Fountain of Youth

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What do all of these have in common? Dehydration.

Relationship breakup heart attack: your mind is occupied, you neglect all but the strongest body signals, you don't drink, you don't sleep, you don't eat. Maybe you even start guzzling alcohol (Oh no! a major cause of dehydration!). The blood starts to get thick, and when it hits a narrow gap inside a heart artery, blocking the flow.... WHAM!
Heart attack! It broke his/her heart...no, his/her blood got too thick. Be sure to drink water frequently when going through relationship stress.

Winter snow shoveling heart attack: How is this any more strenuous than any activity you do in the summer? It isn't. But the air is colder, and therefore drier. (Simple physics). So you are breathing cold dry air into your lungs, which warm the air, which sucks water out of your lungs into the now warm air, which you then exhale, which dehydrates you more and more with each breath, and your blood gets thicker and thicker,and... WHAM! Heart attack. Drinking water prior to going outside, plus frequently while outside, and breathing through your nose, and only working so hard that you don't have to breathe through your mouth, and drinking when you go back inside (even if this means that you will have to track snow in and out and take off 15 layers of clothes and put them back on frequently so that you can pee) will prevent winter snow shoveling heart attack. [Don't want to track snow in and out? Wear the diapers that astronauts use ]

Monday morning wake up heart attack: you lose one-half to one liter of fluid out of your lungs through respiration each night as you sleep. Add to this: many people avoid drinking fluid prior to lying down so that they won't have to get up in the middle of the night to pee. So they go to bed not well hydrated, or maybe even dehydrated. Add to this: they may have drunk alcohol all weekend, and they are really dehydrated. Add to this, they may be stressed about work in the morning. Add to this: your blood pressure spikes at its highest level of the day moments after you first wake up in the morning, then it goes back down. So here it is, Monday morning, you hear the alarm, jump up out of bed to rush off to work and ...WHAM! Heart attack. Set your alarm 10 minutes earlier than your normal wake up time. Have a cup of water sitting on a small table next to your bed (far enough away from your alarm clock that you don't smack the water across the room). When the alarm goes off start a new ritual: roll over onto your back, slowly stretch your arms and legs (nothing strenuous!), then sloooowly come to a seated fully upright position. Drink a sip of the water, trying not to choke and cough. Went down ok?, finish drinking the rest of the water, and let it circulate for a few minutes, thinning the blood. Then stand up slooowly, stroll to the bathroom, pee, and drink some more water.

Exercise heart attack: you didn't drink water prior, you don't drink during, and ....WHAM! Heart attack. Take into consideration how humid the air is, how hot or cold it is outside and how much you will be perspiring, and respiring, or you will be expiring.

You should be peeing several times a day, and the urine should be light in color. Feeling thirsty? This is one of your body's last signals, not first signals that you are dehydrated. Headache and delirium follow. Thirsty means you should have drunk water an hour ago. Rule of thumb: a cup of water roughly every other hour while awake gives you your 6 to 8 glasses of water requirements. Betcha haven't been drinking that much. Caffeine dehydrates you as well.

No more heart attack worries. Yay!! !!

Of course, I may be wrong.

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addendum: another Water Hypothesis of mine that I cannot prove:

Your lungs secrete approximately 2 liters of watery mucus every single day, which you reabsorb, and never realize that it's happening. Until winter. When the air gets cold. And dry. And now the mucus gets thick and sticky and can't get reabsorbed. Now it needs to be coughed out, and you start coughing, and bacteria and viruses are inhaled and they have a nice warm sticky place to grow. 1. If you just drink more water whenever it gets colder outside,(the mucous will stay thin and watery and easily resorbed, giving no toe hold to bacteria and viruses, and you won't need to cough, or get an irritated dry scratchy throat) you won't get sick, as long as you 2. wash your hands frequently, 3. don't touch your eyes or mouth or nose prior to washing, and 4. stay 3 feet away from anyone coughing or sneezing. I work around sick people all the time, but haven't gotten sick since age 18 by following four simple self-made rules. (of course, drug manufacturers will probably send hit men out for me if my hypothesis proves true. )

Thanks for the info Chuck....my family are All,alcoholics,depressed,suger junkies and have late stage diabetes(most being under 5'3" and over 200 pds...I am the "skinny one" probably due to physical perserverances(biking,weight lifting,yoga,dancing)
but at 43,the weight is catching up.

