Before Tripping On The American Healthcare System, I generally thought most published medical information was good enough. Shouldn’t a book from the 70s about healthcare still be relevant today? Human bodies haven’t changed much, right? It’s our understanding of the human body, the mind, and how all that intertwines that has changed. If the doctors of today are reliant on the information of yesterday, they will be more likely to make harmful assumptions about patients.
I’m winding down in the amount of new information I’m learning from physical therapy. It’s good because my headaches are a mirage from two weeks ago, but that means I’m spending a majority of my hour, heavily-discounted thanks to my insurance, going through the same neck, shoulder, and arm exercises until I reach fatigue – solo. That’s fine and I’m glad I’m not dotted on, but still, it’s different than it was before where I was…
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I have three more dietitian appointments but this will be the last headache-related entry since it’s been two weeks since I last had a headache and anything dietary seemed unrelated. We talked once more about anti-inflammatory foods and then moved into prebiotics and probiotics as part of good gut health. While unrelated to headaches, ironing out dietary factors will be a good step toward better health, including headache prevention. Diversifying what I eat will help.
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The tough-as-nails colleagues I’ve worked with over the years have overall been the nicest. They may be gruff but that’s their exterior. My eyes have been bothering me at work although I haven’t strictly had a mindbender headache as I define it – an uncontrollable, unceasing headache lasting for more than thirty minutes – but I still was asked, “how’s the head?[1]” It was just minor eye strain, and replied as such, but it was still nice.
On my drive into work the other day, I had about fifteen seconds as I was within a few minutes of the parking lot, where my forehead and back of my head lit up briefly as though I had a headache coming on. I caught it quickly enough to focus on my posture, stretch my muscles, and otherwise iron out whatever kink had caused my head to ache. Would that event count as a headache?
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Even though I’ve figured out the root cause issue of my three-month, near-daily headaches to be ergonomic, I still wear my sunglasses while at work. The lights are too bright. Mainly, though, it’s easier for me since I don’t need to worry about being exposed to harsh lights for hours a day. It may be weird, even for people I haven’t seen in a while, but I have a legitimate reason for wearing them indoors.
I wonder if I became disinterested in watching movies because my spine was subtly distracting me from watching what would otherwise be alright but somewhat boring media? I have noticed, as I think of how I will sit in chairs to recline, that I’m not well-disciplined in good back posture. I’ve been practicing good standing posture of not leaning on one side, hip, or foot. Sitting? That’s something I’ll have to practice, maybe during movies?
I haven’t had a headache in over a week, I’ve been back from medical leave for longer, and I’m getting bored of the topic of writing about health issues. I have a list of the last three essays I want to write to conclude this series I’m calling Tripping On The American Healthcare System, otherwise, I can’t think of much else to write. I guess that means I’ve soaked in as much as I could?
One month into taking the high blood pressure beta-blocker Propranolol, I’m finally seeing the long-term benefits. I’ve always felt anxious. It’s not that those feelings have gone away like when I’ve taken benzodiazepines. It’s just the biggest spikes have calmed down. Unlike the anti-depressants I’ve taken that have given me severe depression, here, I’m just not controlled by the largest spikes of anxiety or depression that always used to inhibit my thoughts toward progressing forward.
I am approaching seven years of sobriety. It hasn’t been easy. It has been rewarding for myriad reasons, part of which includes learning to practice developing my patience and extending my fuse so I am less prone to reacting immediately in anger. The thing that has helped me out the most through all of this is giving myself mental buffers. If I encounter a situation like a stressful email, I may re-read it several times.
