opus88

I have taken cell salts - 4 different kinds at the same time, mixed in my drinking water. But mine wasn't a homeopathic remedy. Maybe your definition of homeopathic is different from mine? The cell salts got rid of my constant urination and greatly eased my chronic dehydration. I'm assuming it was at least partly responsible for keeping me from the recurring feeling that I was going to faint. Overall, I was very pleased with my results.

I found that meditation actually creates more stress, frustration, depression, anger, etc., for me. That's because I cannot still my mind and that inability drives me crazy. Instead, I have listed below a number of things that can keep me focused on something other than my thoughts. I know there are MANY more things that will allow you a "mindful meditation" and you may even find a new hobby as well. - - - - - - Learning or playing a musical instrument Crossword puzzles or other word games (computer versions of Scrabble, Boggle, Bookworm and others are just as good) - I love jigsaw puzzles too, but my mind will bounce between chatter and attention to the task at hand, which is ok Reading anything that captures your attention and imagination Conversing with a child Making a computer list of all the songs on your CDs Making a homeowners insurance list of all the clothing and possessions in your house, including their approximate value, then documenting with photos and videos Walking somewhere beautiful (park, beach, etc.) and just letting your mind do whatever it wants Taking a class, whether in person, via web, or home study Writing, drawing, carpentry or any other creative or skill-based task Volunteer at a school or hospital if you are able Learning and playing card games or board games Research any topic (mine is almost always health-related) Organize your desk, a room, a shelf, a closet, the attic or basement, etc.

Yes, you absolutely CAN get better. Been there, done that. I've been dysautonomic all my life, with it coming and going in waves. For the past 15+ years, it has been a constant part of my life; it's never really gone, it still comes in waves of getting worse and actually feeling pretty good, but my bad days now are better than my good days used to be. I'm not one who is willing to just accept this sentence of "learn to live with it" or "take this drug and that drug and then another and another." I have fought hard, done tons of research, tried a huge number of different therapies and products and wasted a ton of money. About 3 years ago I was at my worst, just shy of bedridden, and I don't know how on earth I kept pushing myself to keep going. I don't think I could do it again. But what I have found is that I am the only one who can make me better. Yes, I needed plenty of help from all the "experts" I've come into contact with - even the horrid ones (way too many of those!) taught me something. But I'm the one who had to put the pieces together, throw them out when they didn't work, and start over again and again. What I have learned is that dysautonomic symptoms are due to a chemical imbalance in your body. You will never get help from a doctor unless it is an extremely rare one who embraces alternative methods, vitamins & minerals and everything related to nutrition, and lots of research. I haven't found one yet. But completely changing the way I eat, taking only the best quality supplements, no longer listening to or depending on doctors, and making almost a hobby of trying "unusual" therapies has paid off in a HUGE way. Probably THE most significant thing I've done to effect a positive change has been enrolling in the Metabolic Typing Program and working hard at it. (I oughtta get a commission - I brag on that program every chance I get, because I honestly believe that is what brought me back to life again!) Today, I am no longer unable or afraid to make plans and pursue dreams. I work a full-time job plus 2 part-time jobs, I perform as a pianist and sometimes even play my harp in public (I'm just a beginner on that instrument). There are some things I will never be able to do again (the hardest to accept has been losing my ability to sing!). But I move forward and find other things to do instead, or ways to adapt and compromise, or (strange as it may sound) even benefits to not doing those things. Yes, you can get better. But it has to be because of your own determination. For some people it's just easier to remain sick (NO I'm not referring to you or anyone in particular - I just know that it's true for some). For me, that's not an option. God made me stubborn for a reason! Get mad and let that anger propel you toward research and a willingness to try just about anything so you can prove "them" wrong. I'll say it again: Yes, you CAN get better!

Yes, I have become that way. However, after many years of oddball things like the quick shooting pains, I have learned that it is just another weirdness that my body seems to enjoy throwing my way. I no longer have the panic attacks that go with it - I actually just stop and let myself be hyperaware, but from a curiosity view rather than a fear. I'm not sure I can explain exactly what I mean, nor how I came to not be frightened by it. But I believe that after so long dealing with these things and finding absolutely no obvious problem resulting from them, my brain understands that it's just something "normal" for me, like having brown hair (well, more gray lately ).

