Spring!

I love Spring when everything comes alive, the sun shines, the birds sing, and the blossoms explode. Last year my fruit trees were contaminated with some kind of fungus that destroyed what little fruit they produced. All winter I sprayed the trees with sulfur. I read this sulfur is organic approved, but I don't know. It stunk so I had to wear my HAZMAT costume for fear of a poisoning. I think (hope) it paid off. My trees look fantastic!

APPLE TREE!

CHERRY TREE!

ITALIAN PRUNE TREE!

Fig leaves sprouting with two baby figs!

A sea of bluebells.
I love bluebells!

Does anyone know what this plant is? I planted some seeds in a bed and this plant came up. Not sure what it is. I guess I'll wait until it blooms to find out!

Spring is so lovely!

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Laxatives But Were Afraid to Ask!

Spending way too much
time on the throne these days!

Constipation is a very common symptom of hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Lack of proper thyroid function slows down bodily functions particularly affecting the intestines. I've been fortunate. There are some Hashimoto's symptoms I've managed to avoid all of my life and constipation was one of them. Unfortunately, five months ago, my colon stopped working after a weekend of eating chili.

Yes, I'm blaming it on the chili. A naturopathic doctor I saw last year criticized my diet. He said I wasn't eating enough fiber...beans in particular. He refused to listen to me and as he was sounding like a typical, conventional, ignorant, narrow-minded doctor, I lost all faith in him, however, it stuck in my mind maybe I need to eat more beans?

Beans, and all legumes, are forbidden on the Paleo Diet with a Hashimoto's Twist due to their lectins which cause inflammation which creates gastro-intestinal stress (leaky gut) and they act as insulin binders. Did the naturopathic doctor care? I could tell he wasn't listening to anything I said. His eyes glossed over.

So on that faithless day last November as the freezing temperatures of winter were upon us, I needed a new food. A warm food. That adorable man who works in the meat department at the co-op suggested ground turkey. I asked, "What's a good recipe for ground turkey?" His eyes lit up, "Oh! You have to make chili!!!

Hmmm...I just needed a new meal to combat the boredom I was feeling with the constant same-ness of my diet. I justified my cheating by remembering my naturopath's lectures. I can do one pot of chili. How can that hurt anything?

Oh my god it was delicious! Homemade chili with ground turkey, kidney beans, onions and only one tomato, another forbidden food. For dessert I had carob...a food known for constipation, however, I figured with all the fiber in the beans this wouldn't be an issue. I tend to drink copious amounts of water when I eat carob.

Monday afternoon I was in the hospital with killer right side pain. It has been suggested this might have been a gall bladder attack, however, all tests showed...nothing. I was "just" constipated. I tried telling the emergency room doctor I had never been constipated in my life so that wasn't possible. He ignored me and said I should eat more fiber. I ATE CHILI FOR BREAKFAST AND SALAD FOR LUNCH! He walked away leaving me confused and angry.

Anyway as the nightmare continued, my colon stopped working. Totally stopped. Did the chili incite some kind of intestinal attack? Did the carob add to the problem? I don't know for sure. And over the next five months I did everything I could possibly do to get it working again. For someone who is chemically sensitive the idea of laxatives is frightening. Everyone knows they can be addictive which will render your intestinal function obsolete. The chemicals used in some of the over-the-counter remedies do not inspire health. The physical discomfort became unbearable and my stress level hit an all-time high. I became frantic and began experimenting. Five months later, I'm a laxative expert!!

Here are the various laxative-inducing remedies I tried, in order, starting with foods, then herbal remedies, then over-the-counter poisons, then holistic treatments. I'm convinced my constipation experience is not "normal" and my issues are somehow systemic, although after five months and eight doctors, I still have no clue what has caused this and if it can be fixed. In addition, these remedies although many did not work on me, may work too well on you! Go slowly. Be careful.

Dr. Schulz's Intestinal Formula #1  When I arrived home from the hospital that night my first thought is I needed to clean my intestines out. I was still in pain and convinced the pain was being caused by the intestines. I was also convinced the carob was creating some kind of blockage since this was so unusual. I had a bottle of Dr. Schulz's Intestinal Formula from when I did a colon cleanse years ago. I admit, these herbs were outdated, but it was late at night with all stores closed and the pain was returning fast. I wanted fast relief. I know how well these work. The directions state take one capsule at a time wait, take two the next day, wait, increasing until something happens. I took all FIVE capsules at once. Yeah, probably not smart, but at that point I didn't care. Unfortunately, it did NOTHING!

