So my appetite is getting better but it's not great. For this past week or so, the only thing I can stomach at lunch besides maybe some yogurt is some Cheez-It crackers that we buy for my kids. These are flavored and really, really good. My dizziness and nausea have been sooo bad lately. Well, lo and behold, one of the frickin' ingredients in these darned crackers is frickin' MSG! I'll cross that off my list of things I enjoy but can't have. We'll see if it makes any major difference or not. I'm still not convinced MSG is a problem but it makes sense in a lot of ways. The timing of these dizzy spells does coincide with the crackers (I think). Stupid me, quit keeping up with my food diary when our other laptop bit the dust.
But now it is duly noted in this blathering blog of mine. Argghhh!
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Friday, March 5, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
This Stupid Disease
I've had a setback this weekend. Starting Saturday, that feeling of unsteadiness where I feel better holding on to something when I walk is back. My right ear which is my good ear has been hurting. The funny thing about it hurting though is it seems to coincide with weather. I've had dizziness and a mini-spin and I just can't stay awake. My hearing has been off as well. Last night, it all culminated in a migraine. This morning I have woken up to that all too familiar pain at the base of my skull/upper neck. Thinking I should just call my chiropractor and see if that'll help.
Looking back at my food log, there's nothing glaring that points to this which either means there's either no connection or I haven't found the right trigger. I go back to my ENT next week. Wish I could get in sooner. It's easier to remember how bad this feeling can be while you're in it. When you're feeling better, you are so grateful and on such a "high" that you can almost overlook a couple days of misery. Still have a lingering headache today too. Bleh!!!!!
Looking back at my food log, there's nothing glaring that points to this which either means there's either no connection or I haven't found the right trigger. I go back to my ENT next week. Wish I could get in sooner. It's easier to remember how bad this feeling can be while you're in it. When you're feeling better, you are so grateful and on such a "high" that you can almost overlook a couple days of misery. Still have a lingering headache today too. Bleh!!!!!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
New "diet"-one week in
So I'm horrible at sticking to a diet. For this to truly to be an elimination diet, I have failed miserably. Alas, I knew that going in so I tried to make a goal for myself that I could attain-to eliminate aspartame and to avoid msg. We have done well with grocery store trips not to buy anything with msg in it but I've been out to eat twice now and that's really a no-no unless you purposely order stuff that's msg-free. At least I didn't eat Chinese. I have done well with the no aspartame though. As of now, I can't tell any difference really. It almost makes me wonder if I have a "sugar" trigger. Ha!
I've been keeping all this stuff on a spreadsheet. My meals, snacks, beverages, weather for the day, stress level, symptoms for the day, and a place for anything else I feel I should note. Based on one week, I would have to say weather seems to be having the most effect. We've had a snowstorm and today it's raining. Yesterday, I had 2 vertigo spells that required valium. Luckily, the valium did the trick.
The only other thing I should probably add is some kind of column for my level of activity for the day. Since I've just come off of 2 surgeries since November, I'm way out of shape. Over the past week, I've done more than I have since last October. Could be that it caught up with me yesterday.
I've lost more weight and am still struggling with my lack of appetite. My Gyn says my appetite should be back to normal in another week or so. I still have a hard time getting 3 full meals in a day. Now, I'm down to about 113. That's okay for now as I'm only 5'3" but if I lose much more, I'm going to start looking rough.
I've been keeping all this stuff on a spreadsheet. My meals, snacks, beverages, weather for the day, stress level, symptoms for the day, and a place for anything else I feel I should note. Based on one week, I would have to say weather seems to be having the most effect. We've had a snowstorm and today it's raining. Yesterday, I had 2 vertigo spells that required valium. Luckily, the valium did the trick.
The only other thing I should probably add is some kind of column for my level of activity for the day. Since I've just come off of 2 surgeries since November, I'm way out of shape. Over the past week, I've done more than I have since last October. Could be that it caught up with me yesterday.
I've lost more weight and am still struggling with my lack of appetite. My Gyn says my appetite should be back to normal in another week or so. I still have a hard time getting 3 full meals in a day. Now, I'm down to about 113. That's okay for now as I'm only 5'3" but if I lose much more, I'm going to start looking rough.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
New "diet"-the early days
I've started a spreadsheet of what I'm eating, drinking, snacking on. It also includes the weather for the day, my stress level, my symptoms that day and a miscellaneous category. Although this diet is to mainly get rid of MSG in my diet, I have also cut out all aspartame which came for me in the form of diet cokes. I have switched to regular sodas which are too sugary for me and will probably soon lead me to drinking more water. Yay!! The aspartame withdrawal is causing me some headache problems already. Starting day one. Some of the reading I've done on it is pretty scary. I don't miss it and I'm not addicted but I am not enjoying the headache aspect of this at all.
