Re: Pain and fatigue

[Guest guest]

, I just followed the string on your post since I've been

managing these issues as best I can for 15 years now.

I really agree with anything you can do to get stagnant lymph

moving. My guess is that we harbor bacteria and other infectious

organisms more than we should, and pain is the result. Tumeric and

fennel caps are a worthwhile way to help your body fight some

infections. The least expensive, gentlest form of exercise I think

you could try is Qi Gong. That system has been working for millenia

and is specifically tuned in to clearing lymph in the body. All you

need to purchase is a DVD to get started. Movements are extremely

slow and easy, do not tax joints, yet they pull a hard sweat if you

really put yourself into it, and you feel great afterward. This is

one of the nicest " Rx's " a doctor has ever given me.

It's a concern, I think, that you're not able to work out or in some

way get a good sweat going on a regular basis. Pushing myself out,

despite pain, just for quick-paced walks, especially in hot weather,

has always been my best ally. I've done Epsom salts baths, too.

They draw out sweat and also stimulate an immune response from your

body, but you have to approach them carefully.

Sugars feed the problems for me. I'm getting a small amount, but

gradually feel worse when I'm being exposed to more (like during our

recent vacation - it's very hard to have to eat away from home).

When sugar is completely absent from my diet, I'm far more pain-free

and energetic overall. I always have to go through a few days of

Herxheimer's symptoms after a week or so of exposure to sugars.

It sounds like your liver is probably really toxic (duh). As much

as I'd rather not take it, ALA has been remarkable for helping my

liver detox. This even shows up in my waistline! I realized by the

second day of chelating with it that my upper tummy shrinks and

isn't hard & pushing out of my ribs. After about two months, it's

been staying down and I'm digesting fats much better. I've dropped

ten pounds without trying. I looked for creative ways to get minute

amounts of it to get started, even splitting caps from a liver

cleanse kit (I think Renew's basic cleanse has 10 mg per cap). I

also used VRP's Extend Ultra caps, because 8 caps are taken per day

anyway & only around 17 mg ALA is in the daily total...the only

problem with this is a small amount of copper & I risked that

because I'm not high copper.

Glucosamine sulfate really helps with my joints - it's been holding

down progression of osteoarthritis for about ten years. When I

don't take it regularly, new joints flare up. I just switched to a

vegetarian capsule (I'm concerned the shellfish-based caps were

contributing to arsenic levels), but seem to be more disposed to

flare-ups on it. Maybe because it doesn't have chondroitin, also?

As to diet, it was a waste to follow anyone else's idea of the right

diet. This is simply too individual. To find what was right for

me, it took a variety of pricey allergy tests, but they were well

worth it. ALCAT informed me I should never eat onions, basil,

coffee (it's chlorogenic acid can be really bad for the

hypothalamus) & cashews...never in a million years would I have

otherwise come up with that info! Skin pricks informed me any

fungus, mold, etc., causes a severe reaction, and by repeated trials

I now know everytime I eat something with yeast I get a major gut

inflammation taking many days to resolve (peanuts are one of the

worst for this). ALCAT & electrical frequency tests identified

chemicals, metals, hormones, etc. And my own observations were

necessary for dairy...there's no point in pricey testing for casein

intolerance. When there's potential for so many allergies &

sensitivities, the elimination method would be really difficult

IMO. It's also really important to get the cleaning chemicals and

other allergens out of the house - this all contributes to

inflammation & weakened immunity.

Getting deep sleep is really critical, as you know. I was doing

great with valerian-type supplements at night & had very little

muscular (esp neck/shoulder) pain for months as a result. Then I

grew sensitive to the supplements, with GI inflammation! Aghhh!

GABA & 5HTP help, but not as well.

Coffee enemas are really helpful and definitely rescue a day that's

going badly - again, this goes back to clearing the liver.

