For some, the next breath is not something that can be taken for granted (though, come to think of it nor should it be for anyone – we’ll all breathe our last one day). From one day to the next, the physical challenge of keeping the lungs filled with oxygen takes over from everything else: after this breath, the one I’m breathing now, will there be another?
For some, it may mean hospitalisation, or even moving into a hospice.
Yet there are things we can do before we reach that stage - herbal remedies, refinements in diet, extra mechanical aids in the home – to help now. I know, because I’m having to use them…
I have primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), but apart from the usual symptoms of this disease (spastic, painful, legs; chronic fatigue; weak limbs; bladder and bowel incontinence; poor eyes; cognitive dysfunction), the biggest problem lately – the most worrying – has been with the lungs.
I seem to have asthmatic symptoms (with panic but that’s another story!); I do have post-nasal drip, and - as a smoker for half of my life - could expect to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) . Many years ago I was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) but – and this can be verified by Guy’s Hospital, London – cleared it without the use of pharmaceutical drugs. The methods I use now are those I used then and would use for any of the following:
- asthma;
- bronchitis;
- emphysema;
- pneumonia;
- pleurisy;
- TB;
- COPD (made up of the first three above);
- lung cancer;
- sinusitis.
So, what are my methods? What is my Respiratory Rescue (RR)? Well, as I consider most things (health-wise) to be related to or caused by Candida Albicans, it too, depends on my anti-Candida regime of diet and herbs. It just means adding more herbs, specifically suited to the respiratory system:
NB Dosages for all herbs (unless stated otherwise): one quarter of a teaspoon two or three times daily.
thyme – I could have called this piece ‘Thyme heals!’ for the importance of this wonderful herb – it works as an antiseptic (very strong), anti-spasmodic (esp. asthma spasms) expectorant [clears mucus] de-congestant – I now take one teaspoon in a tea, daily and would never (God willing!) be without it;
eucalyptus – mainly used as expectorant/decongestant inhalant if breathing difficult, but especially valuable as chest and throat rub in times of infection/cough;
elecampane – for me, I think, the original life-saver with TB: a powerful antiseptic/expectorant (does contain inulin [fructose] though, so would only use now in emergency);
golden seal – an absolute life-saver: broad-spectrum anti-biotic (without side affects of phamaceuticals); can be used externally in the form of a paste (water added to powder), as a tea with the root, or by adding powder to water and drinking; I also use, with myrrh, for brushing teeth and gargling (good for post-nasal drip); a few grains internally, daily, for TB and other infections;
echinacea – my #1 herb and leader in my anti Candida regime - worth noting again here for its invaluable assistance in any respiratory problems: great immune system strengthener and supporter; strong antiseptic; decongestant and expectorant;
eyebright – another star in my herbal cast of characters (probably couldn’t see without it and would undoubtedly have much worse optic neuritis [eye pain with MS]); mentioned here for its ability, with echinacea, to clear sinuses – the perfect remedy for hayfever, rhinitis and nasal catarrh;
golden rod – one more I now take daily: antiseptic and anti-catarrhal;
tea tree oil – tea tree is an all-rounder – used for everything, and I use it all round the house as air-freshener/fumigator, decongestant and antiseptic for everyone! Also: three times a day as antiseptic mouthwash (with gargle!), and to kill any germs anywhere on anything or anyone – it will even wipe out fleas, mites (arachnids) and ticks on a dog! Essential shampoo for whole family. Works like eucalyptus but more gently, so I use more often, as chest-rub.
turmeric root (as powder) – a recent discovery, for me: very effective (and safe) bronchodilator.
Other herbs I have used, successfully, to clear lungs of congestion (but don’t take regularly – I think we all have to find the ones most suitable to our own bodies) include: mullein [slightly narcotic – no good for me!]; white horehound; pleurisy root (holding onto that in case of pneumonia!); plantain; watercress, and coltsfoot.
And that’s about it. Those, plus the anti-Candida diet (be especially careful with dairy products [go without!] and perhaps wheat and other grains (all mucus-forming foods).
Oh, and I do have a dehumidifier and air-purifier – great aid on breathless nights – and also keep a couple of oxygen bottles (the small mobile ones) handy. Touch wood, I haven’t had to use them lately (hah, tempting fate again, Virginia?!).
Anyway, I hope some of this helps some of you and that taking your next breath will be trouble-free. God bless.
Disclaimer
The information I give here has been gathered from my own research and experiences of the last 20 years.
The recommendations I make are for remedies which, through trial and error, my family and I have found to be most helpful.
I have not used pharmaceutical products since 1990 and do not see anyone from the medical establishment (doctors, etc.), other than MS Nurse annually.
***
All herbs available from medical herbalists including (international mail order available): G. Baldwin & Co.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Monday, 6 October 2008
Catch-up...
Illustration by Tom PhillipsTime to catch up with my MS (oh yeah, like that could ever happen!): the development of symptoms and ways they’re affecting my life. It’s been a while since I came to this blog just to “chat” – maybe some sort of denial? –and, let’s face it, this thing’s not going to stop in its tracks, do an about-turn, disappear – it’s here to stay and will, no doubt win the race. I should write about it and, hopefully, say something to help others - at least share an empathy with fellow-MSers.
If MS was a racing-car, it would surely be a Ferrari: to my mind (and most others!), the most beautiful of cars and one of the finest pieces of engineering known to man. The fact that I’m anti-cars, because of their use of oil, and pollutant affect on the environment, is by-the-by here (!). I’m not naïve and can appreciate the skill involved in crafting such an exceptional machine (I hate noise – but that wonderful growl of the Ferrari engine…!). It wins… It wins in aesthetics, mechanics, and performance on the race-track, where it leaves rivals floundering.
