Starting this month, I will be posting monthly updates on my health status; mostly what I'm doing as far as eating and other therapies, and other random things that I'm going through with pain and other symptoms.
I will label these as "Monthly Updates" and you can find that link under the list "Labels" in the right hand column if you scroll down a bit.
So, here we go! It's January and it's freezing outside. The cold doesn't affect my pain levels, in fact, it invigorates me! I only wish my feet didn't hurt to badly to talk long walks outside.
My Lyme test came back negative/inconclusive. They found that my one of the immune markers for infection indicated that I have a chronic infection, but the test results lead them to believe that it's not Lyme or a co-infection of Lyme. I go in to talk to the doctor this Thursday and he will want to do a few more tests to see if he can find out which kind of virus may be causing my blood work to come back so abnormal. I will see how far we take this testing...I don't want to go into a huge long ordeal of trying to re-diagnose me and then in the end have another doctor tell me he doesn't know why I'm sick. So, I'll do a few tests maybe, but who knows what will happen.
Right now I'm coming out of a flare brought on by eating gluten during the holidays (couldn't resist my aunt's gingerbread cookies! they are like heaven x 100). So, I know that I am sensitive to wheat and gluten. I can feel myself getting a little better each day....like yesterday I got out of bed and got dressed right away without laying around and I didn't need to lay down until about 4pm. .
About the sauna. A few months ago we purchased a sauna to help sweat out toxins and improve circulation and over-all health. My problem was that I was having really intense night sweats every night. I would wake up drenched, and have to change shirts and move to the other side of the bed. My body wanted to sweat really badly, but I couldn't exercise vigorously enough to bring myself to sweat. Since starting the sauna every other day, my night sweats have only been a few times per month and never as intense. Times when I go a few days with going in the sauna, the night sweats come back. This is a clear indicator that my body wants to go into "fever mode" Our bodies produce a fever when there is a foreign substance in our body that it wants to eradicate. The elevated body temp. burns up waste and kills viruses and bacteria. So, because my body is not having to go into fever mode every night, I'm guessing that the sauna is raising my core temperature enough during the day and helping out my immune system.
A random piece of info: Our bodies need to be sweating a few hours each day, even if it's just a tiny bit. It is an elimination channel for our body, just like the colon, the bladder and the lungs. It is best not to wear anti-antiperspirants.
I am working on food and changing my way of eating to promote gut healing. I won't post the specifics yet, because I'd prefer to talk about it once I know what has actually helped me. The only thing I know for sure is that I go into a flare (inflamed and hot finger joints and knees and extreme fatigue) within a day if I eat a few bites of something with gluten.
Meanwhile, I am still taking classes through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and I'm really making huge strides towards a successful future. I do things everyday to get closer towards moving out of my parents house and becoming a health counselor.
My cooking classes have been so much fun! We made Curry Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup at my last class, and Lamb Minestrone and Cream of Butternut Soup. I am really enjoying cooking with others and teaching them about healthier and higher quality ingredients.
I have had 6 acupuncture treatments in the last 2 weeks which I think is what helped pull me out of my flare from Christmas cookies. But who knows...
I'm also still getting chiropractic adjustments on my wrists, which is increasing their range of motion steadily. Each week seems to be better.
Since I discovered that Nikken magnets helped take away the pain, I've still been using them everyday on my joints and I think it's a nice compliment to the chiropractic adjustments. They work by changing the polarity of the cells, so they aren't marked for inflammation anymore. That's the best explanation I can give. I use the biaxial powermag massager. It will sometimes reverse the pain in my feet in 20 minutes!
I'm getting a massage about 1/month with Reiki and it is so wonderful. I think it is the Reiki that has really opened me up to huge amounts of spiritual growth in the past few months.
The coughing and acid reflux is still an issue. I chickened out of an endoscopy earlier this month!
SO, that's pretty much it for me. I'm getting excited for my next cooking class in February: Nourishing Desserts. Expect some recipes in the next few weeks!
