Thursday, December 11, 2008

Looking For The Quick Fix

Seven years ago I started working at a natural health office. Even though I didn't care for the ethics of the people I worked for, I did learn a lot about taking care of myself in a more natural way. I believe there is a time and a place for prescription drugs, but I also feel we are an "over drugged" society. Part of that can be blamed on the doctors, but most of it can be blamed on ourselves. We are a "quick fix" society. We can't even tolerate a runny nose anymore. We run to the pharmacy or to the doctor to make that runny nose go away. We seem to do that for every little ache or pain we have. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of very sick people that need medication to survive. Thank goodness we can help them.

What many people don't realize though is that symptoms are our body's way of telling us that something is wrong. Suppressing those symptoms with drugs may not always be the best thing to do. Besides all drugs have side affects.

When I worked at the natural health office, people would come in with shopping bags filled with medications they were taking....lists the length of their arm. It was awful. These weren't people with serious illnesses. These were people that went to see the doctor for common every day ailments like stomach pain and got a pill. That pill gave them a headache, so they got a pill for that. That pill gave them ringing in their ears, so that got a pill for that....and before they knew it, they had a shopping bag full and now they really were sick. Most people's systems can't handle that many drugs. It was so sad. The thing is, they would take all of the pills, feel sicker than they did in the first place and still not know why they had stomach pain!

I use to run to the doctor for everything. Now I don't. I have learned to understand my body and symptoms. Sure, it is tempting to reach for the medicine bottle when my head hurts, but now I prefer to figure out why my head hurts and just deal with it. It hurts for a reason and I prefer to know why.

Many of us have awful diets, including me at times. We eat fast foods, processed foods and foods covered with insecticides and pesticides. It's easy to see why we often don't feel well. I go through phases of healthy eating, but always seem to fall back into the "whatever is easiest" rut. I find myself eating a handful of chips, or stopping for chai lattes almost everyday, or ordering desserts when we eat out. I never give a second thought to what that is doing to my body, until I feel awful with no energy or have a headache everyday or my nose is so stuffed up I can't breathe. That is what eating poorly does to me. I know that, because I know what it's like to eat healthy and feel fantastic.

About 4 years ago I was tested for food sensitivities. Those are a bit different than food allergies. With allergies you usually get symptoms immediately. With food sensitivities, the symptom can take hours or even days to appear. Everyone probably has sensitivities to something in their diet or their environment. My problem back then was wheat and chocolate. The way to correct the problem is to avoid eating those foods for about 6 months, which I did. I had never felt so good in my entire adult life.

Then as time went on, I slowly added the wheat back into my diet and felt fine. I tried adding the chocolate back in, but kept getting headaches, so I try to still avoid the chocolate. Over time though, my diet has really become inconsistent. I eat good, I eat bad, I eat bad, I eat bad, and then I might eat good for a while.

Lately I just haven't felt the way I know I should. I've been getting headaches, my nose is stuffy all the time and I'm tired during the day. I know why...so, I decided to get tested again. I had regular blood work done and I also got tested for Vitamin B and Vitamin D. I haven't eaten meat in over three years, so I was curious about my B and I had melanoma 10 years ago so I get very little, if any sun...so I wanted to see where my D was at. The test I had for the food sensitivities was called the ALCAT TEST. I got my results last night. Let's just say that I am a little frustrated right now and have some major decisions to make about my health.

Tomorrow I will talk about the test results with you. Let's suffice it to say that I am desparately looking for that "quick fix" pill right now!

5 comments:

LiPeony said...

er.... that don't sound good... I mean about choosing what to eat and stuff. I do believe in the fact that we rely too much on pills. My family is very traditional and uses a lot of ancient Chinese remedies and to my surprise they work. The only drug I really have on hand is one for the flu or cold and maybe some Tylenol. Everything is brewed from some mix of herbs and whatnot. They're sort of like chicken soups for anything that ails you.

I found chrysanthemum tea to be one of the best teas to keep me up along with green tea. I love green tea.

Anyways I hope the results weren't that bad =/
I don't think I can give up eating chocolate... lolol

¤~∙3zArt∙~¤ said...

For a long time I have had a very, very unhealthy diet. I have read about endless diets and none of them seemed healthy. After that I decided to research what the recommended diet for a person my height and age would be. I checked many sites and got an average for daily intake of fat, calories, carbs, fiber, sodium, and so on. After that I made myself up a chart and have tried to stick with it. It takes awhile to get used to reading the labels & knowing at the store (w/o your chart) if it will fit into your diet but once you get the hang of it it's pretty cool. I also allow myself 1 day a week to eat & drink whatever I want. I strongly believe if you don't allow yourself a little break like that you will relapse in no time. After a few weeks of doing this I noticed I would have a lot more energy in the afternoon. There is a lot more I can say about it but this is a really long reply as it is!!

Best of luck to you,
Alexandria (3zArt

Kim @ Forever Wherever said...

I stopped by from Etsy. Your blog looks great and I feel the same way you do about all the drugs that are being handed out in the country everyday! They give so many to young children and then in 15 years they will say they're sorry but you will now have kidney problems or something like that. Money is their top priority! I'm going to stop by your Etsy shop and take a look around!
-Kim

mistyridge said...

I agree with you. I am currently dealing with alot of health problems myself and I know exactly what you mean about the docs being way too eager to give a pill. I struggled with them for over a year trying to find out what was wrong with me. I felt sooo bad that I finally gave in and took the meds. At the worst point I was taking 22 pills a day. Thank God that has improved to about 9 must haves that I take at night for arthritis issues and inflammatory disease. I totally agree with you about symptoms being your bodies way of telling you that something is WRONG. I was told that I had Fibromyalgia and the symptoms really DIDN'T mean anything. Yeah right I wish they would have been in my shoes at that time.

Anyway sorry about the long comment. Sorry to hear you arent happy with your test results. I will check back tomorrow. Hope everything works out for you.

Lanyardlady said...

Despite my poor diet and lack of exercise i am pill-free at the moment. If i don't do something that will change. Drugs, and the interaction of all the drugs out there, worry and fascinate me. I am sorry to hear of your health concerns and am sending supportive thoughts your way.

Blog Archive