15. No more tablets

It’s been 5 weeks with my reduction in tablet use, 2 weeks on half dose and now I’ve just completed 3 weeks of nothing! It has been quite hard but not impossible, I’m one of the lucky ones that has the perfect wife, understanding, caring and loving, without going off on one if I was having a bad day but is always there when needed. That’s why I love her!

The first few days were like ‘how will I cope?’ ‘What happens if I get stressed?’ ‘What if I can’t get off the tablets?’ All of these were genuine concerns that, in my opinion, everyone suffering asks themselves, some want to stick with what they know, some want the relief of not having them and some just need help and guidance to reduce their levels. Whichever suits people is the right option.

As I had put in previous posts, I’ve changed jobs, no stress, happier and wanting to do more, this week was a good test to see how far I’ve come, Friday (24th) was the fourth anniversary of my sisters passing (and fourth anniversary of running the London marathon) and I had a good day thinking about her, talking about her and raising a glass to her, up until now all those things had hurt too much and put me back into a downward spiral of depression, this year was different, I can’t change anything that has gone on in my past, I can only remember the good times we had, I can’t predict the future so I won’t worry about it, I can only enjoy the ‘now’.

There’s things that I can change and that’s my weight for starters, I’m probably 3 stone over weight, or 2 ft 6in too short for my current weight! I’ve got back into doing Weight Watchers which seemed to be the only one that worked for me, once I’m back at my ideal weight I’ll then start making the habit changes to make sure it sticks this time. I’ve also continued my running which I enjoy (even more so when I’m lighter!) I’m still listening to my Podcasts and doing the meditation as often as possible.

I can change my level of fitness so I will be running more, I have a running buddy back too so fingers crossed we help each other 🏃‍♀️

I can also change how I look at and react to things, before I thought ‘why are you doing it like that?’ Now, if it doesn’t affect me you can do it however you like, I will have forgotten about it an hour later! 😂

I’ve found that I also need to keep busy, the lockdown that everybody is suffering at the moment is affecting many people in many different ways, my only hope is that they have loving family and friends like I do to help them through it, if you know anyone that has suffered in the past (could be putting a brave face on again), anyone that is going through mental health issues now or anyone that you can see signs of ‘all not being well’ then try to get them to talk, get them to share their feelings or show them these blogs and ask them to message me. We’re all in this together.

Another day, another sunny one and all is good still, out working, keeping the nation fed (if you’re posh enough to shop at Waitrose) and keeping myself sane, I have done my usual podcast listening and have had a Eureka moment (well, a small one!) today’s podcast was by a man called Patrick McKeown and it was about breathing, I know what you’re thinking, I already breathe! This podcast was about breathing properly, through the nose for starters, the nose was designed to filter and regulate breathing, the mouth isn’t, if you look at any medical journal regarding the mouth, there is not one that mentions breathing as one of its purposes! I was impressed by the logic and explanations that are given and how everything seems to make sense, poor breathing leads to stress levels rising which leads to poor sleep, poor sleep leads to poor breathing (mouth open and tossing & turning) poor breathing leads to stress levels rising etc etc, you get the idea, how many of you can honestly say you breathe through your nose constantly? I was hooked on this podcast and have now purchased the book (good old Amazon!). Back to my Eureka moment, I am going to try and piece together all the people, organisations, podcasts etc that have helped me over the last year or so, all the contact details and a brief insight into what they do, all the healthy advice, including breathing and anything else I come up with or can remember and put them into one helpful go to blog, that way everyone can try and take some elements from different areas to make small changes in their lives without reading whole books or listening to loads of podcasts. It’s given me a focus to learn more (I love learning) and hopefully help others.

Right, I’m off to start studying, have a good day and stay safe