Prohealth.com
Another helpful site with helpful, knowledgeable people. I started here, but ended up using the LymeNet board more often as it seems to be more active.
Monthly Archives: January 2010
LymeNet Discussion Board
LymeNet.org
This site has been most helpful for me in researching just about everything Lyme. It’s super active and people are very helpful and kind. You can see my profile here if you like.
Friday Link Love for 01.29.10
Days are getting noticeably longer!
Finally! Hints that Spring, though still months away here in NYC, is coming! I’ve been running in the late afternoon and have noticed that it’s not as pitch black as it was back in December. Each day we get two more minutes of daylight.
I can’t wait for warmer weather. I’m so over winter and running in tights, a base layer, a t-shirt, windbreaker, hat and gloves. I long for tank tops and race shorts!
Here’s what I’ve got this week
Guardian: Start running and watch your brain grow, say scientists – Props to my man EyeBob for sending this link to me. It’s a brief but well written article about how a group of Neuroscientists at Cambridge University have shown that running stimulates the brain to grow fresh grey matter (in mice) and that it has a big impact on mental ability.
I’ve read research in the past saying that running (or aerobic exercise in general) is good for the brain and that it may help prevent or at least hold off mental issues like dementia and Alzheimer. I’ve also talked from time to time with my friend Christopher Bergland about his theories on neuroplasticity and running mental health. It’s nice, however, to see science advancing this theory and examining the mechanisms behind it.
British Medical Journal: Auto-appendectomy in the Antarctic – I use Feedly.com to help me organize and filter through all of the RSS feeds that I follow. I recommend it because it smartly suggests interesting articles based on what you choose to read. This link was a recommendation, but from what I can’t recall. The story was so gripping that I got completely side tracked from what I was doing when I read it. It’s one of those stories that’s good to recall on those days where you feel like shit and start getting all “woe is me” about your health and life.
On those occasions, think about being Dr. Leonid Rogozov. Trapped in the Antarctic, he had to perform an appendectomy on himself while an assistant held up a mirror. His strong will and determination to live are more than admirable.
A.V. Club (the Onion): KFC’s Double Down Sandwich – This link is to a hilariously written “taste test” of the new KFC Double Down sandwich by the A.V. Club’s Nathan Rabin. Truly worth the five-minutes it takes to read.
I’ve been getting more and more involved in what I’m eating. The more I look into the truth behind what I (we) eat, the more I’m HORRIFIED. It’s really no wonder that so many Americans are obese especially when you see something like this. KFC’s Double Down is a bunless grease-bomb. An artery-clogging marriage of bacon, two kinds of cheeses and “the Colonel’s sauce” (WTF?!) between two pieces of fried chicken.
A quick Google showed me that I’m not the only one who’s appalled at the new KFC menu item. Here’s humorous video review:
Tagged health, inspiration, Link Love, neuroscience, nutrition, Research, running
Friday Link Love for 01.22.10
Damn, it’s cold out!
Just got back from running with a group I’m coaching. This involves running just enough to work up a sweat, but then standing around on the side of the road watching their form. I was freezing!! Fortunately it’s beautiful out. A nice, crisp winter day.
So what’s up this week? Not much. Found a couple of interesting things for you.
Here’s what I’ve got this week
FitnessSpotlight: How to Set Up the Simple Home Gym Fitness Program – One of the sites I regularly follow, FitnessSpotlight, is in the middle of a 30-day challenge to better health. If I had known about it before the first day I might have tried it, but it all caught me by surprise and I missed the gun. It’s a rather arduous undertaking – a new life-changing thing every day for 30 days – but interesting none the less. Check out the introduction if you’re curious.
Anyway… yesterday’s post was about setting up a simple home gym. I know many people with Lyme are trying to get back into exercise and the suggestions in this article on equipment could be helpful. I know many people think they need a lot of gym equipment or gadgets, but the truth is all you really need is your body weight. If I didn’t use the sauna at my gym as much as I do for detoxing, I would cancel my membership.
