Holiday Illness

Ever notice how many people on or near the Holidays become ill? Is this a coincidence? I think not!

I believe the lack of vitamin D (from less daylight) and the foods we consume in the Winter and on Holidays are the culprit. We think we can have a piece of pie knowing it's an allergen or harmful (especially to people with an illness) and yet we eat it anyway because we don't want to insult the host and/or because we think, "One piece can't hurt."

The Holidays often bring about the thoughts of yummy foods and we want to eat what every one else is enjoying.

This notion is false. When we eat foods we aren't suppose to or consume too much sugar it's toxic to our bodies. Heck any sugar is toxic and causes inflammation - even in a healthy body.

How do we remedy this?

First deal with the inflammation - drink water with lemon (simple and most affordable way to treat inflammation).

Secondly the sugar causes an overgrowth of candida in our system. To treat this consume black walnut hulls (found at a vitamin store) and take grapefruit seed extract.

To speed the process of removing the candida overgrowth and reducing inflammation hit the gym, exercise, do yoga, stretch, walk and get your heart rate up (in addition take a vitamin D supplement or get sunlight).

Your mind will become more clear after removing the candida overgrowth and pain will subside after treating inflammation.

Next Holiday season offer to bring a dessert and or dishes that are healthier for you to consume to avoid this problem. 

Inspiration

                                 A previous post of mine, How I Defeated Multiple Sclerosis

                                            A recent post of mine, Emotional Wildfire

How to Help Pain and Stress Naturally

When our day begins and we wake up in pain, it is very depressing and stressful. We tend to focus on what is "hurting" rather than detach ourselves from the affliction.

The latest research has found a direct link between stress and new lesion formation (link to article).

The source of our malady doesn't matter... regardless of mental, or physical pain, there's always a way to work through it.

I've got a torn rotator cuff, two protruding discs at L4 and L5, suffered with MS for years, have had 3 knee surgeries, my gall bladder removed, and two brain surgeries due to trigeminal neuralgia (the most painful affliction in the world).

I know pain...it's hard, and worse, it is depressing.

The worst thing to do, is to sit around and do nothing, and let the pain and depression consume you.

I keep moving and working, always doing something to keep my mind away from pain.

I'm not saying to ignore a medical issue that needs treatment. Rather I'm saying, if you're like me...and suffer with pain, it's best to keep your mind off and away from it because it causes stress on your whole body.

Here's a link about how pain and stress are closely related.

I stay positive, and I am always looking for things to do. For example, I'm always listening to music, writing, spending time with loved ones, weight lifting, shopping for healthy food, reading, and creating. The Fall semester for college begins in less than a week...I can't wait to get into the studio and start sculpting. I'm also taking a 400 level English course, with a focus on writing.

Once my mind stops focusing, I find the pain...and feel miserable.

I feel most relaxed when I'm creating. I enter this "zone," and get so into what I'm doing that the rest of the world disappears.

It can be hard to create when my pain is awful, but all I have to do is start to create and I accidentally fall into my "zone" and the pain disappears.

You may not be creative and that's fine...find a hobby, spend time with a friend, meditate, pray, create a scrapbook, listen to/play music, play cards, board games, sing, dance, exercise, cook, read, write, stretch, etc. It doesn't matter what healthy activity you do, as long as your whole mind is immersed in it.

When your lost deep in thought, your body relaxes, stress lifts, and pain goes away.

Find your "zone," where your world, and your pain, melts away.

Related previous posts of mine, How to Fight Depression Naturally
                                                  How Exercise Fights MS
                                                 How I Defeated Multiple Sclerosis

How to Defeat Multiple Sclerosis Without Disease Modifying Drugs

Disease modifying therapies, which contain interferon, have been widely used to treat multiple sclerosis. However, recent studies have scientifically proven that they do not lessen disability. So what does that mean about the other treatments that are available? Are they safe and effective? What are they doing to your body when you take them?

I am disappointed with the scientific field, for producing false hope in individuals with MS. The disease modifying drugs which contain Betaseron have been used since 1993 and are now known to not prevent disability. So people have been using these drugs for about 20 years and are only now becoming aware of the fact they may not work? That just pisses me off.