Yes, if MS were a racing-car it would be a Ferrari.
And, what would we be, us poor little MSers with our spastic legs, chronic fatigue and wasted muscles? Where would we be, with our out-dated theories on cause having something to do with the immune system attacking the rest of our bodies (rubbish!), and the pharmaceutical drugs that do nothing but harm (side-effects) even if they are, duplicitously, offered as help?
Oh, we’d be that tiny dot, still on the starting-line as the Ferrari sped towards the Finish. We’d be the poor suckers left behind - alone, in our cranky, old wheelchair!
And that’s it with the car analogy. I hate car analogies (and too many use them!), except to say…
It is, of course, our disease racing towards the chequered flag, which, in itself, marks the end of our existence. We must enter the race - at least try to keep up - if we are not to lose control completely. And that’s why I’m back here, at this blog. I can see (and feel, and sense) that the MS has me now. I know its progression (primary progrssive multiple sclerosis – PPMS) has been cruel.
But the herbs – praise God! – do help. At least to keep symptoms under control (for instance, in keeping depression at bay; lessening fatigue and pain), and often as cures (e.g.: respiratory problems [see next post]; spasm; anxiety; exhaustion; insomnia).
So this blog must go on, as long as I’m in the race! And, if I think about MS as a Ferrari (which I won’t – it’s an insult to the car!), maybe I can afford it a grudging respect.
As it is, about the only thing they have in common, as far as I can see, is that they’re both man-made!
Yes, I do believe that MS is the result somehow (pharmaceuticals; refined foods; chemicals and additives in food; chemical pollutants [i.e. petrol; perfumes]?) of modern-day society. The post-industrialisation age.
But that’s another story for another time (though I did touch on it in the post ‘Environmental Illness’ in the Comment Column blog).
See you soon.
Note: ‘respiratory’ post to follow…
If MS was a racing-car, it would surely be a Ferrari: to my mind (and most others!), the most beautiful of cars and one of the finest pieces of engineering known to man. The fact that I’m anti-cars, because of their use of oil, and pollutant affect on the environment, is by-the-by here (!). I’m not naïve and can appreciate the skill involved in crafting such an exceptional machine (I hate noise – but that wonderful growl of the Ferrari engine…!). It wins… It wins in aesthetics, mechanics, and performance on the race-track, where it leaves rivals floundering.
Yes, if MS were a racing-car it would be a Ferrari.
And, what would we be, us poor little MSers with our spastic legs, chronic fatigue and wasted muscles? Where would we be, with our out-dated theories on cause having something to do with the immune system attacking the rest of our bodies (rubbish!), and the pharmaceutical drugs that do nothing but harm (side-effects) even if they are, duplicitously, offered as help?
Oh, we’d be that tiny dot, still on the starting-line as the Ferrari sped towards the Finish. We’d be the poor suckers left behind - alone, in our cranky, old wheelchair!
And that’s it with the car analogy. I hate car analogies (and too many use them!), except to say…
It is, of course, our disease racing towards the chequered flag, which, in itself, marks the end of our existence. We must enter the race - at least try to keep up - if we are not to lose control completely. And that’s why I’m back here, at this blog. I can see (and feel, and sense) that the MS has me now. I know its progression (primary progrssive multiple sclerosis – PPMS) has been cruel.
But the herbs – praise God! – do help. At least to keep symptoms under control (for instance, in keeping depression at bay; lessening fatigue and pain), and often as cures (e.g.: respiratory problems [see next post]; spasm; anxiety; exhaustion; insomnia).
So this blog must go on, as long as I’m in the race! And, if I think about MS as a Ferrari (which I won’t – it’s an insult to the car!), maybe I can afford it a grudging respect.
As it is, about the only thing they have in common, as far as I can see, is that they’re both man-made!
Yes, I do believe that MS is the result somehow (pharmaceuticals; refined foods; chemicals and additives in food; chemical pollutants [i.e. petrol; perfumes]?) of modern-day society. The post-industrialisation age.
But that’s another story for another time (though I did touch on it in the post ‘Environmental Illness’ in the Comment Column blog).
See you soon.
Note: ‘respiratory’ post to follow…
Thursday, 6 December 2007
Herbal cures for pressure sores
Isn’t it incredible, and evil, how much pain one little scabby sore can cause?
Take that pea-size patch at the bottom of your spine. Just under the coccyx Ouuch! If you’re immobile – and who with progressive MS isn’t? - there it will be. Fixed. for life. A permanent fixture. Part of your new anatomy and more alive than the rest. Ironic. Not funny.
You sit back in your chair – at its best and most “pressure-relieving” cushioned – and bang: you’re right on it. You wriggle, you’re not comfortable, the scabby edge lifts. If it bleeds you’re in real trouble. The pain, pinching and raw is excruciating, you scream (if someone’s with you and you’re trying to be polite/tough (when aren’t you the latter?) silently/imperceptibly – you might just pull a “pained” face). You try to lift yourself forward and oww, there’s the new ones forming on your buttocks.
You can’t sit. You can’t stand (your legs won’t hold you up and that’s a whole differnt ball-game of pain) and you can’t lie down. The sores are always with you (that reminds me of something!).
They’re on your bottom, your elbows, your heels. There’s no escape.
Perhaps I am being a bit flippant here. Sorry, it’s my way. I mean, if it weren’t so tragic it would be funny wouldn’t it, to someone (I usually think the Devil)? Anyway I laugh in the face of adversity, and, of course, look for ways to deal with things.
I decided to share with you what I use because it seems to work and I know so many people (not just MSers of course), are suffering too much and having to have anti-biotics and dressings. Which calls for lots of nursing and is a nuisance for everyone (including financially, the NHS (or equivalent in your country)).
