Dem Bones... (chicken bones)

I have to admit I've gotten REALLY lazy about making (and drinking) bone broth as of late.

It's probably been a month or more since I've made any and really, I've consumed so much broth in the last 6 months, it was starting to make me a bit queasy.

I usually use the remnants of a chicken I've either made or purchased (thank you Costco Bachelor Chickens for being so convenient).  Most of the time though, the broth won't gel.

Why is this important, you may wonder?  Well, it's a good sign that the collagen and gelatin have leached from your carcass and are readily available for your body to utilize.  It's actually a sign of a good broth. If you get it to gel, you've done a great job.

I've found the key to getting a good gel pretty much every time is using chicken feet.

I read about it in Nourishing Traditions.

 

I was a bit off put by the idea of putting a bunch of feet in my broth.

But I went to the market in Justin's neighborhood and purchased a package of feet (this was a few years back and chicken feet are remarkably hard to find - if you are looking, check your local Asian or Hispanic market. You'll be hard pressed to find them at Safeway or Raley's).

I threw those feet in with my carcass and veggies and let it simmer away.  It didn't seem any different until it cooled down.... Chicken Jello.

Since that time, chicken jello has become a staple of my diet.  When I started AIP back in January, I was consuming broth with every meal.  I had considered GAPS, which used broth based soups for every meal, but wasn't that willing to commit.

I can say with pretty good certainty that my joint health is markedly better when I am getting a good and continuous source of gelatin and collagen.  I don't sound like a bowl of rice crispies when I move.  Lay off the broth for a while and it's back to snap, crackle and pop.

It also is a great food to soothe your intestines and help improve digestion.

But when you are drinking that much broth, it gets old. Fast.

Enter gelatin.

It blends in pretty easily to whatever I'm drinking. I add it to cold beverages, hot beverages and the like. It seems to blend in pretty easily if you add it to a small amount of room temperature liquid before adding it to hot or cold liquids. 

I'm drinking it three times a day currently to see if it has similar effects.  I'll let you know how it goes. If my knees stop making a snapping noise, I'd say we're good.  (the snapping sounds far more painful that in actually is)

I found this list at my mom's house the other day. This was the list I went to my doctor with in 2011 outlining the pain I was in (and had been in for as long as I could remember). I'm glad to say that it's 2013 and aside from the occasional flare up (usually of my shoulder or hip), I'm free of most of those symptoms. 

Might I add that I'm not taking ANY NSAIDS or anti-inflammatory medications for probably the first time in my adult life.  Through diet and lifestyle changes, I've managed to turn all of this around (though it's still hard to straighten my hair - so I don't). 

Waging a war.......... on YOU

I've been really terrible at updating the blog lately.

I've been busy with work, school, wedding prep and projects.

We finally got the invitations done and mailed out.  It was the perfect excuse for me to buy a craft cutter and now I just need to find enough time to work on .svg files for paper crafting as well as creating jewelry designs and finishing out the semester :)

I've noticed that weight loss/health has taken sort of an angry path these days.  Everyone is intent on getting ripped, demolishing fat, getting their asses kicked, etc. I'm not sure why every woman thinks they need to get below 20% body fat and needs six pack abs. I really don't want to "kill it", whatever "it" may be. I'm sick of the screaming commercials for some new ass kicking workout.

Does it really have to be that way?

Don't get me wrong. I don't think there is anything wrong with being strong.  I don't think there's anything wrong with being muscular. I've worked plenty of jobs in my life that required me to be strong.  But really, do we need to look like body builders (I've always been rather grossed out by them personally).

Is this necessary? Or attractive?

I'm not sure what people are into killing, but if killing it equals the above, I'll let it live.

I have to say if I've learned anything in the last 3 years its to be gentle with myself.  I didn't get that principle in all the years I did yoga. I pushed myself to be the most flexible in a class. I pushed myself as hard as I could. Which is totally NOT what yoga is about. I pushed my body by working out 3 hours a day, 7 days a week.

