In the Zone, with the help of drugs

[bitflipper]

I've mentioned before that I normally drink decaffeinated coffee to keep my blood pressure in check. I also limit my sugar intake for the sake of my A1C. Both rules are ignored on gig nights, when my performance-enhancing drug of choice is a Starbucks Iced Mocha. When you normally don't drink caffeine, those things are like meth. Last night I drank two. 

Yep, it was a two-mocha night. That, plus the positive feedback loop of an enthusiastic crowd, spun my brain up into overdrive. I'm talking about being in The Zone, that elusive, transcendent state of mind where you watch your own fingers as if they belonged to someone else. Even better, everybody in the band seemed to be operating on a similar plane last night. It was grand.

Of course, this morning is another story. My back aches. I'm tired despite sleeping late. More in the mood for vegging out with some YouTube videos than running laps. A little voice is reminding me that I turn 72 in a month, and wtf do I think I'm doing, acting like I'm 27 again.

The question now is: can I find that zone again tonight? Geez, I hope so. It's just a one-hour festival set, so no PA setup. But it's also outdoors and the forecast is for the mid-80's. Despite some initial misgivings, I now think that shaving my head was a good move.

So if you're in the area, come on down to the goat exhibit next to the gyro food truck at the Evergreen State Fair. We go on at 8:30. I'll be the one with the crazed googly eyes and no hair, like that character from The Hills Have Eyes.

 

 

 

[craigb]

That last paragraph killed me! ?

[jackson white]

33 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

that elusive, transcendent state of mind where ... everybody in the band seemed to be operating on a similar plane last night.

what every musician lives for. just discovering that despite all the corn, cliches, countryfied rhinestones, Don Rich & Buck Owens had this down in spades.

35 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

It was grand.

it's magic.

31 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

wtf do I think I'm doing, acting like I'm 27 72 again

fixed that for ya. go for two in a row.

[craigb]

Ok, and to be helpful (just don't tell anyone! ?), I have found that the following supplements are AWESOME at removing the aches and pains the morning after too much exertion:

• HMB + D3
• L-Glutamine Powder

You need to take these with protein, so I just make a quick shake (using a shaker bottle, nothing fancy) with some protein powder.  I greatly wish I had learned about this combo when I was still playing sports!  I hated the muscle pain which was very demotivating during my next workout.

As for the focus and energy, there are alternatives!  I have literally hundreds of different kinds of what I call brain/mind audios that can help.  Two ironies:  If you actually get a jolt from coffee, it means your energy baseline was lower than it should be to begin with!  Also, you will have more energy if you DON'T eat because your body has two modes, storing and burning.  Nothing takes more energy from your body than digesting (which is why so many feel tired right after they eat).  Fasting of any kind is not something you just start doing, you need to work your way into it.  This holistic doctor has been a huge help to me and my friends: https://www.youtube.com/@drekberg

[bitflipper]

Thanks, Craig. I totally agree about eating before a gig. For five years I was on the OMAD (one meal a day) regimen and played many gigs with my stomach growling. After a couple years it felt normal, and I've gone as long as four days without eating with no loss of energy.

I had to give that up, though, as it eventually caused severe problems with gallstones. Next month I consult a surgeon about the possibility and advisability of removing my gall bladder. Gallstones are extremely painful, worse even than kidney stones. And, as I was informed by the surgeon, potentially even lethal. So now my diet's a compromise - multiple small meals with a 4:00 PM cutoff.

I'll give HMB a try. Reading up on it, I see that studies have been inconclusive about its ability to build and repair muscle, whether the test subjects were young body builders or sedentary geezers like me. But I'm willing to give it a shot. Anything to shorten the recovery time for my post-gig back pain would be welcome.

[Byron Dickens]

1 hour ago, bitflipper said:

...and the forecast is for the mid-80's. Despite some initial misgivings, I now think that shaving my head was a good move.

Temperatures in the mid 80s?!?!?!

I pray for temperatures in the mid 80s. Hell, I'm praying for temperatures in the mid 90s!

[craigb]

Wow...  I have never heard of an OMAD diet doing anything but helping with internal issues!  I've been doing OMAD for a couple of years now adding one day a week of fasting and, about once every month or two, I go for three or four days to get to autophagy.

