An Alternative to Painkillers

Due to my allergy to painkillers and NSAIDs, it's horrible when pain decides to strike. Especially backaches or muscle sprains in the neck or shoulders.

There were two incidences about two years back where the pain was so bad that I was placed on physiotherapy by my orthopedic.

I have had weak back muscles for as long as I can remember. Other than teaching me muscle strengthening exercises, my physiotherapist also used the TENS machine on my back.

TENS stand for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation.

TENS machine is a small battery operated machine which has sticky pads attached to it via wires. Small electrical pulses are transmitted to the body.

*It is believed to be able to block pain signals sent to the brain on high pulse rate (90 to 130Hz). When it is set to low pulse rate (2 to 5Hz), it is believed to trigger the body to build endorphins to block pain signals.

*taken from HERE

Click on LINK to read more about the TENS machine.

These are three types of TENS machines. You can drop by shops which sell them and ask the sales people for their advice.

I have the red and blue machines. They've helped me a lot when I have pain.

An Interesting Read - Are We Wrong About What Makes Food Healthy?

Click on LINK to read.

What do you think?

1000 Kilometres and Candida

We went down to Johor and Singapore for a holiday in March.

Hubby insisted that we drive back up during one of the days to Tangkak to see a kinesiologist who was 1 hour and 40 minutes away from where we were staying at. And we had to travel back to where we were staying and that was another 1 hour and 40 minutes!

I found out about this doctor from one of my blog's readers who is a Malaysian. She was very sensitive to chemicals and smells at one point of time. And many food made her ill. She saw many doctors but found that this man helped her. 

Since we were in Johor, hubby said we SHALL see him. And we did.

The doctor's name is Wong Meng Kiang. He is a kinesiologist who specialises in allergy. His clinic is quite old and rundown. But it was full of people! 

His room was full of test tubes! They contain all sorts of allergens. There was even one labelled "Salicylate"!

He will first ask you for a brief history of your health and condition. He will then give you a 'test tube' with an allergen which he suspects that you're allergic to. You are to hold it in your left hand. He will then lift your right arm to a 90 degrees position and if you're allergic to the allergen in the tube that is in your left hand, your right arm will have no power to fight him as he pushes it down.

*According to the dictionary, kinesiology is the science dealing with the interrelationship of the physiological processes and anatomy of the human body with respect to movement.

(*taken from HERE)

Click on LINK to read more about applied kinesiology where allergies are concerned.

Joel saw him first and he concluded he was allergic to mint (which was in his toothpaste), eggs and also dust mites.

Then came my turn. When I told him I have had anaphylaxis episodes and was also salicylate sensitive and what I have achieved today after 8 years, he said this:

"WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT?!"

I told him to ask my husband. I never wanted to see him. My husband was the one who insisted on us seeing him.

He then continued, "Anaphylaxis is already at the worst state. There is no cure once you reach that stage. You can never be fully healed. But we can help you to achieve he stage where you won't reach anaphylaxis but achieve the just-break-out-in-hives-stage."

After diagnosing the three of us, he then brought us to a room to the back where he had a machine where he mixed a concoction specially for his patients based on their allergies/condition.

He uses saline water which he fills into the white bottle which is on the right section of the machine.

He then places the test tubes with the allergen that one is 'allergic' to. A 'homeopathic' movement (he said that there was a magnet inside the machine) is used to 'transfer' the 'energy' of the allergens to the white bottle. Thus, a dump-down level of the allergen is transferred to the white bottle. As one drips the solution everyday and also avoid whatever allergen that one is allergic to, one can be healed!

He said that many times blood tests are not accurate. Thus, this method of kinesiology is used to treat people with allergen. His wife and kids were healed of allergies with this method. And they are healed up till today.

I am sorry to say that I was a sceptic before I went, and I am still am a sceptic today. I have read up and watched YouTube videos about kinesiology allergy and yet my mind and heart cannot accept it. The science somehow do not add up to me. My mind somehow couldn't click to this theory.

BUT!

He diagnosed something in me which I had never thought of at all! Of course no doctors thought of at all too.

He said my IBS is caused by CANDIDA!!!!

But I have no fungal infection at all! Zilch.

But a light bulb went off in my head and that made the wheels in my head turn and it got me VERY excited. I started researching about it immediately that very day.

For you who would like to try this option, below are his clinic address and contact number:

Klink Specialist Wong,

114, Jalan Payamas,

Tangkak,

Johor. 

Phone number:

+606-978-1576

Coming up Next: Candida and Dr. Yadav

It's All About Diet (Part 2-FODMAP [The How, Why and What])

The HOW

Normal and healthy people who ingest food that has FODMAP would result in mild flatulence. But for people who have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and who have very sensitive guts, it can result in bloating, excessive flatulence, stomach cramping, non-stop of intestines churning, excessive burping, diarrhoea and even constipation (or alternating between the two).

It can reach to the point that you feel that your whole existence exists ONLY in the gut. I know what I'm talking about. I've lived in the toilet for many hours everyday for a period of time. It came to a point that I lost so much weight that people commented about the weight loss to me every single day when I went to pick my son up from school.

What to do?

