People will soon call me the crazy cat lady

Soon enough people will call me the crazy cat lady. But firstly I'm not crazy and secondly my cats will call me mum. I have had several cats in my lifetime and all were as beautiful as the next, I would never replace any of them. Unfortunately those have passed on and my mum gave in and got another one. 

What's different this time? we got a rescue cat!

Meet Freya! She's a 3 year old short haired domestic cat, ginger in colour. We don't know much about where she came from but what we do know is that she is a beautiful loving cat with a lovely temperament. She loves having lots of cuddles and plenty of attention. She is pretty small considering how old she is and is definitely still a kitten at heart.  

We only brought her home today but I can tell already she is going to light up ours lives and really bring me comfort if I'm feeling low. I mean she has made me feel happier already! She is absolutely gorgeous and she was born in September too! Same month as me! It's like we were meant to be together. AHA. 

Oh and I have just found out that she is just as crazy as I am! She has been running across my keyboard for the past 5 minutes trying to write this blog post for me. 

Music is Magic

We all those days where we just don't feel very upbeat or simply just want to stay in bed all day I know I sure have. On these days to try and cheer myself up by listening to a playlist of music. Music that is so happy and upbeat it makes you want to get up and dance. 

Listening to upbeat songs makes you feel happier, but only if your actively trying to improve your mood by this I mean that you're aware that you trying to make yourself happier. Seeking out happiness through music and other techniques can also improve your health, income and relationship satisfaction. 

Play list can be found HERE

I have always found that music can act as an escape as well, however your feeling, happy, sad or even angry listening to upbeat music always makes me feel happy and distracts me from what's going on around me. I'm able to really disappear into my only little world.

"Music is my escape" & "Music is here for me when no one else is"

A turn of events

I thought I had everything under control for a while, but I was wrong, clearly. A couple weekends ago ended up with me being taken to hospital following several tonic clonic seizures that had taken place on the kitchen floor. Thankfully I had no serious injuries, only bruising and a nasty looking blood clot in my arm. 

I know exactly why they occurred on that day. I had received a letter through the post on the Saturday morning in regards to my appeal for PIP (Personal independence payment), I got stressed out straight away as anyone in my situation would have.

I'm so lucky my sister was at home when it happened, she had never seen me have a seizure before so as you can imagine she was in a complete state as I've been told. She rang my mum who was back home within 5 minutes, by which time I was still fitting in my second by this point. My mum rang 999, and ambulance and a paramedic were sent out and were there within 5 minutes. Whilst my mum was on the phone I went into a third seizure. By this point I must have been going for 20 minutes or possibly longer I have no idea. The paramedic and ambulance crew managed to bring me round but I was taken straight off to the hospital for blood tests, tests, checks on my vitals then closely monitored for a while until they were happy for me to go home and fully recover.

Since then I have been to see my GP for a follow up to make sure I was recovering well as well as discussing the likely change with my medication and dosages. My Dr also prescribed me with emergency medication, finally..

For some reason I never knew about emergency medication and none of my doctors had never mentioned them either. Considering I've had some extremely serious occurrences and my tonic clonic seizures have always lasted 10 minutes or more the emergency medication would have be pretty handy. But I guess at least I have it now.

Now it's time to look further into the support, equipment and any resources that may benefit me in the long run. Let's turn my negative experiences into something positive. Instead of dwelling on the past I shall do nothing except looking to the future and keeping positive always.

The diet & exercise routine of one epileptic warrior.

Credits of imagery: Kaltenbachfitness

There have been many ''nutritionists'' claiming that if you eat certain foods or go onto a certain diet that it will help in controlling the status of the amount of seizures you have. I along with many people I know don't believe this. I believe as long as you eat a healthy and balanced diet accompanied with regular exercise that anyone's health will generally improve. Yes, I do think that it should be consistent but who am I to say otherwise.

I generally eat a more Mediterranean diet, lots of fish, plenty of vegetables either steamed or roasted. I avoid eating white potatoes and tend to stick with sweet potatoes. I have substituted rice for quinoa and regular semi-skimmed milk with unsweetened almond milk. As for snacks I like to have unsalted nuts and dried fruits like raisins and/or rice cakes. I drink a lot of green teas as I find it's great for flushing out any toxins within the body and no more than 2 litres of water per day, both of which I spread throughout the day evenly. Not only that I actually love the taste of green tea especially 'Twinings mango & lychee/cranberry/jasmine green tea' and 'Clipper white tea'. I've definitely become a tea addict! 

Green tea is loaded with antioxidants and nutrients that have great affects on your body. Human research studies show that green tea help improve brain function, fat loss, show a  lower risk of cancer and many other incredible benefits which you can find here 

When it comes to exercise, I like to do a fair amount as it's a good form of stress relief for me and allows me to focus on something else rather than daily anxieties or being alone. Since I got diagnosed with depression more recently it has been even more important for me to try and get out of the house. Along with the fact that with my constant changes to my medication my weight has constantly been fluctuating and I just want to get it under control. 

My workout schedule is as follows although sometimes it differs depending on the weeks appointments and tasks.

Monday: Gym session/Class

Tuesday: Group cycling/spinning class

Wednesday: Rest day

Thursday: Group cycling/spinning class

Friday: Gym session/Class

Saturday: Kettle bell class

Sunday: Rest day

Some people think I'm crazy for doing so much but it has really helped me not only physically but mentally too. Although I do still have my seizures I manage to work around them and am always carefully watched by a members of staff who know of my condition and are trained in what to do. Obviously if I've had a tonic clonic I tend to take a few days off to recover fully and then gradually work back into my exercise routine starting with only gentle exercise. 

Well that's about as much as I can tell you for now, if there is anything you'd like to know just message me and I'll respond as soon as I can.