What I do know about gallstones (learned about three years ago before my Mom had to have hers taken out), is that the heavier stones are not the problem since they tend to stay at the bottom of the gallbladder and not move.  It's the lighter stones that are a problem because they can then float into other areas!  That said, my Mom had the lighter stones so the decision to remove her gallbladder was made.  

Prior to all of this, my Mom (currently 94) was able to go 100 yards in less than two minutes with the help of a wheeled walker.  She was given a "Senior quad-flu shot" that hadn't been neutralized enough which gave her two-weeks of flu hell.  At the end of this period, she couldn't get out of bed and I had to call 911.  While in the E.R. for this they discovered her gallbladder issue.  After the surgery she had a blood clot in her hand (first clot ever) and, after being released from the hospital, has been in a care facility ever since where she can no longer stand or do anything on her own.  Since the gallbladder is instrumental into helping digest fat (which is FAR more important than some would think), I would definitely recommend getting a second opinion before having them just remove it!

My knowledge, built up over decades of research and exploring holistic medicine may not make the medical industry any money, but I haven't had to see a doctor for an appointment in over 23 years and I'm healthier now than I was then.  (I qualified that last sentence because I have friends that are also doctors and we share information.)

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck so you can keep rocking!

[bitflipper]

The problem with the OMAD diet is you have to meet your daily caloric needs in a single meal. Because I avoid carbs, that means high-fat and high-protein foods. It's that high intake of fat in a short period that exacerbates the gallstones by stressing the gall bladder. It may not have caused the gallstones, but it definitely turned them into a problem.

The pain feels like an ice pick through the heart and out the back. First two times I thought it was a cardiac event and spent the night in the hospital. CAT scans and stress tests could not identify any heart problems, though. It took 8 years of periodic attacks before a young doctor thought to order an ultrasound and discovered the gallstones. Since then I've avoided attacks by moderating fat intake. No more sausage McMuffins for me.

[craigb]

That makes more sense.  I eat a lot of fat because many of the vitamins you need are fat-soluble, but I'm picky about the kind!  Uncured, grass-fed, free-range, etc.  Let's just say Sausage McMuffins would NOT be on my food list!  (Although I do miss their becan and egg McGriddles!)  Processed food, grains, sugars and bizarre chemicals are no bueno.

Unfortunately, pretty much all the health news people know is almost the exact opposite of what they should be doing (though it IS very profitable for Big Pharma).

Edited August 26, 2023 by craigb

[Shane_B.]

17 hours ago, bitflipper said:

Next month I consult a surgeon about the possibility and advisability of removing my gall bladder.

I had mine removed in my 20s. 52 now. I've also had kidney stones. The GB was horrible. I drove myself to the ER. At the time I didn't know what it was. I would get an attack once a week and thought it was just something I ate so never went to the doctor. Then one friday night it hit and wouldnt stop. The surgeon was gone for the weekend and they wouldn't let me leave in case it ruptured. Only then would they call him in for an emergency operation. I think I had 30 bags of Morphin that weekend. It was a living hell. He took a picture of it and showed me. Said he'd never seen anything like it. It was black from gangrene setting in and packed solid with these round bumpy nodules.

That was when I was on my first weight loss kick and I lost a lot all at once with the help of meds a wholistic doctor put me on. It was caused by the meds. 

My kidney stones were caused by dehydration. One of my dogs died and depression set in. I couldnt eat and barely drank for over 2 weeks. I walked for hours every day and lost over 50lbs in those 2 weeks. And yet another trip to the ER ... by myself. That was another hell but it wasn't constant. They gave me meds to widen the duct from the kidneys to the bladder and made me drink enormous amounts of water. They said the worst part would be when I tinkled them out but I never felt that part. I guess they had a large enough passage to get through at that point. (Blowing my breath on my fingernails and rubbing them on my chest. Lol). 

The pain was equal but not constant like the GB stones.

Drink plenty of water or milk. Milk hydrates you better than water so I've read. Eat the small meals throughout the day. They also say you shouldn't drink anything at least an hour before, or after you eat, or during. It neutralizes your stomach acid and you don't digest properly. 

Anyway, good luck with it. It sure can be miserable. Ask about your appendix too if you need to have the GB removed.

