Hello all
You may (or may not) have noticed that I didn't seem to get very far in my chocolate challenge, or at least I didn't do well in writing about it!
I managed to complete 3.5 days of it before I got an upset stomach (totally unrelated to my chocolate intake - I hope!) and couldn't really face 45g of chocolate per day. In the short amount of time I did do it for, I can't say I noticed a difference but perhaps being unwell with a bad cough and sore throat - which is now in its 5th week - was not the best time to start it as I was already feeling worse than usual. For the sake of science ;-) I'd be willing to attempt it again once I get over this cough and am back to just the 'usual' tiredness
If anyone wants to get in touch with me or follow me on Twitter, I'm @CFS_MEsupport
Also if there's any specific #MECFS topic you'd like to chat about, feel free to send me a message, or comment below, especially if there's anything you'd like me to look into :)
Catherine
Wednesday 17 September 2014
Wednesday 10 September 2014
Chocolate challenge Day 1
As you'll have seen in my previous posts, I'm conducting my own (un)scientific study into the benefits of eating 15g dark chocolate 3 times a day in order to help ease chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms.
Yesterday was Day 1 and I dutifully ate my 45g of Thornton's dark chocolate, spread throughout the day. I can hear you all saying how brave I am, how difficult it must have been, but I did it, all for the sake of science :)
The chocolate is going to have its own challenge with me this week in its attempts to improve my well being as I was feeling increased levels of tiredness after baking on Sunday and decorating cupcakes on Monday evening after a full day at work plus travelling. So I have to say that after 1 day, I'm not noticing any difference in symptoms. To be fair, I hadn't expected to yet so I'll keep plodding along with it and let you all know how it's going
Yesterday was Day 1 and I dutifully ate my 45g of Thornton's dark chocolate, spread throughout the day. I can hear you all saying how brave I am, how difficult it must have been, but I did it, all for the sake of science :)
The chocolate is going to have its own challenge with me this week in its attempts to improve my well being as I was feeling increased levels of tiredness after baking on Sunday and decorating cupcakes on Monday evening after a full day at work plus travelling. So I have to say that after 1 day, I'm not noticing any difference in symptoms. To be fair, I hadn't expected to yet so I'll keep plodding along with it and let you all know how it's going
Monday 8 September 2014
Chocolate Study
After posting about the study that had been conducted into the correlation between dark chocolate and improvement in chronic fatigue symptoms (see article here), I decided to conduct my own (un)scientific study.
I know it's such a chore to replicate a study involving chocolate but I will do it for the sake of important research - somehow I'll manage to get through it I think ;-)
The original study involved eating 15g of dark chocolate 3 times per day and the results showed that symptoms eased in those who followed this regime.
I know it may seem quirky and I can understand any scepticism anyone may have about it but surely if there's something that can help to ease symptoms, even by a small amount, then it's worth giving it a try?
I have bought some yummy Thorntons chocolate to eat and will be starting my test tomorrow (it was going to be today but I've just realised it's 15g 3 times per day and not 15g per day, d'oh!) and continuing for one week and I'll report my daily findings :)
Let me know if you plan on giving this a try at the same time!
I know it's such a chore to replicate a study involving chocolate but I will do it for the sake of important research - somehow I'll manage to get through it I think ;-)
The original study involved eating 15g of dark chocolate 3 times per day and the results showed that symptoms eased in those who followed this regime.
I know it may seem quirky and I can understand any scepticism anyone may have about it but surely if there's something that can help to ease symptoms, even by a small amount, then it's worth giving it a try?
I have bought some yummy Thorntons chocolate to eat and will be starting my test tomorrow (it was going to be today but I've just realised it's 15g 3 times per day and not 15g per day, d'oh!) and continuing for one week and I'll report my daily findings :)
Let me know if you plan on giving this a try at the same time!
Wednesday 3 September 2014
ME misdiagnosed?
Hi everyone
I saw a headline on a newspaper back in June when we were rushing through Manchester Airport to catch a plane to Barcelona that claimed a third of ME diagnoses were incorrect!
I completely forgot about it until recently and then I'd forgotten which newspaper it was in but today James found it and sent me the link and I thought I'd share it with you all as it's an interesting read. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
I feel in some ways this could be more accurate to my symptoms, especially as something I've experienced throughout the pneumonia and which continued once that had cleared is a high heart/pulse rate (otherwise known as tachycardia in the medical industry). I'm not sure how to go about getting tested for this or even who to ask about it as it would appear, from what the article says, that many medical professionals haven't heard of the condition.
In addition to this article James also came across another article that claims that dark chocolate appears to help sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Now this is something I could get on board with! I LOVE dark chocolate. I'm actually considering doing my own completely unscientific 'research' and I think I will eat 15g of dark chocolate a day for 1 week and I'll start this on Monday. I'll keep you all updated with my progress. The worst thing that can happen is I've enjoyed a small amount of chocolate per day and at its best, it could help. So let's see what happens...
I saw a headline on a newspaper back in June when we were rushing through Manchester Airport to catch a plane to Barcelona that claimed a third of ME diagnoses were incorrect!
I completely forgot about it until recently and then I'd forgotten which newspaper it was in but today James found it and sent me the link and I thought I'd share it with you all as it's an interesting read. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
I feel in some ways this could be more accurate to my symptoms, especially as something I've experienced throughout the pneumonia and which continued once that had cleared is a high heart/pulse rate (otherwise known as tachycardia in the medical industry). I'm not sure how to go about getting tested for this or even who to ask about it as it would appear, from what the article says, that many medical professionals haven't heard of the condition.
In addition to this article James also came across another article that claims that dark chocolate appears to help sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Now this is something I could get on board with! I LOVE dark chocolate. I'm actually considering doing my own completely unscientific 'research' and I think I will eat 15g of dark chocolate a day for 1 week and I'll start this on Monday. I'll keep you all updated with my progress. The worst thing that can happen is I've enjoyed a small amount of chocolate per day and at its best, it could help. So let's see what happens...
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