Read About Even Flo - Yet Another Natural Supplement to Manage Sickle Cell!

I just noticed that SS Natural Healings, which I have a subscription to but almost never read (lack of time/I forget) just posted about EvenFlo, which is a natural supplement to treat sickle cell. I have copied and pasted the first paragraph of the original post, and there are links to the post here as well. 


Post copied from:
http://ssnaturalhealings.blogspot.com/2015/05/even-flo-natural-supplement-to-manage.html

"Even Flo - Natural supplement to manage Sickle Cell disease! 

Even Flo is a natural pain reliever, which contains the highest quality herbal extracts and nutraceuticals, was created to manage pain in sickle cell patients and decrease the frequency of crisis they experience. The product has undergone rigorous clinical tests and has shown none of the side effects usually associated with prescription pain medications. EvenFlo can also be used to alleviate arthritis pain, ischemia in varying locations of the body, PMS, muscle pain, hypertension, nerve pain, low energy, and anemia..."

Read the rest of the post here!

 http://ssnaturalhealings.blogspot.com/2015/05/even-flo-natural-supplement-to-manage.html

I don't know much about Even Flo, except what's mentioned from the post on SS Natural Healings, but it sounds good so far, I'm definitely going to look more into it.

Lavender Oil! An Oil with Similar Benefits to Castor Oil

So I've had some lavender oil laying around my room for the past several months. It was recommended to me as a sleep aid (people with SCD often also suffer from insomnia... talk about adding insult to injury!), as the smell of it helps the mind and body to relax. Unfortunately, it did not help me as much as I would have liked, and so the bottle was just hanging around, out of use. Lavender essential oil smells really fantastic, and one day I decided to see what I could use it for, besides being a sleep aid. It turns out that Lavender Oil has benefits to it that are very similar to Castor Oil! It's an ant-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial that stimulates hair growth, and among the many other benefits it has, it makes things smell nice! Being as how it's an essential oil, it needs to be diluted, so I added it to my Castor Oil to make it less smelly (even though the cold-pressed, cold-processed Castor Oil is already low on odor... it needs all the help it can get! Lol but please don't be deterred by the smell of it! It works!!!). Naturally, after I found out the amazing benefits to this oil that has similar properties to Castor Oil, I wanted to share it with you all, so here I am, writing about it and sharing my sources with you. Enjoy reading! :)

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-7769/13-uses-for-lavender-oil-the-only-essential-oil-youll-need.html
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/essential-oils/health-benefits-of-lavender-essential-oil.html

Zinc for Sickle Cell Anemia!!!

"Zinc helps those suffering from sickle-cell anemia, acne and rheumatoid arthritis, notes the NYU Langone Medical Center."

 Learning about zinc for me was kind of accidental, as I was looking for a cure to the acne that has plagued me for the past 11 years. It's shown improvement with changes in my diet, and I noticed that Vitamin A was not only helping my eyes, but seemed to be helping my skin as well. So, naturally, I did some research. And found out about the benefits of adding zinc to my diet. (Learn about acne help here, I know there's more out there who can benefit from this!) Naturally, my curiosity was piqued when I learned what zinc could potentially do for my acne, so I looked further into it. As I was doing my research on zinc and reading different websites (because one is never enough, I always check multiple sources to see if they each confirm what the other says. That's how you know when it's more likely to be accurate!), I found one website (the first on the list) that says:

"Taking zinc supplements under medical supervision has a role in fighting disease. Zinc helps those suffering from sickle-cell anemia, acne and rheumatoid arthritis, notes the NYU Langone Medical Center."
 Source: http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/zinc-can-humans-8590.html

Another website said:

"We administered zinc sulfate, 660 mg per day, orally, to seven men and two women with sickle cell anemia. Two 17-year-old males gained 5 cm and 7 cm in height during 49 and 42 weeks of zinc therapy, respectively. All but one patient gained weight (0.5 kg to 4.1 kg). Five of the males showed increased growth of pubic, axillary, facial, and body hair, and in one a leg ulcer healed in six weeks on zinc and in two others some benefit of zinc therapy on healing of ulcers was noted."
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1116294

After reading that, I immediately emailed my cousin, who has suffered from leg ulcers for several years. He told me that he'd discovered zinc around November of last year and that it has worked wonders for him.

According to the same website from the link above, patients who are zinc deficient show similar characteristics to patients who have sickle cell disease:

"Clinical similarities between patients with sickle cell anemia and zinc-deficient subjects suggested a secondary zinc deficiency in sickle cell anemia."
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1116294 

Yet another website states:

"Various studies have shown that zinc deficiency may be common in SCA patients. This has been attributed to chronic haemolysis that occurs in these patients, increased demand and utilization, along with the secondary loss of zinc in the urine [1, 7, 8]. Furthermore, supplementation of zinc in sickle cell anaemia has been reported to improve wound healing, decrease incidence of infection, improve the age of attaining secondary sexual characteristics, reverse dark adaptation of the eyes, and accelerate growth [8–12]."
Source:  http://www.hindawi.com/journals/anemia/2011/698586/

This website talks about how zinc helps children with Sickle Cell grow & it also helps with fighting infection:

"Many people with the disease also suffer from zinc deficiency, which can cause slow growth in children and make adults more susceptible to infection.