My shoulder injury has taught me to be gentle with myself. I have learned my limits. I may not like my limits all of the time, but I accept them.

I don't need to destroy fat. I don't need to punish myself for my food choices by spending an extra hour at the gym if I eat something "bad". Hell, my entire diet is "bad" by the standards of most of the diet industry. I eat fat. Lots of fat.  I eat protein, a pretty good amount of protein. I eat veggies, probably more than I ever did as a vegetarian in my youth.

As much as it pained me, I threw out everything I thought I new about health and fitness and I've changed my life for the better. Without supplements. Without shakes. Without punishing my body. Without punishing my spirit.

Take a second to think about it before you wage another war with yourself.  Take a second to think about being gentle and kind to yourself.  It might make all the difference in your life and in the world. Our lives are full of enough crap - everyone's a warrior, everything needs to be destroyed, killed, ripped, etc.

Think about the impact those words have. Affect a positive change in your mind and you will see positive changes in your body.

It's a Miracle

I know I had been frustrated with the whole elimination diet thing.  I wanted to give up more than a few times.

Well, I just have to say I'm glad I didn't.

I made it through today without sneezing more than a couple of times.  I made it through today only blowing my nose once or twice (not including my netti pot time, as my nasal passages feel so dry now that they are not running like a faucet).

In fact, after I started thinking about it, I've made it through the last few days without sneezing or a runny/stuffy nose.  After the effects of the miso soup faded (which took about 3 days), I've been pretty allergy symptom free for an entire weekend.

I know that sounds like a weird thing to be excited about, but considering the last 10 years of my life have been filled with nasal misery (at times going through 2-3 boxes of tissues a week and sneezing so uncontrollably that I would have to pull my car off the road), 3 days of minimal sneezing (maybe 3-5 times in a day) and a scant handful of nose blows (maybe 2-3) is a miracle.

I am going to wait a couple of weeks to see how long this lasts (or if it was just a fluke) before I attempt to start adding foods back into my diet.  There are somethings I find I don't really miss as much as I thought I would (nightshades) and others I can't wait to add back (eggs and nuts).

It will be a SLOW process trying to add things back in.  I plan to try a food and wait 72 hours to evaluate how I feel.  If all seems to be good, I will try that food item in small quantities for a week to see if that changes any sort of reaction.  If no reaction is present, I will wait an additional week to add the next food.

Let's use an egg as our example.

I try a single yolk (the least allergenic part of the egg) on 2/25.  I will observe how my body reacts until 2/27.  If all seems good, I will then eat a yolk a day until 3/6.  If that seems to be working for me, I will wait until 3/13 to add a new food while continuing to keep to 1 yolk a day.

It really seems like more work than I really want to do, but I have to say that not sneezing and not having a constantly runny/stuffy nose feels AWESOME!

I still have the feeling of some sinus pressure though and I would love to have my sinuses adjusted sometime in the near future.  I've taken some time away from the adjustment process to know if my diet is really helping my allergies or if the adjustments were a part of  the reduction as well.

Where are you hiding now?

Okay, it's been a few days now since the soy and I am STILL all nasally and gross.  The day after having the miso soup, I swear I felt like I had been hit by a truck.

It's good to know though.

I was aware that unfermented soy was a bad deal, though I bought into the health benefits of soy in all states when I was younger. I've learned the importance of fermenting for any number of foods we eat, be it soy, wheat, veggies, etc. 

Fermenting helps neutralize anti-nutrients that make foods difficult for us to digest.  If you  eat grains, make sure you soak or ferment those grains.  If you're going to eat soy, make sure it is fermented soy such as tempeh, miso, natto or traditionally made soy sauce.  

One of the biggest downfalls of soy (at least here in the US) is that most of our soybeans are GMO.  I personally don't know the long term effects of eating GMO foods, and don't care to be a part of some grand experiment.  

Unfortunately soy is hidden in a great number of processed foods even when they are considered natural or health food using names that may or may not indicate they have soy in them. Especially when switching to gluten free, soy seems to be an additive that is in EVERYTHING.  Here are a few that may contain soy but are entirely ambiguous (I pretty much avoid these due to the possibility of containing wheat as well): 

Artificial flavoring 

Asian foods (e.g. Japanese, Chinese, Thai, etc.)

