How Our Food is Making Us Sick - Robyn O'Brien

Have illnesses become the new must have?

I was at a friend's party a year or so ago, and another guest appeared to be showing off about her child's ADHD (right in front of him). Almost as if it were more status-y to share that tidbit of information instead of the once tried and true, my-son's-on-the-Honor-Roll. As a bonus the child added, "Yeah, and Mom sometimes takes my meds." And everyone chuckled as if it were a cute, normal exchange. Evidently, she self-diagnosed herself after watching a commercial and felt she must have ADHD too.

These days, between television commercials for cars we gotta drive, and shitty fast food we gotta eat, we find ads for pharmaceutical drugs. And with these ads we see healthy actors smiling through a long, frightening list of "possible" side-effects ("We don't know if we can trust the silly patients used in our clinical trials"). As if they're subliminally saying, "Sure this drug could cause new symptoms, worsen your existing symptoms and/or kill you...but pay more attention to how good I look and feel while I'm on it," (even though I'm just a fucking actor you morons, oops customers, I mean audience).

What is happening to us?

4 Creepy Ways Big Pharma Peddles its Drugs:

Big Pharma uses ads that sow hypochondria, raise health fears and sell diseases to adults and their children. 

Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy for Chronic Pain

My visit with the Vision Specialists of Michigan

I decided to keep a journal on hand, to keep a record of my trip to Bloomfield Hills, and the Vision Specialists of Michigan (VSoM). The following excerpts are from that journal.


10/21/11
My mind’s been racing with the possibility of finding relief of chronic daily headaches, neck pain, dizziness, eye strain, face pain, etc. Seems like asking a lot of one form of treatment.

A recommendation by someone online led me to the VSoM. After finding their website, and watching a couple videos, I filled out and submitted a questionnaire. It stated that I would be contacted with the results, so I expected an email. The next morning I received a telephone call from Dr Debby. She said they suggest people visit their facility if they score above 15. I scored a 59! I asked if she knew of anyone specializing in Vertical Heterophoria, but unfortunately there was no one she could recommend with confidence.

Like most individuals dealing with years of chronic pain, I despise the word “cure” when it’s used in reference to illnesses or diseases. But if this treatment rids me of, or at least significantly reduces the occurrence and strength of, my chronic head pain, dizziness, imbalance, and eye strain, then it will be the closest thing to a cure I’ve ever experienced.


10/22/11
The appointment has been set for November 9, 2011. I purchased my airline tickets, and booked a three night stay at the Marriott close to the VSoM.


10/23/11
Woke up with an ice pick in my right eye.

If all goes well, my eye exam will be covered as a medical necessity since it is due to illness or injury – one that spans decades. All these years of needing to rest in a dark room…it all makes sense now. My eyes will feel such relief and release soon. I hope I don’t start crying, but I more than likely will. Tears of joy, as well as from acknowledging all the many years I’ve wasted, seeing shitty doctors too quick to write a prescription, suggest therapy, or blame me for my illnesses.

Fuck! I’m like a kid waiting to open a present 12am Christmas morning. I had to laugh at myself earlier because I considered starting to walk toward Michigan, so I’d feel closer. There will no longer be enough hours in the day, when I’m able to use my eyes correctly, especially if the pain and dizziness dissipates. When you’re in pain, the hours don’t always pass quickly enough. Someone who has never experienced this could never understand.


11/05/11
Can’t believe I’m leaving in just a few days!


11/09/11
The doc visit is an hour away! Enjoying a little breakfast before the taxi arrives. I woke up every couple of hours last night, and once I was wide awake at 3am I decided I might as well stay up. I watched television and tinkered with the hotel room coffee maker, so I could enjoy some calming tea.

Had my initial visit, and Dr Debby is incredible! After a battery of tests, she diagnosed me with VH and thinks we have the right prescription to start me on the road to recovery. Wish the hubby could have been there to record the experience because I can’t recall what each test was called, and what the results of each test would tell the doctor.

