When I wrote about moving to a new location in the county where I had once lived for 16 years, I was focusing on the necessary exercises we go through after a move -- establishing routines, learning directions, and creating new social networks. All of this is good for the brain, unless, of course, it's too much for the brain -- too much effort, too much stress, and, as a result, too much fatigue. Just too much everything!
I just became completely exhausted. Do you remember staying up late night after night, cramming for final exams? It wasn't until it was all over that you finally collapsed. I'm an active person, but last month if I closed my eyes after lunch, I fell asleep.
I started to worry that I had some unbearable illness; but if I do, doctors haven't found it. Of course I'm relieved, but then I start to worry. Maybe the doctor is missing something? Doctors here seem to be very upbeat and cheerful. Does that mean they're not paying attention? I remember a doctor I had in Santa Fe. When I had a pain in the chest, she wouldn't see me unless I went to the ER to have all the tests for heart attack. Another time she ordered a full pulmonary panel because I told her I coughed once or twice when I woke up in the morning and had been a smoker. She was extreme, but you could be sure she left no stone unturned. She would find something even if it was just a pebble.
My physician is conscientious enough. When something is bothering me, she goes after the easiest explanation first. The last time I went to see her it was about my fatigue. All my recent blood tests had been normal. I asked her whether the move could have just wiped me out and she agreed we should explore that possibility. She didn't really have any suggestions, although she did applaud one of mine.
This is what I did:
At my local supplements store, Pharmaca, where you can find natural medicines as well as purchase your prescriptions, the helpful sales associate suggested a form of B-12 that is easily absorbed. It's called methylcobalamin. As we age, he told me, we become less able to derive B-12 from foods. Just one or two raspberry flavored sprays into the mouth, and in a few days you should be feeling better, he said. And I did.
Another thing I picked up was a formula for adrenal support. Constant stress wears out the adrenal glands located on top of each kidney; they release the adrenaline that triggers the rise of cortisol which is useful in an emergency but sustained high cortisol levels "destroy healthy muscle and bone, slow down healing and normal cell regeneration, co-opt biochemicals need to make other vital hormone, impair digestion, metabolism and mental function, interfere with healthy endocrine function and weaken your immune system," according to Marcelle Pick, OB-GYN nurse practitioner. Wow. I certainly did not know that cortisol can destroy muscles and bones! I've had lots of problems with weak muscles and bones. The Adrenal Support formula, a combination of several Ayurveduc adaptogenic hers, has been helpful.
Lastly, I decided to go to acupuncture. That's the idea my physician encouraged. Are you familiar with the People's Organization of Community Acupuncture? It's a great thing! POCA was created to make acupuncture available to working class people and others with limited incomes who needed to have regular treatments for chronic illnesses -- people like you and me, trying to "stay alive" after 60.
In Community Acupuncture clinics, which you can locate at the POCA website above, patients stretch out on recliners in a large open room. The practitioner visits each in turn, talking briefly, inserting the needles, then moving on to the next person. Relaxing music plays, and patients doze off or just enjoy a little quiet time while the needles do their work. It's so pleasant, and it's affordable! The clinic that I visit, in Petaluma, charges $20-40 sliding scale.
The supplements, the acupuncture, and taking a little more rest have helped recharge my system, though when I'm feeling good I tend to overdo, the way I did yesterday and the day before. As a Capricorn, I'm always trying to be productive; but as astrologer Rio Olesky recommended in his monthly horoscope for October, this month was a good time for Capricorns to find other ways to spend their time.
I just didn't listen. I've been trying all day to get out to the Community Farm where I do some volunteer gardening, when all I really felt like doing was going back to bed. Oh well. There's always time to go back to bed! At least I've updated my blog -- and in the process, I've remembered that I'm still recovering from adrenal fatigue. According to Marcelle Pick, recovery can take as long as four months! I'd better build up my strength before I start running around town again.
After I do this load of laundry . . .
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