It's more than just a disease; it becomes you, tries to define you and changes your life forever. Initially, you see yourself as afflicted, as if a parasite had taken up refuge in you. Most wait too long for a diagnosis, and while they do, the answer isn't an answer at all, but a deeper vortex of questions. Medications are tried, money is spent, doctors are seen over and over again as the disease takes further root. You feel yourself slowing, spinning out of control. Most of what you defined yourself as begins to fade, and you start to lose yourself. Depression starts, causing your already sleepless nights to become living nightmares as you hear the repeated voices echo in your head. “You’re not really sick.” “My sister-in-law has Fibromyalgia and she works.” “I'm sorry, there's no cure.” “We can't even pay the electric bill, how will we pay for the house?” The depression begins to answer for you, replying that you’re worthless, that no one loves you, and that it's all just, over. You want your life back; you miss being exhilarated, of laughing until your sides hurt. You can't remember the last time that you felt normal. Your days pass based on a scale of how you feel, never knowing if today will be a good day or a bad day. Slowly, over time, people stop visiting, or make you into a church charity; neither of which you want. And in those alone moments, you hear these replaying in your head. “No one wants you, not even your family believes you.” Depression gives birth to anxiety, which hurts your heart. You can feel the palpitations and blood coursing through your veins, as sheer terror creeps into your chest, that heavy panic that only you know so well. Doctors can't seem to replicate it, or really define the cause, and only offer more prescriptions that you know on the inside, won't work anyway. Each morning, in the early moments of consciousness, you realize where you are. Then you realize that you’re still sick. Pain is often your alarm clock; rising you awake with heavy pain in your legs that you desperately want to rub out. Some mornings, you can't even move your limbs without the help of your partner, and simple tasks like sitting up, climbing stairs, and walking to the mailbox begin to hurt too much. Your comfort space becomes smaller and smaller, because it's not “safe” out there anymore. Everything in your life is now associated with how much pain it will cause you. A day out shopping is two days in bed crying. Your feet ache, you feel fatigued and feverish. Night sweats, cold sweats and sweaty hands and feet… a lot of sweat, basically. You spend countless hours looking out the window and remembering a better time, revisiting past memories, and imagining who you would be had you only made different choices. In your own deep sadness, you develop a deeper understanding of life and it's purpose. You begin to understand what really matters vs. what you thought mattered. Your name used to be followed by a title. It defined you. Now you’re nothing but you, and it feels empty. You watch time go by through windows, Facebook posts, and pictures. You watch your body slowly change as you watch other people living full, rich lives. You become more grateful for those that love you; you see people for they truly are when you can not give them anything in return. Much time is spent in tears, whether from guilt or gratitude. But then something magical happens; something horribly, wonderfully, and magical happens--you eventually hit rock bottom.
You silently wish for death, not for death’s sake, but as the only reasonable release from this demon that now has made you prisoner. No longer a parasite on a host, no. You see your disease as nearly a separate entity from you, yet of you. You battle it. You fight it, and lose more times than not. I cannot tell you how long you'll be in the great nothingness; the same great nothingness Atreyu fought in the Never Ending Story. We each have our own journey, our own time, and our own purpose; given to us to accomplish, each in our own perfectly timed destiny. Nothingness isn't magical. It's the effect of being stripped of everything the world gave you. This happens when you begin to ask yourself who you are in that nothingness. If you have no title, if you have nothing tangible to offer others, who are you? Who would you have wanted to become? You begin to fill that nothingness with dreams of what could have been, and naturally to follow, what could be. I could have been an amazing doctor, but I chose instead to party and make bad choices. What would have become of me had I said no to drugs that day; or had I studied more, listened to my mother, or…fill in the blank. We slowly begin to rebuild out of that nothingness, and what we rebuild can be anything that our imagination allows. We are our own ceiling or stairway to life, even if it's just in our dreams. When that happens to you, you begin to see color again. You smile a little more and maybe take up some long-lost hobbies. You start to realize the beauty of life is in its precious, short time. And since you've lost so much already, you refuse to lose anymore. You always wanted to learn something, so you try. You've always wanted to read that book, or see a sunrise at the beach. You begin to live again, maybe at first out of fear. But the magic is that you’re dreaming again! Where it once was black nothingness, there is now a light, no matter how small and dim in the distance. But YOU know, you can see it. And no matter how much your legs hurt, your stomach burns, or how many tears flow, you’re going to live. You've seen nothingness, and you recreated a life in your minds eye; you can't give up now. You realize that you either have to die, or you have to be reborn. And you choose life. They call it an invisible illness, because they don't have it. But it's really an invisible victory only those who have truly suffered in long periods of pain and isolation know. We are united in our journey and the utter grit and strength and determination that it takes to pull yourself out of that nothingness.
