Tag: inflammation

Posted in Health experiments

Trying CBD

Posted on by nlchronicles

So I’ve read the info about CBD oil and given my battle with inflammation and sleep challenges, I decided to give it a try because why not 🤷🏽‍♀️ What do I have to lose but inflammation?! And if I sleep better, inflammation naturally decreases.

Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health.

I tried more than one brand on my way to choosing the one that I use now. Since I don’t want a potential lawsuit, I’ll not mention the names of the others. The first was from a health food store that I frequent often. It seemed to work but the taste was awful. Just imagine eating weed. That’s how the oil tasted as it was unflavored. I don’t know how anyone could use that long term. So I decided to try flavored CBD oils. One flavored one was from another health food store that I go to alllllll the time. A plus for the flavor but OMG- I stayed sleepy with that brand and always had brain fog. So I kept researching until …

I decided to give One Farm a try. Now, I really didn’t want to try it because I have to order online and I’d rather get something in person, if possible. I learned of the brand through my part time job; I work for a research doctor who had discussed the results of studies and mentioned this product. So I made sure to order a flavored version.

And – this one has a great taste which is a plus for sure. I tend to sleep better when I take a dose along side winding down at night (easier said than done!). I’m not sure where I stand with inflammation levels just yet. I am researching functional doctors so that I can get my C Reactive protein tested and see where I land. My trial period is always 3 months to decide whether I’ll stick with a practice as natural methods tend to take more time to resolve issues.

Just a note – I am not affiliated with One Farm. I do not get any kickbacks from mentioning the product here. They have other products that I’m going to try in the future and will share the results. Have you tried any CBD products? What has been your experience?

Posted in Health experiments

Turning Off Nerves – Wellness Wednesdays

Posted on by nlchronicles

For the last few months, I have been working with a pain management specialist regarding some areas of osteoarthritis that I still contend with. The area of greatest concern is my neck which seemed impossible to fix, no matter how many physical therapy sessions I go to.

Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health.

I have had a hard time with mobility in the neck cervical area. And sometimes it can be worse than others to the point that I have to take Aleve to try to get the area to move more. Is it better than before? Yes, but it is still not great. Then there is the pain that occurs at times, which can lead to a headache. What to do?

My physical therapist in North Carolina recommended that I see a pain management specialist to see what options might be available so that I don’t take meds as often. That can have its own side effects and I don’t want even more issues.

So I worked with a specialist over several months. For insurance purposes, I had to go through a couple of rounds of testing to see how well the procedure might go. And I passed those, which was great. I then did the formal procedure. The procedure numbs the nerves for up to a year with radiowaves. I was given a bit of pain killer to take the edge off the pain. But it still hurt!

And while I’m not 100% (yet!), I have seen some improvement. I started physical therapy again and my physical therapist noticed a difference too even though I hadn’t been in 6 weeks! Has anyone else found a way to better manage arthritis? If so, I invite you to share your experiences. See you next week!

Posted in food

Trying Turmeric- Wellness Wednesdays

Posted on by nlchronicles

Turmeric. For years, I never even knew what it was so I was blown away by what this spice has been used for over the years. Never heard of it? Let’s take a closer look.

Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health.

I think I first really heard news about turmeric the first time I lived in North Carolina. My goal was to cook more and I started seeing this spice listed in recipes. Now, I had eaten at Indian restaurants for years and didn’t realize that it is used in various dishes especially since turmeric doesn’t have an overpowering taste.

Then I read that turmeric can behave similarly to pain killers and relieve inflammation. That was a game changer! I started using turmeric every time that I cooked 😂. When I started working with the nutritionist, turmeric was one of the supplements that was included in my list of vitamins. I even drink turmeric teas frequently, my latest find is a combo of turmeric and green tea.

But really, what does it do? I’m including info below from earthclinic.com

“Regular use of turmeric has been found to reduce the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease and may play a role in its treatment. It is also being studied as a natural remedy for arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and similar conditions, as it has anti-inflammatory characteristics. Turmeric is also an effective remedy for skin conditions like cystic acne, boils, hidradenitis suppurativa and MRSA.”

Amazing right?? I’m not claiming that turmeric is a cure all, but I can definitely tell when I’ve not used it for some time versus daily use.

Have you tried turmeric before? Did you notice any benefits? I invite you to share your thoughts below 👇🏽. See you next week!

Posted in Overall health

Losing Inflammation- Wellness Wednesdays

Posted on by nlchronicles

Everyone deals with inflammation. You get a cut, a bruise or some other bodily harm and your body has an acute inflammatory response to help heal the area. But what do you do when the body has a low level chronic inflammatory response that doesn’t turn off?

Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health. But I do want to provide further info on inflammation that can be found at https://inflammationresearchfoundation.org/inflammation-science/inflammation-details/time-cellular-inflammation-article/

So when I found out that I had osteoarthritis, I was blown away. I mean, I wasn’t even 40 and one of my knees was near bone and bone?! Well, after doing research, I found that one of the ways PCOS can affect women is to cause low grade chronic inflammation. And it can happen in so many ways – being overweight, lifestyle choices, eating too many inflammatory foods – the wrong oils, processed foods etc- not getting quality sleep which means that your body doesn’t have a chance to repair from inflammation. I could go on and on.

When I started with the nutritionist, one of the markers for inflammation, C-reactive protein was SKY high. So we started changing what I ate, making better lifestyle choices, losing weight and doing gentle exercise. Exercise can be tricky because the body can think that higher intensity is a stress which can result in higher inflammation. Ugh! 😩 what to do??

My nutritionist recommended using vitamin c. Vitamin c has been researched and shown to aid in reducing the C-reactive protein level. So I started taking that 3 times a day. Below is the link for one of the articles that I read- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18952164/

I also started using spices that have been shown to reduce inflammation – ginger and turmeric. A note if you try turmeric: to activate it, you have to use it in conjunction with black pepper. I drink hot ginger or turmeric teas on most days as well as take turmeric supplements. With the lifestyle and food changes, my C-reactive protein has been cut in half. I haven’t checked it recently but hope to sooner rather than later. Hopefully, my continued efforts will decrease the level even more! 🤞🏾 the earthclinic website has so many details on both spices.

Lastly, I made lifestyle changes to incorporate more holistic long term adjustments. Yes, making changes this way can take longer but I’d rather not keep taking ibuprofen or nsaids. I also take Epsom salt baths weekly, do yoga and have started grounding. If there is a possible natural remedy, I’m going to try it.

What recommendations do you have to tackle inflammation? Has anything worked for you? Leave a comment below and let’s chat. Until next time!

Posted in Life with doctors

Eye Health – Wellness Wednesday

Posted on by nlchronicles

Starting around 2009, I began having these crazy eye issues. I already have allergies so I thought it was just a bad allergy attack. Nope- I started dealing with iritis and uveitis ugh!

Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health.

So what are these strange sounding eye conditions? Iritis is inflammation of the colored part of your eye, the iris. Uveitis is inflammation of the middle layer of tissue in the eye wall. (Source: Mayo Clinic) Both are painful and happen really really fast.

Symptoms include eye redness, pain, blurry vision, bright light flashes and eye floaters. What is an eye floater you ask? Have you ever been stressed with tired eyes and see a squiggly line in your vision? That’s a floater. Both conditions can cause scarring in the eye 😭 so not much fun at all.

Traditional methods of controlling a flare up are cortisone steroid eye drops and/or an eye drop that keeps the eye slightly dilated to relieve pressure and strain. And I was getting these flare ups back to back to back. I mean, it’s to the point that I typically see an ophthalmologist rather than an optometrist. I’ve had allllllllll of the testing associated with the conditions and all test have been negative.

So I started pinpointing triggers. High seasonal allergies are a huge trigger so I started changing my habits – keeping shoes at the door, not rolling my car window down all the time, and even starting allergy shots to build immunity. Lack of sleep is another trigger which typically happens when I’m super stressed, a third trigger. Instead I make sure to get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep to keep the eyes happy. I try to incorporate more foods with beta carotene. And when it’s really bad, I take lutein vitamins. Whew! It takes work but all of those combined actually work.

Have you dealt with an eye condition similar to uveitis or iritis? If so, please share what has helped you. To your good health…until next time!

Posted in Uncategorized

Other Measures

Posted on by nlchronicles

So many times, we (yes I’m including me) only look at the scale to determine our progress. But health is so much more than that.

While I haven’t written as much, I have continued to work on my health. Yes, I’ve lost 88 pounds, but I’ve also worked really hard on getting my lab work together too. That brings me to HSCRP, which stands for high sensitive C reactive protein; it’s a measurement of inflammation and pain. I had the first test in February 2019 and my indicator was almost 41. That is sky high because the goal is to have a 3 or lower! So, after working with my nutritionist and working with an accountability nurse coach for almost 2 years, I just found out that the same indicator is down to 19. THAT IS AMAZING! I’m believing that it will get below the goal number of 3!!

If you haven’t had blood work done, please work with your physician to do so. The scale is only part of the story. Getting a total health picture is crucial! Below is a pic that I snapped on Tuesday. Blessed to have come a long way! 🥂 to your good health. Share your story about how your health indicators improved or share with someone who needs to be encouraged that they can do it too.