Buns Again

[VegSeekingFit]

Happy Holidays, Heidi!

Best,
Stephanie

[bunsofaluminum]

Good morning,

(took me 4 times to log in this morning, so annoying!)

Have you updated your MD about that heart issue? is concerning.

Hi Marsha,

Yeah, I've had the full work up on this tachycardia, starting in my mid 30's when my heart started racing at 4:00 a.m. one morning. I measured it just using a watch and my finger on my pulse, and it was 210. From sound asleep to 210 bpm. Alarming, to say the least.

Saw a cardiologist who diagnosed supraventricular tachycardia, which just means that the electrical impulse that normally sends the beat out through all heart muscles gets into a loop in the upper left chamber of the heart, where it just pulses rapidly until it calms down. He told me it isn't life threatening, advised me to stay aware of it, and that I would be dealing with it the rest of my life.

Which I have, off and on. I've discovered that coughing sharply can often reset it.
In spring of this year a weird combination of BP spikes and plummets, plus HR racing, got me set up with a monitor where they found that 12% of the time my heart goes into arrhythmia. They were looking for anything over 30% (which would indicate drug therapy or other treatments) so my current cardiologist told me that it isn't life threatening, advised me to stay aware of it, and that I would be dealing with it the rest of may life. AND told me that caffeine can make it worse. Which it does, so I gave up coffee forever in March 2021. And also headache medicine, which contains caffeine. Tea doesn't seem to do it, but I still don't consume caffeinated anything. Ain't worth it.

So I went from having these episodes every day, sometimes all day long, back to once in a while. I can set it off by getting my HR into "peak" (150 or over) and if I'm feeling a little bit tachy, even 120's can trigger a daylong battle with it.

*****

I've kept communication channels open with my son. We've texted here and there about innocuous subjects, and I'll ask him about his rant and see where his mind is at. I agree w. his wife: He isn't swinging into a manic phase. But yeah...a lot of people were stunned and wounded and he needs to apologize. But I'm not stressing about it at all. I'm done with the emotional eating, and now fighting off the boredom eating... It never does stop, does it? the fight.

B: rice G BOMB
L: lentil soup w. homemade bread; broccoli
D: Jeff's fast food soup

EXERCISE:
40 minutes weights and cardio. WOOT! I feel AMAZING! I skipped a few days in a row due to the tachy thing, then feeling like I was coming down with something but today I went and yah. Gonna keep at that, fo sho! I might get back to my cardio:weights alternating days. IOW a workout EVERY day. Possibly.

[bunsofaluminum]

Happy Holidays, Heidi!

Best,
Stephanie

Thanks Stephanie!

[deweyswakms]

[quote="bunsofaluminum"][/quote]

Happy New Year,

interesting about your heart issues but you seem to know how to manage it.

Bravo on getting back to the gym. I intend to do more workouts. I live in the soggy NW (rain and snow now, badly needed), so I must get to the gym.

Take care, Marsha

[bunsofaluminum]

Holy cow. I wondered what 2022 was going to be like and if the first week is any indication...

well anyway. I got the Covid. Symptoms started on Sunday the 2nd and I started popping zinc lozenges and my handy-dandy oregano oil right away. Got my test on Monday that came back positive. Monday and Tuesday were flat out miserable, and then my fever broke around noon on Tuesday. I took Wednesday off, due to extreme fatigue, and woke up Thursday morning with normal-ish energy and stuffed sinuses. It was on Thursday that my sense of smell went away, but my taste hasn't been affected that I've noticed.

I plan on continuing with my zinc and oregano home treatment (I'm treating this as I would if I started catching a cold or the flu, or cellulitis for that matter.) for 10 days, because that's the limit on how long you should take oregano daily. I'm actually proud of myself for knowing about oregano oil, and not trying to rely on a dr. visit who might not have offered any treatment unless I got short of breath. Actually, I'm thrilled that zinc DOES seem to stop or shorten the common cold, and I've used it many times over my adult life. Whenever I get the slightest tickle in my throat, or a feverish feeling, I start sucking on zinc lozenges. Usually this stops a cold flat out, and 100% of the time it shortens the duration of symptoms while making the symptoms lighter.

