Propranolol for Migraines & Indomethacin for Exertion Headaches
24 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Exercise, headache & migraine, Health and Healthy Living Tags: Ankylosing Spondylitis, drugs, headache, indomethacin, migraine, propranolol, side effects, stroke
*Edit Dec 21* – So far I’ve been mostly okay still on the Propranolol! I’ve figured out that it is the Indomethacin that makes me SUPER dizzy…like 3 glasses of wine dizzy. Use with caution! As I mention below, Steve was on Indomethacin for a while for Ankylosing Spondylitis, but it never caused any side effects for him. Any side effects from the Propranolol seem to have worn off for the most part. I mean it’s only 10mg!
So after a bad spat of exertion headaches and migraines (6 of 9 days ruined!), I went to go see my doctor about it. She looked and sounded SO alarmed, brought out big scary words like STROKE, and BLOOD CLOTS. So I got alarmed, and promptly started crying.
Anyway, after some kleenex and a long discussion about what to do, stuff like I’m not getting an IUD instead of using the Nuvaring because I want kids in the near future; using Nuvaring back to back might help hormone fluctuations; Yes I understand the estrogen might be making things worse, but my PMS migraines were so bad before I went on Nuvaring anyway I don’t think it’s making it worse or better, she poked around her computer a little bit, and we decided to try a couple of new medications – one she had prescribed me in February, with the instruction to give it a try if my headaches got to the frequency of 1/week. I never filled that prescription, but thought that now would be an appropriate time to give it a try.
So I’ve been on this new medication, Propranolol, for about a week now. It’s supposed to help prevent migraines. I think it’s too soon to say whether or not it’s working yet, but I have noticed some side effects.
I’m on one 10mg pill per day. I’ve been taking it in the morning with breakfast, mostly. The warnings are that it might make you a little bit dizzy and tired, which I have been finding to be true. For rowing, perhaps due to a combination of having just recovered from a cold, followed by a bad 2 weeks of headaches, the drug, and horrid sleep etc, my power has just been disappearing. My latest 6k and 2k test results were embarrasing. So embarassing.
The other major side effect seems to be that I get major cold sweats when exercising. My face and chest will just LEAK water. I’m usually a sweater, but not this much, and it’s usually warm! And it seems to be less salty than usual as well. My body’s warm, but my skin goes cold. So cold. Even in a cardio room at the gym that I’m sure is more on the warm side than not. The cold sweat and the slight dizziness I’m pretty sure are side effects. The tiredness and groggy brain-ness…well, that could just be me in general.
So feeling a little bit foggy is annoying, especially when you’re trying to interact with people. Also, feeling weak and a little bit dizzy is annoying for morning rowing practices. So last night I tried taking the Propranolol with dinner, thinking that I can handle being groggy before bed. Unfortunately, it just caused my skin to go cold before I went to sleep (different feeling than just being cold and needing more blankets), and I woke up a few times during the night with my skin and sheets cold and soaked with cold sweat.
I mean, I have been having trouble this year with night sweats, but it’s usually more GROSS, and not COLD.
Man, I really gotta get this shit figured out. Perhaps I can try taking it with LUNCH tomorrow?
Happily, the vertigo/dizziness seem to have decreased in the past few days, so maybe in time the rest of the side effects will go away as well.
The other medication I’m trying is Indomethacin 25mg before intense exercise – it’s supposed to prevent exertion headaches. Have only used it twice so far – Steve was on Indomethacin for a long time for his arthritis and it ended up giving him some kind of ulcer, which was a real pain to fix, so that one I will use sparingly and with caution.
Vegan Tuna Salad – Easy Chickpeasy and Actually Decent
21 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Health and Healthy Living, Recipes Tags: 2011, cooking, mock, recipe, salad, textured vegetable protein, tuna, tvp, vegan, veganaise, vegetarian
So there’s a promising recipe on http://www.exploreveg.org/resources/recipes/meals/mock-tuna-salad for Vegan Tuna Salad.
Inspiring! But of course, me being me, I bought the veganaise and forgot about the celery etc. and i have kelp at home but no kelp powder
So my mock tuna salad on corn tortillas tonight is:
- 1 can chickpeas – drain and mash (I used a potato masher)
- Veganaise – find in the refrigerated aisle by the tofu and soy cheese and vegetarian stuff
- capers
- pinch of nutritional yeast – find in the bulk section
- freshly ground pepper
- corn tortillas
Vegan Dinner: Tempeh Burger Stir Fry, Quinoa, and BEETS!!!
