Need a laugh? A relatable Onion article

For those that aren't familiar, The Onion is a satirical newspaper that writes hoax news items, typically in Associated Press style.  This Commentary piece is supposed to be relatable to anyone who's had to suffer through another's detailed account of their fitness routine, but I found it especially relatable as a PWME.

I hate to admit it, but there was a time in my life where I might have been on the giving end of a few insufferable speeches like this.  Now that I'm sick, I can't stand to hear other people talk about their athletic pursuits.  Is this Karama?  Is this what I sounded like to other people?  God, I hope not.

Drugs May Shut Down Several EBV-Induced Diseases

I don't have much time to blog today, but wanted to post this article from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health about research into drugs that shut down Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), which many believe is a significant factor in ME/CFS.

Although the article is from 2010, a recent post on Phoenix Rising provided an update on the status of clinical testing for these drugs. (See second post in the thread.)  These trials will be interesting to follow as they progress.  

Methylation cycle testing, and some "bright-side" musings

Pretty soon, I'll be off to Hoag Hospital to get blood drawn to send to Health Diagnostics laboratory in New Jersey.  They'll run a methylation panel, which essentially tells you how well your body is eliminating waste from the blood stream, among other things.  It is thought that defects in the methylation cycle are a key part of the problem for people with ME/CFS. Apparently Health Diagnostics is the only lab in the country that runs this particular panel.  It will be an interesting experience: This is the first time I'll have ever shipped my blood across the country.  I never thought I'd be doing that.

But in the mean time, I was thinking of two more things that I can look to as the "bright side" of my illness.  Granted, they don't compare to having my health, but I try to focus on the positive.

1.  My electric bill has been about half of what it was in previous summers.  That's because, with my lower body temperature, we don't need to run the air conditioning.  We simply keep the windows open.  My wife was never as sensitive to the heat as me, so she doesn't mind keeping the A/C off.

While I originally got sick in the middle of last summer, I was still in the acute stage of the illness, so my body temperature hadn't dropped yet.  This summer we're starting to see the savings, which has already been in the hundreds of dollars, and could be in the thousands by year's end.


2.  I have a lot of favorite items of clothing lying around and in storage which, over the last five years, I've outgrown -- especially as I packed on weight around my torso.  But I held onto these clothes anyway, perhaps because of their sentimental value or because they "just don't make 'em like that any more."  


Now that I've lost 30 pounds because of the CFS, I'm suddenly able to fit in all these clothes again.  I love it.  


I actually think my ideal weight is somewhere between my current weight and what I weighed just before I got sick.  I wouldn't mind gaining about 15 pounds back.  But for now, I'm just happy to give these old comfortable clothes a second go-around.  

More Stevia Product Reviews: Chocolate & Sodas

In previous posts, I reviewed flavored liquid stevia drops, and a homemade recipe for stevia chocolate sauce.  I've since had the opportunity to try a few more products: two stevia chocolate brands and two soda brands.  The two chocolate brands reviewed below are the only two stevia chocolate brands on the market - at least that I've been able to find.

Stevia Chocolate by Dante Confections

Dante Confections' stevia chocolate bars are available for order on Amazon for $29.95 for eight bars.  The price works out to about $3.74 per bar, which is pricey but not outrageous.  Premium chocolate bars with sugar care comparably priced.  For those of us PWMEs on no-sugar diets, stevia products are one of our few indulgences.  I forgo so many other expensive activities with ME/CFS that I'm comfortable spending a few dollars on chocolate.  

Dante Confections produces a darker variety of chocolate.  Their product only comes in one flavor: straight up chocolate.  Nothing fancy here, just coco goodness.  

My Amazon order arrived within five days, with each small brick of chocolate individually wrapped in thin tissue paper, which in turn were wrapped inside ordinary sandwich bags.  As I opened the package, I felt like I was receiving illicit contraband!  

If you're a dark chocolate lover, this is your brand.  I loved every bite of it, but then again, I can handle the relative bitterness of dark chocolate.  My wife, who prefers sweeter chocolate, sampled it and said, "I don't know how you can enjoy this stuff."  So it depends on your taste palette. 

