Fighting PCOS Naturally

If not now, then when? Usually when it feels right. But the time may never feel right, and you'll never do it. You have to trust yourself to make the right choice, and that's the hardest part for me. Do I trust myself to make the right choices? Do I believe that I'm going down the right path? When I look back at some of the other choices I have made, I know they were horrible choices. But I have to tell myself that if I didn't make the stupid choices, I wouldn't be where I am now. I wouldn't have the best husband in the world, because we never would have met. I wouldn't have my fur and feather babies. So what stupid choices in the future will lead to better things? I guess we may never know. Disclaimer: If you don't like what I have to say, that's fine. You are entitled to your own opinion, just as I am. And if you want to respond to anything I have said, I welcome your comments. However, if you want to comment solely to bash me or my opi

Is it possible to lie without saying a word? This one seems fairly simple. Yes, you don't have to say anything to lie. Withholding the truth can be seen as a lie. The problem is trying to figure out if the silence is truth or fiction.

If you have the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would your message be? We have got to stop being so damn cruel to each other. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but it is unnecessary and ridiculous to attempt to force them on others. This comment, of course, is focused on one thing, because it's the basis for pretty much all other arguments - religion. If you are happy with your religion, that's fantastic. I just ask you to remember that the United States started because the colonists wanted the freedom to believe in whatever religion they wanted. They even incorporated the separation of church and state. The funny thing, though, is that separation never truly happened. And those who try to keep that separation catch hell from the Christians that believe the government should enforce laws based on religious beliefs. We are bombarded now with hateful billboards, lawsuits, etc. Did you know that at most schools in the country,

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are? Certainly not 24. I really don't feel like a 24 year old. I often get frustrated that I haven't even lived for half a century and I have 4 life-long illnesses. Some of which will increase in severity as life goes on. My Wii Fit told me once that I was 71 years old, and I cried. I don't want to think that I'm 71 until I'm actually 71. But that's not answering the question. If I didn't know how old I was, and I based it off of normal people, I'd guess I was in my 30s. Some of that is due to being sick. But I have also been through a divorce and a second marriage, raised twin infants and a toddler, and held down long term positions at just a couple of companies. I used to think that being 20-something would be awesome. Friends and family have said that it can be the best time period of my life. I don't know if I'm holding myself back from enjoying my 20s, or if everything I've d

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I don't know myself. In all honesty, I'm not sure how to do that, either. But I do know that I don't want next year to be anything like this year. So I did some googling and found a set of questions to ask yourself to provoke your thoughts. I figured I'd do one question a day until the end of the year, and see if I know myself a little better than I do now. I'll post all the questions first, so anyone can do it with me. I'll try to add a linky thing to the bottom so you can link up. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are? If you have the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would your message be? Is it possible to lie without saying a word? If not now, then when? What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you? Are you holding onto something that you need to let go of? Have you done anything lately that's worth remembering? Who do y

And yet again, more reasons why I should start a petition to change Murphy's Law to Lynne's Law. I love(d) my job at the pottery shop. I was excited to go to work. But on Saturdays, things went a little haywire. I've decided to blame it on the amount of work I'm doing, in combination with all the new medications I'm on.. I just couldn't wake up when the 7+ alarms went off on Sat mornings. And I was late too many times. My boss expected me to be dependable, and to open the shop on time. And I failed. So I no longer work at the shop. What frustrates me more than anything, though, is that I was just starting to feel better, a little less depressed, and as usual, life gets turned upside down again. And for me, it always happens in threes. Sometimes it's three little things, and sometimes it's three big things. And it started this time with a big thing. I shouldn't be so upset. In reality, losing that job actually means making more money, because I

A couple of days ago, Mrs. O from The Ohlers nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blog award. Honestly, I almost cried. I've been blogging off and on for 3 years now, and I've never been considered for an award; especially a 'Very Inspiring' award. For a while I had hoped my blog was inspiring to other women with PCOS, but I started to realize lately that I'm not posting about happy stuff anymore. I'm sure that's partially due to the depressive funk I've been in for so long. It's hard to inspire others when you can't inspire yourself. For someone to still think I am inspiring gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling that I haven't had in a while. And I really do appreciate it. And now that I have been nominated, it's my turn to follow suit! Here are the rules: A) Display the award image on your blog. B) Link back to the person who nominated you. C) State 7 things about yourself. 1. I love my husband. 2. I treat my animals like children bec