And all that they will ever see is that you have an invisible illness. But they are wrong. They will never develop true compassion. They will never have the opportunity to be truly humbled, dependent, or naked. They will continue to rush through their lives never stopping to enjoy the wind in their hair. They'll be impatient behind a slow shopper, or not understand why people without wheelchairs park in the handicapped spot. They won't ever know who their real friends are, or how loved they are by the ones that matter. They will still think their career is what matters most, focused on money, believing it will bring them happiness. They won't get to learn how to accept hard truths like a chronic life long disease. They still get to think they're in charge, and to me, they are the ones with an invisible illness. They are blinded still to the value of life; the shortness of time, or the meaning of true love. Life isn't about the most hash-tagged topic, or how much you have in the bank. It's what we all want to know and live by, but it's what some of HAVE TO learn. The journey bares your body and soul naked to the world. Just when you think you'll never be free, and that your pain and agony will suffocate you, you look back at where you were and who you've become. You realize that there was never nothingness; it was darkness. It was YOU who was blinded. It was your eyes that were closed out of fear, anger, and deep sadness. And not until you were brave enough to open your eyes again were you able to see the light. You had to reexamine your life. You had to find yourself in the darkness when stripped of all the worldly titles, and then you had to dream a better future.
An invisible illness? Maybe. But more so, even though your body is weak, your soul is stronger. You are a warrior, a victor of life's cruelest wars. You savor what is to be savored and discard the rest. And you pity those who can't see life for what it really is; too busy, too focused on work. Too focused on their phones or their income; too worried about the unimportant aspects of the world to actually relish any of the joys of the world. Don’t stay in the nothingness too long friend. I know it's scary out there, and you may get hurt. Something could happen, but I can promise you ONE thing- If you stay in the nothingness, nothing will ever change.
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Hypothyroidism is an underactive thyroid gland. Hypothyroidism means that the thyroid gland can’t make enough thyroid hormone to keep the body running normally. People are hypothyroid if they have too little thyroid hormone in the blood. Common causes are autoimmune disease, surgical removal of the thyroid, and radiation treatment. Read More HERE It is normally treated by replacing the amount of hormone that your own thyroid can no longer make, to bring your T4 and TSH back to normal levels. So even if your thyroid gland can’t work right, T4 replacement can restore your body’s thyroid hormone levels and your body’s function. Synthetic thyroxine pills contain hormone exactly like the T4 that the thyroid gland itself makes. All hypothyroid patients except those with severe myxedema (life-threatening hypothyroidism) can be treated as outpatients, not having to be admitted to the hospital. Hypothyroidism, or low thyroid function, is a silent epidemic, according to many functional medicine doctors. People can suffer for years with symptoms that our conventional medical system frequently doesn’t know how to treat because complaints seem scattered or vague and often there is no pill for the ill(s). What’s worse, in most cases, hypothyroidism isn’t rooted in a thyroid problem in the first place. It’s rooted in an immune system gone awry, but most doctors don’t test for the antibodies that show the presence of autoimmunity. According to Dr. Datis Kharrazian, 90% of people with hypothyroidism have Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune hypothyroid condition, whereby the immune system attacks thyroid tissue. Therefore, to cure thyroid disease, or any autoimmune condition, you have to get to the source of the imbalance; focusing on suppression of symptoms with medication is simply barking up the wrong tree. Read more HERE So what can I do?We need to address the fact that a doctor's only cure is more medications. We also need to mention that more pills will equal more side effects, more side effects will require more pills, and you will inevitably take longer to clean your body. Eat2Live believes the majority of our present day illnesses stem from what we have and have not put into our bodies over a period of time vs. how well our bodies are able to fight off those toxins. Hypothyroidism is a symptom of a greater problem, and won't go away unless you address the cause, not the symptoms. It's your bodies way of shouting out for you to help it. Step 1. Start including more fruits and veggies (raw) into every meal. Try to make these two atlas 51% of your daily diet. Step 2. Stop putting the bad stuff in. If it's made in a garden, eat it. If it's made in a factory, don't. If God made it, it's great, if over 2,000 chemicals and processors made it, its awful. It's THE simplest standard you can have, yet people tend to overcomplicate it. Step 3. Be Your Own Hero. Do your own research, try new things, listen to your body. Step 4. Protein. Protein acids are the building blocks of so much your body needs. Including, your thyroid. Eating clean protein means from it's natural source: organic chicken, organic eggs etc. You'll also have more energy which is a huge plus. Step 5. Be patient. It's simple, but it isn't easy. MindBodyGreen.com has written an excellent article on this subject that Eat2Live2Love.com fully agrees with. No need to fix what's not broken- check out their Do's and Don't of eating to heal Hypothyroidism HERE Here's justs a Preview: "...5. Go 100% gluten-free. The molecular composition of thyroid tissue is almost identical to that of gluten. So for those with Hashimoto’s, it’s a case of mistaken identity. Eating gluten can increase the autoimmune attack on your thyroid. 