My Holistic Experience

I saw the new Holistic MD on Thursday and let me just say that it was BY FAR the best doctor appointment I have ever had in my entire life! I had a 5:00 appointment, and I didn't get in to see him until 5:45, but you know what....I didn't even care. It was almost 7:00 when I finally left there!

Dr. R and I sat and talked about my past health and my current health. I told him how I felt about prescription drugs and why, and you know what.....he actually listened to me. He looked at me when I was talking. He genuinely cared what I had to say. I was able to tell him what I didn't like about my experiences with other doctors.

I told him I needed guidance. I wanted a good solid program of diet, supplements and exercise for my osteopenia and I want to get off the blood pressure meds because I honestly don't think I need them.

When we were done talking, he left the office for a few minutes and came back with a chart. On it were circled all of the health issues I have had and ones I have now. He explained how everything is connected and how one thing can affect another. I worked in a natural health office for five years...I understand a lot about how the body works, and I think he appreciated that. It made his job easier, because he didn't have to do much for me to understand. I already get it.

He looked at the supplements I am already taking and suggested some changes. Every suggestion he made was followed by an explanation of what it will do and why it would be good for me. He doesn't even sell the supplements in his office. you order them directly from the company.

People's bones don't just start weakening on their own....in fact, no health condition just appears for no reason. There is always something going on in your body long before you get a symptom. In order for me to improve my bone health, I need to be sure my body is getting everything it needs to function at 100%. I will do that through diet and supplements.

I also talked to him about my weighted workout shirt and it seems I put the weights right where they need to be. I asked him about the yoga I do because the workout has a lot of forward bending and some twisting and some things I've read say you shouldn't do that with bone loss. He said it was fine for me to keep doing them, and I was so happy.

He gave me food lists....things I should eat and things I should avoid and why. I love when someone tells me why I need to do something...it makes it so much easier.

I told him that my Internist said that no amount of exercise, diet or supplements would ever make my bones stronger....she guaranteed it....about 10 times in fact. He told me that maybe in a few years, I'll be able to go back to her with my bone scan and show her that it is possible to improve your bone health without drugs.

So here I am at the beginning of another journey. This time in addition to my family and friend's support, I have a wonderful doctor ready to travel with me. It's going to be a great trip!

My Sure Cure For A Nasty Headache

Before I fell asleep last night I got a nasty headache. Not only that, my upper back was hurting really bad. I lay there trying to get comfortable, and started thinking about what I might have done for the back ache. Then I remembered that I did some arm exercises earlier in the evening. The headache could have been from my first day doing pilates again. I felt better knowing why I was hurting, but it didn't make sleep any easier.

I woke up a couple of times during the night with my head still hurting, and woke up at 4:30 a.m. with the headache still there. Hmmmmmm....hate starting out the day like that, but I got myself ready and headed to work.

About an hour after I got to work, I headed to the kitchen to warm up my tea that had already gotten cold. When I walked in I smelled this wonderful smell.....mint. Man did it smell good. I looked at the table and there they were...a plate of assorted Girl Scout cookies that someone had put out. I immediately spotted the little gems that were giving off the lovely aroma....thin mints! I could eat a whole box of those little guys in one sitting.

Unfortunately for me, I am on a special food sensitivity diet and flour and sugar are a no-no. I have not been perfect on the diet, I am still drinking my Starbucks chai lattes a couple of days a week, but to eat a thin mint would be a sin.

Then I remembered something from my 5 years of working in the natural health office....mint is great for head aches. My boss use to have a little roll on bottle of peppermint oil, and when she had a headache, she would rub it on her temples and her headache would go away. She swore by it.

With my head still pounding, I picked up one of the precious little chocolate gems....NO I did NOT rub the thin mint on my temples!!! I grabbed a napkin and held the little thin mint in it and then I breathed in the yummy scent. Over and over. I walked back to my office, napkin wrapped cookie in hand, sat at my desk and sniffed some more.

I left the little cookie sitting on the napkin next to me on my desk and started to work. Every once in a while I would pick the little guy up and take a whiff.

Well, about 20 minutes later, I suddenly realized that my headache was GONE! I mean it, it really was.

So, was it the magical little thin mint, or had my headache just run it's course? We may never know, but when the Girl Scouts come around next year selling cookies you can be sure I will be buying a few boxes of the thin mints.....for medicinal purposes only of course!

(And no, I never ate the cookie. It is wrapped up in the napkin, still sitting on my desk...just in case I have a headache tomorrow!)

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!