Hair and IUD update

Hello world!

So I know I haven't given a hair growth update in what feels like a super long time so I figured while I have 20 minutes to spare I'll pop in. Truth is it doesn't feel like it has grown all that much. At least in the front. The back is at that bone between my neck and my back now.

So what am I doing now? Just taking Folic Acid actually - I finished off my Cod Liver Oil supplements and haven't bought more yet. I'm trying to do the oil treatment bi-weekly but I'm thinking of just doing it constantly because I need to shower every day and people say it dries the crap out of your hair and that you shouldn't. Putting excess oil in my hair overnight should compensate, no? And my hair just feels nicer with it.

So on to the pictures!

And on to the IUD! Well truth is, if I hadn't seen it on the Ultrasound I wouldn't have known it was even there. I don't feel it at all and I am completely happy about that! So would I suggest a Copper IUD for anyone? So far yes!

Psoriasis and Copper

So I did some research at 5 am because I couldn't sleep.

No, actually it wasn't because I was cramping really badly from my new IUD - actually I hardly felt anything at all beyond what I consider normal level period cramps.

It was just because my brain decided the wee hours of the morning were wasted on sleeping when it could be thinking. We don't always agree on that, but usually the brain wins because it just keeps me up until I give in and look into what it's pondering about. The blessing and the curse of the internet being so convenient I suppose...

Anyways, I ended up looking into the effects of the copper IUD and Psoriasis just to see if anyone had reported any findings. This article is what I found, just in case you would like to read it yourself.

So apparently it has been found that an imbalance of copper and zinc in the body may be responsible for scaly outbreaks of hell. Basically there is often too much copper and not enough zinc in the majority of people with psoriasis. It is hypothesized that the copper IUD may cause psoriasis to flare up by adding more copper to the mix.

In my mind I am picturing a war between the two elements and copper is winning.

There was also a flash of, "Oh crap, what have I done?! I just put a whole vat of copper up in there and added to the copper army's resources!"

But again... Babies > Psoriasis. Babies are the bigger problem.

So I figured to at least even things out again I'll start taking a zinc supplement and try to eat more zinc rich foods. So what foods are zinc rich you might ask? Google says the top 10 foods highest in zinc are...

1. Seafood

2. Beef and Lamb

3. Wheat Germ

4. Spinach

5. Pumpkin and Squash Seeds

6. Nuts - Particularly Cashews

7. Cocoa and Chocolate (Yippie!!!)

8. Pork and Chicken

9. Beans

10.  Mushrooms

So I'll see if I can add some more of these to my diet and make sure I take some zinc supplements so I can at least even out this copper overload. If anyone else has tried this I'd appreciate a heads up on how it worked.

Mona Lisa Copper IUD Experience

Hey whoever!

I went to the OB/GYN today to get a copper IUD and I figured I'd share my experience!

Now before going I read A LOT of reviews stating that it would be excruciatingly painful. Like nigh unbearable. Some people were told to have fainted, some got dizzy spells and one girl even said it felt like a really powerful orgasm. (say whaaat? I don't know what kind of orgasms she's having but mine have never felt like that. And I hope they never do!)

But I don't want babies. I really don't want babies. I know, I know you all are thinking or telling the screen

"You're just saying that now Lydia."
"You might change your mind!"
"Kids are different when they are your own!"

You name it,  I've heard it.

Well, to make all you mothers and mother fuckers happy I chose to get an IUD.

Well that and my OB/GYN refused to zap my ovaries with a laser. Though that was unlikely because lasers are not considered an effective method of birth control yet. Why? I don't know. We've perfected them to operate on someone's eyeball but they cant use them to scramble your eggs.

And tying my tubes? The OB/GYN pretty much laughed at me and told me I was too young to be sure.

Well poo! But the copper IUD is good for a solid 10 years so this is pretty damn close, no? And I figure when I'm 33 he shouldn't turn me down. Right? Well if he does I'll just get another one I guess.

