How to Live Longer - Adding Years to Your Life Expectancy

According to science the following groups of people live longer than normal.  There are areas called Blue Zones where people who live in these areas live longer than the normal person.  The Blue Zones are:

Barbagia region of Sardinia – Mountainous highlands of inner Sardinia with the world’s highest concentration of male centenarians.

Ikaria, Greece – Aegean Island with one of the world’s lowest rates of middle age mortality and the lowest rates of dementia.

Nicoya Penninsula, Costa Rice – One of the World’s lowest rates of middle age mortality and second highest concentration of male centenarians.

Seventh Day Adventists – The highest concentration of Seventh Day Adventists is around Loma Linda, California.  They live 10 years longer than their North American counterparts.

Okinawa, Japan – Females over 70 are the longest-lived population in the world.  What enables them to thrive? Research tells us that it comes down to nine qualities:

1.                 1. Move Naturally: The world’s longest lived people don’t work out in the gym or pump iron, they live in environments that encourage constant natural movement.  They work in the garden and do things for themselves instead of using mechanical conveniences.

2.                2. Purpose: The Okinawans call it “Ikigai” and the Nicoyans call it “plan de Vida.”  Both translate to “why I wake up in the morning.”  Knowing your purpose in life can add seven years to your life.

3.                3. Down Shift: Stress leads to medical problems, things like chronic inflammation which is associated to every major age-related disease.  People who live longer have routines to shed stress.  Okinawans take a few minutes each day to remember their ancestors, Adventist pray, Ikarians take a nap and Sardinans do happy hour.

4.                4. 80% Rule: “Hara hachi bu” – the Okinawan, 2500 year old Confucian mantra said before meals he reminds them to stop eating when their 80% full.  The 20% gap between not being hungry and feeling full could be the difference between losing weight and gaining it.  People in the Blue Zone eat their smallest meal in the late afternoon or early evening and they don’t eat any more the rest of the day.

5.                5. Plant Slant: Beans, including fava, black, soy and lentils, are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets.  Meat, most pork, is eaten on average only five times a month with serving sizes being 3-4oz or about the size of a deck of cards.

6.                 6. Wine: About 5 people in all Blue Zones (except Adventist) drink alcohol moderately and regularly.  Moderate drinkers outlive non-drinkers.  One to two glasses per day (preferable Sardinian Cannonau wine), with friends and/or food.

 

7.                 7. Belong: All but 263 centenarians interviewed belonged to a faith based community.  The Denomination doesn’t seem to matter.  Attending faith based services four times a month will add 4-14 years of life expectancy.

8.               8. Loved Ones First: Centenarians in the Blue Zone put their families first.  Keeping aging parents and grandparents in the home or nearby.  It lowers disease and mortality rates of children in the home too.  They commit to a life partner which adds 3 years to their life expectancy and invest in their children with time and love.

9.                9. Right Tribe: Choose or were born into social circles that support healthy behavior.

  

Finding a Job That Works with My Migraines

Working while suffering from chronic migraines can be very difficult.  There are times when I am unable to go in because I am completely laid up with a migraine, I am so exhausted from having a migraine or I am so medicated that I can't concentrate and I am dragged out.

It can be very difficult if not impossible to hold a regular 8-5 job.  People don't always understand that one migraine can last for days or even weeks.  It's not just a matter of taking a pill and its over.  And besides the pain there is the nausea, sensitivity to light and sound.  For some, including me, they have trouble with their eyes.  I can't hardly read anything because my eyes won't focus.  If you have never had a migraine you don't know the pain and everything that comes with it.  

But what do you do when you need to work, you need to earn an income for you and your family?  I have begun to look for alternative work.  Something I can do from home or set my own hours.  But what?  That is the question and the challenge.  

Using an Electronic Massager to Treat Migraines

Oddly enough, while attending a travel show there was a booth that was promoting an electronic device that is used to relax muscles and stimulate nerves.  When I went to the 

chiropractor they used a similar device.  The device has four pads that you place on the areas of tension for you.  For migraines it is suggested that you place them on your shoulders, upper back and neck.

The pads are connected to wires and when it is turned on it will send a small electronic pulse causing the muscles to contract and then release.  You can control the intensity as well as various pulse patterns.  For example one feels like vibrating while another feels like pounding. 

It’s a little weird at first because your muscles are contracting without you controlling it but I find it to be very relaxing.  With some of my migraines I can feel it in my left shoulder beforehand.  The muscles in my shoulder will start tightening up to the point it’s painful.  When this starts to happen I will put this device on in order to loosen that muscle up.

You can find these devices on Amazon from $20 to $199.  They go by different names, if you search for electronic muscle stimulator or electronic pulse massager, you will find a wide variety of these devices.  

Finding the Right Doctor

When I first started getting migraines my general physician was pumping me full of heavy duty pain killers that were making me sick.  He was treating the pain but not the migraines.  So I decided to seek out the help of a neurologist.  This neurologist tried several different medications but with minimal success.  When I told him I was only getting a few days a month off from the migraines and wanted to try something else he told me that was as good as I was going to get and I had to just deal with it.