Also, a friend on an MS Forum went down with them (bed-ridden for the forseeable future), and that breaks my heart.
I’m not the only one who uses marigold/calendula ointment (I know that because Tom, of course, works at a Herbalist’s*) and it has a great reputation for healing pressure-sores. But, as we were saying, there’s many – iincluding all conventional practitioners – who don’t.
In this family we have been astonished, and thrilled, by the superlative powers of the marigold flower to heal, for many years. Every little scratch and tear, cut and blister, spot and indescribable blemish. Eczema, psoriasis, you name it, it’ll be fading within minutes of application and in the case of a cut, closing before your very eyes. The miraculous marigold flower.
Just smear some over the beginnings of a pressure-sore. Re-apply maybe every few hours (with me it’s usually daily) and voila, ecco, gone before you know it.
It is best to get it early though because if you do leave them too long (or maybe someone with dementia for instance isn’t able to let anyone know in time; or an MSer might not feel it getting bad) they may become badly infected and possibly even threaten the bloodstream and so, life (septicaemia). If they get infected you do need an anti-biotic.
And the best one to use is also herbal (God’s counter to all this [“... and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” – Gen 9:3]): golden seal (either powder-into-paste or a fluid-extract – again smeared over wound), you will kill the bacteria without doing damage to the rest of your body. Golden seal will eat a pus-ridden thing away.
Both marigold (aka calendula) and golden seal are antiseptic and anti-fungal.
So, my prescription:
- marigold/calendula ointment
- golden seal (as powder formed with water into paste, or fluid-extract)
Available at any good herbalist’s (see below for mail order).
NB
Ensure you are using pressure-relieving cushions on all seats and, if possible, the same with your mattress. (A profiling bed is worth it’s weight in gold. If necessary, beg, borrow or... (no, just those two!), one I did and am so grateful for it.)
Also: keep up the anti-Candida/yeast diet; supplements, herbs and essential oils (see October posts). A lot to do with these things is fungal.
May the sores not be with you!
*G Baldwin & Co., Medical Herbalist
Tel: 0207 703 5550
www.baldwins.co.uk
Take that pea-size patch at the bottom of your spine. Just under the coccyx Ouuch! If you’re immobile – and who with progressive MS isn’t? - there it will be. Fixed. for life. A permanent fixture. Part of your new anatomy and more alive than the rest. Ironic. Not funny.
You sit back in your chair – at its best and most “pressure-relieving” cushioned – and bang: you’re right on it. You wriggle, you’re not comfortable, the scabby edge lifts. If it bleeds you’re in real trouble. The pain, pinching and raw is excruciating, you scream (if someone’s with you and you’re trying to be polite/tough (when aren’t you the latter?) silently/imperceptibly – you might just pull a “pained” face). You try to lift yourself forward and oww, there’s the new ones forming on your buttocks.
You can’t sit. You can’t stand (your legs won’t hold you up and that’s a whole differnt ball-game of pain) and you can’t lie down. The sores are always with you (that reminds me of something!).
They’re on your bottom, your elbows, your heels. There’s no escape.
Perhaps I am being a bit flippant here. Sorry, it’s my way. I mean, if it weren’t so tragic it would be funny wouldn’t it, to someone (I usually think the Devil)? Anyway I laugh in the face of adversity, and, of course, look for ways to deal with things.
I decided to share with you what I use because it seems to work and I know so many people (not just MSers of course), are suffering too much and having to have anti-biotics and dressings. Which calls for lots of nursing and is a nuisance for everyone (including financially, the NHS (or equivalent in your country)).
Also, a friend on an MS Forum went down with them (bed-ridden for the forseeable future), and that breaks my heart.
I’m not the only one who uses marigold/calendula ointment (I know that because Tom, of course, works at a Herbalist’s*) and it has a great reputation for healing pressure-sores. But, as we were saying, there’s many – iincluding all conventional practitioners – who don’t.
In this family we have been astonished, and thrilled, by the superlative powers of the marigold flower to heal, for many years. Every little scratch and tear, cut and blister, spot and indescribable blemish. Eczema, psoriasis, you name it, it’ll be fading within minutes of application and in the case of a cut, closing before your very eyes. The miraculous marigold flower.
Just smear some over the beginnings of a pressure-sore. Re-apply maybe every few hours (with me it’s usually daily) and voila, ecco, gone before you know it.
It is best to get it early though because if you do leave them too long (or maybe someone with dementia for instance isn’t able to let anyone know in time; or an MSer might not feel it getting bad) they may become badly infected and possibly even threaten the bloodstream and so, life (septicaemia). If they get infected you do need an anti-biotic.
And the best one to use is also herbal (God’s counter to all this [“... and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” – Gen 9:3]): golden seal (either powder-into-paste or a fluid-extract – again smeared over wound), you will kill the bacteria without doing damage to the rest of your body. Golden seal will eat a pus-ridden thing away.
Both marigold (aka calendula) and golden seal are antiseptic and anti-fungal.
So, my prescription:
- marigold/calendula ointment
- golden seal (as powder formed with water into paste, or fluid-extract)
Available at any good herbalist’s (see below for mail order).
NB
Ensure you are using pressure-relieving cushions on all seats and, if possible, the same with your mattress. (A profiling bed is worth it’s weight in gold. If necessary, beg, borrow or... (no, just those two!), one I did and am so grateful for it.)
Also: keep up the anti-Candida/yeast diet; supplements, herbs and essential oils (see October posts). A lot to do with these things is fungal.
May the sores not be with you!
