OT--General Health

[W. Unseld]

The place to post your health questions or just b*tch about your nagging injuries.

I would swear ever since turning 35, I can't shake sore throats.* It seems that I either get one which lasts all month or I get 2-3 mini episodes that take up most of the month with brief reprieves. I've tried the following:
More sleep
More exercise
Less alcohol (I wasn't drinking much anyway--not that I'm defensive)
Gargling
Hot tea
Soup
Forcing fluids
Cough drops (I swear these make me feel sicker)
Sprays (only at night if I can't sleep)
Allergy meds
Mucinex
Dayquil
obssessive hand-washing etc.
I'm less interested in a cure for the symptoms than finding out how often everyone else gets them and if there are hidden causes I'm not aware of. I know anti-biotics don't work when they are viral etc. etc.
*I'm well aware there are people out there with far, far, far more serious issues so I apologize in advance for the triviality of the post but would still like input

[montestewart]

The place to post your health questions or just b*tch about your nagging injuries.

I would swear ever since turning 35, I can't shake sore throats.* It seems that I either get one which lasts all month or I get 2-3 mini episodes that take up most of the month with brief reprieves. I've tried the following:
More sleep
More exercise
Less alcohol (I wasn't drinking much anyway--not that I'm defensive)
Gargling
Hot tea
Soup
Forcing fluids
Cough drops (I swear these make me feel sicker)
Sprays (only at night if I can't sleep)
Allergy meds
Mucinex
Dayquil
obssessive hand-washing etc.
I'm less interested in a cure for the symptoms than finding out how often everyone else gets them and if there are hidden causes I'm not aware of. I know anti-biotics don't work when they are viral etc. etc.
*I'm well aware there are people out there with far, far, far more serious issues so I apologize in advance for the triviality of the post but would still like input

If you're willing to try other things, here's a few off the top of my head:

Eliminate processed sugar; my sister did so many years ago and found that she was sick less often, had fewer allergy problems, and more energy.

Experiment with addressing vitamin/mineral deficiency. Try supplementing your diet with sea greens or turnips greens (both good sources of trace elements; maybe just as a habit, more green, leafy vegetables of all kinds) and experiment with various other supplements (bee pollen, brewer's yeast, etc) and so-called "super foods" and the like: dark berries, beets, cabbage, broccoli, other fibrous vegetables.

Try natural sinus rinses, like Alka-lol, Ponaris drops, saline solutions, and use of a neti pot.

If you consume dairy products, think about skipping or limiting intake, especially later in the day. Some people find that citrus products, like dairy products, overstimulate mucous production.

Consume local, unfiltered honey. Although I wouldn't call it settled science, some studies over the years have indicated that the consumption of such honey may help build some level of immunity to local pollens. Some of the things you mention sound like allergies. I've lived in the DC area all my life, and have only recently developed allergies. I'm thinking of trying this one myself.

Maybe look into whether your sleep is in fact restful sleep. Another sister slept 9-10 hours a night for years, yet claimed she was always tired as if she didn't get enough sleep. She got an operation to help her breathing, which apparently was waking her up constantly throughout the night, and now she sleeps 7-8 hours and gets much more rest.

There, that should keep you busy.

PS: Severity is beside the point. A problem is a problem, and if you find the solution, you can share it with others. In the words of my favorite new and cranky poster, pay it forward.

[Zonkerbl]

Yeah, that's kinda what's wrong with profit-driven health care. Everybody's chasing a cure for cancer, no one's researching a cure for the blah's. So when alternative medicine proposes a solution, instead of researching it, all the scientists pooh-pooh it.

Sounds like you're having a mild reaction to something that you are consuming all the time, so taking allergy medication doesn't help. Quit consuming dairy products altogether for a week -- if that's what's causing your problem, you'll feel better in about 48 hours. Then try quitting gluten. But my money's on dairy.

[nate33]

Vitamin D, W.Unseld.

There is more and more research showing that most people are radically deficient in Vitamin D. The USRDA recommends 400 IU's, but that's merely enough to avoid rickets. It's nowhere near what we should be taking. Our skin produces Vitamin D from the sun, but modern man barely even sees the sun except when he is wearing sunscreen. Many doctors and nutritionists now believe that we need more like 5000 IU's of Vitamin D a day. If you don't work outside with minimal clothing, the only way to make that up is with supplements. (You need Vitamin D3, not D2. I get mine via mail order, it's much cheaper.)

Vitamin D has a positive effect on numerous health issues including asthma, the flu, cancer, seasonal affective disorder, diabetes and arthritis. It provides a big boost to your immune system and may help deal with these throat issues (assuming they're viral).

I've been taking 5000 IU's of Vitamin D3 for 3 years now. Since I've started doing it, I've only been sick once.

