Postivie Effects of Alternative Medicine

Since I'm about six weeks into being a super duper alternative patient, I thought I'd list out some of its effects.

-Thicker hair. This is a biggie as most women with PCOS lose quite a bit of hair. I lost about half of mine and, by the time I finally got pregnant (after many years of infertility treatments), I had a small bald spot. That spot filled back in as the hormones of pregnancy were, essentially, a cure for the PCOS. I've managed to keep my hair since pregnancy, although it did thin out again. So I'm pleased to see thicker hair. I might go long again!

-Improved edema. I suspect most of the lower leg edema I have is due to the steroids--either the ones I've been on recently or the cumulative damage of long term steroids (15 years oral steroids before I was switched to inhaled ones). The improvement does not last much beyond a few days after an IV nutrition therapy session. But I do notice it.

-Improved blood sugar. I don't have a meter to test (anymore), but I don't get those whirling sensations if I eat some sugar like I have in the past. An example, I had a SAD (standard American diet) meal at the volunteer gig a few weeks ago and that usually makes my head feel like it's going to spin off from the sudden carb dump, but now that feeling is gone.

This is important because I have muscle problems when I take Metformin or Fortamet. If you think Type 2 Diabetes from long term steroid use is bad, try facing it down without being able to take the first line medications. That's the modern equivalent of being cursed. So I work very very hard with diet and nutrition supplements to diabetes proof myself.

So far so good. My last A1C was 5.6, fasting glucose 87, insulin 16. I'd like the A1C and insulin to be lower and, if I could stay off steroids, I bet they would be.

-Reduced muscle pain. The legacy of long term steroid use, multiple whip lash injuries, and multiple HPA axis suppressions has been muscle pain. The intensity depends on how recently I've been on steroids, with steroid withdrawal being the worst offender. My neck bothers me almost constantly with other muscles spasming inappropriately. The IV nutrition therapy pretty much obliterates the muscle pain. I can still outpace its effects in my neck with poor posture, but, if I'm ergonomic, I have about 80% improvement in the pain.

-Lightening of brown marks. From this last adrenal suppression I had brown eyelids with dark brown splotches extending into my crow's feet. I don't know if it's a leftover from the few times I've crossed the line into Cushing's territory or just the mark of long term fatigue. Either way, it lightened by about 80% with the first IV treatment.

-Kept me out of the hospital. I still can't quite believe how sick I was and how lucky I was to not end up in the hospital this past May. I am terrified of being intubated and this could have been The One (being worse than the last bad episode that did put me in the hospital). The extra magnesium the clinic added to my IVs really saved me. Not to mention how the other IV ingredients kept breaking up the congestion so it didn't sit and fester in my lungs. Really an amazing experience and I'm still processing it all. I feel like I experienced true healing for the first time in my life.

Alternative Medicine Check-Up

Saw the altnernative doc. They think I look much better, which I guess is true, since I'm no longer dying of bronchitis. I am more tentative. I've been in this place before, feeling like the worst is behind me only to realize that the 'new normal' comes with limitations. I'm afraid to be optimistic because that just gets me burned.

Their plan is 6 to 8 months of IV nutrition therapy and also bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

My plan is to sell a kidney to pay for all of that because this is getting seriously expensive. I wish the clinic had been more forthright about costs, because I was told it was $50 an IV session and it's not even close.

Waaaaay more money.

Add in the herbs and shit?

Even more money.

It's hard not to feel a little hoodwinked when they say one thing and then steal your wallet.

If you see the money fairy, send her my way, okay? Meanwhile I'll be writing as fast as I can (which is still slow as I'm a slow writer, totally the wrong speed for the output I need to achieve asap).

If I can get another release out this month, I'll be happy.

On the food allergy front, Dr. Alternative says it should be transient, a side effect of the IV therapy and its impact on my body. I hope that's true as I had some salsa the other night and my nose swelled shut. Chocolate, on the other hand, has been better, which gives me hope.

