Advocate for...Getting Ready in the Morning?

I never really considered myself a girly girl, I was much more the type to wake up ten minutes before I had to leave, put on sweat pants, maybe brush my hair (depending on length), brush my teeth and go. My morning routine averaged around fifteen minutes, and that was completely fine. At least until I started Accutane, which changed my morning routine permanently.

Accutane for those of you who don’t know, is a type of drug that literally sucks out all of the moisture in your skin. Its commonly used for people who suffer from severe, and often painful acne. One of the side effecs however, it that your entire body starts to shrivel up from being so dry. My famous fifteen minute morning routine wasn’t going to work for this, and neither was your standard beauty products (either because of allergies, or the fact that my skin hates products of all types). Enter Lush Cosmetics.

Lush was a store I had heard of from a couple of friends, either because they worked there, or because they were a Lush fangirl. I am now a Lush fangirl, for better or worse, depending on if you ask me or my wallet. Suddenly I was overflowing with Lush products in my bathroom, and eventually my routine changed from fifteen minutes to an hour and half process.

To give you an idea here’s my standard routine now:

Scrub Face, Chest, and Shoulders with Ocean Salt (This is only once a week)

Brush Hair (to help with shampooing and conditioning)

Brush Teeth

Use Mint Sugar Scrub for Lips

Apply Honey Lip Balm

Wash Hair with Daddy-O Shampoo

Wash Body with either Godmother Soap Bar, Prince Shower Gel, Sweetie Pie Shower Jelly, or Daddy-O

Condition Hair with either Strawberry Cream or Veganese

Dry Off

Apply Sunscreen (Sadly not a Lush Product – Just regular sunscreen here)

Apply Charity Pot Lotion

Use Lemon Cuticle Butter for Feet and Hands

Brush Hair

Get Dressed

Take various Medications

Pack Purse/Backpack (Full of on the go Lush products, Sunscreen, and Burt’s Bees Chapstick)

Leave

As you can see, this routine takes a little bit longer than brush teeth, take basic shower, brush hair, leave. However it works, and has helped my skin clear up just as much as the Accutane. My skin feels soft and smooth, and its actually helping me not experience severe dry side effects from the medication. Well, except for cracked lips of course, but that’s hard to avoid. (:

If you have the chance, just walk into their store. But be sure to bring your wallet because their products are a-ma-zing! For all you animal lovers they’re also mainly vegan, and animal cruelty free. The employees are amazingly nice, and if you ask the right questions they are more than happy to help. Of course be aware that they will try to upsell to you, but that’s their job.

Each product is different for each person depending on their skin. Ask the employees what they use, smell EVERYTHING, and test things out to find your perfect blend. Personally I recommend their Daddy-O, and lotions for any skin type. They are hands down my favorite things from there so far.  So shop away future Lushies! Clear skin to you!

P.s. Since they’re all natural products you get to feel even better about yourself as you get ready. And coming from someone with severe allergies, and pain, I highly recommend them if you are having trouble finding your morning mixture.

Note: I have not been asked to endorse Lush in anyway in this Blog. All contents and reviews are purely my own. This is just a fangirl health post.

Please be aware that I am NOT a medical professional, if you have any doubts about your health please seek professional medical advise. If this is an emergency call 911 or your local emergency hotline. 

Listen to Your Body

Knowing your body, understanding how it feels, looks, and functions are critical to your health. Especially when you’re visiting the hospital to visit a doctor every week for medication reviews, examinations, or other various health conditions. In a previous blog post we went over knowing the difference from what’s normal for your body, side effects from medications, and pains or signs that should be looked at right away. These physical and mental signs all play a crucial part in knowing your body, but there’s one other piece we didn’t go over; your gut.

Everyone has had “gut feelings”. Either that something didn’t feel right in a situation, or that someone felt off. Sometimes our gut is right, and sometimes our gut is wrong. But very often our gut allows us to take a step back from the situation at hand and question it. Questions are important, especially when it comes to our health.

I recently had a gut feeling about a new medication, something that had I listened to and questioned could have allowed me to escape a lot of pain and ER visits these past few weeks. You see, I started to see a rheumatologist for back pain that I’ve had all my life. I don’t want it to seem like I’m complaining about my back pain here though, as I know there are many people who experience much worse. However this pain does cause problems, including limiting my physical abilities. The pain has been spreading in my joints and I decided that seeing a doctor would be best. Almost immediately he diagnosed the pain as AS, a form of immune rheumatoid arthritis. Essentially it means that the immune system thinks joints (mainly the spine) don’t belong in the body and attacks them, causing pain and stiffness. With this diagnosis he prescribed a shot to be given biweekly, one I would give myself. I was nervous, my gut was screaming no.

I didn’t listen to my gut because I was so sure that it was just because of my anxiety. I agreed to take the shot. The first time I went in to pick up my Humira (the shot) my body tensed up and I wanted to run out of the office. The first time I held the actual pen itself my arm was lurching backwards and shaking. Everything in me was saying no, but I clicked the button anyway.

3 Days later I ended up in the ER with a liver cyst, extreme pain, difficulty breathing, extreme depression (which I haven’t experienced since 2007) and no explainable source of pain. The wonderful nurses and doctors at the ER did at much as they could in terms of testing to find a source of pain, however nothing could be found. Understanding that the bed was needed for others I went home. Three weeks later the pain is still present, although not as intense. It was recommended I go off the Humira, and I began to think. Should I have gotten a second opinion before I took my shot? Should I have listened to my gut?

This isn’t to say that you should completely ditch your doctors, or medications all at once just because you have a “gut feeling”. But if you are uneasy, or restless, don’t be afraid to get a second opinion. If your body is fighting you especially hard on something, or you are deeply afraid of something (even if you have anxiety), ask questions. I learned more about Humira after I took it then before I took it, it would have helped if I had asked 101 questions.