HYDRATION  I guzzled copious amounts of water. I started drinking juices which are not on my diet because they are so sweet, but at this point I didn't care. Pear juice is supposed to be really good for healing the digestive tract and for constipation. Same with apple juice and it cleans your liver and colon. Beet-apple-carrot juice also cleans your liver and colon. Lemon juice cleans kidneys and liver. I added celery, cucumber, parsley juice to the mix. Peppermint tea for digestive support. It didn't seem to make a difference.

INTESTINAL MASSAGE The idea is to physically coax your bowels into action and hope they get the idea! Start on your lower right and working up in circular movements, across the abdomen, and down the left side and to the middle bottom. I did this for weeks, twice a day. It did nothing. I was doing it so vigorously in hopes of relief, I had bruises!

PRUNES People highly recommend prunes for constipation. Soak them in water or stew them. "Normal" people need very little for effect. I ate a whole bag and they did NOTHING.

FLAX SEED Next I tried flax seed. A couple tablespoons soaked in heated chicken broth. I drank this for two days. They did NOTHING.

OLIVE OIL I read olive oil will cure constipation. I drank olive oil. So gross. It did NOTHING.

Not the same as
castor oil!

CASTOR OIL I became desperate. I drank castor oil. It actually tasted better than the olive oil. It did NOTHING.

MAGNESIUM CITRATE After a week of no bowel movements, I finally go into see a health care professional, or the Formerly-Fired-Rehired-and-Fired-Again nurse practitioner. She announced it was my gall bladder and it had to be surgically removed. She suggested drinking only 1/2 bottle of liquid magnesium citrate and the constipation would be resolved. So I did and it produced two very small, hard as rock stools. That's it! A few days later I drank another bottle. Nothing. Constipation continued and the FFRaFA nurse refused to respond to my pleas for assistance. Now what?

FLEET ENEMAS I went into my local pharmacy and asked for advice. (These are the people who when I expressed concern about chemical toxicity they told me water is a chemical. I laughed at them and pointed out how ignorant it was to compare natural water to chemicals made by chemical companies. I had no confidence.) They suggested a mineral oil enema. It did NOTHING except make a mess.

EPSOM SALTS So I tried an Epsom salt enema but it did nothing except expel the water that went in. I had used Epsom salts during liver and gall bladder cleanses that usually work really well, so I drank Epsom salts mixed in water. This should have done something, but it did very little except produce a miniscule amount of diarrhea.

DOCUSATE SODIUM It had been two weeks without a bowel movement by this time. I threw all caution to the wind and started shopping the pharmaceutical shelves. Docusate is a stool softener chemical and this particular pill had small amounts of senna, an herb used for constipation. It produce a tiny bit of diarrhea and a whole lot of nausea. I have bad reactions to cellulose and it was an inactive ingredient.

JUICE FAST At this point I hadn't had a real bowel movement in three weeks and the discomfort from adding food to my bowels every day was unacceptable. I stopped eating and subsisted on juices. Every kind of juice imaginable. In addition to the juices already mentioned, I added cabbage juice which known to heal the digestive tract. It actually tastes really good so I felt I was on the right track. Red cabbage is supposedly better than green cabbage as far as healing properties. Unfortunately, cabbage is a goitrogen and too much of a raw goitrogen decreases thyroid function. I began to experience bouts of severe fatigue.

COLONIC IRRIGATION When I worked for naturopaths many years ago I was being trained in colonic irrigation so I was aware of this option. I've known people who get them every week, but I never thought this was healthy as it trains your colon to be lazy and not work. However, three weeks without a bowel movement and I was desperate. It was actually kind of fun. The technician was delightful. We babbled on about the horrible doctors in our area while she also told me what she could feel and see during the process. At one point she said, "Hmm...the water is moving around something and just broke through." This made me believe maybe the carob is still in there creating a blockage? At $100 a session, colonics are way beyond my budget, but in an emergency, they work!

