The Gift of Good Health
I thought I would take a lot of steps back to see what was bothering me. There is still no final verdict, but it seems like generally my liver (dubbed Mr Livvie) does not perform quite as he should and this is separate or related to all the allergies/ chemical sensitivies/ and intolerances I have been experiencing on a daily basis. Some of this stuff started last year when I suddenly because “allergic” to penicillin and Nsaids after a few rounds of abx in a short period of time. After that it seemed like every few months there was some other innocuous substance that made me feel really bad. Not making the connection, a lot of times I would blame it on fighting off a bug. But I was ALWAYS fighting off a bug. I think it all came to a head this march when, during a planned recovery week, I lined up some overdue Drs appointments that included exposure to several doses of NSAIDs, a medical procedure that required anesthesia and some dental work that required various numbing and anesthetic substances. It was like systemic overload and my system went haywire!
The symptoms going into April were strange. All the sudden it was like someone lopped 15% or so off my Vo2 max overnight and I was experiencing breathlessness, poor performance, and chest pain. Also visible tremors of my hands mostly and my arms and legs when I did try to do workouts. I rested a lot before FL hoping it was just this or that, but I ended up feeling terrible, especially after my normal dose of caffeine in the morning. The yikes moment was my heart rate exceeding 120 while standing still on the shore prior to the race.
Still hoping it was going to magically work out, I started (and finished) the race but had chest pains, a racing, pounding heart, and trembling arms and legs. Things went downhill from there and I spent the next few days on my parent’s couch with chest pain and what felt like the worst hangover ever. Was very sick and wasn’t sure I could or should continue racing after that but tackled John Tanner Sprint Tri and felt slightly less close to death but still awful. I didn’t realize that I can’t handle caffeine any longer till after that one. Both of these races necessitated a full week of recovery. Not like recovery you’d normally have after a long race, but laying on the couch every day in complete misery recovery.
I may be a slow learner, but after that I was able to get some great help from Dr Bryan Wells and Dr Kim. My heart was in perfect working order (I joked that my heart condition indicated I should go sign up for some IRONMANs) and it was at least reassuring to know that I wasn’t doing any permanent damage.
Nevertheless, it seemed like IM TX, my planned spring IM, was not a good idea. I was disproportionately depressed about missing Texas. It was something I had trained with and talked to Carrie and Michelle about for over a year, and I was extremely excited about it. It was the right thing to do though. With the issues at Texas, it would have been a disaster with me in poor form already. I enjoyed spectating Texas and Chatt 70.3 though I was super sad to miss both.
After some rest and some visits and research during this time period, I became more confident that I wasn’t doing permanent damange to myself from racing and according to several medical professionals, I fortunately didn’t seem medically close to death like I felt. I had some other tests and a few outlying blood values but nothing on ultrasound to indicate that something was Really Really wrong, like I felt that it was inside, so it seemed like lifestyle changes were paramount.
First step was to cut out the most likely culprits, alcohol and caffeine to nothing or nearly nothing. Fortunately Ilana had already gotten me off most processed food, aspartame, and a lot of bad chemicals that come along with those things in the past, so I was able to start honing on things that Mr Livvie approved or disapproved of.
While I once thought I could never live, much less race, without caffeine, I have found that you actually feel better in a lot of ways without it. The main problem, as I have explained to others, is that it’s harder to make yourself do things you don’t really want to do. So if you’re tired and don’t want to go out, yet you feel obligated, it’s much harder to put on a brave face without caffeine.
For several years I have experienced warning signs with nearly all drugs I’ve been exposed to – aspirin and other NSAIDS plus any antibiotics- but now I pretty much break out in hives if I take anything. So all drugs are out right now except for Benadryl. Things on skin have also led to problems so I have to be very careful about any derm meds, lotions, or anything like that. I actually have broken out in hives at a massage recently and after using a different brand of soap.
This whole journey hasn’t been very fun or easy. I am now working so hard to limit exposure it’s crazy to think of all the things I was exposing myself to before. Our bodies are an amazing thing though and I’ve never appreciate the amazing miracle of our bodies until I saw my heart beating on an ultrasound, working SO hard all my life without stopping. God sure knew what he was doing, but man there’s a lot that can go wrong! I feel grateful to have a clear head today, in July, and hoping for more good days to come.