I’m thankful for this experience though, I’ve learned a lot about my own gut through this, and myself. Besides, I was able to get extra massages from my ever loving and understanding boyfriend, nothing better than that. (:

Don’t be afraid, it’s your health. Ask away, save yourself the pain and give your fears some ease with answers.

Please be aware that I am NOT a medical professional, if you have any doubts about your health please seek professional medical advise. If this is an emergency call 911 or your local emergency hotline.  

Depression and Goals

Sorry for the late post this week! I haven’t been feeling too great the past couple weeks, even been to the ER a couple times. Hopefully will feel better and be back to my old self soon though, especially with spring break coming up! Yay!

Speaking of which, spring break is the perfect time to set some goals. Goals which are really vital to a person like myself who suffers from Chronic Depression/Anxiety. If you suffer from these you know exactly what I’m talking about. If not, let me explain quickly, depression can leave you crippled to a point that you can’t do anything. You can feel helpless, alone, scared, like you’re the worst in the world. You’ll want to stop moving/doing anything, go into a dark little corner (or bathtub in my case), and cry for all eternity. That, stopping moving/doing anything, is the worst thing you can do. At that point your mind can sit and dwell on all the negative and have nothing to distract it. Setting goals, and giving yourself things to do, helps prevent some crippling breakdowns. This isn’t to say that it prevents all of them, and that sucks. I still get crippling breakdowns even with my minor goals (things like clean the counter, watch this movie, get a drink, nothing too hardcore). Sometimes goals don’t work for people, and in that case they have other strategies that work for them. That’s for another blog post entirely however. For now, goals! (:

So now that the advice section is done, this might be a good time to list a few of my own goals for the next couple weeks. Since my Grandparents are coming out, and since I’m still in chronic pain, it’ll be a nice mix of easy going and cleaning goals. Good for both my sanity and my physical body. Let’s make say, 5.

1. Clean my Office. Including things like my desk, guinea pig cage, floor, closet, and organizing all those cabinets. Been trying to do that for a long time now, haven’t gotten far. Haha.

2. Make flight, hotel, and car reservations or Kauai. Something that has to be done before Spring break even starts, since I leave at the end of that week.

3. Write three to four Medium blogs relevant to COM 320, another blog classwork assignment.

4. Clean out the fridge, also needs to be done before spring break.

5. Make Guinea Pig Vet appointments for remaining three guinea pigs. Gotta get those piggies to the vet!

Hopefully all of these can get finished before the end of March! Keep you all updated! What are some of you goals for March, since there is really only a couple weeks left now? Do you have any strategies that help you with your depression or anxiety attacks (they might be used in a future blog post, and I may try them out myself!). Sharing of ideas always encouraged here!

Please be aware that I am NOT a medical professional, if you have any doubts about your health please seek professional medical advise. If this is an emergency call 911 or your local emergency hotline. 

Side Effects or Just an Average Day?

It's fairly common knowledge that medicines have side effects, especially with movements like the vaccine movement making sure you know about them. Even if the chances of getting those side effects are one in a million, or less. With prescribed medications however there are some fairly common side effects in almost every pill, liquid, or needle. Depression/anxiety, migraines, joint pain, soreness, fatigue, dizziness, weight loss/gain,and many others. The chance of getting these side effects are far and few between as said before. Most of them being irritations rather than fatal. Only those medications labeled by the FDA as black box medications have high fatal (or near fatal) side effects/risk. Thankfully black box medications are used only as a last resort, and only by those who are in unbearable amounts of pain. 

But say you "experience" these side effects, how do you know they are just that; side effects? I experience many common side effects of medications on a daily basis, and that's without taking any medication. So being able to determine which side effects are from medications, and which are from just me can be a challenge. It can also be the determining factor between ER visits or just having a bad day. While some side effects are harmless, others show signs of serious diseases, organ failure, or other serious medical conditions that need attention ASAP. Having that baseline on a "normal" day of depression, anxiety, joint pain, migraines, and other pain in my body is extremely important for me. Especially when Doctor's press on my skin to see if I am sensitive to pain. 

Ladies even knowing what a period cramp feels like is important! I suffer from PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, so I have very severe cramps. Knowing the distinction between a "bad cramp" and a really bad stomache pain in the same area was really important for me a couple years ago. It was important because I had appendicitis, something that can kill you if it's not looked at. Thankfully I did know what pain was normal for me and rushed to the hospital. 

People always tell you to keep a list of you medications and dosages with you, which is important. But having a pain baseline is also important is you have painful medical conditions. Especially if you are experimenting with new medications or under a lot of stress. Know you baseline, know your body, and don't be afraid to say "This isn't MY normal pain". Even if it doesn't make sense at first, stick to your guns and get your point across, Doctors and Nurses will listen to you, and they do want to help. (:

Below are some baseline questions that might help you if you are stuck in developing a baseline. Good luck, and be safe out there!

1. Does it hurt to breath? (Note: It shouldn't hurt to breath. Even if you have asthma, if your inhaler isn't working please go see a doctor. Breathing is important!)
2. Does this pain usually last this long?
3. Is the pain usually in this area?
4. Is the pain different? (i,e, Does it usually burn but is instead pulsating today?)
5. Is there a lump? Have I hit that spot recently?
6. Is my body trying to get rid of something? (i.e. vomitting, or other bodily movements)
7. Am I passing out, fatigued, or dizzy?

Please be aware that I am NOT a medical professional, if you have any doubts about your health please seek professional medical advise. If this is an emergency call 911 or your local emergency hotline.