A pain in the royal back

Agh! My back is killing me. I went to my dear chiro last Thursday and he found that my C2 was rotated so he thought to adjust my neck to put it back into place. Well, after he did it, it was a bit sore, but he told me that it would be so I just ignored it. It's been bothering me more than usual since then and last night I was up between 2 and 4:30 tossing and turning due to the pain that this adjustment has caused. The pain is at the crook of my neck and radiates into the shoulders and down my spine. Honestly, this is the worst my back has felt in a long time. I know these chiros mean well, and I like this guy a lot, but I worry about the harm they can do too. As I was surfing the internet about how to treat severe neck pain, I came across this site that quoted story after story of people who have died of brain strokes after having their necks adjusted. My heart started to race and yes I got upset thinking the worst (I am a classic melancholic after all) but in the end if I die it's all in God's hands so I need to just trust Him. Well anyway, I go back to the chiro tomorrow and pray he can help me fix this. You want to believe your doctor is there to make you feel better, but sometimes they screw things up, accidentally mind you, but it still affects you in many ways. While they can go home and sleep soundly, you on the other hand can't and have no way of getting in touch with them to explain your situation given it's the weekend and a three day one at that since it's Memorial Day. Why do these things almost always come up when you can't get to your doctors? Grrr...
Chest pain getting better though :-)

Sleepy Me

No Imunnovir, but really really sleepy even though the sun is shining gloriously. Slept in thanks to my husband taking care of the kids this morning, but it didn't make me feel rested. Ironic how that is isn't it? Many spiritual lessons to be learned in that. The more we get the more we want and the more we get the less satisfied we are. Oh this fallen nature of ours, how I can't one day have it tamed.
Wild dreams about James Derbin from American Idol turning into a vampire and trying to attack me because I told him that he didn't have to be satanic and evil to do great things. Very vivid and strange, but it was nice to actually remember a dream since I feel like I haven't had any in quite sometime. Oh I make myself laugh :-) Ciao!

Day 5

I called my natural md yesterday to tell him about the chest pains I've been having and of course his response to me was that it's all part of the detox process. Something I guess I need to accept is that I am not like anyone else so my body might react differently than other peoples when it comes to it's reaction to ridding my system of impurities. There are apparently no known side affects attributed to Imuovir, however, I clearly have one. The info the script comes with said to call to report symptoms so I may do that because chest pressure is not nothing. In fact, my Doc told me that other people he's worked with have also had this reaction so I think it's time that the manufacturers knew this sinister people who felt this pain knew it was normal. You just don't know what to think when these pains come on. At first, you want to ignore it and say it'll just go away, but then when it doesn't and wonder what's going on things start to get stressful because you hate to bother people with more of your problems.
Oh well. At the moment I'm resting in bed as me little ones sleep soundly. The weather here us miserable today so it might be affecting my stamina, which I have none of at the moment.my head hurts a little as well. I ate some earlier, but might be needing more fluids. My husband and I were up late watching "Get Low" and didn't go down till 11pm which was nirvana good idea. It was a good movie but I could have stopped half way and finished it tomorrow. Well worth the watch though- interesting story about a man who plans a living funeral party. It's loosely based on factual events from the 1800's, but worth a go. For a movie of today, it was rather nice. 
Anywho, I don't take any Imunovir over the weekend so that'll be nice. Two less pills to imbibe, hooray :-) Now off to do chores.
A Happy Memorial Day weekend and God bless my grandfather Nick's soul. Died May 31st 2000. May he rest in eternal peace...

