The Wrath Of Tropical Storm Ondoy

The Metro has just experienced one of the most destructive typhoons ever recorded in Philippine history. The wrath of typhoon Ondoy was such that it left many people dead, and people numbering to hundreds of thousands homeless. Being a country sitting astride the typhoon belt, we have gotten used to having typhoons every now and then. But with tropical storm Ondoy, we were clearly caught off guard.

When typhoon Milenyo hit Manila, most of the people were inside their homes. The streets were literally empty because people were forewarned of strong winds and heavy rains. With typhoon Ondoy, people weren’t really as alarmed because it was forecasted only as signal number one. This category is obviously a far cry from the typhoons that we’ve had before. But as it turned out, we were very wrong. Typhoon Ondoy came with a fury unmatched by any other storm the Philippines has ever witnessed in more than four decades.

Seeing the footage of the flood on television, I feel so grateful that we are safe. With devastated areas close to my home, I can easily imagine that it can happen to anyone – including me or my loved ones. I realized that although we keep our families safe, our efforts will never be enough to protect even ourselves when faced against circumstances that are beyond our control.

A cousin likened the water current on the streets to that of the sea during bad weather – strong and unforgiving. And after only hours of downpour, we saw what was like a scene only seen in movies. Cars floated everywhere, and people clung to poles or to improvised flotation devices in the hope of saving themselves from being drifted away.

What’s totally heartbreaking is the fact that you see people in dire need of help, and you can’t do anything. Pleas for help came from people from all walks of life because the floods ravaged not only humble homes, but also homes in very exclusive villages. And with our small disaster preparedness efforts, responsible agencies didn’t even have enough rubber boats to respond to the call of even one village. Hence, so many families are still on their roofs at this very moment, without food, water, adequate clothing and shelter.

But despite this adversity, I am seeing the bayanihan spirit alive once again. In a program spearheaded by a network company, donations keep coming in from the unaffected members of society, and even from big companies, who voluntarily gave their products and even services, for relief operations. I am hoping that in the coming days, more and more of us will reach out to families who need our help during these difficult times. At least when we work together as one nation, all is not lost.

I Can’t Seem To Stay Away From Rice

My meals today clearly show that I can’t manage to stay away from RICE! I am so not in condition to stick to my diet right now. I noticed that when I have so much in mind, I can’t seem to focus on my resolve to lose weight. Sigh! I will try to make tomorrow a better day.

Sick Of Sweets

I absolutely have no idea as to what my body is going through right now. I never felt sick with eating anything sweet, but today was such a weird day. After I ate something sweet, I felt like puking! Do you have similar issues? I would love to hear about it.

What To Do With This Unexplained Tiredness

I have been feeling really tired lately. I can’t understand where it’s coming from considering that I have been sleeping well for the past couple of days. I have been taking Metformin for a year and a half already, and except for the need to go the bathroom more often, I really have no other major issues with it. But for the past couple of days, this fatigue has really slowed me down. I feel like I have the FLU without the fever.

I have read that Metformin can cause fatigue. But I really did not expect that it is going to be this disturbing. I must admit that there are days when I feel so lazy but that is just a far cry from the tiredness that I have been feeling for the past couple of days. When I wake up in the morning, I feel so tired it’s as if I haven’t slept the entire night. And what’s worse is that I have unexplained body aches and pains.

I am worried at what might be wrong because I never had this before. I already had my thyroid checked, and the blood tests came out normal. I am suspecting that Metformin must be the culprit. For so long, I only had GI problems with Metformin, but now I am feeling another possible side effect. And although it’s a relief to know that there are also other women with PCOS who experienced this kind of fatigue, I wonder why this just happened.

I guess this is more than an indication that I need to see my doctor again. After being sick for a while, I postponed my visit so that I can be in better shape when I see her. But now that this disorder has given me another blow, I seriously need another consultation. I have read that blood tests may be required for a long-term treatment with Metformin. I haven’t had any, and I wasn’t even aware of the need to do so. I guess this is another wake up call that will serve to remind me that I should be more proactive with my treatment.

For now, I will just rely on a pain reliever to at least alleviate the aches and pains. I try to avoid pain relievers but this discomfort is just too much.I have tried walking to get some fresh air and it helped a bit. I feel so wasted today, but I am hoping that tomorrow is going to be a better day so that I can get plenty of things done!

Too Much Social Eating

Today, I had too much social eating. When I am out, I don’t really exert a lot of effort at eating healthy. I also end up ordering what my companions order. And since I don’t have the luxury to eat anything I fancy, I really need to learn how to order healthy! My resolve went down the drain the moment I looked at the menu of that restaurant. Sigh!

The Effect Of PCOS On Breastfeeding

I have been discussing my symptoms with another friend who has PCOS and I found out that aside from the common symptoms, we both had problems with breastfeeding. I really thought that the problems that I had during and after my pregnancy were in no way related with PCOS. When I was diagnosed, I was only told that I may have problems conceiving, and that was it. But now that I have been reading more about the experiences of other PCOS women, somehow it all makes sense.