*G Baldwin & Co., Medical Herbalist
Tel: 0207 703 5550
www.baldwins.co.uk
Friday, 12 October 2007
Supplements, Herbs & Essential Oils
(which I use in my anti-Candida/MS "regime")
Supplements:
(available from all good Health Food Stores)
- pro-biotic - dairy-free if allergic to milk - beware of FOS (fructooligosaccharides) if fructose intolerant, I am;
- extra-virgin olive oil - lots of it;
- garlic - fresh if possible or else odour-free capsules/tablets - lots of it;
(N.B. All the above help to kill Candida.)
- evening primrose oil (I use Quest capsules);
- multi-vitamins – I use Nature’s Own “Food State”;
- biotin – extra to multi-vits;
- B-complex – extra as above;
- B12 – extra as above;
- zinc – extra as above;
- lysine - if prone to herpes, I am.
Herbs:
(I do not recommend that you use these herbs or in these quantities. I ony relay to you what I have used, successfully, for years (17 as I write!). I do recommend, however, the herbal book by David Hoffman** as well as, again, the book on Candida by Leon Chaitow*. Any good herbalist will stock all herbs mentioned and supply by mail-order. I give you details of Baldwins*** below.)
‘p’ = ‘powder’, ‘h’ = ‘natural herb’, ‘t.s.’ = ‘teaspoons’; all “dosages” given are per day;
- echinacea (p) - alterative (“blood-cleanser”) good for whole being)/antiseptic/decongestant/great against coughs and colds/good for skin - 3 one-third t.s.;
- sage (p) – antiseptic/anti-fever (sweating)/emmenagogue (balances female hormones (sage replaces oestrogen))/anti-depressant/clears headaches/heals sore throats – 3 one-third t.s.; gargle for throats;
- damiana (p) – nervine (nerve tonic)/anti-depressant/emmenagogue/aphrodisiac (esp. for men) – 2 one quarter t.s.;
- kola (p) – nerve stimulant/anti-depressant– 3 large pinches
- cayenne pepper (p) – the best natural stimulant for the whole body/antiseptic/frees MS urine – one third t.s.;
- willow bark (p) – anti-inflammatory/anti-spasmodic/ anodyne (pain-killer) – 3 capsules (NB all the above can go in 3 different powder mixes a day);
- eyebright (h) – eye tonic/can be used as eye-wash in conjunctivitis/blepharitis – 2 t.s.;
- golden rod (h) – strengthens respiratory system– one and half t.s.;
- lavender flowers (h) - nervine (nerve relaxant)/anti-depressant/clears headaches/aids sleep – a dozen in tissane (small tea) or mixed in tea with other herbs;
- chickweed (h) – anti-itching/cooling/diuretic/laxative - 4 t.s. made into tea and used – when cool! – as lotion for healing/controlling eczema/psoriasis; one t.s. in tea for drinking;
- nettles (h) – vit. C/multi-mineral/cooling/anti-hisytamine – 2 t.s. in tea;
- parsley (h) – vit. C/multi-mineral/anti-depressant/emmenagogue – 2 t.s. in tea and on food;
- burdock (h) – alterative/diuretic – one t.s. in tea;
- red-clover (h) – anti-cough and asthma/emmenagogue/mild sedative/strengthens nerves – one-quarter t.s.;
- skull-cap (p) – sedative/strong nerve tonic/anodyne (esp. spasmodic legs) – one quarter t.s. when needed;
- myrrh (p) - anti-fungal/antiseptic– tip of t.s. (see next);
- golden seal (p) – anti-biotic (broad-spectrum)/good mixed with eyebright for eye-wash or drops/good with myrrh for brushing teeth – small pinch as anti-biotic (when necessary); tip of t.s. for teeth.
Essential Oils (aromatherapy):
- lavender – anti-depressant/clears headache/nervine;
- geranium – anti-depressant;
- rose – /anti-depressant/emmenagogue/aphrodisiac;
- tea-tree – antiseptic (very strong) – used as gargle and room freshener.
* CANDIDA ALBICANS Could yeast be your problem? by Leon Chaitow N.D. D.O.. Published by Healing Arts Press, USA (1998). ISBN: 0-89281-795-X
** HOLISTIC HERBAL A Safe and Practical Guide to Making and Using Herbal Remedies by David Hoffman. Published by Harper Collins. ISBN: 0007 14 5411
*** G.Baldwin & Co. Medical Herbalist. Tel: 0207 703 5550. email: sales@baldwins.co.uk
Supplements:
(available from all good Health Food Stores)
- pro-biotic - dairy-free if allergic to milk - beware of FOS (fructooligosaccharides) if fructose intolerant, I am;
- extra-virgin olive oil - lots of it;
- garlic - fresh if possible or else odour-free capsules/tablets - lots of it;
(N.B. All the above help to kill Candida.)
- evening primrose oil (I use Quest capsules);
- multi-vitamins – I use Nature’s Own “Food State”;
- biotin – extra to multi-vits;
- B-complex – extra as above;
- B12 – extra as above;
- zinc – extra as above;
- lysine - if prone to herpes, I am.
Herbs:
(I do not recommend that you use these herbs or in these quantities. I ony relay to you what I have used, successfully, for years (17 as I write!). I do recommend, however, the herbal book by David Hoffman** as well as, again, the book on Candida by Leon Chaitow*. Any good herbalist will stock all herbs mentioned and supply by mail-order. I give you details of Baldwins*** below.)
