Thursday, April 07, 2011

SUNSHINEY DAY

Pussy has decided to lay next to me and watch me write my blog.  She is so like her mother.  She has decided that she belongs to me and that is that.

It looks like it is going to be another warm day as it was yesterday although at the moment I still feel chilled as I almost always do when I wake up in the morning.  I have no idea why but when I awake no matter what the weather and even with the heating on in the winter I am cold when I wake up. If you could feel my hands right now!

I slept in the recliner last night because of my hips but I did sleep for seven hours without waking or at least if I did wake I do not recall it.

I am going to photograph my finished sweater.  I am rather pleased with it ,especially the neck.

I am astonished at the amount of people that cannot take any form of disagreement.  There is this unfounded unproven and completely nonsense story going around about the sweetener aspartame and how it causes multiple sclerosis and all sorts of horrible diseases. I have been sent this by people who believe that I am probably ill because I drink diet Pepsi!!! Anyway, a “friend” posted this story on Facebook and I said that I had seen this story many times and it really is unproven.  I also pointed out that I have been sick for very many years but it is only the last four years that I have taken to drinking drinks that are sweetened with aspartame or sucralose.  Prior to that I only drank water coffee and tea.  I am very pleased that I now have more options.  I eat jelly every day. It really enables me to deal with the fact that there are so many foods that I cannot eat.  I actually prefer the taste of artificial sweetener and I find that sugar is far too sweet.  Apart from which sugar is one of the foods that my body cannot handle well.  The story going around about aspartame and Donald Rumsfeld is a stupid as the idea that microwaved food is dangerous! Back to the point; this “friend” who sees himself as a spiritual person, de-friended me for writing the comment. Then another person did the same just because I said that my experience of a different cult was very much the same as his!

As usual I am still finding it difficult to pace myself. The new drug, gabapentin,  that I have added to my painkilling arsenal does appear to work really well. However, I have not figured out the correct dosage yet nor the timing of them.I also have become very aware that whilst I may be relieved of pain enough to be able to do what I want, it does not prevent the wearer tear and therefore I still become fatigued. Bummer! For me that is the worst part of this bloody disease, the fatigue. It really frustrates me because it prevents me doing what I want.

Good weather days like this are really nice. I have the patio doors wide open and both gardens open and the dogs can just go in or out as they please. Dogs are really sensible I’m like us because when it gets to a certain level of warmth, they come in and lay on the tiled kitchen floor.  I do sit out in the sun but I can never do it for very long, 30 min at the most.  I do not understand how people can sunbathe.  Apart from the fact that it is bad for ones skin, it is also incredibly boring.  This is why when John and I go away we tour cities and countryside and visit galleries and museums and old buildings etc. The idea of spending two weeks on beach is anathema to the pair of us.

The puppies are quite funny.  Two of them have decided it is naptime but the others do not agree and so they are annoying the two trying to nap! Winston is doing his best to attract my attention and get on my lap.

3 comments:

Sarah Clark said...

Oh my, the subject of food sensitivities can be such a touchy one. I myself can't take aspartame - it's a migraine trigger for me - but if you can tolerate it it's a great alternative to sugar. I've had so many people try to tell me I shouldn't eat this or that because it's causing one problem or another and they get really huffy when I say I've already tried cutting them out of my diet and it made not an ounce of difference. Then there are the others who really do have a problem and therefore think *everyone* has to avoid milk/peanuts/wheat. It's your body, you know what works and what it can tolerate.

I can sympathise on the sun too. I love it and it's a real boost after the winter to sit out for ten minutes but that's enough!

Bless you Colin, you always write such thought provoking stuff.

valerieB said...

I also have a "friend" (acquaintance really) who will tell me that there's no need to suffer with rheumatoid arthritis - I just need to stop eating tomatoes and potatoes. When I tell her that studies show there is no connection she tells me the studies are old maid's tales!!! I've also heard the same old song and dance about aspertame and any artifical sweeteners, but as a diabetic I usually have things sweetened with Splenda (not aspertame) and have no bad reactions at all. And then there's the folks who like to tell me that any herbal supplement is "natural" and preferable to my arthritis meds and if I would just go off my evil meds that I would be cured.

Myra Elwell said...

I can totally relate to the frustrations over people trying to tell you what to eat and not to eat. I've got late stage 4 kidney failure with only one kidney remaining. Sugar tends to make me quite ill. I can't eat a lot of protein and red meat tends to make me quite sick to my stomach unless it is completely fresh. It's hard to find a decent butcher where I live. A secondary disease triggered by the kidney failure means calcium has been sucked out of my bones, so the immense pain in my joints means I get pain management. I hate taking the meds. The fatigue from the disease drives me bonkers. I lost my ability to hold down a job & getting used to being home is strange. "Normal" people drive me up the wall because they don't understand the severe limitations having a chronic illness puts on someone. Constantly being cold, or tired or sick or not able to do simple activities like walking the dog are things beyond thier understanding. So are the concepts that just because they think something is healthy doesn't mean your system can tolerate it. Case in point: Red meat may be a source of iron needed to combat anemia, but protein is downright deadly to me. Therefore, telling me I should try the South Beach Diet is pretty stupid, no matter how high in iron it may be. The best thing to do is to just say "Thank you, but my doctor is the only authority on what I should or should not be doing, not you." then go on about your business. 7 years of this silly disease progressing to this point has left me leaving tact to one side and just bluntly saying it. Thank goodness for crochet and knitting, as both crafts are excellent therapy and keep me occupied when I can't do anything else! :-)