SENNA LEAF TEA Unfortunately, having my colon totally cleaned out did not jump start my intestines into working order. After two days, everything had stopped, felt like I was filled with cement. Desperate again, I turned to senna leaf tea at the recommendation of a friend.  I read one never should take it for more than a week. It's addictive and could create "lazy bowels". I tried one cup and within two hours had the worst intestinal cramps imaginable. Really bad pain, however, massive amounts of diarrhea expelled from my body so the relief was worth it. I reduced the dosage and mixed it with fennel seed and peppermint. Then I read it can do so much damage to one's colon you'd have to have parts of your intestines removed and use a colostomy bag for the rest of your life. I'm not interested in doing permanent damage. However, it costs less than $1 for a bag of bulk, dried senna leaf so much more cost effective than anything else. I use this as an emergency only if necessary.

DANDELION ROOT I found another naturopathic doctor who prescribed dandelion root tea. It's supposed to be good for constipation. Unfortunately I failed to check the counterindications of this herb and unfortunately she didn't either. Counterindications:  intestinal blockage. I know it is never smart to clean the gall bladder, liver, or kidneys if you don't have a working colon. This was stupid. This woman obviously and ignorantly ignored the constipation issue and instead piggybacked on the nurse's diagnosis of gall bladder problems thinking I needed to clean out some vital organs. This created horrible back pain and my innards turned once again to cement.

MIRALAX After two months of this hell, I finally got into a Gastroenterologist who was dismissive and condescending. When I told her of my carob theory, she said, "Oh, you are so funny!" And then she tried to tell me carob is just like chocolate and should create diarrhea not constipation. Clearly ignorant, arrogant, and conventional, I didn't see the point in responding. She suggested Miralax, another stool softener, claiming it's even good for children as she gives it to her children on occasion. This was one of the few laxatives I avoided as it says right on the label if you are allergic to polyethelene glycol, don't use it. Well, how do I know if I'm allergic to this? By this time, I was really desperate. It works like a dream. It took about three days to kick in. She started me out on 4 caps for the first week and then reduced it down until I was still having bowel movements. It has no taste, mix it in water or juice. Unfortunately after two weeks, I started getting stomach pain that spread to the whole GI tract. Eventually the pain was so bad I asked myself, is this an ulcer? I got online and searched "Miralax ulcer" and sure enough Miralax is known to cause peptic ulcers! There are some people online who have taken it every day for a year without problems, and some people don't start experiencing the pain until over a year. Well, I've never been like other people. At this point I'm in a panic. If Miralax is out, now what? My GI doctor is unavailable for advice. Again, I'm on my own.

CHIA SEEDS I read chia seeds work like a dream. NOTHING.

PRUNE JUICE I read as little as 1/2 cup works like a dream. I drank a quart. NOTHING.

MAGNESIUM CITRATE I remember from my years as a naturopathic medical assistant that magnesium is good for constipation, but it was common knowledge too much is hard on the kidneys. Using it daily, which was what I needed, didn't sound like a good idea. My previous experience with magnesium citrate was disappointing so I wondered how much I'd have to ingest to get little results. Finding no relief with anything else, what choice did I have? I started reading. There are people out there who live on magnesium citrate for their chronic constipation. Most naturopaths and holistic doctors recommend it. I read about Natural Calm which is also good for leg cramps and insomnia. Hmmm...I tried it. Tastes horrible, but the unflavored had less additives like stevia. It didn't do much for leg cramps or insomnia. After a couple days, I started feeling nauseous. I was told it could be the citric acid as many people can't tolerate it. I started taking it with food and lots of water and this helped, twice a day, morning and evening. It worked at 4200 mgs. That seemed to be way too much magnesium for anyone, but I watched for magnesium overdose side effects. At three weeks, the nausea increased until I couldn't even sit up I was so sick. Was it the citric acid accumulating in my body or overdose of magnesium? I had labs done. My kidneys were fine, but I could no longer tolerate the nausea. After a few days off it my colon turned to cement once again and restlessness at bedtime was intolerable.

MAGNESIUM I found information on Mega-Mag online. Liquid magnesium in a dropper bottle made from natural minerals, no additives, no citric acid. Tastes really horrid, but much preferred to the formulas that include so many additives for taste. I started with three droppers (about 3/4 teaspoon) three times a day or 1200 mgs which is a dosage recommended by doctors then worked my way up, and up, and up. It worked for a while then nausea set in and I stopped.

