In September of 2010 I visited a naturopath. I had several reasons for seeking
the advice of a naturopathic doctor. The
main reason was my fear of being prescribed drugs in the case there was a real
medical condition at the root of my troubles. I do not believe that pharmaceuticals
are always the best option. Do I believe drugs are sometimes
necessary? Absolutely. In some cases they save lives. But I feel they should be a last
resort. To my frustration, my experience has been that doctors tend to
treat the problem but not get at the root of it. To me that does not make much sense. I
do not wish to continually treat something if there is a chance of curing
it.
My desire with regards
to this post is to be brutally honest about my experience. My hope is that
maybe you will see something that can help you or someone you know.
Perhaps it's a symptom I had been having that has been plaguing you, as
well. Maybe by reading this you will be reminded of
your good health and you will have a greater appreciation for it--good for you!
So, in the spirit of honesty, I hope you
will not be uncomfortable with what I share.
I do not mean to over share, however, leaving things out would only be
telling part of the story.
Again, why the visit to the naturopath? Aside from not wanting to be put
on medication, my husband and I had been struggling with infertility. We
had been trying for baby number two for about 18 months. We
joke that with our first daughter we barely even had to think about becoming pregnant
and it was accomplished. We knew that my husband had some health/stress
issues that were a contributing factor but my doctor had given me a clean bill
of health. However, I had a whole list of symptoms I was afraid to share
as I was very fearful of being put on hormones, antidepressants, and maybe even
thyroid medication. Now that's an environment in which to nurture a
fetus! The thought made me sick. I am a voracious reader so I knew
I had been experiencing symptoms that were hormone-related and possibly
thyroid-related. Also, depression was
there right after having our first daughter five and a half years ago but, thankfully that was
gone. I sometimes had horrible stomach pain, though, that were scarily
similar to the symptoms my stepdad had when he was first diagnosed with stomach
and esophageal cancer! I was almost always bloated after eating and often
had a horrible burning sensation in my stomach. There were certain foods
that would cause that burning but they were not the usual suspects. Acidic
foods didn't bother me but my all time favorite junk food --tortilla chips in
any form--made me unbearably ill. I even got a fever with chills sometimes
if I ate them. Good bye Doritos. Good bye chips and salsa at
Mexican restaurants. And so on. Here are some of the other symptoms
that warranted my visit:
- constant fatigue
- exhaustion first thing in the morning
- cold fingers, toes, nose
- fluctuating intolerance of heat or cold
- overall muscle weakness
- mental fogginess
- inability to concentrate
- stomach pain/nausea
- irregular menstrual cycles
- hyper pigmentation (dark spots) on face, knees, ankles and elbows
- heart palpitations
- shakiness when hungry
- asthma and allergies
- eczema - particularly on upper arms and skin on inner corners of eyes
To
me, that list did not paint a picture of an individual who should have been given a
clean bill of health. I was under no
delusions about my poor physical state but I was not at all prepared for what
the naturopath was to find…
(TO BE CONTINUED...)
