Saw a normal doctor last week. First time since last October (yay!). The appointment didn’t go very well; I left feeling like I needed to cry. The last few times I’ve seen this doctor things went smoothly and I liked her, but not this time. She made me feel like an idiot and didn’t take the time to hear what I was saying. I guess she thought she should just speak her mind instead. Anyway. That’s another doctor whom I no longer have confidence in – the list keeps growing. I generally have a distrust for conventional doctors these days, unless I need to go to the ER for something (and even then… haha). I’m tired of getting screwed over by them, tired of reading about lots of other people getting screwed by them, and I want out of the sick-care system. 

I wish insurance would cover more alternative medical treatments. I dearly want to find a good homeopathic or herbalist, but I’m not sure I could pay for their services right now. I see holistic medicine as the ideal form – why is that so against the grain? Doesn’t it make more sense to look at the whole body when deciding on treatment? Shouldn’t doctors have nutritional training as well? Since so many problems can be addressed by what you eat, that should be a no-brainer.

Update on Meds. and Pain Management

It’s been 39 days since I first posted that I was going to experiment with going off my medication (Metaxalone) for fibro. It went really well for awhile, but at about the one month mark I started having problems. I did take another dose of Metaxalone a few nights ago because my body was knotting up really bad. I was also having to take Tylenol a lot more frequently than I cared to, for pain and for bad headaches, which could be caused by my body cleaning out the Metaxalone. Honey wanted me to try arnica, so when we went to Whole Foods a few days ago we picked up a little homeopathic tube of arnica montana. I think it’s helping, or at the very least it makes it bearable. Honey grew up on homeopathics, so he’s had to tell me stuff like you can’t eat before/within 30 minutes of taking the pills, no caffeine near taking the pills, and not to touch the pills with your hands if you can help it.

Taking something homeopathic feels better to me, psychologically, because I feel guilty when I go the pharmaceutical route. All the research I’ve done, as well as what I’ve experienced, has forever tainted my ability to trust modern medicine. It’s really frustrating to me that today’s doctors can’t write out prescriptions (to my knowledge) for vitamins, minerals, etc. and people’s insurance will cover it, but rather insurance only covers pharma. medications. *big sigh. But that’s another topic for another post, probably for another day.

A Personal Study of Amino Acids

I really love to study the human body, particularly how it works with the food you eat. Recently I started a study of amino acids, and used an old standby book for my reading: Prescription for Nutritional Healing: The A-to-Z Guide to Supplements, 2nd ed. by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC (certified nutritional consultant). Her science and research seems quite credible. Anyway. Here are my notes from my studying – all credit goes to Ms. Balch.

*These are my personal notes and should not be used in place of a medical professional.

Alanine: plays a major role in the transfer of nitrogen from peripheral tissue to the liver; aids in metabolism of glucose; guards against the buildup of toxic substances; useful for treatment with insulin-dependent diabetes; too much alanine and low levels of tyrosine and phenylalanine is associated with Epstein-Barr and chronic fatigue.

Medicine Update

It’s been 9 days since I posted that I was going off of my medicine, Metaxalone. I did take it once, at night, after 2 days of being off of it. Since then, however, I have taken only tylenol when my pain levels spiked. Things have gone much more smoothly than I expected. I’m not sure if it’s just taking my body awhile to work out the accumulation of medicine, or if I have done some healing since I last was without Metaxalone. I sincerely hope it’s the latter.

Since I went off the Metaxalone, I have had some issues, but I’m not sure if they are related in any way to the med. I’ve had dizziness, nausea, and a buildup of gas that has made me need to burp a lot (really bizarre). Otherwise, I’ve felt more alive and clear-headed! I hope that I can continue to function without needing anything that makes me drowsy.

An Experiment

I’m currently experimenting with the medicine I take for fibro. (metaxalone). Normally I would take it twice a day, but I’m on my second day of not taking any at all. I want to see how far I can go without taking any (but with the help of Tylenol), and then see if taking it once a day will be enough to keep me on my feet. Why? Because I hate feeling drugged up, and lately that’s what the medicine has been doing to me. This afternoon I was able to work in the kitchen for a little bit. I felt awake and alive, even though I was in pain. I’m really hoping I can find some sort of balance between alertness and controlling the pain, because I really want to live my life.

P.S. Lest you worry, my medicine isn’t one of those that stopping cold turkey will kill you or anything. I’ve done similar things before (usually because I forget my medicine and then went on a trip or the pharmacy couldn’t refill my prescription in time), and I know enough about what I’m doing that this isn’t reckless. I am not suggesting other people go out and do the same, or anything like that. Gotta add that disclaimer to cover my own back, I guess, in this day and age.