After trying a few prisms and lenses, I felt more confident getting out of my chair and walking around – I even felt taller! Anxiety levels dropped as did some eye strain, dizziness, and neck tension.

My glasses have arrived and are being properly fitted to my face now.

I saw the full moon without squinting or crossing my eyes (for clarity) for the first time in my 37 years. I can also write from a distance for the first time, thanks to progression lenses. It feels very awkward, but with practice I know that will change.




11/10/11
I have a follow-up with Dr Debby tomorrow morning. Reading and writing are unfortunately killing me at the moment, so I’m going for a walk. Hopefully the beautiful evergreens and autumn leaves will temporarily help me forget my migraine. Plus it’s good practice with my new glasses.

Dr Debby invited me to an office get-together; hope this migraine lets up so I can enjoy myself and meet more of her patients. I already met 27 year old Monte from Florida and a few others who also had to travel far distances by car or plane to get here.

My eyes are relieved and exhausted at the same time. During my follow-up, we tried a few different lenses and prisms, but soon after reading a magazine I felt very dizzy and nauseous. Dr Debby said my left eye is most happy with the prescription at the moment, and that’s okay.


11/12/11
During my first visit with Dr Debby, I joked about skipping my motion sickness medication for the flight home. Well, I did just that, and I’m happy to report I experienced zero motion sickness or dizziness!


11/15/11
Once my medical records arrive, I can share my official diagnosis. Everything has been a whirlwind of questions, exams, emotions, hormonal migraines, bad food, horrible sleep, etc., so I'm allowing myself this time to rest and detox.

I am still dealing with light sensitivity headaches, as well as those triggered by poor diet, so I'm working hard to get my diet back on track. I do feel incredible being able to use my eyes properly for the first time in decades. The world is much clearer and I see painless days ahead once we continue to tweak my prescription, and figure out the best way to reduce glare and photophobia symptoms.


12/18/11
Just a quick update with my official diagnoses:
Vertical Heterophoria, right eye nearsightedness, left eye farsightedness, astigmatism in both eyes, and presbyopia in both eyes.

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

I'll post an update soon. For now, I'll share some photos I took during my walk around the hotel, and a quick video of the snow falling (wish it lasted longer). Enjoy :)

Are we there yet?

I can't seem to contain my excitement. I just have such a strong sense that this is the issue that's been missed by so many. Where being diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and using a CPAP nightly greatly improved my energy levels, where following an Ayurvedic diet eliminated food-triggered migraines, sluggishness and PMS, where the discovery of an inner ear disorder helped explain so many of my sporadic imbalance issues, and where weekly physical therapy sessions helped lessen my neck, left shoulder and arm pain, nothing ever put a serious, consistent dent in the daily pain around my eyes, eyebrows and forehead.

Will I leave Michigan with prismatic lenses that for once allow the muscles of my eyes to work as intended - to no longer overcompensate for a misalignment? Every fiber of my being screams yes. Finding the patience to wait for that first appointment is another story.

Traveling far from home for possible pain relief

I discovered my San Diego Wellness Team literally by accident, so it was no surprise to find myself in a similar situation last week when a chance conversation between my husband and a stranger online led me to the Vision Specialists of Michigan. Maybe I'll go into details at another time, but for now all that matters is my flight and hotel room are booked, and in two and a half weeks I'll be in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan!

When I was in elementary school, I complained about difficulty reading the chalk board, and pain behind my eyes. My mother took me to an eye doctor, and after running some tests, putting drops in my eyes that partially blinded me the rest of the day, he concluded I didn't need glasses, but suggested she ask teachers to seat me closer to the board. After finding out about my mother's migraines he figured I was just showing early signs.

Fast forward 30 years, and I'm about to find out if it truly was my eyes all along!

I've already started a journal, so I can keep a record of events, or any myriad of emotions I may feel after possibly experiencing my first pain-free'ish moments. (My expectations may seem unrealistic, but I can still dream. Chronic pain hasn't taken that away from me, and never will.)

Butterflies...

Curious about medication side effects?

