This is a post I wrote back in August on my Diabetes Insipidus blog. I no longer update that blog, but I wanted to share this post with all of you. It goes back to people's mindset, which directly affects what they eat. You may not think these go together, but I assure you they do.
Someone who is closed-minded and watches TV constantly will likely not care about what they eat. They will eat "anything that tastes good". I put my family in the closed-minded group because they just don't care. Open minded people who don't watch TV regularly, often times are the people who eat organic. You will see them in organic section of your local grocery store, trying to get by.
I was asked to do a post about diet, so here is my bizarre view on things. I updated a few things.
There are still a lot of reluctant people when it comes to "going organic". I think there are a few reasons for this, but I will only speak about 1 big reason.
The main reason is their pride and being in denial. Americans are living their lives in constant denial, fed by the TV. You are being programmed by your TV and it tells you what to talk about with your friends and family. It feels like one big soap opera to me. Turn your TV off, throw it out and start thinking for yourself. I refuse to partake in these stupid, pointless and distracting discussions with family. When I used to work outside of home, before I even walked in the break room I knew what everyone would be talking about...
It is absolutely amazing what is available on the internet these days. You no longer even need a TV--not that I ever felt you did. However it is so easy to get weather, traffic updates, and news online. If anything you will save yourself a lot of money each month and won't be bombarded with prescription medication commercials. The costs of dish/cable TV is getting higher and higher especially if you subscribe to anything other than basic cable.
Americans are in denial that this country is falling to tyranny. We are in denial that we are sick, overweight and basically a laughing stock of the world. This country won't be the superpower of the world much longer, but we are in denial of this too. America is free and happy. Nothing is wrong! Right...
This denial extends to many aspects of most people's lives. They are afraid to say "no" to their doctor. People blindly fill their prescriptions each month without once questioning why they need a pill to "fix" their new disorder or disease. Meanwhile they have 2 other pills to counter the side effects of the first pill. None of these pills will cure a darn thing. It just makes you profitable to the pharmaceutical companies. The longer they drag out your life, the more money they make. At 25, you may be on 3 medications by the time you hit 60 (if you even live that long these days) you'll probably be on 20 medications. That's a lot of money.
When you try to talk to someone about eating organic, you get 1 of 2 responses. The first one is, "Oh it is just so expensive". I agree that is more expensive especially if you are used to eating Hot Pockets and frozen pizzas. Frozen organic foods aren't the way to go. You should be in the produce section stocking up on salad and fresh veggies. After all, processed food is processed whether it has a organic tag on the box or not.
I think people underestimate how much they will save in their lifetime by eating organic. It is a long term investment in your health. Everyone who owns a home, pays for homeowner's insurance. For each month you pay for it, do you complain about it? Not likely because you have it for the future in case something unforeseen happens to your house (e.g. tornado, storm damage, fire). This should be your same attitude with eating organic. Don't complain about the costs because it is your "insurance" for the future. Eating organic on a budget is still possible, you'll just have to make some sacrifices.
Remember there is a reason why organic items are more expensive. Not many people really understand what "organic" means. There are specific rules these foods and farms must follow and I think all food should have to follow these rules. Other countries naturally have organic foods in their country, so that may be why people from outside of the US, don't understand the fuss with organic foods. I don't think people from other countries understand how bad food is in this country. You can read a summary of the organic requirements in PDF here.
Not all organic foods are equal though. Typically smaller organic farms are better than the large organic farms. It has been said that Horizon was caught with violations, but was left to continue their business. In addition to this, late last year it was alleged that the organic private labels at Target-Archer Farms, Walmart-Kirkland, Safeway and Wild Oats were NOT organic when labeled as such. There was a lawsuit filed against Aurora Organic Dairy in this case.
When you have an organic farm it actually takes time and proper care to sustain these animals. Animals in a non-organic farm are constantly on antibiotics, given growth hormones and even fed hershey's chocolate and potato chips. Do you really want to eat an animal that has been eating potato chips and chocolate. I personally refuse to eat Hershey's chocolate and have given up potato chips for good. Someone in the family actually thought cows ate grass. I laughed out loud because it was so ridiculous, but sometimes the most obvious things aren't obvious to others. Cows do not eat grass unless otherwise stated when buying it (i.e Grass-fed Beef).
I recently saw an article stating that they will now be irradiating spinach and lettuce because of the e-coli outbreaks. This is absolutely sick. We do not know what happens to our gut when we eat these foods on a regular basis. According to this article, the irradiated foods MUST be labeled. I guess that makes me feel a LITTLE better. Remember this when you buy non-organic spinach and lettuce, look for the Radura label! In the article it states that Romaine lettuce is next to be approved, so that they can begin irradiating bagged salads. Last year all raw almonds are now irradiated and can still be called "raw" despite this.
One of the biggest problems with food in this country are the loopholes in labeling laws. These loopholes allow companies to label foods trans fat free, calorie and sugar free even if it isn't! You might be asking yourself, how are they doing this!? Well for example, a food can be deemed trans fat free as long as it has <0.5 grams. Now companies are intentionally creating smaller and smaller serving sizes in order to avoid having to label them.
Any partially or fully hydrogenated oil in the ingredients list is a trans fat. No exceptions. Next time you are in the butter section, look at the labels for the "butter alternatives". Most of them will LIE and say there are 0 grams of trans fats per serving, but if you look at the ingredients list, a trans fat will be on there.
Another example of the labeling loopholes, is in the artificial sweetener Splenda. I don't recommend using this stuff because its safety hasn't been tested properly. This is yet another FDA loophole in how food additives are approved.../sigh The serving size on Splenda is intentionally small, so it can hide the 4 calories in each packet! There are calories in the packets because it is bulked with maltodextrin and dextrose. Both of those are simple sugars. Not only does Splenda have a caloric value, there is also sugar in it. This is extremely dangerous considering diabetics use Splenda to control their blood sugar levels.
Lastly, companies are not required to label GMO (genetically modified organisms) ingredients in foods. Most families are eating GMO and don't even realize it. In the US, the most common GM foods are soy, wheat, corn, canola oil and newly approved sugar beets. Since these are such common ingredients in soups, sauces, frozen meals, your family is likely eating GM foods on a DAILY basis. Most big name food companies use GMO and won't even tell you. You'll have to contact them, but often times they can't guarantee that it isn't GMO due to contamination.
The food labeling loopholes are what's keeping Americans sick. If you went to wal-mart, picked up a can of Campbell's soup and it said made with genetically modified organisms do you think most people would buy it? Probably not. The free market would force companies to clean up their foods or go out of business. That's how things are supposed to work. However with the gatekeeping FDA in charge, it's practically IMPOSSIBLE to get food laws changed.
This illustrates why eating organic is practically required in America. If you don't, then you'll have NO IDEA what you are eating.
The next response I get when I begin talking about organic food is ridicule, giggles, and stupid jokes. "I don't eat organic and I'm doing fine." Meanwhile that same person had a heart attack, cancer and last week was complaining about headaches and joint pain. I'm sure some of you have been around these people. This is the person's defense mechanism kicking in because of their ego, pride and being in complete denial.
You can see we have come full circle. Close-minded people just don't care at all. They are oblivious to what is going on in the world. Often times, by choice.
If you have a long list of health conditions, your first move should be diet. Not a pill. Start eating all organic, whole foods and you will be shocked by how much better you'll feel.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Blood Work Before Seeing the Endo
I jumped on a hypopituitary forum and asked what type of blood tests I should have done BEFORE seeing an endo.
Here is what I was told to get:
Cortisol, AM
ACTH, AM
Aldosterone
Renin
Sodium
Potassium
LH (Luteinizing Hormone)
FSH (Follicle-Stimulating Hormone)
Prolactin
IGF-1 (Insulin-like growth factor)
GH (Growth Hormone)
DHEA-S
Saliva Cortisol Test (Redo)
These tests will tell me whether or not my adrenal fatigue is caused by a pituitary problem. It will also tell me whether or not I have a deficiency in the other pituitary hormones. This way I can walk into that endo's office with a good understanding of what is and what is not occurring. He can't give me the run around.
I've got a headache for some reason. Going to lie down for a bit.
Here is what I was told to get:
Cortisol, AM
ACTH, AM
Aldosterone
Renin
Sodium
Potassium
LH (Luteinizing Hormone)
FSH (Follicle-Stimulating Hormone)
Prolactin
IGF-1 (Insulin-like growth factor)
GH (Growth Hormone)
DHEA-S
Saliva Cortisol Test (Redo)
These tests will tell me whether or not my adrenal fatigue is caused by a pituitary problem. It will also tell me whether or not I have a deficiency in the other pituitary hormones. This way I can walk into that endo's office with a good understanding of what is and what is not occurring. He can't give me the run around.
I've got a headache for some reason. Going to lie down for a bit.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Snow, Chelation, Etc!