Mark’s Daily Apple: Sweet and Salty Primal Trail Mix – I’m a big fan of Mark’s site and I just started reading his book. He has tasty recipes from time to time and this now one of my favorites. It’s hearty, healthy AND gluten-free. I made a batch this morning and it’s great.
Friday Link Love for 01.15.10
It’s Friday again already. Man!
I came across a lot of interesting things this week, but there’s on thing that I could use everyone’s help with. I’m about to switch insurances and my wife and I are utterly confused on what to do. We’ve shopped around, but the options are so great. If you have any advice on this topic, please post it here. Or email me if that’s easier ChronicTriathlete(at)gmail.com.
Also… I’m in the final phase of fixing up this blog. If you find things are broken or displaying funny, I’m sorry. I hope to have it all back to normal in a week or so.
Here’s what I’ve got this week
Slate: The Vita Myth – An informative article about the cloud of confusion surrounding the effectiveness of daily vitamins and other supplements. I’ve personally given up on taking supplements. I’ve never noticed any improvement or changes in my condition while taking up to 40 pills a day so I’ve just stopped. I’m opting to just eat better and get the nutrients I need via food. That said, I do plan to get my vitamin levels checked next week when I go to my LLMD.
Runner’s World: Do Running Shoes Cause Running Injuries? – I tweeted this link earlier in the week. It’s an interesting response by Amby Burfoot to a recent study done on the amount of torque suffered by the knees of runners wearing traditional running shoes versus runners wearing minimal or no shoes. There’s a growing (or perhaps reemerging) trend in fringes of the running community that claim that less is more, big shoe companies are the devil (sorry Jim) and that we should all run barefoot.
Being a coach and having worked in a running store that fits people in shoes via a treadmill analysis system I have to say that I believe there’s some validity to the topic. I’m not as Evangelical as some, but I’ve personally experienced the benefits of running in less and less shoe. I plan to write more about it in the near future.
LA Times: What Goes Into Chicken – This freaked me out! Read about how manufactures are “plumping” your chicken.
This American Life: Long Shot – A podcast by Ira Glass that I found particularly inspirational. In the first segment he talks to Leo Paur, coach of a high school football team in Utah that hasn’t won a game in two and a half seasons, about how he motivates his team to keep going after so many crushing defeats. Namely: you decide that you’re about to turn things around.
In the second segment Nancy Mullane reports on the case of Don Cronk, an inmate at San Quentin Prison, to see what would happen as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reviewed his case. Though Cronk knew the odds were against him, he found it hard to stop himself from believing he’d get out.
Tagged barefoot, chicken, npr, running, running shoes, supplements, vitamins
Friday Link Love for 01.08.10
A busy week. Lots of travel
Been to Florida, New York, Washington DC and back to New York. As a result, the list is a little thin.
I’ve got some things cooking for the coming weeks so stay tuned. As always, if you come across something that I should share here, please let me know.
Here’s what I’ve got this week
Gluten-free food in NYC – Land of friendly eateries: I’ve been working really hard to eliminate gluten from my diet. I’m pretty good about it when I’m at home, but going out is a total crap shoot. Luckily the Gluten-Free Triathlete has compiled a list of GF places to eat in NYC from his recent visit.
Ten reasons whole foods will with the next decade of healthy eating: In addition to the above mentioned gluten, I’m trying hard to clean up my diet overall. The whole foods route seems like the best. Here’s quick blurb on why this “health trend” is likely to become a mainstream topic in the coming years.
Tagged diet, gluten-free, Link Love, nutrition, whole foods
Recovery Update – January 2010
Time for an update
It’s been a long time since I’ve done any sort of recovery update, but seeing as it’s the New Year and all, I figured now would be a good time. Here’s what’s up.
Basically… same old, same old. That’s the main reason I haven’t felt the desire to post an update. There’s nothing new to say. I’m still foggy 24/7 with moderate cognitive issues, have light and diffused tingling in my hands and feet, feel a baseline tiredness that fluctuates from day to day, see floaters and have a short list of other minor things.
