I’m getting a little allergy. I took a generic Zyrtec. I’d taken a little dose of diuretic last night, considering 4 pounds of water weight from our foray to Scotty’s. I was feeling a little malaise before I took the ice. I skated 10 feet and was shaking so badly I wasn’t sure I could make it back—must’ve not laced my boot tops tight enough. Got back to the hockey box, sat down and laced tight. Skated out and was shaking worse than before. I got off the ice. Jane kept skating…SHE apparently can tolerate generic Zyrtec, and SHE didn’t take the diuretic.

I sat in the lobby in my civvies, reading a newspaper while Jane skated, began to get a rapid pulse, and decided to go after Jane to get home and lie down. I had a little dose of some electrolyte stuff, which helped.

We left, went over across the street to pick up her routine meds and essential groceries, and by then—well, shall we say, I was chilled, wobbly, and not feeling well at all. I put on a loaf of bread to bake, then caved and went to bed. I’ve been worthless most of the day, chilled despite it being warmer; and I am here to tell you I never want to try generic Zyrtec [allergy] again. Particularly in combination with the other stuff.

I think what happened—we have been way low-sodium; we had that killer high sodium stuff two days running; and right now I swear I can feel my whole system rebelling at the sodium level and the screw-up of my electrolyte balance: high salt, high fat, and, I’m willing to swear, some sort of seasoning salt that contained MSG, which just finished the deal. I’m sensitive to that stuff, and more than one restaurant has resorted to it and meat tenderizers when on the skids. Not only that, MSG is, yes, sodium.

I’m feeling better now, though still wobbly: took my vitamins, my minerals, electrolyte stuff, and I’ve been, shall we say, shedding water weight fast, while drinking fluids like crazy. You can, I swear, ‘feel’ a meal of really high cholesterol, high-sodium stuff, like a lead weight on your system.

I can no longer even imagine living on a diet of those hamburgers, fries, etc. If this isn’t enough to turn us back to the virtues of the straight-and-narrow diet, I don’t know what it takes.