Adverse Events

"AdverseEvents, Inc. (AEI) is the first service provider to deliver accurate, real-time information on adverse drug events reported to the FDA. AEI utilizes a unique data sourcing method called RxFilter™, a proprietary 17-step data refinement process that standardizes and normalizes the data from the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) into a user-friendly, fully searchable, database of over 4,000 approved medications. Over 500,000 medication adverse events are reported yearly to the FDA; estimated to be only 10% of all actual adverse events. As a leading resource for the pharmaceutical industry, AEI supports companies with competitive intelligence and data to inform drug marketing decisions and business development strategies. With AEI, the healthcare industry is able to quantify the benefit-risk assessments of FDA approved drugs to fully understand the scope of safety issues, based on accurate rates of side effects from such medications."


This website allows doctors and patients to not only search a drug's known side effects, but you can also see recent drug news, find out which drugs have the most side effects, and as a registered user you too can share your the side effects you experience with your meds.

In my experience, pharmaceutical inserts and websites are not the accurate when it comes to listing side effects, so I highly recommend utilizing this website. And please share this on your blogs, discussion forums, facebook, twitter, google+, as well as your doctors.

Vertical Heterophoria

Could eye misalignment be the cause of so many of my issues? I just finished an online questionnaire to find out, and I'm hoping someone will contact me soon. If they're doing clinical trials, I want in!

The Vision Specialists of Michigan state the following on their website:

Do You Suffer From Dizziness, Headaches and/or Anxiety? Have you seen numerous Doctors, had multiple tests, tried many different medications, without much relief? This may be the solution you have been seeking

The doctors at Vision Specialists of Michigan have made pioneering discoveries into the diagnosis and treatment of Vertical Heterophoria, an uncommonly recognized and poorly understood eye misalignment condition. Those who suffer from Vertical Heterophoria tend to have a small amount of vertical eye misalignment, which is corrected by using the eye muscles to properly reposition the eyes. However, using the eye muscles in this manner overworks them and they become strained and fatigued, causing the many symptoms of Vertical Heterophoria:

• Dizziness
• Lightheadedness
• Nausea
• Unsteadiness / Drifting While Walking
• Poor Coordination / Clumsy
• Poor Depth Perception
• Motion Sickness
• Headaches / Face Pain
• Eye Pain / Pain with Eye Movement
• Neck Ache / Upper Back and Shoulder Pain
• Head Tilt
• Anxiety
• Feeling Overwhelmed or Anxious in Crowds or Large Spaces
• Light Sensitivity / Glare
• Double Vision / Shadowed / Overlapping / Blurred Vision
• Difficulty with Reading & Reading Comprehension
• Skipping lines / Losing your place while reading
• Fatigue with Reading
• Closing / Covering an eye to make it easier to see
  
  

The severity and number of symptoms vary from person to person - some people are much more affected than others.

Most patients experience a marked reduction in their symptoms with precise prismatic correction

The doctors at Vision Specialists of Michigan have developed a very detailed and specialized Neurovisual Evaluation, which allows for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of Vertical Heterophoria. Using realigning prismatic spectacle lenses, the strain and fatigue within the visual system is reduced or eliminated. Patients notice significant improvement in their symptoms during their first office visit. Improvement continues over the course of several visits as the prismatic prescription is fine-tuned and customized for the individual.

One thing I haven't attempted to minimize migraines...juice fasting

These two movies have motivated both me and my husband to increase our vegetable intake, and reboot our bodies.

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead


Forks Over Knives


Today is Day One out of 10 of our juice fast. It won't be easy, but it's one form of treatment I've yet to try to minimize my migraines. Juicing for 10 days helped a migraineur in FS&ND, and I'm hoping I'll see positive results as well.

Following an Ayurvedic diet (not as strict as I should) has greatly diminished migraines caused by food triggers, but I still suffer from daily headches and hormonal migraines (as well as those triggered by climate changes, chemicals, and hormone fluctuations).