19 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Food, Health and Healthy Living, Recipes Tags: beets, food, health, quinoa, recipe, tempeh, vegan, vegetarian
How have I managed to go 25 years without eating a boiled beet? Please, someone explain to me why I tried plain beets in all their glory for the first time a few days ago?
They’re STUNNING! Sweet like a sweet potato. Soft yet not a mushy texture.
For dinner tonight, we had tempeh burger stir fry, with boiled beets and Quinoa.
Boiled Beets:
Boil for 30-45 mins. Drain. Scrub off skins with a paper towel (they come off pretty easily).
Quinoa:
Put quinoa with water in rice cooker. Crumble up an organic veggie buillion cube into water. Stir. Press “Cook”.
Stir Fry:
Dice onions and garlic. Sautee in pan with olive oil.
Dice tempeh burgers, zucchini and cut cauliflower into florets. Add to sautee pan.
Add ground cumin and coriander
Add chili powder
Add soy sauce
Excuse me while I OMNOMNOMNOMNOM
First Half-Marathon @ 2011 BMO Vancouver Marathon
01 May 2011 3 Comments
in Exercise, Health and Healthy Living, Running Tags: 10k, 2011, 21.1k, 42.2k, bellingham, bellingham bay marathon, bmo, goodlife fitness victoria marathon, GU Energy Gel, half-marathon, iFitness Hydration Belt, las vegas, marathon, rock 'n' roll las vegas marathon, sun run, surrey, surrey international world music marathon, Vancouver, victoria
Chip time: 2:05:03!
Pretty happy with that, as I promised myself that I would be happy with anything under 2:15. Although…it was a little disappointing to not have knocked those four seconds off to be at 2:04:59, ha! That’s fine. Something to work towards.
So the 2011 BMO Vancouver Marathon event was my first time running a half marathon (21.1km), and I was pleasantly surprised by how decently easy it was. I mean, I had to push myself to stay on pace, of course, but it wasn’t so bad. It gets to be more of a mental boredom issue more than anything.
THE RACE:
Gear Check 6:35am: free. Well not really free because it’s just included in your registration fee. Decently well organized and staffed by efficient volunteers.
Port-A-Potty Facilities: Lots. But really, when are there ever enough toilets? Never. Managed to use them twice before the race. They had men’s urinal stations, which, according to a friend of mine, were “kinda weird” and shaped like “planters”.
Start Line 7am: Freezing my ass off. Actually I take that back. It was mostly my arms that were cold. Now know why people wear garbage bags at the start. Totally way behind the 2:30 pace bunnies, will need to inch up further ahead at the start next year and find the 2:00 pace bunnies.
Kilometres 1-7: easy peasy. Crowded, but that’s normal.
8-10: right knee starts twinging. At 10km mark I feel pretty good (pace: just under an hour, up from 54:35 for my 10k Sun Run in April)
12: right knee is not happy with me. I start counting down towards the 15k mark. First GU gel consumed. Orange flavour. Pretty decent, actually.
12-14: One foot in front of the other. Pace slows down, and I have to focus and push. Left calf starts getting unhappy.
15-18: God when is this going to end? Really looking for that 18 marker.
18: Stepped it up. Masses of cheering crowds start to materialize.
19: Stepped it up again. Difficulty of maintaining newfound pace settles in.
20: I hate myself for having committed at the 18. Longest last kilometer of my life. Decent final push.
21.1: Confused as to where the finish line is. Is it the first speed bump thing that goes *beep*, or the second one that goes *beep* under the big banner? Whatever. Probably would’ve cut those 4 seconds if I had focused and kept pushing. Shame, but sometimes you gotta get a swift kick in the face to remind yourself of things like this. Got a finisher’s medal. Woot.
Post-finish: Big crowd bottleneck almost immediately after the finish line. Shitty. Really shitty. I can’t walk (MUSCLES WILL NOT ALLOW!), really need to jog around and stretch and all of a sudden the crowd is shoulder to shoulder at a standstill, with only a tiny entrance to the finishers’ area, with idiot family and friends trying to CUT ACROSS THIS TINY ENTRANCE AGAINST THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC OF TIRED GRUMPY RUNNERS oh hell. Ya know how they tell you to not just STOP after strenuous exercise? Yeah. No choice but to just STOP.
