I'm starting to get a handle on this thermoregulation thing. I knew I was burning up yet at other times I’d be cold in my core without having a sense of outside temp (except, of course, in a January blizzard). I'd go see the doc, who after me having me sit in his waiting room set at a comfortable temperature long enough for me to cool down (or warm up), and at the time of day when my body was functioning at its best, would take my temp and declare it fine. Well, no kidding.
At biofeedback last week, my trainer asked me at the end how I was doing with the changes in temp we’re experiencing. I said I was kind of cold when I left home, broiling on the subway, and now cold again it felt like I had a cold core wrapped in a thermal blanket, so I had to ask her if the room was cold.
It was.
And my temp had dropped a few degrees.
From my biology classes, I remember mammals have an advantage over reptiles in that they can control their core temperature regardless of outside temps. Some mammals come with coats; we have to make our own. But we are built to keep ourselves at body temp when it's hot or when it's cold. (I'm not talking about how cold your hands are but the temp deep inside you to keep your organs happy.)
But according to the computer sensors and my own experience, my body is acting more like that of a reptile's, where core temp changes with outside temp. The computer monitoring me for an hour is better proof of that than a two-second thermometer in the ear, I would think. So what we need to do is change it back to that of a properly functioning mammal's. Easy peasy, eh?
Another new development. Day two of last week’s biofeedback I was real tired, like cranky tired. When my trainer, upon seeing my tired face, asked how high was my stress. I paused. I thought. And I realised I was tired, I was cranky, but I wasn't any more stressed than yesterday.
That was different.
Usually, tired means I'm stressed more.
The sensors bore my perception out. The first reading of my heart rate was just over 100. During the HRV screens, I saw it dip into high 90s. Whoa. That's different. And then to our happy shock it dropped down into the mid-90s during one of the biofeedback screens and kept dropping with each succeeding screen.
Bonus: my final neurofeedback for last week had me reading a sample essay professorial reply about free will on Philosophy Pathways’ website, and not only did my heart rate drop, my gamma brainwaves rose. The final gamma to EMG ratio was 1.
I was also awake and had energy. Wow. A taxing treatment that gives energy…?! Wow. Wow. Wow.
(No results today because I wanted to get this up already; putting in the results was just that much more work that posting would not happen.)
