Since I last posted a few days ago, I have been taking DE regularly - 1 heaping tablespoon (maybe more since I don't really measure it) twice a day. I have noticed that, even with the struggle I am having with grief and severe depression, my energy level has improved dramatically along with my motivation to get things done.
Yesterday I managed to get a huge amount of the dishes that had piled up washed and put away. I don't have a dishwasher so I have to do everything by hand, which makes doing the mountain of dishes that had piled up a huge undertaking. Both sinks were full of dirty dishes, the counter was piled up with dirty dishes, and the stove is full of dirty pots and pans. There was not a single clean plate, bowl, or piece of silverware in the house. But now there are only a few plastic containers in one sink, and two dirty pans along with their lids on the stove. I did these dishes at night, which is another huge step forward for me as I usually shut down completely if I am at home when the sun goes down.
As I write this, the second load of laundry is in the washing machine, and I have put up several items on eBay. I also spent some time outside talking with a neighbor instead of wanting to hide away inside the house. Overall, I feel better in many ways. It's the same way I felt when I first started taking DE - energy and motivation way up from where they were before.
Another expected result of taking DE regularly again is that my appetite has decreased dramatically. Over the last month, I have been eating an unhealthy amount of food. I had been constantly craving sweets and comfort food, and since I have been too wrapped up in grief to really care, my diet has been extremely unhealthy consisting of sweets, fast food, lots and lots of cola, junk food, frozen dinners, chips, and canned pasta. At times I have added vegetables, but since I was too depressed to do dishes, my meals mainly consisted of what I could make using the least amount of dishes and silverware possible.
But over the last couple of days, I have cooked my breakfast - 2 eggs with two slices of turkey bacon and one glass of cola (compared to the nearly half of a two liter bottle that I have been having with breakfast for the last month). Last night I had a frozen meal for dinner, but that was before I did the dishes, so I really had no way of making anything healthier. This afternoon, I think I will make some biscuits and tuna salad for lunch and drink apple juice instead of cola. Tonight I am planning on making homemade burritos. Overall, much healthier meals than I have become accustomed to. I really have no desire for sweets at the moment.
Unfortunately, my blood pressure has not come down. It was averaging 155/109 earlier. Just have to be patient with that. I think it took nine or ten days before DE had any effect on my blood pressure when I first started taking it.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Starting Over
It has been just over a month since my roommate passed away and about month since I last posted. First of all, I would like to thank all of the people who were so supportive in their comments. I have found that the kindness of other people has lifted me up during some extremely dark moments. It has been so difficult to even function these last few weeks. The house is so unbelievably lonely, even with the dog and cats to keep me company. Except for one aunt, I pretty much have no family that I keep in touch with, so I feel very alone through all this. If it weren't for my aunt, and a handful of close friends, I would not have made it.
During this time, I have been very sporadic in my use of diatomaceous earth, taking it once every other day or so. It's just been difficult to make myself do anything at all. The dishes had piled up, the house has gotten filthy again after a friend had cleaned it for me, and I have gotten way behind in all of my classes.
But today has been a better day. I got some laundry done, I did some dishes, and I went to class tonight. I also took D.E. this morning and this afternoon. But I am pretty much back to square one with my health with two exceptions - my knees are pretty much healed, and I have actually kept my weight where it was even though my diet has been horrible. For the first week, my aunt kept me fed by taking me out to eat morning, noon, and night. She also bought candy bars for us to snack on while cleaning the house. After she went back to her house, I found myself buying cookies and candy to snack on. I also spent some of the money that others gave me on fast food because I could not make myself cook, but then again once the dishes built back up in the sink, I had nothing to cook with or eat off of.
So thanks to all of that and not taking D.E., my blood pressure is averaging 165/108 again, and my energy level is nonexistent. My motivation level is also nonexistent. Of course I am still extremely depressed much of the time, and I still have problems with severe anxiety.
I am now hoping to get myself back into taking D.E. regularly, and get myself back into some sort of routine. I am hoping to be able to make myself post more often, though with everything else I am dealing with, I cannot promise to be posting regularly yet, but that will hopefully change as I get through this dark time and begin healing.
During this time, I have been very sporadic in my use of diatomaceous earth, taking it once every other day or so. It's just been difficult to make myself do anything at all. The dishes had piled up, the house has gotten filthy again after a friend had cleaned it for me, and I have gotten way behind in all of my classes.