In the study, researchers looked at the long-term effects of zinc supplementation among 38 children aged 4-10 years with sickle cell disease. Six of the children had low zinc levels in their blood at the beginning of the study. The results were published this week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

They found that children who received 10 mg per day of the zinc supplements grew significantly taller than those that did not receive the supplements. For example, among 24 children whose initial height and weight were considered low, those who took zinc grew 1.3 cm -- about half an inch -- more than the others.

The zinc supplements also helped the children with sickle cell disease maintain a normal height and weight for their age. The children that did not take the zinc had the slow growth that is typical for youths with this disease."
Source: http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20020124/zinc-helps-sickle-cell-kids-grow

I just started taking zinc on Friday, May 15th (my sister happened to have a bottle on hand, purchased from our favorite website http://swansonvitamins.com/), and I'm hoping to see the benefits of it too. I couldn't wait to share the news, so here I am, posting about it. Some of the links, especially the last two, get into some pretty technical medical language, but please, read and share with anyone you know who has sickle cell. You never know who you might help or how much you might be helping them!

Read Here About the Benefits of Zinc for Sickle Cell Anemia

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/zinc-can-humans-8590.html

http://www.sharecare.com/health/minerals-nutrition-diet/do-zinc-supplements-sickle-cell

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/263176.php

http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20020124/zinc-helps-sickle-cell-kids-grow

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/anemia/2011/698586/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1116294

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/75/2/181.full

And for those who need some help with fighting acne:

http://www.xojane.com/beauty/vitamins-make-your-skin-less-fugly

Benefits of Borage Oil

http://www.taoofherbs.com/products/5412/DEVANutrition/VeganBorageOil.htm

Royal Jelly: A Cure for My Stomach Ulcers?

Recently, my sister ordered Royal Jelly from Swanson Vitamins (my favorite website!). The order arrived yesterday (on my birthday! :D) and she told everyone in my house to take 1-2 teaspoons a day. Obedient as I am, I took one teaspoon today, grimacing all the way as it's disgustingly sweet. However, I fought my way through, being a trooper. And then, I did my research. I know I had heard somewhere before that honey is good for curing peptic ulcers, so I went and looked into it further. The information I found was encouraging: many people have found relief and healing from ulcers in their digestive systems through consuming Royal Jelly, and that happens within 7-30 days of regular consumption of the sweet stuff. Of course, I would never leave you without links to the information I find.

You can check it out for yourself here:
http://caspianapiaries.com/presentation/Ulcer%20treatment.pdf

So, God willing, maybe in about 30 days I'll be able to report that I can once again eat beets, pineapples, sour apples, oranges, red cabbage, and other things that have been eliminated from my diet because they cause me stomach pain. I'm hoping really hard, because it's been such a pain to have my diet become more and more limited since my diagnosis 3 years ago!

Moringa for Sickle Cell Anemia

Ladies and gentleman, it is now time for my long awaited testimony about the benefits that Moringa has provided to my life. How did I discover Moringa? I read about it in passing on Facebook, one of the Sickle Cell awareness pages that I was following at the time, and briefly looked into it, seeing that some people used it to treat SCD effectively, before writing it off as impossible to obtain. Where would I get this foreign, exotic leaf that was so highly touted and had all these great benefits? I couldn't afford it. I put it out of my mind.

One fateful day, in August 2013, The Vitamin Shoppe sent me a coupon (those manipulators! lol jk) giving me 20 or 40% off if I were to go spend money at their store (see the manipulation?). That coupon proved to be a Godsend, and even the guy at the store remarked to me that the coupon I had received was very rare (yet again, a sign that it was the working of God Himself. Thanks, God :). I browsed The Vitamin Shoppe with my friend SSW (her nickname), and as I searched the shelves for something worth my hard earned money (I try to spend wisely always, lest I end up broke), I came upon a small, 8 oz can of Moringa. I was a bit intrigued, as I had previously read about this leaf on the internet, and here it was, before my very eyes in the store that had drawn me in with their lovely, rare coupon. Before I spent my hard earned dollars on this little can of green powder, I asked if the guy at the store would help me look up information about the leaf online, and he ended up letting me use the store computer because I needed more help than he could give (there were other customers to get money from). At that time, I didn't have a smart phone (that came along about 8 months later, when my poor dumb phone got damaged). After doing some research and talking about the Moringa with SSW, I decided I would purchase it. That warm day in August, I walked out of The Vitamin Shoppe with a can of Moringa and less money in my bank account.