Right after giving birth, I was very determined to breastfeed my baby because I wanted to give her immune system a needed boost. But I was dismayed to find out that I had a very low milk supply. By this, I meant that I was only able to expel around 10 ml of breast milk for around 30 minutes of pumping. While many of my friends complained about breast engorgement and breast pain a few days after giving birth, I was literally pain free! My breasts were definitely heavier but even with regular pumping, I just couldn’t get breast milk that was sufficient enough for one feeding.

Now I realize that this problem may be correlated with PCOS. It is thought that the breast tissue among PCOS women does not fully develop. This means that although the breast size may look normal, it may lack the milk making capacity needed in milk production. To add to that, other factors associated with PCOS like an imbalance of hormones and insulin resistance seem to make milk production less possible.

Had I learned more about these before giving birth, I could have prepared well for it. Some PCOS women were able to breastfeed because they took medications for PCOS, and they also followed their doctor’s advice to eat healthier. Basically, the treatment was aimed at stabilizing hormones that were necessary for the production of milk. And women were also asked to eat healthier in order to at least control insulin resistance. It is then no surprise that I had so little milk because I neither did any of these. I was only focused on keeping the pregnancy and making sure that my daughter reached term.

If you have PCOS and you are on your way to motherhood, make sure that you discuss your intentions of breastfeeding your baby with your doctor. In my experience, I have learned that planning for my baby’s health and safety should have gone beyond pregnancy. I wish you a safe and happy pregnancy!

Finding Healthier Food Options

I am faced with the challenge of coming up with healthier meals all throughout the week. It’s hard to do it when most of the people in my household aren’t open to eating mostly vegetables. Although my cholesterol levels are normal, I can’t just take this matter sitting down. I try to eat more fish but the ones sold in my area aren’t fresh at all. And I’d immediately get allergies. Ugh! How I wish I could be just a vegetarian. Now, I’m wondering if “veggie meat” is high on the GI scale. I happen to like the vegetarian versions of barbiecue, adobo, etc… I guess I’ll work on that too.

How I Dealt With My PCOS-Related Anxiety Issues

Not knowing that anxiety may be related to PCOS, I dismissed the episodes thinking that it may be because I haven’t been circulating for a while. When my symptoms worsened, I also noticed that my heart seems to be out of sync. There are times when it would just race, and I would have to take deep breaths so that I can breathe. There are also episodes when I’d be awakened in the middle of the night by my racing heart.

I never had these before and I realized that I have been having this problem after giving birth to my daughter. It’s really strange and disturbing in the sense that I really didn’t have self- confidence issues before. Back in school, I was always part of the class considered to be the cream of the crop. To add to that, I was a well rounded individual and I actively participated in competitive sports. During those times, I didn’t have any qualms about meeting other people and taking bold risks.

But now, everything has changed. I recently took an important exam, and my body was totally out of sync. I am used to taking exams because right after graduation, I took all 3 exams necessary to practice as a licensed nurse in a foreign land. Those were very challenging exams but I took the entire process well. But just weeks ago, I was under great stress. Compared to the other exams that I took, it was the most stressful because my body is no longer the same.  And it was just frightening.

I have always thought of certification exams as an opportunity to move forward with my professional aspirations. But with PCOS in my midst, it was just so distressing. The week before the test date, I was in panic mode reading books and searching the internet for topics that I may have overlooked. When I’d sleep at night, I’d worry so much that it was just hard to get some rest.

But since I have had these issues for a while, I was able to effectively cope. When I began to have intervals of breathlessness, I learned coping techniques. My anxiety issues also became more manageable after I started exercising. I also try to stay away from caffeine because it made it so much worse. I used deep breathing to counteract my rapid heartbeats and when I’d get the feeling that I’d choke, I would concentrate on getting full breaths.

I never had any consultation for it because I felt that I could manage it. I felt that there are things that I can do so that I can condition myself to cope better. — It worked! I was in the middle of the exam and my hand froze because I realized that I needed more time to finish the last subtest. No matter what I did, my hand just froze and my handwriting became barely legible. I tried to regain my focus by saying a short prayer and I also willed myself to calm down. Ten minutes before the end of the exam, I was done! I even managed to review everything twice before the papers were collected.

Since PCOS has affected so many aspects of my life, I am slowly coming up with coping techniques so that I can live my life to the fullest. Dealing with this anxiety without any treatment was such a struggle. And it took me awhile to regain my lost confidence. I may not be victorious with PCOS yet, but these small victories keep me going. In time, I will be whole again.

My Poor Self-Control

From the looks of it, the reason why I haven’t been seeing results with my diet is because I really struggle with my self-control. I guess this is the biggest step that I need to address first so that I can go on with my ambitious goals.

Too Much Carbs

Today was a rough start considering that I vowed to stay away from carbs yesterday. But I really want to keep on working on this diet despite my failed beginnings. I guess it’s better to avoid it altogether rather than end up consuming bigger portions. Tomorrow is another day, and I hope I can do so much better.