My head hurts...

I woke up this morning dizzy. Or at least dizzier than most of the morning's since I got my concussion. I also stepped on the scale and it read 194 lbs. WTF???? How can that be????

My plan was to swim and bike today. I was having trouble walking down the stairs, my quads were sore. Like they were full of lactic acid, they they were being stabled by knifes.  I decided I was going to wait until it warmed up to 15C this after noon and then go for my ride and I'd worry about the swim after that.

I headed to work and the situation with Wayne was weighing on my pretty great. What to do? What to do?  When I got to work I did a little google searching on over-training and the symptoms I'm having. Even after getting to work I was dizzy and had a bad headache. I wanted to know if it could be from training. I was also wondering if it was just pure stress as a result of my conversation with Wayne.

In the reading the first thing I came across was this article on training and gaining weight.

You’re losing leanness despite increased exercise.

If losing fat was as easy as burning calories by increasing work output, overtraining would never result in fat gain – but that isn’t the case. It’s about the hormones. Sometimes, working out too much can actually cause muscle wasting and fat deposition. You’re “burning calories,” probably more than ever before, but it’s predominantly glucose/glycogen and precious muscle tissue. Net effect: you’re getting less lean. The hormonal balance has been tipped. You’ve been overtraining, and the all-important testosterone:cortisol ratio is lopsided. Generally speaking, a positive T:C ratio means more muscle and less fat, while a negative ratio means you’re either training too much, sleeping too little, or some combination of the two. Either way, too much cortisol will increase insulin resistance and fat deposition, especially around the midsection. Have you been working out like a madman only to see your definition decrease? You’re probably overtraining.

You’re primarily an endurance athlete, and you feel overly fatigued, sluggish, and useless.

Too much resistance training can cause sympathetic overtraining; too much endurance work can cause parasympathetic overtraining, which is characterized by decreased testosterone levels, increased cortisol levels, debilitating fatigue (both mental and physical), and a failure to lose body fat. While I tend to advise against any appreciable amount of endurance training, chronic fatigue remains an issue worthy of repeating. Being fit enough to run ten miles doesn’t mean that you now have to do it every day.

Both those paragraphs resonated with me and it would make sense. I've been training for over 4.5 years without taking much if any of a break, my body is definitely been to places most people's bodies have never been too and losing weight is near impossible. What hit home was looking at my calorie consumption over the last few weeks and technically I should be down weight just by calories in versus calories out. Not the case, I'm gaining at worst, staying the same at best. I did recognize that in around 2009 was my best peak body feeling time, except for an awesome IMLP last year. But if I was to gauge a year, I think it would be 2009 as my best overall, at least from memory. 

The situation with Wayne was troubling. I hadn't yet put my finger on what I want to do, yet I knew what he was proposing was a joke. I had a discussion with Chris about it and filled him in. Chris said that he doesn't trust Wayne, there's just something about him. I told Chris the situation and asked him what he would do. Chris said, "I'd tell him to shut it down". Rather than me taking the hit to give the company 6 more months to try to make it off my back, tell him no I'm not taking a pay cut and you do what you got to do. Chris figures if it's now or 6 months from now what's the difference. I did tell Chris that Wayne wasn't happy that there was no cost reductions made in the plant, I also said that I defended Chris in so much as telling Wayne that Chris told him that nothing could be done. 

I then spoke with Johnny as well. Johnny too doesn't like or respect Wayne. He feels it's Wayne and then the rest of the people are peons, he never shows up for meetings on time, he never apologizes for being late and also mentioned the word "he may be insecure", he's a little guy, maybe some little guy syndrome. Al said that he too thought Wayne maybe insecure because he like to over-talk.

All I know was I was feeling worse and worse as the morning got on. My face and hands were tingling and I had a terrible headache. Concentration was near impossible. Kevin came into my office and said I don't look good, that my skin was yellowish. I went to the washroom to look in the mirror and he was right, it was pale yellow. I wondered if I had a liver problem. Good think I haven't been drinking or I'd think I had cirrhosis of the liver or something. At least I could rule that one out. 

