For such a long time, longer than I care to remember, I’ve been plagued with health trouble, battling with weight, my body overheating with next to no exertion, chronic migraines, high blood pressure, IBS, fluid retention even through drinking a LOT of water and a variety of other things, the list is long.
I’ve been seeing a new doctor, I really like her, she’s not one of these GP’s who just pushes pills at you. I like the fact that she’s done a lot of work in alternative therapies as well as modern medicine, I think in this day and age there is room for both for our health.
After a routine blood test that she did she noticed some levels on my liver function tests were extreme, these were followed up a little while later but since bloods don’t give a definitive answer, she sent me for an abdominal ultrasound. Bingo! The answer to so many questions became apparent during the scan – I have a liver disease! It’s not a good thing, it’s a serious condition BUT the great news is that it’s treatable. The odd news is that modern medicine can’t do anything with it! I found that surprising!
Thinking about that at the time though, I felt that I’d rather take a natural approach to healing so it was going to work well. She suggested I go to a health food store and get something specific to my condition to help the liver heal and remove all the toxins. This isn’t actually related to alcohol, I rarely touch the stuff anymore.
The incredible thing is that so many of the different ailments I’ve been suffering from for so long just might be linked to this disease in my case, so by healing my liver I will be healing my entire body – that’s a lovely idea!
Karisma who some of you know from Karisma and Kids started a new blog around the same time I got my diagnosis, the new blog focuses on things such as alternative therapies, herbs, dreams and other things and is called Transcendant Anomalies. One post I read, she mentioned how she follows her body and it seems to lead her to the herbs it needs when there is something wrong – like she’s drawn to particular herbs only to find out that’s exactly what she needed. I agree with this principle, I’ve seen it work for me before.
She posted about Lemon Balm one time, mainly because many of her friends (myself included) are dealing with depression and related issues. I read it with interest, I liked the sound of the Lemon Balm until I got to the part that said “if you are taking thyroid medication, you cannot take this” DAMN!
Oh well…still, it got me thinking about my liver and I thought, “I might go for a walk, it wasn’t too warm out”. I walked up by the local shops and saw a health shop there which I’d never noticed. I thought that on my way back, I’d pop in and see if she had something that could help me. She did, she’s a naturopath and made me up a herbal liver tonic with things like taurine, dandelion as well as other things in it (I must ask what is in it). While sitting there, I looked up at her jar of fresh herbs and saw Lemon Balm and immediately thought of Karisma and how she’d reminded me to let my body lead the way. This shop had been there for a few months, I kept walking past it and never noticed it until I really needed it!
So, three times a day, I take my tonic (bitter that it is due to the dandelion) in water, and I follow a different diet with plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits, rye bread, salmon, tuna, seeds, grains and legumes and a host of other tasty things. I no longer have any dairy in my diet and I’m not eating any meat other than some cold water fish. Plenty of water too!
The thing is, I don’t miss the things I’m not eating, I don’t think I can think of anything that I was eating, the things on my ‘can’t have’ list like bacon, sausages, butter, milk and a variety of other things because I’ve replaced them with such tasty and more natural foods.
I have so much variety that I get, I’m spoiled for choice at times, I thought I was eating reasonably healthy…but I found that I most certainly was not! Now I am, my body will no doubt thank me and reward me with good health. Already I’ve lost 6 kg (13 lbs) but I expect a lot of that is fluid.
So far I’ve noticed the migraines have lessened, I’ve had my first one in weeks today, the fluid retention has stopped, obviously I’m losing weight, my sleeping is better quality. I’m still having trouble getting off to sleep but once asleep I sleep so well – I can’t remember when the last time I had such a restful sleep.
I had a blood test this morning, it’s going to be interesting to see how things are going, if what I’m doing is working so far so I know I’m doing the right thing by my liver. I find out in two days. I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed for some sign of success.
The frustrating part is this will take time, and I will have to adapt to a different eating style but that’s something that’s easy, I’m lucky that I like so many different tastes so having to eat different food is no hardship.
But I do want to thank Karisma for sending me the message I needed to be reminded of – listen to my body and it will lead me to what I need. Check out her new blog too, it’s quite interesting.
Who says life is ever dull? Take a day in the life of wendishness, it’s annoyingly stressful mostly but never dull! Onward and upward, I’m enjoying my journey to a new and healthy lifestyle – in the meantime, though my body thanks me, I don’t think it realises what’s hit it! LOL
Wow! Even though it’s not curable (but is treatable), isn’t it a relief to have a name to go with what’s been going on with you? Karisma’s a pretty smart girl. I need to visit her new blog more often. I hope your blood tests show improvement. More to the point… how do you FEEL? Sleeping well is a good indicator that things are moving in the right direction!
It sure is a relief to know what’s been causing so many problems, now I can put it right! How do I feel? I’m still overheating easily and still having dreadful trouble getting off to sleep but overall I do feel slightly different.