That was the beginning of yet another new lease on life. Moringa has changed my life dramatically, as it helps my blood cells to stay round and healthy, which is all that you need with Sickle Cell Anemia in order to have a higher quality of life. When I first began taking it, I started to feel better. About a month later, I went to work at a daycare with kids ages 6 months to 4 years (that position only lasted 6 weeks, I love kids, but the position was too physically demanding for me). Since I was working with little children (germ machines) I started taking more Moringa in order to boost my immune system. I think that I originally started with 1/2 a teaspoon daily and I upped it to 1 teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half. I also would take Vitamin C, and I'm telling you, the combination helped me to kick some colds that would have turned really nasty had I not been taking it. I have asthma as well (due to the SCD), so when I get a cold, the cough tends to stick around for ages, which makes it even more unpleasant.

Since the day I purchased my first can of Moringa, I have gone never a day without taking it (I think. I might have missed 1 or 2 days when I ran out and was waiting for a new order). The reason why I take it so faithfully is because I notice that when I take it, I feel stronger. My body feels better, less achy. It's been so long that I've been taking it, it's become such an important part of my diet that I can't remember what it's like to not take it. During the winter time, I take less painkillers because the Moringa helps my blood cells so much. My blood cells don't speak to me, they don't tell me they're staying nice and round, but I know they are because I feel less pain overall, and I'm better able to bear the cold. I do NOT do well with cold weather; in fact, this winter, with having hurt my tail bone and with the mounds of snow, ice, sleet, rain, and slush that have been falling from the sky, I've just been staying home whenever I don't have to go out. But, when I do go out, I can deal with the cold weather better and with taking fewer painkillers. Also, I rarely ever get colds since I've been taking Moringa (also since I stopped drinking milk, but that's a different story).

Honestly, Moringa is such a huge benefit to me that it's extremely hard for me to sum it up in one little blog post. I'm trying to put it into words, but words fail to express how much this little leaf powder has helped to turn things around for me in a healthier, better direction. Moringa HELPS with Sickle Cell Anemia, my life is a living testimony to it. It helps to reduce the sickling, whenever I feel my body going into crisis mode, I take my painkillers and I also take more Moringa. My body bounces back a lot faster than it used to. Last semester I missed two days of school from having Sickle Cell pain, and it was pain in my hip that made it hard to walk. It wasn't pain that required a hospitalization. I managed at home with Tylenol Extra Strength and that was good enough. When I was working last year at a school, I never missed a day of work from November to June (I was late plenty of times, but that's a different story. MTA troubles >.<). I haven't had a lingering cold in ages and I used to get them quite frequently.

And the pain!!!! I haven't had a serious Sickle Cell Crisis requiring hospitalization or emergency room treatment since October 2012 and the Moringa has only helped me in that direction.

The cost for my healthy Moringa habit? $17.99 for one pound of the stuff, and I get it with free shipping on Ebay.

I cannot stress enough how much this little leaf powder has changed my life. This little leaf is now a staple in my diet, I take two teaspoons of the stuff daily, and it helps keep me on an even keel. Don't get me wrong, there are still those days when I need to rest and what not because I still have the disease. But because of my dietary changes, and because I've added Moringa, it rules my life less and less, and I get to have a more normal quality of life more and more.

Moringa has been a tremendous blessing to my life and there are a ton of links throughout this post that attest to the benefits of this plant. Look into Moringa, see what it can do for you. I hope that this post will encourage someone to give this green leaf a try. It can work for you too!

Benefits of Moringa:

https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/moringa.html
http://moringaphilippines.blogspot.com/2012/06/why-moringa-can-reduce-sickle-cell.html
http://ssnaturalhealings.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-miracle-plant-moringa.html
http://imaginezambia.org/3281/sickle-cell-anemia-moringa-news/
http://www.moringasource.com/pages/moringa-health-benefits
http://moringa4health.com/Moringa_-_Benefits.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/037735_Moringa_superfood_health_benefits.html#
http://www.reshapeyourbody.org/incredible-moringa-nutrition-story-sickle-cell-anemia/

Battling the Flu

Five weeks ago, right at the start of my very busy winter semester (my second in grad school, yay?), I caught the flu from my poor old mom. This was only about two weeks after having fallen down my front steps on an icy, rainy, horrible winter day, and hurting my tail bone, so needless to say, I was miserable. Oh, and did I mention I was just coming off of antibiotics for Strep Throat when I picked this thing up? So my immune system was totally down. I picked up the Strep Throat from one of the kids at the preschool where I did my fieldwork in January, she coughed right in my face (gotta teach the kids not to share germs!). I started feeling sick on Thursday night, but unfortunately for me, I was half in denial, and half didn't realize why I was coughing. On Friday I was coughing a bit, and since my mom was sick too, I figured I better up the ante by adding Vitamin C, honey, and Echinacea to my Moringa in the mornings. I took about 3,000 mg of Vitamin C on Friday, so I thought I was good. Unfortunately for me, Saturday rolled around, and though I took my Vitamin C, Moringa, honey, and Echinacea that morning, I felt awful by the middle of the day. I took my temperature and it was running at 100.7ºF. I felt like I was going to pass out. My body felt as though I was getting some aches and I felt chills as well.