Instead I couldn't function anymore and decided to go home and rest. I couldn't believe how bad I was feeling. Yesterday I was 100% better than today and the only other time I felt worse than today was for the 1 hour after I smacked my head that night. This was worse if you figure that I've been sick all day. 

As I drove home I was faint, it was 1 pm and I stopped for some food. The food didn't seem to help much. By the time I got home I was feeling terrible and even lying down was difficult. I'd get dizzy doing nothing. When Alice got home I mentioned how I was feeling and she suggested we go to the walk in clinic. I normally don't like going but something felt right about saying yes and doing it right away. 

We headed over to the one around the corner from the house and saw a doctor. She saw that something was wrong and agreed that there was yellow in my face and said I needed to get to the hospital emergency room right away. If Alice couldn't drive she'd call for an ambulance. We took my truck and I drove. The doctor gave us a sealed envelop to give to the emergency admittance when we got to the hospital. I wasn't sure if this was serious or not. Ambulance? Sealed envelope?

The one thing I hate about Ontario Hospitals is the wait times. In Manitoba you fly through hospitals like a walk in clinic. Always hustle and bustle. Every time I've been to a hospital in Ontario I've waited hours upon hours. Today was no different, by the time I got in until the time I got out it was 6 hours near to the minute. Total waiting. Painful waiting.

It was painful because every time I moved my head hurt and I'd get dizzy. They had a gurney in the room and I tried to lie down once, when I got up it took me about 20 minutes to get stable again. All day I'd felt nauseous and it didn't stop, it actually got worse. Especially around 5 pm I hadn't eaten except for 300 calories at lunch and was hungry. The nurses told Alice I couldn't eat because of a potential brain injury and they don't let brain injury patients eat. 

Alice didn't expect to be gone from home so long and didn't bring her insulin. I told her to go home and do what she had to do and then come back. She did, when she came back about 90 minutes later the doctor was just seeing me and now was doing the paper work to get me a CT scan. I told Alice that I couldn't not eat, that she had to get me a bagel or something from Tim Hortons. She did and I snuck it and ate it and surprisingly for a while started feeling a little better. 

I didn't get the scan finished until around 7:50 pm and then had to wait at least 30 minutes for the written report. I spoke with the doctor and nurse and said I have to leave and get something to eat and get out of the hospital, they were good about it and let me go. They didn't know it but about 10 minutes before my CT scan I was ready to bail and get the hell out of the hospital. I was sick of waiting and getting stir crazy. The only reason I didn't bail was for two reasons, one I wanted to know I was okay and two and more importantly I wanted to have a record of me going in for a CT scan the day after my meeting with Wayne if anything got nasty and he interpreted any of our meeting being an agreement. I didn't agree to anything and if he thought I did, then at least I have the brain injury to fall back on. With that said I didn't agree on anything, maybe lead him on that I was open to options, didn't agree yet what they would be.

As I said in the hospital in my numb state, headache nauseous and pins and needles in my face, hands and feet, I kept thinking about Wayne and his offer. I don't like it and I feel it wasn't negotiable. I understand the concept of saying yes okay and then biding my time and doing my own thing. It's not totally above board and could be justified by the actions that Wayne is taking. On the other hand I'd like to just say to him, "I'm considered it and after looking at it in it's entirety in it's proposed format it's not something I'm willing to accept".

Right now I have more leverage on him than I ever will have. His timing is actually really bad to propose such an offer to me. We are just starting our busy season. One new large customer is not yet integrated and needs to be soon. In January I need to go back to accounts with price increases and then all the accounts that didn't come on board last year will be making their decision if they are coming on board in the first quarter. This next 3 months is when he needs me the most.

I was somewhat prepared to accept a reduction of pay by $25,000 so long as the commissions were the same. Now he wants to reduce that and eliminate the commissions. Now there is absolutely no incentive but to keep my job. If I accept it, I'm in good faith telling him I accept it and will work hard. It will also be tougher for me to stay focused on my own thing and his thing. I'll be split between the two.