Wow. It sounds like in spite of it all you have had better luck with doctors than most of us have. Have you switched to Celtic Sea Salt in place of regular table salt? It is minimally processed and therefore retains its natural composition of minerals. Table salt is processed and stripped of everything, then iodine is added back in. Basically, it is junk. The Celtic Sea Salt is certainly more expensive (I believe I paid around $13/pound plus shipping) but well worth it. Another idea is to look into adding cell salts to her water. I did this through the Metabolic Typing Program (which I believe your daughter would greatly benefit from). I was running to the bathroom about every 45-60 minutes until this was added. It helps the body to retain the water and use it more efficiently in the body. And it helps to balance the chemistry in the body. Best wishes. I know you'll get much information here and read many personal experiences of what did and did not work for people.

About 15 years ago, I had horrible muscle weakness and fatigue, with my limbs feeling like they were incredibly heavy and it took major effort to move at all. After strong doses of GTF Chromium for a short time and then a maintenance dose for many months, I regained my strength. But the exercise intolerance that I still have 10 years later has created a horrible deconditioning, leaving me weaker than a normal person of my age and size. (I used to work out 5-6 days a week and was very strong!) About 3 years ago, the nasty weakness and fatigue came back but it must have been for a different reason - it did feel different than before (didn't have the heaviness) and the GTF Chromium didn't work for this. But after a couple of months on the metabolic typing program's professional-grade, whole food-based program, particularly heavy on the B vitamins, I began to regain the strength to function normally (like walking, doing dishes, etc.) without trouble. I still have no true strength to do non-typical things, but I am walking easily unassisted and can do simple household chores and even move computers and monitors around at my office. (Climbing up and down the ladder since Hurricane Ivan took our stairs has been a real challenge - my thigh muscles are so sore!) I also learned that if I eat foods that are high in potassium, the weakness returns. It appears that my body either produces or holds onto too much potassium in relation to other minerals. Perhaps you could do a search on potassium-rich foods and eliminate them for a month to see how you do. Just trying to throw some ideas out there. I hope something will be of help to you or at least give you a new direction for your research.

Emily, I would love to know what energy work you are doing. I am a firm believer in that realm of healing, and always looking for a great practitioner or therapy. Please do post your info!

My anxiety has disappeared since I added magnesium lactate to my routine. It also helped my fatigue and my feeling of constantly being mentally overwhelmed by even the littlest thing. I don't know that it would be the right thing for you, but I highly recommend just trying it for a few days. I used the Standard Process brand and could tell a difference after only 4 days! I saw in another post that you are on magnesium, but it may not be the right form for your body chemistry. It may also be a synthetic or franctionated magnesium that isn't absorbed properly (either due to not having the "helper" foods with it or because your body doesn't know what to do with a non-food form). The Standard Process magnesium is whole food-based and therefore keeps its synergistic ingredients, which allows for better absorption. Also, the B vitamins, particularly B6 and B12, may be needed. I used a high dose of Nature's Sunshine B6 for a few months and all trouble with palpitations, etc., went away. And while I'm on the subject, I used the same brand of GTF Chromium to get rid of my muscle weakness and heavy limbs.

You can purchase an over-the-counter test kit to see if it is an infection. It is made by AZO and is quite reliable. I have had 2 cystoscopies, both years ago. Man, what a procedure - you pee fire for the next couple of days - yeeeeouch! But it helped tremendously once the pain & swelling from the procedure went away.

