My son is almost 6 and wants to try gymnastics and tennis. He currently does Tae Kwon Do, and also wants to try soccer, basketball, and T-Ball. However, he has been talking about tennis on and off for a year. He said today that he's even more interested in gymnastics. Both would require lessons. (DH and I can teach soccer and T-ball.) Is there a clear benefit to one over the other? It seems like tennis is good because adults can easily play it for free at the park. Tennis can be learn by someone older without a problem, whereas it seems gymnastics is meant to be started young. Gymnastics is also probably more expensive in the long run, and can't be done easily once a child quits lessons. Any thoughts?

I maybe I wasn't clear enough. We get along well. By "lost the spark," I mean that one of us has had libido problems for a few years and isn't really attracted to the other in that way anymore. No abuse, no current major disagreements, or anything bad between us, really.

Maybe some digestive enzymes will help. Also, I've read that sometimes having low stomach acid can cause heartburn. I don't understand it, but buying some betaine HCl (sometimes it is already in digestive enzyme capsules) seems to help some people.

Do you think the concept of the "seven year itch" (or maybe with a different number) is true? If life has beaten one of the spouses down and the spark is gone, can it come back?

I see I'm not the only one hesistant to use older books from Ambleside Online's lists. I've thought about trying some of their free history recommendations, but I found myself wondering if racism would be a problem, with the books being written long ago. It sounds like it would be easier to just stick to something written more recently for elementary school.

Has she been checked for b12 anemia as well?

I should also emphasize how helpful drinking salted water was when my cortisol was low.

Well, not to ruin everyone's day, but globally, isn't the UN one probably the most accurate?

1. Buy noise canceling headphones. 2. Announce when you will be available again. 3. Put a sign next to you with info from number 2. 4. Completely ignore anyone who talks to you during the scheduled time. Do not respond in any way.

If you weren't already a member and felt drained like you do now, would you join?

After I went to bed last night, I realized that I really should've emphasized what a large role stress played in my body falling apart. Moms, please make sure you take time to care for yourself, before you get a chronic illness. Sometimes putting yourself last for too long means you become unable to take care of your family, and your kids wind up with less quality time with you, instead of more. At our previous legalistic church, many of the moms who bought into the QF ideaology are now suffereing with their own health troubles, that I think they could've avoided if they had spaced their babies farther apart or settled for 4 kids instead of 7.

I read a novel about an Amish teenager who was raped. Her parents had never explained sex to her, so she didn't understand what rape was or how to tell her parents. She wound up pregnant. We know a family that waited until their daughter was 15 to tell her! What if she'd been raped or molested? How would she have told anyone? Throughout history, most people would've learned at a young age by watching animals. Also, in the OT, God commanded everyone to assemble and listen to the OT being read. The kids surely would've wondered about all the sexual commands, don't you think? I explained how the sperm gets to the egg to my 5 year old a month ago. It was very anticlimactic. I repeated it again, just to make sure he heard. His response was along the lines of "oh." He was much more concerned about the umbilical cord. We also had a discussion about puberty in girls and boys, after he saw my maxipad with blood. We discussed periods, pubic hair, etc. At five, he wasn't embarrased at all. It was really no different than explaining that when he gets older, his leg hair will get thicker and darker. If we had waited until he was 10, I think he would be very embarrassed.

Ways to find a doctor that can help: -look up integrated medicine practices -a doctor that prescribes Armour thyroid of bioidentical hormones is more likely to believe in adrenal fatigue -call a compounding pharmacy and ask if they know of any doctors that do the above -look around on forums and Yahoo groups for adrenal fatigue and see if someone has a list of doctors. I found doctor 2 on a list of thyroid docs. When I saw her, my cortisol levels were normal, but she said she was willing to prescribe hydrocortisone in low doses if need be -An endocrinologist seems very unlikely to accept the idea of adrenal fatigue. They deal with patients with adrenal failure, as in they will DIE if not treated, rather than "just" feeling dead

It sounds like you had an ACTH stim test. They inject the patient with ACTH, a hormone the pituitary uses to signal the adrenal glands to make cortisol. If cortisol levels go up, the doctor will assume the adrenals are working. But what if a patient has low ACTH levels because the pituitary isn't sending the proper signal? This test wouldn't catch that problem. Also, a person may have enough total cortisol for the day but the rythym might be off. When my levels were high last year, at bedtime my cortisol was almost as high as it was in the morning. No wonder I couldn't sleep. One purpose of cortisol is to help a person wake up in the morning. If it's too high at night, a person won't sleep well, even if their level is fine or low the rest of the day.

One other thing I should note is that despite my constant, terrible insomnia, whenever we went on vacation, my sleep would improve (until we got back). This happened about 4-5 times over a few years. I think having our parents help with the kids helped and/or there was something environmental that was bothering me. We were in two different apartments and then a rental house, so perhaps there was a mold issue in them. In any case, it's good to keep a log of when you are feeling better and worse. It's harder to spot a pattern without this data. For example, you might notice you feel worse in the fall, and look into SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and get vitamin D levels checked. Or maybe every spring you feel worse and need to check for seasonal allergies.

