A Great Holistic Thyroid Book!

"The Women's Guide to Thyroid Health" by Kathryn R Simpson, MS

Found this in my local library. This book tells about how the thyroid gland functions, the endocrine system, how to assess your thyroid health, symptoms, testing, thyroid treatment and support and adrenals and even kids' thyroid issues.

Tells about the home iodine test, heavy metal levels, autoimmune markers and more.

This book is a MUST read!

For more books on healing Lupus and other diseases and general health see:
 http://lupushope.blogspot.com/2009/03/books-to-read-on-healing.html

"Knowledge is POWER!"

A Fun Valentine's Day Treat

Chocolate Fruit Hearts

My daughter and I used a small heart cookie cutter and cut out these fruit hearts, they are pineapple, pear and kiwi. Right after the picture was taken the hearts were dipped in chocolate and vanished into our bellies.
Use  your favorite raw or GFCF chocolate to melt and dip. YUM! and healthy too!

Please see more healthy recipes at
http://www.lupushopecookbook.blogspot.com/

Walk for Lupus Now- NYC info

Join us as we Walk for Lupus Now to raise funds to support the 40,000 people in the NYC metropolitan area living with lupus. Last year, more than 1,000 walkers raised a record $200,000, allowing the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) to fund research, education and essential patient services. On March 20th, the LFA, in conjunction with NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, is providing "Living with Lupus" - a patient education program made possible by funds raised through Walk for Lupus Now!

Our 2010 Walk for Lupus Now is in full swing, and we don't want you to miss the fun. Join us on February 23rd for our Launch Party and on May 1st for the Walk. More information on these events, as well as on our "Living with Lupus" program follows.

Walk for Lupus Now Launch Party!

Tuesday, February 23
6:30 – 8:00 pm
Bistro55
47 W. 55th Street
New York, NY

Join us for free food, drink specials, prizes, raffles and fun as we celebrate the accomplishments of 2009 and kick-off the 3rd Annual Walk for Lupus Now!

Please RSVP to sanders@lupus.org or 202-349-1161

Third Annual Walk for Lupus Now

Saturday, May 1st, 9:00 am
Riverside Park, 103rd Street Entrance

Start your team today at http://donate.lupus.org/newyorkcity



Living with Lupus

Saturday, March 20th, 10:00 am

NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases

Loeb Auditorium

For more information or to RSVP, email sanders@lupus.org or call 202-349-1161







The Lupus Foundation of America is the nation’s leading nonprofit voluntary health organization dedicated to finding the causes of and cure for lupus and providing support and services to all people affected by lupus.



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A Lupus Foundation of America Poll

CAM -Complementary and Alternative Medicine, The Lupus Foundation of America wants to know if any of us use Complementary and Alternative Medicine and if it helps. Please fill out the poll if you can. Thanks!

THIS POLL IS NOT WORKING SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE I will call LFA and see if they are aware of the problem.

http://www.lupus.org/webmodules/webarticlesnet/templates/new_communitypolls.aspx?articleid=492&zoneid=95

David Wolfe interviews Dr. Mercola

This in a terrific and informative interview. Get a nice green smoothie or a cup of green tea and take the time to listen!

http://www.longevityconference.com/david-wolfe-interviews-dr-mercola/

Quick and Easy Cooking

Something I have done recently to speed my cooking (you can do this with raw food too) is to use the food processor with the S-blade.

I wash the veggies and chop them to fit in the food processor, and pulverize them. I get nice small pieces of veggies and I can put them into soups or in with quinoa, brown rice or any other grains. They're also nice small pieces to making chewing easier and are easier for digestion.

This morning I made a pot of quinoa (lots for extra leftovers) and then I put broccoli, fennel, carrots, celery,  chard and shallots in the food processor, mixed the quinoa with the veggies,and made a delicious breakfast for myself, and I have plenty leftover for any other time I get hungry for the next couple of days.

With raw food you could sprout the quinoa or other grain and pulverize the veggies and mix together with a favorite dressing or just salt pepper and lemon and olive oil. (I have developed an allergy to olive oil, lemon, and pepper-go figure- still can have salt though)

Making your meals in advance really helps eating healthy become EASY!

Lupus and Spleen Chi (Qi)

I have been investigating more about Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) and Macrobiotics.

Something that has been coming up with many acupuncturists and books I read and holistic people that I meet is that Lupus causes low spleen chi (qi). Warm foods and root vegetables are said to correct this in TCM. So in TCM no matter how much raw food you eat you will not correct the root cause of the disease.

http://www.compassionateacupuncture.com/chinese__medical__dietary__recom.htm
See the spleen deficiency passage.


