Topic : 1.Diabetes? FMS? CFS? Chronic PAIN? Your WLC Home

I agree with you that the late night eating is the worst for weight gain. I got back into a bad habit of eating a snack (more of a graze fest) just before bedtime late last Spring and I'm sure that part of the weight gain is due to that. It just happened to coincide with my hormones. Actually maybe the two are related - munchies and hormones. Today I'm seeing my Dr. so hopefully he will have some words of wisdom for me. 

 You may remember my story about how I started the weight loss when the WLC first began (and the board); the way I first started to loose was to cut out the evening munchies and replace them with either fruit and cheese or tea/water. I realized that I didn't even need the evening nourishment unless my diabetes was a little out of control, but the better my diet got the less out of control I was (imagine that). So I can't even imagine why I thought I could start eating in the evening again.  What worked to wean me off the nightly nibbles was suckers. I love See's butterscotch suckers; so I told myself that If I didn't graze at all in the evening I could have one while I read (I always read before retiring) It worked and - the 50 calories was much less than the former grazing. So I started doing that again last month and so far so good. The only problem is that now my dog has realized that she loves them too. But that's OK because now I have half of it and then give her the last of it.  She is so spoiled! 

I'm glad to hear that your sinus infection is abating some.  

Take Care, 

Karen  

No, I haven't heard from Grace yet. I do hope she is well and has just not discovered that the boards are back. For a while I thought they wouldn't be back until the new season started (because of the message they left while the boards were down). After the boards came back up I had a heck of a time finding this one again and I even wondered if the member boards were gone for good. Hopefully she will find her way back too. She was just beginning to recover from bronchitis when the boards went down so I hope she is well by now.  

I have heard that chocolate is poison to dogs, but I haven't heard that sweets in general are bad for them. I'll have to look it up on some pet website to find out why. She does love her treats - generally rawhide dog chews, but when I have something she thinks is tasty she gets those puppy eyes going and I cave.  

I went to the Dr. and he took 6-7 viols of blood for testing. I"m supposed to find out tomorrow what the news is. He is checking everything from hormones to thyroid and diabetes and whatever else he could think of. He said that when diabetic women go through menopause they are more apt to have a rapid weight gain - for some medical reason I can't remember. He told me to increase my glucophage ( I had been taking less against Dr.'s orders - so typical of me). And by Thursday he will know if I need hormone replacement therapy. He is very much into natural remedies and will probably not put me on anything that needs a prescription. He is a very rare doctor in that he is not afraid to deal with Chinese medicine, herbal and other natural interventions. He even does acupuncture.  He trained and then taught at Stanford University before moving out here to the middle of nowhere. He wanted a less materialistic way of life for his children and thought that living in the country would provide that for them. (Palo Alto is a great place, but so many of the kids there grow up expecting the world to give them what they want and need without understanding the idea of earning it on there own - I lived there for many years - long ago).  I'm rambling on - instead of getting up to clean house. 

Take Care, 

Karen 

I guess I really didn't have any specific questions but rather thought it might be an education to have someone here to bounce things off of who also has CFS. I have a dual sleep diagnosis. Not only CFS but I also have serious sleep Apnea and sleep with a machine that pumps oxygen into my lungs at night so I won't stop breathing. Because of this I have psychological angst about going to bed (like a 2 year old). I hate laying in bed with the mask on my face if I cant sleep; so I push myself to stay up until I'm nearly falling over in-order to assure that I get to sleep immediately. That causes all kinds of other problems like staying up late and sleeping in late which is not good for my other ailments. So even though I have chronic fatigue, I still end up having a hard time getting to sleep at a decent hour. I'm still struggling with how to overcome that one.  

Isn't is wonderful to have a supportive husband? I feel so badly for women with illness who don't get the nurturing and support at home that they deserve and need. Give him a hug once in a while and let him know how much you appreciate him.  

Take Care, 

Karen 

Oh I'm glad you are going on a vacation. 5 years huh? You must have a 5 year old - (smile). I think we went for nearly 10 years without traveling far from home when our kids were little. It is so difficult to travel with kids and they can really become stressed with all the changes in surroundings and schedules. Your daughter, being almost a 1st grader, is just about the right age to be able to manage and appreciate a vacation. I guess I'm assuming you are taking her with you. If not, she is old enough to handle that too. How is she feeling about being a first grader in the fall? Boy that is an exciting time of life - full time school, homework and no more afternoon naps.  

Hey, you know better than to get down on yourself for eating what you want and putting off exercise while you are healing. Your body knows what it wants and needs in order to heal, so I'm proud of you for listening to it. I sure hope you are well by the time you leave. It would be unfortunate if you were ill for your first vacation. Are you doing something fun- or at least a little relaxing?   

