What a time it's been... F4LBR #3

Well I came back to look at past nutrition and realize it’s been a long time since I posted...

Continuing to work towards August’s bike rally, with my fundraising goal looming!

Training has been out of whack, with my kid being super sick for 3 weeks, and then getting into university, preparing for which has used a lot of time!

Then a week ago I was hit by a taxi while riding on a trail completely separate from cars. Fun times!

Right now, dealing with low blood pressure again. It’s been bothering me basically since the accident—stress response maybe? I don’t know. 

I do remember that there was a magical day that I got all my nutrients from food without consuming 5000 calories, so I want to repeat that experience... ferritin was 129 in March, so I’m assuming it’s not anemia. 

This weekend is a big training event—our team is going bike camping! Riding from Burlington GO Station to Valens Lake Conservation Area Saturday, and back Sunday. 

Excited to have a spiffy new (to me) jersey and matching bibs for the trip!

Up and down

Oh boy, haven’t posted in months, whoops.

Cough study was a bust, pretty frustrated with that for numerous reasons, more on that another time.

10k was also a bust, I decided again running because it was cold and rainy, but apparently it was terribly mismanaged again so I’m glad I didn’t waste my time. No washrooms, no traffic control, no water, no medals. Just shockingly bad.

A tooth that was supposed to be a root canal split in half, so I needed a bridge, and last year’s bridge broke, which is not supposed to happen. 

But in good news, I played tennis last week for the first time in forever, and have doubled my average summer mileage this month so far. The weather is gorgeous and it’s lovely to be outside. My garden is mostly planted (just need to sow some lettuce and other greens).

My ferritin is good (did I blog about that yet?), my blood pressure is low, my weeks-long period finally ended, and I’m sleeping better. 

Overall, pretty good! I have to remind myself of that sometimes...

Rough couple of weeks

What else to say. Memorial was Sunday, so many emotions, so many people I hadn’t seen in ten years. I felt quite literally drained of energy by the end, incapable of forming the most basic thought. Monday was terrible, I was back in “am I having a heart attack” mode (even though my blood pressure is pretty consistently 100/60). But the evening was good; I was out at a board meeting that left me feeling energized, and then to a tap event which was fantastic.

The week has basically been up and down like that.

But I keep on keeping on. Did some stretches last night for the first time in forever. Need to get back in the habit! My shoulder is a mess and the rest is not much better. Just lying down gave me a bit of vertigo. Glad I went ahead and booked a second appointment with Angus last time I saw him. I definitely need it!  

Race report

Spoiler alert: it was terrible.

I have put off writing this, because it was such a horrible day. But here goes.

Mother’s Day is always hard for me, because I still haven’t recovered from my mother’s death, and since I have been a mother, I have never had a partner who cared about me. So it’s generally a disappointment. Maybe less bad on average since my divorce, but still a hard day.

This day was the worst.

The one thing I asked from my kid was to be at the finish line. They said they would—but they were at their dad’s on Saturday night. We discussed bus routes, Presto cards, etc. etc. They said they’d be there.

I was super emotional all morning, obviously.

I texted my kid from the start line, reminding them of which bus stop to get off, and that I’d check in at the water stations to give them a better idea of timing if I was running early/late.

I texted at the 4km water station.

I texted at the 7km station—there was no reply to my previous texts, so I decided to walk for a bit (save my energy for the final km) and wait for a response. Nothing. I texted their dad. They overslept “but on the way soon.” I was coming up to 8km by then.

There’s an incline up to 8km, so I decided to walk to that point and then resume running. But just knowing my kid had forgotten me on Mother’s Day of all days—after I made an emergency sick-kid school pickup just two days before, and then went back again to collect their bicycle—I just felt so alone. All morning I had been struggling not to cry, off and on. Now I had a full-on panic attack. Tried to remember all of my grounding exercises—box breathing, find something red, something blue, etc.—but I just couldn’t breath. I started making a wheezy/whooping sound on every inhalation, something like stridor, which reminded my of when I had pertussis a number of years ago. I focussed on my diaphragm, and finally got to a normal breathing pattern by 9km. 

I ran the last km, obviously no one was waiting for me at the finish line—I was all alone—and again couldn’t breathe. I made it to the medic tent just for a place to sit down, and they checked my blood pressure (125/75) and oxygen (99%) and after sitting for a while I was ready to move again. 