I chose the Mona Lisa 10, again a copper IUD and that's because I don't really want to muck around with hormones. I feel weird about the idea of ditching my period forever and the side effects were heavier bleeding and some more cramping. Let see... cramping... or babies... cramping wins over labor pains any day. I witnessed my sister being born and that was some scary shit right there.

I mean I get teary eyed when I'm constipated. No one wants to see this girl push a watermelon out of a grape.

So...

THE INSERTION!

DUN DUN DUNNNNN...

To put it bluntly the most painful part was waiting for the appointment to begin. That and knowing the doc had to have a gander up my vaj-jay-jay while I was on my period. (Gross huh? But apparently it makes it easier on you to get in on the rag. Either way he didn't believe I was on my period - I had to tell him I had just started it last night)

It took like 10 minutes maybe and the worst part was a sharp pinch that felt like a really pointed cramp and I could actually feel it in my hip bones. (Yeah really, what the crap?) And I wont lie, it made me jump and squeak. But then it was over and done with. In seconds. I mean it felt pretty weird to be perched up on a table spread eagle but I have to say overall I feel like I had a positive experience.

My OB/GYN was super cool and nice and quick about it and I must say I was thoroughly impressed. If anyone around the York Region area wants the number of an IUD pro give me a shout out and I'm happy to share the information. Would it be weird to be vag-doctor buddies? Maybe. But good docs are good docs.

So far afterward nothing has occurred that is unexpected. I've had a few on and off cramping sessions but I can't say that I feel the IUD at all. I'm going for an ultrasound to make sure its hanging in there alright but as far as I'm concerned my Mona Lisa IUD is my new little T-shaped buddy.

No babies! No babies! We aint pushing strollers! Nyah nyah!

I'll keep you updated on the process and my findings with this little copper baby.

Can I hope it will help with my psoriasis? Well, probably not. But hey, a girl can dream.

Hair growth and Oil treatment

Hey who ever is out there!

So I'm here to update you on my hair growth and we'll see if there's any real difference!

I am still taking the folic acid, cod liver oil and on top of that I decided to give this oil treatment a go. Basically what you're supposed to do is massage warm oil (any but canola or vegetable oil) into your scalp and hang upside down for 4 minutes. It's supposed to make your hair grow an inch in a week. Sounds crazy right? Sounds like a pile of bologna right?

Well I decided to put it to the test. And here are my results!

Well kind of - I ended up using a drug store product instead of a pure oil.

 

And I didn't heat it up. I was lazy. I am sorry! Well that and I was afraid that the bottle would explode in the microwave. So I am taking into account that if this doesn't work it is entirely my fault for not taking the directions to heart.

So I massaged this into my scalp for at least 1-3 minutes every night to activate the blood circulation on my scalp and then hung upside down for a timed four minutes off my bed. I can tell you now that it is the longest 4 minutes of my entire day. I started reading during them to try to make it pass faster. Also if you get up too quickly you'll get very dizzy. Boo!

I also, because I'm lazy and because it smells nice and I heard it was good for my hair too, slept with the oil in my hair. I don't think I would have done that with olive oil.

First I measured my hair - it was at 4-4.5" at the front when I started. Its hard to get exact measurements in the mirror.

Then I took pictures of the front of my hair to gauge where on my nose my hair seemed to reach.

The beginning of the week, last Sunday.

Today!

Me pretending my hair is some kind of sci-fi helmet because its so short still.

Now it doesn't look like much - definitely not an inch. But bear in mind my hair isn't really as fluffy and weightless in the first picture - its pretty limp. I haven't measured my hair at this point so I don't even really know for sure what the results are.

But foremost my own personal observations are that it feels longer when its flopping into my face. It also feels and looks a little thicker. On feeling... My hair is ridiculously shiny and soft. Trust me - you want to stroke my hair right now. You can't tell really with the camera but my hair definitely looks more healthy.

(Side note: Did not effect my scalp psoriasis at all)

So measuring time! I wanted to save this until now so I could give my own honest observations. I could be totally wrong! Well aside from the healthiness. I can compete with my dog for softness now. BUAHAHAHA!

