#71 - Allergy Testing

Yesterday I had a very new adventure and to be honest, I was scared about it. I know I have allergies. I've had big reactions to horses and rabbits. I also itch like crazy if I sit in grass. But I've never actually been allergy tested. Lately I've been breaking out in hives and so I was sent to have allergy testing since none of the allergy medicines have helped me.

I was afraid I was going to get stabbed with giant needles but the pokes on the back didn't really hurt at all. It was more like a little poke than an injection.The needle must be really short because I even wondered if it was a needle at all or just something that scratched me. This part of the testing didn't cause any bleeding. The poke isn't very deep at all. This test was done on my back instead of my arm.

Everything that tested negative at the low dose on my back was checked again at a higher dose on my arm. To do the higher dose, she had to inject it. This part of the test kinda hurt. It was like getting about 20 TB skin test injections!

Turns out I'm allergic to tons of things...mostly plants and animals but also dust mites and EGGS!  The egg allergy is tragic considering I eat a ton of eggs. :(

Here's my back after testing:

I start allergy shots next week or the week after (depends on when they get my custom shot ready) and hopefully in 6 months or so I'll be feeling much better. :)

#67 - 10 Common Household Items That Can Hurt Our Dog Friends

Most people know that chocolate is poisonous to dogs. However today I learned some other things that are poisonous to dogs that caught me by surprise.

But first, here's a story about how my carelessness turned into a dramatic disaster that could have killed little dog. Fortunately she survived and was fine but it taught me an incredible lesson and I hope you learn from it as well.

One evening I stopped by the grocery store on the way home and while waiting in the checkout line I picked up a pack of gum. When I arrived home from work, the usual 5 minutes of chaos awaited me. The dogs needed out to go to the bathroom, the cat was screaming for food (yes he practically screams - little jerk!), and here I was with groceries hanging off both arms. So I took the groceries to the kitchen and put them on the counter then went to let the dogs out and feed the cat. I unpacked most of the groceries while the dogs were outside and the cat was eating and got all the cold foods put away, etc.

I let the dogs back in and got distracted doing something else. I can't even remember what happened. It could have been something as simple as I went to the restroom myself. A few minutes later, my little dog, Happy, comes through the house smelling weird. It took a second for me to realize she was MINTY...REALLY MINTY! I ran to the kitchen to find that the mint gum I'd bought earlier was in the floor mostly eaten. The cat had batted the gum off the counter and Happy had gladly scarfed it down.

Why does it matter that Happy ate gum? Because the gum had xylitol (a common artificial sweetener) in it. I'd just read right before that happened that xylitol was poisonous to dogs. I didn't know why it was poisonous (or actually if it even was) so I grabbed my phone and called our vet's office to get the on-call vet (of course she'd eat gum when the vets are all gone home for the day!). He told me that xylitol is indeed poisonous to dogs and told me to give Happy hydrogen peroxide (had to hold her down and squirt it in her mouth with a water bottle) until she threw up the gum and to call him back if she didn't throw up and he'd meet me at the vet clinic but also to call him back later if she did throw up to let him know she was ok.

So here I am holding this 25lb dog and squirting hydrogen peroxide down her little throat to make her throw up. It was horrible. By that time, I was in tears and she was gagging. Finally she threw up the gum. I kept giving her peroxide until there was no gum left in her. Fortunately she was fine but that taught me an incredible lesson. Even though the gum was up high where she couldn't reach it, it's so easy for it to get knocked off the counter (especially with a cat in the house!). So now we never leave gum (or anything else that is bad for dogs) out on the counter even for a few minutes.

10 Common Household Items That Are Poisonous To Dogs:

1) Chocolate - this delicious little treat is for humans only! Dogs cannot eliminate the theobromine and caffeine from chocolate as quickly as humans and it can be fatal. For more information, click here.

Chocolate Mustaches by TheChocolateMommy on Etsy, 12 for $15

2) Xylitol - this was the sweetener in the gum that my little dog ate. It causes a drastic drop in blood sugar in dogs and can be fatal.

3) Grapes and Raisins - can cause renal (kidney) failure in dogs

Grapes Watercolor Painting by VickieSueCheek on Etsy, $10

4) Nicotine - need I say more? It's not good for us or our dog friends. For more information, click here.