Some further reading:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... ds/261347/
http://www.naturalnews.com/029760_vitam ... uenza.html
http://www.newswise.com/articles/vitami ... er-viruses

[fugop]

You might also want to think back to see if there was some environmental change around the time that you started experiencing symptoms. Did you move? Move your bedroom? Begin a remodel? Change jobs? You could be exposing yourself to something that's triggering a respiratory reaction, from pet dander to mold.

In the last three years, I've gotten married, adopted a cat, turned 35, and moved to the Bronx to remodel a house. I've definitely had my share of atypical respiratory reactions.

[Zonkerbl]

Although you can get the RDA of vitamin D, iirc, by exposing your hands to the sun for five minutes. One twenty minute bike ride/day should about do it.

[Zonkerbl]

So you're interested in our experience with similar symptoms. When I moved to Bloomington, I started getting allergies. Then I moved to DC and got completely different allergies. For about two weeks in March, every March, I'd get what I thought was the flu for two weeks. Then I started taking claritin and it subsided.

My son had nasal congestion when he was seven or so that was so severe that we had to treat him with antibiotics for sinusitis twice in one summer. Took him to the ear nose and throat doc, who couldn't find anything wrong and suggested he was allergic to cow's milk proteins. Within 48 hours of eliminating dairy products from his diet he was feeling better.

[nate33]

Although you can get the RDA of vitamin D, iirc, by exposing your hands to the sun for five minutes. One twenty minute bike ride/day should about do it.

Depends on the time of day and time of year.

Basically, your body produces no meaningful Vitamin D if the sun is lower than 45 degrees above the horizon (or your shadow is longer than your height). So, for the most part, you make Vitamin D between 10:00 and 4:00 during the summer months, with that window shrinking the closer we get to the Winter Solstice. During November, December, January and February your body makes virtually no Vitamin D even at high noon, unless you live in southern state.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_eff ... n_exposure

[W. Unseld]

Monte, you've given me a lot of work, I will give much of that a shot. For whatever reason giving up dairy has disasterous effects on me and blood type books recommend that I get a lot of dairy. I'll give a gluten a shot though. I've done the superfoods and haven't had much success but local honey sounds interesting (I'm told that the vegatables of today have about 1/4 the nutrients of 50 years ago).

Nate, I'd forgotten about vitamin D---after reading about large doses being able to improve athletic performance I tried it for a while but then heard that too much could effect your kidneys (ditto for all of the vitamin B everyone is downing for energy) so I got freaked out and left it to my multi-vitamin. Very interesting stuff on the sun angle.

Fugop, the timing of my move to my current house is suspiciously close to the symptoms. I replaced the air filters last night and they were gross. Now I need to find an indoor mold test that won't cost me $500.00.

I was also curious if anyone had tried ayurvedic medicine.

[montestewart]

Some research on what in milk/dairy that it is you need (Vitamin D and calcium are the two most commonly touted nutrients for dairy) could enable you to look into alternatives, as most vital nutrients are available from multiple sources. It might not be as easy as consuming milk, but might be worth it to at least briefly try a dairy-free diet and see if there's some sort of allergy, without disastrous effects.

I don't buy into that drastic reduction in nutritive value of modern fruits and vegetables, but selective breeding has produced certain varieties that favor uniformity and durability over taste and nutritive value. (If you think tomatoes taste bad now, the grocery store tomatoes of the 70s were HORRIBLE!) Other modern varieties have been bred for greater nutrition or flavor. But it brings up another point, you might even be allergic to something that's routinely used in growing fruits and vegetables, or in processing food. Some people go organic, eliminate long suffered allergies, and never look back.

Identifying the source of an allergy can be a lot of work. I'm probably too lazy to identify the sources of most of mine, but if the suffering is bad enough, it's probably worth it.

[Induveca]

D3, Omega 3, Vitamin C........and if you have cash to burn check out the anti-aging clinics. Hormonal imbalances after the age of 35 are very common, and very correctable. Most docs never even check hormone levels, and instead load you up with pharmaceuticals which do nothing to correct the issue.

[Zonkerbl]

On veggies I think the idea is that they have been bred to be bigger, but they just have more fiber and water, not more nutrients. That's what I would suspect anyway.

[Ruzious]

Wes, I know you mentioned allergies, but I'd explore that further and get a general allergy test. Perhaps it's from exposure to a pet or a friend's pet?

Since this is a thread to also bitch about health, I'll take the opportunity to whine about being diagnosed with Celiac Disease a few months ago - which mainly means I'm not supposed to eat any wheat for the rest of my life. At first it was very distressing, but it's turning out to be an overall positive, as I'm eating healthier and feeling more energetic - though it's a downer that I can't eat at most restaurants - except to have salads that I don't care for.

[dobrojim]

My knee isn't healed yet from arthroscopy and it's been a whole 5 days.
This sucks.

