Alternative Health Documentary

So my family has been on a healing journey for the past several years.  As we have explored, tried, tested, met with, paid for, traveled to... various practitioners, it dawned on me that there are so many stories of success that I had never heard about.  So, I decided to start documenting these stories.  Here is the trailer for my documentary.  Please stay tuned for more to come. 

Painful ovarian cyst, Chinese herbs, and proteolytic enzymes

So the pain continued despite the ACV.  I went last week to see my TCM herbalist.  She switched recipes.  This new recipe has helped to diminish the pain greatly.  I am on a schedule of 3 days per package of herbs and 2 days off.  She advised me to drink everyday once my period arrived.

My period arrived yesterday - painfully.  And the pain in my side has been pretty much there the entire day.  But I am hoping that this is the final clingings of this cyst and that the herbs wash it out, or make it pop, or encourage my body to absorb it.
 
I'm an animal.  I'd like to gnaw my own ovary off and be done.  It's not excruciating pain - which it's been in the past - it's just there most of the time.  Reminding me of its presence.  Freaking me out with worry.  Whispering to me of the craptastically long wait at the county hospital with the robotic doctors who by the time they get to you - you are so worn down with waiting you are eagerly submitting to whatever treatments they are rotely prescribing.  UGH.  Tiny teeth chomping on the cyst tasking it away.

I'm also taking between 9-12 Wobenzym N tablets - hoping that the enzymes will assist in my body's reabsorbing this thing.

I'm fantasizing about poking this cyst - kind of the way you pop a blister on your foot.  And then it hurts for a day or so, but it's gone.  I actually punched myself in the gut hoping to pop it.  Not hard really but with enough force that I felt it.  I opted not to punch myself a second time.

Two interesting things have come up in my  research regarding the cysts.  One brings me back to ACV - potassium and the second one is iodine.  I read that ACV has potassium - and that low levels of potassium are associated with ovarian cysts.  In fact, low levels of potassium can be linked to many things - kidney stones, hypertension, osteoporosis, stroke...  If you read Linus Pauling Institutes assessment of potassium here you will see the great deal of significance it has - even on a cellular level.   What's so interesting is that Gerson also discusses the potassium thing.  And both Gerson and Linus Pauling admit that the Western diet is several times higher in sodium than potassium, while native diets are the opposite. 
 
What does this mean for us - well I've now started to make an effort to reduce sodium - even though before we were eating sea salt.  We're cutting down significantly.  We've also begun to look out for sodium in any processed foods we eat.  Conversely I've tried to pay more attention to getting potassium into our diet - baked potatoes, fresh squeezed orange juice...

Iodine - something that I am not going to go into to detail today - but needless to say - it too is something that has come up in the ovarian cyst realm.  And interestingly enough - something Gerson too writes about.  For those of you who don't know - Max Gerson is founder of the Gerson protocol - a rigorous vegan diet, supplement, and coffee enema approach to healing cancer and other chronic diseases.  I am contemplating ordering some Lugol's iodine and adding it my diet. 

So far - now 4 days into my period the pain has gone down enough that I can, for the first time in over a month, lie on my right side without intense pain.  We'll see - I am feeling good about this batch of herbs - last one did not help so the TCM doc created a new one.  I've included a picture of the current mixture.  I rinse, add 5 cups of H2O, and boil down to about 8 ounces (about 2-3 hours of cooking).  Then I drink.  The taste is really awful - like sour, muddy, dirty - herby - but like a taste that reminds me of the drinks we would make as kids when we we're bored at weddings or parties my parents too us to.  It was the throw everything into the glass until it was brown and chunky - then each kid would take turns sipping to see who could drink the most.  Yuk - I keep muttering to myself - the ovarian cysts is diminishing, disappearing, gone - as I drink it.  Then I gag, make faces, a swig some water as a chaser.  My herbalist said, to drink this for 2 months and go back for another ultrasound and the cyst will be gone.  Here's to it being so.