VITAMIN C According to online articles, vitamin C is the other health alternative to laxatives. Too much vitamin C can deplete your iron levels and I've had problems with taking it in the past. I searched for a form that had less additives and might be more tolerable. Most are in pill or capsule form so I know they are made with cellulose. I found one powder with no additives. Unbeknowst to me, there are two types of vitamin C: ascorbic acid and calcium ascorbate and selection is determined by a person's metabolic type. In the past I've used ascorbic acid and it made me incredibly sick. This one was calcium ascorbate. I have no idea what my metabolic type is, but I tried this one out of desperation. All literature says at the proper dose it should work immediately and to find out what your proper dose is, begin taking 1,000 milligrams every hour until it works. At 10,000 milligrams per day it worked! This seemed like too much but then I read if you are getting bowel movements around 10,000 to 15,000 milligrams per day, you are relatively healthy. Cancer patients are prescribed 200,000 milligrams per day. I found I needed to take it after eating and rinse my mouth out or I get blisters from the acid. After ten days it started making me feel sick.

Although the Miralax, magnesium and vitamin C eventually make me sick, I found I can alternate them. The transition is rough causing painful constipation at which time I drink senna leaf tea for a couple days. After five months, they aren't working so well. It's taking more and more, and even mega doses have stopped working.

I feel like a laxative expert. Unfortunately.

Does anyone have any other ideas? I'm out of ideas....

Walk In...Walk Out

"Surveying a nationally representative group of more than 1,100 Americans, the research team also found that more than 20 percent of people quickly leave a business place if they smell air fresheners or other scented products."

Yep, no thanks! When will businesses learn we don't want to be poisoned while shopping?

You can read this article HERE

Poisoned by Pollution (book review)

Poisoned by Pollution is about Anne Lipscomb's harrowing downward spiral into the world of chemical sensitivity when her company moved into a newly constructed and poorly ventilated building. Her decline into unimaginable illness sounded so much like mine at times I wanted to cry. Her descriptions of symptoms and experiences are so well-written and accurate I felt sick to my stomach.

Ms. Lipscomb explains how her corporate employer did everything possible to avoid addressing the obvious indoor air quality problem and denied her health problems were job or environmentally related. Her experiences with independent medical examiners were the same as mine - their mission was to discredit her. She was dealing with L&I and Worker's Compensation and they constantly sent her to appointments with doctors who would spray air fresheners in the exam rooms! It was so much like my story except she wasn't alone. There were dozens of fellow employees getting sick along with her. The longer they stayed in the building the sicker they became.  Most of them were afraid to report it or even talk about it for fear of losing their jobs. I thought about how wonderful it might have been if just one other person understood how I was feeling, but I was utterly alone in my nightmare.

She also had a wonderfully emotionally and financially supportive  husband so at least people weren't telling her the reason she was sick was because she wasn't married! That was my experience. At one point she was worried and wondering what would happen if her husband left her. How would she pay bills? How could she survive the day to day struggle without him? All I could think was how lucky she was not to have to go through the stress of actually not being able to pay bills and wondering how to exist homeless. Unlike myself, she actually could afford to see a counselor. By the end of the book, she confesses without much detail her marriage eventually ended which I find sad although not surprising. I've written about the toll MCS takes on relationships and the guilt one feels for being so high maintenance.

It was fascinating reading the lifestyle changes she was forced to make, the same reinvention I had to endure in order to live. We take so much for granted until it all disappears. Reading about all the changes makes me wonder how on earth I did it! Going from doctor to doctor praying for answers, constant disappointment, relentless reevaluation of strategies, and struggling onward with the next new idea in spite of the road blocks. Job loss, relocation, and changes to lifestyle such as shopping, diet, entertainment, and social recreation. It overwhelms me to think about it what I've done and what I still have to do to survive.

We must have had the same group of friends, those who were skeptical about everyday chemicals causing health problems or those who felt offended when their perfumes or scented products caused an asthma attack or illness. Unsupportive and impatient people who in the end decided a friendship wasn't worth the effort. People we thought we could rely on and only served to add to our toxic burden. The constant skepticism is depressing on top of every other challenge. One of her pearls of wisdom is, "We don't know friends and acquaintances as well as we think." That's for sure. It was a rude awakening for me. She explained even those who accept and tolerate her chronic illness can't possibly understand it and having to constantly ask them to be fragrance free adds to the struggle. Unless someone has first hand experience what it's like to live with MCS, there is no way they can comprehend the full ramifications of this condition. She's very forgiving, ignoring the self-centered arrogance of people and pretending they don't have the capability, compassion and empathy to at least try to understand.