Treatment
All of the above is to be more or less expected, I suppose. I’ve been off abx – as well as any other treatment or supplements – for just short of six months. I detailed why in a previous post (I changed LLMDs).
For a short time I was on an herbal treatment that my new LLMD gave me – SpiroNil, a Teasel Root tincture, and Biotox Elim, its Berberine, Hydrastine and Artemisia annua-based partner. The two are designed to be a sort of a wrecking ball and cleanup crew combo. The SpiroNil blows up Borellia and the Biotox Elim mops it up and helps you clear the herx toxins.
Historically, I’ve not had a whole lot of success with herbals. I tried a variety tinctures from the Witch Doctor several months ago, but didn’t experience much of a herx or a real improvement. It was with this in mind that I recklessly jumped from a test dose of three drops a day after two days all the way up to nine drops. By the afternoon of the morning I jumped up I was in bed asleep, totally exhausted and with a rockin’ headache. Apparently this stuff actually works.
Trouble was, I was neck-deep in work. I had just picked up two really big projects – one that required a lot of travel to Washington DC – and couldn’t afford to be down for the count. I stopped the herbs right away.
But now I’m back on. My projects have either finished or fallen into a slow period and I can afford to take it easy and deal with some herxing. We’ve also been down in Florida for a two-week vacation over Christmas and New Years. That makes life a little easier too. Over the last eight days I’ve worked up to seven drops of both tinctures twice a day. I’m definitely herxing, but it’s all manageable… more or less.
Exercise
My recent running experiences have been rough. In December, I ran 87 miles and biked 34 (easy cross training days on the trainer), but it’s been hard to keep up with even this moderately reduced volume. There were days when I simply didn’t feel like going, but I did it anyway. I always know that two miles into it I’ll be glad I did, and for the most part this was true, but there were still times where the whole run sucked a lot. Legs feel heavy and slow; very tired. I try to write it off to the cold and having to wear tights, a windbreaker, hat, gloves and other motion-restricting gear, but I know there’s more to it.
Being down in Florida has been a little better. I’ve run 30 miles, swum dozens of laps in the pool and been to the gym 3 or 4 times to lift a little in the last eight days. I’ve also played (if you can call it that) a bunch of tennis. There have definitely been days where I over did it. Last Wednesday, 3 hours of tennis, a 5 mile run and 30 mins in the gym, did me in for a couple days, but I’m back to “normal” now.
What’s Next?
I have an appointment with my LLMD, Dr. M, on the 18th. The plan was to only do the SpiroNil and Biotox Elim until I got my new insurance sorted out and can get on some pharma treatments. I should be good to go with that by February so I’ll be discussing that with him.
The plan was to start shooting my ass up with some Bicillin. I’m so not into doing this, but it seems to be the next step since orals didn’t do much for me. People say it’s rather painful, but my LLMD said that I only have to shoot up two or three times a week. I suppose that’s better than painless pills three times a day everyday.
That’s all for now. Hope everyone is doing well.
Tagged Dr. M, exercise, herbal treatments
Friday Link Love for 01.01.10
Happy New Year!!
I’m gonna start a new weekly series of post in 2010 called Friday Link Love. Every week I come across all kinds of interesting blurbs. On Friday’s I’ll gather them up and post ‘em. If you see something that you think should be included, please shoot me an email at ChronicTriathlete (at) gmail.com.
Here’s what I’ve got this week:
Advice on treading the Buddhist path: I’ve always been sort of an armchair Buddhist. Since getting Lyme I’ve started reading and following a Buddhist path and even going to the local temple on occasion. I recently found this article and thought it nicely summed up the philosophy.
Chris McCormack on Lance Armstrong: Arrogant Aussie Macca shares his thoughts on Lance’s chances of winning the Ironman Word Championships in Kona next year.
Ticks in your Christmas tree: I never thought of this, but it seems possible that you could be bringing ticks home for Christmas.
Fitness Spotlight’s best quotes of 2009: I like to read this site from time to time. I suggest you check it out. A good place to start is this post with links to the best of 2009
