Bobby,
I am excited to just even start to think that maybe you are starting to think about using the senior center

N-Acetyl Cysteine Breaks up Mucus
N-Acetyl Cysteine cleaves disulfide bonds by converting them to two sulfhydryl groups. This action results in the breakup of mucoproteins in lung mucus, reducing their chain lengths and thinning the mucus, improving conditions such as bronchitis and flu. Double-blind research has found that N-Acetyl Cysteine supplements improved symptoms and prevented recurrences in people with chronic bronchitis. N-Acetyl Cysteine at a dosage of 1,200 mg per day helps to prevent Influenza infection, reduces the symptoms of existing Influenza infection and reduces the duration of Influenza infections.


I think it has other value for the lungs to and helps one to breathe

I think i was talking about speedwalking...it really does look awkward doesn't it lol
bobby

Hi

yeah i was hoping it meant something else in addition to that.

in this country they mostly don't use decongestants everyone swears by these cysteine-related mucolytics (NAC was the first i had thrown at me).

my entire family has atypical reactions apparently. none of us get better with them. i seem to get more stuffed up not less. my dad says they have no effect. my mother and her sister both had unpleasant reactions as well as no improvement i can't remember details now but in one case it was blood in mucus).

the application for these things anyway is if you have excessive mucus for any reason, or dry mucus, but if you don't, you don't need them and they won't increase ability to hold air or lung capacity. you can only do that by training - breathing exercises - and fitness in general helps.

when i used to run in my old neighborhood, i'd regularly run into a guy who did speedwalking. this guy also did funky sorts of running, where he shot out his limbs - it was terrible. i'm sorry but i had enough of a hard time getting myself to run in front of people... not gonna do that!!!

i feel ridiculous much too easily. when i was depressed running was hard - even walking - just being out and being seen. i would sometimes bail because it was too much exposure. i would always get as close as i could though - sometimes i only got as far as putting my shoes on, sometimes i'd get stretched and then bail, sometimes would turn back after my warm up walk.... but sometimes once i got down there i'd be ok. so it was worth trying. if it didn't fly one night, it might the next...

i had huge admiration for the speedwalker though - that he did all that stuff, and didn't seem to care.

~ waves ~

sorry that doesn't help you. I met a woman by the bus and she swore by it so i started taking it for a while.
i admire people who aren't self conscious and are able to do what they want to do as long as it doesn't hurt anybody.
i am beginning to remember I have always all my life had a pattern of tending to be reclusive when things weren't going right or when i had to do things by myself. I think it was from growing up in an alcoholic family where I was really terrified within the house and projected the fear without.
Love
Bobby

hi

the thing is to tackle it gently. push the envelope but only push it a little bit at a time. it will get easier but it won't seem like it at first. maybe ask yourself to go out at a certain time, and to start getting read a half hour before (or however long it takes you to get ready). at that time, start getting ready but try not to think ahead. get as far as you get. when it gets too hard say, well, i got that far, and that's that. every day might be too much at first. you can't eat the whole cake in one bite. you can only cut a slice. but then you can only take small bites of the slice. chew and swallow one bite before taking on the next.

something i would tell myself which helped keep the pressure down, was "i don't have to do this, but i'm going to try to anyway. if i can, it will be good."

i got to where i was totally stressed out having to take showers, and would get fatigued by them. i couldn't figure out how it got that bad. but now i'm back to where i can take a shower and not feel overwhelmed by it. and i clean up afterwards almost without thinking. but it didn't get back to that overnight. for a while, it was a big production every time.

love

~ waves ~

again wise advise...it took me a long time to get into this state so i guess it will be a gradual process to get me out of it.
i just heard great news. Luc is doing super duperly. right now he is in a backward playing away with two young schnauzers. his tail is going a mile a minute. he is doing his business outside -. He is going to be adopted tomorrow. It will be a young couple where the woman doesn't work and where they plan to hire a trainer for him and if they go away for a long stretch he will go to a doggie daycare center so he won't be alone. The woman said she will take a picture of him and send it to me. I still can't look at him because it is too painful. I am so happy for the little fellow. Yeah Luc.
Bobby

i am happy for Luc. and what a relief for you, too. i know you were worried for him.

Dear Bobby,
That's great about Luc being in a good place.
Maybe in lots of ways you two were good for each other even though his stay with you was very short.

One of the ways I force myself to get out is to tell myself that I can come home at any time. I allow myself to leave as soon as I get there or even in the middle of the event. It's sort of a trick I play with myself to force myself to attend. Sometimes I stay.
Other times, I follow my rules and leave when I need to. Nobody remembers later that I walked out. I'm plenty self-conscious, but I am ok about getting up to go one minute past the point I am uncomfortable and need to be back in my own space.

M.

I think little Luc really lucked out and I am so thrilled about him. I just wish I weren't so sad. I am so glad that i made the decision early rather than waited. Then it would have been so much more painful. I will have a lot of joyous memories of him racing around the apartment in his exuberance(sp)
Thank you Mari for the suggestions of facing the world again. I started withdrawing about seven years ago I think so it will take time I guess for me to reenter it. It is so much easier to lie back and just read but now that doesn't work for me. I guess that is good. I miss face to face contact with people. I do have lovely phone conversations with friends but i guess that isn't enough to break the feelings of isolation.
bobby

Dear Bobby,
When I need to go somewhere I break down the event into two activities:
1. Getting myself up and dressed and out the door.
2. Going to the event and being with other people.

Sometimes I only get to #1. Sometimes I get part way into number #2 and stop before it starts. I have also gotten up in the middle of things that I found not working for me (even if it is something as minor as not liking the seating arrangements).

This works for me. I push myself for #1 sometimes, but #2 is easy when I know I can leave.

M.