I hope all of you are doing well!!
I will label these as "Monthly Updates" and you can find that link under the list "Labels" in the right hand column if you scroll down a bit.
So, here we go! It's January and it's freezing outside. The cold doesn't affect my pain levels, in fact, it invigorates me! I only wish my feet didn't hurt to badly to talk long walks outside.
My Lyme test came back negative/inconclusive. They found that my one of the immune markers for infection indicated that I have a chronic infection, but the test results lead them to believe that it's not Lyme or a co-infection of Lyme. I go in to talk to the doctor this Thursday and he will want to do a few more tests to see if he can find out which kind of virus may be causing my blood work to come back so abnormal. I will see how far we take this testing...I don't want to go into a huge long ordeal of trying to re-diagnose me and then in the end have another doctor tell me he doesn't know why I'm sick. So, I'll do a few tests maybe, but who knows what will happen.
Right now I'm coming out of a flare brought on by eating gluten during the holidays (couldn't resist my aunt's gingerbread cookies! they are like heaven x 100). So, I know that I am sensitive to wheat and gluten. I can feel myself getting a little better each day....like yesterday I got out of bed and got dressed right away without laying around and I didn't need to lay down until about 4pm. .
About the sauna. A few months ago we purchased a sauna to help sweat out toxins and improve circulation and over-all health. My problem was that I was having really intense night sweats every night. I would wake up drenched, and have to change shirts and move to the other side of the bed. My body wanted to sweat really badly, but I couldn't exercise vigorously enough to bring myself to sweat. Since starting the sauna every other day, my night sweats have only been a few times per month and never as intense. Times when I go a few days with going in the sauna, the night sweats come back. This is a clear indicator that my body wants to go into "fever mode" Our bodies produce a fever when there is a foreign substance in our body that it wants to eradicate. The elevated body temp. burns up waste and kills viruses and bacteria. So, because my body is not having to go into fever mode every night, I'm guessing that the sauna is raising my core temperature enough during the day and helping out my immune system.
A random piece of info: Our bodies need to be sweating a few hours each day, even if it's just a tiny bit. It is an elimination channel for our body, just like the colon, the bladder and the lungs. It is best not to wear anti-antiperspirants.
I am working on food and changing my way of eating to promote gut healing. I won't post the specifics yet, because I'd prefer to talk about it once I know what has actually helped me. The only thing I know for sure is that I go into a flare (inflamed and hot finger joints and knees and extreme fatigue) within a day if I eat a few bites of something with gluten.
Meanwhile, I am still taking classes through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and I'm really making huge strides towards a successful future. I do things everyday to get closer towards moving out of my parents house and becoming a health counselor.
My cooking classes have been so much fun! We made Curry Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup at my last class, and Lamb Minestrone and Cream of Butternut Soup. I am really enjoying cooking with others and teaching them about healthier and higher quality ingredients.
I have had 6 acupuncture treatments in the last 2 weeks which I think is what helped pull me out of my flare from Christmas cookies. But who knows...
I'm also still getting chiropractic adjustments on my wrists, which is increasing their range of motion steadily. Each week seems to be better.
Since I discovered that Nikken magnets helped take away the pain, I've still been using them everyday on my joints and I think it's a nice compliment to the chiropractic adjustments. They work by changing the polarity of the cells, so they aren't marked for inflammation anymore. That's the best explanation I can give. I use the biaxial powermag massager. It will sometimes reverse the pain in my feet in 20 minutes!
I'm getting a massage about 1/month with Reiki and it is so wonderful. I think it is the Reiki that has really opened me up to huge amounts of spiritual growth in the past few months.
The coughing and acid reflux is still an issue. I chickened out of an endoscopy earlier this month!
SO, that's pretty much it for me. I'm getting excited for my next cooking class in February: Nourishing Desserts. Expect some recipes in the next few weeks!
I hope all of you are doing well!!