Natural Healing

D-Mannose - an all natural alternative for treating Urinary Tract Infections

noreply@blogger.com (Meghala) — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 03:22:00 +0000

Nearly every woman will develop at least one Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) in her lifetime. It is so common that according to Wikipedia , “In the United States, urinary tract infections account for nearly seven million office visits, a million emergency department visits, and one hundred thousand hospitalizations every year.” That’s why when my good friend and neighbour wanted to tell me about her natural discovery that helped her get rid of this menace forever, I was all ears.

Men and children also suffer from UTI’s but it is far more common among women because of their anatomy. Anyone who has suffered from a UTI can vouch for how annoying it can be. It leads to intense burning, excruciating pain, exhaustion, chills and fever. If left untreated a UTI that usually begins as a bladder infection quickly converts to a kidney infection with far more serious consequences. Antibiotics work very well in these instances and can provide quick relief. Unfortunately, they also make your body less capable of fighting the meddlesome bacteria (usually Escherichia Coli, commonly known as E-Coli found in stools) leading to antibiotic resistance. Consequently you visit the doctor over and over again until you’ve exhausted the usual chain of prescription antibiotics and have to consider something more potent like intravenous antibiotics or even surgery.

My friend, lets call her Mary, was no exception. She had taken different antibiotics for seven different episodes of UTI until she had to consider intravenous medication. Fortunately for her, a pregnancy made her reconsider that option. A pregnancy alters the Ph balance in a woman’s vagina and makes her more prone to UTI’s and yeast infections.

After doing some research online, she came across a natural product called D-Mannose. This is a simple sugar, naturally present in certain fruits, including cranberries, peaches, and plums. It is closely related to glucose and is not a drug. D-Mannose helps fight bladder infections by preventing the bacteria from clinging to the uterine walls. If E-Coli are not attached to tissue, they can be easily washed off through urination. It sounded simple enough. Mary wasn’t certain however if it would work. After all, she had gone through several rounds of antibiotics and her doctor had warned her about the consequences of leaving the infection untreated. Besides, Mary had consumed gallons of cranberry juice, a popular, all-natural alternative to antibiotics and had no relief at all. In fact, the extra sugar in the juice made her stomach upset!

Mary decided to take the risk since she didn’t want to be strapped to a hospital bed and given intravenous medication. She had a life inside of her and she wanted to protect her child from unwanted exposure to antibiotics in-utero.

Mary bought D-Mannose from a health food store near her and started taking the pill immediately. In her words, “The pain went away after 24 hours and the fever after 48 hours. In 10 days, I was back to normal with no trace of infection. I got my urine tested again after 10 days to make sure I was free and I was. My gamble paid off. I fought the infection with D-Mannose and it has been three years since I have been free of UTI’s.”

D-Mannose has been studied for over two decades and now clinical studies prove its effectiveness against UTI’s. The best part of this treatment is that you are just consuming sugar. The infection is literally uprooted from the body and made to disappear. The body is able to fight off future intrusions because the good bacteria are not killed.

D-Mannose is available in most health-food stores and on Amazon and other sites. It is available in both powder and pill form and is relatively inexpensive considering the long-term avoidance of repeat infections. These forums also discuss the personal experiences of people who have tried it.

For Mary, managing her recurrent UTI was easy with D-Mannose. If you know of other methods and would like to share them, do post your comments here. For more information, you may also contact Mary at maryz78@gmail.com.

Acupuncture helped me overcome infertility and conceive naturally

noreply@blogger.com (Meghala) — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 18:59:00 +0000

This is perhaps the most important story I will ever tell. I say this because my two children are my most precious assets, and this story is about how I brought them into this world.

A highly respected doctor specializing in infertility treatments had convinced me that I would never conceive naturally. He said I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a condition in which the ovaries grow many small cysts in a classic ring-like structure, that lead to hormonal imbalances (mainly the overproduction of the male hormone, testosterone), and to fertility problems. The doctor said that my case was so extreme, the only way I could have children was through In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF.) I was in my late 20’s, in good health , from a stable home and married to an extremely caring man who also desperately wanted to be a father. We were ready to be parents, and we knew we would do everything to have a baby. IVF, however, was just not an option - it was unaffordable, and more importantly, it made me feel “barren.”

I respected the doctor who tried to help us get pregnant over two years. I had gone through one and a half years of taking clomid - the first line of infertility treatment that helps the eggs mature and release on time - and failed. I had switched doctors and gone to a university teaching hospital to try another method. This time I used a fail-proof injectable medication that supposedly made the process more efficient - and failed. The last resort before IVF was In-Utero-Insemination (IUI) - a carefully controlled experiment in which the sperm is injected into the ovaries right before ovulation to increase the chances of fertilization. We failed even this one. By the end of two years, my uterine lining was so thin - a known side-effect of clomid - that I couldn’t have conceived naturally. I was very close to giving up. My days were so dark, I had the worst nightmares. I just couldn't bear the thought of not carrying the child of the man I so dearly loved. I couldn’t accept that I was infertile.