Now, when I was younger and I would get the flu, it would automatically set off a Sickle Cell Crisis and I would also throw up and be bedridden, useless, and in pain for three days. This time was different. Yes, I felt awful on Saturday, but my aches were pretty minor, and I managed my fever with Tylenol Extra Strength 500mg. As well as a bit of bed rest on Saturday and Sunday, but I wasn't bedridden and useless and in pain.b Also, my lovely, delicious combination of Vitamin C, Moringa, honey, and Echinacea restored my immune system in about a day and a half, I kid you not. Saturday was my worst day, and I can't recall how many milligrams of Vitamin C I took that day, probably about 6,000. I drank my lovely Vitamin C, Moringa, honey, and Echinacea concoction about three times on Saturday, probably once on Friday about probably about 2-3 times on Sunday. So by Monday, my flu was just a lingering cough (bronchitis) and by Tuesday I felt like a real person again. All natural remedies (plus Tylenol). They really do work! Also, I had my mom taking the same concoction and she got better within the week as well. My whole house was either sick or getting sick, my poor dad was coughing and I think my sister too. We were all drinking honey like crazy, we ran through about 48 ounces of honey within a week. Sweet stuff! :)

So, my lovely concoction, for anyone who would like to give it a shot (make it sweet!!!)
I poured honey into the bottom of a mug, added about 2 teaspoons of Moringa, opened a capsule of 400 mg of Echinacea into it, and opened 2 capsules of Vitamin C (1000 mg each) into that, and added hot water. Smelled good, tasted interesting. Lol, again, make it sweet, add more honey if you need to. I only opened up the Vitamin C capsules to give my poor ulcerated stomach a rest from having to do the work of absorption. I opened the Echinacea capsule because it's a herb and I personally think it works better when mixed with hot water, but however you want to take your Echinacea or Vitamin C is fine, I just like to have mine this way.

Hope this helps someone kick the flu!!!

Let Us Now Address Castor Oil: Pain and Inflammation Treatment

Castor oil has saved my life, many many times. And I'm not talking about the stinky stuff, I'm talking about the cold-pressed, cold-processed, low on odor stuff. (But the stinky stuff would work just as well, I just can't stand the smell! lol.)  How did this story begin? Again, I have to thank my second oldest sister, who purchased Castor Oil off of Swanson Vitamins. I must also thank my cousin, who once recommended using topical treatments for joint/muscle pain. Well would you know that Castor Oil is great for treating joint and muscle pain? Among a bunch of other benefits that it has? There was that one day that I had some joint and muscle pain, I'm guessing it was in my hip, which has been a continuous source of trouble for me over the years, but a source of trouble that has shown improvement since I changed my diet, thank God. That one fateful day, I decided (probably out of irritation, annoyance, and desperation) to rub my hip or whatever joint it was with that sticky Castor Oil before I went to bed. Yes, it was a bit sticky and it had a bit of an odor, but who cares? Because by the time I woke up, the odor was gone. AND SO WAS MY PAIN. I call Castor Oil "God's Magic Oil" now. I cannot tell you how much I love the stuff. I was getting frequent pain in my ribs, a dull, annoying ache most of the time, and what did I end up treating it with? Castor oil. (The pain is mostly gone now, hasn't presented itself in months, I'll write another post to address that. :) I fell down the icy stairs in front of my house on January 18th, as I was on my way to class, landed right on my tailbone. If I hadn't been wearing my two coats (yes, two, I CANNOT deal with the cold weather) I probably would have broken my tailbone rather than bruised it. Let me tell you, I cried like a baby, it hurt so much. What reduced my misery and gave me back a normal quality of life after that great fall? Massages with Castor Oil (which I had to give myself, what an embarrassing place to have to get a massage, right near the tush! I still get some pain in my tailbone, but that's usually when I sit in a bad chair, and I can easily help that with a coccyx cushion. I am mostly 99% tailbone pain free!) I had two wisdom teeth pulled last Monday, and what did I use to treat the swelling once I got home? Warmed up Castor Oil. It took me a while to learn, but from the tailbone incident, I learned that Castor Oil works even better when it's warmed up! I put some in a little bottle, and place that bottle into a container of hot water, and voilà. A few minutes later, my Castor Oil is ready to use and ready to heal my pain once I massage it into the area that's bothering me. My neck also received a Castor Oil massage after my dental extraction, and so did my wrist, where my IV went, because my wrist was sore as well. I cannot say enough how much this stuff really, truly works."God's Magic Oil" is fantastic guys, and I would love for you to benefit from it too!

Of course, here are some lovely links where you can purchase your own bottle of Castor Oil, aka "God's Magic Oil." Hope this helps someone!
This is the one I purchase: http://www.swansonvitamins.com/home-health-castor-oil-cold-pressed-cold-processed-16-fl-oz-liquid
And here is one with free shipping. You gotta love Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CASTOR-OIL-USP-GRADE-COLD-PRESSED-ORGANIC-PURE-HEXANE-FREE-16-OZ-/111453859391?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19f32aee3f

Back Once More... and Doing Well!

