Fighting PCOS Naturally

By no means did this weekend go as planned. We were supposed to take our first trip out to Springtown to finally see the town we've already decided to move to, sight unseen. We were really looking forward to it, until 8am Saturday morning, when my body decided that I shouldn't even have stomach acid in my stomach. We apparently ate some bad food, and had HORRIBLE food poisoning. I've had it before where I just can't keep anything down, but this was another whole level of hell. Did you know that severe food poisoning can include fever and muscle spasms? Couple that with my pre-existing conditions, and I was in agony all freakin' day. When I wasn't in the bathroom, I was staring at the ceiling in tears begging to sleep through it. Hubs got lucky and slept all day. But not me. I wasn't able to finally get a painkiller to stay down until 7pm. Between 7 and midnight I took 3 brands of pain killers, three anti-nausea meds and a sleeping pill before I was finally...

Lately I've really been fighting with the fatigue issues that come along with fibromyalgia. I slept almost the entire weekend, even missing a workday because I slept through all the alarms and Hubs trying to wake me up. Being exhausted is exhausting. I had planned on stopping at the library before work today, and gave up on that idea when I woke up. I decided that the extra 30min of sleep was more important than a book. And it is. But some days, when I'm staring at my computer, trying to concentrate on what I should be doing, I get teary-eyed. Some days I just can't focus, and all my body wants to do is sleep. As a way of fighting it, I load up on coffee (with no sugar!). Of course, then you could do some googling and find out that caffeine isn't all that great for people with fibro. I'm sure it's not that great for any of the other issues I fight with. But the coffee really doesn't help. It gives me a short burst of focus, then I have to have another cup to...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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 ...