Today I'm steering clear of the sappy feely sobbing EMOTIONAL part of dealing with chronic pain, etc...and I'm going to make a list of changes I've made in my diet that have helped me cope with my chronic pain. I don't know how many doctors I've seen or specialists I've talked to, but I have to say that, with the exception of one amazing doctor, the most helpful information that I have gained is a result of my own research. BOO, modern medical community, BOO.
Above all, for any illness or injury, to get the best recovery we need to NOURISH OUR BODIES WELL. That doesn't mean eating more, it means eating SMARTER and giving our bodies the right nutrients so we can become well again, or give our bodies more fuel to fight against whatever illness or injury is taxing us. Whole foods, fresh fruits, veggies in great abundance, lots of good water, sunshine in healthy doses and fresh air and exercise- sounds so old-fashioned, but guess what?? The incidences of cancer, colic, mental illness/depression, and all types of syndromes, disorders, diseases, allergies and sicknesses were WAYYY lower a hundred years ago, before we were adding all of these fillers and additives and chemicals and recycled air to our daily diets. Do you ever wonder if "so many diseases were under diagnosed" really means "it just didn't exist yet" ??? Read up, buttercups, it's true. Our preservatives and flavor enhancers and artificial sweeteners are making even healthy people sick. So here's what I do to help me feel better everyday. Any of you who try these things, make sure you check with your doctor if you're taking any medications, because HERBS ARE POWERFUL and they can and will enhance, interfere with or otherwise affect the medications you are already taking. So don't take them without discussing it with your doctor first.
DIET: 1. DECREASE RED MEAT CONSUMPTION. I have cut red meat down to about once a week. (much to the chagrin of my carnivorous family) I've done lots of reading about red meat increasing inflammation by antagonizing or adding to our bodies' natural prostaglandins, which are hormones associated with muscle tone, irritability and women's cycles. (also men's but this is not sex ed lol)
2. Cooking with lots of OLIVE OIL. Omega-3's and 6's are very good for all of us anyway, but I've read that they can be helpful in decreasing chronic pain, I think mostly by encouraging more of the feel-good chemicals released in the brain when we feed it "brain-food" like Omegas. Omegas are also in fish oil, salmon and other big fish, and so eating more fish instead of red meat is a plus.
3. FLAX SEED OIL. Also has Omegas in it, and for some reason it is associated with lowering joint inflammation. There are great bread recipes with flax seeds in them, or you can add the oil to just about anything you cook, it doesn't have a strong flavor so it doesn't alter the flavor of the food. COLD-PRESSED oils are better than heated or chemically purified oils, because they retain the most of their natural nutrients and our bodies recognize NATURAL nutrients as opposed to CREATED or ARTIFICIAL- our bodies receive chemically processed and artificial ingredients and view them as "invaders" or possible threats to the body's health and thus the body activates the immune system. IE: MORE INFLAMMATION. Also if we are feeding our bodies processed and altered foods everyday, we are constantly wearing down our natural immunities and stressing our immune systems to the point of exhaustion. That's when syndromes, diseases and all kinds of illnesses kick in full-storm. Protect against that. Just eat better.
4. TURMERIC. It's a simple spice, found in lots of soups and seasonings, I add it to lots of stuff because it also helps encourage healing, is a strong reducer of inflammation and is good for circulation. I've read it can even be beneficial in preventing/protecting against cancers.
5. BLUEBERRIES! Tons of fresh fruits and veggies are good for you, but blueberries have so many vitamins and healthful properties, they supply some building blocks to basic cell rebuilding like capillary basement membranes, they support collagen production, they neutralize free radicals and they are just yummy.
6. VITAMIN D!!! People living in Wisconsin are almost always vitamin D-deficient. We don't have enough sunshine year-round to allow our bodies to make the proper amount of vitamin D, and you will not get it from tanning beds, you will only get wrinkles, skin discolorations, melanomas and other bad stuff from tanning beds so just take a supplement and stop pretending you are trying to get some much-needed sunshine. You are defeating the greater good of our sunshine with those fakey bakey bulbs. I take 1,000 IUs daily. Now, vitamins A and D are FAT-SOLUBLE which means they are stored in the tissues when our bodies can't use any more of what is available, so it IS possible to overdose on D. Talk to your doctor about an appropriate level for you. Vitamin D also aids the body in absorbing calcium and calcium is needed for bone health, muscle tone and building, and healing. Calcium is pushed by docs and media and yes it is necessary but it is not well-absorbed without vitamin D.