Hydrolyzed plant protein 
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) 
Natural flavoring 
Vegetable broth 
Vegetable gum 
Vegetable starch 

I never really gave much though to the idea that soy was part of my allergy issue.  I had started cutting it out for other reasons but wasn't really diligent about the ambiguous soy sneaking in until I went on an elimination diet.  

After about 7 weeks of no soy at all, I figured trying miso, which is properly fermented wouldn't hurt.  It did and now I know to avoid soy.  It eliminates a lot of things such as chocolates (most commercial chocolates are made with soy lecithin), but hey, not having my face feel like it will explode or my sinuses make a weird popping noise is not a bad trade off.  

Kids with Food Allergies is a pretty comprehensive resource for food allergens and possibly ambiguous allergen additives.  

I honestly think if you don't feel as well as you think you could, AIP (autoimmune paleo) or GAPS (gut and psychology syndrome) or SCD (specific carbohydrate diet) can really help you see how what you eat effects you over all.  

Even though I haven't fully been able to ditch my nasal allergies, I have to say that I feel better than I can really ever remember.  

The need for cheese

I have to admit I succumbed to the power of the cheese.

Last night, feeling especially meh and whiney I gave in to the need for cheese.

We ordered a gluten free pizza from Goat Hill Pizza.

I wish I could say the pizza was all I had hoped for and totally worth it, but sadly it wasn't.

Don't get me wrong, the cheese divine.  It was the best part of the pizza.  I don't know if you've had a gluten free pizza (though I make a pretty mean almond flour crust pizza), but the cheese is the best part of a gluten free pizza.  No gluten and no dairy = no more pizza. EVER.

The aftermath of said pizza was a bit of extra nose running, a sinus headache this evening and considerably slower neti pot flow this evening.  Even at the height of my cold over the last 2 weeks (which got me using my neti pot daily), I did not have this much flow reduction.

Which leads me to conclude the no dairy experiment may be permanent.  That thought made the trip down the cheese aisle at Costco this evening terribly sad.  So many cheeses I may never get to know.

I'm not sure what touched my pizza (or if it's my monthly visitor) that caused my intense pain and burning in my left arm today.  It was so bad I WISHED I had ordered a sourdough crust and lived with the pain of eating gluten.

An observation I had made casually over the last few months was that the pain and burning in my left arm seems to increase in the days before my monthly visitor.  I'm going to start keeping notes on pain levels to see if there is any actual connection to the two, but I've noticed that even when I don't eat anything I am not supposed to, I still have an increase in pain symptoms around that time of the month.

Speaking of pain, last week I did not drink enough water after taking my turmeric supplement.  I've been taking turmeric as an anti-inflammatory for most of the year 2012 and it seems to help some and doesn't have the same side effects as Naprosen (which I have been on and off of for almost 15 years now).

Big mistake.  I was heading out the door to take the Pi for a walk and belched.  Unfortunately, the turmeric came back up.  Not just into my mouth, but in my sinuses and out my nose.  Holy crap. So bad.  I ran back in the house and nearly barfed.  After the gagging subsided, I was lucky to have enough time to rinse a large amount of the turmeric out of my sinuses.

Tip of the day: Make sure you take your supplements with at least a full glass of water, if not two.

I'm off to bed to mourn the further loss of cheese.

Still at it

Okay, I'm still at the no dairy thing.  I'm adjusting to it.  I don't have raging cravings for cheese like I thought I would, though there have been a few days that I REALLY wanted a gluten free pizza, but take the cheese away and it's just not worth it.

It has been 23 days since my last sinus adjustment, which was seemingly easier than ever before (I had been dairy free for about 3 weeks prior to that adjustment).  I don't think I'll be able to make it up for another adjustment for at least 2 more weeks though (going to Gunny's 90th (yes, I typed 90th) birthday party.