So I am now at a rather impressive 5 inches at the front of my hair!

Not bad considering I didn't follow all of the directions! A whole .5 to 1 inch in a week is pretty hefty for hair growth! Woohoo!

So if you've tried this feel free to let me know how it went for you! Or any other odd hair growth things you can think of for me to try!

I'm going to try to get some Mane 'n Tail shampoo and conditioner soon and I'll let you all know how that turns out. I've heard it smells like apples so I'm pretty excited!

In the mean time though I'm keeping up with this oil regiment and maybe even adding some lavender oil to the mix! Woohoo!!


In other news I had a really freaky apocalyptic dream where instead of zombies people were becoming creepy wax-figure looking things with frozen Barbie type smiles. I woke up feeling pretty awkward!

Pictures Finally! | Tresemme Waterless Foam Shampoo | Freaky Dream & Audible Hallucinations

Sorry anyone that's reading, I promised pictures practically a week ago and I've really just been too lazy to do it! So I did it today and I can honestly say I think my bangs/fringe is showing growth!

Maybe there is something to this whole Folic Acid thing...

For the hair anyways. As for my skin I have noticed no difference and am still as itchy and flaky as ever. 

Otherwise I must confess that the last two nights I have totally forgotten to take them! Crap! I fell asleep reading the Mercy Thompson series two nights in a row. I can't put the damn books down! Curse you Patricia Briggs for taking over my life! In the best way possible, of course.

If you are interested in the whole supernatural thing then I highly suggest picking up Moon Called and its following titles. The character is believable and I thoroughly am enjoying them. Thank you book sale where I bought the last book out!

Also recently I picked up the Tresemme Waterless Foam Dry Shampoo to test it out. It was at our local Dollarama for $3 so I figured why not? Well, I think there's a reason it was at Dollarama because it did really nothing for my hair. I still felt like my hair was yucky and dirty. Oh well! I'll use it for texture I suppose. People keep telling me that texture is good.

So last night I also had the pleasure a freaky dream where I was on a plane with my boyfriend and the plane was highjacked by a man who was a test subject for medicines for colon cancer. He was so upset about the effects of the tests that he killed everyone on board except for us. He was trying to kill us too though but we just wouldn't die apparently. I ended up getting shot in the torso and the foot with a crossbow and next thing I knew the guy jumped out of the plane and was attacking a man in a lab coat in the middle of a farmer's field. No logic to how I knew that in my dream at all.

Then I was in a waiting room and my parents, my birth parents were there (my mom is dead so this was a touch odd for me - I don't usually dream of her) and my dad was going on about how I shouldn't scare him like that and kept touching my feet. My mom didn't say anything, just smiled. Which is pretty normal, she doesn't usually talk in my dreams but when she does I never remember what was said anyways.

Then I woke up to the sound of a chain dropping right beside my head. I was immediately wide awake and looking for said chain. It sounded as though Jasper (my dog) had somehow shrugged off his chain collar onto the bed. But it wasn't on him at all - it was hanging on my bed post.

So feeling quite freaked about it all I decided to research the phenomenon of waking to a loud unusal sound with no cause. Or hallucinating sounds. After all if you can put a name to it and other people have experienced it then it makes it far less scary, right? Right.

Turns out its actually quite common and has been tied to Sleep Paralysis - which I have experienced from time to time. The term for such things are usually referred to as Hynopompic Hallucinations.

Basically it refers to all hallucinations that occur just before falling asleep or waking up.

If you'd like some spooky research then I highly suggest looking into Sleep Paralysis or "The Old Hag Syndrome". There is a lot of debate as to whether it is a supernatural phenomenon or a psychological one. And really its quite creepy when it happens so I don't blame people for thinking there might be something more to it than a trick of the mind!

So this was all at like 3:30 in the morning.

After my research I fell asleep again and had another very odd dream.