Here's a link about interferon based drugs being ineffective against disability.

I remember trying Avonex and the flu like symptoms that came with it were unbelievable. My body obviously knew to reject it. I only took it for a few weeks because I had 2 relapses while I was on it.

Shortly thereafter, I tried Rebif...I was told the side effects were more tolerable, and they were...I used it for almost 7 weeks. During that time I had 3 relapses. I turned to my neurologist Dr. Lava while I was in the hospital and said, "The Rebif is making me sicker isn't it?"

"It appears it is making you worse," he replied.

I never tried Tysarbi because the rebound effect frightened me. I was relapsing often, and I was scared that if I went on Tysarbi and then had to stop taking it, I could get sicker. The thought of developing more lesions when I already had about 30, scared the shit out of me. What could those lesions do to me? To be honest I wasn't scared of the PML. I wanted the MS symptoms to stop and when this drug first came out there was no information about the JC virus. I figured if I died from PML I wouldn't suffer anymore. However the fear of suffering the rebound effect was enough to make me never try it.

I had used Copaxone for years and I must admit...I felt as though it did help. After years of taking it, I couldn't handle the side effects any longer. I got sick of injecting myself, the welts were horrible, the cost of the drug is astronomical, the side effects felt terrible and I was still getting relapses.

Medical research has shown Copaxone has medical benefits in slowing down the number of relapses for MS, but they don't understand why.

Did you know the main ingredients in Copaxone are 4 amino acids? They are: glutamic acid, lysine, alanine and tyrosine.

Why inject yourself with an over priced drug with severe side effects, when you can buy these amino acids at most vitamin stores or online, take them orally, save money, and most importantly be safe and feel good? This is why I advocate protein in forms of chicken and whey, and have suggested taking amino acids in previous post titled, A Secret to Defeating MS.

You must be thinking why didn't my doctor, who I trust, tell me this?

He didn't tell you this because he went to medical college for Western medicine. He is not an Eastern medicine doctor which studied homoeopathic remedies in college. In fact, he can't tell you this without risking a lawsuit because his insurance only protects him from the school of thought he got a degree in.

I recently saw my gynecologist because my periods have been irregular and I wanted to make sure everything was okay with my lady parts. He tried to prescribe my progesterone. I said, "I told you doctor I will only use natural remedies. I will start eating yams and use a natural cream made from yams, but I will not take your prescription."

He replied, "I am not licensed to prescribe a natural remedy, my insurance won't protect me."

I thanked him for his honesty and realized that the next time I need a doctor I will seek out a homeopathic one.

In my post yesterday (Latest Research has "Cured" Mice from MS) I discussed the newest scientific research which indicates that beta-amyloid cells are responsible for "curing" mice with MS. There is a connection between glutamine (glutamic acid) and beta amyloid cells. Here's a link which discusses this connection.

So your probably wondering why Copaxone has such severe side effects?

Most side effects are caused by a glutamine overdose or an allergy to glutamine. It depends on the side effect you are experiencing...you could even be having an allergic reaction to the inactive ingredient Mannitol.

How can you avoid these painful injections and unwanted side effects?

Take glutamine, which is the what glutamaic acid is derived from. If you take the glutamine in the form of a vitamin, you will have the flexibility of ingesting the amino acid orally, and taking the amount your body can tolerate without side effects.

I also want to point out this link from The New York Times which states, "At the same time, they acknowledge certain weaknesses of their own study, in particular the problem that people who take no medicine are also likely to be among those who are the least ill and therefore least likely to become disabled in any case."

I find the above paragraph very amusing...because I haven't taken an MS therapy drug in years! I had an EDSS score of 5.5 while I was using drug modifying therapies and over 40 lesions. Now I take NOTHING and I am free of MS symptoms. I do believe people like myself would benefit from not taking the medicine because they are not putting toxic, foreign substances into their body.
I know the vitamins I have suggested cost money and you may be receiving disability and have trouble affording them...but you really need to, in order to make a full recovery. Here's a link to my previous post, Vitamins that Fight Disease.