I don't like what he is proposing and I don't think it's right that I accept it. If I accept it I'm telling Wayne I'm his bitch. I also can't lose sight of the fact that I'm valuable and what he pays me for is my value. Johnny was telling me today that he knows my business and sales skills and thinks I'm the complete package and can do something else and do well and it shouldn't be a problem. He also thinks I should milk Wayne and use him on my time table and fuck him. I agree with the first part, I'm torn on the second part. I need to get more feedback. I need to talk with Al and Jamie a bit and keep the advice coming over the blog. Thanks for yesterday's advice Simon, some of my thoughts exactly.

At this moment in time I want to tell Wayne that I'm not prepared to take his offer in it's current form. That removing of the commission component motivates someone only to have a job and not to drive more sales. We agreed up front that my minimum nut was $200,000 and the fact that he didn't know his costs are not my issues, I took him at face value that he did or I may not have pursued this opportunity had I known differently. I had another opportunity I turned down because I took him on face value. His biggest issue is to double the sales and here he is putting the hurt on the guy who can do it and if he loses me then him getting the sales is near impossible. I too am the guy who knows all the accounts and some may get wigged out and leave if I leave.

At the end of the day this is not what I signed up for. I signed up for a $300,000 - $500,000 per year sales job. Not a $125,000 and potentially less in February. I also didn't sign up to be a weasel and play the system, I'd rather deal above board. I guess in a way he's done me a favour by doing this during the time when my value is most important and I have the most leverage. I somewhat agree with Chris, if you're threatening to close it, close it. Why wait 6 months and do it off my back to get there and then close it?

In fairness, his problems are not totally my problems. I sold my business. If I wanted to own it and have the headaches and the risk reward I wouldn't have sold it in the first place. I was always up front with him that this business was a tuck in and couldn't be profitably run on it's own. I haven't once been untruthful. I feel if I accept his offer in his current format I'm not living up to my standards. I'm more than compromising.

Simon made an interesting comment on yesterdays' blog post that I didn't read until I got home from the hospital, yet had been thinking the same when I was at the hospital. The spirit was there is no great time to start a business, no perfect time. That's true. It's the old necessity is the mother of all invention. Nothings more real and motivating than knowing you have bills to pay and need money in the bank. In one way serving two masters is hard when I can't be committed to both. The upside is I don't own the printing company anymore I can always walk away. That's liberating having no ball and chain.

I was often asking myself if the numbness and headaches may be a sign of stress over the Wayne situation. It's coming to a head, decisions are being made, I may have to start working hard again if I go on my own and will be living with the FEAR. (Ricky Bobby Speak - I just made that one up - think cougar in the car - haha).  It's been a long time since I've done a start up, just over 21 years ago. I know what's involved, it's not easy, life's got no guarantees. Yet there is a certain romance of know I can do it and do it on my own. It's the ultimate truth, whether you make it or not.

It became apparent that Wayne was not the cause of my stress. There was times he was the farthest thing from my mind and I was still hurting. As a side bar I find this interesting in so much that I've always been on Wayne's side of the desk, now I know what my employees were going through when I had to make changes. However, other than letting someone go I've only had to reduce sales wages across the board once and I make it palatable for both parties.

Back to the CT Scan. We got back from grabbing a burger for dinner and waited some more. Finally the doctor came in and said that the CT looked fine. He would have been surprised if it was not good as the injury happened a week ago and unless there was major blood on the brain the results were what was expected. The upside was that he found I had low sodium from my blood work. The fact that he took blood work was unexpected.

Originally I was just there for the scan. As I described my issues I also told him about my 15 lbs up and 16 lbs down water gain and loss over a 72 hour period and my training and fatigue. Then I told him that I was salivating so much some times that I was choking on my own spit, it was going down the wrong hole. Based on that he decided to do some basic blood work tests.

The tests came back and my sodium was very low, I didn't realize how low until I started researching it when I got home, it was 124 and it should be a minimum of 136. My Hemoglobin, Erythrocytes and Chloride was also low. Atlas, one thing eliminated and one thing found, a step in the right direction. Maybe it was sodium, I was feeling a little better after I ate, was it the salt?

On the way home we stopped at the supermarket and I picked up some popcorn and salted peanuts, I figured I'd get a jump on increasing the salt intake. I also thought I had read earlier in the day about over training and low salt or cortisol and salt. I couldn't remember.

When I got home the first thing I did was google it and I came across this stuff.