I hadn't really been using my netti pot with much regularity since I started getting my sinus adjustments (for the sake of science) just to make sure that the effects I was feeling were truly related to the adjustment.  I've used it here and there in the last 6 months (typically after working on a particularly dusty project) and noticed that the drainage was still slow even when I wasn't cruddy.

Well, I accidentally killed my Kombucha Mother (it caught the mold - first time ever in almost 10 years of brewing) so I was without my Kombucha for more than a week and caught whatever nastiness is going around the elementary schools right now.  I've been sickly for a little over a week (super congested, headache, cough, etc), which blew the plans for Thanksgiving crabbing.

Due to the amount of crud building up in my face, I decided to bust out the old netti pot.  Prior to sinus adjustments and dietary changes, it could take 10 minutes just to get the water moving through my sinuses (I know, it's gross) and even then, it was barely a trickle.  And no, that was NOT when I had a cold.  That was just daily, run of the mill netti usage.  Even after I started adjustments, it was still a bit slow going, like everything was swollen.

I have to tell you, even with all the crud built up, the water is flowing freely.  It's moving the crud quickly and easily, which has never been the case before.

As much as I had to admit it, I think my nasal swelling was largely related to dairy.  I still have a bit more "science" to do though.  Raw dairy has different effects on people than pasteurized, homogenized dairy from what I have read.  My next step will be to test to see if there is a difference between the two that I notice.

Pumpkin Custard? Finally!

I had the day off yesterday and even though I had a boat load of homework to do (it feels like ALL I ever do), I decided to finally start experimenting with a pumpkin custard as I have been saying I was going to do for weeks now.

I spent some time looking for a recipe to try (again it had to be gluten free and dairy free) and stumbled upon  this one.  I of course made a few changes to it though.  Here's what I did:

3/4 can of pureed pumpkin (unseasoned)
1/2 c. coconut milk (full fat)
1/2 c. grade b maple syrup
2 large eggs
2 tsp tapioca starch
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp celtic sea salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all ingredients until completely combined. Pour into glass or ceramic baking dishes (I REALLY had wanted to bake individual servings, but alas we have no ramekins).  Place the baking dishes of choice in a water bath (larger baking dish filled with water to about 1/2 way up the sides of the baking dish.  Bake 50-55 minutes.

This was pretty simple to make.  When it was baking, the house smelled like pumpkin pies and it was awesome.  So awesome it was hard to wait for Justin to come home from work to try it out.  We actually waited until after dinner (building the hype up even more!).  When we finally tasted it, it was fabulous. It had a smooth texture and had just enough spice (we all know how I feel about pumpkin goods being properly spiced!) I increased the amount of spice just slightly and swapped out the hemp milk for coconut milk from the original recipe. That being said, I think if I were to make this again, I may decrease the maple syrup from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup.  It was just a hint too sweet for me, but for others, I think the sweetness would hit the spot.

Today I saw a recipe for a paleo pumpkin cheesecake.  I'm pretty sure that will be next on my list.

Cheesy Bacon Goodness

Well, I tested the dairy theory last night.  My mom made some most excellent grilled cheese sandwiches using Tillamook Habanero Jack cheese.

I couldn't pass up spicy cheesy goodness with BACON!  Granted  blowing my nose repeatedly and having it run like a faucet while being so inflamed I can barely move air through my sinus passages sucks, it's not enough to pass something that delicious up.  

Testing the dairy theory is much less awful than testing the gluten theory.  I learned the hard way last week not to eat anything that has been touched by gluten containing products.  We had a Halloween party at work, I was ravenous and decided to try to eat a mummy dog sans mummy wrap (pigs in a blanket with a cute name).  I peeled off that outer layer and ate half a hot dog that had been touched by crescent roll.  Well, with the amount of pain I was in for the next 4 days, I should have just eaten the damn crescent roll too!