At the end of this month, January, it will be 2 years since I went Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Egg Free, I also took out many other foods also. At the beginning of my diet changes, though, I replaced the gluten foods with low nutritional value gluten free foods. Breads and cakes and cookies with low nutritional value starches and such....

So probably the first 6 months doesn't count as eating "healthy" but at least I took out a lot of allergy causing foods and lessened the inflammation in my body.

I ate a lot of raw foods throughout the summers and in the winters I go more to warming foods and macrobiotic cooking.

The Kushi Institute sent me a DVD about a  woman with a Lupus-like disease and she tried raw food with Joel Fuhrman and couldn't quite get well, then she tried Macrobiotics and was totally healed.

Intestinal Permeability (Leaky Gut)

Seems I STILL have an issue with this, my new doctor says until you take care of high levels of mercury you can keep getting it back...even if you do your best and get rid of it....

This link below is from Women to Women they have a great newsletter that I subscribed to at the request of a friend(thanks Karen).

http://www.womentowomen.com/digestionandgihealth/leakygutsyndrome-intestinalpermeability.aspx

Eating to Replace Deficiencies- and a Recipe

Brazil Nut Hearts

                             

 1/2 cup brazil nuts

1/2 cup almonds

 2 dates(soaked)

                               Put nuts in food processor and grind til fine. Add soaked dates and process til well combined. Roll out between parchment paper and cut into shapes. Drizzle with GFCF chocolate melted or your favorite raw chocolate brand  melted. You can add 1/4 tsp cinnamon if you like too! Refrigerate.

These are like eating raw cookie dough hearts, but MUCH healthier for you!

Please see more healthy recipes at

http://www.lupushopecookbook.blogspot.com/

Hi Everyone! My daughter will have midterms this week, so she will be home right after the test each day between Tuesday and Friday of this week, so I may not get to blog as much this week...

Wanted to say a few things before my train of thought goes "off the track"...

I had shared the results of the Cardio Ion Panel in my last post. The test showed some clear deficiencies.
I need to replace a few key nutrients/vitamins/minerals:

For CoQ10, Iron, and Omega 3's and Amino Acids and Fatty Acids I have started to eat sardines (because sardines are small they have a very low mercury/PCB contamination) Eating sardines also showed up well for helping Raynaud's in my research/post about Raynaud's.

Also for CoQ10 and iron spinach! And extra iron any dark green and  leafy , kale,mustard greens, collard greens etc.

For selenium I have added brazil nuts each day. Check out the new delicious treat I came up with  on top of page. These would be great for Valentine's Day! 

Also added some dried fruit for iron, and I have been seaching for organic grass fed beef liver for iron and  CoQ10 but I can't find it in any local stores.

I also am taking all the supplements from my new doctor, I am also supplementing iron and  CoQ10 in capsule form.

Raynaud's and the Rheumy

I went for my 6 month visit to my regular rheumy about a week and a half ago. It was the usual...I just go there get my prescription for blood work, she says everything looks fine, do I want to change my mind and go on plaquenil? I say NO, and she says we need to continuously monitor your kidney function make sure you keep your appts with me every 6 months. And I leave happy that the disease hasn't progressed to horrible proportions....(of couse I use my healthy diet and lifestyle to combat the disease I am NOT just idly waiting for the disease to strike)

This time I decided to tell her that I have been having symptoms of Raynaud's (fingers gettting numb/losing color/turning white in the NY winter). She gave the answer that yes Raynaud's is a part of Lupus to be expected . I asked is there anything I can do about it? She said no and only worry about it if your fingers ulcer and start falling apart.

WELL WHEN did THAT become an answer of a knowledgeable physician? There HAS to be a reason for Raynauds..poor circulation, sticky blood, blood vessel issues(contracting) there has to be SOMETHING that I could try to help this? Well as usual I went on line and found information and things to try for Raynaud's help.

If you have poor circulation... get exercise ,eat less salt/saturated fats? If you have sticky blood(A blood type) ....eat natural blood thinning foods? If you have blood vessel issues(contracting)... take chamomile/magnesium or other relaxing natural foods? These are just my educated guesses..but WHY can't a doctor think like this???? Food matters...it matters what you put in your mouth and certain foods are better for certain health issues. Please read up  at the library or on the internet, look up your problem,  and when the doctor says there is nothing you can do.... either get ideas from somewhere else or switch doctors....
( I just get blood tests from this rheumy and I have my new Holistic MD and other doctors that I ask my REAL questions of ...my holistic chiropractor and my naturopath...you have helped me more than you know!)

