Health food symptoms and conditions

...See posting below...also I have tingling/numbness in my hands and forearms. I'm also taking the enzyme CoQ10, which is supposed to help. I was told by someone working in a health food/vitamin/supplement store to take red yeast rice.....NOT a good idea. Red yeast rice contains the same basic ingredients as simvastatin.

I was diagnosed with Crohn's back in the 80's finally, after suffering since I was 12 and being told I was a child with a "nervous" stomach...dad used to tease me because I had to use every bathroom I came across, not realizing there was a problem. I had a portion of my bowel removed in 84 - the ileum valve along with a portion of the upper and lower bowel surrounding it, which, at the time was the most diseased portions. Removing the valve means that I must inject vitamin b-12 for the rest of my life as that valve is the place - the only place in your body that absorbs and uptakes that vitamin for you. As with any inflammatory disease, other inflammatory problems can occur because of the high inflammation running in your body. For me, this meant a form of arthritis, rheumatism or whatever. Doc wants me to go to the rheumatologist, but so far I have gotten by without YET another diagnosis on my plate. Before the surgery I asked my internal specialist if seeing a nutritionist would help me. I was so, so sick at the time. He scoffed, looked disgusted and asked what do you eat that makes you sick? I said everything. He said, then what is a nutritionist going to tell you to eat that isn't going to make you sick? At the time, I was so sick I just wanted to die and accepted that as an answer. After the surgery and many courses of different drugs for Crohn's - all of them with side effects that kept me from living a "normal" life - all side effects seeming worse than the actual disease itself I did a tremendous amount of studying on the history of Crohn's.- Burrill B. Crohn (1884-1983) was the man to discover it. In one of the articles I read he prescribed a very low carb diet to his patients which seemed to help in the majority of them to keep flare ups at a minimum. I have found, through years of experimentation with different diets ranging from health food diets on down the line, that the low-carb diet keeps my disease in check. People are like kids though. They don't always do what they know is good for them. I love chocolate, breads and sweets. In some studies I have read that you crave what may be bad for you because the bacteria your gut harbors wants to live and makes you crave what it needs to live. So, when I yank carbs from my diet - after the initial withdrawal stage and cleaning out of the gut from having done so (much diarrhea), I begin to feel almost like a normal person again with energy and pain-free. I slowly introduce fruit back in - but, through a series of colonics I had some years back, the practitioner was able to determine many foods I was allergic to just by noticing what comes out in the movement that has not been digested. Apples I can have, but not the peel. Cantaloupes - no - watermelon - not very often, etc... you can mostly tell by looking at the stool what your body is rejecting. It is its way of telling you what not to eat. Like a kid though, I stray from what I know has been tried and true and when I stray too long, joint pain comes on with a vengeance. That is when I get slapped back on the steroids to get the inflammation to back off again. When I'm not on the diet the joint pain can be controlled with Celebrex, but, when not on the diet and not taking Celebrex, the pain is out of control and has to get reeled back in with a course of steroids. So, if I can stop being a stupid kid (I'm 50) and just friggin' do what I know I need to do, I'm 95% pain-free and medication free. I have stayed mostly med free now since I was diagnosed in 84 or so through the no-carb method. The only times I had to take meds for this was when I was stupid with food for too long and one other - I had a kidney infection that I didn't know I had. It threw the Crohn's out of remission big time causing me to have to be on heavy-duty antibiotics, steroids, etc. It nearly put me in the hospital. I thought I was having a Crohn's flare-up only, but turned out the kidney infection was there and caused the flare-up - inflammation - when it hits you anywhere in your body it can cause that Crohn's to rear its ugly head. It took them years to diagnose me and through my own trial and error, I have learned how to live nearly and mostly drug free with this disease. For me, the drugs and effects are worse than the disease itself. The drugs make it hard for me to work and live. I can live near normal without them and with the diet. Your doctors will tell you differently. Doctors are put through med school on grants from pharmaceutical companies, therefore, they only learn how to treat with meds - they get kick backs from the meds they prescribe too. They do not learn how to treat through nutrition, nor do they want you to know that either. There's big money in meds - look around at all the hospitals and the many, many people taking all these drugs - synthetic drugs that are created to mimic receptors in your body so that your body accepts them, only to have to work hard to throw off the toxic substances - the synthetics they are created with so they can be patented. It is the PRACTICE of medicine and they are PRACTICING on you. Do your own research and study and conduct your own trials. I'm not saying don't go to your doc and don't take the meds - get it under control, but once you have it under control, find a way to keep it there as drug-free as possible. Your liver that has to process the toxicity of those meds will thank you for it. Your entire body will thank you for it. When the bad flare-ups happen, get your juicer out and drink nothing but fresh juices for 3-4 days. Juices are pre-digested. Your body doesn't have to work hard to assimilate the nutrients in them. Did you know that your body never does anything MORE strenuous than digesting? You could run a marathon and the amount of energy your body expends would not even come close to the energy it takes to digest your food! When you are ill - pull the food so your body can free that energy for your healing. You won't believe how much better you'll feel. Once you get it reeled back in by only having liquid for a couple of days, make sure your starch and sugar intake are lower when you begin to eat again. The bacteria in your gut feeds on carbs - starches and sugar. A good read is Marilyn and Harvey Diamond's "Fit For Life" - it has a good explanation as to how the digestive system operates - how the bacteria works - how your body has different acids that are used to digest your foods and how some of the acids that digest some foods do not mix well with other digestive juices and how to avoid that combination. This has been my trial and error - I prefer to NOT have to see the doc for Crohn's often...I haven't been to a gastro guy in 9 years or so. I do have a regular doc that, if I have flare-ups, will put me on a course of steroids for a couple of weeks to reel it back in, but the fact that it has to be reeled back in at all is my own fault because I was a bad little girl and didn't watch what I ate. For me - that's the simple solution - the food. But, you have to get it under control first before you go that route. I take the drugs til I feel better. Then I get off them and mind the diet. By the way - the arthritis - when on the diet troubles me very little. When I'm high carbing and high sugaring - the arthritis KILLS me... hope this helps any of you... I have studied this disease and nutrition since my diagnosis in the 80's... if I had it to do over again, I would go back to school and become a nutritionist...