Vitamins are not magic pills! You must adopt a healthy life style as I have mentioned in my previous posts in order to repair the damage from multiple sclerosis. This will not happen overnight because it takes time to remove the impurities, toxins and free radicals in your body.

Do I think you should stop taking your disease modifying drug....

I cannot answer that for you.

However, I have informed you of how I approach this disease, what I do, and shown you the medical research so you can make the best decision for you.

If you feel what you are taking is not working for you, then why continue?

A previous post titled, How I Defeated Multiple Sclerosis.

How I Defeated Multiple Sclerosis

I have been told numerous occasions I need to tell my story because people need to know the truth about how to this fight and defeat disease. I am living proof that a cure does exist! I once believed, that at my current age of 33, I'd be in a wheelchair, a nursing home, respite care or dead because the multiple sclerosis was crippling and destroying my mind and body. Instead, I'm thriving, full of life, attending college, making art and attending the gym almost daily.

I'm sure you must be wondering how this is possible? When considering that multiple sclerosis is a debilitating neurological disease which becomes progressive over time. Multiple sclerosis is a terminal illness, with a prognosis of pain, paralysis and eventually death.

Not to mention my disease was on a rapidly progressive course which was beginning to cripple me and the preventative treatments and medications showed no effect. I was on 14 different daily medications to help treat my different symptoms and manage the pain. I felt lost, hopeless and was considering placing my children in foster care because I was hospitalized every 2-6 weeks for an exacerbation.

I felt lost, scared and alone...

I was getting worse and the prescriptions I was taking was numbing my mind and not helping.

Yet I still continued to go to the doctors and complain about my symptoms and the pain. The only thing they would do was offer more drugs and the side effects had left me incapacitated.

I was scared of not taking the prescriptions I was on because I couldn't imagine what my pain would be like if I was off of them.

I finally found the courage to stop every prescription I was taking, including the multiple sclerosis drug modifying therapy, which is suppose to be the only option to help stop this horrifying disease from progressing. Here's a link as to why the MS drugs don't slow disability.

I felt as though nothing was working and I had to change what I was doing.

Stopping the morphine was frightening and painful....but I thought if I could stop taking an addictive narcotic, I could stop taking everything else.

It wasn't easy dealing with, the withdrawal....and all of the pain....

But I did.

After that, I began to stop the medications...one by one...weaning off of them....

It was strange....after I stopped the taking tegretol (which is an anti-seizure drug used to treat pain)....

I woke up!!!

It was like I had been sleeping for many years. I could think more clearly, my thoughts sped up and I began to regain my energy and range of emotions.

I then began to take short brisk walks around my neighborhood everyday.

Then I joined my local YMCA and started doing cardio five days a week. Two weeks later I added strength training.

I could literally feel the neuropathy leave my body and my brain fog disappeared!

The numbness which was once in my legs, went to feet, then to my toes...until I felt completely normal.

My incontinence went away!

My limp was gone!

I started to get my life back!

I could go grocery shopping and carry the bags, do my laundry, cook dinner, play ball with my son, go visit friends and family....and RUN! The sun never felt so warm on face, the air never tasted so crisp, my heart never beat so hard, I could jump, and skip and live life everyday.

I don't fear tomorrow as I once did...I used to be scared of going to sleep and waking to temporary paralysis, blindness or pain.

I am not claiming there are magic pills you can take to feel better. I work on being healthy daily through diet and exercise...and its not easy to maintain...but its possible. Here's another link to someone else who was cured through diet and exercise.

Today, I can't wait for tomorrow....and I will begin at the gym...running and weight lifting....using the legs I once thought I would lose.

A must read post of mine titled, Latest Scientific Reasearch Has "Cured" Mice from Multiple Sclerosis.

Here's a link to a previous post of mine, How Exercise Fights Multiple Sclerosis

Another link of mine, A Secret to Defeating Multiple Sclerosis

A post of mine titled, How to Defeat Multiple Sclerosis Without Disease Modifying Drugs

There are numerous of other posts in my blog which describes which vitamins to take, how to cook quick healthy meals and foods to avoid.


.