I think that it is AWFUL that the doctors can tell patients there is nothing that you can do, and diet doesn't help.. eat what you like. In my opinion a doctor that gives answers like this is either dumb or lazy...if they had the issue you KNOW they would try to find a better answer than... there's nothing that can be done...BULL-- ONEY!

Results of the Cardio Ion test

I had a test done through Metametrix called the Cardio Ion Panel. It was very expensive about $850 and not covered under insurance but the results are incredible. I am very happy I had the test done.
Some of it I still need help reading but here is what it shows..

Cholesterol was at 177 in this test in the Quest test it was 212??? I like 177 better! Does cholesterol fluctuate that much? Are there different readings at different labs?
Lipoproteins were high
CoQ10 was low

The Lipoproteins and the low CoQ10 are risk factors for heart disease.

Chronic Inflammation is low. Homocysteine is low. All other heart factors with these are good.

I was low on 4 out of 13 amino acids. (am curious why?)

Low on some neurotransmitters and precursers. (phenylalanine and glutamic acid)

Low on selenium

In my blood there is not too much heavy metals, lead ,mercury etc. Seems to be stored in my tissues instead...

Vitamin D is higher at 38, but still supplementing to get it higher.

Low in some fatty acids

It breaks down to this...

Cardiovascular System --medium significance(medium issue for me)
Fatigue--large significance (bigger issue to pay attention to/correct)
Metabolic Syndrome(X)---low signifcance (not much of an issue for me)
Mental Emotional---low significance
Intestinal Bacterial Metabolites---low significance
Intestinal Yeasts---low significance
Digestion/Absorption--low significance
Toxic Exposures--high medium significance
Detoxification Impairment---medium significance
Oxidative Stress/Antioxidant Deficiency---low to medium significance
Mitochondrial Functional Impairment---low to medium significance
Amino Acid Insufficiency---medium to high significance
Essential Fatty Acid Insufficiency---medium significance
Disordered Methyl Group (Single Carbon) Transfer---low significance
Disordered Tryptophan Metabolism---low significance

New Doctor's Protocol

1) Find out for sure if I have Lyme Disease and treat it if necessary

2) Take supplements for deficiencies
   a) Ferretin
   b) Hawthorne
   c) GI Support Powder
   d) Magnesium
   e) D3
   f) B12
   g) grapefruit seed extract
   h) Ca EAP

3) Recommended Low Dose Naltrexone(I will ask him more on this and research further)

4) Armour Thyroid hormone (for Hashimoto's Thyroiditis-sluggish thyroid)

5) Mercury and Lead Chelation Intravenous

6) Ca AEP intravenous

7) Probiotics

8) B12 shots

I was happier with the second doctor visit. The only thing I am not sure about is the Low Dose Naltrexone and would rather detox/chelate  and try to do things without this.

Visualizing Healing

Below is a link of a doctor that my holistic chiropractor told me about. She said after I see the holistic MD that she recommended to look him up next. Lupus Girl posted a DVD called "The Living Matrix" http://thelivingmatrixmovie.com/
 and when I watched the trailer to that DVD I thought of Dr. Jerry Epstein. Here are some of the exercises that he does. Click below...
http://www.drjerryepstein.org/exercises.html

Had a talk with the new Holistic MD and he seems very promising. I will let you know what his protocol is very soon....

Vitamin Deficiency and Benefits Chart

Found out I was very low in CoQ10 from the results of my Cardio Ion Test (I will post the rest of the test results soon) but needed to find foods that are high in CoQ10 to help for now, as the supplements seem to cause me joint pain..I will discuss this with the doctor on Friday. I found this chart that tells the deficiency symptoms and benefits of the vitamins, enjoy it!

http://www.healthsupplementsnutritionalguide.com/vitamin-deficiency-symptoms.html

Heart Rate Monitor

I decided to go to Sports Authority to get a heart rate monitor. The one I purchased is like a watch that also tells calories burned, is a stop watch, tells your heart rate, pulse and more.

The reason I wanted to get this  is when I get stressed and my pulse goes up,  to learn to actively relax with breathing and calming exercises. It is not good to get stressed many times during the day, and if you do it is great to learn to relax again quickly so your pulse returns to normal as soon as possible. With a house full of pets, 2 teen children, and a husband  and having Lupus, food allergies, cooking much of the foods we eat, doctors visits, things can get stressful at times...

