Life Lessons: Toxicity Levels
I’m slightly neurotic.
My parent’s cat has been living with me for about a month now. She (the cat) moved in because the mother dear went away on holiday for a few weeks. It was nice for the first little while with playing with Sage the cat and cuddling with her, but then the fur everywhere and the constant waking me up in the middle of the night by walking across my head started to get to me. I managed to return her to my mother this past weekend and on Sunday I jubilantly brought out the vacuum cleaner to make my home a fur-free environment.
The trouble is, the vacuum cleaner we’ve got isn’t that great. It refuses to pick up gravel or cat litter, and instead just uselessly rolls it around the floor. I managed to vacuum the kitchen to some extent but when I got down the hall to my room I began to overheat and tense up and just started thinking about the mounds of cat hair everywhere until my breathing turned into a frantically loud high-pitched gasping at top speed and I was shaking uncontrollably. It was the second panic attack I’ve ever had in my life, and it was horrible and frightening.
I managed to calm myself down a little bit by dropping the vacuum cleaner and sitting on the couch and looking at a travel book, but when my sister came home and found me, the sobbing started up again as I explained what had happened. The whole situation seemed so incredibly silly that I was laughing even as we were going through deep breathing exercises.
Sometimes we don’t even see the stress sneaking up on us until the smallest thing puts us over the edge. Being able to handle ourselves and figure out what the real issues are is the struggle.
It was at this time, between the sobbing and the laughing and the breathing, that it came to my attention that my skin is orange. Next to my sister’s normal human-pink colored hands, I looked positively feverish. Vitamin A, it seems, has snuck up on me, just like the bad vacuum cleaner and cat fur did.
I really love carrots. If I’m honest, I eat about five carrots every day. On top of that, I also eat a cup or three of spinach every day or so. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin (meaning that once its in us, it’s not going anywhere, so we can overdose on it. Water-soluble vitamins, such as Vitamin C, just get flushed out when we go to the bathroom so it’s very difficult to reach toxic levels of them), and carrots and spinach are both chock-full of Vitamin A. In fact, it’s normal to only consume decent-sized quantities of Vitamin A every couple days; you’re not really supposed to eat large amounts every single day unless you’re deficient in the vitamin. One of the main symptoms of having reached toxicity levels and overdose of Vitamin A is that your skin turns orange.
Even though things can sneak up on us unawares, when we do become aware, we’ve got to try to act immediately to reverse the effects so that problems don’t become even bigger. So I’m going to be cutting out the carrots from my life for a while to get a more normal tint back in my skin. I will not be keeping the cat at my place the next time the mother dear leaves town. Instead I’ll be taking care of Sage in her territory. I’m also going to go on the hunt for a quality vacuum cleaner.
Have you had something tiny put you over the edge? Have you overdosed on any nutrients without realizing it? Silly, serious, or a little bit of both, I want to hear it!
Hi Sagan,
Okay, here’s my story: I’ve done the carrot thing, a couple of years ago – I was a bit too gung ho and would eat a whole bag of mini carrots every other day. Too many…same effect you experienced.
And, I’m thinking back several years – when I was in college. A roommate and I picked up a great big pineapple and proceeded to eat the whole thing immediately – the acidity (??) and from eating so much of it, caused my whole mouth to hurt for a couple of days whenever I ate anything. I love pineapple – now though I eat it in moderation!
So…the cat is gone, the fur is gone (or going), carrots are eaten in moderation – life is good now, right?? I’m sorry to hear about the panic attack…. Sounds like things are better now, and that good to hear.
Good for you for taking positive steps to keep your stress levels and vitamin A levels down!
It’s so funny the way little things can tip us over the edge. I know there have been times I’ve burst into tears over something so insignificant I could only laugh afterwards. Wish I could remember the specifics–but it would probably be too embarrassing to share even if I could remember!
I always over-stress about stuff (I’m a type A perfectionist), so little stuff DEFINITELY “puts me over the edge.” Hang in there!!
Good observation on your end. I have had too much water before. How was your weekend? 🙂
First, I’m so sorry you had a panic attack! I used to be plagued with those and it was a nightmare. Sounds like you handled it well though. Recognizing it for what it is is half the battle.
Second, I can’t believe you ate your skin orange!! That is totally something I would do. For some reason, this just makes me love you more! So what do you do now? Just eat less of the carrots?
