Posts filed under 'Personal Stories'
I have some wonderful news to share. For those of you who have read my previous posts, you’ll know I was diagnosed last year with a tumour in my thyroid and another in my breast and an underactive thyroid which is Hypothyroidism (Hashimoto’s disease).
After strong persuasion from my doctor I agreed to a biopsy of my breast tumor and learned that it was benign. Personally I believe that a benign tumor is just one step away from malignant cancer and it needs to be treated as really BIG warning sign.
I am now delighted to announce that after seven months my thyroid is now functioning normally again (TSH = 2.5). My live blood cell microscopy analysis was wonderful to watch too. There was much less candida/yeast and my cells were flowing nicely, not clumped together like some sections were last time.
I was very depressed and frustrated in January when I found that after the first 4 months of being very dedicated my thyroid functioning had reduced further and my TSH levels had escalated to 60, an extremely high level. I was so deeply depressed I was actually very concerned and was half worried / half hoping that my doctor would prescribe thyroid drugs. Thankfully he didn’t.
When my doctor told me the good news now, he said he was surprised back in January that I was able to get out of bed given my results. Part of me wishes that I’d known that then because I think it would have helped to known that because I was very impatient with myself pushing myself to get up and work and exercise.
It helped somewhat to know that an underactive thyroid is very, very common and that even Oprah was experiencing it too.
I asked my doctor why I went backwards after that first four months. I wondered if it was the residue effects of getting my amalgam mercury fillings replaced but my doctor said no, he didn’t think so but he didn’t have an answer for me. He took me off the iodine supplementation because my results indicated that I unfortunately was one of the rare people who didn’t benefit from ongoing iodine supplementation. He said that was a shame given the great benefits iodine has for the breasts.
I decided to stop taking the $100 a month supplements he’d recommended (L-glutathoine and R-lipoic acid). It was probably irrational but I was annoyed that I’d been so disciplined in taking them several times a day for over 3 months and not only had I not seen any improvement, I’d actually gone backwards.
Here’s a summary of what I did from mid January to mid April 2008:
- Food: alkaline diet (also known as the candida diet - no sugars, dairy, wheat, yeasts or fruits other than berries and green apples) - I was really unhappy about this at first, even a little angry.
- Replaced soy milk with rice milk
- Selenium supplementation
- measured my acid/alkaline levels daily (my morning urine rarely got over 5.5 except for 1 day in March when I had chocolate on my 35th birthday. I then realized just how much my emotions affected me)
- exercised daily & Vit D - starting with a gentle walk which was mainly to get my Vitamin D 20 minutes of sunlight. I found my energy levels rising and increased this to occassional jogging & workouts.
- 3 minute meditation / breathing exercises
- engaged mind - set 30 day goals and had an accountability partner to keep me focussed
- cleanse 1 - to kick off the intense alkaline diet I did a 10 day herbal cleanse which was quite gentle eating only vegetables and beans and a small amount of brown rice or cous cous. One of the benefits of doing this was by the time I started the alkaline diet it didn’t feel as restrictive.
- cleanse 2 - near the end of the three months I came across Dr Hulda Clark’s Liver Flush “The Cure For All Cancers“. Having heard that the liver and gall bladder are renown for holding negative emotions like anger and frustration plus can help rid infection from the body I thought it couldn’t hurt and may even help. I have no idea if that helped but I’ve now done it twice and have been amazed at the gall stones the liver flush gets out of the body!
This was as much an emotional journey as it was a physical journey.
Oprah’s expert Dr. Christiane Northrup says “In many women thyroid dysfunction develops because of an energy blockage in the throat region, the result of a lifetime of ’swallowing’ words one is aching to say. In the name of preserving harmony, or because these women have learned to live as relatively helpless members of their families or social groups, they have learned to stifle their self-expression.” Adds Northrup: “It’s no coincidence that so many more women than men have thyroid problems. Thyroid disease is related to expressing your feelings…”
I know this is very controversial but I prefer to think that we can and do create our world, including illness. To me the alternative - thinking that we just randomly become ill for no reason - is very disempowering.
So, after realising how much my emotions affect my body I decided to express my true feelings more. For certain reasons I had started declining invitations and avoiding certain people. Saying ‘No’ was good for me but I gave lots of excuses rather than the real one. I got so good at this I even had myself almost convinced. Even when I did admit to myself it wasn’t the real reason, I convinced myself that it would be rude to give the real reason.
It was very scary at first but I started telling my real reason and not the polite excuse or more convenient reason. At first I did get negative reactions that justified my fears but even then having my fears come true was somehow freeing. I found I didn’t care so much about what other people thought as much as the respect I had for honoring myself. After that, I even grew closer to some friends by being so rawly honest.
I hope by telling my story it will encourage other people.
Technorati Tags: hypothyroidism, hashimoto's disease, natural, cure, tips, help, underactive thyroid, oprah, emotions, tsh, organic, alternative
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April 29th, 2008
“Kerri, we’ve got a problem,” is not something you like to hear from your doctor before you’ve even sat down.
If you’ve read past updates I was diagnosed with a benign tumor in my breast and another tumor on my throid and a condition called hypothyroidism aka Hashimoto’s disease (which is really just an underactive thyroid) in the middle of 2007. Natural treatments saw progress and my thyroid had started functioning again.