It has been very wintry. On top of what we already had, last night and today we probably got another 2-3" and they are calling for more tonight and tomorrow! We have to be up to a foot by now, but with how windy it's been it is impossible to get an accurate measurement.
We broke down today and bought a snow blower. My left arm couldn't take shoveling anymore. There's just too much snow now and our CRV almost got stuck in the driveway. We barely got out today. We won't be reaching freezing for at least a week, so the driveway was becoming a problem.
There have been some crazy accidents at the intersection near our house. The first one involed a truck with a horse trailer. It slammed into a house! You can imagine the sound it made. Thankfully though the truck hit the porch, so there was minimal damage done to the building. My husband and I laugh though and say if a truck were to hit our house, they would go right through it and keep on moving. haha Tonight, a tractor trailer jack-knifed (not completely sure at the moment) and brought the highway to 1 lane for a few hours. The roads were really snow covered, so it doesn't surprise me. Just moments ago, they got the truck straightened out and towed it away.
On the chelation front, I'm not going to do 25mg of ALA anymore. It's just too dangerous to start that high, so I will be ordering (tomorrow) the ALA from Dean in South Africa. If you are in need of small dose ALA, DMSA or combo ALA/DMSA he can hook you up for a relatively cheap price. He is an active member of the frequent dose chelation yahoo group, so he is reliable. I emailed him last week and the shelf life on the ALA is 1 year, so you can order multiple bottles at a time to save money on shipping. Since it is coming from South Africa expect to pay $20-30 for shipping depending upon your location.
I had a terrible headache, felt very tired today and was itchy. At this point, I have no idea what is causing it all. I added in milk thistle the other day, so maybe there is a connection or coincidence?
We broke down today and bought a snow blower. My left arm couldn't take shoveling anymore. There's just too much snow now and our CRV almost got stuck in the driveway. We barely got out today. We won't be reaching freezing for at least a week, so the driveway was becoming a problem.
There have been some crazy accidents at the intersection near our house. The first one involed a truck with a horse trailer. It slammed into a house! You can imagine the sound it made. Thankfully though the truck hit the porch, so there was minimal damage done to the building. My husband and I laugh though and say if a truck were to hit our house, they would go right through it and keep on moving. haha Tonight, a tractor trailer jack-knifed (not completely sure at the moment) and brought the highway to 1 lane for a few hours. The roads were really snow covered, so it doesn't surprise me. Just moments ago, they got the truck straightened out and towed it away.
On the chelation front, I'm not going to do 25mg of ALA anymore. It's just too dangerous to start that high, so I will be ordering (tomorrow) the ALA from Dean in South Africa. If you are in need of small dose ALA, DMSA or combo ALA/DMSA he can hook you up for a relatively cheap price. He is an active member of the frequent dose chelation yahoo group, so he is reliable. I emailed him last week and the shelf life on the ALA is 1 year, so you can order multiple bottles at a time to save money on shipping. Since it is coming from South Africa expect to pay $20-30 for shipping depending upon your location.
I had a terrible headache, felt very tired today and was itchy. At this point, I have no idea what is causing it all. I added in milk thistle the other day, so maybe there is a connection or coincidence?
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Snow Pics
This picture is the bird feeder out front. You can see all the snow on top of it. Made me laugh.
This is looking out into our back yard. I just love how the trees look when covered in snow.
Garbage can. You can really see how deep the snow is here.
I tried to get more pictures but the camera died on me. =) Maybe tomorrow!
This is looking out into our back yard. I just love how the trees look when covered in snow.
Garbage can. You can really see how deep the snow is here.
I tried to get more pictures but the camera died on me. =) Maybe tomorrow!
A Sunspot!
Today there is a new sunspot! Holy cow! I check it every few days to see what's going on with the sun. I'm not even much of a star gazer or anything, but I found the recent absence of sunspots pretty interesting. I know absolutely NOTHING about sunspots, what they even are or how they are formed. All I know is that this marks the next solar cycle. After watching the movie Sunshine, last night, I'm glad to see the sunspot. lawl...
Update: I did a little digging and it looks like there have been a few other sunspot groups this past year. Not many, but some.
The sun is still a big mystery even to astronomers. There are so many things we take for granted in this world. If it weren't for the sun, we wouldn't be here right now. You can see the latest picture of the sun on the left-hand side column at Spaceweather.com. Now we wait and see if more sunspots continue to develop.
More snow pics to come...
Update: I did a little digging and it looks like there have been a few other sunspot groups this past year. Not many, but some.
The sun is still a big mystery even to astronomers. There are so many things we take for granted in this world. If it weren't for the sun, we wouldn't be here right now. You can see the latest picture of the sun on the left-hand side column at Spaceweather.com. Now we wait and see if more sunspots continue to develop.
More snow pics to come...
Friday, January 9, 2009
Snow Is HERE!
This is the first real snow storm we've had for years and years! I am really excited about it too. They were first predicting 6 inches, then they retracted it. Now we are back on for 6-10 inches of snow and it is already really coming down.
I looked at the radar and apparently we are in the small band of showers coming through the area at the moment. No one else is getting snow but this small section of Butler county. Oh boy is it coming down too! We probably already got 2-3 inches out there and it is coming down very hard.
I'm going to run out in a little bit and get a few pictures of it!
I got some pics. Obviously it is dark, so it's hard to get ones. Might try again in a little.
First one are cat paw prints. It's a farm cat or stray that won't let anyone get near it. I've tried many times! He/she roams the area around our yard. I see paw prints very often.
Second one is looking out towards the main road. Traffic is very light considering the time. I saw a snow plow go by and sparks were flying since it was dragging on the road. Pretty cool looking.
Here I am with my ear muffs. People love these things. I get comments all the time!
I looked at the radar and apparently we are in the small band of showers coming through the area at the moment. No one else is getting snow but this small section of Butler county. Oh boy is it coming down too! We probably already got 2-3 inches out there and it is coming down very hard.
I got some pics. Obviously it is dark, so it's hard to get ones. Might try again in a little.
First one are cat paw prints. It's a farm cat or stray that won't let anyone get near it. I've tried many times! He/she roams the area around our yard. I see paw prints very often.
Second one is looking out towards the main road. Traffic is very light considering the time. I saw a snow plow go by and sparks were flying since it was dragging on the road. Pretty cool looking.
Here I am with my ear muffs. People love these things. I get comments all the time!
Getting More Serious About Singing
I think my chest (or whatever muscle it was) has finally healed. Thank goodness! Now I am questioning my vocal lessons. Is this teacher really helping me or not? I certainly don't want to ruin my voice because of a bad teacher. Unfortunately the only teacher that looks incredible is like an 1 1/2 hours from me. It would be really hard to justify driving all that way for a 30 min-60 minute lesson. She is on western side of Pittsburgh. Not exactly a very nice place from what I can remember. My mom used to go to a craft store in that area. We would run to and from the car and never went there at night> LOL
I talked her last year sometime, but just wasn't quite ready to do lessons. I was too scared to sing for someone. Getting there wouldn't be too tough though from what I can see. (Just a very long drive) It's a straight shot down 79. Maybe her studio is located somewhere else though. (Not sure)
Right now she is offering a free first lesson and if you sign up for 12 weekly 1 hour lessons (I currently take 30 minute lessons), you save $110. I think that makes her CHEAPER than my current lessons.
(Doing the math)
It looks like she would be only a few more dollars per hour. After 3 months of lessons, I'd have to decide what I wanted to do.
Ms. Hissam has the credentials, education and incredible singing talent. Now she was trained classically (opera), but I know she does all sorts of stuff. Really all I want is to have someone help me breathe properly, use vibrato right and get better at trills and runs. I'm not that good with those yet. I have a tendency to do the jaw shake when I do runs, trills and vibrato. I've been watching myself in a mirror recently. Yikes!
Not knocking on my teacher now, she isn't as good as this other women. Not that she claimed to be though. I think I want to be more serious with singing. She is an alto and cannot sing along with me whatsoever and I don't think I sing that high. Comfortably I can go well into the 5th octave. I can hit the 6th, but I'm not comfortable with it yet. I say yet because I think there is potential. I'm not breathing right though.
All I hear is diaphragm, diaphragm! But...what does that even mean? I can puff my stomach up and fake it all day, but I'm not doing it right. I've started checking out videos on YouTube. There is one person in particular that has been very helpful.. I hate the type of music he sings, but he is a good teacher nonetheless. I've been using this video to get better.
Yeah I know I'm rambling on. Maybe this week I can record the first song I learned for lesson and put it up here for all of you to comment. It is called Treasure by Amethystium. You can listen to the original on YouTube here. This is the type of music I want to sing. Probably won't be famous or a household name, but I would be very happy. The singer in Treasure (Stine Mari Langstrand) also sings Trolltind by Lumsk. This is the song I am currently learning in lesson. As you can see, I have a little thing for this singer. I think she is absolutely incredible and being able to even tackle her songs is very uplifting. A few months ago, I had a terrible time with Treasure. Now I can sing it pretty easily. I know the lessons are working, but I just want to be the best possible.
