Sunday, October 25, 2009

Still Hanging in There

Well, it has been a while since my last post, but not much has changed since then.  The protracted withdrawal continues.  I am getting rather annoyed with it now.  Some people on the Truehope message boards were finished with the worst of their protracted withdrawal by the 5th month on the program, which for me would have been mid-October.  So I was ready and hoping for improvement around then, but it didn't materialize.  For most people it is 6 months, and by that reckoning I have only 2 or 3 weeks to go.  Some people do take even longer, but I am trying not to think about that.

I suppose there is some improvement, because the release of stored medications seems to be more random now, rather than unrelenting.  The other day I thought I was feeling pretty good, so I went to the grocery store and found myself feeling dizzy in the aisles.  Yesterday I was just sitting reading and I noticed that I felt pretty good again, and then an hour later my nose was running and the pain was back.  So it's frustrating, because I still don't feel that if I make plans for the day that there is a good chance I'll actually be able to do them.

But, there is still no return of the depression.  And that is good, because I have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) as well.  Usually it has started by now, and it is at its worst in the last week of November.  No sign of that this year.

I am looking forward, though, to reporting in a couple of weeks that the protracted withdrawal has finally let up!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Making Changes

Yesterday I was going to write a very whiny post, but then I decided that wouldn't be in my best interest.  Rest assured, though, that protracted withdrawal is still continuing.  I'm tired and dizzy, with little appetite, and constant shoulder, neck and head pain.  The runny nose comes and goes.

I've made a couple of changes to my routine.  One is that I started supplementing with iodine for my thyroid.  I have Hashimoto's Disease, an autoimmune disease that results in a slow thyroid.  The iodine really seems to help with my outlook and motivation.  It was when I started the iodine that I got the urge to exercise that I mentioned in my last post.  I haven't been exercising since then, the increase in protracted withdrawal was hard to take.  But I have been more motivated to do things around the house, and I'm slowly getting things cleaned and organized.

I also have been inspired to start eating vegan again.  I was vegan for 3 years in my 30s, and for the most part I really liked eating that way.  I had more energy and I lost weight.  I gave it up because I thought all the fibre was aggravating my IBS, which really became completely out of control.  Now I think I have a better idea of what foods were causing the problems, mainly hot peppers -- I love those spicy foods.  Also, when I started the Empowerplus I also started Truehope's FermPlus, a probiotic, and it really seems to have settled my stomach.  So, the timing seemed right.  I have been wanting to go back to eating vegan for quite a while, and I finally just made the decision to do it.

I had hoped that eating vegan would help with the protracted withdrawal, but that does not seem to have been the case.  It is neither better nor worse.  I am losing weight still, but not fast enough for it to cause a problem with the protracted withdrawal.  I have lost 12 pounds since the end of June, 3 of them in the past two weeks that I have been eating vegan.  I am optimistic now that I am on the right track to lose all the weight I gained while medicated.  70 pounds to go!