I'm having some guilt about a vacation we are planning for next May. We nearly always take my mom and kids and sometimes a brother or two on vacations with us. That is because we figure that they will not have the opportunity to visit exotic places on their own. But next year we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and my husband says he wants it to be just the two of us. I'm having to squelch my desire to invite my kids; and I know my mom is feeling left out by not being invited. She is 80 and so I guess I feel like we need to include her whenever possible. On the other hand Bill and I haven't had a major vacation alone in a long while. We pop over to Hawaii once in a while and we go visit family in other states but for our long vacations we haven't been alone in several years.  I keep wondering, "Is it selfish to leave everyone behind? and if so - is it OK too be selfish this once?" 

I guess I ought to be journaling about why I feel the need to invite everyone whenever we go. 

Yes I am disappointed that the board isn't as lively as it once was. Maybe I should spread the word again.  

Take Care, 

Karen 

Can you tell that I have kids? (two step 13 & 16 and two 2 & 4) ;-) 

Seriously, we used to take a mini vacation for our anniversary and then the step kids came to live with us (I am NOT complaining) and then our son was born and then our daughter was born.....We do take day trips to the shore and such (and of course to see Thomas the Tank Engien for our son!) 

But whenm we do day trips I pay for it the next day so I just don't plan anything the day after so maybe a vacation would be too much.  I know it is supposed to be relaxing but usually you are so busy you don't get time to relax unless it is just the hubby and you.... 

Well have a great vacation. 

I have a question for you girls -- do you have trouble with chocolate cravings at that time of the month and if so what do you do about it?  That is my big weakness! 

Marie 

Marie, You are asking the wrong person about chocolate cravings. I used to blame my cycle for them but now I'm through with that and I still get cravings so strong that I would rather eat chocolate instead of real food. Yesterday was one of those days. Because I cleaned out my environment (once again) of chocolate and most other goodies, I sometimes pace the floor wondering how I'm going to get a fix. I live in the country but I have been known to drive all the way to town just to buy a brownie.  

Yesterday, I found a box of bakers chocolate and some pecans so I toasted the pecans  and covered them in the melted chocolate. It made 16 drop candies that were so wonderful that I ate all 16 of them by this afternoon. Now I could kick myself. I was just getting to the point of not craving sugar. Now I'm craving sugar and chocolate!  

Actually when I was in graduate school I learned a few things about why women crave chocolate - and it has to do mostly with our hormone levels and fertility. The part of the brain that controls our desire for chocolate is the same part that controls our sex drive and our anger (maybe that is why we get so angry when we can't get a chocolate fix. :)  So we have a choice, 1. eat chocolate 2. get really angry or 3. have good sex, to relieve the tension.  <font color=blue>(My husband travels a lot so I eat a lot of chocolate.  :)</font> 

I have tried a lot of things in the past that have worked for a while, like fat free fudge cycles, tootsie rolls (they are fat free) and the chocolate viactive (calcium chew candy). All of which i get tired of after a while, but they do get me past a craving while I'm able to rely on them. Only the viactive (available at Walmart or other pharmacy) is really OK for diabetics but I figure as long as I don't over do the other two I'm OK. (I'm good at rationalizing too.) 

More on next message. 

Karen 

Hi again Marie, 

I guess I do have a few questions for you regarding CFS -  

How many hours do you typically sleep at night?  

Do you ever take a nap? How does that effect your CFS?  

Do you have an out-of-the-house job?  

When I used to work full time (up until 4 years ago) I had to be at work by a certain time and so I would force myself to get up and get going. Once I was up and out I was able to function just fine all day (and sometimes into the night - I worked very long hours), but by the time I got home I was worthless. I often missed church on Sundays because I was so exhausted. Now I only work part time from my home and I plan a day in between workdays to recoup. And I no longer work full days. Sometimes I feel a little lazy for not pushing myself like I used to but I also really enjoy being at home and not having to work all the time. I'm finally getting back into some of the crafts and hobbies I used to enjoy before I entered the full time work force.  

I have a really hard time getting to sleep at night sometimes and I often sleep 12 hours at a time. But lately I've noticed that my total hours of sleep are averaging about 9, unless I've had a day or so with less - then a recoup day can include up to 14 hours straight.  I can't nap without struggling at night to get to sleep and I hate that. My first rhumatologist told me not to ever nap during the day for that reason. Anyway, you are the first person I have really communicated with who also has CFS so I'm curious if your symptoms are similar.  

How much weight have you lost recently? Have you noticed any improvement in your symptoms? 

I noticed a huge improvement in my fibromyalgia after loosing weight with the WLC. Now that about 20 lbs has come back (in the last 5 months) I'm needing more pain meds again. Although I'm determined to keep them at a minimum.  

Well I'll let you go, Take Care, 

Karen