Lately

EDS:

I've been getting physical therapy since I moved. We've been working on my shoulder muscles. Activating muscles I've never used and relaxing muscles I've used too much. It's harder than it seems. Physical therapy has made a difference but I'm not sure how much difference it will make. Since I need to use the proper muscles in my shoulders to do any other exercises I need to keep up with this.

Also, I've been trying to work on my core muscles. I need to do that more. Both shoulders and core muscles are the basics to exercising. If I don't have those in order I'm in trouble. I've put on some weight and I need to get toned.

I bought a DVD that will teach me Tai Chi. I will get it and try it and then I will post here how it works out. Also, I tried the elliptical machine at my boyfriends gym. As long as I don't work my arms/shoulders it helps me with my cardio. I start at a 2 or a 3 and go for 10-15 minutes. I might get an old school gazelle machine to keep at my place to use instead of going to the gym.

I've told several people in my family about my condition hoping they too will look into whether they have EDS. My sister definitely has it, I think my cousin does as well as my mother. We won't know though unless they actually get the blood work done.

I really need to take my calcium and vitamin D. I don't want any bone density problems later that they say EDS can cause. But, the pills are a pain to take since I get nauseous quite often. I wish they had it in liquid form...

Tramadol has been my life saver lately. It gives me this euphoric feeling that keeps my brain from properly recognizing pain. My migraines only trigger I have found has been pain. As long as my pain is down my migraines go away. Kaiser has stopped covering Maxalt, so I really need to keep my migraines from coming.

My lidoderm pain patches work wonders on my shoulders. I only fear that I will have to use them longer than I really want to. I don't want to keep wearing them throughout my whole life. I really do want to get some control over my shoulders! Very frustrating. At least it's not a pill and doesn't get in my blood system.

Fructose Malabsorption:

This diet has helped significantly. I just avoid things such as bread and apples and turn to things such as rice and bell pepper. It's not too bad since I preferred those things anyways. I had some mishaps with protein bars...oops. stay away from those. Also I ate barbeque chips today, that was a no no.

I used to feel quite often that my body felt depleted of something. Now I realize that is because my body wasn't digesting the things I was eating properly. Now that I'm getting most of my nutrients to stay in my body rather than leave as quickly as it used to, I feel much better. I have more energy to use throughout the day.

I love love to bake. I actually prefer baking to cooking. The only things is now I realize my body can't handle sugar properly. My boss recently made a chocolate cake using yogurt. I ate the cake and felt fine. I'm really excited because this gives me a whole new area of baking sweets that my body can tolerate! I'm a much better baker than I am a cook so this is good news. :)