Hi, Everyone,

I haven't posted in a while, but in the time that I haven't posted, my health has been pretty stable. There were a few changes when I returned to the USA, I feel that at times my body is a bit weaker, but I am keeping up with all my vegetables, and definitely sticking with my Thiocyanate rich fruits and vegetables. My favorites are bananas, carrots, plantains (especially sweet ones!), chickpeas, and lentils. My non-Thiocyanate laden favorite veggies are beets, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, black beans, green peas, and celery. Plenty of ways to combine and cook them and plenty more fruits and veggies in the stores to choose from! 

As to my pain levels, they increase and decrease here and there and I manage it with 1 or 2 Tylenols (500mg) on an as needed basis.  While I was away, I didn't have Tylenol after the first 2 months, so that gave my body a chance to decrease its dependence. In the past, I tended to OD on painkillers (taking more than the recommended daily dosage on a regular basis) as I didn't know how else to deal with the pain, but now I find that 1 or 2 painkillers is all I need to deal with some pain, which is usually low level or a little more than mild. Yet even the amount of painkillers I take now is no comparison to what it was before I started this diet. (I will add here that I don't ONLY eat Thiocyanate rich foods, but I try to make them the main part of my diet.) I take much fewer painkillers these days, and sometimes am able to ignore some of the (mild) pain I have, choosing to rest and increase my water intake as opposed to taking more painkillers to manage it.

The thing that is really kicking my health's butt right now is my peptic ulcers!!! They are really making my life difficult, and the doctor prescribed me Omeprazole to deal with it, but that only made me feel worse. I made the decision to discontinue taking them after 3-4 days and am once more trying the natural route. Yesterday, I discovered a product called Mastic Gum, and from the reviews I read, many people have been happy with it and say that it has helped them with their ulcers. I'll be looking to purchase it today and will let my readers know if it worked for me or not. 

My view on health is that it is not just what goes on in your body, but what's going on outside of your body and how you respond to it that acts on health as a whole. Yes, I have a disease that can be devastatingly painful. But the decisions I am making now have turned that around and have made a big difference in my life. What goes into my body determines what my body will do, what I put into my body are the building blocks for my health. What I do with my body determines how I will feel. I try to walk more to keep up with my health, I try to make sure I get a good amount of water everyday, I'm making more of an effort to avoid sweets (my weakness!), pasta, white bread, and white rice. Everything plays a factor, even if it's small, and I'm going to continue to do what I can to not let this thing beat me!

Insomnia or Waking Up Too Early

Yesterday was day 5 of my new workout routine, which made me really happy. I was also rather fearful as well, because my health has been very good. Yet this is such an unpredictable disease and it could turn at any moment, so I've been wondering, since last night, if my health will continue to remain in a good condition, or if it may suddenly all go to pieces. Of course, I have been keeping up my daily health practices, but yet the worry still remains. 

A few days ago, I began taking the Nattokinase that I finally ordered. I'm not sure I feel any different from taking it, and I also feel that a few other factors might be masking the effects that I could be feeling. I have a really bad cold with a pretty deep cough right now, that I have been remedying with a tea made of lemons, onions, and honey, but I also have to use my inhaler because of my asthma. The cough that I have gets deeper and more painful if I don't use my inhaler, and I think I could have prevented it from getting so bad if I had used it a bit more consistently, and sooner, while the cold was developing. One of the side effects of the inhaler is that it increases my heart rate (I guess that means it raises my blood pressure?). Because of that, I've been having trouble sleeping for the past few nights and have been waking up around 4am, and I don't know if it's because of the Nattokinase or because of the inhaler (I use Ventolin).

Starting a New Workout Routine

Tonight, I did a workout routine after months of being turned off from working out. I took a health class last spring semester that got me really motivated about working out, and I wanted to begin right away, but alas, I began too fast and too soon. Everything I tried was too difficult, or I just didn't stick with it very well. What I found was that after working out, my ribs would hurt, and I attribute that to having done too fast, too soon. But I now realize the necessity and great importance of starting off slow. A slow start will allow me to work up to a good level of aerobic health, which I especially need because I have asthma and going up a flight of stairs usually kills me! I do think my aerobic health has improved a bit here because I've been doing more walking. However, I want it to continue to improve and to do so faster, and I also want to build up my strength, especially in my legs and arms. Down with weakness! I say yes to strength and health and no to all else! My goal is to keep doing my 10 minute workout, and I started with this video, but mostly kept it on as background noise and moved along at my MUCH slower pace, for a week, after which I will update about how my workout routine is going. I think that after two steady weeks of the same 10 minute workout,I will be ready to increase it to 15 minutes. For now, I am going VERY SLOWLY and at my own pace, because it's better to start off slow than not to start at all! Wish me luck in my workout journey! :)

P.S. It's about 15-20 minutes after my workout and I feel the need to note that I feel great, I feel like there was a boost of serotonin and energy and I am definitely looking forward to my next workout tomorrow! :D