The normal concentration of sodium in the blood plasma is 136-145 mM. If thesodium level falls too late, it's called hyponatremia. A sodium level in the blood that is too low is dangerous and can cause seizures and coma.

Sodium is a mineral element and an important part of the human body. It controls the volume of fluid in the body and helps maintain the acid-base level. About 40% of the body's sodium is contained in bone, some is found within organs and cells and the remaining 55% is in blood plasma and other fluids outside cells. Sodium is important in proper nerve conduction, the passage of various nutrients into cells, and the maintenance of blood pressure.

The body continually regulates its handling of sodium. When a person eats too much or too little sodium, the intestines and kidneys respond to adjust concentrations to normal. During the course of a day, the intestines absorbs dietary sodium while the kidneys excrete a nearly equal amount of sodium into theurine.

The concentration of sodium in the blood depends on the total amount of sodium and water in arteries, veins, and capillaries (the circulatory system). The body regulates sodium and water in different ways, but uses both to help correct blood pressure when it is too high or too low.

If the body has too little sodium (called hyponatremia), the body can either increase sodium levels or decrease water in the body.

Low salt levels can be caused by eating too little salt or excreting too much sodium or water, and by diseases that impair the body's ability to regulatesodium and water. Keeping to a low-salt diet for many months or sweating toomuch during a race on a hot day, can make it hard to keep sodium levels highenough. While these conditions alone aren't likely to cause loss salt levels,it can occur under special circumstances. 

Marathon running under certain conditions can lead to hyponatremia, since sweat contains both sodium and water. Studies show that about 30% of marathon runners experience mild hyponatremia during a race. However, drinking water during a race isn't the answer -- this can lead to severe hyponatremia because the drinking water dilutes the sodium in the bloodstream. Such runners may experience brain problems as a result of the severe hyponatremia and require emergency treatment.

Hyponatremia also develops from disorders in organs that control the body's regulation of sodium or water. The adrenal gland secretes a hormone that travels to the kidney, where it prompts the kidney to retain sodium by not excreting it into the urine.

The hypothalamus and pituitary gland are also involved in sodium regulation by making and releasing vasopressin, known as the anti-diuretic hormone, into the bloodstream. Vasopressin prompts the kidneys to reduce the amount of water released into urine. If the body produces too much vasopressin, it promptsthe body to conserve water, causing a lower concentration of sodium in the blood.

A low sodium level is just one manifestation of a variety of disorders. While it can easily be corrected, the prognosis for the underlying condition thatcauses it varies. 

Hyponatremia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hyponatremia (British English: hyponatraemia) is an electrolyte disturbance in which the sodium concentration in the serum is lower than normal. In the vast majority of cases, hyponatremia occurs as a result of excess body water diluting the serum sodium and is not due to sodium deficiency. Sodium is the dominant extracellular cation and cannot freely cross the cell membrane. Its homeostasis is vital to the normal physiologic function of cells. Normal serum sodium levels are between 135–145 mEq/L. Hyponatremia is defined as a serum level of less than 135 mEq/L and is considered severe when the serum level is below 125 mEq/L.[1]

Hyponatremia is most often a complication of other medical illnesses in which excess water accumulates in the body at a higher rate than can be excreted (for example in congestive heart failure, syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone, SIADH, or polydipsia). Lack of sodium is virtually never the cause of hyponatremia although it can promote hyponatremia indirectly. In particular, sodium loss can lead to a state of volume depletion, with volume depletion serving as signal for the release of ADH (anti-diuretic hormone). As a result of ADH-stimulated water retention, blood sodium becomes diluted and hyponatremia results.


Signs and symptoms

Symptoms of hyponatremia include nausea and vomiting, headache, confusion, lethargy, fatigue, appetite loss, restlessness and irritability, muscle weakness, spasms, or cramps, seizures, and decreased consciousness or coma. The presence and severity of symptoms are associated with the level of serum sodium, with the lowest levels of serum sodium associated with the more prominent and serious symptoms. However, emerging data suggest that mild hyponatremia (serum sodium levels at 131 mEq/L or above) is associated with numerous complications and undiagnosed symptoms.[2]

Many medical illnesses, such as congestive heart failure, liver failure, renal failure, or pneumonia may be associated with hyponatremia. These patients frequently present because of primary disease symptomatology and are diagnosed after presenting due to manifestations of other medical issues.