Also I can check if foods are giving me issues, raising or lowering my pulse. This is an added benefit. Please click below to see the directions on using pulse testing to check for food allergies.
http://www.vitaminlady.com/Articles/CocaPulseTest.asp

Not Dreaded Exercise- Fun Ways to Move Our Bodies!

I know I have an issue with going to the gym, exercising everyday, getting into an exercise routine...
Many of you are right along with me.

If you have any suggestions of things that you have done to get into a routine of enjoying your exercise please add them to the comments below or email me at lonedoggy@netzero.com and I will add them. Thank you!

The other day I went to Sports Authority looking for a heart rate monitor(I will talk about that in the next post) and looked around the store with my husband. This was a great way to get some new exercise ideas.

We saw skeet shooting(OK not too much exercise), a metal detector(walk and find metal obects), a scooter(which reminded me of those Trikkes) Trikke video http://3cvtv.com/video/230/Trikke-Turkey-Video-II  , frisbee golf, and cross country skiing. These were all FUN things I would like to try not just BORING exercise. This is what is necessary to get us all moving is to have fun.

Some other things I thought of that might be fun are ski-joring (cross country skiing combined with dog/s pulling you) http://www.skijoring.com/  , walking/hiking at a park, dancing.

Try to find a "fun way to move YOUR body". Check the local sports store, or what did you enjoy when you were a kid, or what just SPARKS you interest? Find your spark and MOVE!

Gluten, what you don't know might be killing you by Mark Hyman MD

Please read this, for your health and pass it on to your friends and families...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/gluten-what-you-dont-know_b_379089.html

8 Foods for a Healthy Immune System by Andrew Weil

Dr. Weil's e-newsletter has great information, try a free subscription! Here's a sample...

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/TIP03564/8-Foods-For-a-Healthy-Immune-System.html

Natural Treatments for Autoimmune Diseases

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum answered this question on Dr. Oz's website. They use Lupus as a frame of reference, this doctor says that Fibromyalgia accompanies Lupus but Fibromyalgia is very treatable! See the end of the article.

http://ask.doctoroz.com/question/natural-treatments-for-autoimmune-diseases

Raynaud's Help?

I haven't tried any of these yet, but they're worth a shot...

Defrosting Frigid Digits
http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/10/99.cfm

My Blood Results from the new doctor

Fibrinogen is good at 308 not too high. This can tell your blood clotting posibility.

The CBC tests are all normal

Vitamin B12 is a little low but has gone up from 191 to 452- the range is 200-1100

I have Thyroid Peroxidase AB(antibodies)  of 56 it should be under 35 (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis)

ANA was positive but they did not measure it.

DNA DS ABS (Double Stranded DNA ) is at 14 should be under 4

Cardiolipin AB IGG  is at 21 should be under 10
Cardiolipin AB IGM is under 10 should be under 10 (negative)

A1C is normal  at 5.2 should be under 6 (no diabetes)

Homocysteine is low 4.8  should be under 10 (less inflammation/risk of heart troubles)

CCRP 0.2 low inflammation/low heart disease risk

Vitamin D 25-OH is 32 in the acceptable range but should be higher as per doctor)

Cholesterol was higher at 212 (went up from 167 this past summer)

LDL cholesterol 129
HDL cholesterol 63
Triglycerides 77

Iron was low at 8 should be between 10-232

The doctor said that my female hormones were slightly off (don't know how to read these...)

Celiac Panel

Tissue Transglutamase AB IGA under 3 should be under 5
Gliadin (IGA) 8 should be under 11
Gliadin (IGG) 4 should be under 11
Technically negative (but the doctor said if I am on a GF diet I shouldn't have had high antibodies like that and that I could be a celiac)
Casein (F78) IGE under 35 undetectable
Gluten (F79) IGE under 35 undetectable




Lyme disease
Positive?

All negative except one band that is positive

They said it looks like I had Lyme disease and was treated for it(I don't recall that) or that I possibly had the Human Lyme vaccine that was out in the early 90's (I know I thought about it but can't recall if I had the vaccine)

Serum MMA low at 82  should be 87-318 (This rules out pernicious anemia )

DHEA 503  should be 102-1185

ALCAT Food allergy test

I was told that some of the foods tested will show no allergy/intolerance if you have not ingested them ...so some results are skewed....

