**** UPDATE ****
I have just noticed that since February 2001, I haven't written
much about what dietary changes, supplements and exercises etc
I added and how they have being affecting my health. So I will
try to list some here and will also try to update from
time to time. And details about the supplements and other
things will be under "Details".
Again, these are the things worked and did not work for me
and I am not trying to say these should or should not work with
everybody.
Though I have been pretty much (endo) pain-free since about
middle of December 00, I still had occasional hypoglycemia
symptoms and chronic IBS symptoms - gas and diarrhea.
Until last month, I had slight twinges where my endo pain used
to be whenever (before) I had diarrhea, but that seems to be
getting better.
________________________________________________________________
Wed 4-18-01
Changes lately are :
I haven't had hypoglycemea for a month and it's good.
I have less diarrhea, but I still have to see about this one
because I think my IBS was always a bit better during the time
I use Natural Progesterone Cream. But I do keep my journal and
no D for 9 days is very very good for me.
I have been having much much less simple carbohydrates - I
haven't even used Turbinado sugar for a while and I have
much more organic brown rice now.
I started taking L-Glutamine a few weeks ago.
For about a few months, I've been using a new water filter
and I like it very much. I will write about water filters
under "Details".
It is summer down here now, around 85 degrees, everyday.
And they already started spraying the poison. The mosquito
control truck comes down the street with dreadful noise and
deadly smoke. I am so worried.
I just have to close all the windows when the truck is nearby.
All I can do about it right now is to strengthen my liver and
immune system so that the poison can not accumulate and have
much effect in my body since there are some reasons why I cannot
move now.
Well, but I am thankful that I'm doing better.
Oh, and I am now trying harder to avoid trans fats
( hydrogenated oils ). I should probably write about this, too.
Here's some link to hydrogenated oil info - this person is a
bit on the agrressive side, but the site has lots of info.
http://www.dldewey.com/hydroil.htm
_______________________________________________________________
Thurs 5-24-01
It's been more than a month I wrote the last update and I
haven't updated the details either.. @_@; Sorry.
Well, I have been doing very good.
Except, I had a little flu-like thing and I didn't have much
energy for that week, but I'm ok now.
Whenever I get any setback, thanks to Ms Carol Koenigsknecht
(endonatural@yahoogroups.com & www.faerymagick.com), I just
think about the Healing Crisis and Herrings' law of cure.
The info is at below address if you are interested -
http://www.irisesandherbs.com/misc/healing_crisis.htm
I have been learning more about pesticides and now I try
harder to use organic stuff.
I'm also learning about GMO - genetically modified organisms or
genetically engineered foods and that is another reason for
going organic.
I bought a bread machine and started baking bread with
organic flour and without dairy, hydrogenated oils and
preservatives. It's really easy even for a lazy person as Pep
and the freshly baked bread is DELICIOUS !!
You just put the stuff in the machine the night before and
in the morning, you wake up with the aroma of fresh home made
bread..
The other day, I just remembered that I didn't have any period
cramps when I was young(er?). Then I started having pretty bad
cramps in my late 20s. Although that was when I decided to stop
eating meat, my reason for becoming a vegetarian was not
my health. I am not going to talk about the reasons for it here,
but I thought it was interesting.
Maybe I already had endo back then.
Maybe if I didn't stop eating meat (actually back then I went
vagan - so no meat, no dairy, no fish), I would have had that
severe pain much earlier in my life..?
Well, after a few years of being vegan, I started eating some
dairy and fish.
I was also thinking that I might have had a lot more symptoms
and maybe more diseases if I didn't start these dietary changes
and all last October. - Maybe Leaky Gut Syndrome, some thyroid
abnormalities, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,
allergies etc along with my hypo-glycemia and IBS.
I have had (and/or still have some of) at least mini-symptoms
of all these diseases since last June.
I'm not saying I know that I don't have these diseases, but
if I do have them, the symptoms have been minimal.
