Thursday, June 18, 2015

Happy Birthday to Me!

Ok, my birthday is technically tomorrow, but the celebrations have already started! Britt took me to Port Perry yesterday, where we spend the day going into cute shops, having coffee, and buying yarn. I love Port Perry. It's a great little town, with tons of small shops in historic buildings, and there is a lovely park/boardwalk along the waterfront. 

Britt was kind enough to snap a few shots of my outfit in front of the old mill (which has just been painted, and they have added old photos along the side). I wore my "new" vintage nightgown set. These sort of pieces can often be found for much less than the cost of a vintage dress, but can be styled to look dress-like. I am loving the soft mint green shade of the material. Mint has to be my favorite colour at the moment! I paired the "dress" with a homemade belt, vintage hat, and Victorian-style boots. 



On the health front, I am finally starting to feel better. I am hopeful that I finally figured out the cause of my health issues of late. I had a bunch of tests done, which all came back normal, so the doctor basically said it was all in my head and gave me some antidepressants. Oh boy, was I angry after that! Antidepressants are fine for someone who is actually suffering from depression, but I don't have any of the symptoms of depressions other than fatigue (which really is a symptom for just about everything). So I read through the entire Canadian Medical Association Home Encyclopedia and discovered my symptoms match very closely to those caused by low blood pressure. I've always had quite low blood pressure but it's never been a problem before (I did have it checked out by a doctor a few years ago and I was told it was perfectly normal). However, I've eliminated most processed food from my diet and thus likely lowered my sodium levels as well, which I suspect caused my blood pressure to drop even lower. I've measured it a few times over the past few weeks and it was often in the 82/50 range. Yikes! So I've been increasing my salt and fluid intake which seems to be helping. I'm finally feeling like myself again after 2 months of awfulness *does a happy dance*. I'm going to keep monitoring it for a week or so, perform a statistically analysis on the data, and then return to the doctor with my findings. (I'm finally putting my statistics major to good use!) 

Anyways, if things continue how the are, I should be able to get back to work on Phonograph Fashions. I've just started watching House of Eliott (thanks again Elizbeth for sending it to me!!!) and it's given me so many design ideas I want to try out. Now that I'm feeling better, I should have a lot more time and energy to dedicate to sewing. August will be my shop's 2 year anniversary, so I'm planning some sort of giveaway to celebrate! 

I hope everyone is having a great week!

That's All.

20 comments:

  1. Joyeux anniversaire!

    You look gorgeous!

    I'm very tired too and I have a low blood pressure, but the doctors never found out why, so I try do live my best with it :/

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    1. Thanks! Sorry to hear you suffer from the same problem. I'm finding just consuming more salt and water is helping quite a bit.

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    2. Thanks :) I'll give a try! :)

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  2. Happy Birthday! Hope you continue to have an excellent time. Sorry to read you've not had much help from your doctor. In the distant past I've also had a doctor try to foist anti-depressants on me when I was not depressed. Very frustrating! I have ME/CFS - it may have a different name in your part of the world, but here's a link to info on it: http://www.meassociation.org.uk/about/. There's no diagnostic test so it's only diagnosed by ruling other things out. It's not very rare but doctors aren't always knowledgable about it. I mention this because one symptom I experience is postural hypotension, which means my blood pressure drops when I stand up (it should go up, not down). Used to have my blood pressure measured sitting and standing to see how much it dropped, and for a while was prescribed a drug called midodrine, which helped. Just thought I'd mention this in case it helps.

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion. I will add it to my list of things to ask about next time I go in. I'm luckily feeling a heck of a lot better now :)

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    2. Hmm, my comment disappeared. I just wanted to suggest that you look into adrenal fatigue/insufficiency. Low blood pressure and fatigue are classic signs of it, and salt usually does help. You might want to check into hypothyroid or euthyroid syndrome as well, as adrenal and thyroid problems tend to go hand in hand. I had a similar experience to yours after eliminating processed foods. Wish you the best.

      Dee

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    3. Thank you for the suggestions as well. I did have my thyroid checked, and I tried a few tests for adrenal fatigue as well. No luck I'm afraid.

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    4. You may want to ask for a few more tests to thoroughly rule out thyroid and adrenal problems. I apologize for all the info I'm about to "dump" if you're already familiar with these issues, but in case you aren't I wouldn't want you to go through what I did. I suspected thyroid problems for years before I finally got diagnosed. I had given up for a long time because the doctors I had were only doing a couple of tests and using lab ranges that were far too broad. A good panel should include: TSH, Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, thyroglobulin, and thyroid antibodies. Being at the bottom of the range for the active T3 hormone and having high Reverse T3 can cause hypothryoid symptoms even if the thyroid gland itself is working ok. It really pays to try to find a doctor very familiar with thyroid issues, most others will just run a TSH test and maybe a T4 if you're lucky, and then say you're fine, when you really might not be.

      There is good thyroid and adrenal info at Dr. Alan Christianson, Chris Kresser, and Suzy Cohen's websites. Dr. Datis Kharrazian and Izabella Wentz wrote good books. And lastly, thyroidchange.org has a list of doctors recommended by thyroid patients. There is lots of good information on other health topics at some of these sites, but also stuff I would want more data on before I tried it.

      Oh, and if your doctor only ordered an ACTH blood test, those usually aren't too accurate for adrenal fatigue. The saliva tests usually work better, and you can actually order one yourself if the doctor won't. I believe my doctor used the one from DiagnosTechs.

      I hope your health continues to improve no matter what the cause! It's a really good sign that just increasing your salt and fluid intake already made you feel better. It's awesome that you can use your statistics major to make your case to your doctor. I wish you the best, it can be really frustrating sometimes. The over prescription of anti-depressants is appalling, and kind of representative of the whole throw a pill at it attitude that really doesn't work.

      Dee

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  3. Joyful birthday wishes, sweet Kate!!! I hope that you have a stellar celebration and year ahead!

    ♥ Jessica

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  4. Oh, Happy Birthday! I just looked close enough to see that it's actually today.

    Dee

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  5. Happy Birthday and I hope that you continue to feel better.

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  6. Hi! We used to follow each other on my older blog (Betty2Tone's Vintage Adventures). I have a new account so I thought I would say hi again. And Happy Birthday! :)

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    1. Thanks for letting me know you "moved". I just followed your new blog :)

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    2. Thanks! It's nice to "catch up" with people again. I'm glad you're still blogging, because a lot of people aren't anymore :)

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  7. Happy Birthday, Kate! Sorry I'm late, I haven't been on blogger for days....very odd for me but I've been quite busy as of late.

    You look so lovely in your mint green dress.

    I'm so happy that you're enjoying House of Elliott and getting inspiration...I just had a feeling that you would enjoy it :)

    I glad that you're getting to the root of your health issues. If it's any consolation, I've had to do some self diagnosis and run my own stats etc for health concerns that baffled my doctor. Come to find out, I was right and my own personal research was very valuable in my treatment plan ( I have a rare autoimmune disorder that took years to be properly diagnosed and treated). So good for you being your own health advocate and trusting your instinct!

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    1. Thanks :)

      And yes, it seems to be surprisingly hard to get a proper diagnosis. I was fully expecting to walk in, get some tests done, and walk out with at least knowing what the issue was. Sorry to hear you had the same problems getting properly diagnosed. I suppose it's difficult for doctors to recognize less common issues, but it is certainly frustrating for the patient!

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  8. Happy birthday you look great. I'm sorry you had such trouble getting a diagnosis

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