How to Overcome Fatigue- Pray! (Part 2)

       This March and April, before I got my full diagnosis, when I was mostly bedridden, I spent whatever little energy I had to read about adrenal fatigue and chronic fatigue. I was determined to find out anything I could do to get better, and I read six different books on adrenal/ chronic fatigue, and at least fifty different articles. I was obsessed - I wanted to get my life back, and not just so I could pace myself to do dishes and make dinner - I mean get back the energy of a normal person. The books pretty much said all the same things - eat plenty of fruits and veggies, pace yourself, do graded exercise, and relax. Good advice which helped me graduate from bed-ridden to housebound, but not much hope for living a normal life - at least not for years!!  I spent a lot of time praying, "God, if it is Your will for me to be this sick, ok, but if there is anything I can be doing to get better faster, can you lead me to what it is!"
      While very discouragedly surfing the net one day, I ran across an article about a guy named Jordan Rubin. He had almost died from Crohn's disease but fully recovered eating a kosher/ organic diet and taking something called HSO's (homeostatic soil organisms).  His story really stuck out to me, but I figured it was just because was a Christian and he got over an incurable disease, which was what I was trying to do. I couldn't stop thinking about what happened to him, so I ordered a few of his books, "The Maker's Diet" and "Patient Heal Thyself" from the public library, for some inspiration to keep me looking for a cure.

      A few days before I got the books from the library, I finally got my full diagnosis (candida, leaky gut, and ahem, another digestive issue.) I was very thankful for a diagnosis, but some of these problems are rather complicated to overcome. My doctor told me to double-up on probiotics. Now, I have been taking probiotics for years, and my first thought was, "If they haven't helped me yet, I doubt they will in the future!" A few days later we got "The Maker's Diet" from the library, and I realized the HSO's which turned Rubin's health around were actually probiotics! He wrote, "HSOs also seem to act aggressively against protozoa, worms, and other parasites within the intestines and related organs and tissues. Even Candida albicans, along with other yeasts and molds, is obliterated." (pg78)
       I was intrigued, did a little more research online, and came across a study which showed that the HSO probiotics his company developed, Primal Defense, (based on customer demand after hearing his story about overcoming Crohn's disease) was proven to fight candida  http://www.crohns.net/Miva/education/articles/FungalDef_PrimalDef.shtml. The study mentioned another product called "Fungal Defense as well. I showed the study to my husband, Pete, and he said, "Order them". Coincidence? I say it was answered prayer!
       I took Fungal Defense for two weeks, and while it helped me get better, the die-off symptoms were almost unbearable at times. I have been taking Primal Defense Ultra for about three weeks, and have been feeling great! I have been charting my activities in an "Activity Log" I got from a book about chronic fatigue. Before starting either of these products, I had gradually worked my way up to walking down my stairs and half way up my driveway in about 8 minutes. Now, five weeks later, I can walk about a tenth of a mile in the same amount of time! WAY faster than the chronic fatigue books act like is possible with graded exercise, so I know this is working.
        I have also been, for the past three weeks,  following the very strict anti-Candida diet Rubin lays out in his book, "Restoring Your Digestive Health", which consists of goat's milk yogurt, organic chicken soup, organic eggs, vegetable juice, and well-chewed raw and cooked veggies (he makes a HUGE deal about chewing!). In a week I graduate to adding organic fish and beef - I am so excited! This has taken a huge degree of commitment (and boy do I miss certain foods!), but I am determined to get completey well, and I see the pay-off already. So by God's grace (I am praying A LOT these days!) and with my wonderful husband's support, I am going to see this through until I am completely well!

How to Overcome Fatigue – Pray! (Part 1)

James 5:14-15 reads, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if He has committed sins, He will be forgiven.”

In February, my husband and I decided to ask the elders of our church for pray for my continuing adrenal fatigue issues that could not be resolved through rest, diet, and lifestyle changes. We figured we had nothing to lose as God could choose to heal me, or if He chose not to, I’d be no worse off than before. But either way it would be a step of faith of putting my health into God’s hands.  They very kindly agreed to pray, and I remember that they prayed that God would give the doctor’s wisdom about what was causing my fatigue.