Vintage Cigarette Lighter from SkyLynx on Etsy, $15

5) Onions, Garlic and Leeks - Both raw and cooked versions can can affect the red blood cells and cause anemia in dogs.

Onion Print by AppetizingArt on Etsy, $15

6) Pennies and Batteries -  The acidic environment in the stomach allows rapid release of the zinc in these items and the zinc can cause anemia as well as liver, kidney and/or heart failure.

1983 Penny Bracelet by christinavitale on Etsy, $26.95

7) Unbaked Bread Dough - the dough can expand in the stomach/intestine creating a blockage. In severe cases, surgery may be required to remove the blockage.

Bread Dough Photography by gildinglilies on Etsy, $20

8) Sage Palm Plants - This is a common house plant and the entire plant is poisonous to dogs. This plant contains cycasin, a chemical poisonous to many animals including humans.  For more information, click here. Here's a blog post from a dog owner whose dog ate some of this plant.

9) Macadamia Nuts - The toxic compound is unknown but the affect of macadamia nuts is to cause locomotory difficulties. Dogs develop a tremor of the skeletal muscles, and weakness or paralysis of the hindquarters. Affected dogs are often unable to rise and are distressed, usually panting.

Macadamia Nut Cookies by KandyKoncepts, 2 dozen for $14

10) Acetaminophen (found in Tylenol and other pain relievers) - This drug interferes with red blood cells and can also cause liver damage in dogs.

Vintage Tylenol Container from metalsk8er6 on Etsy, $6.99

#66 - Rattenberg Austria Uses Mirrors for Winter Sunlight

I'm way behind on my blogging due to my night class. But it ends in two weeks...so there's going to be some doubled up days coming your way. :) I will get all 365 posts for the year! Anyhoo, today I learned about an Austrian town that gets no/very little sunlight during the winter months because of the surrounding mountains. This town, Rattenberg, Austria, was settled in the 1300s when being secure was more important that sunlight year round.

Rattenberg, Austria

The cool thing that I learned today is that the town has placed large mirrors on the surrounding mountains to direct sunrays into “hot spots” in their town so the residents can have sunlight. 

Sunlight Mirrors in Rattenberg, Austria

 

As I mentioned before in my vitamin d post, sunlight is important for humans. We need sunlight to make vitamin D. Sunlight also puts us in a better mood due to the release of a neurochemical called serotonin. Sunlight helps us get our daily dose of vitamin D and serotonin. :) 

Serotonin Tank FittdBrandClothing by on Etsy, $24

 

Most humans today do not get enough sunlight. Our ancestors spent many hours a day outside while we spent most of our lives inside. So kudos to Rattenberg for directing sunlight into their town!

#63 - Why Crossing Your Legs Might Be Bad For You

Vintage Photo from CassiesTaleVintage on Etsy, $3.29

Many of us women (and men too!) were taught that crossing your legs is the proper way to sit. However, yesterday in my nursing assistant class (more on that later) the instructor was talking about the circulatory system and as side note commented that crossing your legs may cause varicose veins. So, always on the lookout for blog fodder, I scribbled in my notes to check into this.

Reasons To Stop Crossing Your Legs:

1. Crossing your legs puts pressure on the veins in your leg and may cause the pressure in the veins to increase and bulge – translation it can cause those horrible looking varicose veins and poor circulation in your lower legs.
2. Crossing your legs can cause lower back pain. Sitting crossed-legged puts pressure on your lower spine.
3. Sitting with your legs crossed tilts the pelvis and may cause muscle imbalances (especially if you cross your legs with the same one on top each time)
4. You can look lady-like without crossing your legs and not risk possible adverse effects of sitting unbalanced. In fact, in England queens and princesses do not cross their legs. They cross just their ankles. 

Photograph of Kate Middleton by Samir Hussein/Getty

I've been trying to stop crossing my legs since last night and my goodness, it's nearly impossible! Good luck!

#56 - Can you overdose on Vitamin D?

You Are My Sunshine Print by LilyCole on Etsy, $45

Dear Vitamin D...you are my sunshine. It's dark and icky here in Kentucky about half the year and the other half of the year I have to wear sunscreen because I sun-fry too easily.

So we all know that you can get too much sun...especially those of us who are super pale. Because of my paleness, I tend to avoid the sun and last year I had some routine bloodwork done which uncovered a serious Vitamin D deficiency. My doctor prescribed 50,000 i.u. (international units) of Vitamin D weekly for 6 weeks to get my vitamin D levels up. Because vitamin D is fat soluble, it is stored in your fat.