But today has been a better day. I got some laundry done, I did some dishes, and I went to class tonight. I also took D.E. this morning and this afternoon. But I am pretty much back to square one with my health with two exceptions - my knees are pretty much healed, and I have actually kept my weight where it was even though my diet has been horrible. For the first week, my aunt kept me fed by taking me out to eat morning, noon, and night. She also bought candy bars for us to snack on while cleaning the house. After she went back to her house, I found myself buying cookies and candy to snack on. I also spent some of the money that others gave me on fast food because I could not make myself cook, but then again once the dishes built back up in the sink, I had nothing to cook with or eat off of.
So thanks to all of that and not taking D.E., my blood pressure is averaging 165/108 again, and my energy level is nonexistent. My motivation level is also nonexistent. Of course I am still extremely depressed much of the time, and I still have problems with severe anxiety.
I am now hoping to get myself back into taking D.E. regularly, and get myself back into some sort of routine. I am hoping to be able to make myself post more often, though with everything else I am dealing with, I cannot promise to be posting regularly yet, but that will hopefully change as I get through this dark time and begin healing.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Day 104
This has been such a difficult time for me, I don't know where to start. In my last post, I mentioned that I had been sick. Sadly, my roommate, who was somebody that I loved more than words can express, caught the cold from me. He had asthma and was having difficulty with his breathing before he caught the cold. I recovered quickly from the cold... he did not. On Tuesday, September 7th, I came home from my aunt's house to find my roommate slumped over in his desk chair. He had died from what appeared to be an asthma attack.
I am still having an incredibly difficult time dealing with his loss. We were together as a couple, then friends who were more like family for over 20 years. Needless to say, I have not been taking any of my vitamins or diatomaceous earth on a regular basis lately. It is everything I can do just to make myself function. I have not been back to work or school since this happened, and I do not know when I will get back to any sort of regular routine.
Once I have gotten myself back into some sort of functional state of mind, I will begin posting on this blog regularly again.
I am still having an incredibly difficult time dealing with his loss. We were together as a couple, then friends who were more like family for over 20 years. Needless to say, I have not been taking any of my vitamins or diatomaceous earth on a regular basis lately. It is everything I can do just to make myself function. I have not been back to work or school since this happened, and I do not know when I will get back to any sort of regular routine.
Once I have gotten myself back into some sort of functional state of mind, I will begin posting on this blog regularly again.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Day 91
Between dealing with my pastor's passing, and a horrible cold that caused me to miss a week of work and school, I have no desire to go anywhere near a computer except to check my email. I think the cold is finally going away now, and my thoughts are finally becoming less jumbled so I can write a coherent post.
During my absence, two things have happened that have given me perspective on D.E. - both as an insecticide, and as a nutritional supplement.
We adopted a kitten several weeks ago, and have been bathing her to keep the fleas in check as it seemed D.E. wasn't really effective at killing the fleas. But with both of us sick, we did not feel like dealing with the injuries we generally receive when bathing the kitty. So one night when the poor thing could not take two steps without scratching and biting, we dusted her thoroughly with D.E., but we didn't notice any difference that night. The next morning, however, she was barely scratching at all, and I didn't see any fleas anywhere on her. It would seem that D.E. really is effective on an indoor animal.
The other thing that happened was that I quit taking D.E. for about 6 days while I was sick. This was not a conscious decision - I just wasn't feeling well, and I was spending most of my time sleeping, so I really did not think about it. But one night as I was trying desperately to focus on catching up with some of the homework I needed to get done, I noticed both that my energy and mental focus were extremely low. I had noticed the low energy the day before, but attributed that to being sick and taking cold medicine. But on this day I hadn't taken any medicine. I was still feeling rough, but I should not have been that tired and out of focus. That was when I realized that I had not taken D.E. in several days.
I went into the kitchen and took a tablespoon full of D.E., and after about an hour I noticed some improvement in my mental energy. Physical energy stayed low for a couple of days after that though. I have now been taking D.E. again for about four days and find my energy is returning, and I am able to focus much better when doing my homework. Today, I find my motivation to get things done is also returning.
