Wednesday 12 September 2012

Taking stock

I'm not one to socialmedia-ise about my medical issues or bodily functions, but I thought this worth a post.

I haven't mentioned it much, but I've been coughing since June.
 
It's always a tight cough, and some days I just cough a bit, and other days I cough till my whole body is sore.
 
I've been through three courses of antibiotics, some cortizone, and enough bottles of cough mixture to make a bergie happy.
 
Today I went to see a homeopath - two friends suggested that I do this, and the gentleman I saw was recommended by one of them. I have never been to a homeopath before, having always trusted in conventional medicine, but even the lovely Dr Setzer has given up on trying to fix what's up with me and it was time for a different tactic.
 
He hooked me up to a gizmo - kinda like being in an electric chair, but way more comfortable and I lived to tell the tale. It analyses 14 000 different things about your body, and then yields results. It's his job to interpret the results, and suggest a plan of action.
 
The results?
The biggest, loudest, shoutiest thing was that I am exhausted. Totally. When he told me that (because it's what I have known for ages but haven't given it the seriousness of a Diagnosis), I burst into tears. A lack of sleep also means you have low levels of seratonin and dopamine, which are your happy hormones, from what I gather. (Refer back to crying). But when you're not in control of how much you sleep - how do you get that magical, mythical eight hours? Between two children, a husband, (all of whom I love more than I could possibly describe) four dogs, burglar alarms going off and cats (not ours) in the garden  - how is it possible to be in control of not being awake? He gave me a stern talking to: change the way things work in your routine, and get more sleep, or my health will continue to suffer, or worsen. He even chucked in the C word.

The next thing:
I show high allergic reactions to almonds (no more macarons then. Well, not to eat, anyway), corn, gluten and feathers. I'm willing to cut those out of my diet (I don't eat feathers though), and will have to remove my down duvet and pillows. Apparently feathers are threefold bitches: you can be allergic ot the feathers, to the dust that they gather, or to the mould that grows on them. Yuck, right? Totally. Time to go shopping for new bedding.

And.
When it comes to organs etc, my stomach and spleen are out of whack. Two things here: my food isn't being digested properly before it's absorbed into my body - which in turn leads to allergies developing. And, those parts are in control of the fluids in your body - and if they're not sorted, then stuff goes out of balance. Like an endless post nasal drip (check) and lots of irrational crying (check). So he's given me a tonic to sort that out.

Then.
This device also measures other things, like hormones, minerals, vitamins etc (all of which are normal). It also picks up emotions. And here's where I'm going to have to start working on deeper stuff on myself, because the things that came tumbling out here were guilt and self-repression and a few other words that made me cry some more, because they struck home so much.
 
So.
I'm happier with this process than with conventional medicine because it tackles causes rather than chucking drugs at symptoms. (An aside: cortizone suppresses your body's ability to fight off germs. Hmmm). What he said makes so much sense on so many levels.

He's given me a range of pillules, drops and a tonic, and I see him again in three weeks, when I hope I shall be more healthy, and a lot more together than I was today.
 
 

4 comments:

c@th said...

I commend anything that gives you a holistic view of your health. And seriously, people mistake health for being a merely physical thing. It's not. It's EVERY aspect of you. Well done for going, and being brave enough to write about it, admit to it and do something. XXXX

Fiona said...

He sounds brilliant!
I find I can handle most things in a more logical way with 8 hours sleep, it really is so important.

Could you please send me his details? My email address is feedesouza@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

seems like you're on the right track now, hope that you get some rest and get better soon. Be gentle on yourself

Jenty said...

How fascinating!! Must say that the endo that I saw also deals mostly with vitamins and natural products, and it was amazing the change to my skin and hair and energy after just changing the right vitamins