I dreamed my dad, brother and I were going on a camping trip but we had to stop in this hotel on the way. Apparently we were going a long way to go camping? Anyways I caught this guy setting fire to the gardens and was trying to tell him he had to put it out because it could hurt someone. He basically ignored me and went about his business.

Long story short I tried talking to everyone, including the fire department, about this fire at the hotel and no one cared or believed me. The random jerk guy kept showing up to antagonize me and no one ever did anything about the fire until I got up and started to try to put it out myself.

When I woke up I felt very alone and sad. Weird huh?

Well if anyone else would like to comment or add anything about Sleep Paralysis or weird dreams or hallucinating sounds at night feel free :)

First World Problems | Pamper Night | Hair Update!

I'm going to start today by complaining. Yay! I hate living with other people. Particularly if those other people happen to be your older relatives.

I've been waiting to do my laundry since last week and if you live in Ontario you probably know all about the on-off peak hours thing so I have to wait until 7 pm to do laundry except on the weekends. Problem with that is my Aunt and her boyfriend us the washing machine every single day. I don't know how they are dirtying that amount of clothes or if its just that they never actually completely wash all of their clothes.

They do things like plan to leave all day and put a load in the washer and just leave it there ALL DAY. So, no consideration for the person who is actually home to begin and finish their laundry. Seriously, every time they leave for the day they leave a load in the wash so I have to finish it before I can do mine. It wouldn't be a big deal if it weren't every time.

Some would say, "why don't you just talk to them about it" but really, to me its just such a common sense issue to not start a load before you leave that whenever I think about talking to them all I can hear in my head is me yelling about how ignorant they are. Not very mature, I know, but I can't really help it. The topic enrages me. There is no reason why someone cannot start and finish a load of laundry.

Right now her boyfriend is putting a load in the wash and then he's going to sleep until 9:30 when he will go to work. Which means the laundry is staying there over night because my Aunt doesn't like to go down and get it because it wears her out. Right now she also has a leg infection - so I wont judge her on that. But I could have started and finished all of my laundry this evening.

I know its childish, I know its stupid... but you try it and tell me you wouldn't get upset after a while.

In other news I'm trying out a face mask because I feel pretty pooped today. I didn't sleep well last night because of freaky serial killer dreams so I figured I'd try a face mask so I could at least say I tried to do something with my skin. We'll see if it does much of anything.

And finally my hair! Its been a week since starting the Folic Acid & Cod Liver Oil. I'll upload a picture below to see if anything has happened.

Blogilates Day One!

Alrighty so I have decided to embark on Blogilates and Muay Thai!

Basically I'll be doing Muay Thai Tuesdays and Thursdays and all of the other days I'll be doing Blogilates! Don't worry, I will factor in some rest days as needed since I already know Muay Thai will totally kick my butt!

I just finished the full body work out and my buns are feeling the burn!

This actually is not my first attempt at starting the Blogilates Beginners Calendar. Which attempt is it? I have no idea! I have started so many times that I have lost count! But I am hoping through this I will feel more accountable and do it regularly!

For those of you who don't know what Blogilates is I really encourage you to go to Blogilates.com and check it out. These are free pilates workouts posted by a woman named Cassey Ho. She is amazing and bubbly and has a calender just for beginners to get people like me started (again). If you decide to give it a go and want an internet workout buddy, let me know - we can cheer each other on!

Some might ask why I'm doing this and really its just because I don't feel healthy, or at least as healthy as I want to. I'm not obese and I'm not a stick figure - and honestly I don't expect to be, I'm human after all. But I don't sleep very well and I don't really have a lot of energy during the day and I've heard that exercise can help with that.

Also I mentally feel better after exercising. I could go all science nerd and explain how it releases endorphins and such, but I mean on a pride level. Straight to the nuts and bolts of it when I complete an exercise routine I feel like I accomplished something.

From the sounds of it everyone has issues with depression or anxiety or body image and honestly, from my personal experiences, counting your daily accomplishments helps a lot. Maybe one day I'll write about depression and the ways I have found that really help me, because it might by chance help some random passer by. Even if it only helped one person that would be worth it, right?