One benefit of the darker chocolate was that I found it lasted longer.  I was much more likely to savor each square and let it melt in my mouth -- usually being satisfied with two small squares as an after-dinner treat.  With the YC brand (below), I found myself eating whole bars at a time.  I think darker chocolate forces one to savor it more, which might be a good thing when we're talking about such a pricey commodity.

The ingredients list is simple, which I found reassuring.  Three ingredients:  Chocolate liquor, stevia, and pure vanilla.  That's it.  (Incidentially, chocolate "liquor" should not be confused with chocolate "liqueur."  There is no alcohol in it.  It simply means that it's made from hardened liquid chocolate.)

Personally, I couldn't tell much of a difference between the stevia chocolate brands I review here and regular chocolate bars made with sugar.  It all tastes delicious to me.  But some of the more "sophisticated" chocolate lovers on Amazon claim they can tell the difference.  Take that for what it's worth...

Stevia Chocolate by Coco Polo

The other brand of stevia chocolate is Coco Polo.  Their chocolate is of the more milk chocolate variety, with various flavors to choose.  I ordered the variety pack of 12 bars, which I believe are no longer available.  They currently offer an 8 piece variety pack for $42.00.  This works out to about $5.25 per bar.  

I ordered Coco Polo directly from the company's website which, in my case, was a mistake.  It was 21 days from the time I placed my order until the goods arrived at my house.  When you're out of chocolate, this is an unreasonable amount of time to wait!  At about day 17, I sent an email inquiring about the status of my order.  It was never returned.  I've since discovered that Coco Polo is also available on Amazon, which might be the better choice next time.  

The Coco Polo packaging is much more professional looking, if that kind of thing matters to you. The bars arrived each sealed in gold-colored wrappers, which in turn were inside printed paper sleeves.  The sleeves contained the usual Nutrition Facts and ingredients sections on the back.  

Interestingly, the main sweeteners (by weight) in these bars is not stevia, but rather erythritol and inulin.  I'm finding that this is pretty common with "stevia" products.  I gather that it's difficult to approximate the flavor of sugar with stevia alone, but you can get pretty close with a combination of stevia and these other natural sweeteners.  Stevia is the last ingredient listed in the Coco Polo bars, which could mean that the bars only contain trace amounts of it.  But, erythritol and inulin are also both low on the glycemic index and arguably don't feed candida.  

The chocolate itself tasted much sweeter than the Dante Confections chocolate -- probably due to the darker chocolate mixture, but also because Dante doesn't use erythritol and inulin.  And of course, it was nice to have the variety of six flavors: Almond, cherry, elderberry, cocoa dark, nibs and ginger.  The only flavor that I found to be a little....odd was ginger.  Who's ever heard of ginger chocolate?    

All in all, I liked both brands for different reasons.  In the future, I'll probably alternate my orders between the two companies.  

Zevia Sodas with Stevia

Finally, I've been sampling Zevia brand sodas, which I purchased from Whole Foods and Sprouts markets (although they can also be ordered directly).  They are sold in ordinary 12oz. soda cans, packaged in six-packs, with 15 flavors available.  So far I've tried five of them: Black cherry, orange, caffeine free cola, Dr. Zevia, and ginger root beer.  

Again, it's been over eight months since I've had a regular soda with sugar or aspartame, but these sodas taste almost as good if not exactly as good as "the real thing" to me.  Prices are reasonable, although not as cheap as name brand products.  For instance, a 24 pack can be ordered from Amazon for about $19, or about $0.80 per can.  

Again, as with the chocolate reviewed above, be aware that the dominant sweetener by weight is not stevia, even though the product says "sweetened with stevia" on the can.  While this statement may be correct, Erythritol is listed four ingredients higher than stevia on the ingredients list.  But, I don't begrudge Zevia their marketing strategy, which I think is fair enough and not overly deceptive.  Anyone can look on the back of the can before buying.  

All in all, I think it's a good product and I'm grateful to see more and more options enter the marketplace for those of us who avoid sugar and artificial sweeteners.

                                                      Blue Sky Free Sodas with Stevia

7/27/12 update:  I've since discovered another brand of canned stevia sodas while shopping at Sprouts Market, called Blue Sky Free.  It is apparently manufactured by the more well-known Hansen Beverage Company.  While I've only had an opportunity to sample one flavor so far, Cherry Vanilla Creme, I find that it tastes about the same as Zevia.  And like Zevia, they also sweeten with Erythritol in addition to stevia

Their price at Sprouts Market was a little lower than Zevia - although I can't remember the exact amounts.  On Amazon, it seems to be a little cheaper as well: about $17 per 24 pack, or about $0.70 per can.

