Swollen from knees to feet, I've been. I'd look at my big and small bottles of supplements and, instinctively, could barely take any of them. Something in me said, "No. Wrong answer." This year-long regimen now felt inaccurate, unbalanced.
I began to take charge. Went back to my trusted chiropractor. A little step. But he was ready with the encouragement I wanted and needed.
That led to another little step. I went back to my herbal practitioner. He gave me various mixtures of herbs in water. Bingo!
By the next day, I was moving around again. Getting things done. Without thinking first about having to get things done. Just . . . doing. This always means some inflammation is being significantly reduced. In my toes, for starters. And in my knees. It's not only about how it looks. It always begins to happen . . . on the inside.
And when wellness really begins to happen on the inside, motion begins. The motion of living. I go to the store, but now I not only drive there -- I go in. I follow my list and get what I need. I leave. I drive home.
When the overall systemic inflammation is really bad, I drive to the store and then find I'm too tired to get out of the car -- and then I drive home. Can I count how many times this has happened? All I know is, too many times.
I was in a major "healthy" food store this afternoon. As I was walking toward the freezer to grab some nutritionally packed loaves of (sprouted) Ezekiel Bread, a young clerk wheeled around to announce to me that, on Easter Sunday, it will be 61 degrees outside. This made me happy, and this made him happy. He followed this up by praising God, with upraised voice, a few times. He was a sweet and gentle soul, and I appreciated his innocent exuberance.
I thought to myself, "I'm with you, brother! I'm grabbing my sprouted wheat bread even though the antibody test said wheat makes my antibodies rise -- because I still believe in wheat and I think I really need a metabolically safe and worthy specimen of it and the herbal practitioner agrees that there's more to it than just an isolated antibody test . . . and, to my great joy, dear clerk, I'm reaching into this freezer and buying this bread because my whole being says, 'YES, buy that bread!'"
Just a few days earlier, as I was beginning to reflect to myself, "Hmm, I wonder if there's such a thing as 'too much iodine,'" the herbal practitioner said that my thyroid is fine and I don't need the liquid kelp. He agreed with my thought that, possibly, too much liquid kelp -- over-treating the thyroid gland -- could have been contributing to the leg-and-feet swelling. I backtracked and asked him about the Lyme disease I'd had in the spring and summer -- because that was thought to have made my legs and feet swell. He explained that, when the Lyme is gone [which it is], you can then see what's been going on underneath it and address those issues. He said that the Lyme had, indeed, made the swelling worse. This was true. I did have some baseline swelling, and then it got much worse when the Lyme hit.
Now, any time I have any germ or physical invader coursing through my system, my legs and feet swell considerably more. When the physical invader is wiped out by the herbs, the swelling goes down and functionality returns. But there is that baseline swelling, still.
This is my challenge. It's a non-bacterial, rheumatic-type thing. This is the thing which, perhaps, too much iodine was also worsening. Additionally, my own thoughts are that there is also a lack of something -- or of many things -- in my diet, nutritionally. Which is why I'm reaching out for that sprouted wheat bread.
The sprouted form acts much less like wheat, and it's filled with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Fish oil, I'm sure, will also help. I use Carlson's fish oil because it's highly rated as being free of many contaminants. First, however, I'm going to build myself up a bit nutritionally because, when my meals aren't solid -- when they're insubstantial in some significant way -- I get arrhythmias (PVC's). The fish oil, being a very effective anti-inflammatory substance, tends to drop the blood pressure in a way that I can feel. This, for me, can be a precursor to compensatory PVC's -- the heart's attempt to right the balance.
My journey from flagrant MCS into flagrant Lyme, then out of Lyme into decreased MCS, then battling lingering inflammation . . . this is not a smooth journey. There are ups and downs and seesawing back and forth between this regimen of supplementation and that, this nutritional plan or that. There is progress and there are setbacks. But with each setback often comes a new kernel of knowledge, and I build on that.
What will happen to my regimen of vitamin/mineral supplementation? Well, some mainstays, such as magnesium and calcium, I'll continue to take in the 1:2 or the 1:1 ratio, respectively. Other supplements will be eliminated or adjusted. It was suggested to me that I cut my Carlson's Vitamin D3 dosage of 4,000 i.u. per day in half now. There can also be such a thing as too much Vitamin D, I was told. With the warmer weather on the way, I'll focus on being out in the sun. I'm going to put more of my attention now on Carlson's Vitamin E "E-Gems Elite." I'd forgotten to take iron, so that's a major problem easily fixed: I'll take the iron. Added back into the lineup from years ago will be several cups of dandelion root tea per day and 500 mg of Vitamin B-6 per day, to combat fluid retention. And . . . my trusty Nutricology Buffered Vitamin C powder will add some overall resiliency and smooth out the rough edges. All of this plus daily walking.
I've suffered more from MCS lately -- once again. There haven't been many cataclysmic migraines, but there are those pulsing and balance-affecting reactions of the eye/facial area and the central nervous system which can last into the next day. My chemical-sensitivity reactions are markedly deceased and muted, but they're still present. I've wondered often, lately, if inhaled common chemicals in the public arena are also contributing, much more than I've realized, to the swelling in my legs and feet.
When you've been radically chemically sensitive and have fallen prey to Lyme disease, you instinctively keep your eyes and ears open to more information on these lines.