Neurological symptoms often show for extremely low levels of sodium. When sodium levels in blood become too low, excess water enters cells and causes the cells to swell. Swelling in the brain is especially dangerous because the brain is confined by the skull and is unable to expand. Neurological symptoms most often are due to very low serum sodium levels (usually <115 mEq/L), resulting in intracerebral osmotic fluid shifts and brain edema. This neurological symptom complex can lead to tentorial herniation with subsequent brain stem compression and respiratory arrest, resulting in death in the most severe cases. The severity of neurological symptoms correlates with the rapidity and severity of the drop in serum sodium. A gradual drop, even to very low levels, may be tolerated well if it occurs over several days or weeks, because of neuronal adaptation. The presence of underlying neurological disease, like a seizure disorder, or non-neurological metabolic abnormalities, also affects the severity of neurologic symptom

Causes

Based on the above classification, some of the many specific causes of hyponatremia can be listed as follows:
Hypervolemic hyponatremia
cirrhosis
congestive heart failure
nephrotic syndrome
massive edema of any cause

Euvolemic hyponatremia
states of severe pain or nausea
in the setting of trauma or other damage to the brain
SIADH (and its many causes)

Hypovolemic hyponatremia
any cause of hypovolemia such as prolonged vomiting, decreased oral intake, severe diarrhea
diuretic use (due to the diuretic causing a volume depleted state and thence ADH release, and not a direct result of diuretic-induced urine sodium loss)

Miscellaneous causes of hyponatremia that are not included under the above classification scheme include:
factitious hyponatremia (due to massive increases in blood triglyceride levels, extreme elevation of immunoglobulins as may occur in multiple myeloma, and extreme hyperglycemia)
hypothyroidism and adrenal insufficiency (both thyroid hormone and cortisol are required to excrete free water)
beer potomania and other malnourished states where poor dietary protein intake leads to inadequate urine solute formation thereby impeding the kidney's ability to excrete free water[3].
primary polydipsia (where the amount of urine solute required to excrete huge quantities of ingested water exceeds the body's ability to produce it; this typically occurs when 12 or more litres of water are ingested per day)

Treatment

The treatment of hyponatremia will depend on the underlying cause and whether the patient's volume status is hypervolemic, euvolemic, or hypovolemic. In the setting of hypovolemia, intravenous administration of normal saline may be effective, but caution must be exercised not to raise the serum sodium level too quickly (see below). Euvolemic hyponatremia is usually managed by fluid restriction and treatment to abolish any stimuli for ADH secretion such as nausea. Likewise, drugs causing SIADH should be discontinued if possible. Patients with euvolemic hyponatremia that persists despite those measures may be candidates for a so-called vaptan drug as discussed below. Hypervolemic hyponatremia should be treated by treating the underlying cause (e.g. heart failure, cirrhosis). In practice, it may not be possible to do so, in which case the treatment of the hyponatremia becomes the same as that for euvolemic hyponatremia (i.e. fluid restriction and/or use of a vaptan drug).

Hyponatremia must be corrected slowly in order to lessen the chance of the development of central pontine myelinolysis (CPM). In fact, overly rapid correction of hyponatremia is the most common cause of that potentially devestating disorder.[5] During treatment of hyponatremia, the serum sodium should not be allowed to rise by more than 8 mmol/l over 24 hours (i.e. 0.33 mmol/l/h rate of rise). In practice, too rapid correction of hyponatremia and thence CPM is most likely to occur during the treatment of hypovolemic hyponatremia. In particular, once the hypovolemic state has been corrected, the signal for ADH release disappears. At that point, there will be an abrupt water diuresis (since there is no longer any ADH acting to retain the water). A rapid and profound rise in serum sodium can then occur. Should the rate of rise of serum sodium exceed 0.33 mmol/l/h over several hours, vasopressin may be administered to prevent ongoing rapid water diuresis.[6]

