Rather Be Healthy

Taking for granted.

At the end of each day I reflect on my progress and it appears that what I’m doing is working which as I’m sure you can understand is very pleasing, I previously mentioned that the line I write each day about testing my handwriting is becoming more readable each day. The porridge oats were stopped today, Tuesday so hopefully it’ll only take a few days to be out of my system and that will be reflected in a reduction in my daily weakness. There’s a good chance that they were the offending agent, I don’t expect a miraculous difference but I believe it’ll help move me in the right direction. I’m reasonably comfortable about the changes I’ve made in my diet and I know that me getting sick from the initial symptoms to the giving up work was close to seventeen years. The hideous squatter had a long time to damage and seriously contaminate the precious organs of my body, precious to me. So reversing that is not going to happen overnight, there’ll be bad and “not good days” in comparison to the good and great days, I just have to accept what’s happening and see all the up’s and downs as part of the journey, my healing journey and certainly not take this extremely special thing for granted, thank you Ann for saving our lives, R.I.P. and thank you Janet for sharing.

Acceptance.

It’s a strange thing really, Acceptance…. is it telling yourself that what you are trying to do, just can’t be done!!! To me that’s just giving up and telling everyone that you were wrong and what you genuinely believed  to be true, wasn’t … Or….. or is telling yourself that what you honestly believed  that you were doing the right thing but deep down you knew that you weren’t doing it right but kept lying to yourself that it was ok. Hmmmm…. let me think about that for a second… I’ve been on this program for almost two months and there’s no doubt I’ve had lots of little improvements, not necessarily obvious to anyone not living in my body but to me that does, the subtle changes are huge. The only significant issue as far as I’m concerned is the shocking weakness that happens everyday at roughly the same time, about four and a half hours after I get up and move around. I thought it was the protein or granola bar I ate daily so they were eliminated. I had slight improvements yes, but the midday weakness continued, so what could it be? Looking back I am fairly confident that a food that’s prohibited for the first three months has been a daily thing for me. Porridge oats, I thought, gluten free, coconut milk and Stevia, it’ll be fine, I’m doing everything else right but the midday weakness persists so I really cannot think it could be anything else. Okay….  acceptance, I’ve been lying to myself and that hurts… stupid… stupid boy, even worse, not a boy but a should know better 62 yr old man.

The decline of healthcare.

When I first moved to the U.S. in 2002 I felt good about my life and the decision I’d made, in hindsight I must have had rose tinted glasses permanently fixed to my head because all I could see was good. I’d met a woman who I thought actually loved me, I was moving to Colorado, living and working in the “mile high city”, that’s Denver and all was good in my life. Sadly two years later those glasses must have broken because that was the start of my MS life, four years after that the woman I thought loved me, didn’t as I learnt of her affairs. That’s by the by, I’m better off without her, back to my point… healthcare and its decline both here in the UK and back over in the U.S. At one time I thought it was only there that the problem existed but over the past five years I can see it’s just as bad here. Think about it, what do doctors do when you see them because of a health problem, nine times out of ten they just prescribe a drug, partly because they know that the drug will probably relieve the major symptom and partly just to pacify you. Most people are happy with this but in reality it’s just putting a sticking plaster a Bandaid on your head because of a headache, ridiculous and it gets worse. Look at the 91 side effects of Beta Interferon, Suicidal thoughts….. Suicidal thoughts, the symptoms of the disease are bad enough without the “so called medication” encouraging me to kill myself. Doctors should try their best, they took the Hippocratic oath… Do no harm…. how many people not just MS sufferers take 4 or 5 different medications that combined have 150 side effects, these are known because they actually happened to the 100 people that originally tested the drug before the FDA and UK equivalent passed the drug to be used by sick people. The healthcare industry should be renamed the Sickcare industry. It absolutely disgusts me how this is no longer an honourable profession, now it’s a Keep them sick and make profits industry.