I am constantly dehydrated.My blood pressure,which I thought was due to thinner blood(130/60)is low for a 43 yo,simi-smoker(20 years a pack a day,now on the gum and 4 a day)low thyroid(synthroid).My very unhealthy scedule on days off is....drink coffee with cocoa from 12pm until 6pm....drink about 2-3 soda from 6pm until 4am....I pee alot but it is mostly dark.I KNOW this is bad for me but just became a habit.I eat cough drops from 12pm until around 6pm and then have a real meal(usually healthy)and then maybe have some froen yougert around 12am......from 12pm until 4am,I suppliment with cough drops(sger free ones give me diaria)I also have IBS(i think)but could just be a very bad life style.I am an alcoholic but got sober 17 years ago.Am on 75mg of Effexor and dont feel depressed but very stressed at work(and trying to reorginize my life).

The cough drop addiction isnt just for the suger buzz but because I (dont like many foods or eating in general)and can not stand the taste of my own mouth....have tried everything(yes,lots of dental work)maybe the thick mucus IS causing this problem.I will try and drink more water and skip the soda but couldnt function with out the coffee.Only thing keeping me awake.I love the taste of the cough drops...they are bliss for me.(I never liked the taste of alcohol.,but it is costing me a fortune at the dentist and probably the cause of the 10pd weight gain.)

Anyway,thanks for your imput.I know I have slipped into some very unhealthy habits and dont even have "ignorance" to blame it on...I know what I should be doing...it's the "change" that is making it so hard.

Interestingly enough, many of the sensory effects of strychnine poisoning are surprisingly similar to the sensory effects of AS and Sensory Integration Disorder. (Strychnine also functions by blocking the moderating effects of glutamine in the sensory nervous network, which is why I asked my brother-in-law about glutamine levels in the neurons of autistics.)

Fascinating notation there about linkage of sugar addiction and AS - might explain why my need for sweets in early teenage years led my folks to have me checked for diabetes. (Proved out that I didn't have diabetes, but I did have the makings of a stress-induced ulcer - at 13...)

OTOH, I don't think I want to live 20 years longer, if part of the cost is giving up steak and chicken. (Do people really live longer on that diet, or does it just seem like forever?)

skinny people live longer.

So do happy people. And given the choice, what is better,
a miserable life skinny, or a happy one fat? Ok, so I choose
poorly, but what more could be expected?

Not true actually. HEALTHY people live longer, being "skinny" is just as dangerous (and in some cases MORE SO) than being "fat"

Someone thats underweight is likely to die before someone who is overweight (NOT OBESE but overweight) for the fact that "skinny" people do not have the protection (fat), extra storage (fat, like if they get into a rut and can't eat, guess who's going to live longer) and are more prone to sickness and get sick easier and faster. Ect, ect.

Happiness and health of the body AND mind is required for a long healthy life.
If you're a skinny s**t who's miserable and fragile the next depression (because I'm convinced we're going to have one soon, all the signs are there.) is going to have you dead before we even get into it.

I used to be overweight but I was prouder than can be now I'm underweight and a cynical a**hole. Still proud though but thats the Russian in me I guess.


I don't have a sweets problem for some reason, I'm less of a natural person though? I'm pretty healthy eating now - my problem is in actually eating, I lack an appetite and my body burns an INSANE amount of callories just f*****g sitting due to muscle and.. how much I think I guess ( a funny thing from a Manga I remember.. one of the characters was HFA and ate sweets all the time, when he asked someone if they were going to finish their cake they said no because they didn't want to get fat and he said You wont get fat if you think. LOL )

I hear Citrus helps your appetite, apparently Coffee and caffeine was suppose to help too but I'm withdrawing what I previous wrote here, we'll just say it wasn't healthy.


I have no idea what I'm stressed about, maybe its anxiety because I'm going to a big convention with a lot of people and I'm meeting a friend who's coming down from MA to see me. I can't tell what it is but anyone have any suggestions on ways to 'calm my nerves' because I don't really notice I'm stressed until I start doing the crackpot minutia and frantic.. everything.