I talked her last year sometime, but just wasn't quite ready to do lessons. I was too scared to sing for someone. Getting there wouldn't be too tough though from what I can see. (Just a very long drive) It's a straight shot down 79. Maybe her studio is located somewhere else though. (Not sure)
Right now she is offering a free first lesson and if you sign up for 12 weekly 1 hour lessons (I currently take 30 minute lessons), you save $110. I think that makes her CHEAPER than my current lessons.
(Doing the math)
It looks like she would be only a few more dollars per hour. After 3 months of lessons, I'd have to decide what I wanted to do.
Ms. Hissam has the credentials, education and incredible singing talent. Now she was trained classically (opera), but I know she does all sorts of stuff. Really all I want is to have someone help me breathe properly, use vibrato right and get better at trills and runs. I'm not that good with those yet. I have a tendency to do the jaw shake when I do runs, trills and vibrato. I've been watching myself in a mirror recently. Yikes!
Not knocking on my teacher now, she isn't as good as this other women. Not that she claimed to be though. I think I want to be more serious with singing. She is an alto and cannot sing along with me whatsoever and I don't think I sing that high. Comfortably I can go well into the 5th octave. I can hit the 6th, but I'm not comfortable with it yet. I say yet because I think there is potential. I'm not breathing right though.
All I hear is diaphragm, diaphragm! But...what does that even mean? I can puff my stomach up and fake it all day, but I'm not doing it right. I've started checking out videos on YouTube. There is one person in particular that has been very helpful.. I hate the type of music he sings, but he is a good teacher nonetheless. I've been using this video to get better.
Yeah I know I'm rambling on. Maybe this week I can record the first song I learned for lesson and put it up here for all of you to comment. It is called Treasure by Amethystium. You can listen to the original on YouTube here. This is the type of music I want to sing. Probably won't be famous or a household name, but I would be very happy. The singer in Treasure (Stine Mari Langstrand) also sings Trolltind by Lumsk. This is the song I am currently learning in lesson. As you can see, I have a little thing for this singer. I think she is absolutely incredible and being able to even tackle her songs is very uplifting. A few months ago, I had a terrible time with Treasure. Now I can sing it pretty easily. I know the lessons are working, but I just want to be the best possible.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Caffeine Dependent--Adrenals?
I have noticed these past 2-3 days, I have been very dependent upon caffeine and sweets. I have always liked a cup of coffee in the morning, but the sweets thing is new. I don't know where this is coming from! Part of me thinks it's my adrenals acting up again. Tomorrow I am going to slowly start back on the cortef. 5mg in the morning and 5mg at lunch or maybe at 4pm. I haven't completely decided yet. I need to get on a better eating schedule. It's messing me up more, I know it.
In addition to that, I am going to start back up on my supplements. The itching has almost completely stopped. Now I get to add stuff back in 1 at a time to see if any of them were causing it.
My one cat is sick with a UTI and she has been keeping me up at night. I get worried about her. She likes to pee on stuff when she has one...UGH...That's her way of letting me know she needs to go to the vet.
Here's a quick picture of her. We found her almost literally on our doorstep one night coming home from the store. She was meowing like crazy and looked very sick with cuts all over her face and a chunk of an ear missing. Java (nicknamed Bean) has been with us for more than a year, but she has her own health problems with food allergies, chronic UTI's and digging at her fur. I love her with all my heart though. She was obviously thrown out by someone in the area (probably because of her health problems). I saw her two days prior in our back yard. Just thought she was another farm cat passing through.
And so I'm not showing bias to cats. This is my other cat, Lily. I love her so much too. Each of them have their own quirks.
Lily is really weird and likes thing that are poisonous to her. Cats are supposed to hate citrus fruits, but if you are eating a orange with her in the room, SHE BEGS for the orange peel...Weird I know. She also LOVES red romaine lettuce! Not the green stuff, it has to be the red! haha
In addition to that, I am going to start back up on my supplements. The itching has almost completely stopped. Now I get to add stuff back in 1 at a time to see if any of them were causing it.
My one cat is sick with a UTI and she has been keeping me up at night. I get worried about her. She likes to pee on stuff when she has one...UGH...That's her way of letting me know she needs to go to the vet.
Here's a quick picture of her. We found her almost literally on our doorstep one night coming home from the store. She was meowing like crazy and looked very sick with cuts all over her face and a chunk of an ear missing. Java (nicknamed Bean) has been with us for more than a year, but she has her own health problems with food allergies, chronic UTI's and digging at her fur. I love her with all my heart though. She was obviously thrown out by someone in the area (probably because of her health problems). I saw her two days prior in our back yard. Just thought she was another farm cat passing through.
And so I'm not showing bias to cats. This is my other cat, Lily. I love her so much too. Each of them have their own quirks.
Lily is really weird and likes thing that are poisonous to her. Cats are supposed to hate citrus fruits, but if you are eating a orange with her in the room, SHE BEGS for the orange peel...Weird I know. She also LOVES red romaine lettuce! Not the green stuff, it has to be the red! haha
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Yesterday's Doctor's Visit
I saw Dr. Goldstein yesterday and I will need to call an endo to get some of these fancy tests done. In order to check whether this is my pituitary causing the slight hypothyroidism, I'll need a TRH stimulation test which Goldstein does not do. I found an endo literally right down the road from me that specializes in pituitary disorders. He sounds about as good as any other I found online.
Part of me just wants to "forget" that I have diabetes insipidus, but that might not work to my advantage. If I already have a pituitary problem he would be more willing to check my pituitary hormones. Dr. Goldstein told me that he will take me off of DDAVP for a specific time frame and redo EVERYTHING including the water deprivation test. UGH...NO! I can't wait to have heart palpitations and dizziness upon standing. The water deprivation test is pure hell. Dr. Goldstein was saying that if my diabetes insipidus isn't full blown, he will probably take me off of the DDAVP. WTF?! I already know mine isn't full blown because some days my pituitary works and other days it doesn't. Let's hope it is a really bad day for me when I go in for these tests. Some days even with my medicine, my urine is very dilute (clear). Sorry that might have been a little too much info!
UPDATE: I called the endo and the soonest they can see me is March 31st. In the meantime, I will continue to chelate and do what I've been doing.
I recently joined the Natural thyroid hormone yahoo group. I doubt I'll post much on it, but it is nice to see others talk about their hypo problems. You must join to see any messages.
Part of me just wants to "forget" that I have diabetes insipidus, but that might not work to my advantage. If I already have a pituitary problem he would be more willing to check my pituitary hormones. Dr. Goldstein told me that he will take me off of DDAVP for a specific time frame and redo EVERYTHING including the water deprivation test. UGH...NO! I can't wait to have heart palpitations and dizziness upon standing. The water deprivation test is pure hell. Dr. Goldstein was saying that if my diabetes insipidus isn't full blown, he will probably take me off of the DDAVP. WTF?! I already know mine isn't full blown because some days my pituitary works and other days it doesn't. Let's hope it is a really bad day for me when I go in for these tests. Some days even with my medicine, my urine is very dilute (clear). Sorry that might have been a little too much info!
UPDATE: I called the endo and the soonest they can see me is March 31st. In the meantime, I will continue to chelate and do what I've been doing.
I recently joined the Natural thyroid hormone yahoo group. I doubt I'll post much on it, but it is nice to see others talk about their hypo problems. You must join to see any messages.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Getting Back Into the Chelating Mindset
I am having a difficult time getting back into chelating. Taking these few months off has made me incredibly lazy. I missed my doses last night, so I have to stop. I used to beat myself up over it, but I am OK with it. I just need to update my chelating calendar, so I know when to start up again.
If you are trying to chelate without a calendar, you will fail miserably. Everyone should have a calendar no matter how much you think you don't need one. You'll forget!
I have heard so many people say how terrible ALA is when they first start using it. I have to admit that before knowing about Dr. Cutler and his way, I have used ALA before WITH AMALGAMS IN. It was NOT deliberate, but recently I went through all the supplements we own and came across a detox formula I used for a few weeks. I was taking 6 capsules a day. 2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 2 in the evening. There was 100mg of ALA in each capsule!
Now I can't remember what I felt like back then because every single day was a bad day. You know how that goes! My husband and I both think that DMSA with ALA must be very synergistic. If you are only taking ALA, you may not feel the extreme affects. But then I've heard some people say if you just take ALA, the effects are worse. I don't know about that for me. When I take DMSA, I instantly feel something is happening inside of me. With ALA the only thing I noticed was a slight headache just before my next pill was due. Even with me missing my dose last night, I feel totally fine!