If I learn anything new, I'll drop off the information here!
Cheers!
~ Carolyn
I began to take charge. Went back to my trusted chiropractor. A little step. But he was ready with the encouragement I wanted and needed.
That led to another little step. I went back to my herbal practitioner. He gave me various mixtures of herbs in water. Bingo!
By the next day, I was moving around again. Getting things done. Without thinking first about having to get things done. Just . . . doing. This always means some inflammation is being significantly reduced. In my toes, for starters. And in my knees. It's not only about how it looks. It always begins to happen . . . on the inside.
And when wellness really begins to happen on the inside, motion begins. The motion of living. I go to the store, but now I not only drive there -- I go in. I follow my list and get what I need. I leave. I drive home.
When the overall systemic inflammation is really bad, I drive to the store and then find I'm too tired to get out of the car -- and then I drive home. Can I count how many times this has happened? All I know is, too many times.
I was in a major "healthy" food store this afternoon. As I was walking toward the freezer to grab some nutritionally packed loaves of (sprouted) Ezekiel Bread, a young clerk wheeled around to announce to me that, on Easter Sunday, it will be 61 degrees outside. This made me happy, and this made him happy. He followed this up by praising God, with upraised voice, a few times. He was a sweet and gentle soul, and I appreciated his innocent exuberance.
I thought to myself, "I'm with you, brother! I'm grabbing my sprouted wheat bread even though the antibody test said wheat makes my antibodies rise -- because I still believe in wheat and I think I really need a metabolically safe and worthy specimen of it and the herbal practitioner agrees that there's more to it than just an isolated antibody test . . . and, to my great joy, dear clerk, I'm reaching into this freezer and buying this bread because my whole being says, 'YES, buy that bread!'"
Just a few days earlier, as I was beginning to reflect to myself, "Hmm, I wonder if there's such a thing as 'too much iodine,'" the herbal practitioner said that my thyroid is fine and I don't need the liquid kelp. He agreed with my thought that, possibly, too much liquid kelp -- over-treating the thyroid gland -- could have been contributing to the leg-and-feet swelling. I backtracked and asked him about the Lyme disease I'd had in the spring and summer -- because that was thought to have made my legs and feet swell. He explained that, when the Lyme is gone [which it is], you can then see what's been going on underneath it and address those issues. He said that the Lyme had, indeed, made the swelling worse. This was true. I did have some baseline swelling, and then it got much worse when the Lyme hit.
Now, any time I have any germ or physical invader coursing through my system, my legs and feet swell considerably more. When the physical invader is wiped out by the herbs, the swelling goes down and functionality returns. But there is that baseline swelling, still.
This is my challenge. It's a non-bacterial, rheumatic-type thing. This is the thing which, perhaps, too much iodine was also worsening. Additionally, my own thoughts are that there is also a lack of something -- or of many things -- in my diet, nutritionally. Which is why I'm reaching out for that sprouted wheat bread.
The sprouted form acts much less like wheat, and it's filled with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Fish oil, I'm sure, will also help. I use Carlson's fish oil because it's highly rated as being free of many contaminants. First, however, I'm going to build myself up a bit nutritionally because, when my meals aren't solid -- when they're insubstantial in some significant way -- I get arrhythmias (PVC's). The fish oil, being a very effective anti-inflammatory substance, tends to drop the blood pressure in a way that I can feel. This, for me, can be a precursor to compensatory PVC's -- the heart's attempt to right the balance.
My journey from flagrant MCS into flagrant Lyme, then out of Lyme into decreased MCS, then battling lingering inflammation . . . this is not a smooth journey. There are ups and downs and seesawing back and forth between this regimen of supplementation and that, this nutritional plan or that. There is progress and there are setbacks. But with each setback often comes a new kernel of knowledge, and I build on that.
What will happen to my regimen of vitamin/mineral supplementation? Well, some mainstays, such as magnesium and calcium, I'll continue to take in the 1:2 or the 1:1 ratio, respectively. Other supplements will be eliminated or adjusted. It was suggested to me that I cut my Carlson's Vitamin D3 dosage of 4,000 i.u. per day in half now. There can also be such a thing as too much Vitamin D, I was told. With the warmer weather on the way, I'll focus on being out in the sun. I'm going to put more of my attention now on Carlson's Vitamin E "E-Gems Elite." I'd forgotten to take iron, so that's a major problem easily fixed: I'll take the iron. Added back into the lineup from years ago will be several cups of dandelion root tea per day and 500 mg of Vitamin B-6 per day, to combat fluid retention. And . . . my trusty Nutricology Buffered Vitamin C powder will add some overall resiliency and smooth out the rough edges. All of this plus daily walking.
I've suffered more from MCS lately -- once again. There haven't been many cataclysmic migraines, but there are those pulsing and balance-affecting reactions of the eye/facial area and the central nervous system which can last into the next day. My chemical-sensitivity reactions are markedly deceased and muted, but they're still present. I've wondered often, lately, if inhaled common chemicals in the public arena are also contributing, much more than I've realized, to the swelling in my legs and feet.
When you've been radically chemically sensitive and have fallen prey to Lyme disease, you instinctively keep your eyes and ears open to more information on these lines.
If I learn anything new, I'll drop off the information here!
Cheers!
~ Carolyn
