Watty's Awakening

Watty1

greenbee said:

Great news - but you're also in a very different place now in that you know you have other options and have considered them seriously. So this would be a nice-to-have, but you don't have everything riding on it. 

I think that is the thing,  When the idea first was mooted (by the VNM) I had no options and couldn't really see a way out of the mess I was in but that seemed a way out.    Today I have options, I've worked really hard.  If I get it then I have more options but if I don't then I still have possibilities.  

Watty1

greenbee said:

Stinky is sending sympathy to WattyDog. He overdid it on Saturday so is very tired and has sore paws and chose to spend most of yesterday in his crate. 

WattyDog has never  "chosen" to spend time in a crate or resting    He thinks that is a waste of his time    He had his second acupuncture session yesterday.   I thought I would give him 3 to 5 sessions and see if I think it has helped.

Last night I watched an excellent webinar by University of Cambridge vets on their IVDD research.  I've been reading bits about this on the internet and was hopeful, but, due to the excellent explanations on the webinar I now completely understand why their research is not relevant to WattyDog (their research had been giving me some hope) as his disc issues are slightly different.

For those curious, think of the discs between the spine vertebrae as jam doughnuts.   Their research was on the type of disc problem where something causes the jam doughnut to squash and the soft jam spill out pinching the spinal nerve.  WattyDog's jam doughnut has squashed and bulged and the bulge is trapping the spinal nerve, the doughnut is still intact but now mis-shaped.  (The analogy was theirs and I thought it was an excellent one).    I will watch a couple more of their webinars as the team were excellent at explaining.

So, whilst a hope of this "fixing itself" has probably been extinguished I learnt a lot about the "structure" of the spine.       However WattyDog in himself really happy and currently guarding the house and barking loudly at the men repairing the wall in the field.

Watty1

The wall that came down has been rebuilt.   Nice job too, and, done properly I hope.   The two chaps doing the work had a digger here, so, I asked if they would mind clearing stuff behind the barn and they have done so, and lost it in behind the wall they have built so all good.    Also they scraped behind the barn level and that area looks neat and tidy too.  (Just the bonfire pile to go and the logs to be cut and that will be two more jobs ticked off).

I have a strong suspicion that Mr Self Sufficiency might have been chucking "some stuff" into the wasteland that was behind the barn.  He is a good neighbour but he has "his moments".   However now behind the barn is level, and cleared so he can no longer do that.  I've no grass seed so I'll sweep the haybarn and spread that and by next year (a) the horses will be grazing there - or (b) the area will become the garden for the barn conversion.

It is all progress.

beanielou

All good then.

Watty1

Feel absolutely shattered this morning.  For no good reason I can think of other than the persistent fatigue that has been dragging me down lately.  Hopefully will get some answers when have appointment early Sept.

Have invested in an organic box to be delivered on Friday, which has meal kits in so meals for the next few days planned as with this level of exhaustion I suspect without a 'helping hand' I will resort to takeaways or bung it in the oven and reheats from the garage and I think real food will do me so much more good.

VNM has a few days off so he suggested he get on and paint the bedroom furniture - a job that was on the estate agents list of suggestions so have purchased the sealer which should be here tomorrow and some sample paints to check colour.   We are only going to paint the doors and drawer fronts at this stage as we think that should work well enough to give the room a more modern look.  Would really like to replace the  bedside units but not sure that is worth the money given current plans.

themadvix

If you're struggling with iron levels Watty (which I think you said was one of the outcomes from your blood test?) then it is likely a factor in the fatigue. I have found (and this is only my experience, not medical advice!) that Floradix works well for giving me the iron/energy boost - because it's liquid form it's supposedly easier to absorb. (I have no investment in the company, but they are quite cool  - it's all natural extracts from plants and they're a small German company rather than a big multinational).

greenbee

Vitamin C helps with iron absorption, and last time I was severely anaemic the advice was to increase Vit C rather than iron initially. If you have to take iron, take Vit C too (it does as least have the opposite effect on the gut to iron!). I'm wary of Floradix as when I worked out the amount needed when was chronically anaemic, it would have been a bottle every couple of days - which apparently can turn your teeth black - but it (or spatone) are good for low-dose supplementation. 

Hopefully you'll find a cause that will give you a plan of action. I always find eating properly helps, but when I'm tired, cooking and eating properly is one of the first things to suffer - along with exercise, which of course can also help with fatigue if done correctly. 

themadvix

greenbee said:

I'm wary of Floradix as when I worked out the amount needed when was chronically anaemic, it would have been a bottle every couple of days - which apparently can turn your teeth black - but it (or spatone) are good for low-dose supplementation. 

The dentist simply said to rinse my mouth out after taking it - and that seems to work! I think taking that much (of any iron supplement) would cause more problems than you'd want (it can cause constipation!). I know Sarah Berry (Zoe) suggests taking it every other day rather than every day so your body doesn't resist it (based on science, I'm sure, but I'm not sure on what paper).

greenbee

themadvix said:

greenbee said:

I'm wary of Floradix as when I worked out the amount needed when was chronically anaemic, it would have been a bottle every couple of days - which apparently can turn your teeth black - but it (or spatone) are good for low-dose supplementation. 

The dentist simply said to rinse my mouth out after taking it - and that seems to work! I think taking that much (of any iron supplement) would cause more problems than you'd want (it can cause constipation!). I know Sarah Berry (Zoe) suggests taking it every other day rather than every day so your body doesn't resist it (based on science, I'm sure, but I'm not sure on what paper).

I had a very high fibre diet, and was very relieved when they switched to Vit C supplementation instead And after several years (plus fixing the cause) levels were back to normal and can be maintained through diet. They definitely drop if I take my eye off the ball though. The good news it that chocolate is high in iron, magnesium, and calcium. Eat it with an orange, and you're sorted  

badmemory

Back i my teens I was anaemic & my mother fed me undercooked liver as per docs suggestion.  What finally cured me after the headaches & I must have eyesight problems (I didn't) was going on the pill which back then really meant waiting until you were getting married.  Miracle cure which lasted several decades longer than the marriage did.  I still wouldn't eat liver if it was the only food on offer.