This is My Story

When I was sixteen and learned what my disease truly entails, I became convinced that I would die by the time I was thirty. Up until that point, I hadn't really understood what it was, though the doctor had once given my sister and I a booklet explaining the disease, and what causes the pain. I began doing research about it as a result of having persistent wrist pain while playing the clarinet. My music teacher took it upon himself to call my parents and tell them about the pain I was experiencing because he wanted me to be well. I was taught to be independent, and didn't want my parents more involved with anything than they had to be, so him calling my parents was a big thing for me. He got in touch with my mom, and told her about my wrist pain, and she revealed my big, shameful secret. I had Sickle Cell Anemia, and that's what was causing all my problems.

Dealing with SCA all my life and being excluded from my gym classes as a decision by my mom had made me feel like an outcast. A guilty outcast who was different and had something to be ashamed of because I had a disease that I didn't understand that kept me from participating, and sometimes made me have pain. (I was also lactose intolerant which sometimes made me sick, but I didn't figure that out till I was fourteen. It was a difficult journey.) Because of that shame and guilt, I always felt that I had to hide it, so having my mother tell one of my favorite teachers my secret was a HUGE deal for me. Suddenly, he knew that something was wrong with me, and he as well as my mom and doctor were now advising me to take my Folic Acid regularly. At the time, I wouldn't, because when I would remember to take it was always at night, and whenever I take vitamins at night I have trouble sleeping. I always preferred having a night's sleep to taking the vitamin. 

My mom was convinced that if I just took my Folic Acid, I would be fine, and that's what she told my music teacher. I wasn't so convinced, and with the research that I began doing online, finding out what my disease really entailed made me pretty depressed. I remember sitting in my purple bathrobe one night, holding my clarinet after a practice session and a bout with wrist pain, and I'm pretty sure I burst into tears that I was going to die young because of my disease. With the ideas I had in my head by that time, all I wanted was to be married in my early twenties so that I could give my best years to my husband and my kids. I also developed a pretty morbid sense of mortality that I didn't stop talking about until my guidance counselor died of meningitis when she was twenty-eight.

Throughout the years, my sense of guilt about my disease did not diminish. As I got older and my symptoms grew worse, and I had to rely on my parents and sister(s) to take care of me when I was sick, it grew. Though my father almost died from it when he was in his twenties, he and my mother seemed to believe that I would be doing better if I only went to church more and had greater faith. Some of the things they would say did nothing to boost my morale, so I was really grateful to have my sister(s), who did take care of me without judgment and understood me. 

I must say that when I started taking my Folic Acid regularly, I did start to feel a bit better. But high school and college were incredibly demanding in their schedules, college less so than high school, and with their work loads, and with my small understanding of my disease and lack of information about healthy, natural alternatives, I know I abused painkillers by taking too many at once, and I may have done lasting damage to my body. I'm sharing my story because I don't want this to be yours or your child's. 

SCA can be devastating with the way Western medicine treats it. It doesn't offer up much besides heavy painkillers, and medicines with terrible side effects. I am sharing my story so that more people will know what they can do for themselves to get to a healthier place. It may be expensive to order extra supplements to take daily, it may be expensive to buy more vegetables to eat, but it is a lot more expensive to pay those hospital bills and to have to miss days or even months of school or work and to deal with all the pain. I am not in a picture perfect state of health, but I am in a much better place than I was in November, when all I wanted to do was kill myself, or over the summer, when the suicidal thoughts began crossing my mind in earnest. Please share this blog, please share my story, because it can get better. This is my story and it is real, and there are so many more out there who are doing better on natural alternative. Sickle Cell - Natural Healings is just one example. Maybe one day Western medicine will invent a cure that doesn't endanger patients lives as they go through it. For now, this is what I have to offer. I hope this helps.

The Mighty, Mighty Egg

Yesterday and today I was feeling weakness in my bones, and I haven't eaten eggs in about a week. Given those two facts, I made a correlation and think that maybe the weakness in my legs is due to the fact that I haven't been eating eggs, which are packed with natural nutrients that are great for the body. Two things that eggs have that are wonderful are naturally occurring Vitamin D and B12, and Vitamin D is important in helping the body use Calcium to build healthy bones. I take a 5,000 i.u. Vitamin D3 supplement every other day (as recommended on the bottle), but it is important to get any type of vitamin or mineral in its most natural form rather than as a supplement. There is more information about the benefits of the mighty, mighty egg here. From now on I will go back to eating eggs daily as part of my nutritious breakfast. I've always found that they are a great way to start the day, but was worried that I wasn't getting enough thiocyanate in my diet and was replacing eggs with thiocyanate heavy foods for breakfast. But given that eggs are full of so many nutrients, I think it will be safe to keep eating them and reaping their many benefits. I will just make sure I get my thiocyanate at other times during the day. 

