Guest guest Posted August 6, 1998 Report Share Posted August 6, 1998 I don't know what they are called but the gym has a machine that looks like an upside down bike, that you peddle with your arms. I see alot of people in chairs use it to get an aerobic workout. i've seen them in some rehab mags too, if I remember I'll see if I can find the name for it. ~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~ Peace of mind is the mental condition in which you have accepted the worst. Lin Y. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 1998 Report Share Posted August 7, 1998 Helena, Glad to have you on the list with the bugs worked out. St. J. W. appears to be a useful treatment for depression, but its not for everyone. There are non-responders too. And it has to be considered as part of one's medication from a medical perspective, which doesn't usually happened to nutritionals. I had an interesting experience with lung capacity a little bit out of the ordinary. And I should note that chronic pain & its often associated depression are disincentives for exercise, especially for me right now. At any rate, for a number of years, I was experiencing some shortness of breath & lowered lung capacity that was unexplained. When I became toxemic & was hospitalized, one of the emergency measures was to locate & drain any fluid in body cavities. Turned out that I had a substantial amount of fluid parked outside of the lungs which probably was due to a prior fall on my back & undetected for many years. The fluid had nothing to do with the toxemia, but was drained, & my capacity went right back to normal. For people in accidents, this can be a factor & is hard to identify. However, I think long-time smokers can expect reduction in their vital lung capacities which may not reverse. Ken At 07:56 PM 8/6/98 -0400, you wrote: > > > > > >Since reading these letters the last months, Ken, I have become so much more >rich. You've all taught me much, and I wish I could give BACK more than I >have. Can't figure out how to say all this without sounding mawkish--I rather >suspect you know what I mean, however! > > BTW, your comments on St. swort agree with everything I've learned and >experienced with it. To be blunt, I don't much trust doctors, even my own, to >work with healing me the way I believe should be done, wholistically and >acceptingly rather than symptomatically and " hmmm, let's see.. " and/or >disbelievingly, and the idea of " checking with my doctor " when I knew I >desperately needed some emotional/mental help was simply anathema. I was on > too shaky ground at that point to verbalize my stress even to myself, and so >when I heard about St. J from a Newsweek article, I checked it out with >herbalists and a medical doc's site. Decided it was right for me: I do NOT do >well with most pharmaceuticals, and since I work closely with plants anyway, >it felt right to check out the St. J. Imagine my surprise when after only 3 > days I noticed a CHANGE in me! Can't now remember what it was...it was >certainly small, but the fact that I had the energy to even NOTICE told me I >was on the right track. I started with one capsule after breakfast, and after >about 4 weeks when I noticed that my " better-being " (not WELL-being, yet!) was >still extremely tenuous, I upped the dose to two a day, one in the morning and >one at night. Eventually, I had the strength to deal with the three issues >which had been plaguing me, and that, of course, is the key. Occasionally >I've taken three a day for a period of 1-2 weeks, when some other essentially > " basic " issue presented itself, but most of the time now I take only one, at >bedtime. The depression associated with decreased physical ability is >something I'm still struggling with; the postings here are helping a lot. > I've never felt " drugged " or " thick " from the St. J., merely restored and > enabled. > It grows wild here in the Pacific Northwest, and I have a lot here on my own >land: it IS true, that as the Indian elders and other herbalists have long >said, you find the herb you need when you need it! > Because the only negative side effect I've heard of is possible >photosensitivity, I make it more of a point than usual to avoid the sun, >especially the noon-day variety. There is a possible connection between high >seretonin levels and migraines, but since the St. J is only restoring those > levels to where they should be, I'm not too concerned about this. However, > anyone who has that problem might want to be especially attentive to any >changes. > >Anyway, the St. J isn't the primary reason why I'm writing. > >Yesterday I had a treadmill stress test and discovered that my lung capacity >is WAY down, and man, did that twitch my ego! I live on and run a small > homestead farm in the mountains, with critters and trees and grasses, and I >do > a LOT of physical labor. I've KNOWN that I was healthier than any of my city >or suburban cousins: yeah, right! (Pride goeth before....) Of course i don't >do it all in one fell swoop: can't, because of pretty consistent back pain. >So, when I split wood or cut grasses or work in the garden, tote bales or >grain sacks, whatever, I take my time, balancing the task with what my body >can handle that hour or day, and therefore, I never really get my heart rate >way up there, nor am I properly stretching my lungs. I need to sit >frequently, and of course playing computer doesn't do much for aerobic > conditioning either!<g> > >I called the American Heart Association today, asking how do wheelchair bound >people for instance manage to keep healthy heart and lungs. They didn't know. >They suggested I call aerobic trainers and ask THEM. (What fascinating advice >from the AHA; they don't know?!) My yellow pages weren't too productive, >but I was reminded that using my arms, in wide sweeping/pumping motions, will >certainly affect lung and heart action. > >I have a Nordic Track, the non-electric sort, but find I don't use it very >often because the position hurts my back rather quickly. > >It occurs to me that listers HERE might have a similar set of questions and >perhaps some solutions, and I'd sure like to hear them. I haven't seen the > subject come up, however.... ? Purely as a matter of ego, I will NOT >let >my city-dwelling kids hear that their " hard working Farm Mom " couldn't do more >than 4 1/2 minutes on that treadmill test, and as a matter of health and self- >respect, I WILL restore lungs and heart muscles to their good selves! (My >heart checked out fine, btw, which didn't surprise me: I TOLD my doc that the >problems were associated with that hiatal hernia! Still, he's right to be >cautious: I'm 62, and while I'm working to decrease-eventually-quit the >cigarettes, I have smoked for many years.) > > > >love, > Helena > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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