I finally went back to the psychiatrist. I knew from the first few moments I met him that I would like him. My mom went with me for my first appointment, and he asked her, "Do you want to come back and help me torture her?". We had originally planned for mom to come in with me, but while we were waiting, she told me that it was my decision, and she would sit in the waiting room if I didn't want her to come. In the last few months I have become more open and honest with her, so I didn't have a problem with her sitting in. It actually turned out great, because I'm not going to be able to go to her appointment with her since I have to work. I was originally supposed to go with her to her appointment so I could tell the doc things she forgot. She started taking notes about things she needed to tell him during her appointment. We walk into his office and I see dozens of dragon figurines, as well as a lot of Star Trek memorabilia. It was awesome. It was a fairly shor

I don't remember if I found this on Pinterest or StumbleUpon - but either way, I decided I had to do it. This came from the Honey & Fitz blog. She used cork board, and if you value your time and sanity, I'd go with cork too. But I had black shelves from a collapsed bookshelf laying around, and I kept them because I figured I'd eventually use them for something. Here's her project: Isn't it beautiful? I ended up choosing the word 'Passion', and I wanted to do it in red to match our living room. This project ended up costing right at $5. The nails were 97 cents per box and I got 2, and the crochet thread spool was  $2.97. I bought my supplies at Walmart. I already had the black shelf, a hammer and tape. Be very careful with your fingers if you are using a hammer. About 2/4 of the way through the hammering, my husband got the idea to hold the nail with pliers so I'd stop smooshing my fingers. I just wish we had thought of it earlier! 

(This was from the first week of October. I was going to put pictures in it, but never got around to taking them.) This week: - 5 days of work - 1 flare-up - First walking group walk (which included two laps around the pond instead of one!) - Shopping with Mom at Grapevine Mills:       * New doormat with bright owls that says 'Who's there?'      * Floor length knit dress      * Monopoly U-Build It game - Shopping with Mom and Memaw at Stein Mart      * Polka dot heels with peek-a-boo toes      * Peacock feather flip flops      * Short sleeve blue knee length dress - First week of Soul Cyster Weight Loss Challenge - First week of Pregnitude - Picked next tattoo design, now to work on colors (reward for meeting goal at end of challenge) And it ended with game night with hubby. We played a round of our new Monopoly game, then hopped on our computers for some mopar. Best part of the night? Realizing that hubby, who professes to dislike musical

As the time to leave for the funeral is approaching, I felt the need to get some things off my chest. (I know that it's not nice to speak ill of the deceased, so I'm going to be as nice as possible with this.) Friday, just after hubby dropped me off at work, he called me. I was busy with customers, so I didn't answer. When I had the chance to listen to his voicemail, I knew something was WRONG. Like WAY WRONG. And damnit if I wasn't right. Hubs' grandfather suffered a massive heart attack and passed away. And I couldn't be at home to comfort hubby like he needed. I know that things like this happen, but I'm still sad that I wasn't available when he needed me. I guess, due to the tensions in the family, it hasn't really hit me that Don is gone. I don't believe we were on the best of terms. The first time we met, he berated me for dating someone without a job. Actually, he words were something to the effect of "You are an idiot for dating

Today is the first day of my new schedule. And so far, I've already been failing. But I've got the rest of the day to go, and I think I can be more successful this evening. My first round at the new planner is complete. It has several sections: 1) Weekly At A Glance - Has a block for each day of the week, and notes at the bottom. This is for major events and appts. 2) Daily Schedule - Simple sheet with time blocks from 9am to 11pm, in 30 min increments. This is the section to add more detail to my day. 3) Morning and Evening Schedule - This has all the stuff I have to do on a daily basis, such as brushing my teeth, taking a shower, taking my pills, eating, etc. Has a time allotted column for every task, and a y/n completion column. 4) Food Journal - Checkboxes for water intake and supplements. Space to write each meal, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Each meal has a checklist of the types of food I ate, veggies, fruit, grains, protein, fats. Notes section at bottom.