Getting Back Up

I must admit, I was feeling pretty down last night because my body was feeling sore/achey and I needed to take Ibuprofen and Doliprane, which is a French version of Acetaminophen. I had a long day babysitting, and though it's not difficult work, it's a bit tiring, especially having to pick up the baby now and then, which has been making my arms sore. Add to that the fact that my body has just been feeling a bit down in general, I mentioned in earlier posts that I felt tired and it's a feeling that hasn't gone away for weeks. I attributed it to overdoing it at first, too much going out and not enough resting, and then I got back to working after the holidays ended, and my schedule was full. The best way to describe how my health feels is to say that it feels as though I fell a while back and haven't been able to get up since. 

Last night, I rested when I got home and had some Speculoos cookies since I needed comfort food to help me feel better. Reflected on what I've been doing and what I could be doing better, and felt a bit down. Took my painkillers, drank my Liquid Chlorophyll, as well as increased my doses of Serrapeptase, I think I took about 480,000 i.u. last night, and what I like about it is that there are no negative side effects, the only thing I stand to do is gain from taking it. The Serrapeptase reduces inflammation, which is why I took the doses I did, as well as taking my Ibuprofen. Read a bit on the Sickle Cell Warriors page and briefly wondered if I should post about my feeling down because I wasn't feeling well even though I am on a better diet and take my Liquid Chlorophyll and Serrapeptase, and decided against it since I haven't had actual personal interactions with anyone on the page. Talked to some special people, which picked up my spirits a bit. Then I slept and did feel better when I woke up, though not back to 100%. But it has been some time since I have been feeling 100%. 

I'd say that today I'm feeling about 85-90% well. There is still inflammation in my ribs and in the muscles in my upper right thigh, so I'm hoping that inflammation will go down tonight. I don't have a heavy schedule tomorrow, so I'm hoping that will allow my body the time it needs to continue healing. After last night, I also decided that my diet must change some more. I usually eat eggs for breakfast because they are great for energy, are packed with nutrients, and I find that they are a great way to start the day. But after reflecting last night on how I could get more Thiocyanate into my diet, since it is usually my dinner that is based around it, I decided that breakfast from now on will center around beets and lentils, or some other Thiocyanate containing foods, possibly lima beans.

To Be Honest, I've Been Neglecting My Fruits

Yes, it's true, I've been neglecting to eat my fruits recently, but I have good excuses for that. I previously mentioned that I was getting a bit nauseous when I would eat bananas. They would also make my stomach hurt a bit at times when I would eat them on an empty stomach in the morning, and I'm pretty sure that is because of my ulcers. Eating apples had me feeling incredibly, and sometimes uncomfortably, full, and I didn't feel so great after eating them on an empty stomach. As for oranges, the citrus-y fruit didn't seem to be agreeing with me at times. I used to bring a banana or an apple along with me when I was going out so that I could have it as a snack later. But then, I gradually gave up on those natural fruits, and have been choosing cereal bars as my snack food of choice. Today, I have finally realized the error of my ways. Though my body shows me those noticeable effects after I eat those fruits, I know that my body will get rock solid benefits from those all natural, nutrient packed foods. I don't feel any sort of effect after eating cereal bars, and yet, they aren't packed with the nutrients I need. Cereal bars are packed with sugar and highly-processed nonsense that I don't need in my system. I would rather deal with a bit of discomfort from food that I know will be beneficial to me, than to put nonbeneficial nonsensical foods into my system. I'll be buying my fruits at my local market tomorrow and here's to wishing me a healthier snack food filled health journey.

My Decision to Go Public

For a week or two I have been thinking about making my journal public. What influenced me most was the blog Sickle Cell - Natural Healings, which is where I learned about Liquid Chlorophyll and Serrapeptase. That blog is a mother's experience raising a young son (about 4 or 5) who has Sickle Cell. I commented on her blog and she took the time to reply to me and explain what she has been using for her son. (Her regimen included Beet Juice, so I added beets to my diet, though juicing will release more nutrients if you can do that.) I appreciated the fact that she had taken the time to help me out. A few weeks before,  a Facebook friend had posted an article about how bone grafts of people with half matches were being done to cure Sickle Cell, and it worked in about 50% of the cases. I commented on his post with a link to the blog I posted above, and other links to the websites I had discovered over the summer that led me on my journey to health. He eventually put me in touch with someone who also has SC so that I could tell her what I've done.

This summer was incredibly difficult for me, and I seriously contemplated suicide because my relationship with pain was incredibly unbalanced. Pain with SC is not always normal or manageable by even the heaviest painkillers, as described in the first paragraphs of the article here. My greatest motivations to finding alternatives to my former lifestyle (which included drinking plenty of water, very little juice, and making sure I ate my veggies) was my upcoming 8 month stay away from home. I really wanted to be healthy and well, and lead a normal lifestyle. I was also incredibly tired of the pain. Anyone who suffers from chronic pain can tell you how exhausting it is to deal with, and I felt I was missing out on so much that I could be doing, if only I were well, if only my body to cooperate.