[bitflipper]

My ears perk up whenever somebody tells me they've had their gall bladder removed and it worked out fine. Given its function as a regulating buffer, it's hard to imagine that you can do OK without it. Seems it would be analogous to setting your audio buffers to 16 and expecting no dropouts. Maybe a better analogy is getting buffer overruns in your network adapter.

My granddaughter had her gall bladder removed about 8 years ago and says it's no big deal, although she cannot eat what most people would consider a reasonably-sized meal. If she eats too much, she pukes. But I'm getting used to small meals, so it'll be manageable. Certainly better than that indescribable pain when those big ol' spikey rocks get stuck in the output tube.

 

On a more pleasant note, last night's gig was only mostly awful. I am always nervous when relying on strangers to manage sound. Sometimes it works out great, but it's less than 50%. I played the whole set with no keys or drums in my monitor (it's an electronic kit, so without amplification they sound like practice pads). I could only hear what bounced back from the mains off a distant wall (about 50-60 feet, based on the echo delay of ~100ms). Fortunately the stage was well-lit, so I could at least see what notes I was hitting even if I couldn't hear them. I was timing myself based on the little clickity-click sounds of the drum kit's trigger pads. But for some reason the kick drum had a 5-second sustain on every hit. Not helpful. Despite handing the stage manager my cables, he only actually plugged in one of my two keyboards, so we had to scratch a couple songs from the setlist on the fly. It was beyond the ability of any number of mochas to make the experience enjoyable.

On the plus side, the vocals were up in the mix. Way up. Ear-splittingly loud, in fact. Apparently, the FoH guy thought instruments are just for show, like well-behaved children who are to be seen but not heard.

And to their credit they did provide cold water for us, that was nice. I was half-expecting them to say "that'll be $5", after buying an 8" pizza with 4 pepperonis on it for $18. But the water was free. So I took two. Screw their budget.

[craigb]

Damn!  That sounds worse than being the fry-boy in the back of a fast food restaurant Dave! ?

Nice to see you can give it a humorous spin though! ??

[Starship Krupa]

On 8/26/2023 at 12:20 PM, craigb said:

Since the gallbladder is instrumental into helping digest fat (which is FAR more important than some would think), I would definitely recommend getting a second opinion before having them just remove it!

 

On 8/26/2023 at 12:45 PM, bitflipper said:

It took 8 years of periodic attacks before a young doctor thought to order an ultrasound and discovered the gallstones. Since then I've avoided attacks by moderating fat intake.

I've lived with gallstones for over 25 years. Including the diagnosis failure, although, thank heavens, that only went on for 2 years rather than 8. My issue there was that I was going into the ER, where their focus is triage, not diagnosis. So they'd put me on a morphine drip (what those in recovery call a "freelapse"), which didn't stop the pain. I'd only get relief if the morphine drip put me to sleep. They'd supposedly make an appointment for me with my primary care physician, but I'd never hear anything. Turns out my primary care physician (who was an idiot anyway) had retired, and the requests from the ER were going into the ether. Hell, even my DAW's will let me know if I try to load a program that uses a plug-in that was deleted.

Once I knew what brought them on, I managed it by, duh, not eating a huge amount of fat at one time. Stick to a regular order of fries. Can't eat deviled eggs at all for some reason.

I had a couple of attacks recently, after decades without one, which is worrying, but they were brought on by being in a fasted state followed by fatty meals, so, my bad and I paid for it. Lying on the bathroom floor in so much pain I was moaning and howling. And the worst part is that it goes. on. for. hours.

An acquaintance of mine, mother of twins, said that gallbladder attacks hurt more than having twins. I believe it.

I think the enthusiasm in the medical profession for yanking gallbladders is because dietary habits are really difficult to change. It is possible to avoid attacks with diet management, but it's too hard, so doctors don't even try. Their patients get their gallbladders taken out, problem solved, no more attacks. They leave 'em in, old habits die hard and they're back in the ER. The side effects of not having a gallbladder scare me more than fear of having another attack, which should tell you something.

There are some gallstone patients who absolutely do need to have them out, there can be so many stones that the gallbladder gets distended, or they get lodged in the duct and threaten other organs. But it is possible to manage it through diet.

