Surviving stress

Being a small-business owner, mother of six children, one of which is a toddler, and having had three nervous breakdowns over the past 10 years, I know all too well what stress can do to the body.

When we first started our business, the competition was extremely tough, and the market had just taken a dive into the great economic recession. My husband Doug and I worked extremely long hours and devoted every waking moment together talking and strategizing about our business. On top of that, we had three preteen daughters who were on a mission to destroy each other’s lives, which led to an enormous amount of drama within our household. Needless to say, I was dealing with a great deal of stress and doing my very best to hold it all together.

After several years of hard work within my personal life and my business, things began to improve, and it wasn’t until life had calmed down that I began to see the aftermath of what the constant stress had done to my body. I began to experience vertigo randomly at work, at home, and for no apparent reason. Then the panic attacks started and continued to the point of a full-blown nervous breakdown, which led to me taking a week off work and not leaving my bedroom, so I could regain my senses and slowly return to a normal life.

Ultimately, the doctors said I had experienced the breakdown due to an extreme amount of long-term stress and physical exhaustion. It was my body’s way of telling me to slow down. Over the next several years, I had two more episodes, neither of which were as bad as the first.

These days, I still endure stress and have a very demanding personal and professional life. But I have learned to recognize the signs and the symptoms of stress overload, and now I have a solution. I have learned to take one day at a time, focus on the positive aspects of life, and not sweat the small stuff, or the big stuff for that matter. I now know that I will give every ounce of effort to everything I do because that is just who I am, but I also know if that still is not enough, then I will change course and find another way. I have a sense of peace about me now and the knowledge that I am a survivor. I can handle all that life has to offer as long as I take it slow and steady, one step at a time.

If you struggle with dealing with stress, I leave you with this amazing quote that I learned to live by: “Life is 10 percent what happens to you, and 90 percent how you react to it.”

—Charles R. Swindoll.

Doug Akers / President doug@akersmediagroup.com

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Supplementing Your Beauty

Avon has long been known for its skin care and beauty products, but now the company is taking skin care and health a step further with Espira, a complete line of supplements that focuses on supporting natural energy and meeting lifestyle needs. The three core wellness goals include boosting natural energy, giving your skin the glow it needs from the inside out, and helping restore the natural balance of the body by filling the nutritional gaps, reducing occasional stress, and aiding with restful sleep. Like all Avon products, these supplements are of the highest quality, have non-GMO ingredients, no preservatives, no artificial flavors or colors, and were created by leading industry experts. At avon.com/category/health-wellness, you can take a quiz to gauge what supplements your body needs. Healthy Living was provided samples of all these products and found them to be effective in providing tangible improvements. As always, talk to your doctor about any vitamins or supplements you’re adding to your diet.

Poor Grades For Florida

According to the recent “State of Tobacco Control” released by the American Lung Association (ALA), Florida made poor grades when it came to implementing tobacco policies. “Nationwide, smoking rates have continued to decline to historically low levels, yet tobacco use remains the nation’s leading cause of preventable death and disease killing over 480,000 Americans each year,” says American Lung Association Executive Vice President Martha Bogdan. “Tobacco use is a serious addiction, and the fact that 15.5 percent of Florida residents are current smokers highlights how much work remains to be done in our communities to prevent and reduce tobacco use.” The state report card doesn’t look good:

• Funding for state tobacco prevention programs

– Grade F

• Strength of smoke-free workplace laws - Grade B

• Level of state tobacco taxes - Grade F

• tobacco - Grade D

• Minimum age of sale for tobacco products

Numerous studies show that seven of 10 smokers want to quit but cannot let go of their serious addiction. However, more were able to quit smoking when coverage for tobacco treatments included access to all seven FDA-approved medications to help smokers quit and counseling without copays and prior authorization. The National Academy of Medicine found making 21 the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products could also prevent a significant number of deaths.

Chronic Wounds And Heart Health

Keeping your heart healthy can affect how well your recovery goes with chronic wounds. These wounds affect about 6.7 million in the United States every year, and if treatment is not received, it could mean amputation. Many amputations are due to complications related to vascular disease, according to a recent press release from The Villages Regional Hospital (TVRH). “Coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, and other issues with the heart and vessels can hinder blood flow, oxygen, and nutrition to a wound,” explains Dr. Panthipa Laowansiri, medical director for the Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center in The Villages.

TVRH recommends the following tips to live a heart-healthy life:

• exercise most days.

• Don’t smoke or use tobacco products because they increase your risk for heart disease.

• Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and other low-fat proteins.

• Keep your weight at a healthy level. Get plenty of sleep; make it priority to get at least seven to nine hours of rest every night.

• Manage stress in a healthy way: give yourself pep talks, use stress stoppers, do things you enjoy so you relax completely, and do them often.

• See your doctor regularly.

If you’d like to know more about heart health and how it affects wound healing, contact TVRH Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center at 352.751.8830.

DID YOU KNOW?

Florida Hospital Waterman has a blog on its website fl can get information on the proper way to work out, get questions answered about radiation treatment, and answers to simpler questions such as, “What’s the difference between a CT scan and an MRI?” These informational blogs are posted regularly and may answer many of your health-related questions and ease the anxiety surrounding a health issue you’re facing. The blog page is called, “State of Health.” Check it out at the website above.