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Posts Tagged ‘Dysmenorrhea’

Where did it come from?

October 22nd, 2009 No comments

I certainly don’t want to offend anyone, so please keep in mind that I speak with the best of intentions. When I saw the below videos, I couldn’t help but speak out.

*Warning* – Most of this video is very hard to watch. But keep in mind, it has a VERY good message.

I know it’s easier to turn away right away – because this might come across to you as ‘just another upset peta protest’ blah blah blah. But consider the message in the video, the next time you purchase wool to wear or lamb to eat. Where does it come from, how were the animals treated? It’s very pretty wool at the store – no doubt. But where did it come from, did the farmer raise the lamb who wore the wool – with love, or mutilate it so you could buy the wool cheap? Or buy the lamb meat cheap? Because it was faster. Because it was more convenient.

 

Then take into consideration the other friendly animals who give up their lives to make ours a little easier. Take in to consideration – how were they treated? The more you buy without thought – the more money in the pockets of the cruel farmers.

It’s not BAD to eat meat or wear clothes made from animal products. What is BAD is those cruel cruel farmers.

Isn’t it worth the time to give thanks to the animals – by supporting the farmers who do make their life – a good life?

 

Stepping on my soap box a little higher…

Before Clark and I were married, we both respected animals. I have always been “over sensitive” about how animals are treated. Some things that others would find amusing where an animal was humiliated or mocked in videos or pictures – I would just cry at the drop of a hat. I’ve been this TinyHero1way my whole life. I HATE the common phrase “there’s more than 1 way to skin a cat” – it makes my skin crawl, what a sick way of expressing yourself!

It wasn’t until Clark and I adopted both Hero & Tiny that our hearts changed. Never would we have thought that we could love an animal SO much. It makes watching videos like the above – that much harder to take in, because we know what it’s like to REALLY love an animal. Hero and Tiny aren’t just ‘a Cat.’ or ‘a Pet.’. They are like … a member of our family. We are SO sad when they are sad, we are SO aware of their feelings.

So to see a human being, so carelessly throw an animal aside, not even taking into consideration that they are IN PAIN, makes my heart ache so deeply. It’s one thing to be naive/ignorant about it all – that’s forgiveable… but when there is blood on your hands… COME ON!

I’m vegetarian for medical reasons, but stuff like this makes me feel a whole lot better that I have to not eat meat. At least there is that much less money in those heartless pockets.

 

… Watch this video to learn where the source of your eggs from the Grocery store come from. This is why I feel the Organic Brand of eggs is worth the extra $1 . ‘Cage Free’ eggs, HAPPIER eggs :D

Ok. I’m done. :)

To make a difference: Start being aware. Do your best to find out where the meat or animal products come from. Organic brands are friendly brands so you can feel safe choosing those. Just trying your best makes a BIG difference. :)

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Categories: Health, Soap Box

I’m Shy

September 26th, 2009 No comments

I talk big sometimes… I have confidence in most things… but I’m easily intimated I have found.

ShyVENTING: Oh… There have been few ‘best’ – girl friends that I’ve made in my life. Solid friends that I am SO SO grateful for. Also, I’ve made several friends that are girls (such as most of you who read my blog).  But… I’m not quite sure why I feel more comfortable around males vs. women. I just don’t know what to say most of the time. I have no kids, so that cuts out A LOT of topics in a mass of collected women who get together around here… I feel so nerdy I am fearful of bringing up TV shows and computer related things when the rest of them are talking about what food they feed their kids and why. I’ve thought of jumping in and talking about what I feed “my babies(cats)… but that would be weird… Clark told me I should mention my nieces and nephews in conversations where women are all talking about their kids a whole bunch. I’ve done that a few times and they all stop and stare at me … silence creeps me out! Are they expecting me to say more? I thought for a split second I was cool – but then I started rethinking things…

I could talk about blogging, but I’m all about Wordpress and most everyone else has blogger… *sigh*… I just clam up and I don’t know what to say! I spend my whole day working on technical programming /design stuff! What do I do? Am I over-complicating this situation? I want to be friends with women (I know I need to! My toenails haven’t been painted in over 3 years!)- but… I think I’ve surrounded myself unintentionally with mostly men in my life as friends – I am so foreign to the having a lot of girls as close friends – except for the rare occasion. Even those friends have men as mostly friends, that’s probably why we get along so great. I get nervous and scared off and just let my guard down more around the guys because it’s easier! I always worry about what women think when I do get shy and hide away for awhile… will they think I hate them or don’t like them? Ugh… again, this is where guys are much easier – because I feel they don’t care nearly as much as women – who over-think… HELLO! Like what I’m doing right now! What do you suggest I do?

