Saturday, April 14, 2007

"Downsize Me" Begins...

(If you haven't been following BRAINCHEESE at www.brain-cheese.blogspot.com , you've just been missing out!  Come on...make the switch.  This post is a follow up to one "over there"...so, if you haven't been "over there", you may be lost!)

     Wow! I've been missing from action for about 36 hours. I managed to finish the final inservice/teaching project at work on Thursday (**insert a big "WOOHOO" here please**), only to find myself completely debilitated AGAIN very early Friday morning by another headache...AKA, "migraine", as Dr. She Who Will Not Be Named has labeled it. It was that same pliers-squeezing-my-eyeball-pain in my left eye...THIS time, I also had numbness and a bit of a droop to the left side of my face! Talk about a happy Friday the 13th...

     Fortunately, I'm a fairly quick study (sometimes) and decided around 2:00AM to start loading up on the narcotics. I finally fell back to sleep around 8:00AM and was able to doze off and on all day on Friday...the pain began letting up Friday evening. Dr. SWWNBN has decided to do yet ANOTHER MRI of my noggin, but I'm not sure what (if anything) she is looking for...she may just be checking to make sure I still HAVE a brain! I suppose since this "brain pain" is brand new, she might be checking for any changes afoot.

     A few days ago, I wrote about possibly trying an experiment with myself being the sole participant...it was about cutting out the "Dew"/caffeine from my diet and seeing if there might be any significant and noticeable changes in my fatigue/sleep/blood pressure (and now headaches, I add).

     Well...as luck would have it, I was so miserable in pain and nauseated on Friday, I consumed NO caffeine whatsoever! So I decided now might be as good a time as any to get my project, "Downsize Me" under way...this should be interesting...LOL

     I'm going to be tracking my fatigue, hours of sleep, weight, and blood pressure for the next 28 days as I eliminate ALL caffeine from my diet...I'm already CRAVING chocolate of all things! Of course this is completely subjective (and I'm sorry to say, most PHARMACEUTICAL STUDIES are, too...they'd just like to think they're not!) and will never be published in the annals of Neurology Today. LOL Woe is me...

     As I weave (and maybe even heave) my way through the next 28 days, I'll be using BRAINCHEESE as a forum to document this "highly regarded study"...as always, I'll try to keep it entertaining if not down right riveting...(now I'M nearly wetting my pants laughing at that prospect!)

     So, here's a little video I've prepared for you as the launch pad for "DOWNSIZE ME"...and just so you know...no animals will be harmed in this study!


 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're far braver than I am!  No caffeine at all is insane!  It's a food group!  It's necessary to life as we know it!  

I can stop smoking (11 weeks tomorrow --- YAY!) but not cut the caffeine.  

Please don't make this a "family" affair.  :)

Hugs!
Peej

Anonymous said...

Very good...hahaha!

I have been telling myself I need to cut way down on caffeine also, I am concerned about osteoporosis later on.  YIKES!