Histamine is Mean to Him…and Her…and Me

So, this post is a little serious. Serious like a bad case of the Mondays, but seriously long.

No, Seriously.  Well, deep down many of these posts are, but sprinkled with humour, self-deprecation, and fun facts. But, I want to do a little shout-out of encouragement for all those people out there suffering from unknown ailments. Listen to your body – not your brain and not others.  Feeling like crap and not knowing why is pretty much the worst feeling alive.  You think it’s in your head, you get labelled a hypochondriac or fragile, and eventually you really believe that all your ailments are being caused from stress, or at least your inability to copy with it.

Many people, particularly women go through their life being labelled by mystery illnesses.  They know they feel awful and they know what it feels like to feel good – but they don’t know what is causing the days they feel bad.  Over the years it’s labelled as “hysteria”, “fits”, “dizzy spells”…we blame it on corsets, we blame it on periods, we blame it on boredom, and we blame it on the microwave.  Being a girl and having battled some things on and off for 12 years, others my whole life…I know how frustrating this can be.  The funny (and amazing) thing about the body is how everything is interlinked.  Almost any ailment, be it seasonal allergies, be it cancer…will present with some of the same symptoms.

Your body only knows how to react so many ways; it is often a histamine reaction.  So one way is through your chest, throat and sinuses.  This can cause runny nose, congestion, watery eyes, impaired breathing and clogged ears.  That sounds like a cold…or allergies…or asthma – right?  It can be in the forms of chills, sweats, fever, aches, pains, muscle weakness, numbness, headache and nausea – sounds like the flu, ya?  It can present in forms of skin and nail conditions – itchiness, flakiness, red skin, dandruff, weak nails, and odour.  Well, that simply sounds like not enough calcium, the wrong kind of shampoo, or some sort of dermatological issue – eww gross.  Lastly, it can present in forms of pain.  Pain in your muscles, pain in your stomach, cramping in your hands or toes.  This sounds like a nerve, stomach or muscular problem…maybe you pinched something, maybe you just worked out, or maybe you have food poisoning.  If you ever have problems breathing, sore muscles, tingles and dizziness all at the same time, well then, you must suffer from panic attacks.  Or maybe, just maybe….

Well, what happens when you present some of them all?  Sometimes you blame it on flu, sometimes you blame it on stress, sometimes you blame it on a desk job, sometimes you blame it on past sports injuries…on your period, your birth control, your workout from the weekend, your big boobs, being a redhead or maybe, just maybe you blame it on monumental life changes.  Sound familiar?

What happens when you have had telltale symptoms that something is wrong since you were a child and nobody ever took it seriously?  Everything has a symptom, but the key here kids is finding out the cause, not the symptom.  And, since that is difficult to do and since so many GPs aren’t specialists they just run down the usual suspects.  Young teenage female presenting with migraines, weight loss, dizziness, fainting and fatigue?  She must have anemia, thyroid, anorexia, or depression.  Check.  Answer – eat more, ditch your boyfriend and get some glasses.  Women in early 20’s presenting with migraines, problems with effects of alcohol, and a 3 month cold that causes insomnia and frequent bathroom visits?  Check.  She must have the wrong birth control, stress at school, a chest, sinus and bladder infection.  Throw her some sleeping pills, change the birth control and administer antibiotics.  Check.  Good enough.  Women in her mid – late twenties presenting with increased fatigue, extreme muscle soreness, constant headache, numbness and neck pain?  Check her for anemia, thyroid issues, talk to her about stress.  Oh, she starts vomiting blood and can’t eat because of the pain?  Well, I guess you can scope her, call it acute gastritis brought on by stress and virus, medicate her for 4 months and call it a day.

So, that little lady decides she needs to change her life.  Obviously stress is a major problem; obviously her immune system is weak.   Even though her vitals are healthy as a horse, she labels herself as fragile, decides she has a stressful job and takes up yoga and chiropractics.  Well, 4 years later, it emerges again.

Since those mixed-up olden days, terms like “anxiety” have become synonymous with worry or coping with stress.  How many people do you know now that no longer say “I guess I’m a worry-wart” and have switched it to…I guess I have an anxiety disorder?  Might as well take a low-dose serotonin boost.  Trust me, I have a family member…or 6 who have taken this route.

Up until now you didn’t want to make a big deal of it because you know what everybody is thinking.  You know what whispers are going on about the state of your health and therefore ultimately, the state of your mind.  You tell a doctor about the numbness and they tell you not to worry about it unless it’s constant.  You tell a friend about your inability to breath and they tell you to do more yoga.  You tell your mom about blood sugar issues and fainting and she says, yes, it runs on your father’s side of the family.  You tell a friend that you seemed to have a very bad reaction to food or sleep-aids and they think you are trying to kill yourself.  You tell your boyfriend that your shoulder is sore and they think you are trying to wheedle a massage.  Scary words like (sshh…)…Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Anxiety Disorder, and IBS are thrown around…these are all the crazy people illnesses.  These are all illnesses given to women who can’t identify an illness.

