Always Trying Something New

I'm always open to trying new things to help me function better. The best discovery I've made recently is my "Visible" device. I did a lot of research before buying it. I read many reviews and watched videos. You wear it on your upper arm. I call it the "Anti-Fit Bit." The whole point of it is to help you track your efforts and energy during the day so that you don't over-do it. 

Ok, so I am the reigning QUEEN of over-doing it. Seriously. I've sent my body into rhabdo more than once. Which is awful. So when I first saw that there was a device to help me pace myself better I thought it might be a good fit for me. It is.

It monitors my heart beat and heart rate variability. HRV for short. I get notifications if my heart rate stays up high for more than 5 minutes. I can set how long. Then it suggests I take a break from what I'm doing so I don't expend so much energy.

Interestingly enough my heart rate goes sky high every time I shower. I always knew that showering left me tired. Now I know why. 

Here's what the app looks like on my phone. Every morning it takes a measurement of my heart rate and my HRV. Then it gives me a score. The score is called "Morning Stability" and it's a guide for how your energy might be on that day. You can get a 1 to 5. The higher the number, the more energy you have. I'm typically a 3. I've gotten a 4 a few times, but never a 5.

Once a month it asks a series of questions related to your health, what you're able to do and what you can't do. How hard things are for you, that type of information. Then it gives you a "Functional Capacity" score. This number reflects my ability to carry out day-to-day activities. 

A "Healthy normal person" is typically a 6. Here's mine for May. A 3.2

But here's what REALLY gets my heart racing...

Besides wearing my "Visible" device and trying to pace myself better, I also signed us up for Hungry Root. It's a healthy meal plan and food delivery company. They send me a weekly box with ingredients and recipes to make. We've only had it 1 week, but I already love it. 

It means giving up a lot of freedom with my food. The decisions are all made for me. At first I found this a bit scary. But now I like it. I can program it for what kind of food I want, how many meals I want, how much I want to cook and other things. Right now my box is set for gluten free, vegetarian meals. I'm getting some breakfast, lunch and mostly dinner. I just added fruit to my next order as well.

The only down side is the packaging. There is a lot of it. But we're also wasting less food and eating healthier, so it's a trade off.

The last new thing I tried recently is a drug called Naltrexone for pain. It's originally intended to help people stop drinking and using opioid drugs, but they discovered in very small doses it helps block pain reception. 

For me it gave me insomnia at night and knocked me out during the day. It also made me really sweaty and gave me a headache. I gave it two weeks and then stopped. It did help my pain a little, but the side effects were too much. Sleeping 20/24hrs is no good.

I think the next thing we're trying for pain will be Ketamine infusions. I'll keep you posted.

Now for my Hungry Root healthy lunch. No Taco Bell today.