mdragan W30 x1 init 8/3

[mdragan42]

Day 21 - I'm going to beat this challenge. Can't imagine the anxiety getting much worse than it is, but it's still growing.  Luckily, I have a pretty good support system.  The husband redirects me to compliant foods when I seem to be slipping mentally, and the friend we helped out today came up with a compliant meal for me even though she made pizza for everyone else. I'm still looking for a better option to fight the anxiety.  The herbs barely touched it again. My friend suggested 5-HTP, so I'll give that a try tomorrow.  I pulled some really nice veggies from the garden today that we'll be incorporating in our meals this week.  Unfortunately, I did no meal planning, so here goes a week of "winging it".

 

AM Felt Physically - exhausted
AM Felt Mentally - anxious, overwhelmed
PM Felt Physically - tired
PM Felt Mentally - anxious, overwhelmed

• Breakfast: 3 egg and vegetable scramble
• Lunch: salad with cucumber, tomato and grilled chicken breast, olive oil and apple cider vinegar, pepitos, and black seedless grapes
• Dinner: hamburgers with sunbutter, tomato, pickled cucumbers and onions, fresh cucumber, celery with sunbutter
• Beverages: water, 1/2 strength unsweetened coffee (brewed)     

I was a little itchy in the evening, which could be the mass of mosquitos in the garden when I harvested, or the addition of seeds to the diet today (pepito and sunflower).  I'll be keeping an eye on that.      

[mdragan42]

Day 22 - Anxiety so bad I almost didn't get out of bed. An important project meeting this AM eventually got me there. The lack of prep and weekend cleaning made this morning extremely chaotic. Even the dogs felt it. I stopped and picked up some 5-HTP on the way to work. Took 100mg before even leaving the parking lot. Note to self - do not mix with the anti-anxiety herbs I was using (drowsiness). Either the combination of anti-anxiety herbs or the 5-HTP itself resulted in no anxiety but very painful muscle pain, nausea, and drowsiness.

AM Felt Physically - exhausted from the never ending anxiety, nauseated

AM Felt Mentally - anxious, overwhelmed

PM Felt Physically - relaxed

PM Felt Mentally - hopeful

• Breakfast: 3 egg and vegetable scramble
• Lunch: 2 chicken legs, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, black seedless grapes
• Dinner: roast turkey, cucumber slices
• Beverages: water, unsweetened caffeinated and herbal tea

By evening, the new supplement settled in and it was like flipping a switch! The anxiety was tamed and I slept great!

[mdragan42]

Day 23 - Relief! The 5-HTP continues to work brilliantly and I'm not experiencing the side effects I did yesterday when mixing with the anti anxiety herbs. Feel as though I'm kicking butt and taking names today.

AM Felt Physically - energetic
AM Felt Mentally - clear, hopeful
PM Felt Physically - energetic
PM Felt Mentally - clear
 

• Breakfast: 3 egg and vegetable scramble
• Lunch: 2 chicken legs, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, cucumber black seedless grapes
• Dinner: hamburger, broccoli, potato chips
• Beverages: water, unsweetened caffeinated and herbal tea, 1/2 strength coffee

Still monitoring for side effects from the 5-HTP.  A little muscle twitch in my eye, rash that may or may not be related, and some nausea/bloating could be warning signs.  For now, the benefits still outweigh the risks.  I've moderated the dosage to just two 50 mg doses in a day.  We'll see if that's enough to still manage the anxiety.

[mdragan42]

Day 24 - Fiddling with doses.  Eating compliantly is no problem compared to getting the anxiety under control.  I still like the food and still am only really missing red wine and dark chocolate.  I was even able to find a compliant brand of the 5-HTP supplement.  I took 50mg upon waking yesterday and another 50mg about 8 hours later, but didn't take a bedtime dose.  I didn't sleep as soundly and had a lot more trouble getting up this morning. "Tiger blood" must be for other people.  I took a morning dose of the 5-HTP, but the anxiety was creeping up on me pretty heavily before it kicked in.  Three 50 mg doses or changing the timing of the 2 doses may be necessary for full coverage.  I still have a little rash (probably unrelated), muscle pain, and some stomach discomfort this morning.  And my right eye started twitching about mid-morning.  I added in pro-biotics and an omega-3 supplement to hopefully help with tummy and muscles.  All of those are potential side effects of the 5-HTP, so I'm still monitoring severity.  Serotonin is a tricky thing.

 

AM Felt Physically - tired, trouble getting up, nausea/bloating, minor muscle aches
AM Felt Mentally - clear, a little anxious
PM Felt Physically -
PM Felt Mentally -

• Breakfast: 3 egg and vegetable scramble
• Lunch: 2 chicken legs, zucchini, white potato with ghee, cucumber, black seedless grapes
• Dinner:
• Beverages: water, unsweetened caffeinated and herbal tea, 1/2 strength coffee

[mdragan42]

Day 25 - Mental clarity.  I'm feeling as though the 5-HTP is settling in.  Yesterday afternoon I was able to solve a technical problem I've been fighting with for months.  Pretty sure I'm experiencing some minor side effects, but they seem to be easing (or I'm getting used to them).  Still have some low level muscle and joint pain - took glucosamine this morning - but without swelling, so that's good.  Also have an occasional tic in my right eye - definitely not a deal breaker considering how much better I feel.  The bloat and discomfort also seem to be better today - still taking probiotics and omega 3 supplement.  The "right" 5-HTP dose appears to be 500 mg every 8 hours.  I slept like a rock last night with it, and woke up much better this morning.  I actually even wanted to wear a little makeup this morning..... oooooh..... It's good to feel good. I'm only 5 days out from day 30, and still think the only change I'll make any time soon is the addition of red wine and very dark chocolate.

 

AM Felt Physically - energetic
AM Felt Mentally - brilliant, focused
PM Felt Physically -
PM Felt Mentally -

• Breakfast: 3 egg and vegetable scramble
• Lunch: 2 chicken legs, zucchini, white potato with ghee, cucumber, black seedless grapes
• Dinner:
• Beverages: water, unsweetened caffeinated and herbal tea, black coffee

[mdragan42]

Day 29 - one more day.  Had a very very rough anxiety Sunday.  Luckily, my family is dedicated to helping me finish this challenge too.  I will definitely be reintroducing dark chocolate and red wine first.  I seldom feel an urge for other non-compliant items, though giving in to convenience could bite me.  I guess we'll see how I do.

[mdragan42]

Day 30 - but not really.  The husband brought me a glass of red wine and a soy free dark chocolate last night, and I enjoyed them very much. He was, in fact, listening to my reintroduction plan, just jumped the gun a little (and I let him).  That said, I'll probably be moving to the reintroduction blog.  Wine and dark chocolate had no reaction other than being delicious and soothing.  Overall, this was a very successful experiment.  My tastes have changed to tolerate much less sweet/more bitter foods, I lost a small amount of weight (~5lbs), changed my body fat composition (down ~ 5% fat), and reduced a lot (but not all) of my inflammation.  I will probably do a second Whole 30 after a few months of reintroduction, and restrict out a few other potential inflammatory foods at that time.  By then I should be well established on an anti-anxiety routine as well and have less emotional distress during round 2.

 

As a side note, while today was intended to be compliant except a small glass of wine, the husband brought us a picnic lunch of what he thought was compliant prosciutto, but upon reading the label had traces of nitrites and sugar. 2.5 hours later, my rash has re-emerged.  The accompanying raspberries were lovely.