So, in case this wasn’t apparent.  I’m that girl.  I have spent years trying to self-diagnose and self-regulate some things I clearly wasn’t in control of.  There are times it’s worse and during these times I know something is seriously wrong…but, others don’t necessarily believe.  You are visibly ill, but it’s too often to be a flu.  Your friend tells you that you must have SAD (I’ve always loved how that acronym relates to how people with it seem).  But, when it’s better, it’s still only half good.  I want to feel like I felt as a kid.  I want to feel on par with the healthy life I actually lead.  And believe it or not…I’m starting to get there.

For the first time in my life my new GP said, “This is a symptom, not the cause” and believed me when I said I may have a problem with food.  I have seen an allergist, I have seen a nerve specialist and I have seen a naturopath.  I have since discovered that some of my co-workers, some of my clients and some of my friends have been down this road too.  One of my very good friends battled this all 7 years ago and knows that she needs sleep, she needs exercise and she needs to heavily moderate her diet or she feels like crap.  And here I just teased her about her OCD…but terms like “hit by a truck” come out often when you eat the wrong foods.  Somehow, by some strange new miracle I am becoming the “go-to-girl” for possible food-allergy reactions.  I know more than I ever wanted to know about BIE, supplements and the horrors of Marketing in the food industry.  Apparently it is unbelievably common for food intolerances to surface for women…and they get worse as they get older…and they get labelled as nuts in the interim.  Aw, shucks.

So, I’m modifying my portions, I’m taking medications, I’m exercising.  I am navigating through this new horrible and yet amazing world, but I definitely know when I’ve eaten something wrong.  It’s difficult to pinpoint as most processed foods have sugar, gluten, and yeast in them, and well….I’m a foodie.  There are differences between celiac, candida, fructose malabsorption and histamine intolerance.  It’s amazing to discover how many people out there are suffering through the same thing. You can have severe allergies or you can have moderate ones that only present if you eat too much of a certain type of food.  Food-related allergic reactions can also keep occurring for up to 2 days…so; try to pinpoint that suspect, GOOD LUCK.

But, as it turns out….I may have been poisoning myself for 31 years, definitely the last 12, definitely during times of stress.  Good to know.  I’m surprisingly upbeat about this most days because I see an end in sight.  In fact, the fog has already started lifting.  Not a miracle cure-all…it’s going to take hard work and patience friends (oh, and patient friends).  But, hearing others say the option is work hard to moderate lifestyle or feel horrible all the time?  I guess I’ll take the more difficult path.

http://www.chicagonow.com/the-ginger-philes/2012/08/gingers-are-allergic-to-everything/

Today is the first day of the rest of your life and I know for one I’m going to embrace that.  I’m going to screw up, but isn’t that what life is all about?

The Ginga Ninja

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Sick of Being Tired and Tired of Being Sick

I am currently sick, sick as a dog so they say.  I’m pretty sure Charles Darwin is laughing right about now in his little monkey-filled hell over this tiny theory he liked to call “evolution”.  Well, us gingers know what survival of the fittest means…trust me, we get it. We get sicker, we get crazier, and we are going straight up – extinct.

http://www.news.com.au/top-stories/gingers-extinct-in-100-years-say-scientists/story-e6frfkp9-1111114243424

Either way, I am currently laying in bed with a heated wheatbag on one side, soup on the other, a mountain of Kleenex (the real name brand kind), a scented candle, and my trusty TV remote….oh….and computer.  Let’s not forget the hallowed computer. This month has rocked my world, and more particularly my body.  Maybe it’s a reminder I’m not invincible….maybe it’s a reminder that I’m genetically deficient, or maybe it’s the universe giving me what I sort of wanted in a sick and twisted way.  I did want to lose a little weight…

Anyways, if you have ever witnessed a dog getting sick, I guess that’s where the saying came from.  Apparently it was first cited in 1705 and the theory is that the dog, being closest to humans was the animal most often witnessed getting sick.  I guess the author didn’t own a long-haired cat.

If I had to rewrite history and overrule the saying, I guess I would go with sick as a hungover sorority girl, or better yet, sick as a ginger.

It’s no longer a question of staying healthy, it’s a question of finding an illness you like. – Jackie Mason

The Ginga Ninja

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Morning People Are Only People Without Happening Night Lives

Do you ever go through body phases, whether it be you get really really achy, extremely hyper, or suddenly are having the soundest, deepest sleeps of your life and cannot physically pull yourself from bed?  Sleeps like when you were a kid…like if there were no reason to get up, well then maybe you never would?  But, the mere fact you were pulled from this slumber meant you were late to work, forgot your mascara, and will be walking in a daze the remainder of the day just dreaming about going back to bed.  I want to say maybe it’s just me, but somehow I doubt it.