Other things I had noticed, but hadn't attributed it to not taking D.E. until now, is that I was having trouble sleeping for the three days that I was not taking the cold medicine. At first I thought it was because I had gotten used to having the night-time cold medicine after taking it for a couple of days. But I don't think that having something to make me sleep for two or three days would make it so difficult to sleep three days later. The second night after I started taking D.E. again, I slept soundly, and I slept well last night too.
My appetite, which should have been low due to being sick, went crazy on me for a few days. There were at least two days where all I wanted to do was snack, and I found myself eating more at mealtimes as well. But my appetite seems to be back under control again now. The last couple of days I have not snacked much at all. Come to think of it, I barely had anything to eat at all yesterday, and today I only had a two-egg omelet with chile verde for breakfast, and a slice of cheese with lunchmeat for lunch. I haven't even wanted a snack this afternoon.
My left knee was suffering as well during my time without D.E. I had noticed it was hurting, but just didn't think about why it was hurting. It is feeling better today. It doesn't hurt as much when I walk, and it wasn't aching at all last night.
One last thing that I am not sure whether it could be attributed to not taking D.E., is that my skin has gotten very dry over these last few days even though I put lotion on at least every other day. The skin on my heels, which had actually stopped cracking so much, is so bad I can barely walk even though I have put something on them to heal the dry skin, and I am wearing socks.
All of these things let me know, beyond any doubts that I may have had before, that the D.E. is making a difference in my health.
During my absence, two things have happened that have given me perspective on D.E. - both as an insecticide, and as a nutritional supplement.
We adopted a kitten several weeks ago, and have been bathing her to keep the fleas in check as it seemed D.E. wasn't really effective at killing the fleas. But with both of us sick, we did not feel like dealing with the injuries we generally receive when bathing the kitty. So one night when the poor thing could not take two steps without scratching and biting, we dusted her thoroughly with D.E., but we didn't notice any difference that night. The next morning, however, she was barely scratching at all, and I didn't see any fleas anywhere on her. It would seem that D.E. really is effective on an indoor animal.
The other thing that happened was that I quit taking D.E. for about 6 days while I was sick. This was not a conscious decision - I just wasn't feeling well, and I was spending most of my time sleeping, so I really did not think about it. But one night as I was trying desperately to focus on catching up with some of the homework I needed to get done, I noticed both that my energy and mental focus were extremely low. I had noticed the low energy the day before, but attributed that to being sick and taking cold medicine. But on this day I hadn't taken any medicine. I was still feeling rough, but I should not have been that tired and out of focus. That was when I realized that I had not taken D.E. in several days.
I went into the kitchen and took a tablespoon full of D.E., and after about an hour I noticed some improvement in my mental energy. Physical energy stayed low for a couple of days after that though. I have now been taking D.E. again for about four days and find my energy is returning, and I am able to focus much better when doing my homework. Today, I find my motivation to get things done is also returning.
Other things I had noticed, but hadn't attributed it to not taking D.E. until now, is that I was having trouble sleeping for the three days that I was not taking the cold medicine. At first I thought it was because I had gotten used to having the night-time cold medicine after taking it for a couple of days. But I don't think that having something to make me sleep for two or three days would make it so difficult to sleep three days later. The second night after I started taking D.E. again, I slept soundly, and I slept well last night too.
My appetite, which should have been low due to being sick, went crazy on me for a few days. There were at least two days where all I wanted to do was snack, and I found myself eating more at mealtimes as well. But my appetite seems to be back under control again now. The last couple of days I have not snacked much at all. Come to think of it, I barely had anything to eat at all yesterday, and today I only had a two-egg omelet with chile verde for breakfast, and a slice of cheese with lunchmeat for lunch. I haven't even wanted a snack this afternoon.
My left knee was suffering as well during my time without D.E. I had noticed it was hurting, but just didn't think about why it was hurting. It is feeling better today. It doesn't hurt as much when I walk, and it wasn't aching at all last night.
One last thing that I am not sure whether it could be attributed to not taking D.E., is that my skin has gotten very dry over these last few days even though I put lotion on at least every other day. The skin on my heels, which had actually stopped cracking so much, is so bad I can barely walk even though I have put something on them to heal the dry skin, and I am wearing socks.
