In a Funk

I have been struggling with crippling fatigue and the blahs for several weeks now. I am functioning at a less-than acceptable level, and it is starting to really affect my general well-being. I'm overwhelmed, I'm snappy with the kids, I'm getting depressed, I can't exercise, and I'm suffering from sleep problems. I saw the doctor a couple of weeks ago for a complete physical. He decided to test my thyroid along with the other blood tests. A couple of days after the Dr. visit (and before getting all of the bloodwork results), I came across a recommendation for a book from one of my favorite bloggers. Some time ago she talked about getting off coffee without any negative withdrawal symptoms by using amino acid supplements. Then in the more recent post she talked about this book and how it is helping her to eliminate cravings for sugar and alcohol as well. She actually went to a weekend seminar the author was giving, and learned even more about nutrition therapy.

The book is called The Mood Cure, by Julia Ross. I got the book from the library and plowed through it in a couple of days. And let me tell you, this is profound stuff. I will be buying this book. Not only is it applicable to pretty much every American (especially those consuming the Standard American Diet), it is also downright fascinating. I was pretty immediately convinced that my problems are all due to deficient brain chemicals, and that I needed to change up my diet and get on some amino acid supplements. I decided to wait to hear from my doctor before springing into action, as I wanted to make sure that, if it was my thyroid at the root of things, I could take care of it first. The doctor (himself!) called me and went over all of my results. On paper, I am in excellent physical health. Even being quite a bit overweight doesn't show in my bloodwork. He had recommended during the exam that I get outside for Vitamin D every day (15-20 minutes, midday sun, NO sunscreen), and I've been working on that. It has helped perk me up a little bit, but not enough to really get me going.

So I talked to him about reading The Mood Cure (which he was familiar with, which makes me love him even more as he is very knowledgeable in natural healing/living), and told him I'd like to try some of the supplement. He was fully on board and offered his assistance should I need it. So I am anxiously awaiting my supplements (had a shipping snafu with an online vitamin company), and I have a lot of hope that this will be the solution. It will take some serious discipline (the supplement schedule, plus the change in diet, for example), but I think once I turn the corner with my energy level, I will be able to start exercising regularly again and get my life back.

I know it has been a long time since I posted anything, so I wanted to give a little explanation for that. I'm hoping to get some motivation to get back into the important things of life again, and I think I'm on the right track.

If you are interested in taking the mood questionnaire, you can do it online here. It will give you a good indication of whether or not you may need to correct a deficiency in your brain. I can't recommend this book enough, and I haven't even started my supplements yet! I will definitely be posting about my progress, so check back in on occasion. I may even post some fun stuff too. :)