Most traditional doctors won't acknowledge adrenal problems unless they are extreme (Addison's disease for deathly low levels of cortisol and Cushing's Disease for absurdly high levels). It's kind of silly, because I don't think people go from normal levels to extreme overnight. Symptoms start long before doctors will recognize you as having a problem. Try reading about temperature tracking, and consider a saliva cortisol test.

I would highly recommend keeping a daily log of symptoms, energy ratings, sleep ratings and time, and what new treatments you are trying. Most of the above information is from a log I kept. I'm glad I did, because I had forgotten several things I had tried. My current doctor had me rate several things each day and then give her the average at each appointment. It helped me see which CFS treatments were working and which weren't. In my logs, I kept notes about what new supplements or drugs I started. If I noticed that I felt better a week or two later, that was evidence they were helping.

I hope I didn't bore all of you. Someone had PMed me and asked how I treated my adrenal fatigue. Here are some additional thoughts: I don't know what role my second pregnancy may have had in kickstarting my adrenal glands. It may have helped, but I have little doubt that overall, in the end, my second pregnancy (and caring for a baby) made my health worse, just as my first did. Both times, it took about 6-12 months for my body to fall apart after the birth. I wish I had bought and regularly used a glucose monitor and tested by my blood sugar levels. I had symptoms of hypoglycemia. I generally had little appetite and would be a total zombie when DH came home from work. Halfway through supper, once my food started to digest, I would perk up. I should've paid more attentional to Dr. Wilson's advice in his book to stay on a high protein, low carb diet. I especially should've had a lot of meat at breakfast. I never should've gone back on gluten in college. I wish I had found my current doctor sooner. I was too focused on getting better without prescription drugs. I thought that vitamins, herbs, and food would be enough. Neither of my first two doctors were aggressive enough in treating me. I wish I had found a way to deal with the stress of adjusting to motherhood. My first child was a difficult baby and my legalistic church wasn't supportive of me. If you are familiar with Myers-Briggs, I am an INTP, which means I totally didn't fit the stereotype of a "godly submissive, patriarchy-loving wife." I had a rough time adjusting to being a mom. Being around a group of people that insist babies are nothing but "blessings" and to think anything else is selfish made it even harder for me. I would've been better off joining a group of first-time moms that would be willing to say, "Yeah, babies can be annoying, and I don't really like this either." Instead, I was surrounded by older women with 5-7 kids that couldn't remember how hard it was to be a mom with no experience. I wish I had understood that combining sleep supplements often works much better than taking either alone does. It was my current doctor that told me this. I had tried just about everything and had reached the point that I wondered if I'd need to take sleeping drugs, before I found something that worked. Several years of only getting 3-5 hours of sleep (when I needed 9 back when I was healthy) takes its toll.) My second doctor was probably right when she warned me to not fool around with iodine. I do think I was deficient, as it cleared up some cysts in my breasts within the first month. It was taking it for the next 11 months that was probably the problem. I think a much lower dose, under supervision, may have been okay, but it isn't something I'm inclined to mess with again.

April, Year 3 - Gave birth to second child. I recovered much better than after my first birth. The sleep deprivation of having a newborn didn't affect me as much. Sept, Year 3 - Doctor number 2 checked my thyroid. I expected to be hypo, since I'm feeling tired again, but the results come back that I was hyper. Doctor tells me to stop iodine. Dec, Year 3 - Hyperthyroidism gets worse and treatment is necessary. She gives me 7-8 vitamin C (and other vitamin IVs) instead of traditional treatments. They worked and my thyroid levels all came back into range. The hyperthyroidism wasn't Grave's Disease (antibody levels were too low), so it was either postpartum or caused by all the iodine I had taken for a year. Summer, Year 4 - I felt worse than ever and doctor 2 was out of ideas. I found a new doctor that specialized in chronic fatigue syndrome. She tested me and found a bunch of other problems to treat. When I took another saliva test, I expected my cortisol levels to be low. Instead they were high. (It took a year of phosphotidyl serene to bring my cortisol levels down to normal.) I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and felt worse than ever. Fall, Year 4 - Finally, after almost four years, I found the combination that helped me sleep. 0.75 mg sublingual liquid melatonin plus 4 Source Naturals brand NutraSleep tablets. Neither one works well by itself, but in combination, I can sleep (although it takes 2 hours to kick in). I still need to have a relaxing evening, a hot bath, and a cool room, but good sleep is possible. Fall, Year 5 - After a year of treatment of CFS, I begin feeling much better. After two years of not being able to drive, I begin driving (and exercising again!) Today - After 5 years, I am finally at about 85% of normal. CFS was much, much worse than adrenal fatigue. In another post, I will list what I would've done differently to treat the adrenal fatigue issues, which maybe would've kept me from sliding in CFS.