I have heard that ALA takes about 3-6 months to "catch up" with you. You feel fine on a high dose and then suddenly it slams you. Perhaps this is the trend I am on.
I wanted to plug the frequent dose yahoo group today. There are some very intelligent people on this yahoo group and I recommend joining even if you don't plan on posting or asking questions. In order to join, make sure you put a good reason down or they will reject your membership. They have had problems with spammers in the past.
I recommend this group more so than the herballure website. I've practically stopped going to the other forum because no one wants to help themselves. It is hard for me to deal with people who don't want to help (but still complain).
Just be sure to read all the information on the yahoo group upon arrival and don't use an email address that you don't want spammed. It is almost guaranteed to get picked up by spammer eventually.
If you are trying to chelate without a calendar, you will fail miserably. Everyone should have a calendar no matter how much you think you don't need one. You'll forget!
I have heard so many people say how terrible ALA is when they first start using it. I have to admit that before knowing about Dr. Cutler and his way, I have used ALA before WITH AMALGAMS IN. It was NOT deliberate, but recently I went through all the supplements we own and came across a detox formula I used for a few weeks. I was taking 6 capsules a day. 2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 2 in the evening. There was 100mg of ALA in each capsule!
Now I can't remember what I felt like back then because every single day was a bad day. You know how that goes! My husband and I both think that DMSA with ALA must be very synergistic. If you are only taking ALA, you may not feel the extreme affects. But then I've heard some people say if you just take ALA, the effects are worse. I don't know about that for me. When I take DMSA, I instantly feel something is happening inside of me. With ALA the only thing I noticed was a slight headache just before my next pill was due. Even with me missing my dose last night, I feel totally fine!
I have heard that ALA takes about 3-6 months to "catch up" with you. You feel fine on a high dose and then suddenly it slams you. Perhaps this is the trend I am on.
I wanted to plug the frequent dose yahoo group today. There are some very intelligent people on this yahoo group and I recommend joining even if you don't plan on posting or asking questions. In order to join, make sure you put a good reason down or they will reject your membership. They have had problems with spammers in the past.
I recommend this group more so than the herballure website. I've practically stopped going to the other forum because no one wants to help themselves. It is hard for me to deal with people who don't want to help (but still complain).
Just be sure to read all the information on the yahoo group upon arrival and don't use an email address that you don't want spammed. It is almost guaranteed to get picked up by spammer eventually.
Surprise! I've Been Chelating
I didn't want to say anything too soon in case this went completely wrong. I started back up on chelating 2 days ago. I am not using DMSA, but rather ALA. I think I am done with DMSA for now. The fact that my neutrophils and white blood cells were low, scares me! For all I know, the severe skin itching may have been a complication from it lowering the neutrophils. Who knows? The itching has been a little better this week. If it was from the DMSA, it took a few weeks for my blood counts to recover. That makes me uneasy.
I am using a pretty high dose of ALA (25 mg) right now until I can find something smaller. Quite honestly I'm not noticing any symptoms. I was feeling really hot with red hands right before the 3 hour mark, so I am now taking it every 2 hours 45 minutes. Things are going well and I'm only doing 3 day rounds right now. There is no reason to push things especially when we know my pituitary is in crisis. Hopefully it can get some of the mercury out of my brain.
I am using a pretty high dose of ALA (25 mg) right now until I can find something smaller. Quite honestly I'm not noticing any symptoms. I was feeling really hot with red hands right before the 3 hour mark, so I am now taking it every 2 hours 45 minutes. Things are going well and I'm only doing 3 day rounds right now. There is no reason to push things especially when we know my pituitary is in crisis. Hopefully it can get some of the mercury out of my brain.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Welcoming 2009 (With Chest Pains)
Quite honestly I am glad to see 2008 go by. Aside from removing my amalgam fillings and growing some of my hair back, it was pretty awful. Ron Paul failed miserably at his attempt at the presidency, which is enough to make me puke. I still have no idea what is wrong with me (if it isn't just mercury related) and I feel like with every test completed I leave with more questions with no answers.
My PCP today told me she has no idea what is wrong with me and referred me to an endo. I was trying to explain to her that it is probably my pituitary. She asked me why I thought that it was my pituitary. At that moment I realized she has no idea what diabetes insipidus is. I was polite, but just told her that I have DI. She also bad mouthed Dr. Goldstein and told me that he isn't qualified to do what he is doing. She said something like, well he isn't an actual endo. I responded, yes I told you that. He specializes in adrenal and thyroid stuff though. Then she said, well he does natural medicine and isn't qualified. When she said that, I think my eyes got big and if I hadn't been waiting in the freaking exam room for an hour prior, I might have been more confrontational. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Before she saw my lab results, she was saying how "something is seriously wrong with your thyroid and we need to figure this out". Then when she read the thyroid ultrasound was normal and the blood work (other than TSH) was normal she had nothing to say other than to see this endo. This endo has horrific reviews on those medical sites, so I'm not calling her. I bumped up my appointment with Dr. Goldstein to Jan. 5. That is this Monday!
The chest pain is pretty bad tonight. I'd say on par with the night I decided to go to the ER, but I don't dare take the pain meds they gave me. I have no idea why on Earth they'd give me Darvocet N-100's but they did. The pain went away with a simple aspirin. No need to go crazy! I got them filled though for when a tooth decides to ache on a Friday night at 9pm with no dentist available until Monday afternoon. LOL Isn't that how it always happens?!
Here's to another year of poor health and frustration. I can't wait...
My PCP today told me she has no idea what is wrong with me and referred me to an endo. I was trying to explain to her that it is probably my pituitary. She asked me why I thought that it was my pituitary. At that moment I realized she has no idea what diabetes insipidus is. I was polite, but just told her that I have DI. She also bad mouthed Dr. Goldstein and told me that he isn't qualified to do what he is doing. She said something like, well he isn't an actual endo. I responded, yes I told you that. He specializes in adrenal and thyroid stuff though. Then she said, well he does natural medicine and isn't qualified. When she said that, I think my eyes got big and if I hadn't been waiting in the freaking exam room for an hour prior, I might have been more confrontational. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Before she saw my lab results, she was saying how "something is seriously wrong with your thyroid and we need to figure this out". Then when she read the thyroid ultrasound was normal and the blood work (other than TSH) was normal she had nothing to say other than to see this endo. This endo has horrific reviews on those medical sites, so I'm not calling her. I bumped up my appointment with Dr. Goldstein to Jan. 5. That is this Monday!
The chest pain is pretty bad tonight. I'd say on par with the night I decided to go to the ER, but I don't dare take the pain meds they gave me. I have no idea why on Earth they'd give me Darvocet N-100's but they did. The pain went away with a simple aspirin. No need to go crazy! I got them filled though for when a tooth decides to ache on a Friday night at 9pm with no dentist available until Monday afternoon. LOL Isn't that how it always happens?!
Here's to another year of poor health and frustration. I can't wait...
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Blood Work, ER and More!
Last evening I decided to go to the ER. The pain started to move more to my back. The wait wasn't too bad despite how busy it was and I was happy with the doctor. At least he didn't call me a heroin addict!
Everything was checked. More X-rays, blood work, and an EKG. He said it was a muscle and to give it another 4-7 days to get better. That's what I'm going to do. I may even cancel my voice lesson for Monday. If it is a muscle apparently I really messed mine up. It has been 13 days today with this chest pain and it still hurts. At least I know it is NOT my lungs, a blood clot, heart problems or a broken rib. I am much more relaxed about it since I know I won't be dropping dead from it.
Today I got my blood work results from Dr. Goldstein and it is not good.
TSH-0.097 VERY LOW
T4- 6.5 (lower than optimal but within lab normal range)
FT3- 2.6 (lower than optimal but within lab normal range)
TSI- <20 OK
TPOAb -<10 OK
With a completely clean thyroid ultrasound and this blood work, it looks like my pituitary isn't working. I'm not completely sure how it all works yet (still researching) but this will quickly cause my thyroid to become hypo. When a hypothyroid is caused by the pituitary it is called Secondary or Central Hypothyroidism. This is exceedingly rare, but with my history of diabetes insipidus doesn't really surprise me. I found a website that said, "Central hypothyroidism is a rare disorder with a prevalence of 0.0002% to 0.005%". If this is referring to the US population, (if I did my math right) that means 600-15000 people have been diagnosed with it. Remember diabetes insipidus is also rare at about 1 in 25,000 people. That is about 12,000 people in the general public. For comparison, primary hypothyroidism (including the autoimmune ones) has a prevalence of 0.8% or about 2.4 million people.