Severe Intolerance (as per doctor totally avoid for 3-6 months)

Haddock
Malt
Oat
Spelt

Moderate Intolerance (as per doctor avoid for 3-6 months)

Sugar Beets
Black Pepper
Brewer's Yeast
Cauliflower
Cow's Milk
Hops
Mustard
Olive
Sunflower

Mild Intolerance (as per doctor rotate in every 4 days- much of these are foods that I wasn't intolerant to in the past)

Apple
Asparagus
Avocado
Barley
Bay Leaf
Beef
Coconut
Cranberry
Cucumber
Lemon
Lima bean
Oregano
Paprika
Pineapple
Pinto Bean
Pork
Red Pepper
Soybean
Turkey
White Potato

On this test it said that wheat is and OK food (it is not) and eggs are an OK food (they are not), also on the list of OK foods are bananas, corn, peppers, tomatoes,peanut, buckwheat, lamb,garlic,onion and I know I have digestive upsets or headaches and joit pains when I eat these foods.

I have been rotating the mild intolerance foods in and something is causing an itchy rash so I will do the elimination/rare foods diet again to try to figure out the offending food/s.

One thing I have learned is that these food allergy tests provide a great outline but they don't tell ALL!

My New Symptoms

To start off I have been eating more of a warm macrobiotic diet as it is a bitter cold winter here in NY.
It normally is about 40 degrees on Long Island this time of year and it has been in the 20's and low 30's lately! To that I say "YUKKO!"

A confession I have been eating Kettle brand BBQ potato chips...BAD Toni! and rotating in the lesser allergens on the ALCAT test.(The doctor told me to do this but it is making me so itchy, I will stop rotating things in! I still need to exercise more too!
I have encountered more new symptoms of late:

1) Numb finger tips and toes and my skin, where it is numb loses the red blood color and turns white, it doesn't hurt it is just  numb.

2) Constipation or marble poop(sorry for the details) - I find this is better when I eat soups with beans and lots of kale or spinach, which I am doing on a larger scale

3) Occasionally, a little fuzzier head from allergic foods roated in? or more candida caused by B12 shots?

4) Rash on my waist and forearms and legs, very itchy at times...from allergic foods rotated in? I had this problem before and an elimnination/rare foods diet totally got the "itchies" to go away. I am going to try that again.

5) Not sleeping very well, I go to sleep fine at 9 or 10:00pm but then wake up at 12-3:00am and many times cannot fall back to sleep. The last 2 days PMS actually slept better, the gynecologist told me to keep a record of my sleep throughout my cycle.

6) Occasional heart palpitaitons, (they bother me the MOST!)still wonder if allergy related, stress related thyroid related, hormone related,Lupus related or Antiphospholipid related. Too many variables!!!! GRRRR!

Dr. Oz talked about Raw Food Diet on his show!

Raw Food Diet (well almost) on Doctor Oz's show yesterday. He had a man on that was morbidly obese and "prescribed" an almost raw food diet for the man for 28 days.

Sounds like Doctor Oz is listening to the viewers and still researching for himself! Yea Doctor Oz.!

http://www.doctoroz.com/challenges/raw-food-challenge

Martha Stewart Show with Lisa Sanders MD

Author of the book "Every Patient Tells a Story" said that

A Doctor's visit is the meeting of 2 experts

1) The doctor,  who knows diseases and the human body

2) You,  are "the expert" on your own body

I really like this way of looking at a doctor's visit!

Really Cool New Year's Resolutions from The Gianni's

I LOVE these New Year's Resolutions they are not your average run-of-the-mill resolutions...these are how to make you have more awesome life! Try them...I will !


http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2009/12/31/7-new-years-resolutions-we-know-you-can-keep/

My New Doctor

Here I go again...my chiropractor recommended me to this doctor and I will blog about what I liked and what I didn't like.

What I liked

1) No sense of pressure, if I wasn't sure about what he was recommending I could research it for myself
One thing he recommended was Ca IEP---still researching

2) Lengthy medical history taken by PA(Physician Assistant)

3) Lots of pertinent blood tests, when I asked for special blood tests that I had heard about had no problem ordering them (Cardio Ion, Methylmalonic Acid, Celiac Gene Testing etc.)

