Day 13, My Lucky Cleanse?

Keisai, visipix.com

Can I blame each suddenly appearing ailment on this cleanse? The whole "retracing" theory certainly makes it convenient to do so.

What else would explain this recent sinus infection? My sinuses haven't plagued me since my twenties; and these glassy, bloodshot eyes are another harbinger of the past.  Neither makes any sense given my outstanding diet of the past 13 days, which includes (in case you've missed it): the elimination of wheat, dairy, sugar and citrus. (Not to mention alcohol and caffeine.)

On the other hand, I like to credit the cleanse for an abrupt shift in a long held propensity.  This past Saturday, I headed into the woods with a pair of work gloves and a large set of clippers to gather boughs to make a wreath.

Of course plenty of women in Vermont (and other places) do this kind of thing, and many of my neighbors even drive tractors or chop wood or build stuff; but I've never been much of a hands on kind of gal.

Something else I'm not, at all, is "crafty," which made it even more bewildering that instead of waiting for my husband to do it, I sat down on the front porch Sunday afternoon and shaped those boughs around a metal frame with a spool of wire.

I've never made a wreath in my life, and I couldn't even look up how to do it on line because Sunday is my "digital diet" day.  What I relied on was my intuition, of which I've always had plenty.

An hour later, when the rest of my family arrived home from errands, they were shocked (as was I) to discover that my wreath turned out looking like--a wreath.

Every time I walk by it, I'm delighted all over again--and I thank my lucky cleanse.



 Note: Here's a wreath that you can order online if you don't have the propensity to make your own either.  I love the smell of Balsam.  It's what kept me going when I tried to make mine. This one has a ribbon and pine cones which mine does not. 

On the other hand, if you live in my hometown of Vermont, you can order a wreath from the elementary school to help support the P& F.

Day 9: Cleansing THOUGHTS

 In my post from day 7 (Liver 411), I share that cleansing includes a mysterious process named retracing:

"The symptoms and stages of a disease peel off like an onion with the most recent symptoms disappearing first until you get to the core of the problem. Often you must revisit symptoms you have not experienced in years." The Alternative Medicine Angel

In fact, I've recently had the "pleasure" of revisting my college ulcer, my gallbladder attack, my semester with a mono and a decade of migraines.  What I didn't expect to revisit were states of mind--like anger, sorrow, depression and most notably--dissatisfication.

I know that's not a word. I have spell check too. But it should be, because it's the word I want. It's the one that best describes my perennial dis-eased condition;  which makes me wonder--is this state the root of my symptoms? And if it is, how do I rid myself of it?

I was once told that I was the best "nit picker" in town; and it was a compliment. She actually had lice and I was able to find eggs that her husband and the school nurse missed.

Gross, right?  Sometimes attention to detail puts you in weird places.  

I've read that a woman can spot a cat hair on a sweater across a room, but a man can't see it in the bowl of cereal in front of him.

How do I keep my eye for order (and beauty) without fault finding--particularly with myself?

I recently purchased something to help with this faulty equation-- Jen Louden's, The Satisfaction Finder.  In this download from the web, Jen teaches us to create "containers of enoughness" around each day and each of our goals.  (Look, she invented her own word too--enoughness.) 

I've used these containers--loosely--but I've failed to follow up with the agreement to be satisfied with myself at the end of the day despite my success.  There's always so much more I can be or do.

In our early years together, my lover threatened my incessant questing with a lobotomy. It may be that this drastic measure is the only way for me to STOP; or maybe I just need to take up pot.

But I don't want either of those. Like the late sweet crooner, John Denver sang...

"I've been lately thinking about my life's time, all the things I've done, how it's been.  And I can't help believing in my own mind. I know I'm going to hate to see it end."

Of course, in that song he also sang about, "passing the pipe around" with his Old Lady.

I'm on my way to becoming a real Old Lady, and I'd like to be a satisfied one. My guess is that there's something beneath the layer of my nit picking, and hyper-vigilant fault-finding--something deeper that has to do with...fear and protection.

With 13 days remaining on this cleanse of illness and emotion and thought, I'm sure I'll find out...


ps.  Don't even make fun of me for the late, you know who.  I grew up in the Rockies.

pps. And here's another treasure from Jen Louden--The Life Organizer, which is a book that I use every week to help align my actions with my deeper intentions.  (Shhh: It's for women, but my husband loves it too. We make it a regular date.)