I started having Vitex (chaste tree berry) tea and milk
thistle tea about a week ago. But I hear that milk thistle is
not effective as a tea because of poor water solubility.
Milk thistle sounds like a really good detox herb, though.
- Protects the liver from toxins ans pollutants by preventing
free radical damage and stimulates the production of new liver
cells. Also protects the kidneys. Good for gallbladder,
inflammatory bowel disorders, weakened immune system..
(the list goes on.)
Maybe I'll think about getting extract form or capsule.
The dreaded mosquito control truck comes more often now.
Maybe that is weakening my immune system now.
My eyes have been a little on the itchy side lately, too.
Oh, about the eyes, I wear contact lens and I ordered a saline
olution that is FDA approved, preservative-free, CFC-Free,
environmentally safe, Thimerosal-free, Chlorhexidine-free and
cruelty-free and also their multi-purpose solution which has
a bit more chemical than the saline.
Contact lens is probably not a good thing to begin with though
I cannot think of doing without, at the moment.
But multi-purpose solutions have become more and more
"convenient" and when they came up with the one that you don't
need to even rub your lens with, it was time for me to look for
some solution with less chemicals. Maybe my eyes won't itch
after I switched.
I am starting to realize that "convenient" things tend to have
some pitfalls like that. Most of the time, they are not good
for our health - plastic(styrofoam) containers, tv dinners,
fast foods, bleech, cars (!) and many more..
__________________________________________________________________
Mon 7-9-01
Time sure flies by for this lazy Pep.
Our dog was not doing very good and I lost much sleep as I
was taking care of her.
And the lack of sleep always brings me some problems and
this time, it was the IBS symptoms.
And when I have IBS symptoms, whether gas or diarrhea,
I am reminded that I have endo - I feel something around the
area I used to have severe pain.
Still, I should be thankful that I cannot call that something
a pain.
The dog and I are doing much better now.
Last month, I had some pulling sensation (adhesion?), but
that is getting better this month.
I do get IBS and flu-like symptoms more often now.
I wonder how much of mosquito control poison is affecting that..
In any cases, I decided that it is not a coincidence that
my husband and I get sore throat every time the truck or the
helicopter comes and sprays.
Maybe I overdid with pizza, too, though they were all organic
ingredient home-made pizza, I did use some cheese(organic).
Yes, it has been more than 6 months since my pain went away
and I told myself that I could relax just a little bit
if I did really really good with my strict diet for 6 months.
So, I made my pizza, but I guess I needed moderation..
(Please do not ask me how many slices I have been eating *_* )
New contact lens lotions are very good.
I don't get itchy eyes any more!
Oh, I started having Fennel seed tea for IBS along with
peppermint tea.
( Thanks to Debra!!)
It really seems to work on IBS cramps!
I also started taking milk thisle (non-alcohol) tincture.
But I am out now and waiting for more to get in the store.
Tincture seems to go quickly and it may end up sort of expensive
if you were to take them for a long time.
I take vitex tincture, too, but I might switch to capsule..
And about capsules!
Not just because I do not eat meat, but also
that I've heard gelatin which makes capsules is a
substance obtained from the ligaments, bones, and skin of
animals and it kind of sounds scary specially these days,
I am switching gelatin capsules to vegetarian (Vegicaps etc)
capsules.
I am trying to use organic stuff exclusively, but it is
difficult for me since there isn't a health food store that
sells organic produce in this area.
I buy organic produce at a little section in a super market,
though they don't have much variety.
All these switching acts take some $,
but what if I can buy good health with a few dollars
difference..?
I hear people say organic stuff is too expensive, but
what if we didn't have any more medical expense (and insurance)
because we switched to organics?
Well I don't know, but
if more people started buying organic stuff,
they will become cheaper, too.
When I looked into those chemicals (dioxin and even some cancer
causing chmicals) in pesticides, herbicides, hormones and
antibiotics that they put into our food along with the
genetically engineered food,
I could not think of anything but to switch....
________________________________________________________________
Wed 8-1-01
So I've almost finished switching capsules to vegetable ones.