When in a situation of speaking to women who could potentially be a close friend, and you don't know what to say:

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Clark is my best-friend. He’s been one of the few who I feel gets me 110%. The good, the bad – he accepts ALL of me! No matter what! He may not understand some things at first, but his deep love I know & feel he has for me helps quicken the process of understanding – or at least finding a way to relate… like for instance, my quirky thing about when I get nervous – I go to the bathroom multiple times (for physical reasons too, but more often when I’m nervous)… weird right?! Well, from my LIFE experience – guys don’t care as much, but girls  I feel go on a rapid speed of thought of wondering why. I’m probably completely wrong here – but that’s how I feel. Where did I ever get this idea that girls judge and guys don’t care as much – or at least for that long? It’s cliche for a lot of things – but it’s a belief in my mind… and I get shy, I get nervous – I don’t know what to say – so I stay quiet and hide in the shadows and just watch. If there was a room full of a group of guys there and girls over there, I’d go and chat with the guys (with Clark of course) and feel more comfortable. It’s not that I don’t enjoy going out for girls night or hanging with the girls… I just feel … different. Where did this all start from? Hmmm… another challenge for me to resolve :D

Speaking of which!!!! GUESS WHAT?

My period this last month was RIGHT ON day 28, and was FIVE DAYS LONG!!!! Record breaking for the past 3 years! UNBELIEVABLE! Guess what day I started?… THE DAY I GOT MY JOB! And [also] GUESS WHAT?! It didn’t hurt like labor pains – all it was – was really uncomfortable, but bearable enough to where I could still function!!!! That is GOOD NEWS! Is it a coincidence or WHAT!? The hope and dream of having a baby is more real, and my stress level… I tell you what, after the reality of me having a job and stable income coming into our home – I felt my whole body deflate (literally) of pent up anxiety, stress, probably every illness I have ever thought I’ve had over the past 2 years has probably all been heavily influenced by STRESS! WOW, I never knew that stress could literally be … so… so… incognito? Sneaky way of slowly breaking your body down until you go literally insane?! … Lethal? All I know is that I feel it slipping out of my body. Literally, each day that I feel more and more SAFE in regards to being able to buy groceries, that we will be able to pay bills, that we will be able to LIVE… awwwww… we’re safe. We’re OK. Things will be alright. :) My body is starting to believe that and it’s settling down and I feel like my ‘ol self again! :D

Such is my job. I LOVE it! My boss is SO nice, the whole situation of the job itself is honestly, a DREAM JOB! I have no complaints – at all! I hope and PRAY PRAY PRAY that this is a long-term job. I hope with all my heart that it’ll last forever! Or – until we have kids . I want to be a full-time Mommy. Whenever that happens, but I’m not worried about that right now. Fully focusing on my job, getting our debt paid off and building a SAFE foundation for our kids to enter into – that is Clark’s and my game plan.

Speaking of Clark, his many many businesses (as his family and friends well know, lol) are doing pretty darn good! He’s had a lot of camera jobs this week, today he went out on a shoot at a recording studio. His web jobs are also doing pretty good. Things have been really taking off for us! But we’re not forgetting to stop everyday and really count our many blessings and thanking the Lord every morning and every night!

I’ve been so busy, which is why I haven’t blogged as regularly. I’m getting into the swing of things. Hopefully I”ll be able to slowly bring in everything I’d like to continue doing like I used to (dishes, laundry, reading books, blogging, etc ;) ) . We’ll see, one step at a time!

Everything is going VERY well!

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Categories: Health, Writer's Block

A Possible Final Solution

August 26th, 2009 2 comments

A well renowned Nutritionist from New York has given me some additional advise for my current health dilemma(s) with Dysmenorrhea & Oligomenorrhea- advise given to me via my Mom who sat down with her at a Health Seminar where this lady spoke, and told her about me. Here is what Roslyn Rogers ‘told me’:

In addition to:

I will need to:

  • Cut out ALL sweets! She said, “Sugar is an enemy to women who have reproductive disorders. They influence pain heavily, and overall do not help aid your health”. So I’ll need to go cold turkey on sweets :(
  • Why eating mostly (preferably ALL) Organic Food , is for example: Milk. Milk that has been pasteurized and homogenized has added hormones, pestisides & antibiotics that will not help my already hormone imbalanced state that my female reproductive system is in. For example:
  • “Milk that is labeled “USDA Organic” must come from cows that have not been treated with bovine growth hormone (BGH) to increase milk production. People who focus on this goal express concern that hormones in milk could raise the risk of hormone-related cancers, or lead to higher levels of an insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) linked with cancer.

    A second characteristic of organic milk is that these cows are not treated with antibiotics. If a cow in an organic herd does need to be treated with antibiotics, she is not returned to the herd for a period of 12 months. Yet in conventional herds, milk from cows that receive antibiotics is not used until tests show it is antibiotic-free. Tanks of milk are routinely tested to ensure no antibiotic content.

