My APOE journey

[SusanJ]

Wolfie, I collated many talks from the AHS into "eat food as close to it's original form as possible." So, wheat, well, we don't typically eat it unless it's milled and processed into something else.

So, I agree with Stavia, start with the Med diet, then maybe take out wheat and see how it goes. Tinker as needed. You can search for Paleo Mediterranean recipes (just watch for any that do high saturated fat).

It's doable, just start with small steps. The diet you settle on has to work for you over the long haul!

[Ruth]

Wolf, for improving sleep if you aren't already using one may I recommend an eye mask or eye pillow, and perhaps trying different kinds Goldilocks-style. When I temporarily misplaced my eye mask a few months ago, I fell back to using a nice little eye pillow with a small amount of dried lavender in it that I had bought in the last century and was using as a drawer sachet, and for some reason I find the very slight weight of the little flannel pillow with a non-irritating faint whiff of lavender just extra relaxing in some hard to define way... It seems to help me "let go" of anxious thoughts, etc. at night easier and drift off into dreamland.

[progranulindefect]

i've tried 3 different eye masks. the best thing i have found is a regular, terry-cloth sweat band for the head that i put over my eyes. the other eye masks have padding that presses down on my eye ball uncomfortably when i turn on my side. black out curtains (sometimes you need a double layer) and blocking out all LED lights is also important for people like me who are very sensitive to light.

[ArcticWolf]

my daughter said adderall/vyvanse really motivates her to do whatever is on her mind to do. nowadays it bothers me that to her taking a shower is a lot of work and she needs adderall to take a shower and put her make up on. she often doesn't take adderall, but the amount she takes seems to make her motivation worse (she didn't used to have problems with taking a shower). but the genie is out of the bottle and she is 18. she says on the stimulants things aren't as funny and her personality isn't at crazy (the way she likes it). but she does see benefits. if i start having close calls in my car due to being distracted and not being about to focus quickly, i will definitely try to get adderall prescribed for me. i'm not there yet, but i almost was. i know my deficits now- like if someone is about to cross the street, i will focus on that potential danger and be mind-blinded to the fact that someone is about to go thru that intersection and i might hit them. i drive safely now, but i have to concentrate more than i used to.

i found something that helps me sleep, but i don't want to try it out with my daughter or really even recommend it to others until i go like a year on it. it's only been a week, but it's been a great week in terms of energy and mood- but my short term memory is still bad- no improvement there. i'm hopeful, though. good luck to you, arctic wolf.

Thanks progran. Sounds like your daughter is being a typical teenager in some ways, but maybe perhaps has some underlying depression? Can I ask how/why she was diagnosed? For myself, my ADD diagnosis confirmed what I and others had joked about my entire life. Looking back it all finally made sense. As a child, I was bored quickly if things didn't keep my attention. Luckily, I would pick things up easily which compensated for my lack of attention in school as my rote memory was pretty good back then. I would always start projects but never finish them, and had (and continue to have) a big aversion--almost revulsion--to anything that involves repetitive work or routines. And of course the ability to hyperfocus on a fun or interesting activity while blocking out and ignoring the rest of the world, which is pretty standard for ADDers.

[ArcticWolf]

Mebbe your concentration issues will improve as your diet slowly tightens up!

I'm really hoping that there will be real cognitive and mood benefits from a change in diet, as well as better exercise and sleep routines!

[ArcticWolf]

On sleep, I recently started immersing my face in cold water to create a "mammalian diving reflex" on the vagus nerve prior to bed. See this and this. I've found that pushing my face in very fast works better than slowly putting it in. I've yet to get a snorkel to extend my face time in the cold water, but that is next.

Stavia told me she sits in a hot tub to get very warm and then cools off. That it is the temperature change.

Thank you George for the tip. Bedtime issues for me tend to be as much psychological as physiological (I hate to stop what I'm doing to have to go to sleep), but some physical "helpers" might be useful.

[ArcticWolf]

Wolfie, I collated many talks from the AHS into "eat food as close to it's original form as possible." So, wheat, well, we don't typically eat it unless it's milled and processed into something else.

So, I agree with Stavia, start with the Med diet, then maybe take out wheat and see how it goes. Tinker as needed. You can search for Paleo Mediterranean recipes (just watch for any that do high saturated fat).

It's doable, just start with small steps. The diet you settle on has to work for you over the long haul!

Thank you Susan for the advice and support! I agree it has to be something that I can stick with.

[ArcticWolf]

Wolf, for improving sleep if you aren't already using one may I recommend an eye mask or eye pillow, and perhaps trying different kinds Goldilocks-style. When I temporarily misplaced my eye mask a few months ago, I fell back to using a nice little eye pillow with a small amount of dried lavender in it that I had bought in the last century and was using as a drawer sachet, and for some reason I find the very slight weight of the little flannel pillow with a non-irritating faint whiff of lavender just extra relaxing in some hard to define way... It seems to help me "let go" of anxious thoughts, etc. at night easier and drift off into dreamland.

i've tried 3 different eye masks. the best thing i have found is a regular, terry-cloth sweat band for the head that i put over my eyes. the other eye masks have padding that presses down on my eye ball uncomfortably when i turn on my side. black out curtains (sometimes you need a double layer) and blocking out all LED lights is also important for people like me who are very sensitive to light.

I finally tried an eye mask this summer and it's actually helped me quite a bit. I tend to wake earlier and have more sleep issues in the summer, which is always when my anxiety and depression symptoms are worse. I've always felt that I have a bit of reverse SAD, since I feel better in the winter. Keeping my bedroom darker and the mask in the morning has been helpful in this regard.

[progranulindefect]

artic wolf said: "Sounds like your daughter is being a typical teenager in some ways, but maybe perhaps has some underlying depression? Can I ask how/why she was diagnosed?"

her dad has diagnosed tourette's syndrome and he had/has major learning disabilities (which often goes with tourette's). i don't find him slow, and don't think the disability affected his iq. he graduated from middle school in taiwan and i graduated from yale. i think she has a lot of her dad in her, except her dad has so much drive and energy, he hurt himself from doing too much physical work- he gets manic and compulsive. she is compulsive too, with certain things, like picking her head. but she is either happy or gets angry very quickly, like her dad. doesn't seem like depression to me. she can lay on the sofa all day not wanting to do anything, but she is happy!! since preschool she has not been able to sit still and just listen to the teacher. she always had to talk. she called out often in elementary/middle school. and in high school the teachers would keep changing her seat, but she got along with every one and everyone liked to talk to her. it finally ended up that the science teacher put the two talkers together so they could talk together quietly and not distract the other kids. she reads something and cannot remember what she just read. ADD/ADHD is diagnosed based on questionnaires given to teachers and parents. she's had these behaviors for a long time.

[Tincup]

FYI, when we were at dinner with Terry Wahls last week, she talked about successfully treating vets with TBI, PTSD, depression & other brain issues at her VA clinic with Phase 1 of her protocol in her book. There is now a 6 month waiting list to get in. It was noisy, so hard to hear, but she mentioned she is now making a business case for treating some illness that they are referring out at a cost of $200,000/year to take to her clinic first. The audio of our Q&A with her is here. Can provide more info if interested.