There is another test that can be performed to accurately diagnosis this and that is called a thyrotropin-releasing hormone stimulation test. This will help to distinguish between tertiary (hypothalamus defect) or secondary (pituitary defect) hypothyroidism. An absent or blunted response means secondary. An exaggerated response means tertiary. I don't know if Dr. Goldstein is up for this challenge. I will also need EVERY pituitary hormone checked including LH, FSH, ACTH, PRL, GH etc. Since I had a MRI back in February, I'm not concerned about a tumor. However this does worry me a little because the part of the pituitary that controls the anti-diuretic hormone is on the opposite side where TSH is controlled. That means my entire pituitary gland is being affected. Either it is a large tumor or the mercury after all.
Everything was checked. More X-rays, blood work, and an EKG. He said it was a muscle and to give it another 4-7 days to get better. That's what I'm going to do. I may even cancel my voice lesson for Monday. If it is a muscle apparently I really messed mine up. It has been 13 days today with this chest pain and it still hurts. At least I know it is NOT my lungs, a blood clot, heart problems or a broken rib. I am much more relaxed about it since I know I won't be dropping dead from it.
Today I got my blood work results from Dr. Goldstein and it is not good.
TSH-0.097 VERY LOW
T4- 6.5 (lower than optimal but within lab normal range)
FT3- 2.6 (lower than optimal but within lab normal range)
TSI- <20 OK
TPOAb -<10 OK
With a completely clean thyroid ultrasound and this blood work, it looks like my pituitary isn't working. I'm not completely sure how it all works yet (still researching) but this will quickly cause my thyroid to become hypo. When a hypothyroid is caused by the pituitary it is called Secondary or Central Hypothyroidism. This is exceedingly rare, but with my history of diabetes insipidus doesn't really surprise me. I found a website that said, "Central hypothyroidism is a rare disorder with a prevalence of 0.0002% to 0.005%". If this is referring to the US population, (if I did my math right) that means 600-15000 people have been diagnosed with it. Remember diabetes insipidus is also rare at about 1 in 25,000 people. That is about 12,000 people in the general public. For comparison, primary hypothyroidism (including the autoimmune ones) has a prevalence of 0.8% or about 2.4 million people.
There is another test that can be performed to accurately diagnosis this and that is called a thyrotropin-releasing hormone stimulation test. This will help to distinguish between tertiary (hypothalamus defect) or secondary (pituitary defect) hypothyroidism. An absent or blunted response means secondary. An exaggerated response means tertiary. I don't know if Dr. Goldstein is up for this challenge. I will also need EVERY pituitary hormone checked including LH, FSH, ACTH, PRL, GH etc. Since I had a MRI back in February, I'm not concerned about a tumor. However this does worry me a little because the part of the pituitary that controls the anti-diuretic hormone is on the opposite side where TSH is controlled. That means my entire pituitary gland is being affected. Either it is a large tumor or the mercury after all.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Doctor's Visit Wednesday
I made an appointment for Wednesday with the doctor. Ugh...I'd rather avoid a visit to the ER, but if it gets really bad or persistent I will go. Today is probably one of the worst days I've had. Almost feels like a lump or something stuck in my chest. I can breathe just fine, but it's just a really weird feeling. Pepcid did absolutely nothing for the pain. It is radiating into my back more and more now.
I have a violin lesson today. I love playing my violin, but with all of this chest stuff going on I am finding it more of an annoyance. I am getting MUCH better at it though. This week I added in the pinky finger. OUCHY! I don't have a callus on it yet, so it's pretty painful and it is a huge stretch to reach the string.
I have a violin lesson today. I love playing my violin, but with all of this chest stuff going on I am finding it more of an annoyance. I am getting MUCH better at it though. This week I added in the pinky finger. OUCHY! I don't have a callus on it yet, so it's pretty painful and it is a huge stretch to reach the string.
ETAscan is Bogus (Final Update)
Author's Edit, Oct 2014: I no longer in good conscience can tell people to use this machine. I believe there may be a New Age component to it. Stay away! It did not help me in any way. After 6+ years in Natural health, I have now laid everything down before the feet of Jesus, at the foot of the cross and have made Jesus my Lord and Savior of my life. I put my trust in Him for my healing because conventional doctors nor natural doctors nor New Age energy medicine can heal me.
Just so I can say I tried it, I took a Pepcid about an hour ago to see if my chest pain would go away. It is definitely still there, but I'm not sure how long it takes for Pepcid to kick in. I've never taken one before!
Today the chest pain is bad. Hurts when I laugh, breathe out and in. Just hurts sitting here too. I had really bad diarrhea yesterday and it is still here today. One crazy thing is that my blood pressure and heart rate is excellent. My heart rate was 60 when I checked it a little bit ago. 60! HOLY CRAP that's incredible!
The ETASCAN follow up was a complete bust. All of the information that was gathered last time was lost in a hard drive failure...I'll never know what organ or body part was all black. How disappointing indeed. It's important to add this here now... But how can the machine say I had all these terrible problems and then 2-3 days later, it said everything was green energy. I did nothing to change the energy as the doctor did not have time to make the "water drops". So...how could I go from black energy in multiple spots in my body to all green?
It was this appointment that made me realize the whole thing is bogus. I do not recommend it at all and spiritually it may be dangerous too.
Just so I can say I tried it, I took a Pepcid about an hour ago to see if my chest pain would go away. It is definitely still there, but I'm not sure how long it takes for Pepcid to kick in. I've never taken one before!
Today the chest pain is bad. Hurts when I laugh, breathe out and in. Just hurts sitting here too. I had really bad diarrhea yesterday and it is still here today. One crazy thing is that my blood pressure and heart rate is excellent. My heart rate was 60 when I checked it a little bit ago. 60! HOLY CRAP that's incredible!
The ETASCAN follow up was a complete bust. All of the information that was gathered last time was lost in a hard drive failure...I'll never know what organ or body part was all black. How disappointing indeed. It's important to add this here now... But how can the machine say I had all these terrible problems and then 2-3 days later, it said everything was green energy. I did nothing to change the energy as the doctor did not have time to make the "water drops". So...how could I go from black energy in multiple spots in my body to all green?
It was this appointment that made me realize the whole thing is bogus. I do not recommend it at all and spiritually it may be dangerous too.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Today Has Been Interesting
I was having a pretty bad achy, rolling type chest pain on the left side last night. Considering I am 24, I wasn't suspecting a heart attack. I prayed about it and asked God to tell me what to do in the morning.
Well I woke up with a UTI. HAH! ...and I went to one of those walk-in urgent care places to take care of that. I didn't want to have this all weekend! While there, I decided to tell them about my chest pain. Hey why not? I'm already here! God works in mysterious ways. I don't appreciate the UTI, but it did get me to the doctor....Well I ended up having a chest x-ray done. Doctor told me she didn't see anything out of the ordinary on it and didn't know why I was having the pain. I am not completely sure what she was looking for. Perhaps pneumonia or a cracked rib?
Right before we got home from the urgent care, I was seriously considering going to the ER. It started to get really bad. Went from my left side to my back near the shoulder blade then over to the right side. I've been sucking it up because I feel like I'm going crazy. I think I should have gone to the ER tonight, but we had been sitting in that urgent care for a LONG time tonight and really didn't feel like waiting another 6 hours in an ER. /sigh I'm sure it will hurt really bad again some time soon. All this bizarre weird shit has been happening to me and I am starting to feel like I have finally lost it...I'm not making all of this stuff up. These past few weeks have really just been pure hell for me.
The chest pain is basically all the time now. Doesn't matter if I am holding my breath or not. It goes through periods where it is REALLY bad and then it is tolerable. It isn't a sharp pain though. It gets very very achy. I can't even describe it properly.
The doctor at the urgent care told me a radiologist will look over the films and if they disagree with her analysis I will be called. I guess this is good. That way I know someone who is trained to look at these films is taking a glance at it. Maybe they will see something on here that the doctor didn't see? I took a glance at it and it looked like bones to me. HAHA
One good news is that my thyroid ultrasound came back completely clean. There aren't any nodules or cysts anywhere on it and it is the appropriate size. I bet this has that PCP really confused. Oh noes!
The doctor at the urgent care told me my urine's specific gravity was really really low...That's not good. She said it was as low as the machine detects...UGH. I guess I need to start taking my DI meds again. She asked me about it. DI is the only thing on my charts there.
It is really funny when I come into contact with doctors who KNOW what diabetes insipidus is. I can tell when a doctor has NO idea what it is. They try to hint things that would pertain to diabetes mellitus and I immediately have to step in and say, I have diabetes insipidus. One of these days if I am ever in an accident or something, I swear I'm going to be injected with insulin because some dumb doctor doesn't know what DI even is! That will be one fun malpractice lawsuit.
Onward with my DI story. Doctors who KNOW DI, start asking all about it like I'm some type of mystical unicorn or elf. She was wondering how they diagnosed me with it and I just told her I was having dehydration symptoms and couldn't figure out why since I was drinking water all the time. That was the easiest most precise answer I could think of and it satisfied her. :-) DI is pretty rare. Most PCP's will NEVER see a case of it during their entire career. I can thank the mercury poisoning for that one.