My research led me to a wealth of websites that I have listed in previous posts, which talked about Thiocyanate, among other things, and so I made a decision to change my diet from the moment that I knew what foods could help me. Making the decision to change was easy. What wasn't easy was sticking to my diet. My parents didn't understand why I wasn't eating their food all the time, and I didn't want to explain to people who didn't understand my disease (My father had it pretty bad when he was younger, but no longer has crises, to my knowledge. At one point my parents blamed one of my crises on the fact that I didn't go to church.). I was also getting tired of my diet, of eating the same foods, and so, I stopped. The changes didn't occur right away, but I had two more very bad crises (which again made me suicidal) in October and November. After the last one, I once more made the decision to change, and I have stuck with it. I want to live and I want to be as healthy as possible.

I have a dream of helping other people who have this disease. I want to share my experiences, what has worked for me and what hasn't. I want to help other people live better lives. Right now, I am tired, because I've been feeling so good that I've kind of forgotten that I need to rest as well. My disease hasn't been cured, but it sure does feel like it at times. I feel amazing when I don't have to think about it all the time, when it's not the ruling factor in my life. I won't let this thing rule me, and I don't want it to rule anyone else either. If my blog, my experiences, this information, can help at least one person, I'll be happy. If I can personally help anyone by commenting or emailing or just being there to lend an ear, I would be happy to do so.

A lot of people don't know about my experiences because in general I have a cheery outlook and love to cheer others up. But of my own pain, both physical and emotional, I have not much spoken. Now, I've decided that I've been quiet long enough. In the past, I used to be ashamed of my disease, I used to blame myself. I felt as though I were somehow at fault for all of my experiences. I know that now to be a lie, and I don't want anyone else to blame themselves either. No one controls their genetics. No one controls what life hands them. But what we can do is decide what we'll do with what we're given. This is what I've decided to do, and I hope I can help and inspire other people.

3 January

This is my second day on Serrapeptase. From reviews on Amazon, people have said that it has taken them up to 2 weeks to see results from it, and have gotten some weird side effects such as skin rashes. That doesn’t matter to me because I’m down for anything being as how this is a natural pain-killer and also is anti-inflammatory. I think I will turn this into an actual blog today.

Starting Serrapeptase

2 January 2013

Just got my Serrapeptase and took my first capsule. It’s 120,000 iu. I figured I might as well go for the stronger one because from reviews, some people say that they take 2-3 of the 40,000 iu ones daily, and multiply that and you get mine. I’ve been feeling good lately, but that also makes me a bit scared because this disease is entirely unpredictable. Last week I was having the pains around my joints and this week a tiny bit in my bones, but it’s gotten a lot better and much, much less frequent. I suppose that’s a good sign. Today I am going shopping for plantains to round out my diet and make it more full of the bigger Thiocyanate containing foods. I also haven’t had plantains in a few days though I’ve been eating lentils. I am thinking of turning this into a blog, that way other people who have SC can see my progression and my also draw information and perhaps inspiration from it. Hmm.

A More In Depth Update

30 December

I feel like I’ve been having mysterious, almost Sickle Cell pains since I started drinking the Chlorophyll, or maybe a tiny bit before that. It’s weird. Maybe my body is incredibly tired? I cannot wait for the Serrapeptase to get here!

Since I don’t know what’s going on with my body and since it seems like the mysterious pains may be linked to the chlorophyll. I think I will take it every other day. Or what if the pains are because I do not have enough thiocyanate in my body? I really wish there was a greater wealth of information out there for me to judge my experiences by!

Maybe it’s not related at all to the chlorophyll, perhaps it’s the way I fell from ice skating on Thursday. In any case, I will keep taking the LC because it provides what my body needs and I don’t want to discontinue it’s everyday use so soon.

I must note that I was getting pains in my eyes a bit last week and the week before. I have to keep track of these and have an appointment ready with Dr. Svitra when I get back home.

27 December

I’ve been feeling like there’s a bit of inflammation above my left knee at night the past 2 days and I’m wondering if it has anything to do with the chlorophyll? I am so excited for my Serrapeptase to get here! 

I decided to discontinue purchasing carrot juice (I had purchased it on a whim in the first place). From research I did about carrot juice, it is best to have it freshly juiced as it does not keep well in the fridge. I bought mine from a huge supermarket/department store, and the only ingredients were carrot and lemon juice. However, from research I did, bottled carrot juice doesn't keep as well and may not contain as many nutrients. Perhaps it does have benefits, or perhaps it is more like orange juice (all the oxygen is sucked out and flavour is re-added through flavour packs, so it's just colored water by the end of the process.) In any case, since I don't have enough knowledge about the actual benefits of the carrot juice I bought and based on the research I did, I decided to discontinue purchasing it. Plain old carrots are good enough for me.

26 December

Bottoms of my feet are no longer yellow as far as I can tell. Received my chlorophyll today and had my first tablespoon in a cup of water. It was incredibly green. I hope that it will help my health! Here’s to greener pastures! (pun intended)