Going 'No-Poo'

There are a lot of articles on the www that tell you how to go 'shampoo free' in your hair care.  Some thoughts are getting rid of the chemicals, some thoughts are better care for curly hair.  I initially fell into the latter category.  Going 'No-Poo' for better curl care.

But as my migraines worsened I started looking at ways to eliminate as much chemical exposure as possible.  Remember you can't control everything you are exposed to but you can control the things in your home and on your body.

 I started my 'No-Poo' journey reading Lorraine Masseys book Curly Girl which is available through Amazon.

She advocates using conditioner instead of shampoo because of the moisture that curly hair needs.  My hair did quite well using this method, but I was still using chemicals on my hair.  I did this method for several years.

Fast forward...

About 3 years ago (at the most) David discovered an all-in-1 shampoo/body wash by Zest.  He used it and really liked it, because he only had a single product in the shower.  Being a bar soap, he thought he would use less soap than with a liquid.  About 6 months later we could no longer find it and even contacting the company proved fruitless, as the company discontinued the bar soap, but they had something in liquid form if he wanted it.  He did not!

So a search began for a good bar shampoo.  During this time he also started to travel for work and taking the right size bottle that might leak was a pain and he really did not like the hotel products . We found a bar shampoo at Duluth Trading Company.  So we ordered 1bar, David tried it and loved it. I was 'resistant' to change.  He asked me several times to just try it but I was SO sure that MY hair care choice was better that I refused.  Finally, just to appease him I tried it.

WOW!

I was wrong.  This stuff was great.  I didn't need any conditioner to soften my hair.  I needed very little product to style my hair and my curls just keep getting better and better. 

So I am a believer.  AND the best part?  The ingredients are Tea Tree Oil,  Hemp Oil, Almond Oil, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Caster Oil, spring water and sodium hydroxide to bind it together. Unfortunately the binder is a chemical, but for me the alternative shampoos are much worse with many chemicals.

J R Liggett Bar Shampoo

We buy 12 bars at a time and this lasts the 4 of us at least 12 months if not longer.  We put the bar on a piece of plastic so instead of any of it dripping away on the soap dish it sticks to the plastic with no waste.  When it gets down to a stamp size sliver I can still get 2 or 3 shampoos out of it.  Then David adheres a new bar to the plastic and the cycle continues.

Happy Shampooing!

And, Yes, We highly recommend this product.

Another post on Migraine Disease

Are you tired of hearing about migraines yet? I'm sure tired of having them. (I did backtrack on the blog and don't see a migraine post for a while).


What's new? Well my neurologist says I am the most difficult case she has ever seen. (She is the 3rd Neurologist to tell me this). The next step Dr H. wants to take is botox injections. Botox has helped some patients but is not a guarantee. I am not ready to do something that seems so drastic but I will be meeting with another Dr in the practice to learn more about this procedure.

If I want the Dr to listen to me I should at least give her the same consideration. Meanwhile I am studying and researching as much as possible to educate myself on the options for preventing as well as treating migraine.

With that in mind, I just found a new website that looks very promising. I googled (actually I swagbucked but googled sounds better) low-tyramine diet and found this Relieve Migraine Headache .

It is a lot of stuff to read but I'm going to plow through with my trusty pen and notepad by my side and learn as much as I can.

One thing I did learn today...

Cheddar cheese triggers migraine.

I ate what I thought was a healthy breakfast. Good for my blood sugar, having protein and carbs, natural not processed... I ate an apple, cheddar cheese and a cup of green tea.

Within 2 hours I was slammed. I took my meds right away and within 10 minutes I was vomiting. So I think I probably did not get any meds into my system. I had Daniel call the pharmacist to see if I could safely take another dose of meds. She said it would not be wise, wait 4 hours. So now I;m sitting here typing because I have some spaghetti squash in the oven and need to wait about 35 minutes more to take it out. Then I'm going to surround my head with ice packs, put blinders over my eyes and try to break this headache.

Note to self, print out the list of tyramine containing foods and put it front and center on the fridge AND put a copy in my wallet.

Another thing I am going to do is investigate acupuncture and seeing a naturopathic doctor. I just want to get some personal recommendations.

SO...this is where I am. Still fighting and often feeling like I am losing the battle. I know I am going through this for a reason. Maybe the reason is to teach my children how to care for and have empathy for someone with a chronic illness. I don't know.

I do know that I am in control of my attitude and how I respond to people in the midst of all of this.

So I will continue to learn and to wait upon the LORD and to learn to be content in the midst of pain.

Migraine Update

I had my first apointment with my new neurologist yesterday.  She was very thorough in her questioning of my migraine history which goes back 20 some years. Trying to compare a headache from 20+ years ago  to recent ones was difficult but it helped her to understand me and my type(s) of headache.

I say types because Dr. H. believes that I have 2 types going on. First the Classic Migraine which I get a few times a year. I also have what is called Rebound Headache. This headache is a milder, there all the time, won’t go away no matter what I do, nagging, wearing me down type of headache.
I had heard of Rebound Headache. I knew what caused it. I have even tried to get out of the cycle myself. What I didn’t know was it could take 6 to 8 weeks for my body to detox from all the Tylenol that I had been taking to treat my milder headaches.

Tylenol causes Rebound Headache. And I had been taking WAY TOO MUCH.

Here’s the plan: STOP all products with acetaminophen immediately!

Second part of the plan:

• Taper off one of the preventive meds.  This is good because it has the potential for causing kidney stones and I have a history of kidney stones.
• Increase another preventive med
• Get a head and neck MRI
• See her back in 4 weeks to evaluate how things are going

I intend to do the following during this time:

1. Be very diligent about avoiding food additives.
2. Keep a written record of what I eat, weather, anything else that can have an effect on my headaches.
3. Avoid acetaminophen as diligently as I avoid MSG.

So, now I have a Doctor who understands what is going on is willing to work with me and actually seems to care about me as a person as well as a patient

Migraines and My Walk w/ God

Thanks for your prayer and encouragement. After almost 11 days, the migraine has gone. I still need to be VERY careful about what I eat; some of the things that I thought I could re-introduce into my diet are definite no-nos.

So, on it goes. I must be diligent in watching for “dangerous” ingredients like MSG, malt vinegar, anything fermented, the list goes on. But it’s worth it to avoid the headaches as much as possible.

It’s the same in my walk with GOD. There are things that are not good for me; things that make me have an attitude headache, things I should avoid. But I am not always as diligent as I should be. Something may not be "bad" per say, but they may not be good for me.

I love to read. It isn't "bad" to read. BUT I tend to read everything else and put God's Word, lower than last. Why is this? I say I treasure His Word, but I don't act like it.

Actions speak louder than words.

Oh, that I would put action to my words, and follow through.