Have been on Levoxyl for the past two years and have been having EXTREME hair loss. Would like to hear from anyone having this side effect who has had success with an alternative treatment....either a different drug or an alternate treatment such as Armour, etc. Is coming off Levoxyl cold turkey as dangerous as everyone says it is?

I just quit Yaz 8 days ago, was on it for 6 months. I had the copper t iud in for 4 months but the pain and non-stop bleeding was too much so I thought I'd give the coolest, newest pill out on the market a try. First week was awful; headaches, fatigue and nausea, but I knew I had to give it 3 months. First 2 months it really helped with cramps and bloating, but slowly the mood swings crept in. I was very emotional, depressed, random bouts of anger, bloating, cramping, 2 periods per month and spotting, gained 8lbs, uncontrollable hunger, appetite was ridicules. But the reason I felt I HAD to stop taking it was the fatigue, I could no longer do my 6 mile jogs, I struggled to walk to get the mail, I was for the first time in my life a couch potato. Before I began Yaz I was 115lbs, 5'7, have always been very active and eat only 100% organic health food, drink only green tea and water. Needless to say I was in shape, cellulite free my entire life till now. On the 5 month of Yaz I noticed cellulite on my legs!!! I was know as a sweet and very patient lovable girl, NOT ANYMORE! I used to never use bad words, now I use the F-word all day long, I pick fights with everyone and feel sooo angry all the time. I hope sharing my story helps other women understand that it's not them, it's this awful drug. I am going to use the LadyComp for bc, I will NEVER again put synthetic hormones in my body.

A couple of years ago I tried Singulair due to problems with oral yeast infections from my inhaler. I'm a athletic, health conscious 46 year old woman with a high-burn hypoglycemic metabolism, and often have unusual and extreme reactions to food and medications. I hallucinate on Diet Coke, for example. I waited until the weekend to try Singulair just in case I reacted, and it was a good thing I did. I slept about 10 hours in three days, and when I could sleep I had bizarre dreams. I felt like an ADHD woman having a manic episode! My boyfriend noticed behavioral changes right away, and fortunately he did all the driving that weekend! I stopped the drug on Sunday, and was barely able to sit up at work by Monday afternoon. The next weekend I broke the pills into quarters, but had the same problems even with only a fourth of the dose. Once all the drug was out of my system, which didn't take long, I was fine. I went back to my Claritin and Pulmacort Turbuhaler, and I've been fine ever since. I'm both surprised and not to find Singulair causes similar reactions in others. I thought it was just my strange metabolism, but apparently not. This is a sad, cold comfort way to find out I'm not as freakish as I thought. My condolences and best wishes to everyone dealing with children and family members on this drug and/or going through withdrawal.
P.S. I never drink soft drinks anymore, or eat or drink anything with artificial sweeteners, either.