Beta interferon

A neurologist wanted to put me on this, as I’ve said, I refused, at the time I didn’t know what I know now but I’m so, so lucky I stuck to my guns, this will shock you, the side effects are as follows:

More common

Black, tarry stools, chest pain, chills, cough, diarrhea, fever, flu-like symptoms, headache, joint pain, muscle aches, nausea, pain, painful or difficult urination, shortness of breath, sores, ulcers, or white spots on the lips or in the mouth, swollen glands, unusual bleeding or bruising, unusual tiredness or weakness

Less common

Abdominal or stomach pain, clumsiness or unsteadiness, convulsions (seizures), decreased hearing, difficulty with swallowing, dizziness, fainting, feeling of warmth,hives or itching, mood changes, especially with thoughts of suicide, muscle spasms, pain or discharge from the vagina, pelvic discomfort, aching, or heaviness, redness of the face, neck, arms, and occasionally, upper chest, redness, swelling, or tenderness at the injection site, runny or stuffy nose, skin lesions, sneezing, sore throat, speech problems, swelling of the face, lips, or eyelids, troubled breathing

Rare, Earache, general feeling of discomfort or illness, loss of appetite, painful blisters on trunk of the body, painful cold sores or blisters on the lips, nose, eyes, or genitals, Incidence not known, Bleeding gums, blood in the urine or stools, bloody nose, chest discomfort, confusion, constipation, dark urine, decreased urine output, depressed mood, dilated neck vein, dry skin and hair, extreme fatigue, fast, irregular, or pounding heartbeat, feeling cold, general tiredness and weakness, hair loss, heavier menstrual periods, high fever, irregular breathing, light-colored stools, loss of bladder control, mental depression, mood or other mental changes, muscle cramps and stiffness, nausea or vomiting, nervousness, pale skin, persistent loss of appetite, pinpoint red spots on the skin, puffiness or swelling of the eyelids, or around the eyes, face, lips, or tongue, redness, blistering, peeling, or loosening of the skin, sensitivity to heat, skin rash, slowed heartbeat, sudden loss of consciousness, sweating, swelling of the face, fingers, feet, or lower legs, swelling of the mouth or throat, tightness in the chest, tightness in the throat, upper right abdominal or stomach pain or tenderness, weight gain or loss, yellow eyes and skin

It truly amazes me that some people will simply take a drug and never do any personal research, people often get sick because of synthetic garbage masquerading as food, they then get sicker because of the side effects of drugs and there are 91 listed including suicidal thought..

Better than.

Okay let’s be realistic here, and I’m talking to the ones like me reading this, when you were diagnosed with MS, mine was Feb 04, the neurologist probably told you in a matter of fact, not necessarily an understanding of sympathetic way that after the multitude of testing, the MRI, the CAT scan, ultrasound, lumbar puncture and EEG said that you had Multiple Sclerosis, an incurable disease and you’d have to start and be on medication for life, however long that might be. By the way I refused to take the addictive treat a symptom drug and was chastised by the neurologist and told I’d be in a wheelchair in six months, it’s nearly fourteen years and I’m not there and have no intention of letting that happen.  I think that statement is exactly the right one to use….. listen to the drug pushers, A.K.A. doctors and neurologists and live a life of depression and negativity or…. or don’t let that happen by following a proven, tried and tested method of healing your diseased body. Do your own research and look up the many diseases that are rife today that never existed 75 years ago, and No, it’s not anything to do with more advanced research it’s simply down to the pharmaceutical giants creating disease through the side effects of drugs. Google any drug and you will see a huge list of possible side effects.

Anyway the point of this post is this, compare how you are now to how you were pre ABP, you might not be cured…. yet.. but there is no doubt in my mind that I’m better than I was before.

The Healing Journey.

