Science Experiment
Like a flash today, out of the blue, I thought that the only thing similar between my dieting Atkins and my dieting Weight Watchers has been Glucosamine Chondroitin. Why is this relevant? Because when Kyeli and Sera were living with me, I got lax in a lot of things, especially sticking to Atkins, and taking my vitamins and supplements. No heart palpitations. I went on Weight Watchers, and was lax with the vitamins the first month. No Heart Palpitations. Then, I laid out daily regimen of vits and sups and .... Heart Palpitations. I'm thinking, though I'm not sure, that when I skip a day, like I do every now and then, I have no heart palpitations. This was notable today, after having skipped two nights of vits and sups. At first, I thought it might be one of the herbal medications I'm taking, but that wouldn't make sense because I wasn't taking them in Austin.
I spent a large portion of my day researching glucosamine & chondroitin, and sodium. I also looked into stress testing for morbidly obese and I don't think it's a good idea even with a chemical test. I show no signs of serious problems with my blood-work. I have normal sinus rhythm, and my doctor doesn't think I have cardiac failure. I would submit to a base-line pre-stress test echocardiogram, but I do not want to take a stress test. A stress test pushes the heart to the point of damage and then they take a picture of it. I'm thinking no. I found at least two different sites, and one of them was a study, stating that morbidly obese people should not do a stress test, that patients often have heart attacks 3 days later. If I have to have the stress test for the surgery, I will do it, but I will also discuss these things with my surgeon.
Anyway... back to the vitamins and supplements. I am going to stop taking everything for one week to see how I do. I eat very healthy. I have cut out dairy, and I have been eating mostly fruits and vegetables along with chicken and tuna as sources of protein. I exercise daily. Exercise was not present when I was doing Atkins. So, I have not taking my "meds" for two days... no palpitations for two days. Let's see how long this keeps up. (I will discuss this with my doctor when I schedule my next appointment, which, I'm thinking, should be soon. I'm still in a quandary over whether to change physicians or not. I think Culver would have to do some studying and reading up on how to care for me if I decide to stick with her.) After a week without supplements, I may decide to go another week or just stay off of everything altogether and wait until I see the nutritionist who is a part of the surgical team.
I think I was bitten by something overnight. I had a welt that looked like a mosquito bite on my breast this morning. It didn't itch and when I pushed on it, hurt a bit. So, I applied some Neosporin. The affected area lessened, but enlarged at the same time. Margaux suggested Benedryl cream. I used some of that and it seems to have gone down a little bit, but it about the size of a quarter. If it is still there tomorrow, I will call the doctor to schedule an appointment later in the week. Hopefully, I'll be able to get in.
Margaux is calling me to go to "Margaux's Poetry Corner."