I had an appointment with my chiropractor at Gold Country Chiropractic this morning for a sinus adjustment (the first one in 3 weeks!) and it was so much easier and less uncomfortable than any of my treatments before (even when i was going weekly and not letting much time go by between adjustments).  While I can't be entirely certain as yet, I think  that dairy was contributing the swelling of my nasal passages, which made the adjustments very resistant and very painful!  I did eat some dairy last night, so the swelling may have returned slightly, but it did not seem to be nearly as inflamed as usual. 

While my ooey gooey grilled cheese was delicious, I am going to go back to no dairy for another month and see how my next adjustment goes.  I managed to last 3 weeks this time between adjustments, so I'm aiming for 4 weeks for the next one.  

Considering I am often lamenting the lack of readily available treats for me, I tried something new today.  I bought a loaf of Glutino White Sandwich Bread so I could have some grilled cheese (so far the best of the gluten free breads I have tried).  Tonight I wanted something treat like, so I decided upon cinnamon toast.  In place of butter, I used Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil Extra-Virgin 29 oz. 218566 (Google Affiliate Ad), which gave it a slightly coconut-y flavor.  In all, it was a quick and easy treat.  I don't normally have any bread on hand (I mostly gave it up since going gluten free), but it hit the spot tonight.

I plan to test at least one pumpkin custard this week.  I'll share the results.  

No! Not the cheese!

I know it's been a LONG while since I've updated the blog...

In the 2 months since I last posted, I moved, started a new job and started attending school full time.

Well, considering I've moved to an area with entirely different allergens than I had been living in (plus some nice sea air as well) I'd like to be able to say my allergies are better times 1,000.  I can't.  At all.

I already suspected my allergies were not entirely environmental (still can't deal with fragrances) after a trip to North Carolina in 2011 and I've been back and forth between the Sierra Foothills and the Bay Area for about 5 years all with similar allergy symptoms.

I had gone about a month here in the Bay without getting my sinuses adjusted (can't really find a chiro here that 1. does the adjustment and 2. would be willing to work with my latex allergy) and I was MISERABLE (I'm pretty sure poor Justin was just as miserable if not more so considering I was waking up through the night sneezing and blowing my nose).

I've started making the trip back home every other week or so to go to Gold Country Chiropractic for sinus adjustments and while it's sort of a hassle with school and all (I've not taken a full time class load in forever and AAU's full time class load is intense) it is totally worth it.  But even with the sinus adjustments, I still am having allergy issues.

Then I got the brilliant idea to do the GAPS diet.  The GAPS diet is a super restrictive elimination diet that people usually use to heal the gut, but there are a lot of resources out there for it, so it seemed like a logical starting point for my elimination diet.

Well, I got lazy.  And overwhelmed.  I share a kitchen with 4 other people, so the amount of prep that would make this diet easiest wasn't really going to happen without a lot of freezer space and fridge space.  And the food seemed pretty boring (I really like food, especially good food).

I decided "hey, maybe it would be easier to just eliminate one type of food" instead of eliminating everything except boiled meats, bone broth and winter veggies (also boiled).

I decided upon dairy as my first food group to eliminate.

That doesn't sound like much until you realize how much I love cheese.  Especially since giving up gluten.  Cheese has always been a go to snack for me.  I'll grab a couple of slices of cheese, a handful of nuts and an apple and I'm good to go.  The fruit and cheese plate at Starbucks is my go to snack when I am out and about because the crackers are packaged separately and aren't touching the other foods.  There is nothing more wonderful than a delicious cup of Gold Coast Coffee Company coffee with heavy cream.  I will eat whipped cream by itself.  You get the picture, I LOVE dairy.

I'd gone about 2 weeks of no dairy (no yogurt, no cheese, no cream) and Justin and I went to dinner the other night at Triptych, where they have one of the few gluten free deserts I would call DELICIOUS (White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake).  So I ordered it without even thinking about the dairy.  While it was super tasty and I savored every bite of it, I was a little apprehensive about what the next morning would be like.

Well, it sucked.  A lot.  I woke up sneezing, nose running and so congested I was back to mouth breathing.  I wanted to cry.  The only thing I had done differently was that damn piece of cheesecake.