‘p’ = ‘powder’, ‘h’ = ‘natural herb’, ‘t.s.’ = ‘teaspoons’; all “dosages” given are per day;
- echinacea (p) - alterative (“blood-cleanser”) good for whole being)/antiseptic/decongestant/great against coughs and colds/good for skin - 3 one-third t.s.;
- sage (p) – antiseptic/anti-fever (sweating)/emmenagogue (balances female hormones (sage replaces oestrogen))/anti-depressant/clears headaches/heals sore throats – 3 one-third t.s.; gargle for throats;
- damiana (p) – nervine (nerve tonic)/anti-depressant/emmenagogue/aphrodisiac (esp. for men) – 2 one quarter t.s.;
- kola (p) – nerve stimulant/anti-depressant– 3 large pinches
- cayenne pepper (p) – the best natural stimulant for the whole body/antiseptic/frees MS urine – one third t.s.;
- willow bark (p) – anti-inflammatory/anti-spasmodic/ anodyne (pain-killer) – 3 capsules (NB all the above can go in 3 different powder mixes a day);
- eyebright (h) – eye tonic/can be used as eye-wash in conjunctivitis/blepharitis – 2 t.s.;
- golden rod (h) – strengthens respiratory system– one and half t.s.;
- lavender flowers (h) - nervine (nerve relaxant)/anti-depressant/clears headaches/aids sleep – a dozen in tissane (small tea) or mixed in tea with other herbs;
- chickweed (h) – anti-itching/cooling/diuretic/laxative - 4 t.s. made into tea and used – when cool! – as lotion for healing/controlling eczema/psoriasis; one t.s. in tea for drinking;
- nettles (h) – vit. C/multi-mineral/cooling/anti-hisytamine – 2 t.s. in tea;
- parsley (h) – vit. C/multi-mineral/anti-depressant/emmenagogue – 2 t.s. in tea and on food;
- burdock (h) – alterative/diuretic – one t.s. in tea;
- red-clover (h) – anti-cough and asthma/emmenagogue/mild sedative/strengthens nerves – one-quarter t.s.;
- skull-cap (p) – sedative/strong nerve tonic/anodyne (esp. spasmodic legs) – one quarter t.s. when needed;
- myrrh (p) - anti-fungal/antiseptic– tip of t.s. (see next);
- golden seal (p) – anti-biotic (broad-spectrum)/good mixed with eyebright for eye-wash or drops/good with myrrh for brushing teeth – small pinch as anti-biotic (when necessary); tip of t.s. for teeth.
Essential Oils (aromatherapy):
- lavender – anti-depressant/clears headache/nervine;
- geranium – anti-depressant;
- rose – /anti-depressant/emmenagogue/aphrodisiac;
- tea-tree – antiseptic (very strong) – used as gargle and room freshener.
* CANDIDA ALBICANS Could yeast be your problem? by Leon Chaitow N.D. D.O.. Published by Healing Arts Press, USA (1998). ISBN: 0-89281-795-X
** HOLISTIC HERBAL A Safe and Practical Guide to Making and Using Herbal Remedies by David Hoffman. Published by Harper Collins. ISBN: 0007 14 5411
*** G.Baldwin & Co. Medical Herbalist. Tel: 0207 703 5550. email: sales@baldwins.co.uk
Anti-Candida Diet
(with my own additions)
For the sake of brevity, please forgive further lists: this time of foods, etc. we musn’t have – ‘NO’ – and those we can – ‘YES’. I refer you again to Leon Chaitow’s book*.
NO:
- yeast;
- sugar;
- dairy (except live yoghurt and cottage cheese if not allergic to milk*);
- alcohol;
- smoked foods;
- pickles (inc. vinegars and sauces);
- tomatoes;
- refined grains (i.e. white flour);
- meats which contain anti-biotics (i.e. beef, pork, battery chickens);
- fruit (due to sugar content though some can tolerate some*).
N.B. Don’t forget mushrooms are fungus and no anti-biotics (unless essential) or steroids.
YES:
- all vegetables and salad ingredients (except tomatoes/mushrooms);
- garlic, chillies (see ‘Herbs list) and all spices;
- extra-virgin olive oil;
- live yoghurt and cottage cheese (see above);
- wholegrain cereals (i.e. rice, pasta (gluten-free if coeliac));
- organic meats, game and poultry (i.e. free-range chickens);
- lamb;
- fish;
- yeast-free bread;
- (and me) pizza (with lots of garlic, olives and chillies to counter the things I shouldn’t have) - just because it cheers me up!
* CANDIDA ALBICANS Could yeast be your problem? by Leon Chaitow N.D. D.O.. Published by Healing Arts Press, USA (1998). ISBN: 0-89281-795-X
For the sake of brevity, please forgive further lists: this time of foods, etc. we musn’t have – ‘NO’ – and those we can – ‘YES’. I refer you again to Leon Chaitow’s book*.
NO:
- yeast;
- sugar;
- dairy (except live yoghurt and cottage cheese if not allergic to milk*);
- alcohol;
- smoked foods;
- pickles (inc. vinegars and sauces);
- tomatoes;
- refined grains (i.e. white flour);
- meats which contain anti-biotics (i.e. beef, pork, battery chickens);
- fruit (due to sugar content though some can tolerate some*).
N.B. Don’t forget mushrooms are fungus and no anti-biotics (unless essential) or steroids.
YES:
- all vegetables and salad ingredients (except tomatoes/mushrooms);
- garlic, chillies (see ‘Herbs list) and all spices;
- extra-virgin olive oil;
- live yoghurt and cottage cheese (see above);
- wholegrain cereals (i.e. rice, pasta (gluten-free if coeliac));
- organic meats, game and poultry (i.e. free-range chickens);
- lamb;
- fish;
- yeast-free bread;
- (and me) pizza (with lots of garlic, olives and chillies to counter the things I shouldn’t have) - just because it cheers me up!
