Rough Week: Aluminum Armpits, Exercise and Ocean Waves

Laying in bed yesterday: Hmmmm.....why are my armpits ALWAYS so itchy!?!?  Could it be my antiperspirant?

Google can be so helpful.  Why, yes!  Itchy armpits ARE common with antiperspirant sensitivities or allergies.  Worst yet, aluminum toxicity!  What?

Hmmmmm....I seem to remember that the Homeopathic Physician told me to stop using a skin cream that I had recently purchased that was suppose to help with scars/stretch marks and toning since I had lost 28 pounds the previous year.  I had a lot of swelling and inflammation exactly where I was putting the lotion and she looked at the ingredients and it had aluminum in it so she advised against using it any more.  So I did.

Hmmmmmm...Guess what antiperspirant's active ingredient is?  Aluminum.  Yep.

I've had sensitivities to nickel in the past, especially in zippers and bra hook/eyes.  I'm just not a heavy metal gal, I guess.

I also read that one of the first places that aluminum likes to hide in the body is fat cells.  Nice.  I have plenty of those.  Time to get serious about getting rid of some, though.  The article talked about detoxing and that it's best to eat a really healthy diet so the toxins (and fat - of course) flush out more effectively.  One of the seven "to-do's" on the list was Massage once a week for at least two weeks in a row while doing the detoxing.  I booked an appointment for Friday with Gwen.  I can't remember, but I think that it said that once the fat is being flushed and the liver follows suit, then the kidneys and other organs follow suit. I used to think of massage as a luxury but now my thinking has changed - from luxury to necessity.  A good pedicure with at least 20 minutes of foot massage (or accupressure or reflexology) is also transitioning from luxury to necessity.

So I looked up aluminum toxicity and two of the most common symptoms are fatigue and difficulty with mental function.  Just what I need.  NOT.  I'm going to try to eliminate as much aluminum as possible so I made my own deodorant today!  Equal parts of coconut oil, banking soda and corn starch.  With some Lavendar essential oils for fragrance.  Won't necessarily keep me as dry as I'd like, but better than slabbing aluminum in my pits.

I also did a detox foot bath today again.  This time the concoction had espsom salts, sea salt, baking soda, orange peels and some essential oils (Lavendar, Geranium and Lemongrass).  I came up with this recipe from a couple of websites and am really liking a site called everythingessential.me which is a site that recommends protocols for various ailments using doTerra Essential Oils.  The detox bath left major circles of white powder around my lower legs.  I guess I used too much baking soda, eh?  LOL

Dana Bennion picked me up today to take me to a movie.  It is SO nice to get out of the house for something other than a medical appointment.  Though is was fabulous to get out, see her and Silas, laugh at a dumb animated movie - it was still very exhausting just to go from the house to the car, the car to the theatre, the theatre back to the car.  Nevertheless, I still asked if we could stop at Trader Joe's on the way home to pick up some fresh produce.  That REALLY did me in. My arm went limp and everything. I got home and laid down for about 3 hours and felt much better.

On Monday, I went back to the Physical Therapist for the 4th Bowen Therapy treatment.  He said that since I wasn't feeling any benefit from it, I probably should discontinue.  No argument from me though I told him I'd really like some sort of advise from him about how I can stop the reduction in my strength - everywhere.  My arms, legs, back, core - everything seems weaker.  He gave me an exercise regiment that I'm pretty excited about.  It should also help with my balance issues.  He also talked to me about doing different things to try and stimulate the nervous system signals from my feet to my brain.  Just a few simple stomps with my feet upon standing, before I start walking, should do the trick.  He taught me how to do the stomping and the exercises, had me demonstrate to show I understood and even gave me diagrams and written instructions so I could refer back to them since my memory stinks these days.  He told me it wasn't the number of reps I do yet, but just to get the form down.  I'm suppose to only do 5 reps of each one with as many breaks in between as I need.  When I did the exercises last night, most people could get them done in about 5 minutes.  It took me about 30 minutes, but that's ok because maybe by next week, I'll be able to work up to double that.  He also talked about taking Gabba.  He swears by it to help the nervous system.  I'll have to look into that still.

I was able to make it to Sacrament meeting on Sunday.  Jeff was able to go with me but I still sat on the very back row, last seat on the left.  Right next to the wall.  I spent most of the time resting my head again the wall.  I was tearful again as I know I look so pathetic.  I had Jeff take me home just before the end of the meeting.  I went home and just rested the remainder of the day.  Ugh. 

Last weekend, Jeff took me out to the ocean.  He had a meeting with a client out there so invited me along to be able to get out of the house and even booked a hotel room so we could stay longer.  Just after we got on the road, not even 10 miles away, all of the sudden I realized I didn't know where we were going!  I asked Jeff over and over again to lay out the schedule for me.  I was getting pretty upset about it.  But later in teh afternoon and evening, my mind became a little clearer.  We had dinner at a Thai restaurant that was really close by and was pretty good.  Our room overlooked the water and I opened all of teh windows and just listened to the waves crashing on the shore for hours.  In the morning, I was looking at a sign that had the name of the hotel on it.  It's called The Coho.  I was baffled about what Coho meant.  Was it a Spanish word?  An Amercian Indian word?  I asked Jeff and he said, "Cindy, it's a Salmon".  Oh. My. Gosh.  I KNEW THAT!  What is wrong with my BRAIN!?   I lost it.  I was watching the people out on the sand, running, splashing, climbing on the rocks, exploring the tide pools.  I would love to have been able to do all of that, but I could live without doing any of that if I was sure that my mind would stay intact.  I was sobbing.  Leave it to my wonderful husband to find just the perfect words and thoughts to share with me to make me feel hope again.  WE. ARE. GOING. TO. BEAT. THIS. (whatever the heck it is).