Here along the AL & FL northern Gulf Coast areas, we have seen incredible devastation. I know that most of the country was watching the storm or at least aware of the destruction, so I won?t bore you with more descriptions of that. We returned to the area to see that clean-up had begun, many places already had power, FEMA and insurance representatives were settled into the area, and the most wonderful outpouring of assistance from Red Cross, churches and other groups of very caring & energetic people. The 2 of us have been eating at one of the ?soup kitchens? since we returned Monday evening, but we should be able to fend for ourselves after tonight. We are temporarily relocated as of this evening. Our home remained standing and the storm surge did not rise high enough to enter our main floor (we are on stilts), although our upstairs bathroom suffered a collapse of the ceiling, the front and back outside stairs floated away, the under-house storage area is gone along with the jet ski and most of the tools, and much siding and many shingles are missing. The foundation is still strong, thankfully, so the moment we are given the go-ahead to drive vehicles to our area, our builder is ready to begin on the roof. The house then will be mostly gutted and started over - all ceilings and all flooring must be replaced, as well as some sections of drywall. We have to move everything out of the house within the next few days, except the grand piano - they will cover it with mover?s blankets and tarp, then build a box over it. We have rented the last storage unit available nearby for our furniture. Someone I work with has offered us her in-town rental condo thru Nov. 14. The construction can be completed in about 4-5 weeks, but there is a required ?drying time? that could be months. We?ll know more as the builders start tearing out the ceilings. Heck of a way to finally get to redecorate the house! :-) As the stress of all of this continues, I am seeing a return of some of my symptoms that haven't been around for a long while. Lack of sleep, I know, isn't helping matters, either - I've been awake 4-8 times a night and sometimes completely unable to sleep past about 3 a.m. We are very thankful for so many things: that we remained safe, that Ivan wasn?t worse than it was in our area, that we have a dependable and honest builder who also happens to be a friend, that we have a place to call home until we can move back to our house, that I still have a job after 1/5 of my company was laid off yesterday, and for the wonderful prayers and generosity of so many who have helped us and thousands of others as the recovery process begins. Please continue to keep everyone in the Gulf Coast areas and the Charley- and Frances-affected areas in your thoughts and prayers. This is just the beginning of the recovery process, and patience and resources will be wearing thin as the immediacy of the situation dies down.

Hurricane update: We are physically fine, as we did not stay in the area. But we are still trying to find out how things are with our house. We took the direct hit at landfall, but the immediate eye area didn't get the very worst of the damage. Nobody can get to our part of town due to flooding and roads being wiped out, so we're hoping like crazy that we'll see an aerial view soon that incorporates our neighborhood. While that will not give us the detailed answers we would like, it will at least show us whether the house is still standing or not. Gena, Ernestine and all others affected by Ivan: Please let us know how you are doing. (I realize everyone may be caught in power outages, but I hope you'll update us soon.) Please, everyone, continue to keep all those affected in your thoughts and prayers - it will be a very long time before life becomes routine again. P.S. Dancing Light/Emily - obviously you are not as full of hot air as you think you are! Thanks for the humor during this stressful time!

I second Gena's response. If I had continued to listen to the medical world, I'd be stuck with a lifetime of prescriptions, psychiatrists and cardiologists, and still feel like crap. Instead, I turned completely to alternative/complimentary therapies. Yes, there were many things that I wasted time and/or money on, but how else would I know if I didn't try it? Having been close to disabled and now living a full life, I have very little respect for the medical community and tons of respect for the alternative world. It will take some trial and error, lots of patience, and a willingness to put aside your current beliefs and just be open to what you learn. Then follow up with your own research as well. It's been more than worth it for me - I hope you will find the same. (And please do remember that if this person is not the right practitioner for you, it doesn't mean the therapy is quackery or that all alternative practitioners are full of baloney. Try a different person or different therapy or different combination, and keep experimenting.) Please keep us posted on how this situation progresses!

Thank you all for your support and well-wishes. I can't tell you how much that means to me and to everyone in these coastal areas. We decided early Tuesday morning to skip the friend's house and instead head to the Carolinas to stay with my husband's sons & their families. The packing was done in 2 hours, our shutters were already up Monday, and the traffic could not have been any easier for the entire drive - we truly expected it to be a nightmare of a trip, filled with continual traffic slowdowns. We're hoping that's a good omen, but it isn't looking that way from the projections as of Tuesday night. This Ivan is more than nasty! It looks like the eye is expected to go in only about 30-60 miles from us. We are mentally preparing to return to a pile of rubble that used to be our house. And if it truly is catastrophic, it could very well put my company out of business, meaning I'm out of a job and we have no health insurance. (I work for a tourism publisher and our area covers the coastal areas and beyond of all 4 of the to-be-affected states.) But I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. Actually, I've done amazingly well so far, both physically and mentally. and I'm soooo hoping that will continue. We just keep reminding ourselves that no matter what happens, we are safe, and that's all that really counts. Anyway, please continue to keep strong positive thoughts for everyone along the coast. We will all need it during the storm and for long after. Many, many thanks!