I had the vaccine in April last year, and was planning on the booster when my mom got her booster and it caused her fingertips to tingle. This wigged me out, so I put off getting the booster, and got sick and now I have natural immunity so eff the booster, I ain't getting it. Wylie is not happy with my decision, reckoning that my not having the booster puts him in danger due to his heart condition. Well baloney, babe. I'm immune now. I guess it's possible a variant will come along that my system doesn't recognize, but it's not likely to be deadly. And he HAS had his booster, and his test came back negative, as did my mom's...so maybe if I hadn't let my mom's weird neurological reaction to the booster stop me, I might not have gotten the Covid. But it is what it is, and now I have natural immunity. No booster for me.

And I am now reading The Real Anthony Fauci, which I had on hold at the library and am thinking I'll purchase a copy for my home library because chances are everyone needs to read this book and I'll be wanting to lend it. It's long, over 400 pages, and dense, with pages and pages of end notes per chapter. And I'm doing my due diligence and checking his sources because I don't want to get in a rage over nothing. Because believe me, this is ENRAGING information. I feel like I'm swallowing the red pill...and it's giving me a stomach ache. I will say one thing, having got through the introduction and half of the first chapter:

We are being lied to. Our health practices in this nation are being overseen and directed by a man who has only dollars in mind, not the health of the American people. And that's all for now. It took a long time to fall asleep last night, and a long time to fall back asleep when Wylie woke me up getting out of bed because I was snoring

Eating is actually really good. I haven't lost my appetite...food doesn't taste weird... but I'm stopping at satiation and not eating between meals, etc.
Haven't been to the gym since Sunday morning...which I'm sure the health department will notify but I also called them after my positive result and let them know. I'm pretty sure that's where I got it, anyway. I work from home, and the gym is the only place I go with any frequency where masks are kinda rare. I haven't been wearing a mask...while working out? nope. And most people don't. Groceries a few times a month, and I did shop at my local Blick Art Supplies last week, where masks are required so it doesn't seem likely there.

The only other place MIGHT be a restaurant we ate at on Saturday (heh, I guess my food hasn't been all that compliant after all...but I did stop at satiation) which I'm sure the health department will notify them...right?

Anyway, seems Covid is here to stay. We're all going to be exposed, lots of us are going to get it, and it's more likely to be a brutal head cold than a terminal illness. AND with early action (oregano oil, zinc? ivermectin? hydroxychloroquine? I mean, there are a LOT of treatments that were shown to successfully treat Covid, preventing hospitalizations and deaths, then "the powers that be" said "No! There is no early treatment for this illness! Go home. Isolate. If you get short of breath, come back and we'll put you in ICU! Do NOT use horse medicine! Do NOT use that stuff that evil Orange Man talked about once in a press conference. Nope. Nothing you can do but get sicker and sicker and hope for a vaccine soon."

Sorry. I said I wasn't going to say anything more. And now I am done. I'm appalled at what I am learning about how our Director of NIH has handled this crisis...and there's chapters coming up about his handling of AIDS when it broke out in the 80's.

[CindyD]

Hello!
I just happened into your thread because it was one of the only recently updated ones. I was surprised to see someone pushing that Kennedy book here. I'm not trying to start anything, but uh, maybe take all that with a little bit more of a giant grain of salt. Here is some detailed background, for instance:
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid ... kennedy-jr

According to this page: https://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/anthony-s-fauci-md-bio , Dr. Fauci has a lot of national and international accolades. It would be a pretty insanely huge conspiracy if all these organizations were just completely wrong about the guy. But, I may be trying to convince a person who doesn't want to be convinced. In which case, nevermind!

I was also interested in your thread because I also get heart palpitations (or possibly arrythmia, I am not sure)! I had an ultrasound a few years back which indicated a slightly malformed heart valve thing, which is apparently very common. But, after quitting coffee I still get them sometimes and my doc wants me to wear a heart monitor so they can track them, which I may do. But, I think mine are less frequent than yours.

Anyway, hope your new year is nice!