Traditional Chinese Herbs for Ovarian Cyst

How we are reducing IGE levels

Now I have read a lot of articles and studies on how IGE levels have been reduced.   Just some of the things I've found that have been documented in scientific studies to reduce IGE levels are:

whey (30% decrease in a month)
deep sea water (vague, but interesting)
sodium ascorbate 1 gram daily (initially dropped IGE levels, fluctuated, then rose slightly over initial levels)
spirulina (there is a study on the internet - but it's published mainly on producer's website.)
raw dairy
camel milk (watch Dr Michael Mandl session - I believe that is where IGE levels are discussed)
herbs (there are varying studies and stories - from Ayurveda through Traditional Chinese Medicine).  Here is an interesting article covering several TCM herbal mixtures.
deep needle acupuncture (searching for article I read awhile ago)


So, as I posted earlier, we saw our allergist a couple weeks back.  Since then the blood results came in and my son's IGE levels have declined from 1722 to 1059 - a 36% decrease since our last blood draw 6 months prior.  This is the first such a drop to date without steroids.  His levels dropped somewhat about 2 years ago - but this was following 2 doses of steroids (1 injection for a failed food challenge and 1 oral for an asthma attack).  So we are definitely moving in the right direction with our present protocol.  We will retest in 6 months and hope to see the healing trend continue.

If you've found studies/ideas/suggestions for reducing IGE levels please post.

Rosacea? MRSA update -

I wanted to post updates.  My face is MUCH better.  Much better.  In fact people who have seen me over the last months have commented on how my face is a MILLION times better.
I've got a series of photos below:
August (2 months post surgery and post appearance of what I thought was a sebaceous cyst).  In this time, the "cyst" burst and spread infection across my face.  Shortly after this, I was given augmentin by GP.  Then I took it upon myself to see a dermatologist who tested and confirmed her suspicions of MRSA.  I was then put on clindamycin.

I was putting all sorts of things to "speed recovery" some of which only burned my face:  iodine, garlic, creams...  This is October where I decided (not doctors) that I needed to see infectious doctor.  It also - while on clindamycin - spread to the left side of my face.  The ID prescribed doxycycline.  I spent 14 days on doxy. 

Here you can see the left side of my face was also affected at this point.  There were also more pustules starting to form.  This point is still somewhere in the round of doxycycline.  But even after doxy, I was left with pretty much what you see minus the pustules. 

Around, November I went to see another dermatologist who diagnosed me with Rosacea.  I asked - MRSA caused?  She did not know because there was nothing to sample  - only really red bumpy skin.  She sent me home with more doxy with a recommend that I return and plan on spending 3 months at least on doxy.  At this point I ended up spending approximately 6 weeks on doxy and about a week or so on augmentin and clyndaycin.  I was also somewhat fed up with the prognosis of a 50% chance of reoccurance.  I was trying colloidal silver, garlic, tumeric, Phenomenal... with no results.
And in December I experienced a reoccurance -  but this time on the bridge of my nose (new place on face).  Also you can see the redness remains with budding little pimples/pustules.

I burned it with iodine (which you can see), and then even worst out of sheer desperation - bleach.  Totally stupid.  I would not do that again.   Also, I tried DMSO with one final capsule of doxy (which literally cleared up pustules in 2-3 days, but didn't control new ones). 
In January - I began TCM - Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang, an acne formula, an herbal paste, and a cream.
Her my face is today.

Current protocol (not totally regular - and I can then feel an itch re-emerge or a new little blemish appear).  But for the most part my face is good.  I plan on sticking better to protocol - to completely rid face and then be able to be pill free.
1 - 10 Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang and 5 Acne caps 2x a day.  Herbal paste and blue herbal cream daily
2 - I notice if I take 1-2 grams of lypo-spheric vitamin C it is huge boost to face
3 - I also notice if I drink at least 8 oz of fresh carrot juice - again huge boost
4 - Avocado seems to cause blemishes to appear.  So guac - is always followed by new blemishes or small pustules.  Less and less - so I use it as a monthly test to see my own progress.  Eat guac and see what next day or two brings - helps me gauge level of how my body is doing.

Update as of August 22, 2014 - and response to comment below:

 

I am no longer on the TCM protocol.  While on the protocol I was taking Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang and Acne Tea.