I'll be posting updates, so you can track my progress. For the record, we'll be consuming organic fruits and vegetables. Just say no to genetically modified foods and pesticides!


Day 1
Weight: 171.5 lbs
Waist: 37.5 inches
Migraine: 2 out of 5
Headache: 3 out of 5

Feeling sluggish, and tummy growling here and there. Watching television can be torture, but most of the fast food commercials I see make me gag anyway because I know how bad their processed [you-can't-even-call-it] food is.


Day 2
Weight: 169.5 lbs
Waist: 37.5 inches
Migraine: 2 out of 5
Headache: 3 out of 5

I fell asleep last night with a hormonal migraine on the right side, and overnight it had spread to the left. Maybe I shouldn't have picked this time of the month to start, but no matter...I'm determined to see this through.


Day 3
Weight: 168.5 lbs
Waist: 37 inches
Migraine: 3 out of 5
Headache: 4 out of 5

The day started off great; my head pain was minimal and I had lots of energy. But then afternoon sluggishness and head pain came on. It could be from going to dog park (pesticides), but it could also be because I haven't stopped taking my daily detox herbs after this mornings juice (versus the solid meal I usually consume). I will stop taking the herbs starting tomorrow and see if that helps.


Day 4
Weight: 168.5 lbs
Waist: 37 inches
Migraine: 2 out of 5
Headache: 3 out of 5

Felt blah most of the day due to the climate (chilly, cloudy with drizzles). I had to get into bed to get the chill out, after taking Harley to the park. Hoping to feel more energized in the coming days. My skin looks great, and I don't have any other pains at the moment besides head pain. It's so strange to not feel as hungry as I thought I would. Don't get me wrong - I'm definitely hungry. But I'm not anxious about getting something in my system as I normally would be.


Day 5
Weight: 168 lbs
Waist: 36.75 inches
Migraine: 2 out of 5
Headache: 3 out of 5

I woke up feeling pretty good, but by afternoon I didn't have much energy. Gyan commented about skin issues, and this morning I noticed two strawberry patch rashes on my upper chest. I've experienced this with detoxes in the past, and know it's a good thing. Itchy and annoying, but good.

I'm worried because I'm starting to get grossed out by the green juices (gagged a couple times). I know it's not healthy to do fruit juices all day, so I'll have to find a way to tolerate greens. I seriously need to review my Ayurveda paperwork that states what fruits and vegetables to eliminate from my diet. Because I went about this Reboot thinking I was a "normal" person instead of a Pitta, I'd been consuming a lot of spinach, citrus, carrots, beets, etc. Healthy foods yes, but known triggers for me.


Day 6
Weight: 166.5 lbs
Waist: 36.5 inches
Migraine: 2 out of 5
Headache: 3 out of 5

Success! I was able to drink this afternoon's green juice without gagging. Substituting tolerable veges was the right call. I didn't feel sluggish, nor did my head pain increase afterward. Now let's see if we can get those head pain numbers to drop even more in the next few days!


Day 7
Weight: 166 lbs
Waist: 36.5 inches
Migraine: 2 out of 5
Headache: 2 out of 5

Much easier dealing with this fast knowing I'm not adding more issues (besides desiring every food I smell and fighting not to scratch my rash). Hubby was curled up on the bed, clutching his stomach, suggesting we order pizza. I knew he was kidding of course, but it was so tempting.


Day 8
Weight: 166.5 lbs
Waist: 36.25 inches
Migraine: 1 out of 5
Headache 2 out of 5

Found another strawberry patch on my mid-back. Organic coconut oil helps keep the area cool in this warm weather.


Day 9
Weight: 164.5 lbs
Waist: 36 inches
Migraine: 1 out of 5
Headache: 1 out of 5

Thinking of Troy Davis today instead of myself.


Day 10
Weight: 163.5 lbs
Waist: 36 inches
Migraine: 0.5 out of 5
Headache: 1 out of 5

Seeing incredible results all around, but I can't wait to eat solid food. If I had omitted trigger fruits/veges at the start, perhaps I would have experienced totally pain-free days. I'll have to wait until the next juice fast to find out.


