There are natural alternatives to treating the pain of Sickle Cell, as well as natural alternatives to treating the condition overall. One thing I've never liked about taking painkillers is this: though they may treat the pain, desensitizing our bodies to it, they don't give us the strength that our bodies need to keep the pain away. They only treat a symptom, not the cause. And of course, there are the ever present side-effects! The Ibuprofen that I was told to take by my doctor ruined my stomach and it still hasn't healed completely, to my knowledge. I was prescribed a medication to "treat" my stomach lining, which has been compromised by the formation of peptic ulcers (I have a post about it somewhere on this blog) and it made me feel worse!!! I decided not to take it, and instead take Cayenne Pepper in capsules daily (450 mg/80,000 Heat Units. Talk about hot!!!). The Cayenne Pepper pills have given me a sense of normalcy again, as they allow me to mostly eat without any trouble. Except, unfortunately for me, I must still avoid citric and acidic foods. Though I do break the rule occasionally to eat pasta or pizza. A girl's gotta live!
So, the Cherry Extract! For years, my second oldest sister kept telling me, "Try Cherry Extract, it's good for inflammation! It will help you with your pain!" For years, I was too skeptical, hurting, and miserable from SCA to even bother trying her ridiculous natural pain remedy. I mean really, who on earth would ever consider Cherry Extract for pain? It's made from cherries for goodness sakes. Well, one fateful day in Sept. 2014, when I was feeling somewhat miserable with pain and had dragged myself to school only to find out I had no class that day (thanks, professor!), I came home and my dad and I decided to visit the Vitamin Shoppe, because they had mailed me a coupon and I just had to use it (see the manipulation there?). At the Vitamin Shoppe, I finally decided to ask where I could locate the Cherry Extract, which was so much cheaper with my lovely coupon (cheap, but not free! lol). Thus began my journey with Cherry Extract as part of my life. I found out that it really does help with pain and inflammation. I took several of the pills that day, as I was having some pain in my hip, besides my other dull, generalized body pains. I also took some Tylenol Extra Strength that day, which is my go to painkiller these days (just more proof of how my life has changed because I changed my diet).
The combination worked!!! Tylenol Extra Strength and Cherry Extract pills. Tylenol to treat the pain, and Cherry Extract to treat the pain AND the cause (inflammation!). Let me tell you, there are some moments when I take one Cherry Extract pill and one Tylenol Extra Strength, or even other times when I take two Cherry Extract pills to treat my pain, and they work. One of the things I LOVE LOVE LOVE about Cherry Extract is that IT HAS NO SIDE EFFECTS. NONE. IT'S ALL NATURAL. Now please, join me in my joy and say "Yay!!!!" After I purchased my first bottle of Cherry Extract from the Vitamin Shoppe, I switched to purchasing it online at Swanson Vitamins, a website that sells good quality vitamins and supplements, etc. My favorite thing about this website is that they often have sales, so I often purchase their lovely vitamins and supplements to keep me healthy. Of course, here is a link to my lovely Cherry Extracts, the exact brand that I purchase. I'm telling you, I really really love this stuff, and if you give it a shot, I think it may be able to help you too. Not only do they sell the dried extract from the cherry, but they also sell tart cherry juice, which my second oldest sister recently purchased for me to help me through my worst days. I haven't yet used it, but when the time comes, I will! And to add to this story of cherry greatness, I had 2 wisdom teeth pulled one week ago, and guess what I was taking besides the Codeine to help with the pain? Two cherry extract pills daily. I came off of the Codeine within three and a half days but have still been taking my lovely side-effect free cherry pills :) Anyone ready to give Cherry Extract a try? I hope it works for you too!
So, the Cherry Extract! For years, my second oldest sister kept telling me, "Try Cherry Extract, it's good for inflammation! It will help you with your pain!" For years, I was too skeptical, hurting, and miserable from SCA to even bother trying her ridiculous natural pain remedy. I mean really, who on earth would ever consider Cherry Extract for pain? It's made from cherries for goodness sakes. Well, one fateful day in Sept. 2014, when I was feeling somewhat miserable with pain and had dragged myself to school only to find out I had no class that day (thanks, professor!), I came home and my dad and I decided to visit the Vitamin Shoppe, because they had mailed me a coupon and I just had to use it (see the manipulation there?). At the Vitamin Shoppe, I finally decided to ask where I could locate the Cherry Extract, which was so much cheaper with my lovely coupon (cheap, but not free! lol). Thus began my journey with Cherry Extract as part of my life. I found out that it really does help with pain and inflammation. I took several of the pills that day, as I was having some pain in my hip, besides my other dull, generalized body pains. I also took some Tylenol Extra Strength that day, which is my go to painkiller these days (just more proof of how my life has changed because I changed my diet).
The combination worked!!! Tylenol Extra Strength and Cherry Extract pills. Tylenol to treat the pain, and Cherry Extract to treat the pain AND the cause (inflammation!). Let me tell you, there are some moments when I take one Cherry Extract pill and one Tylenol Extra Strength, or even other times when I take two Cherry Extract pills to treat my pain, and they work. One of the things I LOVE LOVE LOVE about Cherry Extract is that IT HAS NO SIDE EFFECTS. NONE. IT'S ALL NATURAL. Now please, join me in my joy and say "Yay!!!!" After I purchased my first bottle of Cherry Extract from the Vitamin Shoppe, I switched to purchasing it online at Swanson Vitamins, a website that sells good quality vitamins and supplements, etc. My favorite thing about this website is that they often have sales, so I often purchase their lovely vitamins and supplements to keep me healthy. Of course, here is a link to my lovely Cherry Extracts, the exact brand that I purchase. I'm telling you, I really really love this stuff, and if you give it a shot, I think it may be able to help you too. Not only do they sell the dried extract from the cherry, but they also sell tart cherry juice, which my second oldest sister recently purchased for me to help me through my worst days. I haven't yet used it, but when the time comes, I will! And to add to this story of cherry greatness, I had 2 wisdom teeth pulled one week ago, and guess what I was taking besides the Codeine to help with the pain? Two cherry extract pills daily. I came off of the Codeine within three and a half days but have still been taking my lovely side-effect free cherry pills :) Anyone ready to give Cherry Extract a try? I hope it works for you too!
 |
| Click Here! |
Thank you so much for this, I just recently purchased some natural Black Cherry Juice for my four year old son who also has Sickle Cell Anemia, & I just pray that it helps relieve him of his pain. If you have any other advice that you could give that could help him please let me know.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this, I just recently purchased some natural Black Cherry Juice for my four year old son who also has Sickle Cell Anemia, & I just pray that it helps relieve him of his pain. If you have any other advice that you could give that could help him please let me know.
ReplyDeleteI really hope that will help your son. Please read through the blog posts. You need to start adding foods rich in thiocyanate to your son's diet and increase his nutritional intake through vitamins and supplements. It's a trial and error type of thing, but Cassava is the highest in thiocyanate that I know of. It has been absolutely essential to have in my diet to help me maintain a good quality of health. Please feel free to reach out as necessary, I do reply.
Delete