coming apart and falling together?

[anotheranon]

Haven't posted in the last few days, due to.. well, nothing to say, really. Neither D. nor myself have been feeling a million percent for the past few days, so I've been trying to rest up and make D. laugh. This involves Star Wars Trivial Pursuit and "Daily Show" reruns, so by necessity I've not been at the screen much :P

My muscle/joint aches this go round were probably related to a cold, but for the past couple of months it hasn't always been the case, and given that cold makes these pains ten times worse I've made a September appointment for the 30,000 mile checkup, or I'll have a really uncomfortable winter! Worst fear: it's my genetic heritage of autoimmunity finally manifesting; best hope: I'm exercising or lifting something I oughtn't and need to stop/seek a personal trainer/something.

On the up side, my hair is finally getting back to its' old self (see prior fret). N-Acetyl-Cystiene twice a day + Nizoral twice a week and while I don't exactly have a lush full mane (pixie cuts tend not to do that), it's got more body and is, I swear, growing faster. My nails are unbelievable - for the first time in my life I have to cut them because they don't break off on their own!

Little else to report. No fencing this week as my primary fencing bud A. has pneumonia :( (recovering, but he emphatically doesn't need to be sweating buckets with a sword just yet!) Will try to break through the writer's blockade this week (though with two days left, I'm not optimistic). Big weekend plans include hitting the JoAnn's 99 cent Simplicity pattern sale and hosting the first meeting of the women's book group.

Linkies so you get some payoff for reading this - what do you get for the manly man who has everything, including nice legs? A kilt, of course! Utilikilts or Amerikilts take your pick :)

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I have The Original Utilikilt in Black Twill. It's great. Pockets! :-)

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Yay! You DO wear it out of the house, right?

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

On occasion. I've worn it to PenguiCon, ren faires, contra dances, and a couple of times just for the heck of it.

[nminusone.livejournal.com]

If you're taking enough NAC (N-acetyl-cysteine) that your nails are growing noticably faster, you can be pretty sure that your hair is growing faster as well. It will also make your skin cells turn over faster, although it will probably be hard to notice that directly, especially at your (relatively young) age. Hair, nails and skin are all highly keratinized, and keratin synthesis relies heavily on cysteine, which is not very abundant in a typical diet. Providing more cysteine (via NAC) allows the body to make more of these things, especially hair and nails, which are mostly "luxury" items from a biochem/nutritional point of view. (One theory is that long, full hair is considered sexy because you have to be healthy and well-fed to get it, so in that sense it's advertising your evolutionary/social success.)

One thing NAC will usually not do, however, is make your individual hair strands much thicker. It might do that a little bit, and maybe a lot, for some lucky people, but in general that's not to be expected from NAC. They will probably be a bit stronger and more durable, though. Also if your hair is growing more quickly, then it's younger than slower-growing hair of equal length, and that's got to help a bit too.

[tommdroid.livejournal.com]

are you sure you have not got an infection like Borelia or similar. one can get Borelia from ticks when out scouting in the nature. my biological Mom had it two years ago, got infected during summer and experienced different kind of phenomena and this you wrote about with pain in joints, and they did not discover what it was until Christmas as the doctor plain was not thinking. a heavy cure with antibiotics later she was as good as new. I think that appointment for the 30,000 mile checkup is a very good idea indeed.

kilts! yum! *plots evil plans how to make DDH to wear a kilt!*

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Not sure what Borelia is (in a rush this morning, don't have time to Google), but Lyme disease is endemic where I live, and its symptoms are similar to what you describe above. I don't THINK I've been exposed (I tend not to do the scouting in nature thing), but I suppose it's an outside possibility.

Might do some research on lunch hour today. Thanks for the heads up :)

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Lyme Disease is also known as Lyme borreliosis ... it IS the same thing (I cheated ... when you just want to know if two names mean the same thing, Library of Congress Authority Search will get you the answer in a hurry .. it's the master vocabulary for library subject headings. End of advertisement ***grin***). Ticks are good at getting around ... even if your own cats are kept indoors, just having a cuddle with somebody else's that's been in the great outdoors can end you up with one. For that matter, any contact with a human who's been in the great outdoors will do it. Or the yard or garden of a human/animal that ventures into the woods.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, this is one thing I could legitimately look up at work, as it's on our site! So I did a bit of homework too:

I'm still very doubtful that I've been exposed. I've never had the characteristic Lyme rash (http://www.afraidtoask.com/lyme/emchestbig.html), and from all descriptions if I were infected I'd be in substantially more pain, more often, than I am.

At any rate, that's why I'm going to the doc; I'll get it all sorted then :)

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Good to hear that you don't have the typical symptoms; still, it never hurts to make sure your doc eliminates it as a cause of your current aches.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

kilts! yum! *plots evil plans how to make DDH to wear a kilt!*

Show him that other manly men wear kilts. Behold: utilikilts

[tommdroid.livejournal.com]

oh!

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

***giggles***

"He's a braw braw hielan' laddie
Private Jock McDade
There's no anither soger like him in the Scots Brigade
Rear'd amang the heather, ye can see he's Scottish built
By the wig, wig, wiggle, waggle Of his kilt"