What's next? I see myself going to the ER this week. That's probably what is next.
Well I woke up with a UTI. HAH! ...and I went to one of those walk-in urgent care places to take care of that. I didn't want to have this all weekend! While there, I decided to tell them about my chest pain. Hey why not? I'm already here! God works in mysterious ways. I don't appreciate the UTI, but it did get me to the doctor....Well I ended up having a chest x-ray done. Doctor told me she didn't see anything out of the ordinary on it and didn't know why I was having the pain. I am not completely sure what she was looking for. Perhaps pneumonia or a cracked rib?
Right before we got home from the urgent care, I was seriously considering going to the ER. It started to get really bad. Went from my left side to my back near the shoulder blade then over to the right side. I've been sucking it up because I feel like I'm going crazy. I think I should have gone to the ER tonight, but we had been sitting in that urgent care for a LONG time tonight and really didn't feel like waiting another 6 hours in an ER. /sigh I'm sure it will hurt really bad again some time soon. All this bizarre weird shit has been happening to me and I am starting to feel like I have finally lost it...I'm not making all of this stuff up. These past few weeks have really just been pure hell for me.
The chest pain is basically all the time now. Doesn't matter if I am holding my breath or not. It goes through periods where it is REALLY bad and then it is tolerable. It isn't a sharp pain though. It gets very very achy. I can't even describe it properly.
The doctor at the urgent care told me a radiologist will look over the films and if they disagree with her analysis I will be called. I guess this is good. That way I know someone who is trained to look at these films is taking a glance at it. Maybe they will see something on here that the doctor didn't see? I took a glance at it and it looked like bones to me. HAHA
One good news is that my thyroid ultrasound came back completely clean. There aren't any nodules or cysts anywhere on it and it is the appropriate size. I bet this has that PCP really confused. Oh noes!
The doctor at the urgent care told me my urine's specific gravity was really really low...That's not good. She said it was as low as the machine detects...UGH. I guess I need to start taking my DI meds again. She asked me about it. DI is the only thing on my charts there.
It is really funny when I come into contact with doctors who KNOW what diabetes insipidus is. I can tell when a doctor has NO idea what it is. They try to hint things that would pertain to diabetes mellitus and I immediately have to step in and say, I have diabetes insipidus. One of these days if I am ever in an accident or something, I swear I'm going to be injected with insulin because some dumb doctor doesn't know what DI even is! That will be one fun malpractice lawsuit.
Onward with my DI story. Doctors who KNOW DI, start asking all about it like I'm some type of mystical unicorn or elf. She was wondering how they diagnosed me with it and I just told her I was having dehydration symptoms and couldn't figure out why since I was drinking water all the time. That was the easiest most precise answer I could think of and it satisfied her. :-) DI is pretty rare. Most PCP's will NEVER see a case of it during their entire career. I can thank the mercury poisoning for that one.
What's next? I see myself going to the ER this week. That's probably what is next.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone. I hope everyone has a safe and happy day. We visited the family last night, so we are free to do what we want.
Last night was the first time in a while I had a night sweat. It wasn't a drenching kind, but I was really really hot. I had to kick off the covers and let the cold air cool me down. There's no reason why I was hot last night. The baseboard heat was OFF in the room and it was in the mid 20's outside. What is really strange is that it is the first night that I could sleep. I've had insomnia for about 4 nights. I go to sleep fine, but then wake up 25 times usually after 4am.
The pain in my chest is back. I don't know if the doctor is in tomorrow, but I am calling to make an appointment. It is easier to make an appointment with the doctor than to try to give a message over the phone. The messages aren't given to her. I hope she knows this! I've been taking it easy with singing. I sang a little the other day and it was OK. Then 2 days later, I noticed it was aching whether I was singing or not. It's probably just a pulled muscle, but I just want it checked. The fact that is hurts when I breathe, exhale and laugh doesn't make me feel any better.
I have also been grinding the crap out of my teeth at night. I've been wearing my night guard and it's a good thing. I wake up with my teeth in all sorts of weird positions and my jaw crooked to one side. What the hell is going on? I'm not stressed at all! Holidays don't stress me...
Last night was the first time in a while I had a night sweat. It wasn't a drenching kind, but I was really really hot. I had to kick off the covers and let the cold air cool me down. There's no reason why I was hot last night. The baseboard heat was OFF in the room and it was in the mid 20's outside. What is really strange is that it is the first night that I could sleep. I've had insomnia for about 4 nights. I go to sleep fine, but then wake up 25 times usually after 4am.
The pain in my chest is back. I don't know if the doctor is in tomorrow, but I am calling to make an appointment. It is easier to make an appointment with the doctor than to try to give a message over the phone. The messages aren't given to her. I hope she knows this! I've been taking it easy with singing. I sang a little the other day and it was OK. Then 2 days later, I noticed it was aching whether I was singing or not. It's probably just a pulled muscle, but I just want it checked. The fact that is hurts when I breathe, exhale and laugh doesn't make me feel any better.
I have also been grinding the crap out of my teeth at night. I've been wearing my night guard and it's a good thing. I wake up with my teeth in all sorts of weird positions and my jaw crooked to one side. What the hell is going on? I'm not stressed at all! Holidays don't stress me...
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Another Go At the ETA Scan
Author's Edit October 2014: Now that I am a born again Christian, I can no longer in good conscience tell anyone to use this machine. I believe these machines are New Age and are not compatible with belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. These machines supposedly read your frequencies and then you are given a solution that contains an energy signature or vital energy that will "heal" you. This is most definitely New Age and by partaking in something like this I believe, you are inviting in other spirits (demons) into your life and body. If it does work, then it is working by some sort of impersonal vital force which would be demonic. Stay away and save your money because it did nothing to help me and my health any way.
But one thing I can say is look how far God has brought me today. This alone is a testimony to the saving power of Jesus Christ!
Back in August, I went to the NutriFarmacy in Wildwood, PA and was "scanned" with the ETA scan. You can read all about that experience here. In fact, I recommend doing that before continuing. That way you know what the heck I'm talking about!
The parts of my body that were red and black at the previous visit were much better. However there are NEW areas of concern. My thyroid and pituitary energies improved drastically. There is still room for improvement, but overall it was better. Maybe giving up chocolate was a good thing...Although, I got truffles for Christmas and it's thrown me off. Darn you truffles!
Guess what came back mostly black? Lymph nodes and lymphocytes! I am not making this up at all. There was a scan of my whole body's lymph nodes and the place where I get pain while singing (right collarbone area), they were black! The others had good energy... We ran out of time (I spent an hour looking at other areas), but I am going back Monday to continue where we left off. I'm not sure what is in those lymph nodes to cause the low energy (could be emotional, toxins, pollutants, allergens or infections). Hopefully I can start off with that next time.
The machine was sensing Mononucleosis/EBV, but when we tried to boost it with the "energy", it did nothing. Dr. Wagner said something is mimicking mono in my lymphocytes. We don't know what that is, but that was very interesting.
Another scary thing was that he asked me if I had hit my head or had some sort of injury since the last time I came in. I told him nope. He said that some sort of convulsive disorder was showing up. It was a 3 on a scale of 7. Anything 4+ is usually a concern, but he was curious why that was showing up now and it wasn't the last time I was scanned. It was a little unnerving to say the least...
Overall things looked A LOT worse. More blacks and reds in my brain, back, stomach, spleen, and lymph. There was 1 scan in particular that looked absolutely horrific. ALL BLACK. I think it may have been the gallbladder, but I cannot be 100% sure. There were so many things like that, that I lost track...He said that my immune system is NOT doing good at all and that I may have some type of fungus. I don't really have any way of proving I do or don't, so I'm taking the homeopathic drops. I told him nothing about my blood work and the neutrophils being low at one point...How did the machine know this?
I guess now he sends out something that reviews everything he went over. Since it is so much information to swallow at once. Even for me, it is hard to remember everything and I pay very close attention to what is on the screen. I need to figure out which body part it was that was all black and go over that one in more detail.
I'll report back what I find out on Monday. Dr. Goldstein is off until Tuesday next week, so I won't know anything about blood work or the ultrasound until at LEAST then. I'm glad he is getting some time off. I once over head him saying a vacation back in July was his first vacation in years...wow.
Tonight I baked 4 dozen of organic snicker doodles, 1 dozen of organic chocolate chip cookies and 1 batch of organic brownies. Phew, thankfully these are getting unloaded to our families tomorrow. However I make the good cookies and brownies so I can have 1 or 2 if I want. If I make the poisonous Betty Crocker ones, I can't even enjoy them at all. (Edit: Look how insane I was poisonous betty crocker ones?!).
But one thing I can say is look how far God has brought me today. This alone is a testimony to the saving power of Jesus Christ!