* CANDIDA ALBICANS Could yeast be your problem? by Leon Chaitow N.D. D.O.. Published by Healing Arts Press, USA (1998). ISBN: 0-89281-795-X
Symptoms of Candida Albicans
(with help from Leon Chaitow* to compensate for memory-loss!):
- anxiety;
- depression;
- irritability;
- chronic fatigue;
- abdominal pain;
- constipation;
- diarrhoea;
- bloating/wind;
- allergies;
- acne;
- migraine;
- cystitis;
- thrush;
- pre-menstrual tension (PMT);
- menstrual problems;
- sensitivity to perfumes (Multi-Chemical Sensitivity – MCS);
- poor memory;
- inability to concentrate;
- feelings of unreality;
- numbness, tingling and weak muscles;
- blurred vision;
- nasal congestion,
- etc. etc.
* CANDIDA ALBICANS Could yeast be your problem? by Leon Chaitow N.D. D.O.. Published by Healing Arts Press, USA (1998). ISBN: 0-89281-795-X
- anxiety;
- depression;
- irritability;
- chronic fatigue;
- abdominal pain;
- constipation;
- diarrhoea;
- bloating/wind;
- allergies;
- acne;
- migraine;
- cystitis;
- thrush;
- pre-menstrual tension (PMT);
- menstrual problems;
- sensitivity to perfumes (Multi-Chemical Sensitivity – MCS);
- poor memory;
- inability to concentrate;
- feelings of unreality;
- numbness, tingling and weak muscles;
- blurred vision;
- nasal congestion,
- etc. etc.
* CANDIDA ALBICANS Could yeast be your problem? by Leon Chaitow N.D. D.O.. Published by Healing Arts Press, USA (1998). ISBN: 0-89281-795-X
Candida Albicans and MS - a life story
[A few MSers have asked me about this, and I meant to write it years ago. A bit late then, I hope the following helps.]
Ah, the enemy! The dreaded fungus that is Candida Albicans (commonly known as just ‘Candida’), that is the ruination of so many people – whether they know it or not. And, almost certainly, a contributing factor in – if not the actul cause of - multiple sclerosis (MS).
I probably need a disclaimer here. I am no medical expert and certainly not a microbiologist. I’m just someone talking from experience who’s done lots of research (many naturopaths agree) and who, most importantly I think, isn’t afraid to face the truth – even when it involves a revolting little parasite living within our own bodies that decides to take charge!
I owe much of the ground-work for what I know to Leon Chaitow who with his book, CANDIDA ALBICANS Could yeast be your problem?* probably saved my life. I cannot recommened this text highly enough for anyone who wants to know more, and maybe has their own suspect symptoms of a “yeast allergy”. Information I give from Mr.Chaitow I will bracket L.C.* and the book itself I will give details of at the end of this piece.
‘The end’? But where to begin?...
Well, I guess where the Candida does, when it changes from its yeast form in your gut (everyone has it) into its mycelial (reproducing through a network of threads called hyphae), fungal form, Candida Albicans. (L.C.*). When it bursts through the abdominal wall, enters the blood-stream and breaks through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to cause the brain allergies which create so much havoc. This is how Candida begins, but why? And what can we do to prevent it occurring in others?
Well, to answer the last question first: can we prevent stress or trauma? Infections, pain, disease? Can we increase sunlight (in a temperate climate), eradicate damp?
Probably not, we think, these things are part of life. But you see, for the first two, stress and trauma, we can at least bolster ourselves to be able to deal with them if and when they do come along.
We can raise our children to be strong, secure and confident individuals, who will work to ensure a calm existence for themslves and their families. We can hope for all families to love and support one another, unconditionally.
Without doubt, a foundation of faith – religion - can be the permanent safety-net and friend we all need – the Truth we can depend on in those difficult times. And prayer is the best anti-depressant there is!
We can make sure everyone grows up eating the healthiest food possible. (We will come to the anti-Candida diet later.)
Then the next three: infection, pain, disease? “Aren’t they the ones you go to the doctor with?” you ask. And I answer with an emphatic “NO!”
Because, in my opinion (I’m not alone), this is where so much has gone wrong. In the treatments the doctors have handed out (not always their fault – they learn about anatomy, the body and its possible ailments, presumably want to heal it, but NOT the remedies – they are taught to trust pharmaceutical companies to provide the medicines they need).
And it’s pharmaceutical drugs: anti-biotics and steroids especially, that the yeast (now Candida Albicans) sees as a feast (on top of sugar, etc. which we will come to) and uses to spread out its deadly mycelium (mass of hyphae).
We need not to get ill in the first place - or learn to use herbs (many “conventional” medicines are derived from plants) - to strengthen our immune systems.
And this is where the last two in my “menu” (food for yeast) come in: lack of sunlight and damp. We need full-spectrum light to ignite our pituitary glands and drive the adrenals to produce the correct balance of hormones (L.C. and others). Without it we can develop SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and become depressed, physically and mentally. Our immune systems compromised. We need our environment to be dry – damp produces mould, shooting reproductive spores into the atmosphere, the air we breathe. With insufficient light and damp we become ill. Vulnerable. And the yeast will thrive.
If you can’t – or don’t want to - leave the northern climes, I advise – and have - a light-box and de-humidifier. They at least help.
It just takes a combination of two or more of these factors and, wallop, you’re a gonner. Candida has you!
We’ve all seen fungus rotting food (sadly, Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) saw it on a culture dish and decided it (penicillin) would help us (well maybe, in small and only essential amounts - if no one knew or had alternative herbs handy - it might have done!)). Food, metal, rubber, damp areas, FLESH.
Exactly! We’ve all seen it.
And all you MSers, can you imagine that, that voracious mould, and the effect it would have on your myelin sheath/nerve fibres/brain cells? I rest my case!
That’s how it starts. And proliferates. And takes over.
