Social Distancing, Dodgy Cleaning Products & Inflammation

First of all social distancing is relatively easy for me. I don't have a social life, let alone an active one. On the one hand it's great that I can be myself and generally avoid people the way I always do. On the other hand I wonder if I'm being complacent by not washing my hands after I shop for groceries despite no social interaction. I went to the shop this evening and washed them on return. I had an idea though. I have a box of disposable gloves in the press in the kitchen that I normally use for preparing meat for dinner. I could bring a pair each time I go to the shop and wear them if I don't see any sanitizer facility and dispose of them on the way home. I should try that.

I posted a couple of weeks ago how I had dodgy sinuses and chest the day after cleaning my kitchen. I thought it was because I used too much bleach despite windows open and reasonable ventilation. I gave my toilet a much needed clean this week. Then I bleached the inside of the bowl. The product I use for cleaning is home made. It is vinegar based. I coughed a bit and my breathing felt strange after cleaning the toilet. My first thought was "I hope it's not covid 19" because it can cause respiratory issues. But then my sister posted the photo above on facebook and things started to make sense. The very first one is bleach + vinegar, as you can see. So I won't bleach after using my home made product in future. I'll wait until the next day before using bleach when the bowl is dry.
I was talking about inflammation the past two weeks. It feels like there's something more going on, autoimmune-wise, than just diabetes and coeliac. I've been struggling with back and joint pain and feel like my whole body is inflamed. I'm not going to talk to a doctor about it at the moment because they're probably flat out with treating covid-19. Maybe when all this dies down I'll talk to a doctor about it. I hope my appointment with the diabetic nurse at the end of next month is not cancelled because I want to get my vitamin D levels tested. I reckon low levels is contributing to my back and joint aches. I can get blood tests done there under the medical card. Blood tests by my GP are no longer covered by the medical card. On the issue of vitamin D, when I first went to the coeliac clinic at the out patients in Galway hospital in 2014 my levels were checked, found to be too low and two injections were prescribed. I'd prefer to get two vitamin D injections every year than taking supplements. I wish that was possible because I'm no good for getting into a routine of taking supplements and they're not as effective as injections in my opinion.

More Worrying Than The Corona Virus

This is somewhat of a continuation of last week's post. I felt as though I'd been glutened a number of days ago but couldn't place where, when or even how it happened. So whatever is inflaming my body is what caused it rather than actual gluten. I'm dealing with an issue that I could go to a doctor about but there is so much more to it than the visible aspect. I asked a doctor about it before and didn't get any help really. I'm worried that if I do get to a doctor before the visual symptom disappears they'll only medicate the symptoms rather than listen to me about what's going on with the invisible symptoms and not investigate the real cause and how to treat it. Overthinking leads me to just wait it out and while the issue is there I'm feeling low and worried I could get really depressed.
I'm not worried about the corona virus. If it happens to me I'll deal with it then. I don't give a shit. I'm more worried about the political implications of it and my mental health.
That's all I have today. I wanted to put something up to stay active on the blog. It's a pity it can't be more upbeat.

Inflammation And Possible Food Triggers

This cycle started off ok. My blood sugar readings have been good before breakfast and I can eat a little bit extra at supper to bring my sugars up a bit in time for my long acting insulin to prevent overnight lows. Since I had the cauliflower rice for the last too weeks, I decided to go with cauliflower couscous (pictured) this week. It tasted good, although the pleasure is more in the texture and feel and the crunchiness of the nuts, and it got a good reaction when I posted the picture on Instagram. I'm also having poached chicken breast with it as the couscous on its own is a raw vegan dish. I might post the recipe in a future post. Included in the ingredients are: cauliflower, spices, salt, olive oil, raisins, dried cranberries, almonds and cashews and topped with finely chopped parsley. I had shop bought soup for breakfast, the couscous and chicken for dinner and I prepared bread rolls and grilled pork chops for supper. No cooking after Sunday's meal prep, only heat the soup for breakfast and heat the chicken breast for dinner.
On Monday I spent the day giving my kitchen a much needed cleaning. The floor hadn't been mopped in too long to be honest. I woke up yesterday morning feeling a bit strange. There was a horrible taste in my mouth, almost metallic, and my sinuses were stuffy. After a while I was wondering if I'd used too much bleach in washing the kitchen floor and if it was affecting me. But I had every window in the flat open when I was cleaning so the place was well ventilated. There was quite a breeze outside so plenty air had a chance to circulate. Later on I started feeling little twinges and aches consistent with inflammation. So I suspect that it's the nuts in the couscous I'm reacting to. The cashews and almonds are raw. The cashews in the stir fry the last two weeks were roasted. I remember one time a guy told me he didn't eat cashews because he got stomach cramps from them when they were raw. So I suspect the inflammation symptoms I'm feeling are from the nuts. They're certainly not allowed in the elimination phase of the autoimmune protocol diet so perhaps they trigger inflammation in me as well. I got enough nuts for two batches of the couscous recipe because I had planned to make it next Sunday as well. I still will make it and see how I feel then after the next cycle to see if it's the nuts. It could also be the spices. Not the turmeric but the cinnamon. The other thing about it is that I feel like I've eaten a meal afterwards but I get hungry (not food craving but feeling of an empty stomach hungry) about an hour before I normally have supper. But my blood sugars stay in range, at the lower end but still in range, until I have supper so I won't lower my dinner insulin. If I could get over the inflammation symptoms that dinner would be great for my blood sugar averages.
My tennis elbow has been acting up and I'm kind of feeling it on the other elbow as well. I have to put sudocreme on hives on my legs and my muscles ache from time to time, along with the occasional stomach cramp. It feels like my whole body is inflamed this week. But it's not as bad as it sounds overall. It's just a number of little things niggling at me but they're not stopping me from moving around and getting things done. It'd be nice if I could pinpoint a solution though. I'll struggle on.
Another thing I wanted to speak about briefly is that Becky Excell shared a link to a gluten free pizza base recipe from her Gluten Free Cuppa Tea blog on twitter. I'm seriously considering trying it. If I do I'll probably say how it went on here. Speaking of recipes, I tend to do recipes from others or an adapted version of existing recipes because I don't have the extensive knowledge in that area or the patience to develop my own unique recipes. I tend to do things at a slow relaxed pace so if I'm trying something new, what would take some people a couple of hours would take me most of the day to get right so I feel like time isn't on my side if I wanted to experiment with cooking and developing a recipe.
Note: If you're wondering what I mean by 'cycle', it's how I plan and prepare meals for the week, especially to do me from Sunday to Wednesday. There is a fairly detailed look at it here: https://myautoimmuneblog.blogspot.com/2020/02/meal-planning-and-preparation-fairly.html