Back in August, I went to the NutriFarmacy in Wildwood, PA and was "scanned" with the ETA scan. You can read all about that experience here. In fact, I recommend doing that before continuing. That way you know what the heck I'm talking about!
The parts of my body that were red and black at the previous visit were much better. However there are NEW areas of concern. My thyroid and pituitary energies improved drastically. There is still room for improvement, but overall it was better. Maybe giving up chocolate was a good thing...Although, I got truffles for Christmas and it's thrown me off. Darn you truffles!
Guess what came back mostly black? Lymph nodes and lymphocytes! I am not making this up at all. There was a scan of my whole body's lymph nodes and the place where I get pain while singing (right collarbone area), they were black! The others had good energy... We ran out of time (I spent an hour looking at other areas), but I am going back Monday to continue where we left off. I'm not sure what is in those lymph nodes to cause the low energy (could be emotional, toxins, pollutants, allergens or infections). Hopefully I can start off with that next time.
The machine was sensing Mononucleosis/EBV, but when we tried to boost it with the "energy", it did nothing. Dr. Wagner said something is mimicking mono in my lymphocytes. We don't know what that is, but that was very interesting.
Another scary thing was that he asked me if I had hit my head or had some sort of injury since the last time I came in. I told him nope. He said that some sort of convulsive disorder was showing up. It was a 3 on a scale of 7. Anything 4+ is usually a concern, but he was curious why that was showing up now and it wasn't the last time I was scanned. It was a little unnerving to say the least...
Overall things looked A LOT worse. More blacks and reds in my brain, back, stomach, spleen, and lymph. There was 1 scan in particular that looked absolutely horrific. ALL BLACK. I think it may have been the gallbladder, but I cannot be 100% sure. There were so many things like that, that I lost track...He said that my immune system is NOT doing good at all and that I may have some type of fungus. I don't really have any way of proving I do or don't, so I'm taking the homeopathic drops. I told him nothing about my blood work and the neutrophils being low at one point...How did the machine know this?
I guess now he sends out something that reviews everything he went over. Since it is so much information to swallow at once. Even for me, it is hard to remember everything and I pay very close attention to what is on the screen. I need to figure out which body part it was that was all black and go over that one in more detail.
I'll report back what I find out on Monday. Dr. Goldstein is off until Tuesday next week, so I won't know anything about blood work or the ultrasound until at LEAST then. I'm glad he is getting some time off. I once over head him saying a vacation back in July was his first vacation in years...wow.
Tonight I baked 4 dozen of organic snicker doodles, 1 dozen of organic chocolate chip cookies and 1 batch of organic brownies. Phew, thankfully these are getting unloaded to our families tomorrow. However I make the good cookies and brownies so I can have 1 or 2 if I want. If I make the poisonous Betty Crocker ones, I can't even enjoy them at all. (Edit: Look how insane I was poisonous betty crocker ones?!).
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Family History--Poor Genes
Some of you reading my blog may think I am overly paranoid or a hypochondriac when it comes to my fear of cancer and other problems. Let me assure you, that my family has some really terrible genes.
I have every reason to make sure I am clean even at my age.
I was going to put my sister's story at the end, but I'll do it here. That way I don't lose some of you near the end.
My sister was diagnosed with a brain tumor in March 07. The year prior to this she was having a lot of headaches and nausea. Every doctor told her she was pregnant or just crazy. They would just increase her pain prescription and told her to leave. Some time went by and the pain meds weren't helping at all. She started to forget things, things that you shouldn't forget like your son's name or your phone number. Numbers were really hard for her. I remember her telling me she couldn't dial phone numbers at all. They would switch around on her and she'd end up calling the wrong number. She was having incredible mood swings. One moment she'd be totally calm, content, next minute she'd be so angry! I mean really angry.
Finally she just went to the ER and they did an MRI. Showed a large mass in her brain. Even surprised the doctor on staff when he got the phone call from the MRI area. This began an incredibly stressful few months.
Upon first inspection they thought it was a Glioblastoma which is the worst type of brain cancer you can have. Very aggressive. Then once they did the biopsy, realized it was not a glioblastoma but a gemistocytic astrocytoma. Now this is when things got weird. Her gemistocytic astrocytoma brain tumor was dividing at a rate not normally seen in a grade 2 cancer. It was dividing at a rate of 10% where 3% is normal. It was considered a gemistocytic astrocytoma but had all of the characteristics of a glioblastoma. This is excedingly rare. She also has a mutated gene on the 10th chromosome called the PTEN gene.
My sister said that only 50 people have had this type...EVER. Her team didn't even know how to treat it because it is THAT rare. They gave her 9 months to live. Thank God surgery was a huge success without any brain damage or problems. She looks totally normal and you wouldn't have any clue what she went through.
This is one of the many reasons why I am worried. I wish I had knew all this information when I spoke to the ENT. He was asking me about particulars of her brain cancer and I had no idea. I just asked her all this stuff the other day. The months after surgery she still wasn't quite right because her brain completely rewired itself around the tumor. That in itself is amazing.
I remember her telling me as soon as the surgeon said he was done with surgery (you must be awake for brain surgery) she said the pressure in her head was gone. She could feel it was better
Now onto my mother's side...
The ENT told me that thyroid cancer is one of the most treatable, most curable forms. Yeah, right. Curable in this doctor's mind is cutting your thyroid out. I don't know of any other situation in medical history where cutting something out is a cure. "Your arm was badly bruised so we decided to amputate the whole thing. Don't worry we cured the brusing and there is no evidence it spread!" Well what I forgot to mention to him in more detail was that my mother's aunt had the most aggressive form of thyroid cancer. I believe it is called anaplastic thyroid cancer. It kills you within a year and that is with their treatments! I think the 1 year survival rate is 10% and with this particular cancer they give your survival time in months and weeks. I was very young when she died, but I know it was very fast. She was an incredible lady and we all loved her.
My mother's brother died suddenly from a massive heart attack. Later on it was found in an autopsy (his death was suspicious) that he had cancer throughout his thyroid. We aren't sure if he even knew about it. He kept everything to himself when it came to his health.
My mother's sister died at the age of ~28 from a brain tumor. This was A LONG time ago before I was even born. I do not know any of the details surrounding her death. This was a point of interest though with my sister's doctors. I think they may have tried to look into this more.
My mother's sister (still alive) has growths on her pituitary gland. I think they are benign, but still very scary.
Then the normal stuff heart attacks, autoimmune disorders (lupus), diabetes, kidney problem (from diabetes) runs rampant.
There have even been some birth defects on my mother's side.
Now my Father's side
My father's side has serious breathing and lung issues. My great grandmother was always on a respirator and had 2235235 inhalers she had to take every day. That was then passed on to my grandfather (who died last year this time from his lung problems) and onto my dad. My dad has a condition where your lungs become hard and full of fibrosis. He won't do anything about it though, so he will die a painful death. Not always good to be a stubborn bastard. I keep wondering if they were all exposed to something as children. Very strange.
My father's sister has autoimmune thyroid disease. I think she has Hashimoto's.
My father's mother had heart surgery and an aneurysm in the brain.
My father's other sister had cysts on her ovaries. I think they were removed, but I don't know if it was cancerous.
What these doctors don't understand is that serious illnesses are on a HUGE rise in young adults in their 20's-30's. The food supply is tainted with MSG, GMO, corn syrup and other potentially dangerous additives. These additives have not been tested thoroughly and most were GRAS-generally regarded as safe. This means NO testing had to be done on them short or long term. Children who were fed MSG filled baby formulas are now in their late 20's early 30's. Children who have been fed soy and GMO corn syrup solids are now in their teen's and early 20's. It it causing premature puberty and obesity at a rate never imagined.
This is why I am getting all of this checked out. I was raised on aspartame, MSG, genetically modified organisms and corn syrup. Cookies from the store 30 years ago are NOT THE SAME ANYMORE. Some people in their 60's can't understand the problem with taking their grand kids to get ice cream and cookies. That's because it isn't just milk, sugar and ice now. It is filled with trans fat, msg, artificial vanilla flavors and corn syrups.
I have every reason to make sure I am clean even at my age.
I was going to put my sister's story at the end, but I'll do it here. That way I don't lose some of you near the end.
My sister was diagnosed with a brain tumor in March 07. The year prior to this she was having a lot of headaches and nausea. Every doctor told her she was pregnant or just crazy. They would just increase her pain prescription and told her to leave. Some time went by and the pain meds weren't helping at all. She started to forget things, things that you shouldn't forget like your son's name or your phone number. Numbers were really hard for her. I remember her telling me she couldn't dial phone numbers at all. They would switch around on her and she'd end up calling the wrong number. She was having incredible mood swings. One moment she'd be totally calm, content, next minute she'd be so angry! I mean really angry.
Finally she just went to the ER and they did an MRI. Showed a large mass in her brain. Even surprised the doctor on staff when he got the phone call from the MRI area. This began an incredibly stressful few months.