All of these things let me know, beyond any doubts that I may have had before, that the D.E. is making a difference in my health.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Day 86
It has been a while since I have posted. My absence has been due to several things - school has started and I am taking 4 classes at the community college this semester, I have had a lot of jobs over the last two weeks, and a good friend - and former pastor of the church I go to - passed away a few days ago.
Though I have been keeping busy with work, it has not been the kind of housework that keeps me moving - I spent two six hour days doing nothing but washing dishes by hand. Time at home has been spent staying off my feet to rest the bad knee, and the depression over losing my friend has brought me to a standstill.
There have been few positive changes in my health - but there has been no negative changes from the lack of exercise either. Up until the last week, my left knee has been giving me a lot of problems, and my time away from work and my two on-campus classes has been spent sitting around and snacking more than usual. Even with the added stress and lack of exercise, my blood pressure has pretty much remained in the area of 138/98, and I am still only taking DE without any of the other supplements to lower the blood pressure.
One thing that has totally amazed me though, is that even with dealing with the grief and depression of losing my friend, my energy levels for work and school have remained high. The first day of working a temporary job cleaning a house that is covered in dust from renovations, I drank a 5-hour energy drink at the beginning of the day and got through a 7-hour day with no other caffeine needed once the energy drink wore off. That day was basic housecleaning and it was not an easy day.
The next week, school started, my friend passed away, and the work schedule went nuts. Even with a lack of sleep, I got through the remaining work and school days only drinking coffee in the mornings and cola later in the day. No energy drinks needed. Most of the time I drank water during work and school, and nothing else to keep me going. Still, my energy level was high enough to keep me going under circumstances that would have had me rushing for the energy drinks before I started taking DE.
As I type this, my right knee is back to being pretty much normal, and my left knee is much improved. No brace or bandage needed, and I am not limping. I do have to be careful when lifting heavy objects though, and I need to hold onto something when coming up the steps into the house. I still would not even dream of going up a flight of stairs, and if the elevators at the school quit working, there is no way I would be able to get to my classes. But I can walk all the way across the campus without problems.
Though I have been keeping busy with work, it has not been the kind of housework that keeps me moving - I spent two six hour days doing nothing but washing dishes by hand. Time at home has been spent staying off my feet to rest the bad knee, and the depression over losing my friend has brought me to a standstill.
There have been few positive changes in my health - but there has been no negative changes from the lack of exercise either. Up until the last week, my left knee has been giving me a lot of problems, and my time away from work and my two on-campus classes has been spent sitting around and snacking more than usual. Even with the added stress and lack of exercise, my blood pressure has pretty much remained in the area of 138/98, and I am still only taking DE without any of the other supplements to lower the blood pressure.
One thing that has totally amazed me though, is that even with dealing with the grief and depression of losing my friend, my energy levels for work and school have remained high. The first day of working a temporary job cleaning a house that is covered in dust from renovations, I drank a 5-hour energy drink at the beginning of the day and got through a 7-hour day with no other caffeine needed once the energy drink wore off. That day was basic housecleaning and it was not an easy day.
The next week, school started, my friend passed away, and the work schedule went nuts. Even with a lack of sleep, I got through the remaining work and school days only drinking coffee in the mornings and cola later in the day. No energy drinks needed. Most of the time I drank water during work and school, and nothing else to keep me going. Still, my energy level was high enough to keep me going under circumstances that would have had me rushing for the energy drinks before I started taking DE.
As I type this, my right knee is back to being pretty much normal, and my left knee is much improved. No brace or bandage needed, and I am not limping. I do have to be careful when lifting heavy objects though, and I need to hold onto something when coming up the steps into the house. I still would not even dream of going up a flight of stairs, and if the elevators at the school quit working, there is no way I would be able to get to my classes. But I can walk all the way across the campus without problems.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Day 69
I have been taking DE for over two months now, and my knees are still giving me problems. After seeing me limping today, a friend who is very skeptical about all the claims that DE is a "cure all" and thinks I am crazy for taking the stuff, asked me if I really thought that DE had done anything at all for my health since it didn't seem that my knees were doing any better. I told her that DE had done a lot for my health, and that I was glad I had started taking it. Of course there was the usual argument that it seemed I was in just as much pain as before, and so forth, with me defending DE and all the things it has done for me.