It got me thinking though, is it all dairy?  Is it just pasteurized dairy?  Perhaps I can handle raw dairy?  Fingers currently crossed that it's just pasteurized dairy.

Adventures in Allergy Treatments - Days 13 - 21

I am pretty sure people were getting a little bored with all of my snot talk, so I gave it a rest for a bit. :)

Well, today was treatment 4 (and day 21) of the sinus adjustments.  I will say the adjustment itself has become so much easier.  We were done in about 15 minutes today and it would have been even faster if it weren't for me having to sit up and blow my nose.

The adjustment only took a couple of pumps per sinus cavity (it seemed about 3 pumps per cavity, but really it is hard to count while you've got something expanding in your sinuses).  It is far less painful than it was the first time.

I still have some sneezing and runny nose issues (mostly at work - mostly), BUT I can say it is amazing NOT going through a box of tissues or more in a week. I'm not alone with the sneezing and runny nose in the office though. Almost everyone has had some sort of allergy issues and/or headaches since moving into the office.

I have not had a single sinus headache in 21 days.  21 days!  I had experienced some degree of sinus pressure and pain almost daily for quite some time.  No sinus pain in 21 days!

I have also only had 1 migraine in the last 21 days.  While I've been able to reduce the amount of migraines I have had tremendously through diet, I would still have them from time to time. Fat, magnesium and potassium have made a world of difference in my life.

I can't say the same things work for the everyone, but the sinus adjustments seem to be working wonders for me.

Adventures in Allergy Treatments - Day 11

Okay, it's day 11.  I woke up slightly congested on the right side, but I was able to get the congestion moving within a few minutes and it is still a thousand times better than it was 12 days ago.

No headache today, which was awesome. Unfortunately, I can't tell if the slight increase in congestion is related to the move into the new office or not. It was only a week at the old office and I felt great and then we moved to the dungeon Monday and have had a slight increase in symptoms.

A few sneezes here and there, definitely better than before.

Even with the slight increase this week, it is still a massive improvement over a box of Kleenex a week and uncontrollable sneezing.

I have another treatment scheduled for Monday.  Perhaps an adjustment and time to get used to the dungeon  and I'll be back on track.

An allergy note, I am NOT allergic to bees.  I had never been stung by a bee until today and my mom is deathly allergic.  I was sitting on the library lawn enjoying my book and lunch.  When it was time to go back to work, I went to get up and smashed a bee.  In his anger, he stung the crap out of my finger. I cursed him and then apologized to him for smashing him.

Adventures in Allergy Treatments - 10

Okay, it's been 10 days.  10 glorious days of breathing. Through my nose. Unlike creepy mouth breathers.

I can say with certainty the headache yesterday was work related.  I couldn't pinpoint a smell yesterday because it was faint but it was enough to get to me. I was able to identify it today (someone's lotion). That coupled with a lack of adequate water equaled a killer headache for the last two days in the afternoon.

I stopped by the store and picked up a couple of gallons of water to last the next few days until we get water delivered at the office on Monday.  (The only sinks are in the bathrooms or in the print shop - the print shop water smells like sewage)

Proper hydration definitely makes a difference. I made sure to take potassium at lunch and between that and the water, the smell didn't get to me QUITE as much.  I still don't know how to broach the subject of overwhelming fragrances in the office, especially in the basement without a lot of ventilation.

I still had a bit of congestion when I woke up this morning, but it resolves itself within minutes instead of one or more hours.  A few nose blows, and I'm good to go these days.  If I sneeze, it's 3 sneezes and I'm done. Usually I will sneeze uncontrollably.

I still haven't used a neti pot, taken any benedryl or used any sort of sinus/nasal remedy in 10 days.

I still think that the air feels rather "cold" coming through my nose.  I love not being a mouth breather any more though!

Adventures in Allergy Treatments - Day 9

Okay, it's been 9 days of being able to breathe.