Triumphant

I only want to make a brief post tonight because I injured my neck at the gym today, making me feel quite uncomfortable and sleepy from the pain. However, this past week I've been kicking ass at the gym, I leg pressed 770 pounds!

Although my weight hasn't come down much this past week, I have been increasing the amount of weight I use. I went from a leg pressing 390 pounds to 770 pounds!!!

I am now considered one of the strongest people at the gym. In fact, the guys that are professional weight lifters were cheering me on, telling me I'm a "bad ass," and bumping fists with me. I still can't believe I lifted that much...I feel like "Super woman."

Here's a link to a video so you know what a leg press is.

Next week I really want my son to go with me and record it on video, so I can share my new feat on a post.

To think that four years ago I was battling multiple sclerosis, was frequently hospitalized, walked with a limp, took 14 prescriptions, and today I'm considered one of the strongest people at the gym...

Sigh..

Thank you God...

I love life!

Over the next few days I want to make posts about having hormone imbalances and what you can do naturally to overcome this. Doctors want to prescribe the quick fix, which are birth control pills. However, these are extremely dangerous because of all the side effects associated with them.

I also want to discuss the multiple sclerosis drug modifying therapies. I haven't taken these drugs for over 5 years and am completely healthy, I want to explain why I don't take them, what they are made of and what other options are available. Here's the post, How to Defeat Multiple Sclerosis Without Disease Modifying Drugs.

I wish I could write more tonight, but my neck is killing me. I need to rest, ice the area and recuperate for my upcoming week. I can't wait to see how much I lift this week!

Here's a link to a previous post of mine, How Exercise Fights Multiple Sclerosis.

Here's another link I wrote entitled, Strengthening the Immune System.

Strengthening the Immune System

I approach challenges differently than others...while most people tend to give up in the face of adversity, I am determined to strengthen my weaknesses. I identify, research, face and defeat the problem. I do everything 110% or not all.

The medical community suggests I suppress my immune system with steroids when an exacerbation occurs. Why would I want to suppress my immune system? Wouldn't I want a healthy, strong immune system? 

I used to take every prescription the doctors would recommend, but the medicine didn't work like it was supposed to. In fact, I often felt sicker and the side effects were horrendous and unbearable.

However, I don't take that approach any more.

I was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff and protruding discs...sounds painful right? Well it was, before I started exercising and strengthening the muscles in the areas I felt pain.

I've been told that I need pain medication and to rest, ice or heat the area which hurts. However, I don't! Instead when I feel pain I know I must hit the gym and strengthen the area which hurts.

When I first started weight lifting I was going home every night in complete agony! I was icing and heating everything I could. However, about two months later I no longer pulled out the heating pads or ice because I felt great.

I've applied this same theory to MS. I have been strengthening my immune system with vitamins, herbs and supplements, although I've read and been told not to.

It seems the doctors want to weaken my immune system because they've prescribe high doses of Solu-Medrol every time I got an exacerbation.

I was also told to relax, rest, and stay cool to prevent a relapse, however I go to the gym five days a week and get very hot. I feel what I'm doing is counter-intuitive to what has been suggested to me. Granted I try and get eight hours of sleep a night, but I no longer lay down and sleep when I feel any symptoms. Instead, I go to the gym and try to reverse how I feel; and I go and get more vitamins which boost my immune system and help my lymphatic system.

I came across a great site which described how to purify and detoxify your lymph nodes. Here's the link.

Is taking echinacea bad? I use it and am not scared of it. Regardless of being diagnosed with MS. In fact I'm using it now, to help purify and detoxify my body. 

Is vitamin D bad? Again I use this too. In fact newer studies indicate how beneficial this may be for MS sufferers. Did you know it boosts the immune system?

How about vitamin B? I've heard there are certain B vitamins I shouldn't take, but I take a B-100 everyday, which has all the B vitamins in it (the B complex doesn't have them all).

I am not afraid to find what works through trial and error. After all, if something doesn't work doesn't that mean I should try something else? Why would I continue to go the doctor and take medications if it isn't working? I thought I'd be better off trying new and different ways to be healthy.

I use logic when eating and using supplements, how can something that's natural and healthy be bad for me?