Hi, All! This time the hurricane is heading my direction. We thought we were pretty much in the clear until yesterday. We're putting up our shutters today and have plans to evacuate tomorrow to a friend's house. We even have hotel reservations farther inland in case it becomes severe here. Please keep all of the people in the northern Gulf Coast areas in your thoughts and prayers, and mentally hold a vivid picture of Ivan dissolving before it reaches land. Frances was projected to have been much worse than it was, and we'd love Ivan to follow that trend. Whatever positive vibrations you can send this way will be soooo appreciated by all! Thanks, Gang!

Woohoo! Go for it!!! I was almost housebound and not far from bedridden 3 years ago. (POTS is not my primary diagnosis, although I have many symptoms of it along with many, many more that come with the dysautonomia condition.) I am now working full-time-plus at my office job, teaching 5 hours (straight, no break) one evening a week from home, and playing piano for weekly rehearsals of our community chorus plus the shows 3 times a year, 5 performances each time. Sometimes it is a little rough, but I've been able to go so far this year with only using 1 sick day - and that was because I had gotten into some smoke, which I'm extremely allergic to. The office job is certainly easier than being a school teacher, which I had to give up 11 years ago. I still don't feel that I could go back to the classroom setting, but knowing my limits makes a huge difference in my approach to everything. I make sure to take advantage of my down time now instead of jumping into the next errand or social engagement. My priorities & planning have changed to benefit my health, but I'm leading a full life again. What a joy it is! You can do it, too. Yippee!

In addition to your doctor visits and tests, you may also want to find a good chiropractor - you might be surprised at how they can help.

My personal no-no list: * sugar * fruit * any amount of carbs over the "just a little" mark * caffeine * alcohol * wheat * gluten (most grains) * dairy (except raw, straight-from-the-cow products and eggs) * fats except raw, virgin coconut oil, top-quality olive oil and real butter - I eat plenty of those because they are the healthy fats * artificial sweeteners In other words, I basically live on veggies (careful with carrots and other higher-carb vegs) and poultry/meat/fish (not shellfish) of all types - and the majority of those are organic. It's a good thing we like sitr-fry meals! It may sound drastic, but it was the beginning of returning to a real life again - what a wonderful difference it has made for me!

I am ONLY interested in alternative and natural therapies (including diet first and foremost), and would welcome a forum just for that. The medical world can't and won't help me, and in fact only made me worse until I stopped listening to them. I have a real life again since ignoring them and pursuing my own research. My husband thought I was crazy for some of the stuff I was learning about and trying, until he saw my health begin to improve. He still raises his eyebrows from time to time, but he can't and won't argue the incredible progress I've made. It's too bad the chiro experience was negative. However, much of what was described IS correct information - it's merely a matter of whether you are at the right place mentally and emotionally to hear, understand and accept the info being given. It also makes a difference whether you are comfortable with that person or if there is something about their personality that unconsciously/subconsciously blocks you from being able to hear and be open to what they are saying. Trust me on that - I've been there many times and had to go back and eat my words when I thought something was a bunch of baloney yet it turned out to be very beneficial at a later time. Things like "quackwatch" and others are put out by uninformed, self-proclaimed know-it-alls who really don't know what they are talking about. EVERY field has their share of incompetents and quacks and silly theories. But those people (such as the powers behind the quackwatch site) who lump all alternative and natural health info into such categories are merely showing their own ignorance and insecurities.

From the time I was a small child, at every doctor visit they always commented that my glands were swollen. Literally, every visit! And to this day they still are swollen, although sometimes more so than other times.