It’s Thursday afternoon and I feel an overwhelming desire to write about my current situation, I know these posts are read mostly by healthy people but for others like me with this hideous disease, multiple sclerosis I wanted to hopefully inspire them. As I’ve said before I was initially diagnosed in February 04, three years later I met and started working for Dr Hal Huggins who himself had MS. He’d been able to keep 99% of his symptoms at bay using a unique line of supplements he had created. So my years with him (4) helped educate me in the right nutrition and supplements, sadly by November 2012 what I was doing was not enough to enable me to keep working so I left Colorado and returned to England. Obviously I continued with what I thought was best for me nutritionally and with my supplements. Gluten and dairy were eliminated and refined sugar was restricted to 8g to 10g per day. In August I met Janet Orchard  through Facebook and although I felt optimistic there were still small doubts that the Ann Boroch method would truly work for me. Since officially starting on September 1st I’ve tried as best I could to follow the program but it still felt as though something was wrong, Janet asked to see exactly what I was taking, a line of supplements from a company called Youngevity, in my mind the supplements are the best but Janet pointed out the fructose content of one particular drink. Since that’s been eliminated only two weeks ago, the improvements have been significant, no I can’t walk unaided, no I’m not cured but the changes in how I feel both mentally in this arrogant noggin of mine and physically are so nice. For anyone new or old to this, stop thinking you know best or you just couldn’t live without your morning coffee and just have faith, the program works, if it’s not it’s probably because you  aren’t doing it properly.

Same only better.

I was up early on Wednesday morning after a good night’s sleep, five and a half hours of unbroken sleep is good for me, so after an hours read and writing yesterday’s post I got up. I felt strong and stable so made a little breakfast, had two mugs of red clover tea, my morning supplements and I was ready for the new day. During the morning I had a delivery of an expected parcel, because I live in a flat, an apartment, a visitor or someone delivering something rings the bell, it takes almost a minute for me to stop what I’m doing then manoeuvre my way to the other side of the room to answer the caller and let them into the building. That normally wears me out, I know that’s pathetic but that’s what it is. Anyway unlike  previous days I didn’t feel knackered which as I’m sure you can understand really pleased me. I try not to think about feeling good or bad during the day, if things aren’t a problem then I just do whatever feels comfortable, obviously I’ve learned a very painful lesson from previous mistakes so I naturally just go with the flow. It’s now Wednesday evening and I’m ok with assessing how my day has been, I was able to do all I needed to do, I didn’t feel overly tired, I rested after lunch and meditated for a couple of hours. So how was my Wednesday? same as Tuesday only better.

I sometimes wonder why I write for my blog, I have received well over 2 million hits to www.ratherbehealthy.com,  I have comments from all over the world… literally, it’s strange seeing comments that may or may not be complimentary from China and Japan, I’m guessing because of the writing. Anyway I imagine 80% or 90% have nothing to do with me or my illness but that doesn’t bother me, it is what it is. I sometimes write when I’m in bed at night reflecting on my day or like now at 6.30 am preparing my mind for the day. As I’ve said, I live alone but I’m never lonely, I don’t get down or depressed, I think that’s because I’m competitive, I was infected with this disease nearly 20 years ago, wow that’s just shocked me. My official diagnosis was not until 2004 but I’d had the early symptoms as far back as 1997, so nearly a third of my life has been coping with it. Anyway back to my point, I’ve always seen this as a squatter illegally taking up residence in my body and that I would just have to keep fighting this unwanted resident until I could evict it, a challenge, almost a dare and one I refused to back down from, ok I tried my best using the knowledge I’d gained from working for Dr Hal Huggins in Colorado and although that was great, it wasn’t enough. However, I’m in a far better position now, now I’m following a tried, tested and proven protocol so now unlike the many, many years I felt like I was fighting a losing battle, but in my typical I won’t be beaten obstinate way I’ve  refused to accept defeat, now it’s different, now at last I’m on the winning team and I know why I write, to constantly motivate myself.

The good, the bad and the…..

When I started the AB program officially in September I was well aware that making changes in my diet and adding certain supplements that there would be changes, I knew there would be good days and bad days and over a long period of time that the good would outnumber the bad. As far as when these changes would happen I didn’t know or how good or bad they’d be. Well after only six weeks there are very positive improvements and I think the fact I’d definitely been in a better position than most others when I started has and is playing a significant part in my journey. I’d been gluten and dairy free for several years and most importantly I had restricted my sugar intake to under 10 grams per day for the previous 7 years. I am positive that using two Zappers for several hours each day and getting a lot of advice from the group, especially Janet has helped significantly so I’m very happy about my progress. Am I cured? obviously not and I wouldn’t expect that, but the good days have got better and the bad days are fewer and definitely nowhere near as bad, as far as the ugly days, well they’re non existent.