Adventures in vegetarianism

While it's not conclusive proof, I'm even more suspicious of soy now. Last month's period was ten days long; this month's was four. The difference: Last month, I ate soy tacos for a week. This month, no soy. Makes you wonder, huh?

In fact, this month was better all around, though by no means enjoyable. The worst part was this past week; I had a migraine that lasted several days, which may or may not have been period related. (They usually are, but this week was also quite stressful.) Still, a vast improvement over last month. I'm now forbidding myself to eat soy.

I'm also preparing to go mostly vegan (no wheat, no dairy) for a month. Most sources recommend you eliminate one, then the other, but I'm just gonna let 'er rip. If I don't see an improvement after cutting most of the joy from my diet, I'm going to eat whatever the heck I want. I was going to do this for the month of April, but then Mom announced her plan to make apple pie for Good Friday. And there's a cake recipe I want to try as well. So now I'm waiting until after Easter, and doing research in the meantime.

The results of this research:

- I tried Uncle Bob's Red Mill Homemade Wonderful GF Bread Mix. I was dubious about the "wonderful" part...no matter how you look at it, bread made with garbanzo bean flour can't really be expected to taste as nummy as bread made with wheat. What I didn't expect was the first mouthful to send me gagging to the trash can. I don't puke easy, but this stuff is just revolting. A friend has recommended rice bread, though, so I've not given up on wheat-free peanut butter sandwiches.

- I also tried rice milk (purchased to make the GF bread above, but I was also curious). It tastes and smells like...nothing. Compared with soy milk, however (the flavor of which horrified and disgusted me), "nothing" is perfectly acceptable. (I will miss my dairy, though.)

- I've decided (at least for the moment) to loosen my diet plans; since I can't eat that many of them anyway, there's no point in excluding eggs. (Besides, most of the vegan substitutes I've found are mostly soy.) In this spirit, I picked up a can of powdered egg whites, since I can never keep fresh eggs/egg product in the house. Which leads to lesson #2 (same night, unfortunately, as the GF bread debacle):

- Brownies made with egg white powder don't gel. I had to bake those things ten extra minutes before they were even semi-solid, and while they are edible, they're a bit on the crunchy side. One more lesson...

- Brownies don't cure migraines. (It was worth a shot.)

Time for some recipe research. I'll let you know if I find anything good.

Get off yer duff

Confirmed today the theory about movement helping cramps. Bad pain day (Lyrica + Darvocet), yet have been doing some light spring cleaning. (I'm not moving furniture, but I'm doing everything else.) And so long as I keep moving, the pain is tolerable. When I stop (like now), it feels like someone's got my hips in a vice.

So I'll get back to it. Just thought I'd share that.

(Longer post to come...I'm finally going to do the vegan thing. More on that later.)

That sound would be my bubble popping

Or maybe just going "pfft," like the dud bubbles in bubble wrap.

Finally, finally wrapping up this month's period. Ten days this hugger lasted. And while I'm not still gushing, I am still bleeding, and hurting -- more in the 1-4 range than the 7-9, as I was a few days ago, but still.

So much for the shorter period.

I'm not completely abandoning hope, though. It may be the soy. (The "estrogen + more estrogen = period from hell" theory.) I'll give it a month or so, and eat better during those months, before I give up on this pill.

Journal. Now.

Many thanks to the Goddess Kelly for suggesting I start a food journal. Because mine's not just a food journal...no, anal-retentive person that I am, it's a state-of-my-body journal. I'm tracking not just what I consume, but also my mood, severity and location of my pain, and any other symptoms I may have. And just in the past few days, I'm seeing the effect starting has on my mood. I went from slightly insecure and weepy to "get off my lawn!" cranky in 48 hours. Really quite amazing, when you think about it. (I think my bf was relieved that I did not join him for the out-of-town concert he attended this weekend.)

While the main point of the journal is to try to determine which foods may or may not worsen my symptoms, I expect to also see patterns in my symptoms. And maybe from there, I can figure out how to alleviate those symptoms. Or at least make sure my loved ones are far away from me when the crazy hits.

Oh, happy day!

Just filled my new BC prescription (and renewed my Lyrica prescription). There is a generic form of the Mircette! It's called Kariva. So instead of spending $35 a month, I spend $10. I am doing one hell of a happy dance right now. (Well, not literally. In too much pain to sit, let alone dance. But inside, I'm gettin' jiggy wit it.)

Maybe it is dirt

This isn't even fully brewed (roughly 8 minutes into the 10-minute steep time). Looks more like coffee than tea. And when you open the packet, this brown powder gets all over everything. (It also leaves a murky residue in the mug after drinking.)

Oh, and a word to the wise: If you drink this tea right after eating something sweet, it's extremely bitter. I recommend drinking it before eating, so the food erases the taste. Might even make sweet foods taste sweeter; I've not tried that because I'm not big on sweets. But it stands to reason. (By that same token, I'd be hesitant to add sweetener to it. Chug it like a big girl.)

Thus ends today's PSA on PMS Tea.

Yoga for cramping people

Two posts in one day...I'm just as shocked as you are. Guess this means I can slack off for a bit now.

I've been test-driving some yoga videos, thanks to my handy-dandy Roku box. (Seriously...I love this thing. I don't watch TV, but I love me some Netflix.) Mostly I've been doing this for my mother, who has high blood pressure (part genetics, part stress) and other assorted heart problems...the woman needs to learn how to relax. A few years ago, I bought her a yoga starter kit -- mat, blocks, strap, and a how-to video. They're all still in the box. I think she's intimidated by yoga. Until recently, I didn't understand why.

See, I was spoiled. My first experience with yoga was this nifty little box set I bought from Borders -- Simply Yoga. The instructor, Yolanda, has the most soothing voice (and a gorgeous Australian accent). Every movement is slow, gentle, and deliberate. None of the stretches are overly challenging unless I'm experiencing excruciating cramps. It's just a peaceful, calming experience.

In my experiments, however, I've encountered some truly scary yoga. Fast-paced routines meant for strong, flexible people. People who apparently don't feel like they have daggers in the backs of their thighs. Yoga videos with words like "crunch" and "burn" in the title. I might try those some day, but not today. Or this week. Or probably next week.

In the meantime, I'm sticking with my nice Australian lady. And this mellow couple I've found -- Charles and Lisa Matkin, who have a couple of videos for people with injuries or chronic conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure. While I am otherwise healthy as a horse, I could not complete all the poses in these videos...not while cramping, anyway. But I came close. And I don't think they'll scare Mom off. So my next step is trying to arrange some mother-daughter yoga time. And doing some yoga of my own in the meantime.