Thursday, February 25, 2010

Brain Fog!

I still haven't recovered from the hypothyroid fog I've been in lately, and really can't think of much to say.

I just wanted to check in and let people know that I'm still here, I'm OK, or will be real soon now, and give you more information about the bill that Senator McCain has introduced.

There was apparently a lot of protest heard about the bill, and McCain made a statement defending himself and the bill. Here's a rebuttal, repeating McCain's statements, and translating them into reality. If you haven't written a letter to your legislators, there's a link to a prewritten letter which you can amend near the end of the article. If you've already done so, there's a link right after that to a letter protesting McCain's statement, and again urging your legislator to not support the bill. You have to fill in your address information, and when you do, the form will automatically be sent to the correct legislators for you. It's quick and easy to let your viewpoint be known!

I'm giving you that link because a friend insisted that my writing on the subject is inflammatory, and deliberately manipulative. He's right, so read the more unbiased and factual report there.

The FDA has been trying for a while to get effective supplements off the market so that people have to buy drugs instead and have lots of side effects rather than take supplements that are far safer. And, incidentally, put lots more money in the pockets of drug manufacturers! The FDA is, of course, looking out for our safety when it wants to ban natural supplements that are inexpensive, effective and have few if any side effects so that we can take expensive drugs that are only somewhat effective and have lots of bad, sometimes life-threatening side effects.

There are several supplements that I take that are keeping me healthy. If this bill is passed, my health will suffer a huge blow, and the only workable alternatives for me will make me run a much higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and several other serious or life threatening problems. You can see why I'm biased, here. But here's another view on this.

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On the subject of nutritional supplements, When I saw the doctor last month, she suggested that I might have a vitamin D deficiency. She gave me a battery of tests, and I waited for my appointment this month to find out. Due to snow and emergencies that she was helping out with, she wasn't able to keep the appointment, and I won't be able to see her until early March.

So, I looked up vitamin D on the internet, and started realizing a lot of things. I read the list of symptoms of D deficiency, and it sounded really familiar. Plus, I've noticed that around November or so, I get worse, and don't really recover from it until well into the Spring. I looked up some information on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and discovered that taking extra vitamin D is even more effective at combating SAD than extra light is.

So, I went out yesterday and bought a bottle of vitamin D perles, and I'm trying it out. The initial dose made me feel really bad, but the bone remodeling process tends to feel bad when it goes into overdrive. It's probably why a broken bone hurts while it heals (over and above the initial trauma). Taking a dose of D means that the calcium and other minerals from the supplements I'm taking will go out of my blood and into my bones, helping make them strong and pain-free. Getting over it seems to hurt, although I have to say that I'm feeling much better 12 hours later. Better than I did before taking the D! We'll see how that goes.

Anyway, I have high hopes for all this.

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In knitting news, I still haven't even started my Knitting Olympics project. The combination of the late arrival of the yarn for it, my hypothyroid brain fog that hasn't lifted yet and is preventing me from designing it, and the extra sleep and rest I've been getting since my fall last week has left me hopelessly behind on all this.

But yesterday, I discovered I have a few extra dollars, and when I went out to get the vitamin D and some food supplies, I bought a copy of the Winter issue of Vogue Knitting. I've been looking through it, and maybe I'll get some ideas. Right now, I'm thinking that maybe I'm not in shape to design this, and an actual pattern written by someone else might be a good idea. Maybe I'll check Ravelry.

By the way, the Spring and Summer issue of Vogue Knitting looks like it's going to be really good. I can't wait! I think it's out the second week in March.

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There's a new episode of Burn Notice on USA tonight! Everything else is reruns.

I hope you've been having a great week!

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