Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I Am An Addict...

And thank goodness my addiction isn't something like heroin, or cocaine, or (God forbid) COFFEE! No...I'm a MOUNTAIN DEW addict...plain and simple.

Remember last year when I did the trial experiment called "DOWNSIZE ME"? I went on a complete, no caffeine diet for 30 days...and, I have to say, I DID feel better following my horrid withdrawal period (friends around me did NOT feel better during the ordeal, but later witnessed the improvement). Once I had kicked the habit (so to speak), I found I had MORE energy and was LESS tired than my usual fatigued self. I also lost a smidgen of weight in the process as an extra bonus.


Well...somewhere over the past few months, I have fallen back ON the wagon and started guzzling my urine-yellow elixir! It was a subtle return to my diet at first...I found myself feeling waaaay too exhausted, so I grabbed the DEW off a grocery shelf a few months ago and downed one. I will admit, it tasted DAYUMED GOOD. And, slowly over the course of a few weeks, I found myself buying the tantalizing drink...first, only in singles...but later in FULL TWELVE PACKS. I was addicted once again.


This past month, I have been lamenting about my fatigue. I have certainly had many instances in my personal schedule to tire myself out (like working night shifts, meetings, etc.) and, with the worsening of my MS symptoms, the fatigue factor seemed an "unnaturally natural" course. I have felt tired for a REASON...perhaps even BESIDES MS. I have also noticed the aching returning to my joints and a horrible muscle stiffness settling in around my neck and upper arms. This, coupled with sores erupting in my mouth and what has felt like the beginning signs of a urinary tract infection, caused me to stop and examine my current MS status and routine. I have also (once again) started adding just a few pounds back from my recent hard-earned weight loss.


When one is a TRUE addict, it is difficult to point a finger directly at a cause...but I believe ONE of the culprits of my recent decline has been my intake of "The DEW". There IS scientific evidence out there that an increased intake of processed sugars CAN set up the immune system to begin to malfunction (not that mine isn't ALREADY malfunctioning due to MS...but you know what I mean!)...our bodies become more susceptible to infection as well as a shifting of fluids occur within the joints (causing pain). In other words, TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING CAN BE DAMNING...sigh...


So...I cut myself off...cold turkey...from "The DEW". I did this illness-defying act yesterday on my first of three days off from work...I knew I would need some "alone time" to pull the stunt off. LOL So far, so good. Except I have really been JONES-ING for an ice-cold DEW!!!! I never realized how unconscious I had become once again about drinking the darned stuff. I have been tempted to hit the dark alley behind the Pepsi Bottling Company just to see if I can SCORE some of the "juice"...it's about that bad.


I'm hoping once I get past a few days of life without "The DEW", I will begin to see some improvement in my fatigue, joint pain, and general health. If not...you'll probably be able to find me behind the dumpster at the Pepsi Corporation spending my hard-earned cash for a "hit" of the drink. I'll be the one hunched over in pain because my knees hurt, searching for a bathroom due to urinary frequency, and going by the street name, "BrainCheese"...

10 comments:

Jeri Burtchell (TickledPink) said...

I used to be a Dew head too! With my last relapse (a year ago next month) I got served a super-sized order of panic attacks and ended up in the ER THREE TIMES arguing with them that I was having a heart attack, not a panic one. Turns out med school actually taught them something and they were right, not I.

I had to do something. I was NOT going to become a drug addicted zombie medicating my way out of this one. (because I was terrified of the AD's they wanted to put me on. LOL)

So I un-did the Dew, coffee, and any other caffeine I was intaking. I was so freaking tired I slept for 3 days straight. Oh, and I also quit smoking, too, around that time.

I was on prednisone at the time (for the relapse) and that stuff turns me diabetic, so I was also off sugar. Only thing I drank was water (lactose intolerant so milk was out).

Somewhere along the way since last year, carbonated beverages have crept back into my life, but none with caffeine.

I do feel a whole lot better caffeine and nicotine free, but I gotta have my sugar. Oh, and Dove chocolate does NOT count for caffeine, right? Gotta have my daily Dove. :-)

So from one Dew Head to another, come on...you can un-Dew it! I'm rooting for you!! And if I suspect you are behind the Pepsi plant scoring a fresh can, I will come snatch you away and commit you to rehab.

Love your Photoshopped pic, BTW. Don't let such talent go to waste and down the drain all because of the urine-color elixir. Repeat after me: Don't the Dew!

Anonymous said...

We all have our addictions and I am not exempt. However, I have a calorie free, fat-free, and seemingly harmless (though that remains to be seen!) addiction.

Bottled water.

The down side is the landfill-clogging bottles which we recycle, though reports show most people don't recycle them.

Good work on the cold turkey kicking of the DEW habit!

Sara said...

I hope your cold turkey quite works out for ya. I've never been a fan of "the DEW" but know many who are real addicts of the stuff, so I wish you luck with it!

mdmhvonpa said...

Yes, I am a fellow addict of the insidious 'Rocky Mountain Weasel Piss'. Nearly anything with caffeine will do for me though. My specialty is caffeinated water used to make ... coffee.

Miss Chris said...

There's that one I.V. solution that looks just like a bag of Mountain Dew. (we used to call it tha Mtn. Dew drip). Maybe you could snag one of those and replace whatever's in it with real Mountain Dew? :)

Sharon said...

I have never gotten into the Dew except when I was gettting my nursing assistant cert. I ended up in the hospital with kidney stones I drank so much in a short period. I'll stick with my (yes, I am one of those)COFFEE!

Blinders Off said...

Hi, my name is "D" aka Blinders off and I am and addict. I am addicted to Pepsi, Benson, and Hedges Menthol Light cigarettes. I am weak; I have tried to quit consuming them both many times. I justify it by saying I do not drink coffee or drink alcohol (okay maybe a shot of tequila or a glass of wine every so often).

I admire all of you who DID IT and KICKED your HABIT. I wish I could do the same.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Tickled Pink about your photo shop talent. I've been meaning to ask you if you do all the images you post.

Didja ever see the truly bad awful goofy gory movie called reanimators? All I remember about it was the stuff they drank looked like a cross between anti-freeze and Dew. Of course I haven't seen pretty green antifreeze in years, it seems to be an off pink color. Prob'ly more of the BC folks in action!
PACW

Unknown said...

I have some addicts that I will admit and other addicts that my wife only knows. LOL

Spaz Attack said...

HELP, I'M AN ADRENALIN JUNKY TRAPPED IN A SPASTIC MS BODY! I SURVIVE BY TICKLING MY INNARDS WITH THE DEW, OR BEING A DR. PEPPER, TOO, ALONG WITH BLASTING DYNAMISM TO MY OTHERWISE ADDLEBRAIN WITH ADDERALL. iN OTHER WORDS i'M FALLING AND CAN'T GET UP!