[bunsofaluminum]

double post

[bunsofaluminum]

Hello!
I just happened into your thread because it was one of the only recently updated ones. I was surprised to see someone pushing that Kennedy book here. I'm not trying to start anything, but uh, maybe take all that with a little bit more of a giant grain of salt. Here is some detailed background, for instance:
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid ... kennedy-jr

According to this page: https://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/anthony-s-fauci-md-bio , Dr. Fauci has a lot of national and international accolades. It would be a pretty insanely huge conspiracy if all these organizations were just completely wrong about the guy. But, I may be trying to convince a person who doesn't want to be convinced. In which case, nevermind!

I was also interested in your thread because I also get heart palpitations (or possibly arrythmia, I am not sure)! I had an ultrasound a few years back which indicated a slightly malformed heart valve thing, which is apparently very common. But, after quitting coffee I still get them sometimes and my doc wants me to wear a heart monitor so they can track them, which I may do. But, I think mine are less frequent than yours.

Anyway, hope your new year is nice!

Yeah, I'm checking on end notes as they appear in the text and so far they line up.
Long before this book came out, I stopped trusting Fauci since he told us that masks are useless, and a few months later told us to wear them, and a month or so later said in an interview that he lied to us about not needing them because he didn't want a run on PPE due to the need for medical workers. I HATE being BS'ed. I've broken up with a "true love of mine" when he BS'ed me ONE TIME. Can't stand it. Don't lie, you know? If we needed the masks for front line workers, just say so, you little dink.

But as I said, I'm not letting the multiple, piles and piles of citations pass me by, I'm looking into them frequently and checking what he says they say, against what they actually do say. There are literal pages of end notes after each section, including interviews, studies, WHO statements, etc. I'm only partially through the first chapter and it's dense, so I have to put it down frequently. So far the most striking, and most alarming, has been his shutting down of hydroxychloroquine as an early treatment option. I don't remember hearing in the news from anyone, including Fauci, that you should do anything but stay home and wait for your breathing to become labored before seeking treatment...when in fact HCQ was used successfully in SARS, the original version, as well as MERS. In fact, lots of docs were treating patients with Covid 19 early on, and having success, while the media frenzy was all about the fear and death that this illness causes. Well, not so much if people get treated early on. I treated my Covid successfully with my little home remedies. Maybe it IS treatable. Maybe we DON'T all die of it.

I do want to look into Kennedy's history as well. So far the book isn't about vaccinations, but about Fauci's record. He's been over our biggest health agencies for decades, and the United States has the WORST RECORD in the world for this pandemic, under his leadership (among others *cough*Donald**cough*Joe*cough*) But as I said, I don't trust Fauci. Gonna find out if Kennedy is a BS'er too. I'm not just sucking in what they're putting out. I made a rule for myself not to just jump in when something I'm seeing or reading is making Big Emotion. I'm being careful to monitor whether this is emotional manipulation or not. Hence the careful checking of citations.

Heart palpitations...Once I stopped coffee (and caffeine in other forms such as headache pills) it got a LOT better. Still flares up now and then, but nothing like what I was going through daily before I realized and quit coffee. It's not a comfortable sensation. Makes me breathless and kinda weepy. I love not having to deal with it as often.

[CindyD]

I don't think it's unusual for health advisories to change as more information becomes available, as far as Fauci's directives changing. I think that is pretty standard when dealing with a previously unknown health event. Also, we had a pandemic plan in place but the previous president basically dismantled it. So there's another data point. Anyway.

I'm glad to hear you are doing so much better with the palpitations. I actually quit coffee when I went WFPB (and then joined this forum a couple months after that). It did seem to drastically reduce my incidents but then more recently they have come back, sometimes lasting as much as a minute which really freaks me out, ugh. I think some may be stress and poor sleeping. Lately they have come back a bit but they don't last as long, which is why I haven't decided about the heart monitor. I know I need more exercise which might be something that would help, but it was about -1 degrees this morning north of Chicago and I have been walking my dogs less because of this dumb winter.

[bunsofaluminum]

I don't think it's unusual for health advisories to change as more information becomes available, as far as Fauci's directives changing. I think that is pretty standard when dealing with a previously unknown health event. Also, we had a pandemic plan in place but the previous president basically dismantled it. So there's another data point. Anyway.