I'm so glad you've had good results from chiropractic. I'm a big supporter of that work. You might want to check to see if there is a neurological chiropractor in your area. I've not tried this yet, but I understand they can do some pretty amazing things relating to your thought processes. It's supposed to be exceptional for ADD, ADHD, OCD, disorganized thinking, etc. I keep telling myself that one day I will do this for my own brain fog - there is someone in town who specializes in it. I'm just so pleased with my regular chiropractor that I'm reluctant to go elsewhere.

Amy, Great on the Standard Process - wonderful stuff! Do you take Dr. West's Health Alert newsletter by any chance? It's by far the best health newsletter we've ever come across, and we've been subscribing for nearly 15 years. He is a huge advocate for the Standard Process products. I work for a tourism publisher - newspaper & magazine inserts, state and area vacation guides, vacation-related websites, etc. Used to be a full-time proofreader for an international print media firm, and before that, a freelance proofreader for a textbook company. (I started out as a teacher. My health forced me out of that field, but I'm still correcting papers!) Now I wear about 6 hats, including tech support, but the proofreading & copy editing remains a large part of what I do. Outside the office, I'm a professional musician. Unfortunately, dysautonomia definitely gets in the way no matter what I do.

Amy, It could be that you are taking the wrong form for your body to be able to absorb, or of course, just not enough. If you are getting your mag from the typical OTC supplement, it's probably a waste of your money. Call 800-425-3115 to order the Standard Process magnesium lactate - it's a professional grade, whole food supplement, not a bunch of synthetic, fractionated junk that your body doesn't know what to do with. You'll know if you are getting too much - you will get loose stools or diarrhea, in which case, just back the dosage down. I typically take 1 capsule 3 times a day. By the way, I understand too well the twitching being a problem at work, especially when it's my eye doing the twitching - I'm a proofreader/copy editor, too! Doesn't the brain fog drive you absolutely crazy, forcing you to reread and reread because you can't stay focused or absorb what you are reading?

Restless legs is different from jerking. They are both due to chemical imbalances, though. The jerking can supposedly be helped by melatonin. My husband refuses to try it, unfortunately. This has been going on for about a year now. Sometimes his arms or legs jerk so strongly that I'm afraid he's going to wind up unknowingly giving me a black eye! I struggle with restless legs, and I had read a long time ago about the way to deal with it. But I can't remember now what the information was, as I wasn't having trouble with it at the time I found it.

There is a way out without taking medicines. I'm not saying "cure" - not yet, anyway. I do still have backward slides from time to time and still have some symptoms that generally are relatively minor compared to what they once were. The Metabolic Typing Program (www.metaboliced.com) has been monumental in giving me a life again. It's a lot of work, but worth every penny and every moment I've invested. The brain fog is so much less, my energy levels are almost normal many days, I can usually tolerate the heat now and be on my feet much longer than "usual", and on and on - and some days I feel not just ok, but truly GOOD for the first time in many years. You can purchase the book Metabolic Typing Diet as a starting point. However, people like us are way too complicated for the parameters of the book. I joined the program at the highest level of testing and counseling. It's been incredible. I encourage EVERYONE to look into this. Feeling even just halfway better than most of us feel right now would be incredible by our lowered standards of "normal" health. The whole premise of the program is to balance the autonomic nervous system. And of course whether it's called POTS or MVPS or neurasthenia or whatever else, it's all under the dysautonomia umbrella. (And no, I'm not affiliated with them in any way except as a client, so please don't think I'm trying to sell anyone anything for my own profit! I just am so excited about what it's done for me that I have to encourage everyone to at least look into it.)

I have not tried PT. I've had such a terrible exercise intolerance that the only thing I've been able to do for a number of years now is walk. I used to be in such good shape and exercised almost daily! :-( However, I do know that massage therapy is very, very helpful for chronic fatigue and of course any muscular soreness. A couple of months ago my husband started giving me a good back rub most evenings. I honestly began to feel less fatigued and even more mentally alert after a couple of weeks of this - and he has no training or any idea of what he's doing, he just digs in a little bit and gently squeezes the muscles he can identify. I knew it was good to get massages, but I was amazed at the obvious difference even from a complete novice - not a huge shift, but definitely improved.