Unfortunately, I am not sure if it is the air in the new building or if someone is using scented lotion or something in the afternoon, but yesterday and today, after full days in the new office, I have had a wicked headache by 2 p.m..  I haven't missed taking my potassium at lunch, so I don't think that is the issue. I've avoided everything else that may or may not influence the results of the adjustments, but I didn't really figure in the air in the dungeon.

There is a slight smell that I can't place in the afternoon.  I am not the only one who has had this problem (the person who sits next to me is having similar issues with afternoon headaches and not being able to place the smell either).  I'm actually glad I'm tracking all of this so I can try to determine what triggers my allergy symptoms.

Even though I have been getting headaches the last two days, I can still breathe through my nose.  I was a bit on the stuffy side waking up this morning, but still much better than it was.

After leaving the office, my headache started to subside in about an hour.  Coincidence?  Maybe.

Adventures In Allergy Treatments - Day 8

I think adventures in allergy treatments sounds a little better than "Endonasal Balloon Therapy" (really, I just got tired of typing it).  It at least sounds a bit more fun. 

I woke up this morning slightly congested on the right side from sleeping on my side.  While it was more congestion than I have had for the last week, it was still less than my best day previously.  I sat up and things got moving. 

I felt a bit foggy today, but I think that was more desiring to be outside since I got moved to the basement and there are NO WINDOWS!!!!!!!!!!!  Well, there is one in a conference room, but I don't think I want to go in there.  There is a sign on the window warning people to be careful of the snake when opening and closing the window. 

I had a few sneezes here and there throughout the day.  The thing that sucks is the first week I was in a different office building all together, so now I'm not sure if any mid day sneezing is related to overall allergy symptoms or if it is related to the new building's air. They told us they had the HVAC system cleaned and evaluated before moving people in, but you never know how well anything gets cleaned.

It's really hard to do a "controlled" study to see what works and what doesn't. BUT, I have made it through an entire week with no benedryl, no allergy medications of any sort, minimal nose blowing and no neti pot.  For me, that is a pretty big deal.

I'm trying to convince my mom, who can't go a day without a Zyrtec D (can't even get out of bed in the morning without it) to try it. 

Endonasal Balloon Therapy - Day 7

Okay, it's been a full week since starting the nasal adjustments.  Today was the second treatment, which went much faster and more smoothly than last week.  My chiro was happy to hear that I am documenting the results I'm having, both good and bad. 

I did find out that while some call it Endonasal Balloon Therapy, it is also called the Nasal Specific Technique (my chiro's preferred reference). 

I will say that the jaunt through Bloomingdales messed me up seriously.  I was sneezing and nose running pretty much all day from it.  I woke up mostly able to breathe through my nose (it was slightly more congested and I feel it was related to the reaction to the cosmetics/fragrances). 

I got a call from my chiro's office just before lunch, asking if I could come in at lunch or if I could leave work early to come in.  I ran down at lunch (we moved to the new office today, so I'm really close to the chiro's office). 

I had her do the nasal adjustment before my normal adjustment, and it was super fast this time!  She's also getting the feel of using the nitrile (which is less stretchy than latex), so she was able to feel when she hit the right level of inflation. 

This time there was FAR less nasal discharge from the actual adjustment and I even teared up less.  I was back to my office in 1/2 an hour including drive time. 

I had a bit of a headache this afternoon, but I think that was partly due to the fact I didn't get any potassium at lunch (I thought I needed CVT glasses because I was getting a wicked headache every afternoon. I also was seriously craving salt in the afternoons as well. Turns out eating a banana or taking a potassium supplement has helped immensely).  My desk wasn't fully unpacked and once I got it unpacked, I didn't really think about the potassium. 

Overall, I still maintain that letting someone stick "balloons" up my nose is worth it.  I am only blowing my nose a few times a day, only sneezing a few times a day and fewer headaches. 

I know I try weird for weird's sake most of the time. I've tried anything and everything for my allergies (which I never had until AFTER moving back to Northern CA after living in San Diego): bee pollen, local honey, SinuOrega spray, various herbs, Elemental Silver spray, coconut oil up my nose, all with zero to minimal results.  It has been a week and I have greatly reduced symptoms. 