It’s a little hard to explain, I know a lot of the changes are taking place inside my body, things are putting themselves right but I feel a little healthier for it, not as sluggish, my brain fog is clearing too, my memory is starting to improve. You could almost say my body feels ‘lighter’. It’s so hard to convey it in words without sounding slightly crazy.
What a good lesson to learn–to listen to your own body and tune into doing the things that make you feel better and in control of your health. I believe that our doctor’s need us to be active participants in our health maintenance, not just passively submitting to whatever treatments they recommend. As far as your diet goes, I like your mindset, feeling good about the bountiful options you have in healthy and delicious foods. Much easier to live with than feeling deprived.
I agree, in the past we too willingly were just following whatever our doctors dished out without even thinking of the big picture. My doctor is great for me in that she sees the big picture and knows that while modern medicine has its place, we can do so much better for ourselves doing some things a more natural way. It enabled me to trust her so quickly, because I know she’s not going to force unnecessary pills on me.
And it’s quite empowering too to be taking charge over my health, it feels good.
The diet helps with the mindset though, it’s amazing how many tasty things I can eat, the only killjoy is that I have moved away from processed foods and a lot more of what I eat is made by me so I know exactly what I’m eating.
I’m glad you’ve found the cause and something that is helping. If you need extra taurine at any time, munch on a funnel-web or some bollocks! LOL (look at the Wiki entry for taurine) :lmao:
Sorry, just had to have a joke there.
At least there seems to be some positives with the diet change, etc. Long may it continue. I know the liver has an amazing ability to repair itself, so the changes you’ve made could actually end up reversing things. It might be a slim chance, but the liver is an amazing organ.
LOL jokes are welcome…and EWWWWWWWWWWWw!!!
It’s fantastic that the liver can repair itself, it couldn’t before my diagnosis because I wasn’t helping it, now it’s got a really good chance to get back to almost and possibly normal, but the diet modifications are here to stay. Once I’m in maintenance mode though, I’ll be able to have the occasional naughty here and there and I like that – nothing worse than keeping things too strict – then you do feel as though you’re missing out. Then again, I might find this diet change something I enjoy and stick with it completely, I’ll see how things go.
My poor liver though, it’s coping with Glandular Fever on top of this other disease….it’s getting knocked around!
happy to read of some good news
okay, know liver disease is nasty, but as it’s treatable, there’s more hope. Can’t remember the idea behind it, but someone I know eats beetroot as a help to combat liver disease…
Am all in favour of using herbs, devil’s claw seems to be working well for OH and his arthritis.
Here’s hoping for more good news and your health continues improving
Oh yes, beetroot is part of my diet and I love beetroot too. I’m just glad that I like almost every vegetable on the planet and almost all fruits, I love grains and all the non-wheat type breads, nuts, legumes etc… and of course the fish I’m allowed to eat is all the fish I enjoy too – so far it feels like it was designed for me.
Or is that my body giving me messages again? LOL
I’m so glad you’ve got a diagnosis at long last! good news on that front… at least now you can begin an approach to attack the thing, even if ‘they’ tell you it can’t be repaired – bollox to ‘em! I’m sure things will begin an upswing for you almost straight away – you GO, girl!
They’ve all told me it can be fixed and then maintained so it’s all positive, it’s just going to take some time but that’s fine. If it’s about my health, I’ve got all the time in the world to help put it right and in the end I will probably live longer for it.
It sounds as though you are well on your way with the change of diet and the tonic. So fingers crossed you get good results in 2 days.
I think so, at least the blood tests will give me a guide too as to how long this might take. I have another scan in about two months to check it out better though.
I’m so glad that you’ve found the problem and that you’re able to work on solutions. Take care dear Wendy – best of luck in your healing.
LOL I have found one problem it would seem as you’re also aware. *sigh*
It is good to see that the alternative and conventional methods of medicine are working for you. Just wondering are you allowed nuts on your “diet”.
Hope your blood test yields positive results
Yes to nuts which is great, you can get some good oils from them as well as nutrition but they suggest you get them shelled so they haven’t been through production methods which can degrade the food. Blood test failed as you would know…back to the drawing board LOL
I am delighted to find you here. Your trail of pictures led me….lovely idea that.
I am so glad you have some answers and are healing. What a good experience you have had, and such good timing.
Some Drs certainly are different these days, at least some are.
We are very lucky here in my area that way.
Say, is that our Mal from Delphi days.Sure sounds like him. He is a good friend isn’t hwe.
Merry Christmas and may 2010 be the healingest year in your life, as yet.
be blessed
nancy
Hi Nancy, so glad you found my little home on the web…you’ll be able to keep up with the comings and goings easier – make sure you check out my other blogs (listed near the top right).
I did speak too soon on the health stuff, there’s been a further development which I’ll share soon.
The Mal you see here isn’t the Mal from Delphi but he’s a good chap too.
Everything IS curable my dear! Keep listening to that body and FOCUS! Oh and have some chamomile with your tea. It will not affect the thyroid at all
Oh how I would love to get my hands on you!
I’ve got chamomile tea which doesn’t help me sleep….bugger! I spoke too soon, something else is going on that they are trying to get to the bottom of.