It's too bad, because I like fasting every once in a while, it feels good. And who doesn't love fatty foods? But if I'm in that fasted state, I have to be really careful and come out of it eating steamed rice and vegetables (which I find delicious anyway), not a trip to Five Guys or New York Pizza.

I've also been "blessed" with kidney stones. Passing a kidney stone, what it feels like going through the urethra is nothing compared to what precedes it, which is spasms that feel like being punched in the lower back and sides by a bareknuckled George Foreman.

It's weird, because for a few seconds, you're in this INTENSE pain, then the spasm ends and endorphins kick in and you feel fine. Repeat. I've vomited from the pain from passing a k-stone. The last one that came out was at least 4mm in diameter. I kept it, it looks like a very bumpy asteroid.

Staying hydrated is an issue as well, with the ADHD I get intensely on-task and forget to drink. So I try to always have beverage fixin's on hand, my favorite is a 1:2 mix of fruit juice and seltzer water. I can slam that stuff all day.

Congratulations on the gig from heaven. I know those moments both from playing and from being in the audience. Just one of those can make up for years of the drudgery of keeping a band together. And what I particularly like about forms of music that involve a lot of improvisation. When that blue bolt comes down from the sky, there are few things that make me feel so alive and in the moment (one of them is obvious, another is dancing with a good partner).

Edited August 29, 2023 by Starship Krupa

[craigb]

Just to be clear, eating fat should not be a trigger to have foods that are bad for you in other ways!  Pizza (which I LOVE) is a great example.  It's NOT the (good) fat that's the problem, it's the grains (which turn into sugar in your body), the bad oils used, the cured meats, the bad fat and all the non-food chemicals that are used to make it look and taste better.

Eating uncured, sugar-free becan is NOT bad for you!  Gold level eggs are some of the absolute best things you could possible eat.

Unfortunately, pretty much all food advise that's been put out there by corrupt organizations masquerading as official sources is just about the exact opposite of what's healthy.  Following their advise IS a great way to end up on treatments for the rest of your life and make the pharmaceutical industry trillions (with a "T") of dollars of profit.  A while back I posted about the poison that some people use as an artificial sweetener, Aspartame.  Someone yelled B.S.! and posted a reply video of a supposed chemist saying it was good for you.  Although I didn't point it out back then (but probably should have), they didn't notice that the video was created by the same people who sell the crap.  People are easily programmed (it's what the bulk of my PhD work showed me), and not easily unprogrammed.  They can spend, literally, a few minutes listening to someone who claims to be an expert and believe it fully even when that "expert" is either an actor dressed up as a doctor or the highest paid Federal employee.  Yet, when confronted with someone else who has spent hundreds of hours researching the subject, they give the triggered response they were programmed to provide.  Without going too much farther down this very important rabbit hole, I'll just give one more example.  All Google search results are designed to provide whatever narrative those in control want people to think.  99.99% of all real results have now been censored with what used to be (supposedly) millions of results pared down to only 500 and most of those are official repeats (go test this yourself; try searching for something like "pizza" and count the actual results!).  On top of this, they provide "fact checkers" however, since few tend to look into things anymore, few notice that the so-called "fact-checking" sites are actually paid for by the exact same people who are lying to you in the first place.  In case you haven't noticed, almost all of the people that have been declared a nutjob have been right almost 100%!  Wake up and get back to thinking for yourself!

No, I DON'T want you to just believe me!  I want you to wake the f*** up and start questioning all of these corrupt "official" idiots telling you what's real.  Go do you own research using whatever resources you can (the Brave browser won't grab your info and censor you, but it still has to rely on results from Google, Bing, etc.).  It's not easy, but that's on purpose.  Yes, you're told NOT to question what they say and that should be a HUGE clue.  Go ask questions!  Lots of them!  

All of that out of the way, the worst health issue I've had happened after a four-day fast when I stupidly ate a full meal with meat followed by an entire bag of beef jerky!  That gave me four(!) days of absolute hell that felt like I was trying to pass stones.  What you have before, during and after a fast are very important.  This is why I must recommend watching this doctor's videos; they are very informative and easy to understand!

https://www.youtube.com/@drekberg

 

[bitflipper]

2 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

I think the enthusiasm in the medical profession for yanking gallbladders is because dietary habits are really difficult to change. It is possible to avoid attacks with diet management, but it's too hard, so doctors don't even try.

