debrafrederick's Journal, 29 March 2016

You are offering kindness and that alone will help him to join a journey for better health with you. Both of you will benefit. 

Awesome that your hubby is trying to quit ... AND asked you not to buy him bread or baked products! His blood pressure might just start going down again! Fingers crossed for him. Putting up fences is hard work! I bet you are pooped. 

OMG Pooped is not the word for it this morning! I was the one stringing out the rolls of barbed-wire because my wind and my back is in better shape than his, but right now my hamstrings all the way from my hip to my heels is tight and sore. We have no fencing machinery it was all done by hand. I spent most of the evening bent over and walking backwards un-spooling the wire 3 feet at a time, lift, spin, step back. Owwww! This too shall pass! 

That is a job! I know when it is finished you will wonder how you ever got it all up. LOL! 

We have the top strand to finish, hanging the gate and creating a field gate between the pastures, he goes back to work tomorrow, so hoping we can call it complete by tonight! I have added another thing (installing fence) to the list of things I never want to do for a living. 

Oh man! We just did that last fall. No machinery either. So, I can say in all honesty - I feel your pain. We get all the barbed wire up, and what do the cattle do? Use it as a backscratcher every spring. Grrrr. I kind of OD on potassium and magnesium to help the muscle pain, and some bromelain for inflammation. (Many of the typical OTC pain relievers I cannot take due to allergic reactions and exacerbating tinnitus. So, that's the reason for the natural remedy stuff. ) I do hope you feel better soon, and that your hubby stays motivated to get healthy now! Hugs and blessings! Annie 

Wow, that's a ton of work! I've put up barbed wire fences, we used machinery to pound posts and string wire...even then it was a long hard day. Glad to hear your feeling better and sleeping well. 

I know that what works for one does not work for all, but my doctor gave me bupropion (Wellbutrin) and I was able to quit smoking after 30 years. I personally took it for a few months before I tried to quit. That, in conjunction with using Nicorette mini lozenges every day to get through the major withdrawal (only for a month or so), and I have been smoke-free since August. My father lost half a lung to lifelong smoking right around that time which was an in your face encounter with what smoking does to your body... My father had so much scar tissue from lung damage they had to surgically remove his lung from his diaphragm! If your hubby is really wants to quit, this may be helpful for him? I craved sweets when I quit, which was so weird. If it had sugar in it, I wanted to stuff it in my mouth! I wish both of you the best. 

Thanks guys for your encouraging words! I did some deep stretches before my walk and then the walking worked the rest of the tightness out, feeling pretty good right now. @Smoofy, he tried the wellbutrin a few years back and for him it created anxeity, paranoia and disturbed his already disturbed sleep even more, he had to come off of it before he even got a chance to try the quitting smoking part of it. He's a recovering alcoholic with 15 years sobriety and I think he has un-diagnosed ADHD and psychotropic drugs seem to have an opposite effect on him. The tendency towards self-medication seems to be a common factor in Adult ADHD. One of the reasons he has clung to his smoking habit is his fear of picking up a drink again. Hi father died in 2004 of small cell malnoma of the lungs, he lived 12 months after diagnosis. He is aware of the damage he is doing to his body, but, it's his body, his sobriety, his choice. I just kinda hang on the sidelines rooting for him :) After 32 years together, I know my boundaries and I have finally learned to let him find his own way and to support him in whatever he chooses to do. He craves the sweets too, it was really bad when he quit drinking, but he also has living proof of what health benefits come from avoiding sugar, wheat and other starches sharing a home with him. I'm hoping I provide a good example. It's changing lifestyle by osmosis. :)  

That is wonderful - you are leading by example! 

Ahhhh cooking the same meal...sounds so wonderful!! buying groceries should be much easier also. Your sure right about how to best support him, the changes will only stick when he "owns them". I don't want a job fencing either ;) 

Aw. I am sorry that he struggles with the addictions, my husband does as well. I guess the bupropion is also used to treat depression so it could have funky side effects in some people. I have not noticed a difference other than it seemed to have helped me out of a "funk" - I called it the blahs. Too bad the same things do not work for everyone :( I wish him good luck! Four days is good!