When we went to the grocery store this past Sunday, we did try to read through some ingredient lists and avoid the main MSG culprits but MSG comes hidden under so many names! There's no way we got them all but at least we've gotten started. We will continue to fine tune it as we go along. My husband is being supportive.
My stress levels continue to be high and the weather has been either rainy or very windy most days which signifies a change in barometric pressure. I'm feeling it in terms of dizziness. I'm also still pretty weak and have noticed I don't have much stamina when I'm out trying to get things done. My Gyn told me a couple days ago that this was "deconditioning" and I guess the only way to beat it is to try to get out and do more. Hard to do when you're dizzy and it's so cold.
Anyway, that's the early report. Still don't have my appetite back fully from the last surgery and just being nauseous in general. Have lost a few pounds and don't need to lose anymore but I'm just not hungry most of the time. Since this last surgery, there's only been 2 days that I've managed to get 3 full meals in. Most days I skip a meal or only eat half of what's on my plate. That may play a role in all this as well. So many variables...
When we went to the grocery store this past Sunday, we did try to read through some ingredient lists and avoid the main MSG culprits but MSG comes hidden under so many names! There's no way we got them all but at least we've gotten started. We will continue to fine tune it as we go along. My husband is being supportive.
My stress levels continue to be high and the weather has been either rainy or very windy most days which signifies a change in barometric pressure. I'm feeling it in terms of dizziness. I'm also still pretty weak and have noticed I don't have much stamina when I'm out trying to get things done. My Gyn told me a couple days ago that this was "deconditioning" and I guess the only way to beat it is to try to get out and do more. Hard to do when you're dizzy and it's so cold.
Anyway, that's the early report. Still don't have my appetite back fully from the last surgery and just being nauseous in general. Have lost a few pounds and don't need to lose anymore but I'm just not hungry most of the time. Since this last surgery, there's only been 2 days that I've managed to get 3 full meals in. Most days I skip a meal or only eat half of what's on my plate. That may play a role in all this as well. So many variables...
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Is My Diet Affecting My Meniere's?
Over the past few days, I've been wondering if there was a link between MSG and my dizziness. I had gone a good while without problem when I consumed a meal with MSG in it and within 24 hours, I had some vertigo problems. However, at the same time, we were experiencing a lot of rain and I know weather can be a factor too. I've been dizzier today as well and it's been raining all day. But I've also been thinking back to what I ate yesterday and wondering if there was a connection.
So just out of curiousity and after doing some reading on www.menieres.org/forum, I've decided to cut out all aspartame drinks for a while and to make an effort not to eat anything with MSG in it. The problem with MSG is that it is hidden under other so many other names like hydrolyzed vegetable protein or yeast extract. I am already a vegetarian and have been for 18 years now so giving up preserved meats is no big deal at all. Don't like Chinese food either so no loss there. We just went grocery shopping and did our best to read labels and avoid anything that had those ingredients. Overall, I think we did pretty well. Of course, stress is a major factor and I definitely have a ton of that right now. Tomorrow especially guarantees to filled with stress-have to argue with supplemental disability insurance company, go to work and grade papers, go to follow-up with my Gyn, and all of this with my kids in tow. Yikes.
The smart thing for me to do would be to prepare some kind of spreadsheet of my diet, the weather, stress levels, and my symptoms so that I could perhaps determine some kind of correlation. I am partially inspired to do this by some of the stories I've read of people who cut out gluten or dairy, etc and had a massive reduction in their symptoms. Some even had a decrease in tinnitus and a dramatic improvement in their hearing. Many of these people have MAV but not all of them so I figure it's worth a few weeks or so of avoiding certain foods to see what happens. This will not be a pure elimination diet but it's a good place to start!
So just out of curiousity and after doing some reading on www.menieres.org/forum, I've decided to cut out all aspartame drinks for a while and to make an effort not to eat anything with MSG in it. The problem with MSG is that it is hidden under other so many other names like hydrolyzed vegetable protein or yeast extract. I am already a vegetarian and have been for 18 years now so giving up preserved meats is no big deal at all. Don't like Chinese food either so no loss there. We just went grocery shopping and did our best to read labels and avoid anything that had those ingredients. Overall, I think we did pretty well. Of course, stress is a major factor and I definitely have a ton of that right now. Tomorrow especially guarantees to filled with stress-have to argue with supplemental disability insurance company, go to work and grade papers, go to follow-up with my Gyn, and all of this with my kids in tow. Yikes.
The smart thing for me to do would be to prepare some kind of spreadsheet of my diet, the weather, stress levels, and my symptoms so that I could perhaps determine some kind of correlation. I am partially inspired to do this by some of the stories I've read of people who cut out gluten or dairy, etc and had a massive reduction in their symptoms. Some even had a decrease in tinnitus and a dramatic improvement in their hearing. Many of these people have MAV but not all of them so I figure it's worth a few weeks or so of avoiding certain foods to see what happens. This will not be a pure elimination diet but it's a good place to start!
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