The nicest things I did this winter was to start distilling my water

and install a chlorine filter in the shower. I'm so sensitive to

chlorine that I hated to shower & didn't know until I got the filter

how much it had contributed to fatigue. I think the clean water

really aids chelation; the amount of crud left in the water tank

after each distillation cycle from our city water is truly

disgusting, and I use about that much water a day! There is now a

large disclaimer with our city water reports stating that those with

compromised immune function should be using alternative sources,

while at the same time those impurities disclosed are all within

acceptable limits (?#!?) (apparently we must first develop cancer or

a chronic condition in order to find out our immune function

is 'compromised').

With all that said & done, I still struggle more than I care to. I

seem to be sensitive to pain relievers & my stomach won't tolerate

aspirin. I'm definitely fibromyalgic, but seem to control it better

than others. At the bottom of it all, I know cells & brain control

centers just don't produce enough energy, hormones &

neurotransmitters to keep up with the body's needs. I also would do

well if I could take more T3 than blood tests allow (been there,

done that a couple times). Since I can't drink coffee or otherwise

rely on caffeine, the compromise has been to take a very low dose

stimulant with the thyroid. It gets my heart rate, temperature,

mental activity, and energy up a little better. It also serves as

an amazing pain killer as long as I'm not eating sugars, but I don't

take it daily or I'd develop a tolerance to it. It would work

better to take a slightly higher dose, but it also alters my

personality. I think the increase in noradrenaline the stimulant

produces keeps allergies & other immune responses down, in turn

keeping inflammation in check. OTC things for allergies do not work

well and I really struggle when I try that as an alternative.

Perhaps a low dose stimulant could prove to be a worthwhile

alternative to your painkillers & might ease pain & increase your

energy just enough to get you physically fighting a little harder.

We're all different & it takes a lot of trial & error to find things

that help. The danger is in getting stuck with things that aren't

working. We're also vulnerable to trying new things we think help,

but the early benefits & later disappointment is usually due to a

hopeful adrenaline rush that soon wears off.

You will improve!

Joanne

[Guest guest]

, I just followed the string on your post since I've been

managing these issues as best I can for 15 years now.

I really agree with anything you can do to get stagnant lymph

moving. My guess is that we harbor bacteria and other infectious

organisms more than we should, and pain is the result. Tumeric and

fennel caps are a worthwhile way to help your body fight some

infections. The least expensive, gentlest form of exercise I think

you could try is Qi Gong. That system has been working for millenia

and is specifically tuned in to clearing lymph in the body. All you

need to purchase is a DVD to get started. Movements are extremely

slow and easy, do not tax joints, yet they pull a hard sweat if you

really put yourself into it, and you feel great afterward. This is

one of the nicest " Rx's " a doctor has ever given me.

It's a concern, I think, that you're not able to work out or in some

way get a good sweat going on a regular basis. Pushing myself out,

despite pain, just for quick-paced walks, especially in hot weather,

has always been my best ally. I've done Epsom salts baths, too.

They draw out sweat and also stimulate an immune response from your

body, but you have to approach them carefully.

Sugars feed the problems for me. I'm getting a small amount, but

gradually feel worse when I'm being exposed to more (like during our

recent vacation - it's very hard to have to eat away from home).

When sugar is completely absent from my diet, I'm far more pain-free

and energetic overall. I always have to go through a few days of

Herxheimer's symptoms after a week or so of exposure to sugars.

It sounds like your liver is probably really toxic (duh). As much

as I'd rather not take it, ALA has been remarkable for helping my

liver detox. This even shows up in my waistline! I realized by the

second day of chelating with it that my upper tummy shrinks and

isn't hard & pushing out of my ribs. After about two months, it's

been staying down and I'm digesting fats much better. I've dropped

ten pounds without trying. I looked for creative ways to get minute

amounts of it to get started, even splitting caps from a liver

cleanse kit (I think Renew's basic cleanse has 10 mg per cap). I

also used VRP's Extend Ultra caps, because 8 caps are taken per day

anyway & only around 17 mg ALA is in the daily total...the only

problem with this is a small amount of copper & I risked that

because I'm not high copper.