Got a drink, got my medal, went to the luggage check, got changed, was on my way to the food area when the kid texted, “almost there.” Arranged to meet at the luggage check (easiest to recognize from a distance, fewest people to get lost in a crowd), and we left without eating.

I didn’t even manage to get any sponsors to donate to the charity (one friend sponsored me later that afternoon) so it was 100% pointless.

Worst run ever. I don’t think I’ll do a 10k again.

Never easy

Well.

I have been meaning to post a follow-up after my trip to the allergist last Wednesday, and now I’ve just got a call from my regular doctor, and I’m all distracted, so typing it all out seems like a good idea.

I thought the allergist visit would be fairly straight forward. It was scheduled for 8 o’clock Wednesday morning, and not far from work, so I didn’t even imagine I would be late that day let alone miss work entirely.

First they took my blood pressure, which was 100/72, on the high side for me, but perfect by everyone else’s standards. I got the scratch test, which revealed nothing, surprisingly. Then they did a secondary test where they did a bunch of little injections in my shoulder, and I started shaking and feeling disoriented and dizzy, and nearly passed out. I was so shaken up I was practically in tears. They took my blood pressure again, and it was 115/72—bit of a jump in 15 minutes! I had to lie down for a while, and then sit for half an hour, and then I thought I was fine. Then we did one more scratch test and I had the weird over-reaction again - shaking, dizzy, the whole nine yards.

This, if I didn’t mention before, was the same sort of reaction after giving blook last July and October. I gave blood again this January—five days before the trip to the allergist—and I was fine. This time I skipped my morning coffee, so I thought I had figured out the cause and solution.

I had mild allergic reactions at the injection site to all the things my son is allergic to - dust mites, pollen, outdoor mold. The nurse thought it was significant; the doctor did not. He suggested it was an issue with “irritants” and chronic sinusitis rather than “allergens” and suggested I come back in six months to do a patch test, and gave me a prescription for nasal spray and sent me for some bloodwork to check my immune system. He also said something about sending me to an ENT, getting a CT-scan of my sinuses and “don’t worry we won’t do surgery unless it’s absolutely necessary.” I’m sure my eyes bugged out of my head! I was expecting something more on the lines of the recommendations we got for my son - ditch the humidifier, Claritin in the summer, etc.

He also told me to take the day off and go home and rest, which I did. I lay on the sofa for a few hours, felt better, then went out to do my bloodwork, and promptly needed to lie down again.

Fast forward to this morning.

I just had a call from my regular doctor’s office (they were cc’d on the bloodwork results, which I can only assume came back abnormal). The doctor said my red blood cells had been “increasing in size” over the years, and “nothing to worry about, we just want to rule out a few things,” and determine whether they need to send me to a haematologist. She said they’d email me a req for bloodwork (it’s been 43 minutes and they haven’t sent it yet! Anxiety!) to check my levels of B12 and folic acid, and liver function.

Naturally I have been googling all the possible causes. Alcoholism—nope. Hypothyroidism—wouldn’t surprise me, as Hashimoto runs in my family, but I don’t have any of the other symptoms. Malnutrition—seems unlikely, as I eat quite well, and looking at the list of foods rich in B12 and folate, they are all things I eat regularly.

However, another thing that runs in my family is pernicious anaemia. There are all sorts of autoimmune diseases in the family, but (up till now?) I have never had any of these myself. Looking at the symptoms of pernicious anemia, there are many that line up with what I’ve experienced: fatigue, lack of energy, or lightheadedness when standing up; shortness of breath, mostly during exercise; clumsiness; irritability; numbness and tingling in the hands and feet; problems concentrating; loss of balance. All things I’ve complained to my doctor about for years!

So, have I been finally hit with the traditional family autoimmune disease? If so, I guess pernicious anaemia is a good one to have. I’m kind of hoping that’s it, because all you have to do is take the right kind of B12 supplements (I do take an off-the-shelf one, but if I have pernicious anaemia, I’d need a prescription supplement). In the old days, my grandfather used to drink sulfuric acid with meals to make up for the lack of “intrinsic factor” due to the illness. So much more easy to manage now!

Now it’s been 59 minutes and still no req has been emailed. I am doing to die of anticipation if it doesn’t get here soon!