The panic attack sounds horrible but how well you coped – and your sister sounds a good person to have around at a time of need. And we all have those. When I’ve been feeling under stress some tiny thing can just be the last straw, in fact the tinier it is the more likely it is to make me want to bawl! Big things are much easier to cope with!
Glad you are OK!! For sure when we are tipping over from our center, it’s pretty common to go further than we thought before noticing.
I have a black calico cat! She’s my first cat, and I’m her first person. We have done very well with trans-species cooperation, up to a point 🙂
good idea of taking care of the cat in her territory!
i am posting about vitamin a today- I have an exam on it for my vitamins class on wednesday! skin turning orange is only the very beggining of reaching high levels so no worries but good cutting back.
It really is fine to consume vitamin A everyday. I think there is confusion if we fill up eating all carrots and 3 cups of spinach- we won’t have enough room for OTHER important veggies and fruits containing all the other things we need like vitamins like D, E, K and all the water solubles too.
You need all of those and can get them through a variety of sources, not just carrots and spinach although those are great veggies- if you fill up on those- you won’t get in all the other things you need as well!
Water soluble vitamins are absorbed by the body and used for cell functions, transport, and the big time neutralizing free radicals. Vitamin C is capable of neutralizing every free radical tat enters our body, but serves a gazillion other functions. So Water Soluble vitamins do have huge roles in our bodies, they don’t get “flushed down the toliet” until after our bodies have utilized them and degraded them down to by products.
i’ve had things build up so the littlest thing sets me off, but never a panic attack :-/ i did have a shitty vacuum that did the same sort of thing though! just bought a new one last weekend and need to use it… soon 🙂 can’t say i’ve ever realized any sort of vitamin od… or that i’d know if i did!
so I understand what your saying about making an effort to consume those more because we won’t “store” them- but really the vitamins we consume don’t get “stored” but more so utilized. The fat solubles just get transported a little longer in the body, which has aidpose tissues to use them.
anyway, I hope you find a fantastic new vacuum cleaner!
I sometimes get panic attacks. Usually it’s when I’m thinking about the things in my life I’d like to change.
Hope you’re feeling better.
nothing serious but i eat way too much fiber sometimes which is just…uncomfortable.
and i ate a whole thing of vitamin c drops one time when i was little and my mouth got so irritated it swelled. thats about it though
Lance- heh yes, life is better now! I’ve done the same thing with pineapple; it tastes so good but the amount of acid in it is super high.
Crabby, VeggieGirl & Liz- it’s so funny how we can cope so much better when we’ve got REAL problems to deal with… and then along comes something tiny and it causes the floodways to open.
Mark- too much water! Uh oh. Start to get headachey from it?
Charlotte- hehe I know, it’s so silly! I’m going to stop eating carrots and hopefully that’ll turn my skin back to normal color. And then I’ll start eating carrots again but I’ll be MUCH more careful to eat a reasonable amount 😉
Dr. J- aww I love calicos. They are so beautiful.
bhealthier- thanks for all the information. And just to clarify, I wasn’t saying that we should make an effort to store them more- I just meant that we don’t have to worry so much about if we consume foods with lots of that vitamin in them. And I know that there are lots of veggies with vitamin A and that spinach and carrots have a lot of important nutrients; I was just using those two as very general examples. No worries, I’m not going to never eat spinach or carrots ever again!
ttfn300- that’s good to not OD! Better to have a healthy balance of them all. Not too much, not too little.
Tricia- thanks, I do. Have you found a way to manage yours?
Kelly- I do the same thing with fiber! Am giggling over the vitamin C drops.
Good for you for finding the humor in the situation(s). 🙂 Laughter is a cure for many things!
Hope you de-orange quickly. Years ago, that happened to a friend of mine and within a month of “detox”, she was back to normal.
And there I was thinking that you could never eat too many veggies! I hope you are feeling better too 🙂
Hey Sagan, time to delurk and tell my Zinc story. After taking some before bed, I felt queasy and had to rush to the bathroom to vomit. I still didn’t work it out a few days later when I took the zinc before breakfast and the same thing happened. It wasn’t until I gave some to my partner to take and the same thing happened to him that I finally worked it out. Moral to the story: never take zinc on an empty stomach!
Stress is such a complex issue, and I often feel it creep up on me when I least expect it, I know I need to take some time out when traffic noise starts getting me anxious.
