I wanted to bring up a topic and see what people thought. I’ve been thinking about things regarding this whole situation. Being a woman, I do think there may be a hormonal component to how I feel. I just know that something is going wrong and I wanna figure out what my body is needing from me. That being said, does anybody think that maybe this could be greatly helped by a more holistic approach? I don’t know if I believe this can be helped with ONLY medication. Obviously I have felt better with medication and I am thankful for that. But I just have this desire to reboot my whole lifestyle in the hope of coming out clearer and more grounded and better. Does anyone think that’s possible? Should I see a natural doctor as well?
Sorry, not completely relevant, but I believe nature has a big part to play.
For a start, time is probably a great healer.
Secondly, in order to minimise decompensation I believe you need to remain active, however uncomfortable. Being housebound is bound to make things worse and could result in a downward spiral. Your overall psychological situation would also benefit from getting out and doing ‘normal things’.
Thirdly, to let your body ‘do its thing’ best you need to keep drinking lots and keep your kidneys going to give your body the best chance of sorting out any chemical imbalances that might aggravate or worsen your symptoms.
Fourthly, stop doing boring things if at all possible and focus on activities you really enjoy and are meaningful to you … I’ve had periods, hours where I was so into what I was doing I never noticed my symptoms (did I notice my symptoms whilst rebuilding this website? no!). Just go have a social with a couple of best friends and you can forget your troubles … (only to pick them up again on the way home, but still better than to have spent a miserable, anxiety-filled evening alone!)
Whilst not ‘holistic medicine’ I believe all these things are simply natural approaches to healing.
I am going to pile on to what James said and throw in some stuff which really helped me.
Go for a walk in the morning. First thing after waking up. Consciously look side to side when you walk. You will look stupid but screw what others think, it is great for compensation. I don’t do this often but this wakes up your vestibular system.
Sleep on time and wake up on time. Excess sleep is a problem for me.
Drink lots of water and fluids. As James said this flushes out chemicals
Eat right, fresh and healthy.
Get a vitamin tuneup. Find one’s you are deficient in and get them up. For me it was B12 and Vitamin D.
Stop obsessing about this ( I recently gained a badge for visiting this site 100 days in a row…i should probably stop :P)
Challenge yourself. Find stuff that makes you uncomfortable and do more of that. Easier said than done. Play a sport that you like. I stand on one leg and bounce a ball on the wall, not a sport but really helps !! I wish i had a ping pong table
I would love to play soccer again but have to tell the team absolutely no headers lol. Your number 6 i can relate. I check this site multiple times through out the day even at work. It makes me feel better when i have more knowledge. Like my current doc said, “i am the teacher and you are the student.”
Thank you everyone for reaching out and putting in your thoughts! I agree with what everyone has to say! Also may I add…does anyone think that supplements like saint johns wort or 5htp could eventually be used instead of medication? I have this belief that if I heal my body I can heal my brain. But I don’t know. Any thoughts?
Hello! Well my symtoms are that I feel motion almost all of the time. However, I also get weird visual symtoms like the world looking surreal or having a hard time focusing while driving, etc. when it gets worse it feels like my brain has exploded and like I’m about to have a panic attack. It’s almost like being on a turbulent plane, except, I am the plane. If that makes sense.
Makes very much sense. Give rest for your arms for 2 days and see if the frequency of your symptoms is less. If so please let me know. I will give you more information
I do believe that what you described, James, is in fact part of holistic health - treating the whole body, not just the ‘illness’.!! I also found that even at my worst - if I could function, I had far less symptoms whilst doing my stained glass than doing housework/whatever other boring thing needing to be done. Maybe it’s to do with taking the focus outside of yourself???
Gracy, it will be interesting to hear your final conclusion.
Funny enough - one of the MANY theories I have come up with as to the root cause of my problems is simlar, thought not the same as your problem. I have a slight scoliosis (curvature of the spine), which causes me discomfort and pain by pressing on nerves in the lower back/hip region, and I have wondered if perhaps the upper portion might be doing the same, to a lesser degree on the left hand side. should my symptoms flare up again, I will perhaps look into this further. Meanwhile, as I am virtually symptom-free, I prefer to let sleeping beasts lie!!!
Chaimille - I’m not 100% sure what you mean by taking a holistic approach, so I’ll answer this as best as I can. Where I live this would mean seeing a naturaopathic doctor or maybe a functional chiropractor or something along that line, neither being an M.D. I would stay away from them as as good part of their income comes from their sale of very expensive vitamin and mineral mixes. Have you considered seeing a D.O. instead of an M.D.? They are much better at connecting the dots and are more open to finding the cause of symptoms. In general they would rather find the cause of the problem and fix that, than just giving pills to cover the symptoms.
Camille - A doctor of osteopathy has the same amount of education and rights as an MD but their training took a slightly different direction. Here is a quote from wikipedia Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine - Wikipedia
D.O. schools provide an additional 300–500 hours in the study of hands-on manual medicine and the body’s musculoskeletal system, which is referred to as osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM).[1] Historically, osteopaths subscribed to the view that such body manipulation can bring about systemic healing – a belief which is a form of pseudomedicine – but today American osteopathic physicians have largely evolved away from such pre-scientific ideas.[16] Osteopathic physicians who use OMM predominantly use it to treat musculoskeletal conditions, for which there is conflicting evidence.[31][32] Particular criticism has been targeted at craniosacral therapy, a component of OMM taught at many D.O. schools that has limited scientific support.[33][34]
That might not be the best definition but it’s the first one I came to. While they have more interest in body manipulation than an MD, they are also more interested in seeing how things connect and finding the cause of a problem rather than just treating the symptom whereas MD’s seem to want to give you meds for whatever ails you instead of finding the cause and correcting that.
Ah, very interesting. I believe functional medicine doctors are also similar. They want to see how the body works as a whole rather than just how the various parts work.
I got the best occipital trigger massage ever know to me from a D.O. There is a sore spot he hit which felt like i lifted a one pound weight off my head.