I went on a low FODMAP diet. I tried as much as possible to eat food which do not consist of FODMAP. I mean food with FODMAP are healthy food. Vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes. It's not even Frankenfood. It was very frustrating. I kept asking what was wrong with me. Unfortunately, my gastro Rock-Star doctor didn't believe in this and told me that I was anxious and stressed out. I was given anti-anxiety medication instead.......

WHY FODMAP?

By taking away FODMAP from our diet (for a period of time), it can lower the overall gastrointestinal symptoms. It worked for me. Click on LINK to read more about this.

The WHAT

Not everyone react to FODMAP the same way. Some can digest lactose. Some cannot. So it's different to each individual.

Fermentable are foods which are broken down by bacteria in the large bowels. If your gut bacteria is off track, probiotics are a good source.

Foods rich in probiotics such as kefir, sauerkraut, yoghurt, miso, kimchi and kombucha tea are some of the natural probiotics that one can try. (Bear in mind some people who are histamine and amines intolerant won't be able to tolerate fermented foods or even probiotics.)

Two of the Oligosaccharides are Fructans and Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS). Fructans are naturally occurring carbohydrates that exist in vegetables, fruits and cereals. Wheat, rye, barley, onions, leeks, shallots, the whites of spring onions, garlic, legumes, lentils, artichokes and chicory.

Two Fructans are Inulin and Fructo-Oligosaccharides (FOS). These two have been getting more and more popular as they are well known for their pre-biotic effects. Our small human intestines are not capable of digesting these two as we do not produce the enzymes to process these food. These go straight to the large intestines.

Some foods that are high in Inulin are chicory root, dandelion root, asparagus, leeks and onions, bananas and plantains (when they are slightly green), sprouted wheat (which is used in Ezeikel bread) and garlic.

*table taken from HERE

Fructo-Oligosaccharides (FOS) are in foods such as onion, chicory, garlic, asparagus, banana and artichoke. FOS is also found in wheat and barley.

FOS is used in the food industry as an alternative sweetener. Interestingly, this is a *popular sweetener in Japan! (*taken from HERE)

Nowadays, many products (for example; vitamin enhanced flour and powdered drinks ) have FOS added to them.

Disaccharides are Lactose. This is in milk, evaporated milk, yoghurt, custard and ice-cream.

Monosaccharides are sugars that cannot be changed into simple sugars. Examples are Fructose, Glucose, Ribose and Galactose. They can be found in honey, mango, watermelon, apples, pears and high fructose corn syrup.

Click HERE to read more.

And finally we come to the last one.

Polyoyls are more famously known as Sorbitol, Mannitol, Maltitol and Xylitol. Natural foods that contain polyols are apples, pears, apricots, nectarines, plums, mushrooms and cauliflower.

Polyols are also commonly used as artificial sweeteners in chewing gums, lollipops and mints.

------------------------------------------------------

Bean sprouts, cabbage, onions, garlic, celery, soy beans, leeks, lettuce iceberg, everything that were wheat and gluten, chickpeas, cashews, siu bok choy, sugar and many more which were low on the salicylate diet started to create havoc and hell for my gut.

It was depressing at first. I eliminated those food from my diet. Anything that triggered IBS were eliminated for many, many, many months. And for once in a very, extremely long time, my bowels were silent. You could even hear the ant fart in the silence of my bowels.

Once I felt I was strong enough, I started adding back the FODMAP food bit by bit. Cashews, cabbage, celery, garlic, onion, chickpeas. I lasted for one month plus before all hell broke loose in my intestines. I'm back to FODMAP again at the moment. Now I know the treshold of the FODMAP that I can take. The only thing I won't be having in my life anymore is sugar. Yes, I have to admit, bread is EXTREMELY tempting!

Here is a table of the FODMAP diet:

*table taken from HERE

Here is a table of examples of some of the food that contain high FODMAP:

*table taken from HERE



A MUST READ: Click on LINK

Click HERE


I think this picture below says it best.

*picture taken from HERE

Epi Pen Recalled

I received a call from the pharmacist of the hospital that I bought my EpiPens from. My Epipens are affected by the recall.

Do get yours checked.

Malfunctioning EpiPens

Many EpiPens are believed to have a problem which may cause it to not be activated. *Apparently there were two cases where the EpiPen failed to work.

*taken from HERE

There is a massive recall of the EpiPens.

You can take a look at the picture below and check to see whether yours is affected.

*picture taken from HERE

Click on LINK to read more about this.

It's All About Diet (Part 1 - FODMAPs [What is FODMAP])

The acronym FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols. 

Fermentable means that carbohydrates and sugar alcohols are fermented by the bacteria which are in the large bowel**. This is the process where the gut bacteria break down undigested carbohydrate to produce the hydrogen, methane and CO2 gasses.

Oliogosaccharides is a literal translation as "few sugar". Oligo means few and saccharide means sugar. These are molecules that are made up of individual sugars which are joined together in a chain**. 

Disaccharides are double sugar molecules**. 

Monosaccharides are single-sugar molecules**.

And 

Polyols are sugar alcohols**.

They are a collection of short chain carbohydrates and sugar alcohols found in foods naturally*. They are also used as food additives.

These short-chain carbohydrates are incompletely absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and can be easily fermented by gut bacteria. 

FODMAP include fructose, fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), lactose and polyols (sorbitol and mannitol).


*taken from HERE

**taken from HERE