Food: Bless their hearts these BMO Marathon organizers made sure everyone got decent finisher’s food (not like the Sun Run, which is a huge line up for each individual item and is just not worth it). Apple, banana, half bagel, raisins, fruit2go, chips, chocolate pudding. McDonald’s free coffee.
Post-Race: Knees feel like they’ve taken one hell of a beating and will be sore and stiff for the next few days. Achilles tendons in both legs are quite sore as well. Hip flexors aren’t flexing. Walking is sort of a difficult issue at the moment.
GEAR/RACE FOOD:
Clothes: short sleeve tech shirt provided by the event. Long thin spandex tights (my rowing team tights). Nike Free Runs. No hat.
iFitness Hydration Belt: You know how they say never to try out new gear on race day? Yeah, I broke that rule and brought my new iFitness Hydration Belt with me. Really liked that I didn’t have to stop for water (stopped once for electrolyte drink). The belt’s supposed to sit on your hips and not ride up, but I don’t know if it’s the shape of my hips but it rode up pretty damn good and was fully at my waist soon after the race started, such that I had to turn the belt around and wear it facing backwards for most of the race. Oh well. Definitely still a good investment though. ***UPDATE MAY 10th*** I have finally figured out how to wear it properly, and it stayed down low on my hips through a 10 km run today! I seem to have to push it down at the back quite a bit and then it stays below my hip bones. Also was wearing different (less slippery?) spandex tights, which may have helped? So now am really liking the belt.
GU Energy Gel: You know how they say never to try out new food on race day? Yeah, I broke that rule and had two GU energy gels – one at 12k and one at the finish line. Mandarin Orange and Espresso Love. Both pretty decent flavours.
Pre-Race Fuelling 4:30-5:15am: Oatmeal with raisins and craisins and soy milk. Water. Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea with soy milk in lieu of normal coffee. The tea did me good and decreased the usually nervous twitchy pre-race bladder. Water.
OTHER RACES – PAST, FUTURE…
2010: 10k Vancouver Sun Run. 1:10:19.
2011: 10k Vancouver Sun Run. 54:35. 21.1k BMO Vancouver Half-Marathon 2:05:03.
Flush with success and fresh off this newound completion of the half marathon, I started looking around the “Brita Sports Expo” showcase (the big tent with kiosks all to do with running stuff on which to spend lots of money) for other runs I could do in 2011, with the idea of doing a marathon seriously creeping into my skull. I find the Bellingham Bay Marathon (Sept. 25, 2011), the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon (October 9), and a couple of other ones – Surrey International World Music Marathon (Sept. 30, 2012), Sacramento, Vegas, etc.
I get home and discuss this possibility with Steve, and we decide that Bellingham Bay is probably the one to go with…especially because of their $15 coupon off the price of registration! That, and no cost and time spent waiting around for the ferry over to the island.
So I’m registered, the hotel is booked, and it looks like I’ll be running a marathon next! 21 weeks to go, perfect time to start a full training regimen. Goal: 4:15, which I think is achievable.
The other one I’d like to try is the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon (Dec. 4, 2011), where you run the strip at night. Sounds fun.
TRAINING PLANS:
Downloaded the Adidas MiCoach app for iPhone today, and have set up a 5 day/week, 21 week marathon training plan, which starts on Tuesday, because tomorrow is most definitely a rest day. Again, you punch in your goals and stuff (finish in 4:15) and it spits out a training plan. Cool. Should take me all the way to the Bellingham Bay Marathon that last weekend in September.
My Favourite Things. Warning: Mostly Food – February 2011
26 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Exercise, Food, Health and Healthy Living Tags: aerial silks, ambrosia, apple, banana, BC, bocconcini, British Columbia, cesar millan, cheese, Children, circus, contortion, core, dog, donald's market, fermented, food, golden delicious, green cuisine, indonesian, japanese, jonagold, kimchi, konnyaku, low calorie, natto, new westminster, noodles, Okanagan, orange, pesto, pgx, shirataki, soy, tempeh, tempeh burgers, thai basil, tofu, vancouver circus school, vegan, vegetarian, whisperer, workout, youtube
Once in a while I like to write down a list of things with which I have recently become totally obsessed/enamoured.