Also! I am already in my jammies so I will post Week One Pictures tomorrow! After Muay Thai!

Folic Acid Day 2 | Challenge Details

Alrighty so...

I guess anyone who read before this post knows that I am taking Folic Acid to try to make my hair grow luscious and long again. So far no change!

I'm kidding, I didn't honestly think I'd wake up the next day like Rapunzel. Oh, but wouldn't it be nice?

I figured I should actually explain what the whole deal with the 'challenge' and what is supposed to happen. Although I'm sure that many of you have already heard of it or maybe some of you have even tried it! If you have I'd actually be interested in knowing how it worked for you!

The challenge is to take Folic Acid tablets for 100 days and see how long your hair grows, if it grows faster/healthier ect.

What is the challenge bit? I'm not really sure. Maybe you have to cheer on your hair? Or maybe its just remembering to take these tablets every day. I'll be honest, that bit will be a challenge for me! I'm pretty scatter-brained when it comes to taking vitamins, supplements or meditations. I don't use The Pill (you know what pill i'm talking about, don't pretend you don't because you do!) because I can't remember to take it every day.

So I am going to try to be responsible for 100 days. We'll see how that goes.

I actually bought a bottle with like 360 and something tablets so I wont be able to do a "oh my this bottle is empty!" picture. Well maybe I could... I could feasibly section out 100 tablets into another container and show you guys when its empty.

Some people have reported growing 3 inches in the 100 days, but my hair grows pretty quickly so I'm hoping for more. But we will see!

I'm not really sure if I should gauge my growth with pictures or by measuring... maybe both?

Well. We'll see what I decide at the end of the week!

Yesterday | Super Book Sale! | Everything To Do With Sex Show: Toronto

Hello again! So yesterday I had a pretty eventful day with a lot of fun adventures! I am going to have to get better at taking more pictures while I'm out and about - the boyfriend is usually the shutterbug when we are adventuring.

First we adventured out to a warehouse book sale which was AMAZING! For those of you who don't know me yet I am a huge book worm. I love to read and I love a good deal on books. All of the books I got there were between $1-$5. HOLY CRAP! Really? YES!

I picked up a total of 6 singular books and a boxed sex of 6 books all for $27. That's only like $2.75 a book! And when I was leaving there were minty girl guide cookies for sale. SCORE! The Oreo knock offs just don't give me the same nostalgia. Mint for the win!

So the books I got were...

1. Self Sufficiency for the 21st Century - Dick and James Strawbridge
2. Prescription for Herbal Healing - 2nd Edition - Phyllis A. Balch, CNC Rev. by Stacy Bell, DSC
3. Falling Kingdoms - Morgan Rhodes
4. Frost Burned - Patricia Briggs
(I actually realized after I got these home that this is like the 7th book in a series... but I heard the author was good so maybe this will encourage me to buy the other ones?)
5. Bloodrose - Andrea Cremer
6-12. The Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris.
(I liked what I saw of True Blood so why not?)

So maybe as I read these puppies I will review them! So far I really REALLY like my Herbal Healing book.

And then we made our way down to Toronto for the Everything To Do With Sex Show!

My boyfriend knows that I want to some day become a sexologist and suggested we go (I actually didn't know it was going on this weekend! Already failing at sexology? MAYBE!). So I'm actually really super impressed with him. He impresses me all the time with how thoughtful and amazing he is!

It was actually pretty great! We got a free *toy* and some other goodies including a very phallic lipstick that I will never use because I don't want to destroy its perfect penis shape. Haha. We also saw a very tanned man in a speedo/thong/bunny costume? He was like 60-70 years old so it was pretty crazy. Power to that guy for being so confident! I actually loved the atmosphere there were everyone seemed really comfortable and open and friendly. It was so uplifting!

My boyfriend isn't really into the whole thing but even he said he enjoyed it.

