Healthy Me

It seems like the economy will never right itself at this pace!  Can you imagine the chronic stress levels right now across the United States?  Too bad you can't buy stock in cortisol - the stress hormone!  At a time when money is scarce and the debt collection agencies are ringing your telephones, medical bills are probably skyrocketing for illnesses and diseases caused by or made worse by stress.

I really believe chronic stress levels caused my thyroid disease. I honestly do. Of course, that would have more to do with my husband's ex than the economy for me.  I also developed TMJ from constantly clenching my jaw (out of anger or out of biting my tongue - who knows).  While I worry about money, the ex has been the biggest stress factor for me since I married almost 16 years ago.

Yikes!  The thought of relocating and all that goes along with it is starting to get overwhelming.  I am thinking in my mind of everything that I will need to get done to get four kids, five dogs, and two horses to another state within a few weeks.  I keep finding myself getting the munchies - must be stress!  I'll have to add a visit to the web site AppetiteSuppressants.com on my "to do" list!

Take a deep breath!  Whew!  Nope, still feeling anxious.

Save me from teenage hormonal upheavals, tones of voice that say "you're stupid and I'm not listening to you" when your child speaks to you, and kids who think they know more than you do. Was I this bad when I was a teenager? Is there a family guide book that can save me from hormones and attitude?

My oldest will be a teenager really soon and she's been showing the signs of it more and more this past year. Since school started, oh boy have the signs hit me over the head. That tone of voice teens use on you is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I go from zero to irritated it 1.3 seconds!

Since stress is bad for my thyroid and adrenals, I need to learn to manage stress because I doubt it is going to get any easier for the next...14 years. Oh.my.gosh!

Stress can wreak havoc on a body. My immune system has gone all wonky (as my thyroid disease and asthma shows) and I have TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder) from clenching my jaw during times of stress. It's acting up something awful right now after the recent troubles of trying to figure out visitation with my stepkids and getting my stepson's grades in the mail from his school. I'm going to end up needing jaw surgery if this keeps up.

I definitely need to come up with some stress relievers to let all of this go. Bubble baths usually work. Lighting some candles, like a Wood Wick Candle, turning off the lights and soaking in a hot tub (ignoring the knocks at the door from my kids) usually works but it is 92 degrees here right now. Who wants to soak in a hot, or even warm, tub? Not me.

I definitely need to come up with something else because I was serious about the jaw surgery. Once the cartilage is worn to nothing, that's what I was told would be needed to fix it and I hear it's one of those surgeries that is especially bad.