Conclusion
This experience wasn't easy, but maintaining those low pain numbers as I re-introduce solid foods will be the real test. I need to be less lazy about omitting pitta-aggravating foods. It's just so easy to fall back into old habits, especially when pain and other personal issues can cause stress.

The more I stay away from processed and fast foods, the more I see just how addicted I was. I was high on caffeine, MSG and HFCS when I was eating fast food twice a day, almost every day. My excuses being I was in too much pain to prepare healthy meals, and I had no idea where to start.

When I wasn't eating, I was thinking about eating. And when I was sleeping, I was dreaming about eating. I experienced mood swings (very easily irritated), anxiety and depression, terrible PMS, GI issues, brainfog, stuttering, vertigo, difficulty sleeping, I was fidgety, extremely sensitive to touch, and of course I suffered from chronic, high pain levels. Since finding Ayurveda, I've erased so many of those issues.

Food is an easy way to comfort ourselves, but there are always consequences. We may not notice them right away, but before long pain levels are more and more difficult to manage. So you consume more things to temporarily comfort yourself, and then you're in such an unhealthy state (physically, emotionally, and mentally) that you simply give up doing something about it. You have to decide now is the time, and take action.

Homo Toxicus

Still nursing my hormonal migraine, but I was able to watch this important documentary this morning. For Spanish speaking community, the film can be viewed in its entirety here.

Our environment is becoming more and more toxic, and our unborn children are being affected at an alarming rate. Sperm counts are decreasing, and chronic diseases are on the rise. The American media will not cover these topics, so it's up to us to educate ourselves and spread the word.

Health Update and Goals

Nasty hormonal migraine today, which is still lingering. I was able to get through the day sans medication - preferring not to deal with tomorrow's inevitable rebound.

I wasn't able to be online, make or take telephone calls, leave the house, clean, read, or spend time with the hubby and pooch. Right eye tearing nonstop, sinuses plugged, and no way to diminish the ice pick drilling into the right hemisphere of my head.

Regarding food-triggered migraines, I may still be consuming hidden MSG, so I'll need to refocus my attention there. And the quests to substantially minimize sugar and white flour continue to be a challenge. But if I can knock caffeine, chocolate, and peanut butter, I know I can do this. Of the 30 pounds I lost, I gained four back. Because of the hubby's bad back, we stopped going to the gym, but I'm slowly making my way back to yoga.

Overall my diet changes have made a huge dent in my daily pain/inflammation levels, as well as weekly physical therapy. Because my insurance company continues to deny PT, I'm going back to my old pain specialist, who performed cervical nerve blocks and radiofrequency. I'm hoping he'll be able to see physical improvements in my neck due to PT, and perhaps convince Aetna why I need more visits. Or if it comes to it, we can discuss more blocks. I hate not being left much choice when it comes to my body.

Besides the above, my goals for the second half of 2011 are to go to the gym five days per week, officially break up with Ben & Jerry [I'm just not that into (my jeans thanks to) you], find a new Women's Health doc, and meditate. Since we've been home-bound the past six months, I have been spending more time in our yard, soaking in the glorious sun, while playing with nature (poking twigs through crunchy, dead leaves) like a child, and watching my dog at play. Harley teaches me so much about being in the moment.

What are your goals? Have you built a great team to help you achieve them?

Cancer is $erious Business

To watch the full video, please visit Dr. Burzynski's website.

Harley the Healer

Chased: A Poem Inspired By American Banksters and International Women's Day 2011

Chased out of peace
Chased out of time
Chased out of home
All for a crime

Strength of a female
Courage to push on
Need time to catch your breath?
No! Family needs Mom

Desire for justice
Someone's got to pay!
Wall Street gets a bail out
But Main Street should feel shame?

Where are our bonuses?
Is submission what they seek?
Enough of these questions
Let's take it to the street

Chased into a corner
They minimize our bite
We will get up, stand up
Stand up for our right