Later on, after thinking about the conversation I had with my friend, I decided to make comparison of how I was doing before DE and how I am doing now. Here is what I came up with:
Before DE
After DE for just over 2 months
Looking at the before and after, I would say that DE has done wonders for me. I just wish my stupid knees would make up their minds to heal once and for all.
Later on, after thinking about the conversation I had with my friend, I decided to make comparison of how I was doing before DE and how I am doing now. Here is what I came up with:
Before DE
- Weight approx. 270 pounds
- Blood pressure average reading 165/111
- Energy - extremely low to the point of needing energy drinks just to function at work
- Motivation to get things done is almost non-existent
- Appetite - somewhat out of control
- Suffering from back pain and sciatica
- Unable to walk at times because of the pain in my knees at times needing bandages and brace just to walk from room to room
- Difficulty sleeping at night, difficulty focusing during the daytime
After DE for just over 2 months
- Weight approx. 259 pounds
- Blood pressure average reading 137/98 - without taking any other supplements to lower it
- Energy - generally high rarely needing any kind of energy drink to get going
- Motivation to get things done is high
- Appetite - cut in half, at times need to force myself to eat breakfast
- Back pain is gone, though I still have problems with sciatica
- Knees are sore, though my right knee feels almost normal at times. Left knee is still giving me problems and holding me back from doing as much as I would like to do. Brace and bandages rarely needed.
- Sleeping much better at night, focus much better in the daytime
Looking at the before and after, I would say that DE has done wonders for me. I just wish my stupid knees would make up their minds to heal once and for all.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Day 63
I have waited to post again on this blog until I had good news to post. The last few days have been difficult as I thought my right knee was back to normal, but it has been very painful and slightly swollen. It was suggested by a friend that maybe I used it too much too soon, that just because the pain was gone did not mean it was strong enough to use normally. All I know is that it pops when I move just wrong on it (or sometimes when I am just walking normally), and it is sore enough that I am worried about going to work with it like this. Next week I will be working every day of the week. Monday and Tuesday will be nightmarish with one eight-hour day of housecleaning, followed by two housecleaning jobs on Tuesday. The rest of the week will be easier with one job a day - not counting the day I help to tidy up the church. I just hope my knee gets through it as I still have to get out and do as much yard work as possible since we need to have our yard nice and green for code enforcement. I cannot believe they can fine people for not having green yards, while the city is harassing people about using too much water.
The good news is my blood pressure is back to reading me at around 138/99 - this is a steady average reading over the last couple of days. Hopefully once I get the stress of the yard dealt with, my blood pressure will go lower.
More good news is that, when I weighed myself at the house I cleaned today, my weight had dropped 4 pounds from what it was three weeks ago when I used those scales. Considering I had dropped 1/2 when I weighed myself on the other scales last Friday, it would appear that I have dropped another 3 1/2 pounds during this week. I won't know for sure what my weight is until I get back to the other ( every other Friday) house and use those scales as they are the ones I have been using to get an accurate measure of how much I weight I put on or drop off.
My energy is basically about the same - fairly high most of the time. My appetite is pretty much the same too. Sometimes I want to eat more, but other times a couple of celery sticks and some cauliflower with a little bit of cottage cheese is all I want for breakfast or lunch. Last night I would have had a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter for dinner if my roommate hadn't made one of those skillet pasta meals and shared it with me. Just not feeling like eating a lot.
The good news is my blood pressure is back to reading me at around 138/99 - this is a steady average reading over the last couple of days. Hopefully once I get the stress of the yard dealt with, my blood pressure will go lower.
More good news is that, when I weighed myself at the house I cleaned today, my weight had dropped 4 pounds from what it was three weeks ago when I used those scales. Considering I had dropped 1/2 when I weighed myself on the other scales last Friday, it would appear that I have dropped another 3 1/2 pounds during this week. I won't know for sure what my weight is until I get back to the other ( every other Friday) house and use those scales as they are the ones I have been using to get an accurate measure of how much I weight I put on or drop off.
My energy is basically about the same - fairly high most of the time. My appetite is pretty much the same too. Sometimes I want to eat more, but other times a couple of celery sticks and some cauliflower with a little bit of cottage cheese is all I want for breakfast or lunch. Last night I would have had a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter for dinner if my roommate hadn't made one of those skillet pasta meals and shared it with me. Just not feeling like eating a lot.
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