Here's a link to a post of mine called, A Secret to Defeating MS
Another link of mine, Vitamins That Fight Disease.
Yet another link to a post entitled Pesticides and Food Containing Deadly Bromine

How Exercise Fights Multiple Sclerosis

The one thing I cannot stress more, is the importance of exercise because it helps purify your lymph nodes, repairs demyelination, increases dopamine and releases endorphins. Especially, with people with multiple sclerosis...I cannot stress this more to you...exercise is vital to your immune system.

I personally exercise 5 days a week, at a gym because I need to leave my house an order for me to get this done. I lack motivation when I am home. However, if you feel you can exercise at home, then by all means, turn on the music and get your heart moving!

You must elevate your heart rate above 138 beats per minute in order to sweat, and to give your cardiovascular system a boost. When your heart beats, your blood pumps vigorously through your body and your lymphatic system, purifying your lymph nodes. Ever notice the smell of your sweat? The more you sweat, the more you stink, and that's something to be proud of! You are removing toxins and impurities from your body.

I personally have found that not only cardio, but strength training helps as well. I begin with 20 minutes of cardio activity on a machine, then I lift weights for 45 minutes, and finish with another 20 minutes of cardio. You don't have to take it to this extent, as I do. A one hour workout is enough, but I highly advise you to lift weights. Let me explain...

Don't be scared of bulking up...this is a myth for women. A female body has progesterone and estrogen, which prevents the big bulky muscle look, because a women's muscle can only increase in size. Females don't make more muscles like a man does. So hit the weights! Don't feel intimidated by the men at the gym...get right in there and work up a sweat...and get strong and healthy. Lift as much weight as you can...don't be scared of a little muscle and feeling strong. The best website I have found, which has videos, and a step by step instructions for lifting is bodybuilding.com. I highly recommend this website, it explains everything, including lifting with good form, to prevent injuries.

You also have to remember that with multiple sclerosis, your muscles don't want to work in certain sections of your body because of brain and spinal lesions. This helps to re-wire the pathways! Take a look at this article and see for yourself. You can help demylenation with exercise.

I will forewarn you though...when I first started exercising...it hurt! My stem cell transplant didn't fix everything. It wasn't until I was exercising, and eating right for two months did I see my symptoms disappear! I no longer felt numbness or tingling...or pain. When I first began exercising, the numbness and tingling increased when I became hot. So be careful, you don't want to exercise yourself to the point of an injury or falling down because you got too hot, and exacerbated your symptoms.

Begin slowly, and easily. About 15 minutes a day and you can slowly increase the time as you see fit.

I also like the gym because its air conditioned. So this is another consideration you need to remember before you begin. A cool place is best...and try not to overheat. Drink plenty of water and wear  light, loose clothing to help prevent this.

Another, added benefit of exercise, is the dopamine that's released each time you do. Dopamine not only makes you happy, but helps repair the cognitive section of your brain! Doctors prescribe a drug, to increase the dopamine in your brain, for people with MS. See the link here for this article, which talks about this drug which produces dopamine to treat MS. I don't get why people don't just exercise instead of taking medicine, which has potential for side effects?

Then of course, there's the added benefits of endorphins, from exercise. Endorphins not only fight depression, but it also helps alleviate pain! Check out this article here.

I hope this information is helpful. Now can see the vital importance of exercise and all of its benefits, including fighting depression, pain, demylenation, and purification of your lymph nodes and immune system. No medication out there...can do this for you!

Remember, your lymph nodes are part of your immune system...and they need to purified. So good luck on becoming healthy, and defeating MS, one day at a time.

Here's a link to another post of mine, which describes another important aspect, to conquering MS.

Being Fat - And Getting Healthy

I use to be a large woman. In fact, I was obese 11 years ago, when I weighed close to 250 pounds! I battled weight issues as a child, but when I was 13...I went on my first diet, and entered the world of being thin. I noticed that when I lost the extra weight, society and my peers treated me differently. In fact, I gained instant respect, was talked to as a human, and realized how guys found me attractive. Years later, I learned how valuable a healthy diet can be when you become struck down with an illness...