Upon first inspection they thought it was a Glioblastoma which is the worst type of brain cancer you can have. Very aggressive. Then once they did the biopsy, realized it was not a glioblastoma but a gemistocytic astrocytoma. Now this is when things got weird. Her gemistocytic astrocytoma brain tumor was dividing at a rate not normally seen in a grade 2 cancer. It was dividing at a rate of 10% where 3% is normal. It was considered a gemistocytic astrocytoma but had all of the characteristics of a glioblastoma. This is excedingly rare. She also has a mutated gene on the 10th chromosome called the PTEN gene.
My sister said that only 50 people have had this type...EVER. Her team didn't even know how to treat it because it is THAT rare. They gave her 9 months to live. Thank God surgery was a huge success without any brain damage or problems. She looks totally normal and you wouldn't have any clue what she went through.
This is one of the many reasons why I am worried. I wish I had knew all this information when I spoke to the ENT. He was asking me about particulars of her brain cancer and I had no idea. I just asked her all this stuff the other day. The months after surgery she still wasn't quite right because her brain completely rewired itself around the tumor. That in itself is amazing.
I remember her telling me as soon as the surgeon said he was done with surgery (you must be awake for brain surgery) she said the pressure in her head was gone. She could feel it was better
Now onto my mother's side...
The ENT told me that thyroid cancer is one of the most treatable, most curable forms. Yeah, right. Curable in this doctor's mind is cutting your thyroid out. I don't know of any other situation in medical history where cutting something out is a cure. "Your arm was badly bruised so we decided to amputate the whole thing. Don't worry we cured the brusing and there is no evidence it spread!" Well what I forgot to mention to him in more detail was that my mother's aunt had the most aggressive form of thyroid cancer. I believe it is called anaplastic thyroid cancer. It kills you within a year and that is with their treatments! I think the 1 year survival rate is 10% and with this particular cancer they give your survival time in months and weeks. I was very young when she died, but I know it was very fast. She was an incredible lady and we all loved her.
My mother's brother died suddenly from a massive heart attack. Later on it was found in an autopsy (his death was suspicious) that he had cancer throughout his thyroid. We aren't sure if he even knew about it. He kept everything to himself when it came to his health.
My mother's sister died at the age of ~28 from a brain tumor. This was A LONG time ago before I was even born. I do not know any of the details surrounding her death. This was a point of interest though with my sister's doctors. I think they may have tried to look into this more.
My mother's sister (still alive) has growths on her pituitary gland. I think they are benign, but still very scary.
Then the normal stuff heart attacks, autoimmune disorders (lupus), diabetes, kidney problem (from diabetes) runs rampant.
There have even been some birth defects on my mother's side.
Now my Father's side
My father's side has serious breathing and lung issues. My great grandmother was always on a respirator and had 2235235 inhalers she had to take every day. That was then passed on to my grandfather (who died last year this time from his lung problems) and onto my dad. My dad has a condition where your lungs become hard and full of fibrosis. He won't do anything about it though, so he will die a painful death. Not always good to be a stubborn bastard. I keep wondering if they were all exposed to something as children. Very strange.
My father's sister has autoimmune thyroid disease. I think she has Hashimoto's.
My father's mother had heart surgery and an aneurysm in the brain.
My father's other sister had cysts on her ovaries. I think they were removed, but I don't know if it was cancerous.
What these doctors don't understand is that serious illnesses are on a HUGE rise in young adults in their 20's-30's. The food supply is tainted with MSG, GMO, corn syrup and other potentially dangerous additives. These additives have not been tested thoroughly and most were GRAS-generally regarded as safe. This means NO testing had to be done on them short or long term. Children who were fed MSG filled baby formulas are now in their late 20's early 30's. Children who have been fed soy and GMO corn syrup solids are now in their teen's and early 20's. It it causing premature puberty and obesity at a rate never imagined.
This is why I am getting all of this checked out. I was raised on aspartame, MSG, genetically modified organisms and corn syrup. Cookies from the store 30 years ago are NOT THE SAME ANYMORE. Some people in their 60's can't understand the problem with taking their grand kids to get ice cream and cookies. That's because it isn't just milk, sugar and ice now. It is filled with trans fat, msg, artificial vanilla flavors and corn syrups.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Iodine Use Is Shunned By Most Doctors (Update: And for Good Reason!)
Author's Edit: My views on iodine have changed drastically since I wrote this back in 2008. Now I have determined iodine was the CAUSE of the alopecia areata hair loss. I do not know why it happened, but it did. This post gets a lot of hits in google, so I'm telling you now I was naive when I wrote this post. I was just regurgitating what I heard others say on another website. Some info has been removed from this page because I don't want to be furthering someone's bad information. I apologize to everyone who commented and I gave stupid advice. Please forgive me!
Do your own research and use at your own risk...
My experimentation with iodine began when I first started to see a naturopathic MD. On my first visit he put me on 1 tab of Iodoral every day. He explained to me that the thyroid and breasts need iodine and we are all deficient especially in this part of the world. He told me that it helps to break apart cysts and has been seen as a preventative for breast cancer. My thyroid always tested good. I did have some hypothyroid symptoms, but told him they really weren't that bothersome. I do have to watch my weight though.
Like a good patient, I started to take 1 Iodoral tablet a day. Now at this time in my life, I was eating REALLY good. I juiced 1 cucumber and 1 lemon 3Xs a day. I ate lightly cooked egg whites in the morning and salads with white chicken breasts for lunch and dinner. As far as clean eating and dieting goes, I was doing it.
About a month into taking iodine, I started to get acne. I've never had acne before and didn't know what the heck was going on. One thing I noticed were that my morning temperatures finally broke the mid 96's, which was interesting. I use the LadyComp as my birth control method, so I took my temperature daily. The LadyComp was relearning my temperatures so the iodine was doing something.
At this point I wasn't sure it was a good something though. Some not so good things started to happen. I had my first patch of baldness come over night and I had numbness in my left leg from the top of my knee to the hip. It was very bothersome. The bald spot broke-the-camel's-back as they say and I called my doctor to tell him I was stopping everything for a few days to see what happens. Nothing good changed. My hair continued to fall out. My legs continued to get numb.
I started reading more about iodine and I was told that I was going through severe bromide detoxification. I was told that this is normal and you have to push through this...I now believe that is a bunch of lies and would never ever tell anyone to do this at all. If you are suffering after starting a supplement, then have enough sense to stop it. Don't let someone talk you into taking it by saying it's a "detox". I've heard this so many times over the years now, it's become a cliche. :(
Is there some truth to a detox? I have no idea. Whenever you take iodine, it pushes the fluoride, chlorine and bromide out of the thyroid and other tissues. The halogens compete in the body and unfortunately iodine is easily pushed out by bromide. Since drinking water has chlorine and fluoride in it, your thyroid gets hit. I have well water, so I knew that I did not have issues with these things. With the iodine supplementation, these toxins supposedly get dumped into your bloodstream and you feel very sick. Again I'm pretty skeptical of this nowadays and I just think my thyroid levels were through the roof. I think I was experiencing hyperthyroid symptoms and an autoimmune attack within my body. My TSH was NON DETECTABLE during this time, but my doctor did not make the connection.
So against my better judgement and because I was sucked in with these iodine websites, I started to take 3 Iodoral tabs. 2 in the morning and 1 mid day to begin the "bromide detox". It was a full 3 weeks of hell and back, but I did it because I thought I was doing the right thing. I read the research presented on the sites and thought it made sense. This showed that even after 1 month at 3 Iodoral tabs, your body excretes large amounts of bromide and fluoride. Well I wanted that out of my body (if it was in there), so I followed this detox without question.
After this "detox", I went back to 1 tablet. My hair would continue to fall out until it looked like that picture above. How in the world was this an improvement of my health? I now was jittery, shakey, felt out of my mind, had terrible terrible headaches constantly, was half bald and now in worse shape than when I started... I was told that I was over-exaggerating and that I must have "done it wrong" on forums. Nobody ever wants to admit that the supplement they recommend could possibly hurt someone.
Mainstream medicine claims that too much iodine causes hyperthyroidism, but that is widely debated with holistic doctors. However these holistic doctors have ulterior motives because they sell iodine and iodine test kits on their websites. There is evidence that a deficiency in iodine can cause BOTH hyper and/or hypo! Goiters can be from too much iodine or too little, so really we just don't know at all. Some studies show countries with higher amounts of iodine have higher levels of autoimmune thyroid conditions. This doesn't sound like a positive thing at all.
The iodine websites say to get this Iodine Loading Test done and that it would tell me whether or not I have enough iodine in my body. I even question the science in this test and have no idea if it's even true or not, so test at your own risk. It may say you need it when you don't. How would we know?
Nowadays I could never ever recommend iodine to anybody. One size does not fit all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)