Pharmaceutically, vasopressin receptor antagonists can be used in the treatment of hyponatremia, especially in patients with SIADH, congestive heart failure or liver cirrhosis. A vasopressin receptor antagonist is an agent that interferes with the action at the vasopressin receptors. A new class of medication, the "vaptan" drugs has been specifically developed to inhibit the action of vasopressin on its receptors (V1A, V1B, and V2). These receptors have a variety of functions, with the V1A and V2 receptors are expressed peripherally and involved in the modulation of blood pressure and kidney function respectively, while the V1A and V1B receptors are expressed in the central nervous system. V1A is expressed in many regions of the brain, and has been linked to a variety of social behaviors in humans and animals.

After reading all this stuff it stared to make sense although I can't believe I have low sodium, I go to movies. However if I play it back. I got a head injury which can be the cause, then I started gaining weight, my salt was now low. I went up 15 lbs. Then I kept drinking water thinking I needed to flush my system, adding to the problem. Then I train and I start peeing out 16 lbs. Then I go to a movie, have some popcorn and swing back to retaining water for another 10 or more pounds. Which is what it says, if I take salt to quickly my body will repeat the process. 

In that time I found that when I trained it was hard to sweat. Make sense, my body is trying to keep the salt it has. My heart rate is way low on the bike, body is reserving itself. My calfs started to cramp and I stained a muscle, lack of salt is often a cause. My calfs were cramping and high twitching during swimming. Low salt. I had heart burn for no reason the other day, salt regulates acidic levels. My crap has been weird, nothing healthy looking. Salt effects kidneys, etc. 

The one thing it says about low sodium is that it's not the cause, it's a symptom. Everything I'm ready about over training is talking about the adrenal system and cortisol. I found this interesting article about stress effects on the body.

About Stress
Stress is an unavoidable fact of life, which is why we have physiologic systems in place to help us cope. Under stress, the adrenal glands produce the hormone cortisol plus the catecholamine hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline. Exposure to stress can result in what is known as the General Adaptation Syndrome, which has three major stages:

Alarm Stage
In the Alarm Stage, bursts of the hormones cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline are released in response to a stressor, resulting in the traditional —fight, flight or freeze“ responses.

Resistance Stage
In the Resistance Stage, the body uses high cortisol levels to free up stored energy that helps the body physically resist the stressor. However, a prolonged Resistance Stage may increase the risk of developing stress related diseases. If cortisol levels remain elevated, symptoms may include: feeling tired but wired, difficulty sleeping, and anxiety. Excess cortisol also interferes with the action of other hormones (progesterone, testosterone and thyroid), creating more hormone imbalance and more symptoms.

Exhaustion Stage
At this stage, the adrenal glands are either depleted from producing too much cortisol or are reacting to the detrimental effects of high cortisol, and thus reduce cortisol production significantly. Symptoms of low cortisol may include fatigue (particularly morning fatigue), increased susceptibility to infection, decreased recovery from exercise, allergies, low blood sugar, burned out feeling, depression and low sex drive. Other hormones can be affected, particularly aldosterone and DHEA. Low aldosterone may result in reduced sodium and potassium levels. Symptoms of low DHEA are not well defined, although low DHEA often occurs with chronic illness. Since cortisol is the major stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands, measurement of cortisol levels is an excellent means of assessing adrenal gland function.


Why Test Saliva Cortisol?
For an accurate assessment of adrenal function, it is necessary to measure 4 cortisol levels throughout the day: within 1/2 an hour of waking, before lunch, before supper, and before bed.
Saliva collection is painless and easy to do at home. Blood collection requires a trip to the laboratory, which makes measuring multiple cortisol levels throughout the day very impractical.
Saliva measures hormone that actually gets into tissue, because hormones pass through the tissue of the saliva gland before getting into saliva. Blood measures hormones that might eventuall get to tissue.
The stress of a needle puncture for blood collection tends to raise cortisol levels. Saliva collection is generally not considered stressful and therefore does not raise cortisol levels.
Saliva testing of cortisol is widely accepted in the research community and is rapidly becoming the preferred method for measuring cortisol. Talk to your health care provider about having a salivary adrenal function test done.

