt no less! I like having adventuresome lunch hours too. So, I made sure to wear a skirt today (along with warm fleece-lined leggings, I'm not crazy!) and I went ice skating on my lunch hour in her honor. Hopefully I'm even half as cool as my mom's friend.
 
Oh,goodness me Cat.I'm glad gran pulled herself round,bless her.Her Guardian Angel must have given her a little poke again.Good for you for going ahead with your skating plan.Worrying isn't going to help things and I know how much better you felt after making the effort.RESPECT !!!
 
Thanks Carol. It was really worrying last month when it first happened, but for that to happen twice, it's absolutely terrifying. And I've been told it's not a matter of if, but when, it happens again. I think her body is trying to shut down. I mean, a person's heart and breathing don't just stop for no reason - she's 84 and she has Alzheimer's and I think she's getting ready to die. I'm not ready for her to go, I just lost my grandpa in May and I'm not ready to lose my only remaining grandparent. But I recognize that I don't have a say in this. All I can do is go visit her as often as I can while she's still here, and practice as much self-care as I can. A big part of that is fitness, so I'm going to get myself to the gym as often as possible.

Today's fitness plan is weights. I have a GP appointment this afternoon, so a lunch hour workout can't happen today. I plan to go home after my GP appointment and lift weights in my home gym. I have a barbell, dumbbells, a weight bench, a balance board, kettlebells, etc. I have enough equipment at home for a really decent workout.

Tomorrow's plan could go either way, depending on what the weather does. There's a chance of rain/snow in the forecast in the afternoon. So if it's not raining/snowing, I think I will go to the forest path and take a walk through the woods on my lunch break. If it is raining/snowing, I'll work on my cardio in the gym in the basement of my workplace. Walking on the treadmill alternating with riding the stationary bike.
 
I lifted weights yesterday. I had a bit of a delay - received my new fitbit in the mail (I lost my old fitbit so I upgraded to a newer model) and wanted to set it up first before my workout. So that took a little bit of time to set it up, but I'm glad I did - I was able to have a good workout and get my numbers from the workout. :)

I managed to do 10 minutes on the stationary bike as my warm-up. Once again, I felt exhausted only a couple minutes in, and wanted to quit, but pushed myself to keep going. And once I got past 5 minutes in, it felt much easier, and then getting to 10 minutes was no problem. So it seems like my stamina will return pretty quickly if I just make myself stick with it.

I lifted weights and felt quite good doing that. Once again, though, my reflux was a bit too active for my liking. I've been taking 1 ranitidine (300 mg) and 4 Tums before working out, so I think I'm going to increase the amount of Tums next time I lift weights. Hopefully that will help.

Today's plan is still on - either walk in the forest or walk indoors if the weather doesn't behave. Tomorrow I plan to lift weights again. I haven't planned beyond that just yet.
 
I feel like I am taking it easy. :p I'm not lifting as heavy nor as intensely as I had been in the past (prior to my flare that started in July). I am pretty much over the cold, and my guts are mostly quiet, so I feel okay enough to do some sort of exercise most days. I will take rest days here and there, I know that those are important to let my muscles and body heal and recover.

But I also do want to work out as much as I reasonably can right now. That's my buffer against depression and negative emotions. I am depressed about my grandma's situation and also stressed about work stuff (very busy & stressful right now), so I feel like exercise is my medicine, it's my anti-depressant. If I have a workout planned for the day, I find that I look forward to it all day long. :) And then feel better after I've done it.
 
I got my new fitbit yesterday and I'm not sure I like it. It seems to count too many steps! Like, when I'm washing & drying my hands, it'll tack on an extra 50 to 100 steps. I'm not walking, I'm just washing my hands! I emailed the manufacturer to see what they have to say about this. I just want it to be accurate! It might be worse to have inaccurate numbers than to have no numbers. It's driving me slightly nuts!

Edit: I found a possible workaround. In the fitbit help section, it says that if you select to wear it on your non-dominant hand, it's more sensitive to movement (and might add extra steps in). But if you select that you wear it on your non-dominant hand, it's less sensitive to movement and might even leave off a few steps. So I'm trying that.
 

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