 

After this I found a new neurologist who put me on Pamelor  and Calan.  I got a little better results but the Calan was a concern because it could cause an irregular heartbeat so I had to have regular checkups for my heart and that risk along with the elevated risk factor of heart problems from the pain killers was a huge concern.  The Pamelor also cause a lot of weight gain.  It makes you feel like you are starving all the time no matter how much you eat so I was constantly eating.  Even though in my head I knew I couldn’t be hungry I still had that sick feeling from being really, really hungry.

This is when I found a migraine website that helps people find migraine specialist in your area.  After doing a search I found a doctor and made an appointment.  He was the first doctor that brought up Botox to me.  He took me off the Pamelor and Calan, put me on Topamax and started Botox injections.  The Topamax helped but it took away my sense of taste.  Food either tasted like cardboard or so disgusting I couldn’t eat it.  So unfortunately I had to reduce the amount of Topamax I was taking which affected how well it worked.  It also caused bone loss so I was heading for osteoporosis.

Sadly this doctor moved away which left me without a neurologist.  The medical center sent me to a pain specialist for my Botox injections and pain meds but my migraines are so bad that I feel I need to see a neurologist to see if there are any other options for me.  The hard part is finding the right neurologist. 

Not all doctors are equal and have equal knowledge about migraine treatments.  It’s important to find a doctor that listens to you and will work with you to find the best treatment for you.  My first two doctors did not do this, they just handed me some pills and said this is as good as it will ever get for you. 

I am not willing to accept this, this can’t be as good as it gets for me.  I am not willing to give up and I want a doctor that won’t either.  So if you’re not getting what you need from your doctor you shouldn’t hesitate to seek out another one. 

Find a migraine specialist:   www.mychronicmigraine.com/

Faking Being Well

It is hard enough trying to deal with debilitating migraines but its even harder when you have to fake being well so nobody will know that you are sick.

Because I am not getting the support and understanding I need from certain people, I find myself pretending I am well and feeling good so nobody will know I am sick... again.

When someone is having a level 10 migraine the pain shows on their face but for me I have to put on a smile and try to hide that pain.  I have to go about my day as though I am feeling fine when in reality I am screaming inside from the pain and all I want to do is lay down and pull a blanket over my head.

I know it's hard when your sick all the time but people need to understand you can't control it.  You don't want to be sick anymore then they want you to be and there pressure is just adding to your illness.

This is why it's so important to find a good support system and connect with people who truly understand what you are going through.

Using Medical Marijuana to Treat Migraines

Medical Marijuana

There is still a fear in people in taking medical marijuana.  There is a fear that people will think you are a drug addict or your just saying you need it for medical purposes as an excuse to smoke pot.   

But the reality is that many people swear by marijuana as a way to relieve their migraine pain.  They like of the idea of using something more natural than the harsh prescription pain killers. 

Medical marijuana is becoming more accepted by people for treating many different illnesses.  And contrary to what people believe you don’t have to be getting high to find relief.  CBD form of Marijuana that’s out the ingredient THC which is what makes you high.

For migraines a product called a Trokie is recommended.  It is a small tab that dissolves in your mouth.  You place it in your cheek and it slowly dissolves over 30 to 45 minutes and it delivers a consist dose of medical cannabis. 

It comes in different strengths and flavors.  You will need a medical marijuana card or certificate, which is fairly easy to get and can actually be obtained online for a small fee.  The product itself can also be ordered online so you don’t have to go into a dispensary or deal with anyone face to face.

I see medical marijuana following the path of medical Botox.  At first it was not accepted by people as a legitimate from of medical treatment but then over time as people saw the benefits of the product and how much it helped people, they will began to accept it.  I think it will be the same for medical marijuana. 

And until people know what it’s like to be in constant, excruciating pain who are they to judge how you treat your condition.  Medical Marijuana does not have the side effects a lot of prescription medications have.  Side effects that are sometimes just as bad if not worse than the condition you are treating.

If you decide to try Trokies or another form of medical marijuana buy only a small amount to try at first.  Like I said some people swear by it and get amazing results while others get no results at all.  And as always with any medication be responsible with taking it.

Toradol Withdrawl Leads to Massive Migraine

Over the past few weeks I have been slowly tapering off Topamax.  With Topamax you can’t just stop it, you have to very slowly tapper off of it.  Otherwise you will get sick.  You will have a massive migraine plus you are at risk of more serious side effects of withdrawing from it. 

Once in the past because of an issue with my mail order medication order I was forced to abruptly stop it and I became very sick, which is why I no longer use mail order for my meds.  But this time I tapered off of it slowly so I was hopeful I would be ok.  However yesterday it hit me and I am now in the midst of a massive migraine. 

It is very resistant to treatment.  I went to urgent care yesterday for a Toradol shot which did very little.  Then came home and started aggressively treating this migraine but it hasn’t reacted to any of the medications I have taken and I used the really good, heavy duty drugs stuff too. 

I guess I am going to have to ride this thing out, mostly on the couch with a blanket pulled over my head.  Thankfully I got some prescription medication for the nausea which has helped a lot with that.  Hopefully this will pass soon but for now it’s back to the couch.