At first, I felt a little better – I had a little more energy and stamina and could do more in a day. But then in early March, a very stressful series of events with a bad upper respiratory virus to boot, landed me completely bedridden. (When you have adrenal insufficiency, your cortisol is low and stress can deplete what little you have – even to the point of being bedridden!) Every time I tried to resume normal life, I ended up back in bed so sick that I couldn’t even get my own food and Pete had to leave me food in a cooler by my bed!  I remember thinking, “God, this is NOT the answer to prayer that I was looking for!”

Because I was so sick, my amazing doctor, Dr. Adema, ran a bunch of tests, including one for, ahem, intestinal critters. (I can’t believe I am writing this – it is incredibly embarrassing – but if even one person suffering from unexplained fatigue can benefit, it is worth the embarrassment).  I did have them – lots of them, plus a lot of damage they had done to my innards (something called “leaky gut symdrome” and severe candida).  He figured out that I have most likely had this problem for 14 YEARS since I came back from a mission trip in Albania.  (We had hiked into a remote with very poor sanitation and ate undercooked chicken for the sake of the gospel! The woman who gave us the chicken prayed to receive Christ, so it was worth it.)  I was severely ill after that trip, and my lovely HMO doctors diagnosed me with a virus and depression.

Since that trip, I have struggled with ever- worsening fatigue , intermittent nausea, and even occasional unexplained vomiting. I have been diagnosed over the years with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and told to “stress less” and “eat more fiber”, and endometriosis (with NO tests ran to confirm this!) . All along, I was being misdiagnosed! Who but a Sovereign and Merciful God could lead me to a doctor who would give me the right diagnosis after 14 years! He truly is a God who answers pray!

 Unfortunately, this won’t be a quick fix – the buggers did some damage which will take some time to heal. It will take a lot of time, patience, reliance on God, determination, and discipline for my body to be able to heal. But I am so thankful to have a God who hears!

Morals of the Story – Pray!

*Don’t give up –there are good doctors out there.

*If you have unexplained fatigue and have been overseas on a mission’s trip, please consider intestinal critters as a possible cause of your fatigue! 

*Don’t not go on mission’s trips if God calls you. But before and after you go on a mission’s trip (or especially if you are on the mission field!), take proper precautions to protect your digestive health, starting with a strong probiotic to increase your immunity.

*Children in third world countries such as Albania often lack basic essentials to good health, such as clean water, sanitation, etc. Let’s do what we can to help these children be able to grow up healthy!

2 Corinthians 12:9

                 “My grace is sufficient for you,

              for power is perfected in weakness.”

Most gladly, therefore, I will

rather boast about my weakness,

 so that the power of Christ might dwell in me.



Homeless Babies

When you hear the words “homeless person” , what comes to mind? A man who hasn’t showered for two weeks and smells of beer and urine? A woman who is addicted to crack? A Vietnam Vet who has PTSD? You probably didn’t think of a baby:

Homeless infants usually have low birth rates.

Homeless mothers are less likely to receive prenatal care.

Babies who are underweight, and whose mothers have not received prenatal care, are nine times more likely to die before the age of one.

The homeless babies who survive their first year have less access to basic medical care than other babies.  One-third of homeless babies lack basic immunizations.

Homeless babies who live in overcrowded conditions, such as a shelters, are more exposed to illness.

The next time you are tempted to think of homeless people as “lazy” or "crazy", remember homeless babies. 

Backyard Naturalist

Sometimes I forget to be thankful for the beauty around me, as close as my own backyard. This week I made an effort to be more observant, and here are some beautiful things I've seem:

Here are some bees working away at the blossoms on our orange tree. (Did you know you could use orange blossoms in cooking? I added some to an omelette yesterday, which were amazing!):

Here is a hawk in our next-door neighbor's backyard - I think it is a "Sharp-shinned hawk", but I am not sure, as I am a very amataur birdist (started only a month ago):

He was not a fan of the camera:

And the best sight of all, some tomatoes are finally growing on a tomato plant I planted last year (courtesy of Ron Mears who kindly brought some tomato plants to give away at church). I added some egg shells to the soil as my friend Mary said they were probably not getting enough calcium - they were flowering, but not producing tomatoes, until I added the egg shells!:

How to Overcome fatigue - Do Your Own Research

After my doctor diagnosed me with “adrenal insufficiency” last May (he said I was at the lower end of adrenal function based on my cortisol levels), he prescribed an herbal supplement called “Adreset”. I  was glad that he had not put me on cortisol, because several of my family members who also have adrenal insufficiency have had horrible side-effects from taking cortisol.  So I enthusiastically took the “Adreset” every day, thinking it would “cure” me. I immediately felt more energy, so much so that I was able to walk a few miles one day and put on a bake sale single-handedly at church.  But even from the first day, I felt overstimulated, like I imagine a person would feel if they were on Speed. I remember  jumping two feet when the neighbor’s chihauha barked at me, as freaked out as if a giant bear was about to eat me alive!

 After a week and a half of being on Adreset, I started having horrible nightmares, terrible heart palpitations, and felt like I was crawling out of my skin. I told Pete, I have to get off this stuff, or I am going to explode! I did, and spent about three days having crazy withdrawal symptoms, which he patiently helped me through. I felt like I would die if I didn’t have more Adreset, and he had to hide it from me. I felt, if possible, more exhausted then I had before taking it!

Okay, so Adreset was not the answer to getting over this fatigue. I was really discouraged at first, but after a few days I got tired of moping and decided to at least figure out why the Adreset hadn’t worked for me.  Through some internet research, I came across an article by an M.D. who specializes in adrenal fatigue, Dr. Michael Lam, which said,

“Long term use of stimulatory nutrients can lead to withdrawal problems and addiction. Though they might have other concurrent adaptogenic properties, many adrenal supportive nutrients commonly used are intrinsically stimulatory in nature in a setting of advanced adrenal weakness. These include ginseng, licorice, ashawanda, maca, vitamin B5, and vitamin B12, just to name a few.”

  I looked on the ingredients on the Adreset bottle, and sure enough, one of the ingredients was ginseng. I reasoned that I must have been at too advanced of a stage for it to work, unlike some of my doctor’s other patients who must  not have been as far along, as they reported loving being on Adreset. I was sooo thankful to have found out this information before doing more damage to myself! And to have found out about Dr. Lam. Through his “Adrenal Fatigue Center”, http://www.drlam.com, I have found so much good information about this condition and how to manage it.  I am by no means “cured” yet, but my periods of extreme fatigue are becoming somewhat  fewer and farther between. The last time my doctor took my blood tests, this December, he said my hormonal levels are improving, which shows that something I am doing is working!

Another really good resource I’ve found, while not by a medical doctor, is a blog by someone who has Addison’s Disease, which is basically complete adrenal failure. Since she is able to have an online business through her blog, and homeschool seven children while having this condition, I figured she was worth listening to J.http://anneshealthplace.com/blog/

I plan on going into, step by step, things which I have learned from these and other sources. But this post is already turning into novel, and it is 8:30, and a good night’s sleep is essential to overcoming any kind of fatigue. So goodnight.

I am my Beloved's and He is Mine

My friend and Candi and I were talking a few months ago about how no one ever told us about s*x when we were growing up, especially about how it's importance in marriage. (I'm not being a prude - just being careful about search engines).  Pete and I were told to read a book called "The Act of Marriage" by Tim LaHaye in premarital counselling, and that was about the extent of my education on this subject. (No offense to Tim LaHaye, he did found my alma mater, but he is not the person I would have picked to learn about this from!) So Candi had the idea of meeting a couple of times a month with some of the teenage girls from our church to talk about relationships, purity, and marriage. Meeting with the five girls that regularly come is one of the most joyful, fulfilling things I've ever been privileged to participate in.
         With that in mind, I thought that I would use my etsy shop this Valentine's Day as a reminder to married couples of the beautiful gift that God has given to husband and wife. Song of Solomon, with its' rather explicit erotic poetry, as well as many other passages in Scripture (Proverbs 5:18-19 for example), makes it clear that God gave s*x as gift for married couples to enjoy! Not just as a way to have children, or to "avoid immorality", but as a sacred gift to be delighted in. So I painted these set of mugs based on Song of Solomon 6:3a:

 Here is a link to the listing on etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/92406407/i-am-my-beloveds-and-he-is-mine

As always, twenty percent of all proceeds goes to buy socks for homeless children.