BTW - I would advise caution in taking large amounts of any vitamin that is
fat soluble since it is possible to OD on those. The water soluble ones your
kidney take care of making your urine expensive.

Vitamins A,D,E and K(?) are fat soluble

[Higga]

The place to post your health questions or just b*tch about your nagging injuries.

I would swear ever since turning 35, I can't shake sore throats.* It seems that I either get one which lasts all month or I get 2-3 mini episodes that take up most of the month with brief reprieves. I've tried the following:
More sleep
More exercise
Less alcohol (I wasn't drinking much anyway--not that I'm defensive)
Gargling
Hot tea
Soup
Forcing fluids
Cough drops (I swear these make me feel sicker)
Sprays (only at night if I can't sleep)
Allergy meds
Mucinex
Dayquil
obssessive hand-washing etc.
I'm less interested in a cure for the symptoms than finding out how often everyone else gets them and if there are hidden causes I'm not aware of. I know anti-biotics don't work when they are viral etc. etc.
*I'm well aware there are people out there with far, far, far more serious issues so I apologize in advance for the triviality of the post but would still like input

Honey is great for a sore throat.

[W. Unseld]

dobro--interesting on the vitamins
Ruz--does that mean you can't drink most beers or just the wheat beers?

[Ruzious]

Ruz--does that mean you can't drink most beers or just the wheat beers?

Great question - which I plan to research a lot more. I can't have any glutens - which includes wheat and barley - which are present in most beers. But there are some gluten-free beers - beers made with corn, buckwheat, rice, and other substitutes or substances. It seems that there are substitutes for most of the things I can't have - though most of them cost a lot more than the original.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

W. Unseld, most important to me is quality of sleep. Not even the number of hours as much as how restful I sleep. When I don't sleep well I feel like crap and can be cranky. When I sleep well I hit the ground running each morning.

Like others, I think if you're feeling under the weather I would say check out all the stressors or environmental changes. The gym and beach are my stress busters. If you can swim at an indoor pool, I'd strongly suggest you do that. Regular cardio is good. For me, I throw tires around at the gym and it really takes all my stress out. Keep it moving especially when I'm down, W. Unseld, is what works best for me. We can't do a thing about our circumstances at times, but we can keep our heads up. As for my two cents on other things ...

I would suggest you try a "Daniel Fast". Basically, eat fruit and vegetables. Eliminate processed foods, especially those with refined sugars. No sugar at all is kind of rough, so I would suggest honey. I feel 100% better when I lay off of salt, sodas, red meat. Drink copious amounts of water. Gluten free products or no grains either, is probably better IMO. The Paleo diet makes sense to me, too.

I'd suggest whey protein after your workouts. Building lean muscle helps. I'd try to get the Omega 3s like Indu suggested. Salmon is great, if you can afford it. Grilled. I believe almonds have omega 3s as well. My older sister swears by Co Q 10. I take that from time to time. I also will take a baby aspirin when I'm feeling a bit sluggish. No idea if it helps but doesn't seem to hurt me.

If you can find to time before you get your day started, or as you go to rest, to meditate/take inventory and produce a list of gratitudes, that will keep you going, too. A lof of how we feel is in the mind. I believe we can maximize our own wellness with the proper mindset.

I think if you drink you might want to eliminate it all together. At the most, tip a glass of wine not every dinner but on special occasions. But if in a group and happy, go ahead and be merry (just don't over do it).

That's my two cents, W. Unseld.

[doclinkin]

Wes, I know you mentioned allergies, but I'd explore that further and get a general allergy test. Perhaps it's from exposure to a pet or a friend's pet?

Since this is a thread to also bitch about health, I'll take the opportunity to whine about being diagnosed with Celiac Disease a few months ago - which mainly means I'm not supposed to eat any wheat for the rest of my life. At first it was very distressing, but it's turning out to be an overall positive, as I'm eating healthier and feeling more energetic - though it's a downer that I can't eat at most restaurants - except to have salads that I don't care for.

Your life is not over. If you want a nutritionist for the transition I got a great one: Wifeydoc is a nutritionist, kickass cook, and gourmet baker who has been gluten free for 15 years, and I haven't missed it a bite. Okay yeah restaurants are tricky unless you love mexican food, but aside from that you don't have to miss much.

[fugop]

Ruz--does that mean you can't drink most beers or just the wheat beers?

Great question - which I plan to research a lot more. I can't have any glutens - which includes wheat and barley - which are present in most beers. But there are some gluten-free beers - beers made with corn, buckwheat, rice, and other substitutes or substances. It seems that there are substitutes for most of the things I can't have - though most of them cost a lot more than the original.

FYI, almost all distilled spirits -- even those including wheat grains -- should be gluten free. Distillation works magic.