I am currently going through this phase.  As per every, single, thought and occurrence I (or anyone) has ever had – I’ve *shockingly* had it before and yet every single time I find it puzzling and curious as to why I would suddenly be so tired or sleeping so sound!  I go through the usual process of wondering if I’m getting sick, could it be mono, am I over-stressed, is it that I’ve been really busy, is it the ups and downs of weather…and usually yes, it seems to go hand-in-hand with any number of these things (well, maybe not mono), or maybe, just maybe there is no explainable reason and it just is.

About a month ago I was turning into an amazing sleeper who actually woke up BEFORE my alarm clock, rested and full of energy…I actually thought “this is it, this is the ‘someday’ I always imagined I would transition into as an adult!”…You know what I’m talking about, you’ve all thought it.  “When I grow up I’m going to be a morning person”.  That fated day when your alarm clock is no longer necessary and when you lean out and open that window with a smile…and cartoon birds land on your shoulder.

But, alas, for the past 4 days I cannot wake up to save my life and find myself…horror of horrors…GRUMPY.  Now, I’m not a great morning person, but I’m almost never, ever grumpy.   I usually just get up and get ready quickly.  I don’t normally talk a lot, I’m not normally entirely awake, but almost never.. gasp…grumpy. Maybe this is because I had a super-packed weekend, maybe it’s because the weather has been so up and down it could be an amusement park ride, or maybe I really am fighting a cold.  What I can tell you is that when you are 30 and your mother decides to come in and lie about the time of the morning, turn on the light, and immediately begin lecturing you on cleaning the house before walking out the door…it definitely adds to the grump factor. Maybe that grump has just followed me into the following days.  But for whatever reason, I am still half-asleep as I sit here and ruminate.

Maybe not all parents wake their kids up this way…what a terrible start to the day!  Maybe some are patient, understanding, and always forthright, but I know for certain my parents have…let’s call them “parenting” traits I would happily trade in. I know that my mom, as long as I can remember will just time-machine herself to the next ominous sounding part of the hour.  If it is 8:11, she will say “it’s already quarter after”.  If it is 8:16 – she will tell you it’s 8:30 and depending on how bad her mood was, sometimes she will shoot right to “It’s nine o’clock” when the clock clearly reads 8:34.  It’s a trait that I’ve found incredibly annoying over the years as I don’t take long to get ready and in a small town 5 minutes can make the difference of getting there on time…so give me the extra 5 minutes of sleep any day!  It’s just an unnecessary stress that has been there my whole life long and I keep praying for it (like many other things) to just stop one day.  I continue to dream that someday, someday my parents will treat me like an adult.

Now, don’t even get me started on the other little parenting fibs I’ve been fed all these years….in some cases literally. Being a ginger, freckles are obviously a part of the territory.  Though today I cherish these little fake-tan miracles, as a kid I abhorred them.  My parents knew that I hated my freckles…my dad also knew that I hated brussel sprouts.  So, you do the math.  Using this information to his advantage would be an understatement, as he told me that with every brussel sprout I ate a freckle would disappear.  They tasted like feet, smelled like farts, and I had to plug my nose…but you better believe I swallowed those disgusting little cabbages down to rid myself of those nasty little speckles.

So, like parents, like the weather, like the unpredictability of my sleep patterns….I guess everything is bound to keep coming and going, perhaps never changing, but only resurfacing.  I keep waiting for the someday to come where my mom doesn’t treat me like a child (except for when I want her to), I don’t need an alarm clock, I’m never over-tired, I’m never unable to sleep, I’m always on time, I always have my laundry put away, and I always immediately do my dishes.  These things haven’t happened yet….I guess turning 30 wasn’t the event into “real” adulthood that I thought it was going to be.  But, as one of my favourite Creedence Clearwater Songs states, “I’m here to tell you now each and every mother’s song, you better learn it fast; you better learn it young, cause Someday Never Comes.”

The Ginga Ninja

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What came first…Chicken or The Egg?

Lack of sleep and anxiety…anxiety and lack of sleep?  I like to think of this lovely little combo as a cursed chicken and egg scenario…which comes first?

Have you ever noticed the vicious cycle that evolves when you can’t control these fundamentally mood and perspective-changing aspects of life?

If you are stressed, you think too much and lead yourself down that road of anxiety…which in turn leads to sleepless nights, over-thinking, and eventually physical exhaustion.  However, if you aren’t sleeping well, this in turn leads to physical exhaustion and eventually stress.  Go figure.  And lastly, if you catch an ailment, this generally also leads to insomnia and eventually over-thinking.  You can’t fall asleep, can’t feel better, and can’t turn off that darn brain.

So, I guess for those people who have never felt this snowball effect, thank your lucky stars that you are a sound sleeper and a chilled out Zen persona.  For those who perpetually feel this way (my brother, my father, my friends, at times myself)…I feel for ya, I really do.  I guess the key is to take your vitamins, drink your water, go to bed early and hope that when you feel physically your best you stay on top of your crazies.  And when you are stressed, you take care of yourself.

Good luck with the battle, for all those who say “You can sleep when you are dead”… wweeellll, if you can’t sleep…then sometimes you wish you were…

The Ginga Ninja