Journey to health

[MyOwnWoman]

I'm learning that quitting drinking is just the beginning of getting healthy. I thought that once I quit so many physical problems would simply go away - attention and memory problems, difficulty losing weight, mood swings, anxiety, fatigue, etc etc. Didn't happen.

BUT -- that doesn't mean that being AF is not bringing about a remedy to these issues. It is - because I am now intentionally working to understand and remedy these problems, which I never much did when I was drinking. I blamed all of it on the booze, so that allowed me to accept and ignore. Now I am getting actively involved in my health, because I care more about my health and my wish to live well has never been greater.

So what I've come to figure out is that I actually have Attention Deficit Disorder, and that can be dealt with (the best part is I stopped kicking myself in the ass for being such a flake). And I've had tests done that reveal that I have very low levels of adrenaline, serotonin, and vitamin D, and my thyroid is still not functioning right - all of this contributing to excess fat, mood problems, exhaustion, etc. Now I'm working with my naturopath to address all these things with supplements and changing my thyroid meds. I am already feeling improvements after a few days on the supplements and a couple weeks on the thyroid meds.

Quitting drinking wasn't the cure-all for me. But it definitely empowered me to take charge of my health, to move forward in the journey to health with velocity and love.

[veritas]

Journey to health

I am finding after 28 days AF that I am taking an interest in myself that I never did before. I want to eat healthily, I want to rectify the damage I have done. But yes I agree, those feelings to not disappear. For me the anxiety has not gone away. I still struggle with periods of boredom.. at times I feel overwhelmed with everything thats happening in my life.

I have started to pray again. I feel that I need a deeper spiritual conection to just take the next step. I try to just surrender, but then I find myself weeping like a lost child in a supermarket.

For me, the most important thing is facing my fear. I feel like a little girl in the dark, believing that there is a crocodile under the bed. I so long to have the fears taken away by that flash of light that brings comfort.

I also have ADD. It runs in my family. I loose things and I procrastiate. I always have a pile of books next to my bed and many projects running at any given time. I can be very restless and seldom sit through a movie. The alcohol brough on a buzz that calmed me down, but killed any creativity.

[nancy]

Journey to health

Hi MOW

it's great that you are focusing on good health. but just a word of caution, i don't think those tests of neurotransmitters are scientific. I was offered one by an alternative doctor and an MD but that was the caveat. Maybe WIP can weigh in on this.

Nancy

[MyOwnWoman]

Journey to health

Nancy, I don't understand what you mean "and an MD but that was the caveat." do you mean the MD warned that the testing wasn't valid?

Here's the company that I tested with... https://www.neurorelief.com/

My doc said she has had many, many patients who have done the testing and addressed whatever results came up with supplements and have had great success in dealing with weight issues, cravings, ADD, depression and anxiety, etc. Based on what I've read about the ones I'm low on, my symptoms match up and it all makes perfect sense. Time will tell, as I take the supps. As I said I've already noticed some improvement after just 4 days - less anxious, don't crave carbs like I did, more stable moods.

[nancy]

Journey to health

Yes, he was an MD who worked in a complementary center. the test would gauge the levels of serotonin. He said it was useful but that it wasn't scientific. I guess I was wondering about the serotonin measurements, is that something that is measurable?

If the treatment is working for you, that's great. I am just curious about the neurotransmitter measurements...

Nancy

[A Work in Progress]

Journey to health

Nancy is correct, the measurements taken from blood or urine (or saliva) are not necessarily accurate reflections of neurotransmitter function. They measure by-products of the breakdown of neurotransmitters in the brain, not actual functioning neurotransmitter levels, and are not thought to be accurate. It's one of the difficulties that are encountered in trying to research and/or treatment that involves neurotransmitter functioning as they relate to various disorders or healthy functioning...

[A Work in Progress]

Journey to health

p.s. A lot of physicians are in something of an uproar over some of the newer types of assessment and treatment for various conditions, especially among women... The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has put out a publication about the lack of scientific credibility in the use of "bioidentical hormone therapy." Click here to read the publication.

Doesn't mean these methods are not helpful... just that they don't yet have strong scientific support... Much the same situation exists throughout the entire industry that markets and sells various food supplements, including the amino acid supplements promoted by MWO...

[Guitarista]

Journey to health

Hi MOW. I love this line of yours.........'To move forward in the journey to health, with velocity and love'
I'm taking my health,(and myself!) far more seriously now that i don't drink. All the best on your journey!.............G.

[Lila]

Journey to health

MOW - lots of your issues sound so much like mine. Can you tell me what you are taking for them? Do you have depression issues, and if so, do you use ADs? I do not know how I will survive another winter, I just don't.
Lila

[MyOwnWoman]

Journey to health

Hi Lila... sucks, doesn't it. The supps I'm now taking are chosen specifically, based on the results of my neurotransmitter testing.

I have always had depression issues and have been on and off ADs several times. But for the last few years I've been managing my depression with just 5-htp and St. Johns Wort. They seriously worked for me. If I ran out of one or the other and didn't take for a week, I would sink into such a deep dark funk.

[lilnev]

Journey to health

On serotonin: WiP is correct that the test measures the breakdown products, not serotonin itself. But the bigger issue is that >90% of the serotonin in your body is in your gut. So by measuring urine/blood/saliva, you get a whole-body measure which may or may not reflect brain levels. In neuroscience research on animals, they measure breakdown products in cerebrospinal fluid, which does reflect brain serotonin levels. But you can't do that without a spinal tap, and the information is not nearly worth the risk that entails.

I take 5-htp (50 mg once or twice a day) and tyrosine (the precursor for dopamine and norepinephrine; 500 mg) for the same reason I take a multi-vitamin -- just to make sure my body has the basic building blocks it needs.