How Not to be Completely Exhausted

Someone asked about boosting energy when you have lupus (SLE).
I've tried many things over the 16 years of having
this lupus follow me around (and sit on me like a
hippo). Really, these tips apply to anyone, even healthy people.
Here are some things i've done:

1- know when to quit. when i feel good, i tend to
overdo it (start cleaning up all the piles in the
house, and keep going forever til i drop), then end up
in bed for several days.

2-take as little painkiller as is effective. if i can
take 1/4 or 1/2 or a percaset for pain, i'll be less
groggy/ draggy.

3- drink less caffeine (yes you're more tired for the
first few days, but it makes your energy fluctuate big
time, then makes it hard to sleep). i've given up on
eliminating it completely, but i just have 1 glass of
green tea when i get up, and that's it.

4- eat less sugar. also sends your energy all over the
place. i have come to like stevia (acquired taste) adn
xylitol (nicer taste), both natural plant derivatives
with no calories. i was on a candida (anti-yeast) diet
for 1.5 years, and i felt amazing. then i fell off the
wagon... right now i'm doing the "fat smash diet" from
celebrity fit club, which i did last year, adn the
first phase is eating nothing but whole foods- fruit,
veggies, yogurt, oatmeal.

5- learn to meditate, if only for 5 minutes a day.
thinking takes energy.

6- find a good acupuncturist to restore your Chi (life
force/ energy). this has been really effective f or
me. ask around for a good one, or look for one who is
chinese-trained and also does herbs. even if you never
do herbs (i don't take chinese herbs), it says a lot
about their training.

7- Chi gong is suppose to be incredibly effective as a
self-help energy thing.

8- in 94 and 02 i had a series of chelation treatments
to remove the heavy metals in my system and i felt
like wonder woman.

9-exercise. the trick to this is to do enough to get
your heart rate up, but don't work so hard that you
set yourself back (see #1, know when to quit). a
reasonable amount of exercise (20-30 minutes on the
treadmill, or outside if you're in a decent climate, 5
days a week, for example. you can start with 10 if 20
is too much, and work your way up over time).

10- take digestive enzymes to help you break down your
food and get the nutrients from it. Udo's brand is
very popular. you can get at a health food store or
cheaper at vitacost.com

11- take 1 tbsp of pure, mercury free fish or flax oil
daily. this helps with mood and inflammation.
Barlean's is very popular and recommended to me by an
MD. vitacost or health food store.

that's all i can think of for now...

fighting to get better

So, i've been on 7 drugs for over a year to manage my health problems (this is part of the reason that CD #4 of wacky Carla songs hasn't occurred yet. that and moving, and planning our wedding). I've decided I'm tired of popping all these F**king pills and more tired of paying for them, so I'm back on the warpath to getting better and getting back off these drugs (for the 3rd time in 15 years).

A month or so ago I quit drinking diet coke. I've been addicted to it for lord knows how long, even though I know it's toxic. Then I bought this sport water bottle that has a built in water purifier (which does more than just a water filter) and have been drinking copious amounts of clean water (it also saves me money on bottled water when I travel, and who knows how clean bottled water is anyway?). here's a report on the amazing healing powers of water. you know, drinking it. I jsut finished reading adn online report:

The Water Cure: An interview with Dr. Batmanghelidj

(how often do you think he gets called "Batman?"). So many problems in the body when we get dehydrated. Then when we're thirsty we drink stuff that dehydrates us even more- coffee, soda, alcohol.

Anyway, next step i started getting acupuncture again. It's been several years and I really respond well to acupuncture. I stopped going when I moved to NJ, and finally restarted. The acupuncture gave me enough energy to start taking guitar lessons once a month which makes me happy. Being happy is good for your health too :)

I also got some really good vitamins and mercury free fish oil. I'm hoping to be my old perky self sometime in 08. well not OLD as in OLD, but old as in former, before the health fiascos. ;)

had to post something healthy- i am after all the singing patient! (i may have to change my name in 08 after I get off all these pills! I like to think big. Worst case, I'll just feel great instead of awesome.)

www.thesingingpatient.com