    A third requirement of organic milk is that cows’ feed is grown without pesticides, whether the feed is grass or grain. Recent USDA reports show that nonorganic milk may contain low levels of certain pesticides” Read more about why Organic Milk…

    I need pure & whole food to help quicken the process of healing and make it a permanent state of balanced health.

I have paraphrased her statements of course, but she said that making all of the above a part of my lifestyle permanently will help balance out my hormones and should also help regulate – better, my menstrual cycle. In turn, should also make it easier to get pregnant as well. :D   YAY! ♥

Going cold turkey on sweets will be VERY HARD, but from past experiences in eliminating most habits, the first 2 weeks are always the hardest. Then it becomes easier thereafter.

Wish me luck!

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Categories: Health

A Baby For Us

August 23rd, 2009 8 comments

Pardon my little pity party here… it’ll be short. If you’re not fond of ‘girly words’ like p*riod and others alike, I would skip this post.

So, awhile back when I was diagnosed with Dysmenorrhea, I was also diagnosed with Oligomenorrhea. Oligomenorrhea is the medical term for infrequent uterine bleeding episodes with intervals of more than 35 days. Lately I’ve noticed that my periods keep getting shorter and shorter. When I first began my period, they would last 7 days. But as I’ve gotten older (I’ve had my period since I was 15 years old) they have progressively went from 7, to 5, to 4, to 3, to 2 and now this last one was 1.5 days. :(

When I went to see the Dr. and she told me I was pretty much out of luck for my Dysmenorrhea/Endometriosis because I am allergic to Birth Control, she also told me I would have a hard time getting pregnant. She didn’t do a lot of explaining, just a lot of statements. So it’s taken me until now (quite a few months) to fully understand everything she told me. I looked up more details on why my periods are getting shorter and here are a few snippits of what I found:

Oligomenorrhea and Infertility
For women who are trying to conceive, oligomenorrhea can be a serious issue. Because you are only experiencing a period a few times a year, your body is also ovulating less. This means that you have a smaller chance of becoming pregnant.

Irregular periods or oligomenorrhea. Unpredictable periods are normal the first year of menstruation, and during perimenpause (the years leading up to menopause). Hormone imbalances or disorders can also cause irregular periods, which can affect fertility levels and your chances of conceiving a baby.

For no apparent reason, a few women menstruate (with ovulation occurring) on a regular schedule as infrequently as once every two months. For them that schedule is normal and not a cause for concern.

For me, I cycle anywhere from 30-43 days. The past 3 cycles have been every 34 days. But each time, like I have said – have been shorter and shorter.

This is where my Dr. said I am out of luck because of my allergic reaction to BC, to help regulate my period. So, my pity party is that it’ll be harder CB106347for me to get pregnant. That ‘more likely than not’ chance that I won’t be able to have a baby of my own. I get frustrated when I do have my period… because they are as painful as labor pains (Dysmenorrhea) – and some times I feel it unfair that I go through all this pain only to have this diagnosis of Oligomenorrhea that tells me I have a good chance of NOT getting pregnant. So what’s it worth? :( *Sigh*… I know… I know what it’s worth. I just get frustrated sometimes…

Although, as long as I do have a period – there IS a chance. However short it may be, there is a chance that it might happen. That’s better than nothing – right? :)

It’ll happen when it is supposed to… whether it be in this life or the next. I am lucky I have a loving and supportive Husband who loves me unconditionally. ♥

Thanks for listening. :)

Sources:

4 Types of Menstrual Period Problems

Oligomenorrhea

Female Fertility

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Categories: Health

I'm Spoiled

July 21st, 2009 1 comment

This week has been the best of times as well as the worst of times. [* this post contains girly words such as P*S, & p*riod and other things, so if you're squirmish about 'that time of the month' let this be your warning ;) ]

Started my period yesterday and it HURT. One of the worst in a few months. Mine have always hurt, but since I changed my diet (almost 2 months ago), they have progressively gotten better in various ways. I think I’ve nailed the culprit of a major influence of my monthly pain. My digestive tract has healed tremendously with my new diet – that improved almost right away. So that has been a HUGE help! But I have found that a great influence of my menstrual pain has to do with stress. I’m currently dealing with a bit of family drama and I have been MAJORLY stressed internally about it. I’m trying to keep up with healing thoughts of love, trying to let some things go and tell myself the truth:  that it indeed is ‘no big deal’ and ‘it’s not my problem’… we all go through some family drama from time to time in our lives – no? I think it’s pretty normal. Just breathe… it’ll all go away soon ;)

Anyways, to the good news. Why I’m spoiled:

I, Rebecca – have THE BEST husband in the WORLD! A not so fun yo-yo’ing week for me and my lovely husband went out during work hours (not a common thing for him) to JUST get me “get well treats”.