1.) Ambrosia Apples. Bastard love child accident between a Golden Delicious and a Jonagold born in BC’s Okanagan Valley, these are especially delicious when in season (summer in British Columbia). In season, the large ones with more green than red on them are excellent. Because of their low acidity, the greener ones just have a better firm, crisp texture instead of being more sour than the ripe ones. Out of season (like right now, February), the big ones can be found but they tend to get overripe. If you see yellow-red ambrosia apples, DO NOT BUY THEM. They will be mushy and you will hate me for recommending these stupid apples to you. BUT wait! I have a solution. Go and search out the little ones (I’ve found Safeway to be a good source). Buy the greenest, firmest ones you can find. They will be 3/4 the size of the good summer ones, and are still grown in BC (look for the BC brand sticker with the little tree). These little Ambrosias seem to have a longer shelf life, and retain their crispness for a good 2 weeks after you buy them from the supermarket. Yes, they will look shiny and waxed as most big chain supermarket apples do, but a good out of season apple is worth eating a bit of wax for, in my opinion.
2.) Tempeh. Tried tempeh for the first time this week, and have wanted to eat nothing else since. Tempeh is a pressed, fermented soybean patty looking thing, without the nasty feet smell of Japanese natto, without the uniform texture (or textureless texture) of tofu. Originated in Indonesian cuisine. Mostly odourless and tastes pleasantly mushroomy, with a good beany texture. It is truly one of the only veggie things so far that would make me not miss meat in a meal (the only other thing being bocconcini cheese, oddly.) The brand I tried is Green Cuisine’s “Tempeh Burgers”, found at Donald’s Market in New West. I’m going to hit up an asian store and see if I can find something cheaper.
3.) Thai Basil Pesto. Okay. I’ve blogged about this one before, but really. In lieu of flowers, I would like chopped thai basil sprinkled on my grave on a regular basis, please. So garlicky, so cheesy, so satisfying. This is orgasmically powerful pesto, not for the faint of heart (or breath), but will most likely leave you wanting more.
4.) Shirataki Noodles. The pesto goes really well with those awesome shirataki noodles that you can buy at asian grocery stores. Yes, they have between 0-20 calories per serving (depending on the brand). Yes, they’re all soluble fibre so they’re good for your digestion and blood sugar. Yes, it will help you lose weight. Yes, it’s the same stuff in PGX weight loss granules/pills except that you get to EAT THEM (muahahahaha) and have soluble fibre be DELICIOUS. Yes, you don’t have to cook them (just drain and rinse). Find them at asian grocery stores (T&T, H-Mart) in one of the refrigerated aisles – they come prepacked in water. Add some pan fried tempeh to the noodles and pesto and boy you’ve got one hell of a low calorie vegetarian heaven. *UPDATE: MARCH 2, 2011 – just saw shirataki tofu noodles (made from konnyaku and tofu) at my local Safeway, which is new…they didn’t used to carry it. Cool.*
5.) Circus. I haven’t run away, but I have joined the circus. I’m finishing up my 4th month of Aerial Silks classes at Vancouver Circus School (New Westminster location), and I am loving it. Huge workout for your upper body, core, and flexibility. I don’t know exactly how to describe it, but go and YouTube Aerial Silks. A couple of my favourite videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8aeQO-M7kM and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szd4xnI30Ng. Yes, those people are really strong and bendy. I’m neither particularly strong nor bendy. But the class at VCS is still awesomesauce and highly unboring.
6.) The Dog Whisperer. Cesar Millan is fricking magic. *Tsch!* I’m going to raise my future children the way he raises dogs. Every episode is like watching a hypnotist do his work. He’s really got a way with them dogs, and I am really thinking that his strategy of “Exercise, Discipline, and Affection, in that order” would probably work really well with children too. (I know it works on me…so…)
7, 8, & 9… Oh and I’m also obsessed with oranges (the big navel ones #4012 are so sweet right now), bananas, and kimchi but those seemed so ordinary that I didn’t feel like making a big fuss about them but yes also good for you and they make life delicious and happy.
February 2011. Aerial Silk at VCS
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