Check your Cod Liver Oil

How many of you take Cod Liver Oil as a supplement? If you do, please note the amount of Vit A and Vit D stated as per capsule or teaspoon.

I’ve been taking Cod Liver Oil for more than a year to improve on my immunity as well as, other health benefits such as better skin, hair (especially if you are prone to dry skin and hair), and also to lubricate the joints.

But to my horror, I just got to realize that MANY brands of cod liver oil that are easily available in supermarkets and pharmacies actually contain synthetic Vit A and Vit D and the proportion of Vit D is usually only 10% of Vit A, which means that:

[1] You can overdose on Vit A, especially since Vit A is fat soluble, ie: your body will retain the extra Vit A in your fat and overtime, can cause Vit A toxicity. It will take months for your body to flush out the vitamin A.

[2] Your body will react negatively to the chronic intake of Vitamin A.

And that was what happened to me. I’ve been getting rashes for the past 4 weeks and the doctors didn’t know exactly what was causing the rash and it didn’t help that I have eczema as well. So all I had was some anti-itch medication and calamine lotion, and to be fair, those did help.

Sick and tired of the itch (and the back pain!) and with a nagging feeling that it is most probably due to my diet, I did some research on the net and noticed that my symptoms were pretty close to overreaction of cod liver oil or specifically, vitamin A.

So, I stopped my daily intake of 6 capsules of cod liver oil and…

VIOLA. NO RASH for 2 days.

Might be a coincidence… so, I’ll continue to observe my body for the next few weeks to determine that my rash is actually caused by cod liver oil.

So, everyone out there… please take note of the supplements that you are taking, especially Cod Liver Oil and Fish Oil. Some brands actually contain synthetic vitamins and that can be harmful to your body instead!

Feeling very unsexy

Due to the backpain, I’ve been literally REDUCE to wearing flats to work and to everywhere else.

Ugh.

So unglam and unsexy.

Seriously, I cannot imagine how anyone can wear these ugly flats. Even though some of the flats are cute, little ballet pumps BUT they are cute, ie: ugly but adorable.

Wait. Slippers dont count ok. I mean, girls wearing flat shoes to work, or say for a dinner function or say for a date, or say ... ...

I miss my heels. Heels can make a girl feel powerful, sexy and of course, TALL. Not forgetting the perkier butt, perception of longer legs and overall, a slimmer and more elegent silhouette.

And with the added height, there’s added confidence and thus, one will feel powerful, sexy and the virtuous cycle goes on… … It doesn't have to be like 3.5 or 4 inch heels, even just a 2.5 inch slim heels can make a lot of difference and also kinder on your feet as well.

O well, health comes first. Just gotta be ugly, unsexy and unglam for the few months or so.

Some happy things

Ok, gotta blog some happy things, or else my life will just revolves around backpain, exam, backpain, therapy and more backpain.

Depressing.

So, gotta cheer myself up by looking at some pretty things and plan a little bit for my up and coming wedding.

So, about 2 weeks back, one of my bridesmaids emailed me pictures of a dress that she thought would be a good bridesmaid dress. Very sweet of her, usually many bridesmaids will just wait for the bride to decide on the style and stuff, but heh, my bridesmaids are very “on”.

Just the past weekend, another bridesmaid sms-ed me a message, asking how was my preparation for the wedding and whether do I need any help.

Very touched lah, girls. Thanks for all the concern!

Everything is more or less settled, and I’ve kinda decided on what I’ll like my bridesmaid to wear for the luncheon and solemnization.

As shown above, I'll like my bridesmaids to wear a two piece attire instead of a dress.

Of course the skirt will be green; I’m thinking of getting a green printed fabric and get the girls to design each of their skirt. It can be A-line, Pencil, Bubble, Pencil with a high slit by the side, flowy… … etc. Basically, I’ll like each bridesmaid to wear something slightly different and also to present each of their own style.

As for the top, no hard and fast rule, will request the girls to wear something white or pearly or cream. Once again, the style can be a Tube (as like in the picture above), or a Off-shoulder, or a Strappy or a Cutie-cap sleeve. As long as the top will match with the skirt and with the sash around the high waist. I’m happy.

Hmmm, o yah. SHOES. All grils will have to wear white or cream strappy heels. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem right?

OK, gotta start looking for the fabric once the exam is over!

Ok, decided to make some changes to my blog. It’s about time anyway…

Past few days haven’t been all that good. My back muscles have been hurting again… although it’s more of a kind of dull ache. Also been going for my therapy sessions rather regularly, in addition to the stretching that I’ve been doing at home.

So, apparently, my condition is rather serious. So much so that the orthopedic surgeon suggested that I should go for surgery. It’s not something urgent but if I ever want a straighter spine, my only way out is to go under the knife. Well, according to him anyway.

To me, surgery should be the last resort, if I can stabilize my curvature through exercise, therapy and yoga, isn’t that a better solution than to stick a metal piece into my spine and I could never, ever bend that section of my spine again?

So, I’m going to give myself 2 years… where I’ll totally devote my time to healing myself through stretching exercises, low impact sports like swimming, walking and biking, as well as regular therapy if required.

If all those don’t work, then go for surgery loh. At least by then my back muscles will be in a better shape, more supple and flexible. That will allow the surgeon to pull my spine straighter anyway.