In my own instance I give you – so that I don’t cry - a cold, emotionless, objective-as-possible list of good times I gave the beast (oh, was that meant to be a ‘y’?!): an atheistic, neglected childhood; bad diet (yeast, dairy, sugar-rich); un-schooled from 15 - 40; pregnant (with, too-long-untreated, thrush) at 15; no permanent home from 15 – 28; homeless on several occasions (yes, park benches!); baby adopted at 16; through a windscreen at 18 (anti-biotics); dermatitis (steroid ointment); sexual assault (x3); violence; two (civil) marriages; suicidal depression (more a reaction to circumstance I imagine, but perhaps Candida/MS/SAD!); fibroids; two caesareans; one hysterectomy; one haemorrhage (vaginal); prescribed sleeping-pill addiction from 27- 34; “cold-turkey” for a year followed by agoraphobia; swellings/blisters/bad,bad digestion – full-blown, blatant (needs-to-be-dealt-with) Candida.
But I didn’t know what it was for another few – nightmare – years of symptoms. Until, after visiting a healthfood shop one day Tom (son, 27) found in one of their magazines an identitical list of maladies to my own. He read it out: “If you answer yes to [most] of these questions”. And we had it. We had a name. We never looked back.
Tom was 11, I was 39. It was 1990. And neither of us has had a prescription since then.
Through our favourite health-food store - G.Baldwin & Co. - which is also a medical herbalists, we soon discovered Leon Chaitow’s book*. And that was when the regime (as I call it) was born and became a way of life – which I hope Tom will pass on through his children (I will describe it over the next few posts).
The anti-Candida diet, supplements and herbs have now fought many battles and won (including TB (can be verified by Guy’s Hospital, London) which came on for me in 1994 but which Tom, thank God, never got). And every day they help me – along with my faith (Tom and I converted to Catholicism in 1993) with my MS.
God knows when the sclerosis began (or even the Candida really – I believe now they “ran” together) but I suspect (and I think the neurologist and GP did too when I was diagnosed in 2001) that I have had MS since at least my 20s. Maybe before if my bowels are anything to go by (and, therefore, also the Candida)!
It doesn't matter. It’s not important.
What is, is making the most of each tiny moment left and doing what we can for others.
We both got degrees in English (Tom at 22, me at 47!). And I, at last, had some confidence – I was quite chuffed that I got mine at the “laid-back” Goldsmiths’ College, University of London – 2:1!
And I did what I always wanted to do: worked as a reporter on a local ‘paper for a couple of years, before fatigue stopped me in 1999. That’s when the MS testing took off.
Tom, who had started at Baldwins with work experience aged 16, is now office manager there. How blessed is that – herbs whenever we need them?!
It’s not consistently easier – living on a council estate is better than homeless but really... I’ve had to do three years on a “Regeneration” (de-generation!) building-site before I came here for wheelchair access (2003). And we’re told they want to “improve” this housing soon. Over my dead body! Or insane mind! We’ve had Pharaoh ants, wasps and spiders - in infestation quantity. I had a second haemorrhage (this time lung) with TB – very frightening – probably caused by condensation pouring down the windows and walls. Terrible eczema (but now have chickweed – praise God! See herb post to come). Went bankrupt in 2000 as nerves examined by electrical prodding (‘Evoked Potentials’) MRI and lumbar puncture, and same year hammers and drills began. And, of course, the MS itself isn’t easy to live with.
But it has improved. And, ironically - or with God’s grace - I am happier now than I ever have been.
So, in answer to some: no I’m not physically “healed”. The MS is progressing – as it is meant to, the Candida still can be a nuisance. But I feel I have control now – they are under control. I know what to do and how to cope when the going gets tough.
And, best of all, I am cheerful. And that is a miracle.
* CANDIDA ALBICANS Could yeast be your problem? by Leon Chaitow N.D., D.O. Published by Healing Arts Press, USA 1998 ISBN: 0-89281-795X
Ah, the enemy! The dreaded fungus that is Candida Albicans (commonly known as just ‘Candida’), that is the ruination of so many people – whether they know it or not. And, almost certainly, a contributing factor in – if not the actul cause of - multiple sclerosis (MS).
I probably need a disclaimer here. I am no medical expert and certainly not a microbiologist. I’m just someone talking from experience who’s done lots of research (many naturopaths agree) and who, most importantly I think, isn’t afraid to face the truth – even when it involves a revolting little parasite living within our own bodies that decides to take charge!
I owe much of the ground-work for what I know to Leon Chaitow who with his book, CANDIDA ALBICANS Could yeast be your problem?* probably saved my life. I cannot recommened this text highly enough for anyone who wants to know more, and maybe has their own suspect symptoms of a “yeast allergy”. Information I give from Mr.Chaitow I will bracket L.C.* and the book itself I will give details of at the end of this piece.
‘The end’? But where to begin?...
Well, I guess where the Candida does, when it changes from its yeast form in your gut (everyone has it) into its mycelial (reproducing through a network of threads called hyphae), fungal form, Candida Albicans. (L.C.*). When it bursts through the abdominal wall, enters the blood-stream and breaks through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to cause the brain allergies which create so much havoc. This is how Candida begins, but why? And what can we do to prevent it occurring in others?
Well, to answer the last question first: can we prevent stress or trauma? Infections, pain, disease? Can we increase sunlight (in a temperate climate), eradicate damp?
Probably not, we think, these things are part of life. But you see, for the first two, stress and trauma, we can at least bolster ourselves to be able to deal with them if and when they do come along.
We can raise our children to be strong, secure and confident individuals, who will work to ensure a calm existence for themslves and their families. We can hope for all families to love and support one another, unconditionally.
Without doubt, a foundation of faith – religion - can be the permanent safety-net and friend we all need – the Truth we can depend on in those difficult times. And prayer is the best anti-depressant there is!
We can make sure everyone grows up eating the healthiest food possible. (We will come to the anti-Candida diet later.)
Then the next three: infection, pain, disease? “Aren’t they the ones you go to the doctor with?” you ask. And I answer with an emphatic “NO!”