Day 3 Summary

For today, so far so good. I took a Zantac yesterday to treat the chest pain after I researched chest pain causes and realized that maybe I've been suffering from acid reflux and thankfully it seems to have taken care of the problem :-) Thank God for meds!
When I was pregnant with my two little darlings, I got hit with the worst case of heartburn ever! I felt like I was having a heart attack and no I'm not exaggerating. The pain was like a knife being thrust into my chest and there was nothing I could do to alleviate it. For those pregnant women out there who know what I'm talking about, my heart goes out to you. What a horrible thing to experience. You really think you're chest is going to compress on you and you'll die. In fact, you think that that might be a nice remedy since it's agonizingly painful. One thing that did work to take off the edge was apple cider vinegar. Yes, there are those sites out there that claim this to be miracle solution for everything and while I can't speak for that, it did help me with the continual acid reflux from pregnancy. Try it if you wish, it can't hurt you. If you are going to get acv, make sure and get it raw and organic. I get mine from Bragg's at Vitacost.com and have gotten a lot of uses out of it. It's also suppose to help balance your ph levels. As I am writing this the pain is slowly starting to return so I think I'll go take a shot of it. Btw, make sure and dilute it if you do take some. When I was prego and had no idea how to take it (my midwife only told me to take a tablespoon of it) I thought it was fine to drink it straight up, however, to my dismay, it only made things worse and I wound up burned the lining of my esophogus-lol. Such an idiot. It was a good learning experience if nothing else, but  learn from me and don't do that!
My mood today has been great. I  ran a few errands this afternoon, which I rarely get to do given my children's ages, and was able to really relax and enjoy being alone. No rushing, just browsing. On top of that, I've been asked to sing at a seminarian friend's first mass and am so thrilled about that! I haven't sung since before I had my children and this is simply what I feel I was born to do. When my children went down for a nap, I went down into the basement and started doing my vocal exercises that I use to do back in the day. Lip drills and scales galore! How I miss singing and how my soul rejoices when it does. It's been a lovely day, the sun is finally shining and it feels like summer. Thank you God- I feel alive! 

The NUCCA Report

I wanted to take a few minutes to discuss something wonderful that I discovered through reading an on-line medical thread on webmd. It's called the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (aka NUCCA). It's a specialized kind of chiropractic treatment that works on the upper neck area of the spine. They believe that upper region of the spinal cord is essential for total body alignment (and I do too). The idea behind it is that if you correct the stem of the spine, then all other misaligned vertebrae will fall into place- much like reversing a stack of fallen dominoes. 
This is how it works. When you go in for your initial session, they will perform a number of x-rays of your neck to determine how they best need to treat you. In my case, the C1 (top most vertebra) was tilted to the top right side of my head, closer to my right ear than is normal. What my doc did was lay me on my side and then measure where exactly he needed to adjust me. After that, he ever so gently pushed the vertebra back into place with his hands by touching my neck starting from his palm and then working his way to his finger tips. He repeated this a few times. Once that was done, he placed me on a scale to measure my hips and shoulder to see whether they balanced-btw, this is how they know whether you're in or out of alignment at follow-up visits. It's that simple!
The doctor I've found through this site is the best doctor I have ever worked with. He takes his time with me, explains everything he's doing and doesn't disregard the pains I've been experiencing as all in my head. He's one of the first doctor's I feel I can trust and in fact, it was he who directed me to the natural MD I've referenced a few times already. While not all NUCCA docs are the same, I can only say that this one is a winner. Oh, yes, David Gobbie is his name in case you were wondering.
The bottom line is that since I've started these treatments my symptoms have been reduced to a third of what they once were. My persistent headaches are gone and the pain in my neck that I'd get every morning has pretty much resolved itself. No I am not 100% pain free, but this has done more than any other traditional chiropractic correction has before. Take it for what it's worth, it just my personal experience.

For more information about NUCCA or to find a doc near go here.

The Supplements

So I feel it behooves me to supply the myriad of pills I take daily for those who might be interested. First, I started taking a Kirkland Sign Multi Vitamin which covers the basics. After that, (and mind you I've researched every company before purchasing their products so the supplement quality is above average) I take  the following:
*Diflucan-1 200mg pill a day for killing killing the yeast overgrowth in my system. Prescribed for 30 days and am half way done.
*Liothyronine (thyroid)- 1 37.5 mcg daily for improved thyroid function.
*Source Naturals Pregnenolone - 1  25mg at bedtime for memory, concentration and libido-I know it's ridiculous.
*Accuflora Probiotic Acidophilus- 2 a day for digestive support. This has done wonders for me. My body rash significantly improved after being on this for a month.
*NOW D3 5000 IU's- I was low in D3 so this was to boost my system. FYI, this is actually a hormone, so my natural MD tells me.
*NSI Activin Grape Seed Extract- 1 200mg cap daily for increase blood circulation and oxygination
*Solaray B-Complex- 1 100mg daily for energy.
*Unique E- for brain and heart function
*Carlson Super Omega 3 Fish Oil- 1 1000mg daily for overall healthiness and getting my omegas
*NOW Nattokinase- 2 100mg per day for improved circulation and oxygenation of my blood
*Country Life Calcium-Magnesium Complex- 1 1000mg daily for bone strength
*NSI Buffered C Complex- for immune system support (I have taken myself off of this since I've begun the Imunovir since the lab report states that one should not take any C except for usual daily consumption).

