Alternative Medicine Update

So while the raw vegan vitamins and supplements still taste like ass, they do seem to work.

I am using a digestive enzyme supplement in place of Nexium. Get this, it actually works. I am shocked. I was very skeptical. I do have some breakthrough heartburn, but, as soon as I take the next dose...relief. They need to add this stuff to Pepto Bismal, that might actually make the pink slime effective for once.

I have never been able to miss a dose of heartburn medication without vomiting acid and acid diarrhea since I was 23 years old. So this is pretty significant.

I don't know that I'll never, ever take Nexium again. I have a sneaking suspicion that, if you drink crap like Coke Zero and eat a bunch of junk food, you can outpace natural medicine (or any medical treatment, for that matter). Also my GERD is genetic, it's not lifestyle and I'm sure it will cause me problems again down the road.

So, if I need Nexium, that's okay with me. If I have to use it intermittently, that's fine. Or if this enzyme effect is limited and I go back on it full time, that's also fine. My goal is to feel better, however I get there, not to necessarily never use mainstream medicine again.

The only thing is digestive enzymes are more cost effective than Nexium (insurance doesn't want to cover it), with fewer side effects, so it would be a win-win all around if they are effective long term.

My blood pressure medicine has also been switched to a medicinal herb formulation. I looked them up. They're legit. These herbs gave rise to prescription medications, only the herbs don't seem to have the side effects of their 'processed' pharmaceutical counterparts. I am checking my blood pressure frequently and it's fine, so far.

Controlling BP with herbs, however, is not cost effective. If I need continual medication, I'd rather go back to the pharmaceutical stuff. My only complaint with BP was that I've lost all this weight, yet need ever increasing amounts of medication. I find that really annoying.

One of the (many) other supplements I am taking is Maca root. Google told me it's the 'Peruvian Via gra' which, Good Lord, not the effect I was going for. I have no idea if the Maca is actually doing anything at all, but I thought it was funny. Me? On a Vi a gra like substance? Hahahaha.

And I've decided I do like the Myer's Cocktail. It's hard to really sort out its effects since I had the overlay of a chest cold, but I did not stress dose, despite being decently sick. I had the reserves to keep me going. There were moments where I wondered if I would be able to do it, where I was sure I would need steroids, but they passed and I'm almost to the other side, steroid free. That has happened almost never, so I am excited.

It's interesting to me that there's a perception that it doesn't seem to have value (at least from what I've read). No one disputes the effects of a B12 shot or the impact of other anti-oxidants, but put them in an IV and boo hiss? That doesn't make sense to me.

I am not sure it helped my chest cold much. The feedback I felt in my body was that I'd just dumped a ton of stuff in my blood stream for it to process when it was already busy fighting the bug. In that sense, I think it slowed down my immune response, but once the infusion was integrated into my system, I believe it was helpful.

With the Myer's Cocktail, my body felt very 'active' like it was super busy doing important things. I have no idea what that work was, but the sensation was very 'buzzy' on the macro level. It reminded me of the 'activity' of my body working to make milk after my daughter was born. I could tell something major was going on then and I have that same feeling now.

I don't know if any of this will work long term, but short term it's had a positive impact. I have some criticisms of things too and I hope to write a post on that once I've formulated my thoughts.