I read that if you use the whole flax seeds, they won't benefit you but will pass whole, through your digestive system. I put about a cup at a time through my blender, and then use it on cereal, in pancake mix, etc. This way it doesn't taste so gritty, and you are getting the benefit of the roughage and the omegas. It's cheaper to buy them whole, in bulk stores, but you can also buy them already ground. And Chuck was right about stress and sugar. I know that I go for sugar whenever I am overwhelmed or stressed about something. Cookies are my favorite, and for hard lining, it's straight candy!

We have a nasty item called a Slurpee or Slushie here. A medium contains 32 teaspoons of sugar. I can't seem to get away from them.

That's a lot of sugar! I guess we are free to pick our own poisons Krex had said something earlier about a connection between alcohol and sugar, and I know that I have read studies where children of alcoholic parents are usually addicted to sugar. Both my parents drink.

I'm an extreme controlist, I find when I feel stressed I NEED to control everything, that pertains to me at least. For a long while there I was getting pretty anorexic, mainly 'activity' anorexic. Obsessive exercise, intense restriction in calories - it was bad, I wont detail.

Also, whoever said 1200 - 1500 calories is the average needs to get their facts strait.
A woman should NOT take in ANYTHING LESS than 1200. If you're relatively active, its usually around 2000 - 2200
A male should NOT take in ANYTHING LESS than 1500. If you're relatively active its usually 2400 - 2600.

www.calorie-count.com

Of course I break these rules =\
I -should- have a nutritionist, than I should have a lot of things. - my roommate told me when I started getting better she'd often come home and think "I hope Michael's not you know.. dead or something"

I don't comfort food often but when I do its usually Pumpernickel bread.
The only sweet I really like I guess would be ice-cream but I really don't like chocolate. Its rare for me.

Yes, it is a poison. And it is indicative of the amount of stress that is going on in my life. I have a hunch about what is causing the sugar addiction. I just have to figure out what to do about it. And breaking the sugar addiction may follow, I hope!!

Haven't had one of these in a long time. 3 gaint sized candy bars (milky ways) and a couple mugs (not cups) of coffee and go out like a light. No white noise needed. I should have been bouncing off the walls. I know I should eat balanced but go through stages of not wnating say vegies and I'm on almost all meat. The I might switch to no root vegies, then I'm back on vegies and meat. I'm in a stage now were food has no appeal to me at all. Cept coffe and pepsie, but even that isn't near what it normaly is. I've cut back to about a pot a day from about 3 pots per. I dunno, I just listen to what the body wants. If I could only keep the wife from bringing home the baked goods, they're handy and fast.

Does anyone here have any non-traditional techniques for dealing with migraines?! I get them at least 2 -3 times a month and they last for 2 days. I've got one today and NOTHING works. It is really ticking me off. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

I checked back at the old Cafe and found the answer to my migraine questions. Nothing I didn't already know.

As many of us are older and prone to aches and pains I thought I would post the bizarre experience I just had with magnet bracelets making me ill.
I have repetitive motion injuries in both of my wrists. I use my wrists everday so I bought 1 magnetic bracelet because I heard that it worked. It did indeed work. I had the same pain in my hand for 2 years and it was gone. I bought another one for my other wrist which had begun aching. I was wearing both of them for 1 month when I suddenly began getting nauseous and dizzy everyday around lunch time. It got worse and worse to the point that I stopped taking the Wellbutrin I had taken for 9 months because I thought it may be that. I was good for a few days and then I was sick again. I had also misplaced my bracelets and found them in that time.

I began taking new meds for my ADD and was still sick. I thought maybe the ADD was messing with me but the meds didn't work. In fact, I was more ill than before. I stopped taking the meds and felt bad for a week more.
It was at this point that my mom asked if I was still wearing both magnetic bracelets. I said yes and she told me to take them off and see what happened. The next day I still felt odd but not as sick as before. By the third day, I was feeling 100% better and have been fine since. It appears that wearing too many magnets for too long a period of time can knock your body out of balance. My mom was told this by another knitter who had the same problem and found out by accident that they were what was making her feel bad.
I took my ADD med today for the first time and am pleased to say that I didn't have close to the reaction that I had before. If anyone knows why magnetic bracelets could make a person ill, please let me know because my interest is now piqued.

Does anyone else suffer from sinus problems? Since the pollen count where I live has been so high, I am suffering from inflamed sinuses, and an odor which just won't quit. I have been using the Neti pot for nasal irrigation, and taking bee pollen. But I feel as if my sinuses just aren't draining properly. I've even been taking Guaifenesin on a daily basis.