WELCOME TO MAE'S HEALTH PAGE!

My sister-in-law is legally blind from a genetic disease called "Stargardt's Disease" for which there is no cure. She is not totally blind; she can make out darkness and light and shadows of figures. She is heavily into herbology and alternative health therapies. After taking herbal remedies and nutritional supplements supplied by an herbologist, her sight became noticeably better to where she is now able to read type that is enlarged on the computer if she gets close to it. She was not able to do this before. She also had a history of intestinal disorders for which no one could seem to help her until this herbologist gave her a supplement regimen to follow. She also follows a colon cleansing regimen. She is in excellent health now, and her eyesight has improved. Her experience with her herbologist led her to further her education and has since become a Certified Herbologist through home study.

My father-in-law was born in June of 1925. He suffered for many years with arthritic hands and knees. The pain was so bad in his knees that he was walking with a cane. And his hands were so bad in the morning that he would have to soak them in very hot water before he could even brush his teeth. After seeing the improvement in his daughter's eyes, he decided to seek the advice of an herbologist who supplied him with nutritional supplements and herbal remedies after taking a thorough health history. He also wore glasses almost all his life. After following this program, he experiences much less pain in his joints and no longer needs to wear his glasses. He has also been receiving chelation therapy due to his long history of heart problems and family history of atherosclerosis. Since taking the chelation treatments, he is now off one of his blood pressure medications. Recently, he heard of good results another patient receiving chelation had after visiting an iridologist. So, he decided to make an appointment with one. I had read about iridology before and was very curious about it. Since my other family members had had so much success in the past with their alternative treatment regimens, I decided to give it a try. I also made an appointment with the iridologist.

I was amazed at how this iridologist knew my health history without questioning me about it first - just by looking into my eyes. He gave me supplements to take and told me that I would be able to stop taking the medications that I was on if I followed this regimen. He also informed me of foods to avoid and which foods where beneficial. He also conducted a personality and psychological interview since "the physical and the mental" work in coordination with one another. He also used massage using the "Bowen" technique on painful areas of my body. The pain I had been experiencing in my shoulders and down my arms were gone when he was finished. That was the first time in four years I had gotten total relief from my shoulder pain. After following his program for two months, I had noticed a drastic change in the way I felt. I was able to stop all other medications except for ibuprofen for pain when all other methods fail. Although I felt an increase in pain for a few weeks after stopping the medications, I now am feeling much better.

This has not been my first experience with alternative methods of treatment. I have also utilized relaxation therapy and guided imagery to deal with my pain. I have also found that exercise helps to alleviate many symptoms brought on by stress. I followed an exercise program for strengthening all of my muscle groups which has helped to decrease my back pain. Through strengthening all muscle groups, one lessens his or her chances of further injury. I have also used nutritional supplements and dietary changes to treat my shingles - which have not returned since following the advice from Dirk Pearson and Sandy Shaw (Book: Life Extension) and a brochure I purchased in a health food store. I have also learned to control my irritable bowel syndrome and colitis through diet, supplements, and behavior modification.

Update: 2/21/2005: Since visiting with the iridologist mentioned above, I have also found a medical doctor who specializes in alternative medicine - again at the advice of my father-in-law who has had much success with the treatments recommended by this M.D.

A few years ago, I made an appointment with the alternative M.D. my father-in-law had recommended after I had come down with asthmatic bronchitis. Staff and patients at my place of employment had suffered for over a month without relief of symptoms, and I was not looking forward to being sick that long. So, I went to this M.D. hoping to keep this illness at bay. He recommended Potassium/Chloride drops, Vitamin C (4000 mg/day), and Bellamcanda 15 (a chinese herbal supplement) two tablets 3 times a day, along with an albuterol inhaler as needed. Much to my surprise, his suggestions for treatment had me feeling better in one day, and it was gone in 4 days. He made a believer out of me!

Since having been diagonsed with Lupus in 1994, I had had not much success in relieving the symptoms which occur from the disease: extreme fatigue, multiple joint pain and swelling, frequent fevers, night sweats, skin rashes/lesions, butterfly rash across the cheek and nose, sun sensitivity, hair loss, and nose and mouth ulcers. I had seen a rheumatologist and dermatologist who both prescribed medications and creams to try to alleviate the symptoms with not much success. Not liking the side affects of the medications (especially over long-term use and being diagnosed at the age of 35), I decided to seek alternative solutions. After the successful treatment of the asthmatic brochitis, I decided to give this new alternative medical doctor a try with my lupus.

I underwent a series of tests, including saliva testing, 24-hour urine collection and bloodwork. There were many other abnormalities in the test results that I will not bore you with. There was, however, one surprising result. It was discovered that I had mercury poisoning. This doctor, in his practice, has found a link to mercury poisoning and lupus. It seems that many with my symptoms have also been found to have high levels of mercury in their system. Based on the test results, he put me on a regimen of megadoses of vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements. He also kept me on Zoloft and ibuprofen as was prescribed by my rheumatologist. In three weeks time, my engergy level had substantially increased, I was practically pain free, I was sleeping better, and my skin rashes and lesions had disappeared for the first time in 3 years.

Due to the astounding results I have experienced, I am a firm believer in natural, alternative methods in treating afflictions of the body and mind. While I know that there are some areas that conventional medicine is the only treatment, I do believe that many afflictions and illnesses can be better (and more safely) treated naturally though alternative measures.

My best advice is to be open-minded and research what is out there, if for only one reason, to be an informed patient armed with the knowledge to ask questions.