Blue Sky offers a different range of flavors than Zevia, so it's nice to have a choice between the two brands.  In addition to the usual flavors like Cola and Root Beer, Blue Sky's selection includes Lemonade and Jamaican Ginger Ale, among others.  For the full selection, see their website.

I'll try to update this post later when I've had a chance to try more Blue Sky flavors. 

Promising research on blood flow and muscle problems in ME/CFS

It's seems the ME/CFS blogosphere reports on new studies nearly every week, so it's sometimes difficult to get excited about any one study.  But, I'm usually able to muster a little more excitement when the researcher attempts to identify actual solutions to, not just causes of ME/CFS.


In the research outlined here, Dr. Julia Newton states that she and her team have identified certain medications (not yet revealed) that help the bodies of PWMEs improve blood flow and eliminate the buildup of acid in the muscles.  Newton believes that blood flow problems and muscle problems are central to ME/CFS. 

What's with all the abandoned blogs?

Short post today:  Have you ever wondered what's up with all of the abandoned ME/CFS blogs?  If you click through some blog rolls, or for instance, the ME/CFS Blogger Ring's member list, you'll notice a significant portion of the blogs just..... drop off.

You'll notice a last post about an ordinary ME/CFS topic like, say, supplements, dated two or three years ago. And then....silence.  Did the author take a sudden turn for the worse?  Maybe they just got bored with blogging?  Or did they suddenly recover and forget all about their blogs?  (I hope!) 

Either way, I find it a little unsettling, like the eerie silence of a ghost town.  I guess I'll choose to believe that they all recovered....    

On Camping and Trying to Pinpoint my Crash Threshold

The family and I went camping with friends this weekend at a spot on the coast just north of Santa Barbara, called El Capitan.  It's difficult to get a reservation at El Capitan because of its unique location on a wooded bluff overlooking the Pacific.  But due to Mrs. Calvin's foresight and quick-draw keyboard fingers, we secured a coveted reservation back in February.  So despite my hesitation, we decided to go for it.  Part of this decision was that I also wanted to test my theory that camping might be an ideal "activity" for a moderately ill PWME.  After all, the whole point of camping is to go into the woods and just chill out.

Well, the weekend turned out great ... until we returned home Sunday evening and I crashed.  But, the good news is that this crash may help me pinpoint my crash threshold.  

We arrived at the campground on Friday morning and, over the next three hours, took our time leisurely setting up the tent and the rest of the camp.  Although this activity involved brief spurts of intense energy, I went about it slowly and rested between tasks.  No problem.  I felt fine that evening and the next day.

On Sunday morning, however, we had to pack up the camp more rapidly because we'd made plans to leave at the same time as our friends and meet for lunch in Santa Barbara.  This packing process was essentially the same process as the unpacking process, only in reverse.  So theoretically, it should have  taken about the same amount of energy and thus, no crash.  The difference I believe was, this time, I crammed the whole process into about an hour.

As usual, I felt fine during the activity, but as soon as it was over and there was a letdown (i.e. getting in the car and sitting down), I could tell I'd overdone it.  I felt extremely weak.

By the time we'd parked the car on State Street in Santa Barbara, I'd recovered a little.  We did meet our friends for lunch, and I'd regained some energy.  I was hoping that whatever I'd felt in the car had been just a false crash.  But any hope of it being a false crash was extinguished about an hour after arriving home when I went into full crash mode, with aching, flu-like symptoms and shortness of breath.  I woke this morning in an even worse state.  So, I think I may have learned a valuable lesson about pacing, namely: 


DO IT!

I should mention that there are a few other possible causes of this crash, although I think they are less likely.  Nevertheless, I want to record them for my own future reference:

• I switched from Famciclovir to Valacyclovir on Saturday night when the Famciclovir ran out.  Could this be a start-up reaction?  Probably not.
• Both of the babies on the trip were sick, and C once sneezed directly on my face.  Could this be a regular viral illness?  
• I forgot my B12 supplementation on Sunday.  Could that cause a crash this severe?  Doubt it.