I also got to meet Dr. Jess O'Reilly who is a Sexologist I hear all the time on the radio at work and she was really friendly and offered to help guide me on my path to becoming a sexologist which I thought was really nice! So I'm really excited to have met her and kind of have he invitation to pick her brain if I need some help. She was actually great and I really suggest checking her out if you want to find out more about sexology or are just curious.

You can find her really easily if you just type in SexWithDrJess into Google, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. Or just check out her website SexWithDrJess.com

Then when we were tired of perusing the many stands of whips, chains and to my boyfriend's amazement at least a hundred, if not thousands, of different types of dildos and sex toys everywhere we headed out to try to find something to eat.

Now I know there are a lot of people who LOVE Toronto but I do have a complaint... Right around Union Station there isn't much in the way of Restaurants. Now keep in mind it was raining and I was cold, my feet were wet and squelchy so I mean like in the direct vicinity. Hate me if you want for being uber lazy, but squelchy feet are serious business!

We ended up busing back to Newmarket where there was a car we could drive to food. :)

AND THEN COMMENCED SNUGGLING!
My favourite part of any day.

P.S. If you would like pictures of the bunny-man or the phallic lipstick let me know!

Did any of you go to the Everything To Do With Sex Show?
Or the super book sale? 
Any questions?

Let me know in the comments! (I know there aren't many/any of you yet but hey, can't blame a girl for trying to make conversation.)

Hello World! | My Hair

Okay so I've decided to start writing a blog. On what you may ask? EVERYTHING!Well pretty much everything I encounter and think I'd like to chat about anyways. Why? Because I can!

Also, I pretty much am not very good at being a girl (hair, make-up, fashion... I pretty much fail at all of it) so I figured I would share my attempts, successes and failures here. It seems a little less scary to write about my experiences and post pictures than it does to start a Youtube account. Baby steps people! And this site seems to allow vidoes so that is kind of neat!

So let's get started. Who am I?

Well my name is Lydia and I live in a small town in Ontario, Canada. I'm kind of quirky and as well as being a pretty failure at being a girl I have a dog and a boyfriend and over all my life seems pretty good. I have psoriasis and its pretty much the bane of my whole existence. I'll be trying things out for that here too so if you know of anything let me check it out!

I work as a Graphic Designer and I'm looking at going back to school for Psychology and maybe eventually one day becoming a sexologist. What is that you may ask? Its like a psychologist - but for your midnight romps. ;) Or daytime romps. Which ever you prefer or end up having.

I don't know why, "romp" has always sounded kind of sexual to me. What say you we have a romp in the bedroom? Heh.

Moving on!

I'm 23 and I am generally interested in trying new things so if you, mystery reader, ever want me to give something a go let me know!

And now for the second part of this little blog here...

My Hair

I cut my hair short and I don't like it anymore. Sad face. So I did some research and found out two possible aids in making my lovely locks grow back faster! I'm going to give it a go and post up weekly shots of my hair and we'll see what happens!

First off is Cod Liver Oil. I read that any kind of fish oil is good for your skin and hair so I've begun taking some of those capsuls every day! So far... no difference but its only been about a week - less than since I was away from home most of the week. So really we'll count this as day one...

And Folic Acid. Yes, I know normally people take that when they're having a baby or trying to have a baby, but I read that it aids in the growing of hair and nails and is good for your skin. AND in my big book of Herbal Healing it says its good for psoriasis. SO WE WILL SEE!

My Skin

This wasn't in the title but I just remembered that I picked up something to try for my psoriasis at the drug store today. The doctor recommended Glaxal Base because it seems to be more moisturizing than most lotions so its supposed to relieve the itch some and help with the scaly bits.

Also I picked up another little present to my skin and it is the Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Soothing Gel-Cream with Peach Oil. Its said to have you feeling soft and smooth for up to 7 Days so I'm going to test that. Mostly because I pretty much never remember to moisturize. So far I really like it because it didn't leave me feeling greasy. Smells alright too.

So this is how long my bangs are today.

And this is my hair not looking like a mushroom cap.

Hair Supplements! (If anyone wants specific details just let me know)

Skin stuff!