Tag: prescription medication

Daily Food Diary – Day 246 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Today is Day 246 of my Daily Food Diary.  119 more days to go until the end of my 365 Day Diary – and the end of 2025. 💖

I am thinking that I need to really buckle down to make the most of this experience before I wrap it up!

This week I have been sidetracked by a lung infection.  I don’t know if everyone has their own special weakness, but my breaking point is fever.  Even a low grade fever – anything above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and I am useless. 

I am also pretty much the medical community’s worst patient.  Stress triggers my asthma, so walking into any medical facility,  doctor’s office or pharmacy is a major health event waiting to happen.   Then there is the time warp!  I can lose hours at home waiting for my nail polish to dry or for a pot of soup to cook.   Waiting five minutes for a blood test tries my patience.  And finally there is the medication…

I think the main reason I have these little health events is to remind me to have more empathy for people who truly suffer from chronic health issues.   People who regularly deal with frequent visits to health facilities, painful procedures, and multiple medications.

When I have these lung infections, I have to take THREE pills a day.   I take one antibiotic in the morning – on an empty stomach, no less than two hours AFTER I take any vitamins, followed by one hour before I can eat.  Then I have one Prednisone tablet to take, with food, but no grapefruit!  Then life proceeds as usual until after supper (except that I have to avoid sunlight or the Prednisone will turn ugly on me).    After 7 pm,  I cannot eat anything to be prepared to take my second antibiotic tablet on an empty stomach, at least one hour before going to bed.

I can’t imagine how people taking multiple medications, all with their own unique rules keep everything straight.  I would need some serious organizational skills update or things would go south PDQ.

I don’t know if it was the first pills yesterday or the chicken soup from the night before, but I felt pretty good yesterday.  I mostly took it easy, mostly relaxed outside in our gazebo, and mostly stayed out of the sun and avoided turning into a Prednisone werewolf – even when I was watering the garden, weeding, trimming plants, and picking vegetables.

Last night my appetite returned and I totally enjoyed the supper that Dan served up.

Salzburg steak, fries & gravy, broccoli & cauliflower. 😋

Today, I am doing good so far but I do have to go get X-rays and blood tests done.  😥

Daily Food Diary – Day 246

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1) c Cheerios (147)

(1/4) c milk (28)

Lunch:

(3) oz Rotisserie chicken (150)

(6) Hint of Lime tortilla chips (150)

Snacks:

(1)2 c caramel corn (85)

(1/2) c chicken broth (27)

(48) oz water

Supper:

(5) oz lean ground beef patty (304)

(1/4) c onions (15)

(1/4) c mushrooms (11)

(1/2) c gravy (50)

(2) tsp olive oil (79)

(16) crinkle cut fries (126)

(1/2) c broccoli (27)

(1/2) c cauliflower (14)

(1 1/2) tsp butter (51)

Total calories consumed: 1266

Total calories used: 176

(1) hour gardening (176)

Total net calories: 1090

Net calorie goal: 1229 – 1090 = 139 under

Daily Food Diary – Day 129 of 365

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

It is 129 days since I started my Daily Food Diary.  It is 9 days since I started tracking the  saturated fats that I consume each day, and yesterday was the 1st day that I met my daily saturated fats goal.  Whoo Hoo! 🌹

Yesterday was the second day of taking the extra medications that my respiratory specialist prescribed for me on Thursday.  They have already been kicking in – for better and worse.

The sinus spray seems to have been a good call.  I don’t know about doing it indefinitely.  I have to begin the process by using my Neti Pot to rinse my sinuses and then follow up with the spray.  I know people do a heck of a lot more to maintain their health, but seriously Everyday indefinitely! 🙄

The antibiotics hit me hard on the first dose, but they seem to have settled down and my lungs seem to be clearing up.

Yesterday, the Prednisone kicked in.  The side effects can range anywhere from lethargy, moodiness, to super hyper Good Year Bunny mode.  Yesterday, I went with Good Year Bunny Mode. 

I got in an intense aerobic workout, went for a walk with Dan & Molly – and hit the kitchen.

I had found that the baked beans I made a few days ago were a bit bland, so I called daughter Jen to see if she was up to splitting a roaster of Smoked Baked Beans for supper.  The brown beans we had left over called for – two large cans of kidney beans, two large onions, two pounds of bacon, two pounds of ground beef,  two cups of ketchup,  one cup of brown sugar, and a couple of tablespoons of liquid smoke.  Dan and I would have been eating beans for a month.

Jen was up for an easy supper, so I started that.  Then she called to say that her fiance  would appreciate Puffed Wheat Cake for dessert.  And… I couldn’t make Tanner Puffed Wheat Cake without sending Prim and Maddy  Rice Krispy Marshmallow Squares.  (The Puffed Wheat and marshmallows meant a quick jog to Freshco a few blocks from us).

Fortunately, Dan was home and chopped up the bacon and onions for the beans, washed  all the dishes, and packaged up the deserts.  I made it through the entire adventure without breaking the burn blisters on my hands from the muffin incident a few days ago.

By the time I went to bed, the Prednisone high was wearing down so after a couple of hours of Prednisone paranoia I did get a pretty decent sleep.

Only eight more days of antibiotics and Prednisone. 😊

Daily Food Diary – Day 129

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1) oatmeal bran apple muffin (164) (.6 grams)

(1) tsp butter (34) (2.3 grams)

Snacks:

(30) oz water

(1) c Lemon Ginger tea

(1) Mango (135)  (.1 gram)

Supper:

(1) Paratha (240) (1 gram)

(1 1/2) c Smoked baked beans (532) (7.9 grams)

Total net calories: 838

Net calorie goal: 1243 – 838 = 405 under 👍

Total saturated fats: 11.9 grams

Saturated fats goal:  <13.75 grams 👍

That’s it for today.  Take care and have a great day! 💖🤗