Going Green with Medical Advice

Part 1:  Dust Mites

Allergies are stupid.  By definition.

Or, so I have told people when they discover my allergy to dust mites.  Usually this occurs when they see that I have been scratching at my arms or legs and have begun to draw blood.  At times I am not even conscious that I am scratching as I am focused on some other task at work or home.  I may even scratch at a scab which then soils my clothes with a blotch on my leg or arm.  If I am not at home, then I am stuck with the self conscious feeling that people will notice.

A second potential allergy may be the cause of the abdominal pain that I have been suffering with for the past two weeks.  But, more on that later.

I believe it was in 1996 when I first discovered that I had an allergy to dust mites.  I went to an allergist with mysterious rashes on my calves and was tested for many different allergens only to discover that I was allergic to both dust mites and cockroaches.  Nice.  The official word on treating the dust mite allergy is to control the environment.  Use lotion frequently.  Place special covers on mattresses to keep mites from living in the bed.  Wash bedding and clothes in hot water.  I was given a steroid ointment to use on the rashes to keep them at bay.  I was also given oral medications to trick my body to think it doesn’t itch.  The thinking is that stopping the rashes will stop the need to itch and will then prevent rashes from appearing at all.

All of that advice is well and good, but I hate using medication.  It can make me drowsy, makes my skin even more sensitive to sunburns, and generally doesn’t work as I still end up scratching.  The ointment does a great job at getting the rashes down to size, but it doesn’t prevent them from reappearing.  Thus, I have lived for 13 years in perpetual dust mite wars and have succumbed to the idea that I will live with them for the rest of my life.

During this green transformation, it has occurred to me that there may be other factors exacerbating the rashes or even causing the allergy to manifest in the first place.  Maybe it is an exposure to toxins over the course of my life through clothing, food, air, and even furniture.  No one can say for sure how the exposure to multiple chemicals over the course of time will manifest in people.  It may even be caused by the consistent skin exposure to chlorine and other chemicals found in tap water.  I have recently discovered whole house water systems that remove the impurities in the water.  The installation of such a system can only help my skin and may be one of the leading factors in the continual appearance of eczema.  Even if my theories are wrong, a water system certainly is not going to make matters worse.

Part 2:  Stomach Ailment

On the morning of March 9th, I woke early to get ready for work and found myself suffering from abdominal pain.  It seemed to be coming from the higher portion of the stomach beneath my upper abdominal muscles.  The pain wasn’t severe, so I continued on with my day.  Throughout the course of the week, the pain persisted to the point that I found myself in the doctor’s office by Friday to solve the mystery.

It is now 16 days later, and we still do not know the cause.  It could be some sort of ulcer, but what would be causing it?  Maybe it is celiac’s disease – an immune reaction to eating wheat and gluten.  Maybe it’s irritable bowel syndrome.  It could be an infection in the stomach caused by bacteria or a parasite.  We just aren’t sure yet. My general physician ordered a set of labs from blood and urine the results of which were inconclusive.  So, I am being referred to another doctor for an upper GI endoscopy and a colonoscopy.  Oh, happy day!  I can’t wait for that joy.

There is one thing that my doctor told me to do that I have not done.  I haven’t taken any antacids.  I went to my local drug store after my appointment, stood in front of the antacids, read the ingredients on the label, and just couldn’t bring myself to put a medication in my system when all I have been doing over the past year is get toxins and pharmaceuticals out of my life.  I did know, however, that there are other ways to treat the acid in the stomach.  I headed over to the grocery store and purchased a bottle of organic apple cider vinegar.  Each day, I have diluted it in a glass of water and have begrudgingly drank the mixture.  It isn’t pleasant to drink, but it does seem to help my stomach.

A Second Opinion

Historically, I have considered the relationship between a doctor and a patient much like an employer-employee relationship.  You do everything the doctor tells you whether you like it or not – it’s your job.  Somewhere down the line, my perspective evolved into the notion that the patient is in charge of their own health care and use doctors as a partnership in determining the best treatment.  Over the past year, I have been under the treatment of a chiropractor who takes a preventative, holistic approach to health care.  In the time under her care, I have largely been healthy.  The few colds that I have had have been relatively minor and have been brief in their duration.