She claims loneliness is the most difficult aspect of MCS and this is coming from a woman who vomits continually for days at a time! I disagree only because I believe loneliness is a state of mind. For me the worst aspect of MCS is isolation: lack of support, lack of recreational time; lack of communication, and just plain isolation due to the requirement to confine oneself to stay healthy. I suppose this could be interpreted as loneliness, but I don't feel lonely. I feel isolated, cut off from everything.

I found her website and blog and watched the twenty-three minute documentary on her experience. She now lives in Paris for much of the year... WHAT?? HOW??? I can't tolerate going to small cities for a day without horrible consequences, but live in a big city? She claims the French are far more aware of toxic chemicals in people's lives. Foods are commonly grown without pesticides and herbicides. Construction, although more costly, uses quality materials that are not toxic or not as toxic. The French value people over money and material possessions. One of her French friends works for a perfume company and claims even the perfume they produce is less toxic. For American markets they use ingredients that are illegal in some countries because the Americans want cheap and don't care about quality! Her symptoms were much less in Paris and she was able to eat about 80% of the foods she used to! But how can she tolerate the auto exhaust and air pollution? Or the overpopulation of perfume-saturated people, many who are wearing the cheap American perfumes? The laundry detergent stink? How does she even get on a plane? I can't imagine. I have so many questions! She does explain finding a place to live in Paris was a challenge with their housing shortage and rental policies. They don't show spaces prior to renting them so assessing a living environment for safety prior to the commitment is a risk. Still, this inspires me...I've always wanted to live in France!

Well, perhaps this is her trade off? I have made sacrifices to my soul in order to be healthy and maybe she has made sacrifices to her health in order to feed her soul? I don't know if having to wear a mask and use a wheelchair, being locked in one's house for too long, or too many emergency trips to the hospital are worth it. Why not move to the French countryside and avoid the excess toxins of an overpopulated city?

Besides city pollution exposures, she seems to invite too much exposure on a daily basis. She talks about having a kid club where she invites all the neighborhood children into her home for fun activities. Prior to their arrival, she is sent their clothes to wash! Wow. That's dedication. I know it would take at least ten washings before I could go near laundry-saturated clothing, but she doesn't wash their bodies and hair before arrival and if they still use scented detergents, they must still use scented soaps and shampoos. Is this worth the risk?

With all the treatments she did that are listed in the book: acupuncture, supplements, special diets, detoxification, Chinese medicine, naturopathic medicine, environmental medicine, and NAET...she's still sick. She can't use a computer without a special ventilation system and often has to spend days in bed locked in her Parisian apartment although less often than living in Seattle where she can hardly ever leave her house. The fact she has done all these treatments for years yet still suffers doesn't give me confidence. I had hoped she'd have the secret to overcoming MCS. Clearly, as I've known for years, there isn't one.

The major differences in our lives is her positive attitude. She believes MCS was a gift. Now, I've said this myself and even wrote a post on it. There are all kinds of gains with MCS that I would have never had if I had stayed perfectly healthy. Still, I find her excessive positive attitude unrealistic. Of course, I try really hard to maintain some level of unrealistic positivity on this blog so maybe this is just wishful thinking on her part and she didn't want to end the book on a depressing note? THERE IS NO HOPE. GET USED TO IT. Not a good message.

Ms. Lipscomb writes beautifully and her book includes excellent MCS information, research and statistics. Outstanding book on what it's like to be poisoned and end up with MCS. I wish I could buy copies of this book and give them out to people who just don't get me, but I doubt if it would help.

Happy Easter!

I remember when Easter meant you could gorge on chocolates, marshmallow chicks, jelly beans, cookies, pies, cakes, and a huge dinner. Those days seem so long ago...

Today is a day of remembrance for my former companion in life.  He was such a good boy. I think of him often especially when I'm raking leaves or picking up fallen camellia blossoms. He used to eat them so I always had less work. In the days when Peter was hopping carefree around my garden, Easter was always a cause of celebration. It was his day.

HAPPY EASTER, PETER! 

I hope he is having fun in bunny heaven.