Glucosamine sulfate really helps with my joints - it's been holding

down progression of osteoarthritis for about ten years. When I

don't take it regularly, new joints flare up. I just switched to a

vegetarian capsule (I'm concerned the shellfish-based caps were

contributing to arsenic levels), but seem to be more disposed to

flare-ups on it. Maybe because it doesn't have chondroitin, also?

As to diet, it was a waste to follow anyone else's idea of the right

diet. This is simply too individual. To find what was right for

me, it took a variety of pricey allergy tests, but they were well

worth it. ALCAT informed me I should never eat onions, basil,

coffee (it's chlorogenic acid can be really bad for the

hypothalamus) & cashews...never in a million years would I have

otherwise come up with that info! Skin pricks informed me any

fungus, mold, etc., causes a severe reaction, and by repeated trials

I now know everytime I eat something with yeast I get a major gut

inflammation taking many days to resolve (peanuts are one of the

worst for this). ALCAT & electrical frequency tests identified

chemicals, metals, hormones, etc. And my own observations were

necessary for dairy...there's no point in pricey testing for casein

intolerance. When there's potential for so many allergies &

sensitivities, the elimination method would be really difficult

IMO. It's also really important to get the cleaning chemicals and

other allergens out of the house - this all contributes to

inflammation & weakened immunity.

Getting deep sleep is really critical, as you know. I was doing

great with valerian-type supplements at night & had very little

muscular (esp neck/shoulder) pain for months as a result. Then I

grew sensitive to the supplements, with GI inflammation! Aghhh!

GABA & 5HTP help, but not as well.

Coffee enemas are really helpful and definitely rescue a day that's

going badly - again, this goes back to clearing the liver.

The nicest things I did this winter was to start distilling my water

and install a chlorine filter in the shower. I'm so sensitive to

chlorine that I hated to shower & didn't know until I got the filter

how much it had contributed to fatigue. I think the clean water

really aids chelation; the amount of crud left in the water tank

after each distillation cycle from our city water is truly

disgusting, and I use about that much water a day! There is now a

large disclaimer with our city water reports stating that those with

compromised immune function should be using alternative sources,

while at the same time those impurities disclosed are all within

acceptable limits (?#!?) (apparently we must first develop cancer or

a chronic condition in order to find out our immune function

is 'compromised').

With all that said & done, I still struggle more than I care to. I

seem to be sensitive to pain relievers & my stomach won't tolerate

aspirin. I'm definitely fibromyalgic, but seem to control it better

than others. At the bottom of it all, I know cells & brain control

centers just don't produce enough energy, hormones &

neurotransmitters to keep up with the body's needs. I also would do

well if I could take more T3 than blood tests allow (been there,

done that a couple times). Since I can't drink coffee or otherwise

rely on caffeine, the compromise has been to take a very low dose

stimulant with the thyroid. It gets my heart rate, temperature,

mental activity, and energy up a little better. It also serves as

an amazing pain killer as long as I'm not eating sugars, but I don't

take it daily or I'd develop a tolerance to it. It would work

better to take a slightly higher dose, but it also alters my

personality. I think the increase in noradrenaline the stimulant

produces keeps allergies & other immune responses down, in turn

keeping inflammation in check. OTC things for allergies do not work

well and I really struggle when I try that as an alternative.

Perhaps a low dose stimulant could prove to be a worthwhile

alternative to your painkillers & might ease pain & increase your

energy just enough to get you physically fighting a little harder.

We're all different & it takes a lot of trial & error to find things

that help. The danger is in getting stuck with things that aren't

working. We're also vulnerable to trying new things we think help,

but the early benefits & later disappointment is usually due to a

hopeful adrenaline rush that soon wears off.

You will improve!

Joanne