CuriousGardener
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About Me
I have been an RN for over 25 yrs and have known from the beginning that the "health care" system I worked in was driven by the pharmaceutical industry and was very broken. I have worked at gaining as much information as I could about REAL health. I am now trying to find the best way to pass that hard won knowledge along.... (more)
How I Stay Healthy
I stay conscious about what I am eating and the impact it has on my health. I have changed my little 1/4 acre into a backyard orchard with wandering gardens of mixed edibles and flowers. I do moderate exercise 4 days a week, lift weights a few days a week and do yoga, tai chi, or qigong daily. I meditate or do visualizations twice daily. I get up and do joint freeing movements several times during the day when I am spending time sitting.... (more)
My Experience with Health Challenges
I developed Graves disease a few years ago. I ended up in the ER twice at my worst and no one bothered to check my thyroid levels. I finally put the pieces together and went to an MD asking to have my levels checked. The MD about freaked when he saw the results. It didn't surprise me once I figured it out. I was put on medications and sent to an endocrinologist. He offered me the option of taking a radioactive pill to "fry" my thyroid or to have it surgically removed, explaining that with levels as high as mine there was no hope of my thyroid function returning to normal. I told him I wanted option 3. He was willing to support me in what I wanted to try. I took herbs to support my liver, as my LFT's skyrocketed with the medication to suppress thyroid function. With diligence this worked. I changed to a macrobiotic diet. I initially went to a Doctor of Oriental Medicine who did acupuncture, gave me more herbs, and gave me further instructions about my diet. I eventually had to give that up as I could not afford it. But I do feel it helped me get a handle on the worst of it. I researched the disease a lot and determined that all the soy products, that I was using for my health, had probably contributed graves disease, so gave all that up. I also started doing whatever I could to decrease my stress level. I stuck with this and slowly I weaned off the medication. I remained diligent about the life changes I made, tweaking my diet to further improve it as time went on, eventually switching to mostly raw foods. I quit taking the suppression medication almost 2 years ago and have had normal thyroid function since. Over the past 2 years I have learned even more about what causes autoimmune disease and have come to firmly believe that most disease is caused by inflammation, whether it be from food, lack of exercise, toxins we are exposed to, or stress. I am now on a campaign to help as many as I can to understand this and help them take back their lives.... (more)