The appearance of the stomach ailment is my first true test of taking a holistic and green (toxin-free) approach to health care.  I have sought the treatment and advice of both my chiropractor (proactive health care) and my general physician (reactive health care).  I strongly feel that they are both necessary to my overall health.  I can use one doctor to prevent me from getting sick by keeping my spine healthy and listening to advice on proper diet, supplements, and alternative treatments.  I can use the other doctor to help diagnose the more serious problems that appear using all of the advanced tools of modern medicine.

So, when I sent the “inconclusive” lab results from my general physician to my chiropractor, I received quite a different interpretation.  While there isn’t anything definitive, there were some oddities in the results that point to potential causes such as allergies, a parasite, dehydration, and even problems that could appear down the road with my pancreas or liver.  From a holistic perspective, there are several steps I will be taking including continued work my spine, enzyme therapy, and essential oil treatment to cleanse and detox to remove possible parasites or toxins.

From the holistic perspective, the possibility of the allergy to wheat is very real.  Some time ago, I discovered that one of my brothers has celiac’s disease and that it is genetically inherited.  My general physician tested me in the past for the disease but received negative results.  However, he is using a blood test that my brother was told isn’t effective in detecting the disease.  It is a stool test that is the most accurate, but it is not generally used in western medicine.  I had been thinking of ordering a test to find out for myself, but I have hesitated to spend the money.

Interestingly enough, my chiropractor encouraged me to find out what my blood type is because there is evidence that we should be eating certain foods or avoiding certain foods based on our blood type.  For example, those with the O blood type should avoid eating wheat as they have trouble digesting it and end up storing much of it as fat when other blood types use wheat as an energy source.  It came as little surpise to me that I did have the O blood type.  So, now there are two compelling reasons to take wheat out of the diet – because of my blood type and because of the diagnosis of my brother.

For years, we have sold the book Eat Right for Your Type by Peter D’Adamo at work, but I never gave it much thought.  Reading through the potential problems that type O people have from eating certain foods read I was struck at how many correlations I could make in my medical history.  Potential problems with the thyroid – my doctor detected slight thyroiditis in the past and is watching it annually.  Avoid wheat – there is celiac’s disease in the family.  High acid in the stomach that do well digesting meat but can by exacerbated by certain foods and cause ulcers – my current problem.  I can’t say I an a believer, but I am optimistic that the diet could make a big difference.

It hasn’t been easy to take wheat out of the diet, but I have been successful so far through 6 days.  The results?  I am definitely getting better.  The abdominal pain is minimal.  Is it because of the elimination of wheat?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that I am going to continue with the the procedures on Monday to eliminate any of the crazy stuff that might be causing the pain.  I also know that the new diet is also a healthier diet and will likely help me boost my immune system, keep me from getting sick, and work well with my excersie routine to shed those extra pounds.  With the addition of the other holistic steps, I may never quite know the cause or which treatment was most effective.  However, I do know that I am on the road to smarter healthcare and better overall health.

Ameren Energy Energy Performance Audit from ActOnEnergy

I had my $25 energy audit with Ameren on Thursday afternoon and have hesitated to post an update for 2 reasons.

1.  Although the audit is complete, they are mailing a report by the end of next week.  The auditor did tell me that it is just a review of everything he already told me, so there shouldn’t be any surprises.
2.  From a personal perspective, I was disappointed because he didn’t come up with anything I wasn’t already aware of.  Then again, the average person doesn’t think about energy efficiency in the same way I do.

Notes:

• I thought it was interesting to note that once the attic is sealed and insulated properly, it generally isn’t cost effective to replace all of the windows unless you are selling the house.  He explained that the air doesn’t really have anywhere to go vertically.
• I’m not sure it was part of his report, but he did recommend the next clothes washer we buy be a front loading one as they save a lot of water in the wash cycle and saves energy from the dryer as the spin cycle does a much better job of getting rid of water.  He even mentioned that the night before he took his work shirt out of the washer and hung it to be worn the next day.
• We talk extensively about the furnace and duct work.
• I asked him about replacing my collapsible dryer exhaust with a metal one.  He gave me basic instructions of where to do and how to install it.  (again, not part of the actual audit).
• We discussed insulating the box sills in the basement.  I could use (1) icynene which is best be messiest, (2) use friction-fit foam insulation, or (3) simply caulk inside the sill.  If I use the foam boards, he recommended caulking around the foam once they are installed.
• We looked that air conditioner.  He recommended a cleaning of the unit.  The pipes going from the unit into the house need new insulation as the old is pealing off and the hole in the brick of the house needs spray foam.
• He did a flashlight inspection inside the attic.  I was surprised that I my attic insulation was better than I thought.  However, he pointed out that in areas where someone may have done work, the insulation was just pushed aside and not restored.  I need vent chutes, he gave me instructions on how to do it myself if I chose.  The insulation doesn’t look like extended to the top of the walls.  He recommended spray foaming around the lights and pipes before finished up the insulation.  Another 2-3 inches of blown insulation might help.
• The bathroom exhaust fan is venting directly into the attic instead of our the roof or through the soffit.
• I don’t have any wall insulation.  We talked about this extensively from putting holes in the walls and blowing it in to dampering rooms that get more heat to rooms that don’t.  In fact, he was thinking about this issue AFTER he left the audit and called me to discuss it further on his way home.  That sort of “customer service” impressed me.  In the end, my options for to help the bedrooms maintain heat are (1) adding wall insulation, (2) adjusting the damper in other rooms, (3) getting the top of the walls insulated, (4) insulating the attic hatch (which has none), and (5) taping the seams in the ducts.
• I showed him my efforts to caulk my first window before the winter his and asked for an honest opinion on my efforts at my first ever attempt at caulking.  He was very nice about the fact that I could have caulked 2 or 3 windows with the amount I had used on just that one.  (I thought as much).  Diplomatic and constructive.
• He would have installed pipe insulation above my water heater, but the pipes were only 2 inches from the exhaust.  It is generally not recommended to add insulation if the gap is less than 3 inches.
• If I hadn’t already added CFL bulbs around the house, he would have replaced 5 incandescants in high traffic areas.
• Another part of the audit includes installing a water-saving shower head.  I had done that in the upstairs shower already, but he took care of the shower in the basement.
• As with the shower head my faucet aerator was already in place in the upstairs bathroom, but not downstairs.  It is now.

Here are the pros:

• I had a lot of questions and the auditor did an excellent job of listening to each with interest and thoughtful responses.  He could have rushed through his answers or dismissed me – but didn’t.  Major points there.  Calling me after the left to continue the discussion was a major plus here.
• He kept the options open on how potential repairs could be taken care of.  He recommended getting multiple quotes for insulation work and also gave me some basic instructions on how to make some repairs myself.
• For $25, having someone to talk through energy efficiency measures was a bargain.  Not to mention the fact that they install 5 CFLs, a shower head, a faucet aerator, and some pipe insulation.

Here are the cons:

• This wasn’t a full audit with a thermal camera and blower door test.  But, we knew that going it.  I have wondered if the recommended fixes would have been the same regardless of the use of the equipment.  I won’t know until I decide to pay for the other audit.
• It didn’t occur to me until the next day, but he didn’t look at weatherstripping of the doors which need done.  Maye it will be in the report, but we certainly didn’t talk about it.
• He didn’t do a window inspection.  If he had, he would have pointed out weather stripping sticking up on one window and condensation inside the bathroom window.
• We didn’t talk about the impact on air quality of the home when its sealed correctly and what impacts there might be from different kinds of insulation.

Other stuff:

It sounds like there is a lot of stuff in the pipeline with Ameren.  They are expanding their CFL discounts at local retailers to appliances like refrigerators.  So, if a refrigerator costs $1000 and the sale price at the store is $800, that means Ameren is picking up that extra $200.

It looks like there may be an Ameren rebate of sorts coming if you get insulation work done.  He actually recommended that I wait until April to see what the details were before doing more work.

They will have a list or recommended contractors in the future, but there are still in the training and certification process that will be necessary before that goes live.

The only other auditor he is aware of in the area is Brian Kumer.  In fact, there may be only 4 or 5 guys in the state which is a problem.  Ameren has looked at giving the equipment to insulation companies  to encourage them to get more auditors to do the job.

He is not aware of anyone who would rent the equipment like a thermal imaging camera.  It doesn’t sound realistic due to the high cost.  Besides, to get a rebate on work through Ameren, you would want to go through the program first.  He did say if anyone had a friend in the fire department, they might have a camera to borrow.

That’s all for now.  I will post updates in the future on my efforts to tackle this list.

Todd