And I'm also starting to take less mineral supplement to see
how that's going to affect my health.
I feel I am taking too many tablets and capsules and I do
believe that I need to cook more often and try to get
nutrients from good food.
Having said that, I started using Noni juice last week. ^o^;
I have read some posts at US and Japanese endo message boards
and they were saying Noni juice helped them with their
symptoms.
I was thinking that Noni juice was very expensive, but
I didn't know you only need to drink 2 table spoons at a time
and it's really not that bad.
My local store carried only non-organic, but next time, I would
like to order organic one.
It has been just a week, but I feel I have more energy..?
_________________________________________________________________
Fri 10-12-01
Just as I thought I was finally getting over the spaceyness
(?) I had since Sept 11, the bombing started and Anthrax and ..
Meanwhile, it rained a lot down here in Florida and
there were cases of West Nile Virus - means more poison from
the sky!! (mosquito control)
How are we supposed to get healthy??
But I still try to be positive and live happily.
I am doing good, actually, and I should not complain.
________________________________________________________________
Tue 10-30-01
I was planning to write some more on 10-12, but somehow
it is already 10-30..
I'm just getting over the tummy flu.
It wasn't fun but I still did not need to go to a doctor
and other than occasional Tylenol for aches here and there,
I didn't even have to take medicine.
My tummy was doing quite badly - diarrhea, gas and cramps -
and peppermint tea and fennel seed tea have been a
great help.
My periods are coming a bit too early yet and
I still feel endo is (are) there..I mean, I don't get
bad pain but I sometimes feel some tenderness and cramping
reminding me how vicious and stubborn this disease is.
Although, around this time last year,
every month, I had to spend terrible time in bed for some days
even after max dose of strong pain med
because of that excruciating pain.
So, I think should realize that I have come a long way.
Changes lately are...
* I still take Noni juice. And I still feel it might be giving
me some energy. (It sure doesn't taste great, though.)
* Now I eat organic food exclusively.
Since there aren't large health food stores in this town,
it's difficult for me to go 100% organic, but my food is
about 85% organic now.
I'm still "pretty much" a vegetarian except occasional fish.
No meat, no milk, no dairy, no caffeine, almost no eggs,
no white (refined) sugar, no smoking, no alcohol.
- This probably sounds terrible to some people,
but I'm eating quite a bit and -believe it or not-
I do enjoy eating.
And I'm thankful that I do have
such a happy life.
* I seem to get less hypoglycemia symptoms these days and
I started to have some "white" but organic pasta back into
my diet. I try not to overdo it and so far, I'm doing ok.
Mosquito control trucks and even helicopters did come
quite often in September and October.
I wonder how much of that is affecting our health..
Lately I really feel that I need to go and get my teeth
fixed..I don't have any toothache, but I have too much of
toxic metal in my mouth.
Thanks for reading.
I hope you and your loved ones are doing good!
________________________________________________________________
Thurs 12-6-01
Wow, this year is almost over..
We really hope next year is going to be better, don't we?
In this hectic December, I am doing quite good, thank you.
My IBS symptoms are getting much more manageable and
as long as I cook and eat at home,
I have almost no problems.
Interestingly, if I eat out 2 days in a row,
I get diarrhea.
Even then, it doesn't get as bad as before and I don't
have to take medicine or anything.
* I'm still on organic vegetarian diet.
* I think I'm going to give noni juice a rest.
( It still may be doing me good, but I'm feeling
better in general and just trying to take
less supplements..)
* I am taking a break from natural progesterone cream
this month. I had a little spotting at around ovulation
(or maybe a little after),
but other than that, I seem to be doing all right.
I might use the cream next month again, but I haven't
decided yet.
I have used the cream for about 11 months.
Now I'm going to add some news articles about
"caffeine and estrogen"
and
"sleep and estrogen"
to the main page.
Take care!!
Happy holidays!!
* Pep's home page is at
http://www.geocities.com/pepchun/p.html
thanks!