Thinking back on this, I can't help but wonder whether you can overdose on vitamin D. I ask this because my vitamin has vitamin D in it and so does my calcium supplement. During the winter it's unlikely I am exposed to the sun enough to make any vitamin D of my own but during cycling season, I'm outside often. So, can you get too much of a good thing when it comes to vitamin D??

There is no risk of overdosing from Vitamin D from sun exposure because our bodies have a built in overdose prevention system (the darkening of our skin). However, supplemental vitamin D bypasses our built in defense mechanism since you can take vitamin D regardless of how dark your skin has gotten.

It is unlikely a person will overdose on Vitamin D3 (the type contained in many vitamin supplement pills). But, it can happen. The main symptom of vitamin D overdose is excessive accumulation of calcium in the body which causes lack of appetite, nausea, and may lead to kidney problems. Since my multi-vitamin and calcium supplement together only contain 2000 i.u. of vitamin D, there doesn't appear to be a risk of overdose considering I get little to no sun most of the year and wear sunscreen during the summer months. For more information about vitamin D dosing, the Mayo Clinic has a nice little article so click here.

*Disclaimer: I'm just doing research and sharing what I learn. This is not advice.*

#52 - Choosing a Prenatal Vitamin: New Chapter Organics Perfect Prenatal vs. Nature's Way Completia Prenatal

Over the last few posts, I've reviewed five different prenatal vitamins and discussed the pros and cons of each of them. Today I've narrowed my choices down to two and will compare and contrast these too and make a decision. Vitafusion Gummy Prenatal vitamins were immediately ruled out due to their lack of iron and calcium. I then ruled out GNC Prenatal with Iron and Rainbow Light Prenatal vitamins because they're a little higher in folic acid than I think I need. Recommendations for folic acid prior to and during pregnancy is 400-800 mcg. Both of these vitamins have 1000mcg. It's important to realize that many foods also contain folate which is the naturally occuring version of folic acid. (I didn't know folic acid is the synthetic form of the vitamin!) The safe upper limit for folic acid set by the Institute of Medicine is 1,000 mcg/day for adults. For further information on folic acid, click here. So anyways, these two vitamins would provide too much folic acid considering I'd still be eating foods with folate in them (spinach, citrus fruits, etc) and foods fortified with folic acid (orange juice, cereal, etc) as well. ;)

So after ruling out those three vitamins, my two remaining choices are New Chapter Organics Perfect Prenatal and Nature's Way Completia Prenatal vitamins.

Here's a quick visual comparison of the two:

 I think either of these two vitamins would be appropriate for me in preparing for pregnancy. Obviously when I finally get to meet with my doctor she can do blood work to determine any other deficiencies and/or recommend a different vitamin if she wants to do so.


Nature's Way is less expensive than New Chapter. But it's also below recommendations in more vitamins. However, it's important to recommend that vitamins are meant to ensure you get the recommendations...not necessarily to provide them at the full dose. I'll also be getting vitamins from the foods I eat. When I looked up reviews on the Nature's Way vitamins, they got 2.5-3 out of 5 stars. Some of the reasons people didn't like them was because you have to take 2 of them twice a day and they are really large. Others commented that they taste horrible and they couldn't take them when they were pregnant due to the smell and nausea. If these beat out of the New Chapter vitamins by a long shot, I might try to deal with the taste and smell, but there's really not a major difference in the two and if either of them provide more vitamins, the New Chapter ones win out. For some of the reviews on the Nature's Way Prenatal Completia vitamins, click the links below:

Drugstore.com reviews for Nature's Way Prenatal Completia
Amazon.com reviews for Nature's Way Prenatal Completia
Vitacost.com reviews for Nature's Way Prenatal Completia

New Chapter Organics Prenatal vitamins are more expensive than Nature's Way. But the reviews on them are really good. These vitamins average around 4-4.5 out of 5 stars. They have a little more folic acid than the Nature's Way vitamins but not so much  more that I worry I'll get too much. New Chapter vitamins are a bit low in calcium and iron but that's easy to take care of with diet and/or a calcium and iron supplement. I'll be tracking my food intake via myfitnesspal.com so I'll be able to determine if these supplements are needed or not. Some reviews on New Chapter Organics Perfect Prenatal vitamins are available below:

Amazon.com reviews for New Chapter Organics Prenatal
Drugstore.com reviews for New Chapter Organics Prenatal
Vitacost.com reviews for New Chapter Organics Prenatal

So for now, I'm going to try New Chapter Organics Prenatal vitamins. I'll let you know later how it goes. :)

#51 - Choosing a Prenatal Vitamin: Nature's Way Completia Prenatal

Meets recommendations for the following:

• Folic acid/folate
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B5
• Vitamin K

Exceeds recommendations for the following:

• Biotin
• Biotin is water soluble therefore it is unlikely to cause overdose symptoms since you excrete extra during urination.
• Calcium
• this product offers a little extra calcium than recommended but your body can absorb about 500 mg of calcium at a time

Under Recommendations for the following:

• Iron
• Pregnant women need more iron – up to 50% more than non-pregnant women. I struggle to get enough iron not pregnant so having iron in my vitamin will be essential. This vitamin is a bit lower than the recommended dose for pregnancy but I will be tracking food intake so it’s possible I can make up the difference with diet. If not, iron supplements are inexpensive and I could add a table or ½ a tablet during the day if needed.
• Copper
• This is one that it might be best to err on the side of too little and make up the rest with food especially considering copper deficiencies are uncommon. Too much copper can damage the liver and kidneys.  However, humans (and other mammals) have efficient mechanisms to regulate copper stores copper overdose is not very common.
• Some foods high in copper are chocolate/cocoa powder, pumpkin seeds, nuts, and herbs such as oregano, marjoram, and basil.
• Vitamin D
• Recent research shows that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is a widespread problem-- even for women who take prenatal supplements.
• Though this prenatal vitamin is low, vitamin D supplements are readily available and inexpensive.
• Also sunlight causes our bodies to produce Vitamin D. However, being blonde-headed and fair skinned (which means I burn easily!) I cannot rely on the sun for my vitamin D needs as much as I would like.
• Vitamin B6
• Only slightly below recommendations and vitamin B6 is in many foods I love such as avocado, bananas, nuts, poulty, and meat.
• Vitamin B3
• Vitamin B3 (Niacin) is found in many foods so a healthy diet should make up the rest of the niacin requirements.
• Vitamin E
• Too much vitamin E has been linked to congenital heart defects. However, this is at doses greater than 300 mg per day so this product should not be a problem in terms of vitamin E.
• Vitamin B1
• Though this product is a bit low in Vitamin B1, this shouldn’t be a problem considering many fruits and vegetables and other foods contain vitamin B1.
• Vitamin B2
• Lots of foods that have vitamin B2 including red meats and leafy vegetables. However, vitamin B2 is a water-soluble vitamin. That means that it cannot be stored in your body and must be constantly replenished because your body flushes it out on a daily basis.
•  Though this product is only slightly low in vitamin B1, so it could easily be made up for with a healthy diet.
• Iodine
• Iodine deficiency use to be a common problem in the US, but the addition of iodine to salt has improved public health; therefore having a low iodine content in this prenatal vitamin doesn’t worry me since it can easily be made up with salt with added iodine.
• Magnesium
• Magnesium is required for the proper growth and maintenance of bones. Magnesium is also required for the proper function of nerves, muscles, and many other parts of the body. In the stomach, magnesium helps neutralize stomach acid and moves stools through the intestine.
• I’ll check myfitnesspal.com nutrition to see how much magnesium I’m averaging daily before deciding to supplement. This prenatal vitamin will get me half way to my magnesium goal so I might be able to make up the difference with diet.
• Selenium
• Pregnant women have a slightly higher need for selenium than non-pregnant women. However, women living in the United States usually get enough selenium through diet.
• Chromium
• Deficiency of chromium is rare. And this product is only 5mcg lower than the recommended dose so it would be easy to make up the difference with a healthy diet. 

Lacks the following:

• Manganese
• I probably get enough manganese via diet but I’ll check it out on my nutrition log to be sure.
• Molybdenum
• Molybdenum is a trace mineral found in foods such as milk, cheese, cereal grains, legumes, nuts, leafy vegetables, and organ meats.
• Though this vitamin doesn’t contain molybdenum, such a small amount is needed that I’m certain I get enough of it considering my love of cheese. :)