updates galore!

“He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything.” --Arabic Proverb

I apologize ahead of time for the random nature of the subsequent paragraphs.

Still can’t tell a difference in bodily functions from the supplements I’ve been taking for my thyroid. So I suppose that means they work just as well as the medication I used to take. I will, however, need to get my blood tested just to make sure everything is all good.

I have this friend. Let’s call her Mica. She is awesome and gave me a helpful response to one of the questions I had about probiotics. The question was if your body can become immune to probiotics like it can to antibiotics. She said that it most likely won’t, but there can be a too-much-of-a-good-thing type of situation. So moral of the story: probiotics are nicer to the body than antibiotics, but don’t pop them daily if you want them to work splendidly. Mica also gave a lovely description of how probiotics work (per her mother), which included the phrase, “It’ll help restore the flora in your gut.” I found this simultaneously interesting and disturbing.

The next phase of my naturopathic healing is to tackle my allergies. This was my next to most annoying ailment, following IBS obviously. Without being redundant and repetitive and redundant and repetitive, I will make an abridged list of the things of this world to which I am allergic.

1.      Cats

2.      Dogs

3.      All animals with fur, really

4.      Smoke

5.      Mold

6.      Dust

7.      Trees

8.      Pollen

9.      Grass

10. All of the outdoors, really

11. Several varieties of antibiotics

As you may have noticed, these supplements will have their work cut out for them. But let me note the score, for those of you who haven’t kept count:

Natural healing: 5 million points             Modern medicine: -37 points

My body seems to be keen on naturalness, with regard to medicine. What can I say?

Lastly, I have decided what the next Experi-month will be!!!! I’m super excited about it. I also very much appreciate your suggestions for future topics. In reference to Experi-months, I will say, my search for more than contentment has already gone marvelously. It’s much easier to be happy when your body is happy. And my body is beyond happy. It’s downright pumped about life these days. I just want to sing happy songs from Glee all the live-long day. If that’s not an indication, I don’t know what is.

the friendly kind of bacteria

“Bacteria keeps us from heaven and puts us there.” –Martin H. Fischer

I have begun the next part of my holistic regimen: Probiotics. My NP explained that probiotics are basically “good bacteria.” She specifically gave me HMF Intensive, which is a variety of probiotics. This is a one time prescription for me. After 15 days, I’m done with them.

My NP said that she recommended HMF because it will restore the good bacteria in my stomach that the antibiotic I took over the summer wiped out. As I mentioned in another post, I had a severe reaction to this antibiotic, complete with dry, cracking skin from head to toe. It was so terrible that it often hurt to move. Even the strongest of moisturizers could not cure my dehydrated epidermis and I eventually had to break down and go to the dermatologist to fix it. Even with their help, I still have not fully recovered from this… 6 months later.

I’ve heard that probiotics are also great for the immune system in general. So if you’ve got a cold or flu-like ailment, they are a good and gentle substitute for the everything-must-die-a-quick-death approach of antibiotics.

I’m unsure of whether your body can become immune to the benefits of probiotics in the same ways that it can with antibiotics. If anyone knows, holla at me. I’m curious, but could not find a reliable source confirming or denying this.

So the probiotics are to help my body recover in a myriad of ways. They have also been shown to reduce inflammation, much like the Slippery Elm, which will help my IBS too! It’s like a five for one deal. No negative side effects as of yet either. And I feel generally healthier. I can’t really explain into words specifically how I feel “healthier,” but I do.

My body is on the express train to recovery. I can feel it. And I like it.