4)Believes that candida and mercury cause food allergies and the body gets out of balance from all of those things

5) Did Food allergy testing with ALCAT

6) Implemented personal B12 shots

7) Tested for heavy metals (I am  still waiting on the results)

8) Checked my D3 and gave me stronger supplements

What I didn't like

1) Didn't say that B12 can cause yeast to grow faster (I have learned this on the internet)

2)Went over my blood test results without realizing a good part of the report was missing, then went over EXTREMELY important test results at the very end of the visit and I didn't have time to formulate or ask questions (told me I may have Lyme's disease?, I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and my hormones are slightly off and then said "Oh well our time is up now for today... See you in 2 weeks" Then he needed to cancel the appt in 2 weeks and now it will be more like a month...Not a great bed side manner.... : (

3) Didn't like that I like Sherry Rogers...he said that a Far Infrared Sauna was "very Sherry " of me...again a JAB...not very nice and he didn't tell me how does he DETOX??? Or why doesn't he like Sherry Rogers?

4) When he said that the Lyme test looked odd like a may have had Lyme Disease and treated it or gotten the Lyme vaccine...he should have referred me to a Lyme Literate Doctor(specialist) to investigate further instead I was handed a prescription for antibiotics.... but I didn't fill it...I want to research more(The PA said I could try the herb Cat's Claw first and ask my NAET practitioner it my body had Lyme's and ask my body through NAET the treatment my body "asks for")

5) Suggested CoQ10 for my heart palpitations, before getting all the bloodtest results... but then gave me one with poor ingredients/colors, and then right before I left said I had thyroid problems, didn't suggest any hormones for that, and that could cause the palpitations, as could my "off" hormones. I will return the CoQ10 unopened for a refund...(Alot of the vitamins he sells say his name on the bottle...this is a service that a company offers It says "Dr. Blank" on the vitamin bottle, very "cheesy" in my opinion...He should have his name on the bottle only if he formulated the vitamin himself...)

6) Said my cholesterol was up and that with Lupus that was a GOOD THING on what planet????...not on my planet. I want to have low cholesterol(the high cholesterol is a symptom of the thyroid issue) because I have risk factors for blood clotting, heart problems with Lupus, antiphospholipid antibodies, cardiolipin antibodies, thyroiditis....

7) The minute I walked in the office he suggested Low Dose Naltrexone(I don't want to take that unless absolutely necessary...to me that is not a holistic approach)

8) Only got to visit with the doctor for 1/2 hour in 2 visits to his office(the PA  I saw 1 and 1/2 hours)

9) Have to drive all the way to Manhattan from Eastern LI to see this doctor (PS I HATE Manhattan, I am a quiet country girl)

10) Said to rotate the less allergic foods into my diet now I have a rash all over my waist/forearms/legs(PS I am going back on my elimination/rare foods diet ...the itching is driving me CRAZY!)

11) Holistic treatment didn't seem to be his first choice...(he is a M.D.)

12) Charged me A LOT of money so far and I still don't know what his protocol is....what he believes in doing in his practice...

A Doctor gives me a Pat on the BACK!

The opinion below is not for everyone....

Hey also...went to my yearly gynecologist appointment today. Everything went fine and I loved that my new gynecologist (2nd year that I have seen her) gave me a pat on the back by saying that it was great that I didn't take medications for my Lupus, that diet changes and eating healthy was much better for my health.

The reason the doctor says this is there are no medications as of yet that can cure Lupus, the meds just suppress the symptoms and lots of the meds can have other upsetting side effects.

She also said it was great that I lost weight and that I am now at my proper healthy weight!

Yahoo!

****CAUTION**** If you presently take medications for your Lupus or other health problem, NEVER stop taking the meds without a doctor's supervision and guidance. Also if you want to get off your meds,  the best type of doctor to see about this is a naturopath, a functional medicine doctor, or a chinese medicine doctor, or an alternative medicine doctor. Make sure you get recommendations!

Happy New Year!

I took a small vacation during the holidays. Both my husband and my 2 children were home from Christmas through the New Year. My kids had vacation from school and the company my husband works at has a mandatory "shut down" 2 times a year, one of those times is between Christmas and New Year's.

So everyone in the family was back at work and school today!

So I am back to blogging!

Some things I will be covering soon are:

1) My new bloodwork results/new symptoms/new doctor's protocol

2) A report on my first visits with my new doctor what I liked and what I didn't

3) How to have better time management in life and how to set and keep priorities

4) Easier food prep/cooking

5) Finding fun ways to move our bodies/exercise

6) Food allergy testing and a rotation diet

7) Why do raw or macrobiotic diets (hint spleen insufficiency needs heat not cooling-Traditional Chinese Medicine )

8) Repairing  relationships

9) Visualizing healing

These topics and more will be coming soon! Have a great day!