Sunshine's Web

I told you last month, that I took up Fitness to try and get into better shape/condition. I also told you I suspected the medicine I took to be responsible for the heart rate problems, that held to be true. After staying at home for a week because of my sprained ankle I started working out again, this time I had quit taking medication..and low and behold: this time I was able to control my heart rate, no more strange peaks! So that’s good news, I wasn’t obligated to take those meds and they won’t cure me (only to lessen symptoms) so they are now gone.

But what about my muscle aches, a minute of running would cause me muscle aches for 3 days! Now that is not normal! Curious as to what might be the underlying problem there, yes I know it is caused by my chronic illness, I read up on the Internet. I found that it might be an Amino Acid (protein) Deficiency. Protein is an essential component of the body. The organs, muscle, brain, nerves, and immune system are all, to some degree, comprised of protein. Every protein molecule is composed of amino acids. Amino acids are critical to life, and have a variety of roles in metabolism.

The human body is continually breaking down protein from tissues, so we need to make sure we include adequate protein in our diet every day. If enough energy is not taken in through diet, the body will use protein from the muscle mass to meet its energy needs, leading to muscle wasting over time. If the body does not consume adequate protein in nutrition, then muscle will also waste as more vital cellular processes (e.g. respiration enzymes, blood cells) recycle muscle protein for their own requirements. How much protein needed in a person’s daily diet is determined in large part by overall energy intake, as well as by the body’s need for nitrogen and essential amino acids. Physical activity and exertion as well as enhanced muscular mass increase the need for protein. Requirements are also greater during childhood for growth and development, during pregnancy or when breast-feeding in order to nourish a baby, or when the body needs to recover from malnutrition or trauma or after an operation. A shortage can even lead to Leaky Gut Syndrome. Now that is scary! If the gut is not healthy, the rest of the body cannot be either!

There are 20 standard amino acids of which 8 are called essential amino acids because the human body cannot synthesize them from other compounds at the level needed for normal growth, so they must be obtained from food. these 8 are:: phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, leucine, and lysine. The amino acids arginine, cysteine, glycine, glutamine, histidine, proline, serine and tyrosine are considered conditionally essential, meaning they are not normally required in the diet, but must be supplied exogenously to specific populations that do not synthesize it in adequate amounts.

According to Diagnose Me, Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid found in the human body. People under stress such as acute and chronic illness, psychological stress, or surgery, do not have enough glutamine in the system. Glutamine is a "brain food"; it helps build and maintain muscle; useful in weight loss and bodybuilding; used to treat arthritis, autoimmune diseases, fibrosis, intestinal disorders (such as Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel disease, ulcerative colitis), lupus, connective tissue disease and tissue damage from radiation treatments, fatigue, impotence, schizophrenia and senility. Glutamine has also been tried, with mixed results, for treating insomnia, depression and anxiety.

For a complete list of all the Amino Acids, what they do, in which foods they can be found and who might benefit from supplementing, check out Your Secret AA batteries (pdf) or check out the schedule I made out of it here.

So why didn’t my Internist recommend this to me, and why did he look at me like “yea, ok” when I told him I quit my meds and started taking an Amino Acid Complex? Isn’t it known here that chronically ill people’s bodies use more amino acids and thus may require supplementation, esp. when they start exercising? He did tell me to get more exercise. Heck, I didn’t know but you’d expect a specialist to know, right? Funny how people, doctors too, do think of vitamins when one is ill, but almost never about Amino Acids (unless you are a sports-fanatic).

Taking those Amino Acids helps me a lot, I can work out like any “normal” person can now. And I don’t even take the recommended dose that’s on the label, I only take 2 tablets a day. No excessive muscle aches that last for days, and not only that, it gives me a lot more energy too! I’ve not lost much weight yet but that will come eventually, I did build up muscle-mass, which is good and heavier than fat so…

I sure wish I had known about my body needing more amino acids because of my disease (body uses more, so shortage can occur) several years ago, it would have saved me a whole lot of fatigue and muscle aches!

Besides taking Amino Acids, I am limiting my coffee intake, instead I drink Jackie Chan’s Green Tea now, which is without a doubt the healthiest tea in the world. Green Tea has lots of benefits and this one is xtra strong! You can drink it either hot or cold at that! It tastes so good, esp. the XtraGreen lemon variant.

My training routine has been adjusted just a few weeks ago too. It was 10 min biking, 10 min walking, 6 min rowing, 2 rounds of circuit training (10 apps for muscle toning, 30 sec per app), 10 min biking. I was allowed to let my heart rate, I train with heart rate meter, go up between 130-135 rpm. Now it’s 12 min biking, 12 min walking, 10 min rowing, 6 min cross trainer, 3 rounds of circuit training (40 sec per app), finishing off with 10 min biking again. Heart rate is allowed to go up between 140-150 rpm. So you see gradually i’ll start to burn more calories

P.S. I train 3x a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Friday I conclude it by taking a sauna (I have an all-in abbo: free drinks, sauna and solarium), that truly gives me a weekend feeling!

As I need to loose some weight and my shape/condition in general was getting worse and worse (Conn. tissue disease/Secundary Raynauds), I decided to sign up at the gym.

Last Friday was my first day, condition tests had to be done and the instructor is teaching me how those equipments they have (fitness) work. Getting a good condition test was tough as my heart rate was acting quite weird (might that be because of the meds, Doxasozin Retard also known as Cardura XL, I take when it’s colder to lessen Raynauds symptoms?). On the bike (home trainer) I was to cycle between 70-80 rpm and at that keep my heart rate between 130-135. That was hard as my heart rate increased up to 140-145. Then I was to find out after 6 minutes at which rpm my heart rate was 130, that was on 55 rpm. Strange as at other moments I could very well do 75 rpm without going above 130! After 30 minutes we kinda gave up on that and went on to the next. Whilst I followed my instructor I felt slightly dizzy and there was this height difference in the floor I didn’t notice on time. I tripped when I had to take a step down, my ankle folded and I fell on the floor screaming “my ankle!” After a few minutes sitting on a chair it was ok again, no more pain so we went on. 10 minutes walking (I so do not want to try running) and 5 minutes rowing, then we called it a day. New appointment for Monday. Sadly enough I have to cancel and can’t work-out for at least a week as Friday evening my ankle went truly bad. It started hurting like hell and I couldn’t even bear a wet (cold) bandage on it, my ankle doubled in size in no time.

So here I am, wondering whether or not to see a doctor. How to get an appointment at a time I have my boyfriend to drive me around? Biking or driving myself doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. In the end I decided to order some Traumeel (contains Arnica which I know helps sprains to heal) and to give my foot a rest (put my foot up) for the time being. Having sprained my ankle before I know the standard time for that is a week, so I should be fine next Monday, esp. whilst I’ll be using Traumeel ointment to stimulate healing.

Just some picture of me taken with my webcam (in the evening), which I edited with Windows Live Photo Gallery Beta

Played around with B&W effects, Exposure and adjusting colors and came to this rather arty result