Starving

Have any of you been really starved? Starved to death? Was it on purposed? (winkz) I have been doing much reading on the acid base balance lately, and I supposed I probably have to read it again if I were to be asked about it again. (damn!)

It isn't hard, it is understandable, doable, but I guess, a little familiarity to this area would help- aka practice. Wait till I am a nephrologist one day and this would be my daily jokes.

Starving is one of the million causes of acidosis (build up of acid in the body) due to metabolic derangement. It can occur in a normal individual or anyone suffering from any of the types of Diabetes Mellitus. When a person starves, he or she will be breaking down energy from sources other than glucose, which is normally fats. It does sound good, but the breaking down metabolic product from fat metabolism isn't normal to the body, yet it is bad. Free fatty acids from breakdown of fats would be breakdown again to ketone bodies and energy. By the way, do remember the names of the ketone bodies to impress the examiners - acetone, acetoacetic acid and beta-hydroxybutyric acid.

What's not good about these? Ketone bodies are acidic in nature, and their accumulation in the blood will bring down the blood pH (acidic).

In general acidosis can be caused either by abnormalities in metabolism or respiratory (due to hypoventilation- reduced breathing causing build up of carbon dioxide which is acidic). Starvation would fit under metabolic acidosis because the lowering of blood pH as a result of insult to the body normal metabolism.

Acidosis also can be differentiated by the mechanism the pH is lowered, either by increase in acidity or decrease alkaline buffer in the body which is the bicarbonate ion. So, if for example any loss of bicarbonate from the kidney, that would cause the body to be acidotic as well.

I would not go further explaining this, as there is one better website (the best I supposed) in doing so. So, do visit this link (http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/768268-overview)

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Starving isn't fun especially when you are hungry or when you are craving - PREGNANT! Talking from experience, and I still am going nuts craving for foods (luckily it's food!) that I should be careful on the amount of my intakes, it is really hard to put them off. Really hard!

Never ever liked lucozade all my life, but I can finished a litre of them in a day, ending up hyperosmolar (dehydrated) at the end of the day. No fancy chocolates, never have the heart for of course cooked red meat for every meal, and never would be awake in my sleep just for another meal - but now I do. And worse, it is happening everyday. Really a challenge to adapt to the new 9months ME.

However, I have to starve myself, starve for I know I cant simply be taking or eating anything that come across my mind. I can list all of the do's and don'ts I have to teach myself to adapt. No breakfast coffee, at least for most of the days of the week; no fancy kebabs, no salty food, no instant noodles, no cheesecakes, no McDonalds' or Supermacs' etc. No matter how deep my thoughts for them, I have to keep restraining myself from them, and lucky me, I succeeded most of the times. (anyway am still wondering why I put on 20kilos?? though)

Not till I found out I was lack of iron, and my haemoglobin was only 10, and got to know it a month later (phuh!), I have to rearrange my menus. Iron supplement, vitamin C and multivitamins are my everyday menus. Add up to that, almonds, cereals, orange juice, fruits (excluding grapes- enzyme inhibitors) spinach, and red meat everyday. To maximise the intake of iron, I have to avoid everything that impede its absorptions. No coffee, tea, and milk. Oh goodness, you really keep my brain working all the time baby. (alyya or umar)
I am so scared of losing any teeth out of the pregnancy, just like my mom- a tooth gone each pregnancy, so I'd try my best to drink at least a pint of milk before sleep. But now, I have to reschedule. And well, for knowing that gastric emptying is a little delayed in pregnancy means I have to take my iron or any food that contains it about 6 hours before any milk or my coffee! (I have switched to decaff now ahahaha) ... busy me!

Doesn't all of that sounds familiar? - It is life. Without those, I am just nothing, plain old haggard me. (drama queen)

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Anyway, to my baby, I cant wait to see you. It'd be years before you're able to read this anyway. Just wanna let you know, I love you, always and forever. And I'm proud of you. You've been a good baby since the start. (oh, a small kick I feel there, she surely just know whenever I said she's a good baby) xx

I love you too dear husband. Goodnight. I miss you. xx

Bleed

Have been busy the past two weeks. Anyway, this rhyme really hit me, thought of sharing it. It was by John Fletcher...

A man of words and not of deeds,
Is like a garden full of weeds,
And when the weeds begin to grow,
It's like a garden full of snow
And when the snow begins to fall
It's like a bird upon the wall
And when the bird away does fly
It's like an eagle in the sky
And when the sky begins to roar
It's like a lion at the door
And when the door begins to crack
It's like a stick across your back
And when your back begins to smart
It's like a penknife in your heart
And when your heart begins to bleed
You're dead, and dead, and dead indeed.

Intro

Hi. I haven't write in for quite awhile. Not to say I have nothing to say lest I have a life tale to share (or probably ruin). winkz. I am thinking of making a new blog for my new life, even it has started pretty ago nonetheless my readiness in it has just bloomed!

Since (I thought) I quite know myself, I have always thought myself as being a girl who have almost everything I wanted. Yet, I realised that I haven't really put a demand in my life - and for that I concluded I have everything? - probably a little too much, well I was a kid.

Supposed now I've grown, I hope I've grown beautifully. Life taught me hardships, love and misery. Mixture of all feelings. I admit that in order to feel the warmth of life I do have to first encounter 'bad hair days'. Not denying the feeling pretty down but all I had was the will to get up and move on. It wasn't that bad for that I've met the love of my life, and the life of my life.

Not every single wish I had in mind was granted. And I like to think of it as Allah gives those that I really need and not what I wanted - (crude, but I truly don't know what I wanted). He knows what's best for me, and I believe in every single promises He made.

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Enough for the introduction part. I am not keen to make this blog another personal touch. I am more towards sharing this time. In a month time, I'll finish medical school, and I am going to make it happen nevertheless! InsyaAllah.

I am trying to write in posts that are beneficial to my juniors, coming juniors and to the rest of this blog reader. I am going to post in medically related articles, either my own writing or my analysis of current epidemics or on-going endemics.

Life is only once. It still teaches me, and I hope out of it I'll be able to teach a little. The rests are all belong to Allah, and I hope for me a better ending. Amin.