I had my first appointment with a Naturopath who is also qualified in Craniosacral therapy last week, it was mostly taking a case history, and I feel confident that together with this lady I will be able to make progress on recreating health in my body.
Why haven't I gone to any alternative health specialists before? Because I simply didn't have the money. I've joined a local health centre that provides reduce rate alternative therapies for those on benefits.
And, now that I've got my benefits sorted and a few months back dated means I have money to pay for treatments, not for long, but enough to help and make a difference.
I've been taking chlorophyll in water the last few months and the result has been complete elimination of cravings of sugar, and reduced cravings for salt. The result of that is that I've lost 10.5 kg
Wooo hoooo!! Loosing weight hasn't changed any of my symptoms particularly, but I'm sure not having to move so much weight will mean a reduction in the amount of energy my muscles require, which can't be a bad thing.
I've been sleeping before 12 ever night for the last week, the earliest being 9.30pm, and a couple of nights as late as 11.30pm, this is the earliest I've ever been able to go to sleep, so again, can't be a bad thing!!
I'm a little impatient I guess, after 2 months of eating EXTREMELY healthily- no sugar or processed foods, no dairy, eggs, yeast or wheat (one blip about 4 weeks ago involved chocolate eclairs), I've been extremely good, yet still no noticeable improvements in my symptoms, still as tired, still in as much pain constantly.
This morning I woke at 5.30am, understandable because I allowed my body to sleep at 9.30pm, when it wanted to. I exerted myself yesterday, a friend helped me organise my boxes of belongings in a garage, so I was stood up for about an hour doing that, although I didn't lift any heavy boxes, they did it all for me, it was way more than my body felt comfortable doing. The plus side is noticing that I've stopped pushing myself so much, I allowed him to do way more than I ever would have before.
So that's a good reason to celebrate!
I've also been much more aware of my anxiety levels, they are high, but I've also noticed that my breathing, which is laboured even while lying down is not caused by the anxiety.
The Alexander Technique sessions I've had helped me recognise that my muscles were in a constant tension- flight or fight mode, and I've been focusing on encouraging my body to be in a relaxed state of awareness, and it's helping. Definite improvements in the level of tension in my body.
As I lie here in my bed thinking about the things that I want to do today, I realise that it's really not that I'm lacking in motivation, that's absolutely not the reason why I'm not doing them right now. The reason is that physically, I feel like shite, my body is sore, in pain and fatigued, my bones hurt, my muscles hurt, my head hurts, I'm short of breath. Wanting to do anything physical with those symptoms would be considered abnormal. And that's what I've been for years- pushing through and doing things anyway, regardless.
I'm relieved that I'm not doing that any more, sure I'll probably relapse a little, it's a new behaviour I'm adopting, but it feels great that I'm listening more, and giving my body what it needs.
True, there are some things I need to do, regardless of how my body feels- walking my dog is one of those, as well as cooking & doing the washing up, until I can get the money to pay someone to do those for me, I have to push my body beyond what it is comfortable doing.
After the appointment with the consultant I made a decision, that I wasn't going to sit around waiting for them to give me what I needed, because I realised they simply could not give me what I need. They don't have a treatment plan. They have no idea how or what I can do to recreate health in my body, and her attitude towards me, as a patient willing to do whatever I needed to do, to get well was atrocious!
I've been reading much more about ME & the groups & support that is available, and I'm going to start using my skills and knowledge to create more awareness and pressure on the medical system to provide care for those of us who experience these debilitating symptoms.
Why haven't I gone to any alternative health specialists before? Because I simply didn't have the money. I've joined a local health centre that provides reduce rate alternative therapies for those on benefits.
And, now that I've got my benefits sorted and a few months back dated means I have money to pay for treatments, not for long, but enough to help and make a difference.
I've been taking chlorophyll in water the last few months and the result has been complete elimination of cravings of sugar, and reduced cravings for salt. The result of that is that I've lost 10.5 kg
Wooo hoooo!! Loosing weight hasn't changed any of my symptoms particularly, but I'm sure not having to move so much weight will mean a reduction in the amount of energy my muscles require, which can't be a bad thing.
I've been sleeping before 12 ever night for the last week, the earliest being 9.30pm, and a couple of nights as late as 11.30pm, this is the earliest I've ever been able to go to sleep, so again, can't be a bad thing!!
I'm a little impatient I guess, after 2 months of eating EXTREMELY healthily- no sugar or processed foods, no dairy, eggs, yeast or wheat (one blip about 4 weeks ago involved chocolate eclairs), I've been extremely good, yet still no noticeable improvements in my symptoms, still as tired, still in as much pain constantly.
This morning I woke at 5.30am, understandable because I allowed my body to sleep at 9.30pm, when it wanted to. I exerted myself yesterday, a friend helped me organise my boxes of belongings in a garage, so I was stood up for about an hour doing that, although I didn't lift any heavy boxes, they did it all for me, it was way more than my body felt comfortable doing. The plus side is noticing that I've stopped pushing myself so much, I allowed him to do way more than I ever would have before.
So that's a good reason to celebrate!
I've also been much more aware of my anxiety levels, they are high, but I've also noticed that my breathing, which is laboured even while lying down is not caused by the anxiety.
The Alexander Technique sessions I've had helped me recognise that my muscles were in a constant tension- flight or fight mode, and I've been focusing on encouraging my body to be in a relaxed state of awareness, and it's helping. Definite improvements in the level of tension in my body.
As I lie here in my bed thinking about the things that I want to do today, I realise that it's really not that I'm lacking in motivation, that's absolutely not the reason why I'm not doing them right now. The reason is that physically, I feel like shite, my body is sore, in pain and fatigued, my bones hurt, my muscles hurt, my head hurts, I'm short of breath. Wanting to do anything physical with those symptoms would be considered abnormal. And that's what I've been for years- pushing through and doing things anyway, regardless.
I'm relieved that I'm not doing that any more, sure I'll probably relapse a little, it's a new behaviour I'm adopting, but it feels great that I'm listening more, and giving my body what it needs.
True, there are some things I need to do, regardless of how my body feels- walking my dog is one of those, as well as cooking & doing the washing up, until I can get the money to pay someone to do those for me, I have to push my body beyond what it is comfortable doing.
After the appointment with the consultant I made a decision, that I wasn't going to sit around waiting for them to give me what I needed, because I realised they simply could not give me what I need. They don't have a treatment plan. They have no idea how or what I can do to recreate health in my body, and her attitude towards me, as a patient willing to do whatever I needed to do, to get well was atrocious!
I've been reading much more about ME & the groups & support that is available, and I'm going to start using my skills and knowledge to create more awareness and pressure on the medical system to provide care for those of us who experience these debilitating symptoms.
Hi Claire, I stumbled upon your blog quite by accident. I notice that you haven't posted for a while. I haven't read all of your posts yet and I see you haven't written one for a while. I'm very interested in your experience of craniosacral therapy. I had a few sessions years ago during my first ME experience. I found it very powerful and think it contributed to my almost complete recovery which lasted ten years. Sadly, I'm back where I started now and some!
ReplyDeleteHope you are still monitoring for comments.
Christine