I drive myself crazy with how often I decided I'm going to start making changes, then don't follow through. I HAVE TO MAKE SOME SORT OF CHANGE. I told hubby last night that part of my problem was him. Things are different when you are married. You don't just live your life for yourself, you live your life for your spouse, too. If I was living alone, all the household responsibilities would be up to me. However, as I am the one working and hubby is the one at home, he has the responsibility of helping out around the house. Things such as: I cook, he does dishes. I'm not expecting any more out of him than he would expect out of me if the roles were reversed. I am right in my thinking so far, yes? Now I clarified that I was not specifically blaming him for my previous failures. I know that a lot (80%+) of my failure is my own damn fault. But being depressed and going home to a ton of things that need to be done is not helpful. AT ALL. When I know I need to make healthy

Wednesday: This week is our 'Torture the Dog' week. Today he's at the puppy spa, getting a bath, nails trimmed and fur shaved. Tomorrow he loses his man-hood. Sometimes I'm glad that he can't understand English, because he'd be really pissed off if he knew what tomorrow was bringing. As hubby and I were laying in bed at 3am, frustrated that neither of us were even remotely close to being tired, we decided we'd try to pull an all-nighter. That way, we'd go to sleep earlier tonight so we could be up early tomorrow to take Spike to the vet. Every once in a while we succeed, and get lots of stuff done. We went to the grocery store, grabbed breakfast at Whataburger, dyed my hair, and watched TV. I had planned on going into work earlier than normal, so I could leave earlier. Apparently I passed out on the couch around 6am. So much for staying up all night. Oh well. At least we got some stuff done. I had an ulterior motive for staying up all night - I'

The first day of my second job was great. I enjoyed every bit of it. I spent most of the day cleaning greenware (removing clay seams from pottery left by molding process), and got to load up the kiln. I also got to start learning how to dip glaze pieces. I'm not so great at that yet - the better you are, the less glaze you get on your fingers. My fingers were very glazy lol. I think this job is going to go well, especially because you have to have a delicate touch when working with all the pottery. And since I have very little strength in my hands these days, I'm always gentle. Have you ever met a person or heard about someone who has a fun job, and you feel a little jealous because they get to do such cool stuff every day? That's sorta how I've felt about crafty jobs, like this new one. About halfway through the day it hit me - "I've got that crafty job now!" But it's times like this that start to worry me. It's not intentional. I'd love

It's already September? Good grief. That means that our 3 year wedding anniversary is next month. The PCOS 5K is this month. Christmas is around the corner. August Goals: Walk at least a mile twice a week (2.5+ laps around BBR pond) No. But West Nile has me eager to stay at home so I don't die.  3 days without red meat, pork or poultry  No . At least I'm doing vegetarian days every once in a while, even if they aren't in a row. Start oil-pulling again  No.   Seriously just not remembering to do it at all. Rearrange dining room  No . But I have sent out invitations for a Halloween party already, so that should provide some motivation. Attend a transcendental meditation info session - Did this! Applied for a scholarship because I can't afford the tuition on my own. Listen to my Circle+Bloom mind-body meditation sessions 3+ times a week (after downloading them again)  No . I downloaded them. Listened once. Really need an mp3 player so I can listen in bed. C

As made obvious by the name of my blog and most of my posts, I'm all for natural methods for resolving any/all illnesses and diseases that we may come across in life. Originally that was due to my lack of health insurance = No insurance mean no meds. But I can't just go throughout life without some sort of treatment. Without some sort of treatment, I'd be in so much pain I couldn't move, crying uncontrollably, and probably begging myself to commit suicide. Yes, it's that serious (although besides my husband, no one in my family believes that my problems are serious enough to justify contemplations of suicide) After years of researching natural treatments for all my problems - bipolar disorder, depression, PCOS, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia - it occurred to me that natural methods have to be better for you than modern, Western treatments. Our bodies weren't meant to be pumped full of man-made chemical concoctions. The prescription anti-cancer meds I a