Heh, but Fauci lied about it, and he later told an interviewer that he had lied. He didn't change his directives; he told people flat out "Don't wear masks! You're actually more likely to get sick because people wearing masks are more likely to touch their faces" (I remember this CLEARLY and it made sense) ... then he started recommending for masks and I thought "Hm, he must've reconsidered the evidence and is now recommending masks. Good on ya, Dr. F." (because I liked and trusted him in the beginning) but then he told an interviewer FLAT OUT "I lied about not needing masks because there was a PPI shortage and we needed to reserve masks for front line medical workers" WTF. and yet, that's also reasonable, considering that there was no TP to be had, eh? remember THAT? Maybe we do deserve to be lied to. HOWEVER it is not the place of the official experts to do so. He should be supplying FACTS. Regardless of the American people's propensity for drama and hoarding practices.

A Softball Headline about It: "Americans Were Misled..."
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2020/06/17/fauci-masks-n2570789

A More Pointed Headline: "Fauci Lies About..." (Still from a corporate media source: MSN Health)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/fauci-lies-about-lying-about-the-efficacy-of-masks/ar-AALhCrp

Anthony Fauci lied. Period. And therein lies part of the root cause of why Americans don't trust the advice of the experts...because the experts LIE!

and here is the Wikipedia article about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I don't like it that he's anti-vax, but just as I disagree with some of what Jordan Peterson says, that doesn't discredit everything he says. Jordan Peterson is still one of the great minds of our generation and is worth paying attention to. Robert F. Kenney, Jr. has many more things in his life besides his stance on vaccinations and is a thorough researcher worth paying attention to.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr.

As I mentioned before, up to now the focus of the book isn't about vaccines (other than the push to make vaccination "the" cure for Covid-19, in the face of piles of evidence of easy-to-access, safe treatments already in use in the populations of the world AND proven to be effective as treatments for the disease when given early) but about Fauci's record. Fact is, the man has been in charge of the nation's health institutes for decades, and our health is worse now than it was when he started. THAT is what I'm finding out about.

In early 2020, I was full of admiration for Dr. Fauci. He was the voice, you know? he was appearing frequently, talking a lot, giving out information, answering questions. I watched as he got tired, and listened as his voice got croaky and haggard. I felt for him, as he struggled through the high anxiety, tense world of the pandemic, trying to convey facts to the American people.



Finding out differently now.

Anyway, I'm sure you don't want to argue here. Your points have been graciously given and well taken. I am more likely than any person I know to listen to both sides of any argument, and I am detail-oriented enough to dive into the citations in the book, which I have been doing. If the author is being ingenuous or pushing an agenda, I want to know about it. So far, everything he claims has lined up with fact. And I'm on p. 35 after four days, because of the frequent stops to try and maintain objectivity and to research the end notes.

If this book is a bunch of hoo-haw, then a lot of people reading it will certainly bring that to the forefront. If a lot of people read it and it turns out to be right on the money...well then, let's take a look at that, as well.

[deweyswakms]

Hello!
I just happened into your thread because it was one of the only recently updated ones. I was surprised to see someone pushing that Kennedy book here. I'm not trying to start anything, but uh, maybe take all that with a little bit more of a giant grain of salt. Here is some detailed background, for instance:
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid ... kennedy-jr

Anyway, hope your new year is nice!

I agree! There is so much misinformation everywhere, downright lies in too many cases. I follow the Science, like we get here with Dr. McDougall. Please get the booster.

Good luck.

[bunsofaluminum]

Whew. It's been 18 days since Covid symptoms set in, on Jan 2. All other symptoms are done now, thankfully...well, a dryish cough once or twice a day...EXCEPT the malaise. I wake up with pretty good energy every day, but by noon I am utterly useless. When I sat down to my desk this morning, I found mistakes I made yesterday afternoon and am beginning to think maybe I shouldn't try to do the complicated stuff at work after my lunch break.

Also, my eating has been stupid. Plenty of processed, plenty of sugar, some fat Lots of salt. AKA junk food, all snacky between meal shiz. Gotta get a grip.