BZYQT is made up of White atractylodes rhizome, bupleurum root, tangerine peel, jujube fruit, chinese angelica root, liquorice root, dried ginger root, astragalus root, ginseng root, cimicifuga rhizome. 

Acne Tea is made up of hedyotis herb, patrinia herb, phiopogon root, rehmannia root, and scrophularia root.  Both of these were made into capsules by my TCM. 

The topical cream and herbal paste - I do not know what is in them.  They only say cream and paste. 

My TCM is in New York.  If you want her contact info - I can email it to you - please email me at denise@healinghacker.com. 

Additionally, and of profound help I was taking 1-2 grams of lypo-C .

And most recently, which seems to have finally cleared up any small remaining blemish issues has been the addition of probiotics - specifically 4 adult scoops of  the 6 strain probiotic.

I also routinely - couple times a week - apply aloe to my face.  I have some plants that I open up leaves from and slather on before bed.  So it's not from a bottle or anything like that.

I can now, over 2 years later eat avocado without blemishes. 

MRSA follow up - Listerine, Silver, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Kampo

I haven't posted in awhile.  But, I am happy to report that I remain relatively smooth faced.  The only thing that remains of my encounter with MRSA are red blotches along my cheeks - splotchy red areas that really look - well - like I had a disease.  For the most part they stay pretty constant - covering pretty much the entire right side and part of the left.  I did notice a flare up when I took a supplement that contained zinc.  Not sure if I mentioned this before, but I've read that MRSA sequesters zinc before your own body can.   So more zinc can mean more and stronger MRSA - and no one wants that.

About 2 days into the supplement, my face started to tingle/itch more than usual and a red blotch about the size of dime reappeared on my right cheek.  I stopped the supplement,  squeezed off the little white part, and slathered on staphaseptic ( a must have in arsenal of MRSA fighting weapons).  

 The next day I awoke and it was about 80% less red.  

So some interesting things I've added to my MRSA fighting arsenal:

Listerine - found to kill MRSA after 30 seconds.  I wonder what element - or is it combo.  Interesting though, Listerine has thymol in it - from thyme oil. 

Staphaseptic - picked it up at CVS. 

Manuka Oil - mentioned it before.  But even after being off antibiotics for a couple weeks, I still had the remains of 2 small boils.  Probably around the size of peas.  I put manuka oil on them every morning and night and they finally shrunk down to almost zero.  I really do think it was the manuka oil, because prior to that I was using microsyn which did not have an effect on them.  Microsyn worked best for me when there was open wound type access.  Manuka oil seems penetrated the skin because both of the bumps we're under closed skin.

Hyperbaric Oxygen - this is something that I am just beginning to explore.  Mild HBOT brought down the redness of my face after only 1 treatment.  But this redness according to the ID is inflammation - some sort of rosacea or ezcema thing.  We'll see what derm says - I see her in about 2 weeks.  Hyperbaric is on my list of things to return to once I get over this sinus thing I am battling.  I am not sure if I'll return to the place we first got the treatment, because I do believe that is where myself and mom got sick.  Also, I may try a metal chamber with 100% oxygen.  Not sure, but I'll definitely share that experience.

Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi-Tang (in TCM) or Hochu-ekki-to (in Kampo Medicine) - this is an herbal formula that in this small - not even really study - in Japan, was given to 5 MRSA infected 70-something plus people.   They we're after treatment - found to be MRSA-negative with resolution of all infections.  I will definitely be consulting my herbalist for this formula - which is listed in the article.

Silver - This is one thing that I am not totally sold on - or rather, I remain skeptical.  But this is an interesting anecdote of its use as a systemic antibiotic.  A 12 year old boy with Cystic Fibrosis - and severe lung disease is successfully, measurably treated by his parents with colloidal silver that they found online.  There are many things to love about this story - like that the parents we're successful.  Also, they mention that the child was weaned off antibiotics and asthma meds, and still sustained his improvement.  Although, when he briefly discontinued the silver, he had a relapse.  Very interesting.  I hope he continues to do well.