This evening, hubby and I went to the Bedford Food Truck Festival. It was within walking distance, and the weather was great, so we walked. There were five trucks - taco, pizza, sushi, slushies and vegetarian. I went solely for Good Karma Kitchen , and I got hubby excited about Slush Works . I made a bee-line to Good Karma Kitchen. Today's menu included Crazy Good Tacos, Korean BBQ tacos, Reverse Frito Pie, and Crazy Good Taco Salad. Hubby got giddy about the frito pie, and I chose the taco salad. Frito pie had tri-bean and veggie chili, frito chips and cheese. He inhaled it. The taco salad had a taco crumble, jalapeno lime cream sauce, spring greens, beans, cheese and tortilla chips. It was fantastic. The jalapeno added just a little kick. The prices were a little higher than I had hoped, having spent $17. But it was very satisfying and a yummy vegan meal. Hubby said he could live on that chili if he 'had' to go vegetarian. It gives me hope for reducing our meat consumpt

My rheumy prescribed Elavil as treatment for my fibro. He did this because he knew I didn't have insurance, and the most popular drugs like Lyrica, Cymbalta and Humira are expensive. Elavil has been around so long and used for so many things - anti-depressant, sleeping pills, chronic pain, etc - that it's on all the $4 generic prescription lists, so it certainly doesn't hurt my pocket like the other drugs would. I was grateful that he took my financial restrictions into consideration. Now I'm starting to regret it. It's 7am, and I haven't been to sleep yet. The Elavil helps me sleep, but it also gives me nightmares. I dealt with it in the beginning, because I'm no stranger to nightmares. The rheumy also suggested that I do what I could to reduce my stress levels. About a month ago I impulse bought herbal drops called 'Deep Stress', made by WishGarden. I started taking 3 droppers full at night before I went to bed. Just a few days after I starting, I

One of my goals this month was to start doing yoga at home so I'm prepared to use my free week next month. If you walked into my house, you'd think I was a regular yogi - plenty of yoga clothes, 2 mats (because the first one wasn't as pretty as the second one), resistance bands, etc. But in all reality, I haven't done yoga in almost a year. In fact, I stopped looking at the closet door so I didn't get mad that my mat had been in the same place for so long. The floor was vacuumed moments before this pic was taken.  If you look closely you'll see that it's already covered in  hair again. So Monday I texted the hubby and said "Do not allow me to do anything when I get home until after I do yoga." Then I had to quickly modify it with this comment, "Okay, except for vacuum the living room floor so I don't gag on dog hair while I'm doing it." (I still, to this day, don't understand why I decided to bring home a white do

I am very excited to start the Texas chapter because there are so many women in Texas that need a fabulous support system like Power Up. Visit our page: Power Up for PCOS Texas About the group - This isn't a support group; it's an empowerment group. We don't just sit around and complain about our symptoms, we learn how to overcome them. Power Up has provided a fantastic webinar series that will be shown at our in-person meetings. We participate in a 5K walk every September, and do lots of fun awareness campaigns like the upcoming 'Paint your pumpkin teal for PCOS' in October. All fundraising is donated to inCYST Institute for Hormone Health , an organization dedicated to helping find safe products and methods to treat/manage PCOS. We will be starting in-person meetings in the DFW area in mid-September, and I hope to expand to Austin by the beginning of next year. I will provide frequent updates on our Facebook page, in our private Facebook group ( FB Group ),

This was not written by me, but by someone who understands. I only know of the original writer as 'C.S.' - I would give more credit if I knew more. I know that my little blog doesn't reach the people who should read this, those who think that these problems are 'all in our head'. I added my two cents in red. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ME 1. My pain - My pain is not your pain. It is not caused by inflammation. Taking your arthritis medication will not help me. I can not work my pain out or shake it off. It is not even a pain that stays put. Today it is in my shoulder, but tomorrow it may be in my foot or gone. My pain is believed to be caused by improper signals sent to the brain, possibly due to sleep disorders. It is not well understood, but it is real.  2. My fatigue - I am not merely tired. I am often in a severe state of exhaustion. I may want to participate in physical activities, but I can't. Please do not take this personally. If you saw me shopping in