My big question, which remains unanswered by either. Dr. Google or Dr. Alternative is, if I have low progesterone (which I do) and progesterone is a precursor to cortisol production, how does that limit production capacity of cortisol? Or not? What fail-safes are built into the system and what impact does that have on health?

I've actually been researching this quite a bit and can't find anything. Apparently no one else in the webiverse has ever had this question. Sometimes I've stared at biochemistry charts hoping to intuit something, but, while I love Biochemistry, I never took more than the basic class in college, so it's beyond me.

Or maybe I just haven't found the right chart yet. Cue more googling and chart staring.

Dr. Alternative says it was a good question, but had no answer ready other than to move up the bioidentical hormone piece to sometime next month vs. waiting six months--which I was happy about because I think this is all connected. I don't know if it comes through on this blog, but it is clear to me that my whole body is shutting down. Nothing is working right and I think the answer lies in getting all my hormones balanced, not just cortisol.

I've been reading a lot about hormones and anti-aging (as this is the only area of medicine that seems dedicated to getting hormones right) and want to share a quote with you from a book I'm reading. T.S. Wiley is an "anthropologist focusing on evolutionary biology and environmental endocrinology in molecular medicine and genetics."

She was interviewed by Suzanne Somers (yes, from Three's Company fame) for the book Ageless. If you haven't read any of Somers' books, you are missing out because she interviews the thought leaders in alternative medicine and science. The ideas and information are very thought provoking, even if you don't agree with them.

So. The following stood out to me because it talks about hormones and the HPA axis, a topic near and dear to my heart.

T.S. Wiley says "So the pill's synthetic hormones and dosing regimen derange the original HPA axis, which is sort of a global positioning system, to tell your systems the time of day and year based upon your location to the planet. Unfortunately, whether or not the axis ever rights itself depends upon childbirth.

If you have babies after the pill, that's a start, that helps. Whether or not this axis can stay righted as you continue to reproduce depends upon lifestyle. How late you stay up, how much sugar you eat, how old you are inside.

But once the HPA axis is deranged you need a jolt, like cardiac paddles, you know, when they jump start your heart to get your hormones back in sync with the planet. You can use bioidenticals, if you use them in rhythm and use them the right way, to make peaks that feed back to the brain, and then the brain talks to the lower half.

You have to make up the part of the song that is missing."

Yeah, totally missing the melody and harmony over here. I think all I have is a slow drum beat left to my song.

The entire book is fascinating as is another book by Somers dealing with cancer, Knockout. Check them out if you have the chance. Everyone who has done so on my recommendation has been amazed.

Rush

I woke up yesterday, very clear in my lungs. No tightness. Didn't need any albuterol and, as a result, I decided to stop the steroids. Still congested in my nose though with a productive cough, but I think I'm winning the war. Finally, 20 days later.

Since I felt so much better, I did the 'Rush' Zumba workout which is 20 minutes. I didn't go full force, kept it light but worked up a sweat.

Being sick reinforces my decision to do the DVDs over signing up for a class. It's vital that I go at my own pace, in my own time. Strict schedule adherence is impossible for me still and sometimes I modify things in a way that would make me very awkwardly stand out in a group class.

It feels so so SO good to use my body again. I hate being sidelined (doesn't everyone?). I think a lot of my ability to even do this much so soon stems from the IV nutrition therapy. I'm a total convert, about to become a zealot.

By the way, I did find one study on IV therapy for asthma. They hyped magnesium but there's also mention of nutrients like B12."Patients who received longer-term therapy (average duration of 12.58 months) for chronic asthma demonstrated an overall average improvement of 95%." That's pretty interesting. If there's a way I can better manage this stuff with less disruption of my life, I'm all for it.

As for the rest of the day post-Zumba... I overdid it a little bit. Ran three errands and my lungs got a bit raw and reactive. That tired me out and I was happy to go to bed.