That's everything right now. I did not take all of these until more recently after I spoke to my natural MD about a month ago, and he suggested I take a few things that I had not been taking previously. Those would include the Natto, D3, and Pregn. I have noticed that the supplements have helped make me feel better. I am not so tired and the joint pains in my neck, shoulders and back have nearly disappeared. The abdominal pains have also gone away and my head doesn't feel so foggy anymore. My memory has improved, whereas before I struggled to remember words that used to come so quickly to me.

The chest pains persist yet again today. I've taken only one Imunovir so far. The research I've found has shown that the stuff has no side effects save higher uric acid in your urine. I need to read up more on what the means because I don't know.

Emotionally I am more stable being my husband and I are not fighting right now. We talked about things this morning, but I know our problems are not over. We keep peace for a period and then all hck breaks loose again and I just want to scream, or cry anyway. What's happened to men? Where have all the gentlemen gone?

The Beginning of Imunovir

OK, so I have just begun my first dose of this super expensive, Ireland-imported drug called Imunovir, purchased via script in Canada (no, it is not available on-line so don't buy it if you see it out there!) for the purpose of treating my candida and underlying viral infection, which no one seems to know what it is or for that matter, how I contracted it. I am told by my natural MD that I am "moldy". My system is full of yeast which has resulted in my entire body having bizarre and ever changing symptoms. I will go into the history of my health issues in the next post, but for now I will simply document the fact that I am using this acidic pill to help boost my immune system and fight whatever is attacking me.

So far, I have taken two pills and will continue that Monday through Friday of this week, take off the weekend, and then start up next week taking three pills, three times a day for that week. Thus far, I have noticed some chest discomfort, mainly under my breasts. It is slightly throbbing and comes on when I move about or turn my chest. There is subtle nausea as well, though that might be due to the fact that I have eaten very little today.

I have been very busy today trying to clean up the house after having dealt with a very stressful weekend preparing for my daughter's 2nd birthday party, while also having my husband out of town in FL. So perhaps the chest discomfort is due to stress. I don't know. I went to a cardiologist this past Friday because I am having tingling in my hands and feet and have more recently noticed a kind of tightness in my right lower leg and foot. My cardiologist did an ENT and everything looked fine. He told me that whatever is wrong with me, it is not heart related, which is a major relief! However, no one can tell me why I am getting these tingly sensations, save my natural MD who says it's due to my candida. I am suspicious that he is going to tell me that for everything so I need to get second opinions just to be sure there isn't more that he's missing. For today that is all I have to say. If there is more I will add it later, but I don't expect there will be.

(This is the more later segment)
So one major heartache in being sick with an unknown illness (though most likely an autoimmune dysfunction) is that you don't get a lot of people who believe you, especially those closest to you. My husband is not the most supportive of people. He and I had a fight this evening right before I was to go to my NUCCA chiropractor (fabulous stuff btw- if you have one nearby go to one, they do wonders for your back and neck!). Anyway, he thinks that I do nothing, but spend his money and go to doctors and that it's all enough already. He doesn't think this chiropractor is helping me, when he is! My back problems and persistent headaches are much less than they ever were, but he tells me I should just grin and bare it. Needless to say, I got very upset with him, had to cancel my appointment last minute and then went grocery shopping to stay away from him once the kids went to bed. My chest still hurts and I have no one to talk to. Unbelievable!


Alright, well it's getting late and I need to give some time to God before I sleep so here's wishing you all a very peaceful and blessed night. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes, hopefully better than today.