Restoring Adrenal Function

Caring for the adrenal glands means applying body, mind and spirit to the task. Unfortunately, there is no one "magic pill" to improve adrenal function, so it is important to work with a health care practitioner who can develop an adrenal care program for you.

Complementary medicine practitioners are often the best choice for treating adrenal dysfunction. Conventionally trained health professionals are generally most familiar with the extremes of adrenal function: Addison‘s disease (no cortisol produced) or Cushing‘s Syndrome (excessive cortisol released). Patients who are not at either extreme often have difficulty getting their symptoms taken seriously. Common symptoms associated with adrenal dysfunction include:

Cortisol Deficiency: allergies, fatigue, muscle aches and pains, feeling cold, morning sluggishness, low sex drive, feel unable to cope, feel ”burned out‘, impaired memory, symptoms of poor thyroid function.
Cortisol Excess: disturbances, bone loss, high blood pressure, loss of muscle mass, insulin resistance, low sex drive, loss of scalp hair Low morning cortisol is often associated with dehydration and low sodium (salt) levels. This is because in addition to cortisol, the adrenals produce the hormone aldosterone, which helps regulate salt/water balance. Therefore, your health care provider may recommend you use sea salt and drink plenty of water.

Lifestyle
Get lots of sleep. At least 8 hours of sleep are needed to properly rest the adrenal glands. It is important not to watch television or review work or other stressful materials while in bed as these activities may raise cortisol levels.

Reduce consumption of refined carbohydrates like white bread and high-sugar foods. Refined carbohydrates cause insulin to be released. The release of insulin triggers the release of more cortisol, which causes further stress on the adrenal glands. So, stick to complex carbohydrates like vegetables and whole grains.

Eliminate caffeine. Caffeine stimulates the release of adrenaline and noradrenaline, adrenal hormones that increase the stress response.

Reduce stress as much as possible. Take time during the day to relax with meditation, yoga, or some other quiet activity.

SupplementsSupplements are vitally important in supporting the adrenal glands. The body needs certain vitamins and minerals to make adrenal hormones. Some examples include: the B vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium and various trace minerals.

There are a variety of herbs and herbal formulae used in treatment of adrenal issues. Many function as adaptogens: natural substances that assist the body in adapting to stress. Adaptogenic herbs help lower or raise cortisol levels depending on the body‘s needs at that time. Some examples include: rhodiola, ashwaganda, schisandra and ginseng.

Other supplements like phosphatidylserine, MSM, and tyrosine may also be useful in supporting adrenal function.

Purified adrenal extracts from animal sources, which contain natural substances that help support the function of the adrenal glands, may also be recommended.

There we have it. I think my body is putting up the white flag a bit. A break is near in order, I guess it can only run so hard. I'm actually shocked it's done so well in light of all the beer drinking I've done for the past 5 years. The one thing I'm starting to feel is how better I'm getting to know my body and the physical to the mental. Just getting to the point where I accept there is something called over-training is a win. I recently started to see the benefits in recovery to help performance. All basic 101 stuff that we know, but do we feel it, do we feel it so much that we know it for certain? I'm starting to learn things for certain. 

Earlier in the day I just wanted to go for a beer and drown my sorrows. I thought about it, saw the harm in it, remembered what happened last time and told myself that I will not be defeated. At the end of this day there was many twists and turns and I came out of it better than I started. I learnt more about my condition. I had time to think more about the situation with Wayne and after eating the salty popcorn and peanuts we picked up on the way home I started feeling much better. After having salt I started to go to the bathroom again, about 5 times in the middle of the night alone. 

The doctor did give me one other piece of advice. He felt I should take it easy on the training. He felt the advice my doctor gave about going back to training right away after a concussion wasn't sound. I'm going to listen. I'm in great shape, I need to get my salt in line, my body in line and my taper starts in a week, what's starting a week early going to hurt. Based on the mess my head and body is in it can only get better with rest. It will also give me some time to let the salt get into my legs and get rid of the tightness. I also need to take a good shower. With the salt problems I've noticed it's caused me to smell stinking. I smell like a paskistany guy on a hot bus. I'm even disgusting myself.

On the positive...TODAY WAS A WIN!!! 

No Training - Hospital Day