Even if you radically change your diet, the gallstones don't go away. You're doomed to forever pay for the bad habits of your youth.

But yes, it is possible to avoid attacks with diet management. I have had none since my diagnosis made me aware of the problem. I've not had a hard time adapting, because the memory of that excruciating pain is all the motivation I need.

BTW, I'm now convinced that google or meta or the Internet Elders* are always listening.  Dr. Ekberg's videos showed up in my YouTube recommendations, even though I hadn't previously seen nor searched for them. I had only spoken with Craig about the guy, in a PM no less. I guess it's true: just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

 

* Another IT Crowd reference. "You're kidding...the elders of the internet know about me?"

[Shane_B.]

3 hours ago, craigb said:

Unfortunately, pretty much all food advise that's been put out there by corrupt organizations masquerading as official sources is just about the exact opposite of what's healthy. 

100% correct. I lost almost 50% of my body weight and have kept it off now for years, without even going to the gym like I had to in the beginning to lose it. I'm embarrassed to say how much weight I lost but it was more than the average person weighs. Had to have corrective surgery afterwards. But fat was not one of the things I avoided. Sugar was, and not totally. There are new natural sugar substitutes that do not spike your insulin like most substitutes and I can barely tell the difference. I think it's called Swerve iirc. It's used 1 to 1 like cane sugar.

I also should have pointed out before that I have had zero problems, that I'm aware of, from having my GB removed. I've read horror stories about people having the runs when eating fatty food after GB removal. That never happened to me. I never changed my diet. It was like nothing had happened except the excruciating pain was gone. Lol.

Now I worry about my Appendix and have heard that it's not uncommon for doctors to take the GB and Appendix out at the same time even if there are no signs of trouble with the Appendix. But that's all stuff a real doctor should be asked. Do not take my advice. It's just something I read somewhere.

[57Gregy]

16 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

have heard that it's not uncommon for doctors to take the GB and Appendix out at the same time even if there are no signs of trouble with the Appendix.

A friend of mine had an abscess in her hip and when they removed it, they also took her appendix. The doctor explained that it's so if there is ever any problems in that area again, they will know that the appendix is gone and the trouble is something else. If the appendix was still there and the docs saw the scar, they would assume the appendix is gone even though it's still there and could be fatal. So they remove it, just in case.

[Notes_Norton]

I have a slow coffee metabolism. I can drink two cups of strong coffee, and then take a nap. I hear about people getting a buzz from coffee, but for me, it's nada.

I do remember white crosses and black beauties from my younger days though.

 

Notes ♫

 

[craigb]

3 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

I have a slow coffee metabolism. I can drink two cups of strong coffee, and then take a nap. I hear about people getting a buzz from coffee, but for me, it's nada.

I'm the same!

Actually, this simply means your energy levels are correct Bob!  If you (or anyone) gets an actual boost out of drinking coffee then they have a deficiency somewhere.  I literally just sent a PM with a link to a program designed to help with this issue to someone (since I paid for the program once upon a time, I'm not going to just post a link here! ?).

[Notes_Norton]

14 hours ago, craigb said:

Actually, this simply means your energy levels are correct Bob!

I like that!!! Anything that's correct about me is OK.

- - - - - - gig story ahead - - - - - -

We did a gig at an all day party, and we gigged at night. The gig was a bit underwhelming because most of the guests were tired from the day's activities. So we played a lot of gentle music while everyone was zoned out on pot and alcohol.

I was invited to enjoy the day before playing. The theme was psychics/astrology/and all that other cosmic stuff.

This was back in the early 1990s. One psychic said she saw a computer screen with lines of characters turning into dollar signs. She said it means I'd make money with computers. At the time, I was writing styles for Band-in-a-Box, which turned out to be a moneymaker.

Another read tarot cards and told me the Future Mrs. Notes was my “cosmic carrot” which meant she would be my mate for life.

Both of those were probably pretty easy to read without psychic powers, but who knows?

Another dangled crystals over the 7 chakras on our body. The crystal dangler remarked I was the first person all day who had all 7 chakras balanced. Perhaps she meant my energy levels are balanced, and I won't get a buzz from coffee.

It was fun, we got paid, and we did another party for them a couple of years later.

Notes ♫