7. VITAMIN C. I take 500-1000mg daily. Vitamin C is WATER-SOLUBLE so once you've ingested (via food or supplement) all that your body needs, you will just excrete it in your pee (or, if you're sensitive to vitamin C, which some people are, you will become good friends with the bathroom as your body makes you acutely aware of your BT or Bowel Tolerance of vitamin C. So listen to your body. Use common sense and caution as well as a trusted doctor's advice.)
8. B VITAMINS!!! (Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin (which causes a warm flush in some people), B6, Folic Acid (good for healthy baby making too) and B12.) People who deal with chronic pain are also very very very very (did I say very?) often, chronically depressed. I don't like to take medications. I am very sensitive to them, I don't like to feel "doped up" or unnatural and so dealing with the frustration/sadness/depression/pain cycle is easiest to handle, for me, by taking a B-complex. Some people swear by St. John's Wort also, I have not tried this yet but am curious. Watch for it in another blog post. Or, if my posts suddenly become giddy and super cheery, then the St John's Wort worked. Yay me.
9. GARLIC. I can't say enough about the healing and illness-fighting properties of garlic, onion, leeks, everything I read about them is good. Antibacterial, antiviral properties, they aid in digestion (unless you're allergic or intolerant of them like some people) they are cholesterol lowering, and are good for lots of stuff. I don't have a spleen and so my immune system is overworked all the time as a mother of 5, I use garlic to help fight off colds and illnesses, and of course, vampires. ;)
10. ATTITUDE. of GRATITUDE. And LAUGHTER. It is so easy to be pissed off and hate our situations, our pain, our problems, but you know what? It does NOTHING. Except get us pissed off. Wasted energy. Energy we could have spent researching a tonic for pain, laughing hysterically with friends or family or at ourselves, over a funny movie or ridiculous situation, doing some deep-breathing and focusing on drawing positive energy to ourselves to encourage wellness...laughing burns calories, it increases the brain's production of feel-good chemicals which flood our bodies and decrease our perception of pain, and breaks the destructive cycle of "I can't, I hurt, I'm worthless, I'm perpetuating my own pain by feeling BAD." So just stop it. We have today. Everyone has a different today, but we all have it, so use it to your advantage. You have it. TODAY. Breathe deep, in and out, 10 times. Now do something else. Stop focusing on the bad, and go do some good, for you or someone else. Your body will thank you for it. ;)
I am a firm supporter of chiropractic care, don't call them quacks- because if you think about it, they care for the message center for our ENTIRE BODY. That is very important work. If our spinal cords are not healthy and functioning properly, how can the rest of our body work properly?? They CAN'T. Medical doctors would like us to think chiropractors are quacks, because diminishing the reputation of chiropractic and holistic care allows other medical professionals to keep pushing pills and writing scripts and making money off the perks from pharmaceutical companies. Stop feeding the moneymaker. Take your health care back into good hands and out of the medical model of treating SICKNESS. Promote your own wellness. Chiropractors promote wellness.
Check out Ayurvedic medicine and massage. Don't knock it til you try it. Invigorating massage, yoga, meditation, the best medicine EVER, and it's been around for thousands of years. Can't be all that bad.
Herbal remedies, whole foods, holistic medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, ALL things that are "poo-pooed" or diminished by the medical community, but the truth is that these are ALL things that promote health and wellness. Check into it, do some reading at your local library, you will be surprised at the untapped resources of sound health care practices you will find there. Herbal and holistic medicine is much more regulated, monitored and kept to standards of good measurement than the bad press of the past would have us think. There is a reason universities around the country and the world are teaching herbal and holistic medicine...IT WORKS!!
Much love and light to everyone, I hope anyone out there dealing with chronic pain can find some sort of helpful information from this blog...I can't have gone through all of this pain for nothing, so I have decided to try and use it to help other people avoid the frustrations that I've had along this journey.
I forgot to add, I have been reading a lot about Valerian Root recently, and I plan to talk to my doctor about it. I've read that it is very helpful in decreasing nerve pain, helping with sleep disorders (which are very common in people with chronic pain) and I'm curious to see if it's something that would help me. Stay tuned.
