Is It The Tryptophan?

I had the odd thought to look up side effects for tryptophan and discovered that it is implicated in vascular spasms of the extremities. Which might explain the stabbing pain toes on my left foot have been experiencing. I'm still reluctant to label these Raynaud's since I don't suffer from color changes (extremities turning blue or white) or that these spasms occur during temperature changes. I have very small bony fingers and toes and they are ridiculously sensitive to cold, but honestly it hasn't been cold enough for that. 

I don't do well with heat either but that's more a function of the ichthyosis vulgaris. All this means is that I'm skipping the 500 mg tryptophan capsule I was taking before bedtime with 100 mg of chelated magnesium glycinate. The bottle dosage calls for 2 capsules, but 200 mg is too much for my system. There's a reason magnesium is used as a laxative. 

I had to rearrange my morning schedule because the boiler repair fellow was supposed to show up between 8-10 today. But he didn't and I took the dogs to the park super early for no reason. They missed playing with doggy pals but we'll meet up tomorrow. Then the repair fellow said today between 1-3 and I decided I'm going to the gym and not wait. As it turns out, he got super busy and didn't make it today. Now he's coming next week. 

At Mohonk Mountain House

Tomorrow I have my first appointment with the pain management doc. I don't know how these things work, if it's just a consult, if he'll want newer x-rays, or if I'll actually get a steroid shot to the lower back. I wonder if I'll still be sore from the deep tissue massage I got on Tuesday. My husband & I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary by scheduling a spa day at Mohonk Mountain House about 1.5 hours north of us. We had our knots worked out of shoulders and necks. And I asked my masseuse to spend time on that recalcitrant right calf. It made me a bit squirmy but definitely worth it. 

I did make it to the gym today making this twice in a week. The elliptical sucked pedaling forward, was infinitely better pedaling backward and was thankful to make it barely past 5000 steps. Stepping off the machine leaves the top of my right foot buzzing and the tips of several toes tingling. The Stretch Cage is challenging, but I manage a skosh over a dozen so I felt a tiny bit better. It's not like I've completely lost the ability to pull myself up. Yet. 

The flat benches are lodged between the bench/squat cages so I roll one out to the middle of the weight area. There are benches in front of the DB rack but none lay flat properly since they're basically adjustable reclining seated benches. A distinctly Eastern European type woman grabs the 30 lb solid BB for clean and jerk movements. 

I can improvise and grab the 20 lb BB and slap 2.5 lb disc magnets to each end. That's good for warm up sets. The other woman is done after a few quick sets so I'm able to swap out my BB for the standard 30 lbs when I'm ready. My sciatica doesn't bother me much, not even while doing Lateral DB Raises while standing. Weird. It's great when I'm not in pain, but I can never tell when I'm going to feel okay doing something. 

I was the only one watching today

The Aerobics Room is empty and slightly cooler than the rest of the gym. Because the doors are all open, there are also flies buzzing through. I'm still skipping everything that's been aggravating in the past: Dead Bugs, Bird Dogs, Push-ups... I feel pretty decent. In fact, I decided to stick around and watch a film that I'd just read the reviews on this morning. 

It was the last day for this film at the local cinema and I hadn't known anything about it, but the reviewer liked it a lot and sort of gave a quick spoiler alert -- which is fine considering I hadn't even thought to see this movie. At least afternoon movies are relatively reasonable here at $11. They're $7 on Tuesdays. 

It's Tom Cruise's latest film, Digger. And if I hadn't seen the review, I would've have been thoroughly perplexed. But it is a good film, although a bit depressing, even though it's meant to be cathartic at the end, in any event. It's a bit like Don't Look Up, or The Apprentice, both which didn't do well at the box office. 

8 October 2026 12:59-2:49

Sciatica Thursday Agony

Precor elliptical #1 (1:37)

Program 1

Time: 30 + 5 (5074)

Distance: 2.68

Cal: 288

Precor HR: 142, 175

Google Health: 47-140

(Foot numb / calf tingling)

HGPU 13.5 (shoulder/sciatica)

Skull Crushers/RipSkulls (1:47-2:24

20+5 lbs x 12/12 reps w/u

1:56; 2:03; 2:13; 2:23

30 lbs x 12; 11; 12

S/s with

DB Laterals (10 lbs x 15 w/u)

15 x 15 x 3

S/s wit

Seated DB Alt Curls (10 lbs x 12 w/u)

15 x 12 x 3

Moderately Balmy Aerobics Room

(2:30-2:50)

20 Piriformis/Hip flex

20 Hamstring / 20 nerve flossing

50 crunches x 2

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Seated Arm rotations 20

Air Squats 25

Neck Stretch / eye yoga