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.