Haiz. Life is kinda depressing quite now.

I miss running…
I miss putting on my sport shoes, head off early in the morning to run when most of the people are still asleep.
I miss sweating it out and hearing me breathe.
I even miss the pain of stitch although I used to curse and swear whenever I encounter stitch pain whenever I’m running.
I miss the fresh, crisp air of MacRitchie.
I miss seeing fellow runners, struggling and always pushing themselves to run faster.
I miss the feeling achievement and accomplishment whenever I finished a long run.

I’ll give anything to run again.

Last few days were really bad, especially in the mornings as the back muscles are usually dead stiff in the morning and practically EVERY SINGLE MOVEMENT hurts.

Collected my x-ray results yesterday and they weren’t pretty. Sigh. My curvature had indeed worsened and it will continue to do so. Couldn’t help but to feel sorry for myself and the “why me?” syndrome started all over again…

O well, gotta get my act together.

At least it’s not health threatening (YET!) and I’ve decided to seek treatment from a Chiropractor called, Mr. Kevin Lau who specializes in scoliosis correction. The treatment is going to cost me a bomb but what to do? Health = priceless. I gotta give it a try right? What do I have to lose except X amount of money that is equivalent of a 2-3 weeks of holiday in Europe. But if the treatment is indeed effective, I walk away with a healthier spine that I get to keep for the rest of my life!

I’ll only get to see an orthopedic surgeon next week and can finally get to listen to a specialist’s opinion. Although I already have an idea what he’s most probably going to say…

Doctors and surgeons will usually say that scoliosis has no cure except surgery, so to them, chiropractors are just like the “ang moh” version of Tui-Na. ie: ineffective.

However, I am not keen to go under the knife at all and in fact, in my current situation, it is not necessary at all… but in 10 to 20 yrs time, if I just let my back deteriorate, I’ll start looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame in my 40s or so and in that situation, I will most probably have no choice but to go through surgery to feel and look better.

However, Mr. Kevin Lau indicated that with intensive therapies and corrective exercises, one can actually improves one’s scoliosis curvature or, at the very least stop it from worsening.

So, I guess I’ll have to devote a big part of my life (at least for the next 6 mths) to combat against the worsening of the curvature and it’s going to part of me for the very rest of my life.

Thankfully after 1 session with my sinseh in the morning and the chiropractor in the afternoon, I am feeling MUCH better already. No more insane pain and for once in many days, I can kinda walk normally without pain.

Although I will not be able to run for the next 1 to 2 years….(most probably, but wana confirm with the orthopedic surgeon next week). But I can still participate in non-impact sports like swimming and cycling. And if my back muscles become supple and strong in time to come, I can still run, but of course, not a marathon… but a 10 km perhaps? So, I can still do a triathlon!

Yeah! *cheer up already*

So once my back doesn’t hurt anymore. Gotta go for therapy at least 3 to 4 times a week for the next 3-6 months. Intends to swim at least twice a week, do stretching everyday and stationary cycling twice a week.

At times like these, being healthy and pain-free are the greatest gifts in life. I must always remember that and works towards that. I hope all my friends will do likewise.

Pain management

Labour Day weekend didn’t work out well for me…

I took the Friday off to stay at home to study for my up-and-coming CFA Level 2 exam on 8 June, and somehow with a combination of bad posture, bad chair (chair with a soft cushion seat is bad for backs!) and bad luck, I ended up with a HORRIBLE backache on Saturday and for the rest of the week, I bet… …

Sigh.

I actually woke up at 7 am on Saturday, wanted to do a 7 km run and while I was putting on my sports gear, I noticed something funky was going on with my back. And before I could proceed out of the front door, the dull ache became increasing painful and while I was about to step into the lift, I had a really sharp pain shooting from my lower back, all the way to the INSIDE of my hip, I knew something was wrong.

I couldn’t believe it. How could I suffer from such a backache just from sitting on a bad chair?!!?

The pain was just getting worse and worse, until I really had difficulties walking and decided to pay Sinseh a visit AGAIN.

This is the 2nd time that I am suffering from a lower back pain w/n 6 months. The last backache was from a yoga session in Dec07, and luckily I managed to recover in about 2 weeks and that wasn’t as painful as this current episode.

Actually, I do have a confession to make; I suffer from a condition called Scoliosis, which basically means that I have a curve spine. So, one side of my hip is higher, while one side of my shoulder is lower. I got this condition ever since I was a teenager and have more or less come to terms with it. It wasn’t serious enough to go for surgery and so far, it hasn’t really given me any problem except a bad episode of a minor slipped disc in 2003 (but I fully recovered from that) and occasions of minor aches now and then.

But as I increase on my intensity of running and training, it seems to me that really BAD backaches seem to be recurring. And I am really uncomfortable with that.

Sigh. I’m going to see a doctor later to get a referral to see a specialist in Orthopedic. Cant help being a bit depressed right now, as I am really looking forward to doing a full marathon at the end of the year. I wouldn’t be surprise if the doctor were to tell me that I should quit running and try lower impact sports like swimming.

So, to all those people with beautiful, straight and healthy spines, please appreciate and take good care of your backs. You have no idea how much I wish that I can have a straight spine.