6. Be mindful of goitrogens, which are foods that can interfere with thyroid function. Goitrogens include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, rutabaga, turnips, millet, spinach, strawberries, peaches, watercress, peanuts, radishes, and soybeans. Does it mean that you can never eat these foods? No, because cooking inactivates goitrogenic compounds and eating radishes..." Here's some basic info on your Thyroid and how to keep it healthy Cold Sores. Fever Blisters. Call them what you want, but they are one in the same and caused by the Herpes Simplex Virus. "(herpes febri´lis a variety of herpes simplex usually found on or around the lips and nostrils but occasionally on other mucoid tissues. It is generally caused by human herpesvirus 1, although occasionally it may be caused by human herpesvirus 2. It is usually a concomitant of fever, but may also develop in situations of other stresses without fever or prior illness. The virus is carried by most people but usually lies quiescent. There is no cure for the condition, but some medications increase comfort. Antiviral medications used in this way include acyclovir and valacyclovir. Called also fever blisters and cold sores.)" -Read more about it HERE What can I do now?1. Eat2Live! Any virus is going to be happier in a nutrient deficient host. The more unhealthy you are, the more prone you will be to any virus. Dr. Fuhrman writes in his book Super Immunity: "A good example is a recent study that investigated the nutritional status of patients who developed neuropathy (nerve damage) after a viral illness. Those people who nervous system was damaged by the virus were found to be deficient in riboflavin, vitamin E, selenium, alpha- and beta-carotenes, and lycopene. When patients were supplemented with these nutrients, the disease began to subside, suggesting that the pathogenicity of a particular virus- that is, the ability of a pathogen to produce an infectious disease- is dependent on the nutritional status of the host. As the data suggests, a nutritarian diet is an effective intervention for viral diseases such as HIV, mononucleosis, herpes, and influenza, because viral mutations will be suppressed, limiting disease-causing potential and virulence. Unfortunately, most of the food that the majority of American's consume weakens rather than strengthens their normal resistance to simple viral infections." Try consuming these foods daily: Red Grapes Peanuts Red Berries Lemon Ginger 2. Resveratrol Most folks haven't heard of this phytochemical before, unless they've been cruising the wrinkle cream section of the department store. It is found in the red skins of berries, red grapes and peanuts among other foods. It suppress's inflammation and (BONUS) may help slow the aging process. It has been shown to prolong the life of worms and fruitless... as for humans, there's only one way to find out. Studies also show that resveratrol inhibits relocation of the herpes simple virus (HSV) 1 and 2 at the early stages of replication. Now before you go running out to buy some in a bottle; Eat2Live has yet to find a PRODUCT that meets our very high standards. Better to save your money and just eat right AND help cure the Herpes Simplex Virus at the same time. 3. Herbs and Supplements So maybe you haven't caught on that eating clean will help you immensely, and you're still in the early stages. That's okay friend. Most American's are raised to believe in what Eat2Live terms as the "1 pill solution". They believe that they just "take a pill" and they'll feel better, but nothing could be further from the truth. Those "solutions" are just what has been sold to you by the pharmaceutical industry. We see commercials on TV for drugs that literally have a potential to kill you or stop your heart suddenly; all while telling us to "talk to our doctor" before starting a vegan diet or a work out regime. Why? Do we need their approval? Are we not our own? And thus far, most people I talk to aren't happy with the drugs and treatments they receive, or at minimum, the cost. So why do you keep playing the game? If your reading this now then I know your ready to be in control and not a pill popping guinea pig. Eat2Live HIGHLY recommends getting your micro-nutrients from real live food. Not frozen. Not canned. Not freeze dried. Not in powders, liquid concentrates or other non "real" versions. Your body doesn't just need ONE nutrient; it needs an array of them, furthermore your body needs them in varying combinations. You are a living being and require living nutrients. That being said, here are the Top 3 Herbs and Supplements that will help with Herpes or other viral immune issues. Echinacea Elderberry Licorice
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October 2019
AuthorLinda Lavender writes articles to help folks with Auto Immune Disease, Depression, Anxiety and other health related illnesses. |