1. I wish I could lend you my vacuum – it’s a Dyson and it’s wonderful.
2. I’ve definitely overdosed on many things – I go through phases where I’ll just eat the same thing over and over again. In high school it was pizza bagels, it’s been broccoli, baby carrots, pb2, regular peanut butter, apples, high fiber wraps (this was bad) – the list goes on 🙂
Also – I get panic attacks. But I have no idea how to help.
I love love love my dyson. and Im cheap so it took a lot for me to get it.
and somedays I think I live the ‘almost tapped out so one or 2 seemingly silly things can push me over the edge”
have you read the book STRESS FOR SUCCESS?
I love it.
Oh no Sagan, Panic Attacks are horrible things. I hope you’re feeling better now :0)
CP x
Vitamin M(artini). I’ve overdone it with that a few times…
So-o-o….. if I came to your city on vacation, all I would have to do to find you is hang around on the corner until I saw a day-glo orange girl doing push-ups on a rock wall??? 🙂
Sorry to hear about your panic attack – can totally understand it, though – I have two cats and a dog in the house, so the hair is unbelievable! (kidding, really – I know how horrible a panic attack can be!)
Glad to hear your sister was supportive.
Say, here’s a new challenge for you!! How about investigating the sodium content in food? Someone suggested to me that sodium is added in even greater quantities than sugar, and is just as bad for us, perhaps even worse.
Honey, it might be time to take the vacuum cleaner in for some internal debridement. Sounds like it might be clogged up. Getting it tended to now could postpone having to replace it later.
If anything, I probably have Vitamin A deficiency. Please pass the carrots.
Cammy & Spring Girl- hoping that the de-oranging process doesn’t take too long!
Berni- so glad you delurked! Good thing you managed to figure out that zinc was the culprit 🙂 And thanks for the info you gave me about sugar!
Maggie- I OD on PB2 on a frequent basis. There’s just so many tasty foods out there. I’m so sorry to hear that you get panic attacks, that must be awful.
MizFit- I have not! Am intrigued.
CP- yep! Thanks 🙂
Leslie- aha. I bet 😉
Bag Lady- hehehe YES exactly! I’ve had quite a few suggestions about sodium and to be honest that really is the next challenge I want to do- once I’ve done a wee bit more research I’ll get on that. It would be loads of fun!
Carol- you can have my carrots 😀 I imagine it probably IS clogged up- but I think it’s also not a very good make.
Sorry to hear about your troubles, but also have to admit that upon reading I found myself thinking: Ha! I knew there was a good reason not to like carrots!
I can quite easily get to that overwhelmed state if I allow myself to get too busy/overtired. As I’ve gotten older and recognized this, I’ve tried my best to slow down and not get to that state, but sometimes it still happens – you can’t control everything.
Hope you’re feeling better soon!
I am so sorry you had a panic attack. My sister has had quite a few lately, and they sound absolutely horrible. I’m rather surprised I haven’t had one, since I’m anxious QUITE often….
I wish I liked carrots more! People have told me I drink too much water. Hmmm. I drink probably around 150 oz. (maybe more) on a typical day…and I’m ALWAYS thirsty. I haven’t felt any side effects (negative) yet, though….
That stress is sneaky and dangerous.
Maybe you should get rid of what is causing the stress.
Full disclosure, I’m a dog lover.
Sagan – love the picture you paint of this “episode”, I know it wasn’t all funny at the time but you have a great story for parties now 🙂 One time I took 2 Tablespoons of fish oil and I’d only had a bowl of oatmeal, I was definitely feeling quite green and quesy. 1 teaspoon of fish oil is much more tolerated and recommended (I’ve come to find out).
JavaChick & Holly- how can you NOT like carrots? They’re so sweet and snackable 😉
James- ahahaha, is it the stress or the cat that’s sneaky and dangerous?
Jolene- oohh I can imagine you felt queasy after that.
This isn’t quite the same thing, but I tried to start taking Vitamin B Complex about a year ago, and after three days I had energy beyond belief. I could go for a 3 hour hike, followed by a step class, kickboxing, body sculpt. I was flabbergasted, and it was great for weight loss, but I missed sleeping, so stopped.
Too much citrus, easy to do this time of year when it’s in season and super-yummy, and my stomach starts to get too acidy.
Thanks, Berni, for the connection between zinc and throwing up. I very rarely throw up, and I did a few months ago first thing in the morning, and it may have coincided with a friend giving me zinc for a cold.