Last week was my 3 month followup appointment with my doctor to check in on the progress I’ve made with healing my thyroid - part of which was focussed on getting mercury out of my body. Over Christmas and into January, I’d been been feeling tired and miserable, sleeping a lot more than normal and some days not even getting out of my home. My Doctor told me that my throid is now no longer working again and my TSH levels are at a staggering 60 (they’re supposed to be between 0.4 - 4.0). TSH is the a thyroid hormone called on by the brain when the thyroid isn’t producing enough.
The positive part of this news is that at least I am in tune enough with my body to know that my lethargy and moodiness were physical rather than emotional.
I was disappointed though that all the work over the last 3 months doing the mercury detox hadn’t given the results I’d desired. The blood test results weren’t enough to determine what changes we should make so my doctor did a Live Blood Cell microscopy on me. I’ve had this before and found it fantastic. You’re able to see what’s actually happening in your own blood. My red blood cells looked great, nice and round with strong cell walls and I could see white blood cells actively doing their job. Then we saw the trouble, all of sudden in this beautiful perfect blood we came across a huge amount of yeast growing in my blood. Doc called it the Black Hole and it was so awful to see. I was horrified and told him “but I don’t eat yeast!”. I eat very little bread and when I do it’s sourdough that doesn’t have yeast added.
Doc explained to me: You know how an apple decays in the refrigerator. One week it’s fine, then it gets soft, then it breaks down and become a gooey mess. Well, the mould didn’t just jump into the refrigerator. It’s there because of the process of breaking down. Same as the yeast in your blood.
That made sense to me.
12 Hour Yeast Infection Cure - 100% Natural Click Here!
So, now we’re stepping things into high gear & for the next three months to clean up the yeast growing in my blood I’m to follow an alkaline diet but without any sugar - which means lots of vegetables, especially greens and no fruit other than avocado, tomatoes and the occassional handful of berries.
So now I’m back into my green drinks like Kris Carr’s “Freshness in a Glass”.
And I’m making my own sprouts too. It’s so cheap! I went to the health food store and got a small packet (approx 1 cup) of organic mung bean / haricot seeds for $2.70. I’ve used about a fifth of it and have a HUGE crop of delicious sprouts. My sprouts at the supermarket cost me $1.95 so it’s really cheap plus super fresh and convenient. See here how to grow your own sprouts.
I’ll soon post an article on Live Blood Cell Analysis. The next health update will be in 3 months at the end of April.
Technorati Tags: alkaline, blood, health, thyroid, hypothyroidism, hashimoto, doctor, live blood cell analysis, organic, natural
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January 28th, 2008
I had my followup appointment with my doctor this week. We were encouraged by some results - my Vitamin D level is now in a good range and more importantly, my thyroid is now working. Yay! Unfortunately it wasn’t all good news though. My thyroid is showing more inflammation than previously which has my doctor quite concerned.
My doctor is now starting me on a Mercury Detoxification Protocol as soon as I have the rest of my amalgam fillings removed this week coming.
When you get amalgam fillings removed, there will be some mercury that enters your system. That’s kept to a minimum by the preventative measures dentists take which includes using a dental dam so only the tooth being worked on is exposed. Despite these measures, my dentist told me there would be higher levels of mercury in my body for the first week. I asked how long it would take for the mercury to leave my body and she said that it could take weeks, months or even years until the mercury has left my body.
That’s why our priority is now on eliminating the mercury as fast as we can from my body, not just moving it to other places in the body such as the elimination organs.
The following detox protocol is thanks to Dr Greg Emerson & you can find more information at www.drgregemerson.com
Mercury is located inside and on the surface of the cells and must be safely unbound, taken out of the cells, carried to excretory organs and excreted without being reabsorbed. Then damaged biological and enzyme systems must be prepared.
Before starting, we minimise ongoing exposure to mercury and other heavy metals (ie amalgam removal) which I’ve already done.
Then, there’s a 7 step process for the next 6 - 8 weeks.
1) increase food rich in glutathione as this is a powerful antioxidant that helps the body eliminate mercury, particularly the liver where heavy metals can accumulate.
2) Eat 2 eggs a day as eggs are a useful chelator of mercury. Also have 2 cloves of garlic a day.
3) Drink 6-8 glasses of filtered water a day
4) Commence daily walking or stretching program.
5) Glutathione 1 capsule in 1/2 teaspoon of organic honey. (The doc actually specified organic honey.) Hold in mouth 1 minute and then swallow. Do this 3 times a day.
6) R lipoic acid 1 capsule twice a day.
7) Selenium 4 drops a day
I am a little daunted by the thought of eating 2 eggs a day as I am not a big egg eater. I am dedicated though and I will be very keen to see the results. Normally Dr Emerson would recommend me doing this for 6-8 weeks but 8 weeks takes us to Christmas and we have agreed to delay the next blood tests until mid January.
Not everyone has access to a wonderful doctor like mine who is highly qualified as a medical doctor and also focussed exploring alternative solutions to address the cause not just symptoms. Please note that the above program is specifically for a short period only. It is not intended to be any form of medical advice, merely information for you to dicsuss with your own medical professional and no responsibility is taken. You should always take 100% responsibility for your own health.
Over the coming week, I’ll be including more information for anyone interested in a heavy metal detox.
Your comments and feedback are very welcome.
Technorati Tags: mercury, amalgam, removal, detox, detoxification, program, heavy metals, organic, alternative
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November 4th, 2007
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