For MelMelMel

For MelMelMel

StormAtSea 22 Aug 2020 13:06

Hi Mel,

Just in relation to some of the issues we were discussing on other threads, I found an online doctor, a rising star in the plant-based world, called Brooke Goldner MD, whose work I think might be helpful for you, especially with EDS, pain and migraine.

Dr Goldner accidentally cured her 12-year-long lupus nephritis via an extremely healthy diet her fitness trainer fiancee had devised to help her get in shape for their wedding. Much to their disbelief, after a few months her lupus markers started to show up negative. They eventually worked out that his dietary protocol was highly anti-inflammatory and effective at reversing all sorts of autoimmune conditions and other illnesses. It is also very simple to implement, as it's created entirely from supermarket foods (might be a good idea to take B12, too, as it's a vegan protocol).

Dr Goldner's entire practice is online. She offers the information she teaches for free, though, via her websites, social media, and online classes she gives every few weeks.

If people need more intensive or personal coaching, that costs money.

As you are familiar with plant-based nutrition, you might be able to do it yourself, as I have started to do. I began making her smoothies last week and even though I'm drinking only half of what she recommends so far (I'm on a lot of medications, so am taking it slowly) my back pain is getting better and I even think my brain fog is starting to lift a bit. I am optimistic that it will help me kick the last of my Solpadeine dependency.

Her websites are goodbyelupus.com (social media tends to be Dr Brooke Goldner - Goodbye Lupus, or Vegan Medical Doc) and smoothieshred.com, where there are tons of very short videos answering loads of questions that pop up in her practice. Her husband also has a section on smoothieshred but I haven't got to it yet. He's a fitness trainer and sports scientist, if I have understood correctly, so his work complements hers beautifully.

I thought of you when I started doing this and hope that it might have some value for you, too.

I hope you are doing OK.

All the best,

Storm

Re: For MelMelMel

MelMelMel 07 Oct 2020 14:07

Hey Storm,

So sorry I didn't see this till now.

Thanks for much for the info. I will definitely take a look. Much of what you mentioned are things I've been trying to incorporate into my lifestyle. It definitely helps some. :)

Due to Covid messing things up, a bunch of my appointments were cancelled so I never got officially diagnosed with EDS by the only specialist taking patients, but we are still 99% sure I have it. Unfortunately, it's a genetic problem with collagen, so basically my joints are way too stretchy and my body does not make the right amounts of connective tissue.

Plant-based food definitely helps my muscles to take over what my ligaments apparently aren't doing, so I've been sticking with it as best I can. I'm still contending with a considerable amount of pain, and fizzies are still in my life, as much as I wish they were not. I REALLY wish they were a distant memory.

My migraines are now being classed as cervicogenic and occipital migraines, so they're thinking its from my neck not being stable enough due to being too double jointed, and extra pressure gets put on all the nerves and tendons there, resulting in the pain. Ugh! It explains why abortive meds, or migraine management didn't do all that much for them.

While it's good to have more answers, it's a little disheartening that I'm basically being left to manage the pain myself, while fretting that taking anything is doing more damage to my insides. What do I end up reaching for when the pain really ramps up?…yep, those horrid white fizzy tablets. I'm taking between 1-3 fizzies daily, but usually no more than that, and never over the recommended dose. I still can't help feeling like my liver is hanging by a thread.

I'm in a kind of a rut with this if I'm honest. I really wish I had more encouraging news.

How are you doing with everything? I hope you're faring better and have managed to boot the fizzies.

All the best,
Mel

Re: For MelMelMel

StormAtSea 10 Nov 2020 16:23

Hi Mel,

I'm so sorry, I didn't see your posts until today either!

I'm sorry to hear things have been difficult for you over the past few months. Covid has messed up medical appointments for so many people with non-Covid-related issues and it's hard to know how to deal with something like EDS, if that's what it is, when you have no access to a specialist.

It's good to have some answers (or potential answers) as to why your migraines are so resistant to abortive medications, etc. but very tough to be left to manage the pain by yourself.

I can't remember but did you every try acupuncture? I'm thinking it might help if the origin of your migraines is tension and pressure in your neck. I had it for migraine. It didn't work for my headaches/migraines because I think mine are more food-related in origin but it did help to relieve pain in my upper back and shoulder area. Might be something to explore, if you haven't already, though I suspect you might have done, as you have tried so many things.

Regarding your liver, have you had any tests done to check how it is? Having tests might put your mind at ease, perhaps? 1-3 tablets a day doesn't sound like the kind of dose that would damage it but you know your own body and how it should or shouldn't feel.

I also think Covid has made other health conditions harder to cope with, especially as we have been left to our own devices and the isolation of isolation/quarantine/lockdown can make it more difficult to deal with everything.

I'm still dependent on Solpadeine too. I hover between 5-4 a day. I'm trying to taper it down to nothing but when I do, my back aches or it kicks off a headache or migraine and I go back up again. I am pretty much on 4 a day most of the time. I plan to go to 3.5 tomorrow and then 3 for a few days before tapering further.

I find that keeping the dose relatively regular, time-wise, staves off migraine, for the most part. If I take it irregularly, it can provoke an attack. My brain is still foggy and my blood pressure is too high but it is being controlled by medication.

I'm transitioning over the course of the month to a plant-based diet, adding one plant-based meal a week. I tried to do it all at once and my stomach had a massive tantrum! So slow and steady wins the race, I hope. I'll let you know how I get on with it. I stopped drinking the smoothies for a bit, in part because I seemed to be getting some kind of arthritis pain in my hands (though why that should be I have no idea - the opposite should be the case … maybe something in the frozen mango?) and in part because I got into a rut and didn't have the energy to do anything.

It's an uphill battle, isn't it? I guess we've got to remember that codeine metabolises to morphine and although not everyone takes Solpadeine addiction/dependency seriously, it is a form of opiate addiction/dependency and is also very hard to kick, so we need to be as kind to ourselves as possible.

Chat soon.

Take care of yourself and wishing you all the very best,

Storm