I was born without a thyroid gland so I can't compare the way I feel now to the way I would've felt with a thyroid. I've been on Synthroid my entire life (22 years), and I'm up to 112 mcg now. I am very skinny (5'5", 104 lbs) and feel constantly fatigued no matter how many hours I sleep, what I eat, and how much exercise I get. I periodically get pain in my hip joints, heart palpitations, and intense mood swings. My thoughts race but I have very little physical energy. I feel restless and gloomy almost all the time for absolutely no good reason. My doctor tells me I'm depressed but I honestly have no reason to be depressed and I wish she would see it as a symptom instead of a diagnosis. I graduated from a good college, I've got a job I like, I have friends, I enjoy life and my hobbies, yet I feel overwhelmingly sad. This does not seem like depression to me.

I find that after I do aerobics I get a tightness in my chest, which makes me worry about my heart, but again my doctor doesn't seem to think this is cause for concern. I have been irritable/fatigued for YEARS and I suspect I'll feel this way for the rest of my life. The worst of it started when I hit 16 years old and started the 112 mcg. My tests are always normal and it frustrates me that my doctor disregards my symptoms. I've tried other doctors, but they always send me away with my 'normal' test results. Can anybody help?

Re: Lisinopril Side Effect
I've been on lisinopril for about 4 years. Started at 20mg for about 2 years then moved up to 40mg for about the last year. I've had some of the side effects described here however I've manage to counteract them by taking men's health vitamins and health food concoctions made with zinc, pumpkin seed oil, damiana, fish oil and others. My surprise is that I didn't know that I was taking a large dosage of lisinopril. That explains my loss of sexual drive, loss of hair. I can see now that I was masking the problem by taking the vitamin concoctions. My next step is to research the various BP meds and make up a list of those with the least side affects. I can hardly wait to see my doc again. My best advise to this forum is to not put up with the know it all attitude of your doc. You make up your own list and demand that your doc LISTEN TO YOU! And if you have to, replace him/ her with one that will listen. Years ago my doc convinced me that there was no difference between generic and brand name. Bad move on my part. I've learned to be hard nosed when it comes to docs and I've found that they respond well when they have to deal with an angry patient. Time to kick butt and take names!

two girls mom and everyone
i felt embarassed to be on paxil but realize i need it to get me back to normal.the first two days i took it i made myself sick just thinking about taking the pill, today i could not wait to take it because i want to get well, we have kids we need to be there for, mine are 5 and 2 we proably will not have to be on it for life, our hormones need to be regulated. i found an all natural anxiety supplement its called Seredyn you can look it up online at Seredyn.com its by bioneurix corp i ordered it, i also drink a Natural calm drink by peter gillhams and yerba mate organic greentea we need calcium and magnesium to stay calm and vitamin b is also very important it helps the nearvous system my mom and sister are health food nuts hand in there

I love this site. I have been on Levoxyl for five years and it seems to be like a two edged sword. I had enlarged thyroid that now is practically gone, so are my heart flutterings which is a good thing....however, they have been replaced by joint pain, depression, huge appitite, and anxiety. I tried to switch to Synthriod but for me it had a Jeckle and Hyde effect and I was filled with a rage that would sweep over me. In fighting the rage I started having stomache cramps that seemed to be ulcer-like and I could find no food that didn't have me on the couch praying to God to just go ahead and take me..Switched back to Levoxyl simply because I had to have some quality of life and needed medical help...I have tried the health food route and my goiter returned. I appreciate everyone's stories because for the first time in years I see I am not alone,but I agree with those who say to keep trying and take responcibility for your own care, some doctors really do care and have every intent on our wellfare, however it has been my experience that most GP's lack the information on the diease to understand that this type of medication can do harm so they "ho, hum," us while they just keep writing out our prescriptions.

I've been using Advair 250/50 for about 4 years now. I never had any trouble with it until this year. My throat is so irritated all the time. One way to avoid thrush is to rinse your mouth 2 or 3 times after using the Advair. I have always done this, but lately my throat is really irritated. Went to ENT and after scoping my throat he said everything looked fine...put me on antibiotics for a week, but did not help. I believe it's the Advair. There are some good natural remedies out there to help with throat irritation. Look in a health food or whole foods store.