I did eat a good solid breakfast this morning: G BOMB w. oatmeal. Now to stay out of the snack cupboard.

Also, not going to the gym due to this exhaustion. Going to do some squats or other leg exercises here at home to start out with. If it doesn't knock me on my butt, I'll start thinking about every other day at the gym again. But also going to guard my rest, because if it prolongs the weary, depressing doldrums I don't want it.

[bunsofaluminum]

Hello

Hanging in there. Finally I think the Covid malaise is over for me. My energy remains consistent throughout the day every day, although I wouldn't mind more energy overall. Part of the problem is a lot of sitting. A. LOT. but I do get to the gym every other day for weights and cardio.

My new work shift starting at 6:00 a.m. had me trying to hit the gym by 4:30 in the morning. Which was just impossible in the aftermath of Covid. HOWEVER, I get off work at 3:00 p.m. and that means I can hit the gym in the afternoon instead and sleep until 5:00. Instead of the gym, I have been using that morning time for meditation. I've been consistent with that every day for three weeks and feeling the results. I find myself living in the moment more often, and my mind is calmer and more level as the day goes by.

One thing I have got to work on is the evening TV...yesterday I just left because I was sick of TV. Woo hoo! went to the grocery store LOL. But seriously, not one more moment of inanity and puerility could I stand. Ugh. However, the Olympics ARE on. I've already chosen: Figure Skating and Snowboard Halfpipe. Nathan Chen is from my home town SLC, UT and Shaun White...well, I want to see Shaun White fly again, like he did at the last Winter Olympics. Other than that, there's only so much Ghost Whisperer, Big Bang Theory, and Friends you can take, you know? Only it wasn't any of those yesterday that sent me out the door. It was MASH. But see? reruns, reruns, reruns. WTF. And of course all of that means sit, sit, sit. For what? MASH reruns?

Oh! But I did do a really fun piece of a love bird in colored pencil. So I'm not JUST sitting. I'm sitting with the TV on and my art on my lap. SMH. It's still too much sitting.

I put the Fauci book aside for now to start on a book about Celtic Christianity that a friend asked me to read with her so we can discuss it. Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul by John Newell. It's been refreshing and thought provoking. Also *trying* to read Jordan Peterson's most recent book, but I think I'll find an audible version of that one and listen while working out or something. It's a massive tome, and it IS JP...lots and lots of ideas. . I've been enjoying his lecture series on the Book of Genesis. He brings philosophy and psychology, the teachings of Nietzsche, Jung, Solzhenitsyn, and other incredible minds into it. Fascinating and enjoyable. It's stretching my mind.

Food is going okay. I'm eating three meals a day and staying away from snacks or seconds. I'm really grateful that my body was already pretty much in the state of health that this diet provides, when Covid hit. I know that my gut is healthy, and therefore my immune system is strong, and it's pretty much all thanks to McDougalling. I need to be more careful with high fat foods... still enjoying a couple of avocadoes a week, and the occasional handful of almonds or pistachios Though I did give up my daily munching of chocolate. SMH. How do we get into the Pleasure Trap? By following our lizard brain.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Heidi,

Glad you are recovering!!! Sounds like you have a good plan in place!! Keep going!!

Best,
Stephanie

[Trinity]

Dear Heidi,

I just read your entire journal from the beginning. It was awesome. Thank you so much for sharing your struggles and victories with everyone. So few people (comparatively) post here now that I started my own journal in solidarity. I completely identify with your introvertedness and my favorite “activity” is to sit on the couch under a blanket reading and preferably drinking tea or beer depending on the time of day.

I feel the exact same way too where (with regard to McD) I’m so totally into it and feel great! and then next thing I know, trying to give up my chocolate habit yet again despite the breakouts and sores I get in my mouth when I eat creamy delicious milk chocolate. Gah! Sweets are my weakness, but salty stuff I can mostly leave alone (unless it’s pita chips and not-oil-free hummus…yummm).

Anyways, so glad you’re keeping the faith. Hope you come back and post again soon! If the subscribe button still existed I would subscribe to your journal!

Trinity