Feb, Year 2 - I attempted to wean off melatonin and my sleep got worse again. The stress of moving also made it worse. I went back on it at 1.5 mg instead of 3.0 mg. May, Year 2 - Sleep still poor, daytime energy getting much better. Feel about 70% of normal. Still on all my vitamins and Isocort. Was able to do 70% of normal activities, despite poor sleep. Was also able to do aerobics three mornings a week, without too much fatigue, as long as I salted my water. Without drinking salted water in the morning, I couldn't exercise without feeling dead for the rest of the day. (It sounds gross, but at the time, salted water tasted better to me than plain water. Later on, as my adrenal glands healed, salted water started to taste yucky to me.) June, Year 2 - I took a stool test through EnteroLab and found out I am also casein (dairy) intolerant. July, Year 2 - I came back from vacation (when I felt fine) and was completely unable to exercise one day. Two minutes into the warm-up, I was as exhausted as if I had the flu. Went home and didn't try to exercise anymore. (Was definitely not pregnant yet.) July, Year 2 - I got pregnant and weaned off Isocort in one month. My FNP was out of ideas and I sought another doctor. I was going downhill fast and knew that I needed adequate cortisol levels for a healthy baby. Fall, Year 2 - I was off all supplements and needed full time hired help to watch my son and me (severe morning sickness). Nov, Year 2 - Back on vitamins, added mega-doses of sublingual B-12/folic acid and about 5-6 mg of iodine daily. B-12 fixed the insomnia within one week. Vomiting down to a few times per week or less. A morning blood test show my cortisol to be within normal levels. (I should've had another 24 hour saliva test, to compare it with my previous results.) Jan, Year 2 - Increased iodine (Lugol's drops) to 12 mg per day. Within a few weeks, energy improved greatly. Felt the best I had in two years. (Please don't try iodine until you read more of my story. It may have backfired on me later.)

He also loves to cut paper with those crazy scissors people use for scrapbooking. Wait until he discovers he can cut to his heart's content in his phone book!

Sept, Year 1 - Began seeing a FNP (family nurse practitioner) familiar with adrenal issues. Cortisol levels slightly better but still very low. Serotonin and adrenaline were less than half the lowest result considered normal. Norepinephrine was barely at the low end of normal. She had me take a supplement called Travacor to help with my sleep. 5-HTP, theanine, and taurine were the main ingredients. It helped me sleep almost normally for about three weeks and then stopped working. Dec, Year 1 - My FNP began having me take Adrecor as well. It improved my energy levels immediately. I only felt terrible part of the day, instead of all day. I began waking up on my own, without an alarm. I also began taking 3.0 mg of melatonin, which started to help a bit, after 1-2 weeks. Jan, Year 1 - Morning cortisol level finally normal (with continued use of Isocort). Cortisol levels later in the day were still low. My sleep continued to be somewhat better, although my energy level was still lousy for much of the day. Still, it was a huge improvement from even November. __________________

Teenager - I went off gluten for four years. Eight years of constant sinus infections cleared up immediately. I also stopped getting strep throat several times a year and GI problems went away. March, Year 0 - Unmedicated birth of first child. Transition and pushing took at least 5-6 hours total. The day my child was born, I lost my ability to sleep normally. It always took 45 minutes to get to sleep after every feeding at night or at nap time. Sept, Year 0 - I went off gluten again; this time for good. Jan, Year 0 - My son finally began sleeping through the night and after a week, I began sleeping well again. I felt well for about five days. Feb, Year 1 - I got three colds in a row and then a stomach bug. My son had roseola, which years later, we suspected helped trigger conditions for CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) in me. I got over the stomach bug, but my energy never returned. Horrible insomnia began and I couldn't fall asleep until 3am on a good night and 5am on a bad night, no matter how tired I was. March, Year 1 - A friend loaned me the book The Diet Cure by Julia Ross. I took all the quizzes in it and it suggested that my adrenal glands might be dysfunctioning. I track my body temperature three times a day and charted it. My temps were low (always under 97.7) and all over the board. A constant low suggests hypothyroidism but an irregular low pattern suggests adrenal trouble. April, Year 1 - I took the Diagnos-Techs brand saliva test through http://www.canaryclub.org/. It did not require a doctor's prescription. (My current doctor uses this brand in her office, so it is reputable.) My cortisol levels were tested four times in a day, because cortisol is supposed to be highest in the morning and lowest at bedtime. My levels for the whole day were all low, especially in the morning. They weren't low enough to be considered Addison's disease or be treated by most doctors, but it was enough to make me miserable. Symptoms: Insomnia continued, poor memory, poor coordination, trouble concentrating, fatigue, light-headed upon standing May, Year 1 - Began vitamin regiment (possibly from the Adrenal Fatigue book by James Wilson), tried 3mg melatonin, 5-HTP, and GABA for a few days Symptoms: Minimal improvement June, Year 1 - Began taking Isocort supplement, which at the time was an extract from animal adrenal glands (it has since been reformulated). My daytime energy got a little better, but other symptoms remained the same More to follow in another post... __________________

sorry, wrong thread

sorry, wrong thread