I went on my  first diet when I was 13, which was an unhealthy diet. I lived on salad, and nothing else. I lost weight rapidly, felt extremely tired, but loved the positive attention I received from looking slim. The strange thing I realized at this point was people didn't consider me a joke anymore. I wasn't the "fat girl" anymore and I was no longer teased and ridiculed. I gained respect and many "new friends." Some people who didn't want to be seen talking to me...now did. Although, I found these so called friends of mine exciting at first, I quickly realized our friendship was based on my outward appearance, and not who I was as a person.

During my first pregnancy, I noticed the weight pile on. I had food pushed in front of my face, and literally into my mouth by my husband. People would tell me to eat more because I was eating for two. I know now, that is not true! I should of only been consuming 500 more calories a day. 

After the birth of my son, I was disgusted with how I looked. I weighed approximately 220 pounds and attempted to lose weight. However, Jimmy argued and fought with me about this....telling me, "I was losing weight to look good for other men."

I didn't realize at the time, he was controlling me. I was young, only 20 years old and didn't know better. Instead, I didn't argue back, and continued to live as a large woman, although I couldn't stand how I looked or felt. I thought I was fat, ugly and grotesque.

After my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, I lost a dramatic amount of weight...100 pounds! For several months I went on a diet which consisted of fruits, vegetables and chicken. I knew I had to lose the weight because shortly after my diagnosis I had trouble walking and became scared at the thought of using a wheelchair. I realized when I went on Canadian crutches that it was hard for me to move my body because of the extra weight I carried. I thought, if I couldn't lift a one-hundred pound weight right now...How am I carrying all that weight on my body? I couldn't imagine having further and more difficult times walking and carrying an extra 100 pound load around. This is when, why, and how I began my diet... and lost the weight.

Shortly after becoming thin, my husband began accusing me that I was cheating on him! He asked, "Why would you lose weight? I like you just the way you are! So who are you losing it for?"

He didn't care or realize the extent of my illness. In fact, he never went to any of my doctor's appointments with me. He was being selfish and hurtful. I realized at this point he only cared about himself. I knew I had to lose the weight...and I'm glad to this day I did. It was only two months later, when I filed for a divorce. 

Ever since I was 23...I never let myself go, as I once did. I had begun to implement a lifelong healthy nutrition, which I've fined tuned and changed over the years, to what I do now. I basically eat food, which are from the produce, meat, and dairy sections of a grocery store, as well as, rice, beans, nuts and natural oils. I don't consume any red meat, gluten, processed oils, fried food, processed boxed foods, and or preservatives. I prepare my food one day a week...for the rest of the week. I don't cook everyday because its time consuming. I plan what I'm going to eat ahead of time and stay far away from fast food, which is loaded with fillers and preservatives.

Eating healthy is not only a way to look good, but it helps mentally everyday with how you see yourself. If you eat nutritious good foods, you feel positive, light on your feet and good about yourself. When we make poor food choices we feel negative, guilty, heavy, weighed down and have a poor image of ourselves. 

I know that through eating right, I have helped my body and mind in every way possible. I see myself in a positive way, I feel great and it has helped my disease from progressing. When you eat healthy it helps maintain proper vitamins and nutrients necessary to our bodies and our cells to heal properly. Our brain needs good fats to heal, protein to work, and carbohydrates to process the protein. I've always believed in a high protein diet, coupled with vegetables, fruit, rice and potatoes.   

I'm not saying to never have a snack, but there are healthier snack choices (which I will specifically get into, in a later post). Also you may want to wean yourself off of junk food because there is a mental and physical addiction to it. Our body craves what we've been eating, and our mind finds comfort in it. So slowly getting rid of processed foods takes time...I recommend beginning with all sugary beverages, especially soda....and diet soda. Soda is extremely high in preservatives and is in no way healthy! Most people don't want to drink water, however, its the healthiest thing to drink.

I wish I began a healthy lifestyle years before I did. I didn't realize, how much better I'd look and feel. 

If you have questions about what you are drinking and or eating, and aren't sure whether its healthy or not, feel free to post a comment and ask me.

I will be getting into nutrition further on later posts, as well as what I consume and why.