Because, in my opinion (I’m not alone), this is where so much has gone wrong. In the treatments the doctors have handed out (not always their fault – they learn about anatomy, the body and its possible ailments, presumably want to heal it, but NOT the remedies – they are taught to trust pharmaceutical companies to provide the medicines they need).
And it’s pharmaceutical drugs: anti-biotics and steroids especially, that the yeast (now Candida Albicans) sees as a feast (on top of sugar, etc. which we will come to) and uses to spread out its deadly mycelium (mass of hyphae).
We need not to get ill in the first place - or learn to use herbs (many “conventional” medicines are derived from plants) - to strengthen our immune systems.
And this is where the last two in my “menu” (food for yeast) come in: lack of sunlight and damp. We need full-spectrum light to ignite our pituitary glands and drive the adrenals to produce the correct balance of hormones (L.C. and others). Without it we can develop SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and become depressed, physically and mentally. Our immune systems compromised. We need our environment to be dry – damp produces mould, shooting reproductive spores into the atmosphere, the air we breathe. With insufficient light and damp we become ill. Vulnerable. And the yeast will thrive.
If you can’t – or don’t want to - leave the northern climes, I advise – and have - a light-box and de-humidifier. They at least help.
It just takes a combination of two or more of these factors and, wallop, you’re a gonner. Candida has you!
We’ve all seen fungus rotting food (sadly, Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) saw it on a culture dish and decided it (penicillin) would help us (well maybe, in small and only essential amounts - if no one knew or had alternative herbs handy - it might have done!)). Food, metal, rubber, damp areas, FLESH.
Exactly! We’ve all seen it.
And all you MSers, can you imagine that, that voracious mould, and the effect it would have on your myelin sheath/nerve fibres/brain cells? I rest my case!
That’s how it starts. And proliferates. And takes over.
In my own instance I give you – so that I don’t cry - a cold, emotionless, objective-as-possible list of good times I gave the beast (oh, was that meant to be a ‘y’?!): an atheistic, neglected childhood; bad diet (yeast, dairy, sugar-rich); un-schooled from 15 - 40; pregnant (with, too-long-untreated, thrush) at 15; no permanent home from 15 – 28; homeless on several occasions (yes, park benches!); baby adopted at 16; through a windscreen at 18 (anti-biotics); dermatitis (steroid ointment); sexual assault (x3); violence; two (civil) marriages; suicidal depression (more a reaction to circumstance I imagine, but perhaps Candida/MS/SAD!); fibroids; two caesareans; one hysterectomy; one haemorrhage (vaginal); prescribed sleeping-pill addiction from 27- 34; “cold-turkey” for a year followed by agoraphobia; swellings/blisters/bad,bad digestion – full-blown, blatant (needs-to-be-dealt-with) Candida.
But I didn’t know what it was for another few – nightmare – years of symptoms. Until, after visiting a healthfood shop one day Tom (son, 27) found in one of their magazines an identitical list of maladies to my own. He read it out: “If you answer yes to [most] of these questions”. And we had it. We had a name. We never looked back.
Tom was 11, I was 39. It was 1990. And neither of us has had a prescription since then.
Through our favourite health-food store - G.Baldwin & Co. - which is also a medical herbalists, we soon discovered Leon Chaitow’s book*. And that was when the regime (as I call it) was born and became a way of life – which I hope Tom will pass on through his children (I will describe it over the next few posts).
The anti-Candida diet, supplements and herbs have now fought many battles and won (including TB (can be verified by Guy’s Hospital, London) which came on for me in 1994 but which Tom, thank God, never got). And every day they help me – along with my faith (Tom and I converted to Catholicism in 1993) with my MS.
God knows when the sclerosis began (or even the Candida really – I believe now they “ran” together) but I suspect (and I think the neurologist and GP did too when I was diagnosed in 2001) that I have had MS since at least my 20s. Maybe before if my bowels are anything to go by (and, therefore, also the Candida)!
It doesn't matter. It’s not important.
What is, is making the most of each tiny moment left and doing what we can for others.
We both got degrees in English (Tom at 22, me at 47!). And I, at last, had some confidence – I was quite chuffed that I got mine at the “laid-back” Goldsmiths’ College, University of London – 2:1!
And I did what I always wanted to do: worked as a reporter on a local ‘paper for a couple of years, before fatigue stopped me in 1999. That’s when the MS testing took off.
Tom, who had started at Baldwins with work experience aged 16, is now office manager there. How blessed is that – herbs whenever we need them?!
It’s not consistently easier – living on a council estate is better than homeless but really... I’ve had to do three years on a “Regeneration” (de-generation!) building-site before I came here for wheelchair access (2003). And we’re told they want to “improve” this housing soon. Over my dead body! Or insane mind! We’ve had Pharaoh ants, wasps and spiders - in infestation quantity. I had a second haemorrhage (this time lung) with TB – very frightening – probably caused by condensation pouring down the windows and walls. Terrible eczema (but now have chickweed – praise God! See herb post to come). Went bankrupt in 2000 as nerves examined by electrical prodding (‘Evoked Potentials’) MRI and lumbar puncture, and same year hammers and drills began. And, of course, the MS itself isn’t easy to live with.
But it has improved. And, ironically - or with God’s grace - I am happier now than I ever have been.
So, in answer to some: no I’m not physically “healed”. The MS is progressing – as it is meant to, the Candida still can be a nuisance. But I feel I have control now – they are under control. I know what to do and how to cope when the going gets tough.
And, best of all, I am cheerful. And that is a miracle.
* CANDIDA ALBICANS Could yeast be your problem? by Leon Chaitow N.D., D.O. Published by Healing Arts Press, USA 1998 ISBN: 0-89281-795X
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