Oh boy

My next "scheduled" run, if I go back to my old routine (which is the plan, it seemed to work all right) is Friday, but I don't think that will work.

Friday is also my next scheduled blood donation.

I used to give blood regularly. Then I couldn't for a while for one reason or another (pregnancy, travelling) and fell out of the habit. Last spring I took it up again on a whim (I happened to be right next to a blood donor clinic after a rally, and thought, why not?) and so I'm back on the every-12-weeks plan (and Canadian Blood Services makes sure to remind you in ten different ways if you're due for an appointment).

Thing is, despite having no trouble at all the first 10+ times I gave blood, last summer after giving a pint I felt terrible. Disoriented, shaky, nauseated - even though I spent a good hour in their rest area post-donation, relaxing and consuming their juice boxes and snacks before getting up to go. I ended up calling in sick to work the next day, I felt so terrible. It was in the middle of a heat wave, so I laid the blame on the weather (although I did make a point of being well fed and hydrated before I went).

They test your blood pressure and iron levels before you go, so "in theory" my low blood pressure and anemia should not be the issue.

My next appointment, in the fall, I booked for the morning of a Friday off, so I'd be well-rested and have time to recover after. I ate a big dinner the night before and a big breakfast before heading out. It wasn't as bad as the summer, but I still felt pretty terrible after.

So, this donation is the big one. Three strikes and out? Or will I be fine? In any case, I was pretty pooped yesterday afternoon after my first run in months, so I don't think trying to give blood right after a run would be a great idea.

Now the decision is this: do I stick to my old three-runs-a-week schedule, skipping Friday, which means no run till Sunday? Or, go for a run tomorrow to make up for it? My legs are a bit sore today, so maybe they need a run. Or, maybe they need a rest?

Who knows, maybe when they find out I had whooping cough last month they will reject me anyway!

A difficult winter

I have had a fairly difficult winter so far, and as a result am completely off track as far as diet and exercise go. I can feel my jeans getting tight, so I know it’s time to get moving!

In my defence, we have had some record-breaking cold temperatures. Also, I was horribly sick in December—whooping cough and shingles at the same time! Followed by noro! It’s frankly amazing that I left the house at all.

That said, the slow recovery from whooping cough has made me very aware of the sad state of my lungs, and the fact that I need to get moving to get them strong and healthy again. I’m back on an inhaler—the Symbicort Turbuhaler—and hoping that will help. I have crazy killer coughing fits that leave my body aching, and I want them to stop! Interestingly, they don’t seem to be brought on by exercise at all—mainly scents and smells. I am seeing an allergist next week who will be able to give me some answers, I hope.

Also, I learned recently that low blood pressure can make exercising difficult. And I have low blood pressure! Mostly when people hear that, they say, “Great, lucky you,” but it can cause problems, and apparently can especially cause problems with regards to exercise. So I’ve been reading up on that, and how to manage it. Some key factors include pre-hydrating (dehydration can cause a pressure drop) and an active cool down (taking it too easy after exercise can lead to blood pooling in the legs). Compression tights are also recommended, maybe that’s my next step?

This morning I went for a run for the first time in months. My lungs were fine. My big toe is a little achy—not hurting per se, but just kind of sending me a signal, saying, “Hi, remember me, your broken bone? Please be gentle!” I do love the fact that, even though I’m no athlete, I can do all right despite not having run in months. Only ran about 3km this morning, but when I think back to my first attempts at C25K, and how I struggled to get through the 60-second runs and barely recovered during the walks, I am astounded at how my body says, “I remember how to do this!” and just keeps going.

Hope the weather holds so I can keep going!

Yikes!

Another thing to recover from, boo.

My upset tummy was actually appendicits; I had the surgery three nights ago.

Between Monday (when I went in to the hospital) and Wednesday (when I got home), my weight increased 12 pounds! And I haven’t even been eating much, it’s just that nothing is going through and I’ve been pumped full of gas and saline and whatnot. Ugh. My waistline increased 8 inches to 32! Yikes. My body didn’t change this quickly when I was pregnant. Blecch.

Also, my blood pressure got crazy low—80s over 50s. eek.

Right now, I am trying to walk a bit every day, to encourage the gas to work itself out. I can feel it up to my shoulders and neck! not fun at all.

On the plus side, the nurses thought I was an athlete because my pulse is so strong.