Learning New Things

I keep reading that one of the ways to ward of dementia and alzheimers is by mentally training our brains. Learning something new. Called neuroplasticity, it's the brains ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. And it doesn't stop. The brain of a 70 year old is just as capable of learning new things and changing as the brain of a 30 year old. Besides wrapping up my Bible study, trying to organize a MOPS garage sale at my house this Friday (my final contribution to MOPS before my children are officially too old for me to attend. Go me! But seriously, my garage looks like we should be featured in an episode of "Hoarders"), and attending to my home and children, I'm also working on this...

Going gluten free.

It's not forever. Unless it works, I guess. I know I don't have celiac's (my ANA blood test came back negative). My rheumatologist wants me to try it out for 3 months (yes, 3!) to see if it helps the pain, fatigue, and stomach issues I'm going through. It's been an interesting week to say the least.

Fibromyalgia is a medial condition characterized by chronic body-wide pain, tenderness in the muscles, joints, tendons and other soft tissues. I've dealt with chronic back and neck pain for years - since the end of high school. That pain has been steadily improving over the years. Since we've moved here, however, I've dealt with chronic lower back pain, leg pain, knee and elbow pains (and other joints), sleeplessness, anxiety and fatigue, to name a few. The abnormal pain response that my body has gone through has not been fun (it's thought that the brains of those who suffer from fibromyalgia process pain differently than people without it). The other night I couldn't sleep because I was in so much pain! It's really no fun. No fun at all. Right now I'm on medication to help me sleep and help with the pain. I haven't felt much of a difference in the pain, although I am sleeping better. The meds make me dizzy from about noon on - like I've stood up too fast - which isn't fun, either. I sometimes wonder if I should be driving. I'd like to be able to get this under control, sleep through the night, get off the meds, and take a more natural approach, but I'm not there yet. After reading about how gluten could cause the pain and fatigue to worsen, and after talking to my doctor, this is where I stand.

I've become a fixture at Vitamin Cottage, which is a Colorado based health food and supplement store. Their prices are excellent for what they sell, and I can get a lot of things in bulk (like dried polenta, which is hard to find around here). No one bats an eye at you when you ask for things like GABA or xanthan gum, both of which I have in house now. It's amazing how many types of gluten-free flours there are, and the prices at Vitamin Cottage don't make me cry (weep a little, but not sob outright). I should check out Whole Foods one of these days and see what they have to offer. But Whole Foods prices can make a grown woman cry. It's closer, though, so I guess I'll be there soon.

My kids got all excited when I came home with rice cakes. Woo hoo! They're a little strange (the kids, not the rice cakes). The brown rice pasta's okay, but not as good as the whole grain pasta we usually eat. The GF brown rice bread is fine for toast, but is so dense that you could never use it for a sandwich (although it would probably make a fine sling-shot if you twirled the bad over your head and released it!). On the whole, it hasn't been so bad at home. Most of our meals seem to be fairly gluten-free anyway. The GF flours are good for thickening sauces, so no worries there. I need to figure out  the whole bread-crumb thing because I do like breaded and baked chicken. We cook it more in winter, so I've got a little while.  It's when we go out that's hard. You just don't know what's in anything, and it's amazing how much stuff is breaded or uses flour. I've eaten a lot of salads lately. Then I realized pad thai uses rice noodle.... a breakthrough night on the eating out front! I'm trying to concentrate on what I can eat, and not what I can't. Seems like half the residence of this area are gluten free, so I have plenty of resources should I have questions.

I guess through all of this I'll be making new neural connections as my brain figures it out. Luckily, though, around here I have a lot of shopping options, which will make my life easier. Next week I'm going to get some more almond meal for "breading" chicken. Going gluten-free and warding off dementia at the same time. Who knew?