ClarkTJSurprise

Ginger helps with my nausea during my PMS week and I told him like 2 weeks ago that I was craving Pop Tarts – He remembered! He’s so like that, to remember even the little things I say forever ago, and to surprise me. He LOVES to surprise me. He even went to Trader Joe’s, one of my favorite stores – to get these treats! He knows me SO WELL! :D

Yesterday when I was in SO MUCH PAIN, curled up moaning and just crying and crying – he was so worried!  He said, “Becky, lets say a prayer. Maybe God can help inspire us with a new way to help the pain.” We did, we felt guided to search on the net for new ideas… and we found some! I never thought of doing breathing exercises to alleviate stress FOR Dysmenorrhea (when I read that stress plays a role in the amount of pain – this is when I realized that stress has been a pattern as I recall back to when my periods have been at their worst), and yoga to strengthen my lower muscles and to help relax my body and mind. To add more Magnesium in my diet, fish oil and Vitamin E. Here are the links we found:

Things like this that he does for me is what motivates me to be a better wife for him. He always tells me he loves me everyday. Tells me how beautiful I am, and why he appreciates me as his wife. I hope and pray that I reflect the same love to him as he shows me on a daily basis. I seriously feel like I am the luckiest wife in the world. ♥ I love Clark so much!

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Categories: Health, Relationships

To Drink or Not to Drink Herbal Tea

July 17th, 2009 12 comments

As Latter-day Saints we have been taught to abstain from ‘hot drinks’ as outlined in The Word of Wisdom. Since Clark and I have been married, it’s been a question up in the air whether herbal tea is OK in our home.

Clark was raised with the understanding (on his part, I don’t know for the rest of his family) that tea is tea – don’t drink it. I grew up with the understanding from my Mother & Father that Black tea, & Green tea and other caffeinated teas are a no-no but Herbal Tea is GREAT when you’re sick and not feeling well, or ‘sleepy time tea‘ if you have trouble going to sleep. So I did some research, as I LOVE Herbal Tea but am willing to let it go if indeed it falls under the “bad tea” group. Here is what I found:

Question: Which Herbal Teas Can Mormons Drink?

I received an email asking the following question: “I’ve heard that some herbal teas are okay to drink, but could you please clarify what is allowed and what isn’t? Thanks so much for your help!”

So in the Word of Wisdom which herbal teas are Okay to drink?

Answer: Official doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints states that drinking tea is against the Word of Wisdom. Under the Gospel Topic of Word of Wisdom at LDS.org it states:

“The best course is to completely avoid the substances that the Lord prohibits in the Word of Wisdom.”

But to clarifty, herbal tea is not against the word of wisdom, although we have been cautioned: “Some people enjoy herbal teas, but even these should not replace more nutritious drinks in the diet” (Lora Beth Larson, “The Do’s in the Word of Wisdom,” Ensign, Apr 1977, 46.)

The following types of tea made from the tea plant are NOT herbal teas:

  • Black
  • Green
  • White, and
  • Oolong

According to the Tea page at Wikipedia it states that herbal tea “usually refers to infusions of fruit or of herbs (such as rosehip, chamomile, or jiaogulan) that contain no C. sinensis. (Alternative terms for herbal tea that avoid the word “tea” are tisane and herbal infusion.)”

Also see the Ensign article that answers this question, “Do herb drinks fall into the classification of ‘hot drinks’ forbidden by the Word of Wisdom or are they ‘herbs to be used with prudence and thanksgiving?’” by Clifford J. Stratton, “I Have a Question” Aug. 1979, 24–25. (You’ll need to scroll down).

Read more about herbal tea (or tisane) at About.com’s Coffee/Tea topic and at Wikipedia.

The Word of Wisdom is a Personal Commandment: Often Latter-day Saints become focused on the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law. How to obey the Word of Wisdom is something that each individual must study and ponder on their own. In Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord has revealed that alcohol, tea and coffee (hot drinks), and tobacco are harmful. He also told us what foods are good for our bodies. The Lord has not given us a specific list of each and every kind of substance that is/isn’t good for us. He has given us the agency to study it out for our own understanding and to choose how we will accept and obey the Word of Wisdom. When searching for specific answers I suggest turning to the Lord through fasting and prayer to receive personal revelation

[Sources: LDS.org & lds.about.com]

Having found this information, Clark and I have concluded that Herbal Tea’s are OK – but Black, Green, White & Oolong teas (which I never drank while growing up – understanding that those are “hot” teas) are not good.

It feels good to have that all straightened out. Having been drinking Peppermint Herbal Tea lately has really helped my cramping and digestion. :)

Have you ever run into this dilemma? What similar experiences have you had?

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Categories: Faith, Health
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