Day 7, Liver 411

visipix.com

Faced with a constant foggy headache, I went searching the Web for more information about the mechanics of this liver detoxification process.  Here are highlights from what I found at: Alternative Medicine Angel, including some fascinating cultural perspective.

"In some foreign countries the liver is deemed so important to health that the groom promises his liver to his bride as opposed to his heart. In fact, in most places outside the US, the liver is considered critically important to good health, and natural liver therapy abounds to maintain this critical organ."

 I always took it for granted that we focused on the heart in the U.S., but the liver certainly has some vitally overlooked roles:

"The liver is literally the body's filter. It makes sure that everything we need is absorbed, and everything that we don't need gets dumped. Just a few of its major jobs are:

Accesses the energy we need from proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

Stores vitamins, minerals, and sugars.

Filters the blood, removing all kinds of harmful substances.

Metabolizes, helps utilize, and eliminates excess hormones.

Creates substances that enhance our immune system (like gamma globulin).

Stores extra blood for emergencies.

Helps maintain our electrolyte and water balance.

Helps us utilize fat-soluble vitamins (like A, D, E, F, and K).

Creates bile, which breaks down fats."

The site goes on to explain the concept of "retracing" which I find completely intriguing though I'm still not satisfied as to understanding the mechanics of it:

"The old-time healers knew that the path to recovery is often in stages...The symptoms and stages of a disease peel off like an onion with the most recent symptoms disappearing first until you get to the core of the problem. Often you must revisit symptoms you have not experienced in years. After returning to fight one last battle with your immune system, these symptoms disappear for good."

Additionally, there was some disturbing information about something called the "Herxheimer reaction":

"It occurs when our body is killing and throwing off microbes (bacteria, viruses, yeasts, etc.) in larger amounts than our organs of elimination (kidneys, bowels, etc.) can handle. This phenomenon is a good sign that something is being accomplished in the body. However, the symptoms of this reaction can be quite severe depending on the toxicity. These flu-like symptoms can include rash, aches, pains, fever, diarrhea, constipation, exhaustion, and headache, usually occurring on the last few days of a three week detoxification. So it's important to plan a liver cleansing to end on a day or days when you can take off work if necessary. Do not take the liver system and its detoxification lightly."

Um...  I'm starting a new job toward the end of my cleanse and was thinking I would have cleared all the hurdles by then. (Gulp.)  I guess it's time to give my doctor a call.

I'm also wondering about shifting to the supplement described below rather than the one my doctor prescribed--the one inducing the headaches.  Interestingly, it's the one my chiropractor suggested when I first encountered the gall bladder attack (before I began the cleanse), and it worked miracles--without headaches:

"Dr. Bruce West from Health Alert recommends 2-3 AF Betafood tablets per meal for three to nine months. This product is a concentration of the liver detoxifiers and bile thinners from beets. For any of the symptoms associated with sluggish bile, this product can be a miracle. A surgeon friend of his from New Orleans testified that he performs less than 10% of the gallbladder surgeries he once did now that he prescribes AF Betafood."

 Note: all of the text quoted above comes from the site:  Alternative Medicine Angel; which brings to mind an interesting book I recently read written by an ER doctor around his experience of angels.  (I bought it for my brother in law who's an ER doc, but read it myself first :)

Day 4, A New Day

Friedrich, visipix.com

Okay, it wasn't that much of a "New Day," but the migraine backed off a bit and that felt very good--by comparison.

When I'm not totally discouraged by how I feel, I'm fascinated by it. How is this all happening simply by changing my diet?  What is the mechanism in the body that causes these symptoms?  How is the body able to "retrace" previous health issues?

Last night my migraine took me all the way back to Switzerland, 1990, when I ate an entire malted chocolate bar and then experienced the worse pain in my head in my life. Then it transported further back to 1984, just before I left for London, when my highschool boyfriend dropped me on the side of my head. (Don't ask.)

And frequently, this great fatigue places me back at college when I'd walk the 13 blocks to campus from my apartment, and then never make it to class because I simply had to take lie down for a minute on the couch in the library, not knowing I had mono, and would sleep for hours. 

Have I mentioned that I can't have salt?   

(I just keep staring at the pretty pink Himalayan salt that I just bought...)