Life is so much more pleasant when you can breathe.  Exercise is almost enjoyable again now that I can breathe through my nose.  I didn't realize how limited my breathing was until after the first adjustment.

Endonasal Balloon Therapy - Days 4-6

I missed a few days of posting, heading down to SF for the A's v. Giants game, seeing Brave and seeing my love.

Day 4 - I had a bit more sneezing and nose blowing, but definitely NOT where I was even Monday before the treatment.  No sinus headache, no sinus pressure, just a bit of sneezing (a handful of times).  No massive feelings of pressure change on the way down to SF.  Still able to lay on my side without completely having my nasal passages blocked off within minutes.

Day 5 - Woke up after sleeping on my side, still no morning congestion.  Had to blow my nose a few times, but definitely not as much as normal.  For the most part, my allergy symptoms were pretty minimal, at least until passing a group of smokers on the way in to the ballpark.  I did have some sneezing and nose running after passing the smell of cigarettes, but still not the way I have in the past.

Day 6 - Definitely found a trigger of allergy symptoms today!  It wasn't too bad this morning, woke up with a clear nose, had to blow my nose a few times but nothing serious.  UNTIL..............  We walked through Bloomingdale's to get into the mall and go to the movies.  Within minutes, my nose was running and I was sneezing, which I really expected considering I always have that reaction going through cosmetics/fragrance areas of any stores.  It's been almost 8 hours and I am just now getting over the sneezing and nose blowing. 

Tomorrow is treatment #2. Overall, I can say that the response I've had so far is worth the slight discomfort experience during the treatment. 

Endonasal Balloon Therapy - Day 1

I underwent my first endonasal balloon therapy session yesterday.

You might ask "what on earth is endonasal balloon therapy?"

Obviously it involves a "balloon" of some sort, right?  Well, not quite.  The process involves finger cots (or in my case nitrile glove fingers) and a bulb from a blood pressure cuff (though I think my chiropractor has a bulb specifically designed for this purpose).  The finger cot (or glove finger) is then placed into the sinus cavities and inflated, expanding the nasal and cranial membranes and joints.

I scoffed when my chiropractor first suggested doing this for my awful allergies and constant congestion.  It was a little more than scoffing really, I thought she was insane. 

Well, after about 5 years of terrible allergy symptoms (though I tested negative for the common allergens locally) and wicked congestion, I reached a point of desperation. I have spent 5 years sneezing, running like a faucet or being so congested I can't get any air through either nostril. Anyone who has sat near me at work, lived with me or spent any time with me in general has witnessed the entire box of Kleenex a week habit and uncontrollable sneezing or nasally voice. 

Last week I asked LaRelle if she was able to get any sort of non-latex finger cots or devise a way to make it work. 

Well, this week we made it work.

It was the weirdest experience I've had in a while (well, probably ever really. I can't think of a lot of things that feel like having balloons inflated in your head!), but once we got going the difference was almost immediate.

LaRelle is used to the tactile sensation using the finger cots, which inflate and stretch more readily than nitrile does, so it was a bit of trial and error finding the point of inflation but once we found it, the opening was amazing.  I can't explain it any other way than my face felt "open".  Sure the nasal discharge increased temporarily, but I felt an openness I haven't felt in years. 

Aside from the aforementioned nasal discharge, my sinuses are still amazingly open 24 hours later.  I had to blow my nose a few times this morning before work (might I add I woke up with neither side of my nose so congested I couldn't breathe) but I made it through an entire day without a Kleenex at work. 

I am going to chronicle my experience with endonasal adjustments with reports each day of how I'm feeling and how the treatment is going.  Right now I'm scheduled for 4 weekly treatments (on Mondays).  After that, I will switch to monthly treatment for 12 months.  After a year, it will be a yearly treatment. 

For the time being, I am going to avoid all of the other things I had been doing for my allergies, such as using my neti pot, SinuOrega spray or benadryl.  I want to be sure the changes are coming from the adjustment, not anything else.