Bought new boots. Had to adjust.

[Willow]

I wear cheap military style boots.  I'd worn out the tread on the ones I had and the stitching was starting to turn loose.  It was time.

I spent about twenty dollars more than I had last time and I changed color.  I regularly wear black boots.  This time I got the only acceptable ones available which were in a tan hide color.

Interestingly the heel didn't have the inch or so rise from the sole in front of it.  The inner sole held the same pattern as before but the outer sole had extra to cause the heel to go straight to the ball of the foot sole.  That's a small issue.  I rest my feet on the pegs using the instep drop in front of the heel. 

Upon mounting my steel steed I discovered it was a challenge to get my toes under the shift lever to shift up.

Today I got around to moving the lever up a notch.  I was concerned it would not leave enough room above to upshift short of the engine head.  A run around the block or two determined that everything fits and works.  All is well with the world.

It's interesting sometimes the adjustments we make so life will fit like we expect it to.  This was one of the easy ones.

I've ceased taking the anti-depressant that my wife insisted upon after the brain strike.  That adjustment is taking a bit more effort.   

[Valkorado]

I've ceased taking the anti-depressant that my wife insisted upon after the brain strike.  That adjustment is taking a bit more effort.    

For you, or your wife?  

Seriously, I hope the adjustment goes well and you stay ahead of the demons we all deal with from time to time.

BTW, it's about time your brain goes off strike.   

[Willow]

I've ceased taking the anti-depressant that my wife insisted upon after the brain strike.  That adjustment is taking a bit more effort.    

For you, or your wife?  

Seriously, I hope the adjustment goes well and you stay ahead of the demons we all deal with from time to time.

BTW, it's about time your brain goes off strike.   

LOL!  For myself and likely everyone around me.

I hope you never have a strike on the brain to make your humor more serious.     There are parts of my brain that work just as well as they ever did.  There are some parts, mostly coming from the frontal lobe, which were impacted (pun) significantly by the strike to the brain.     It's actually been a blessing to me in learning how I should more honestly deal with myself and with life but it causes some stress to certain people close to me.

[Jess from VA]

I wish you well on your med change Carl.  Remember that going off a long term med can be hard on a body short term, and it can take awhile before you really know what your base line will be without it.

The Chantix (Varenicline) people take to quit smoking is a mild anti-depressive.  It apparently did little for depression, but turned out to help people quit smoking (making them millions in the process).

The 25Mg Tradzodone the doc gave me to be able to sleep through the night is also an anti-depressive, but the usual clinical dose for depression is 350Mg and up.  (If I took that dose, I'd probably sleep 22hrs a day - LOL)   Sleeping through the night is a blessing.

The doc had me on a very low dose Losartan-Potassium to lower blood pressure, but after changing my diet for life (Mediterranean) and getting rid of most sugar and carbs, and walking 2-2.5 miles daily now for a year, dropping 25lbs, I didn't need any BP medicine anymore.

However, 8 days in to quitting tobacco (for the last time) (with no Chantix which made me sick last time, and no patch and no gum), my anxiety level is through the roof, and my damn blood pressure is back up.  I was very disappointed until I realized the BP spike is just the tobacco quitting anxiety spike, which should only be a few weeks to a month, hopefully. 

This tobacco demon is a real son of a bitch, and quitting one of the hardest things I've ever done in my whole life.  Before, I quit because it was the right thing to do, but now I'm doing it to save my life (and 70yo damaged lungs).  Interestingly, I am not eating more to make up for quitting, my appetite was already low, and has gotten lower since quitting. 

Pray for us sinners. 

[scooperhsd]

I never picked up smoking (anything), because my dad smoked and it made me sick. It wasn't until I was away from him for the first really long spell (6 weeks while I was in NROTC catchup in Newport RI), and then moving to KU (University of Kansas) that I really noticed how much better I felt.

Sleeping - If I don't get my 900 mg of Gabapentin now, I have no chance of sleeping through the night regularly - once I would wake up, I couldn't go back to sleep. With it, I at least have a chance...and I mostly stay drowsy when I am awake in the early AM.

The only time I had BP issues was in the last 2 years, with my wife undergoing cancer treatments and MIL's dementia spiraling down, it got up to 150/90 (or so). It now mostly stays down, I could do better if I would exercise more and more regularly.

[..]

I wish you well on your med change Carl.  Remember that going off a long term med can be hard on a body short term, and it can take awhile before you really know what your base line will be without it.

The Chantix (Varenicline) people take to quit smoking is a mild anti-depressive.  It apparently did little for depression, but turned out to help people quit smoking (making them millions in the process).

The 25Mg Tradzodone the doc gave me to be able to sleep through the night is also an anti-depressive, but the usual clinical dose for depression is 350Mg and up.  (If I took that dose, I'd probably sleep 22hrs a day - LOL)   Sleeping through the night is a blessing.

The doc had me on a very low dose Losartan-Potassium to lower blood pressure, but after changing my diet for life (Mediterranean) and getting rid of most sugar and carbs, and walking 2-2.5 miles daily now for a year, dropping 25lbs, I didn't need any BP medicine anymore.

However, 8 days in to quitting tobacco (for the last time) (with no Chantix which made me sick last time, and no patch and no gum), my anxiety level is through the roof, and my damn blood pressure is back up.  I was very disappointed until I realized the BP spike is just the tobacco quitting anxiety spike, which should only be a few weeks to a month, hopefully. 

This tobacco demon is a real son of a bitch, and quitting one of the hardest things I've ever done in my whole life.  Before, I quit because it was the right thing to do, but now I'm doing it to save my life (and 70yo damaged lungs).  Interestingly, I am not eating more to make up for quitting, my appetite was already low, and has gotten lower since quitting. 

Pray for us sinners. 

Tobacco is a hard demon to fight.

One day at a time.

Fight the good fight.

If you need someone to talk with message me.