I had heard of Ayurveda, the ancient healing science originating in India, and about its effectiveness in overcoming infertility. As a last resort, I decided to give it a try. Before I could go to India, however, I thought I’d inquire about Ayurvedic practitioners in my local community. Nobody had heard about Ayurveda but a friend, Kerri Diamant who headed AlterMed Research Foundation, an organization that studied alternative medicine, recommended Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and acupuncture. For the first time, I heard about Dr. Rachel Blunk who practiced fertility acupuncture. I was extremely skeptical about needles inserted into various parts of my body helping me conceive a child. It just didn’t seem plausible. But I didn’t have a choice. It was either go to India, or give acupuncture an honest shot. The needles were definitely more cost-effective!

In my first meeting with Dr. Blunk, she asked me to call her Rachel. She sat down beside me and made sure I felt comfortable in her small but well appointed treatment room. She didn’t wear a doctor’s coat, and had the most genial smile on her face. She looked at me with genuine interest and looked like someone who wanted to help. I felt like pouring out my sorrows. And I did without a pause. I shared with her the horror of how I tried to get pregnant using conventional methods - the drugs, the countless ultrasounds, the injections, the negative pregnancy tests, and anger, humiliation, helplessness and desperation. I told her about my PCOS and that I was made to feel “inferior” because of it.

After about 30 minutes, she took a deep breath and asked me to stick my tongue out. I thought it odd but did it nevertheless. She looked at my tongue for what felt like an eternity. Then she checked my pulse. In the end she said the most unexpected. In her professional opinion, I did not have PCOS at all, definitely not one that could result in infertility. She pointed out for example, that I didn’t have excessive facial hair or obesity - classic symptoms of the testosterone imbalance in patients with PCOS. I wondered why that hadn’t been brought to my attention before. She felt that all I needed was some relaxation. My “Chinese heart” was weak and needed stabilization. She then told me that not only could I get pregnant naturally, it would happen within six months. All I had to do was come to a weekly session of acupuncture and take some Chinese herbs to help me relax. All that by looking at my tongue??!!

I just couldn't believe my ears. Did she really know what she was doing or was she just playing “doc doc.?” A part of me really wanted to believe her but the bigger part was extremely unsure. Of course the perennial self-doubt consumed me. I hadn’t questioned on Dr. Expert before? Was I making the same mistake again? How much did I really know about acupuncture? Would the needles hurt? Would the herbal medicines have any side-effects? Ultimately would this really help me mother a child? Was I asking for the moon here?

After discussing the situation with my husband, I decided to give Rachel the benefit of doubt. I had nothing to lose after all and a lot to gain. The herbs were not expensive and Rachel had promised that the needles wouldn't hurt. She was also absolutely sure that I would have a baby within six months. The carrot she dangled was irresistible and that's how I began my weekly tryst with acupuncture.

The sessions always started with Rachel asking me how I felt. She was always personable and professional. She made me feel at ease. All sessions began with her checking my pulse and peering into my outstretched tongue. Then I had to lie down on a comfortable table, much like a massage table, and she would insert the needles into strategic treatment points on my body - around the rim of my ears, my forehead, chest, wrists and ankles. Some around my navel too. The needles didn’t hurt at all - they were extremely fine and felt like small pin pricks. I had my eyes closed and in many a session even drifted off to sleep. After an hour, Rachel would come back and inquire about me. The needles came off and she gave me the herbs I was to take home that week. The herbs were in pill form and easy to take and had absolutely no side-effects. I started enjoying my weekly meetings with Rachel and felt much better. I was finally off the hook with ultrasounds and all-important doctors telling me how to treat my sex life. I was almost back to feeling like my old self again. Till I was six weeks into my acupuncture treatment.

At the end of the sixth session, Rachel asked me to take a pregnancy test and report to her the following week. I thought Rachel must have been out of her mind to even consider that I may be expecting. It had only been six weeks!

I took the test the next week just to tell Rachel that I wasn't with child. I was so sure the test would be negative, I didn't even bother to look at it. I was pottering around the house and came back a few minutes later to discard the test. Lo and behold! There it was - the second line that had eluded me for so long, I simply couldn't believe it was actually there and clearly visible. I was definitely pregnant. I was ecstatic. My husband was out of town and I wanted him to be the first one to know. I tried his number with trembling hands. It was busy. I tried again and again and again for a good 10 minutes when he finally picked up. I was bawling by then and am sure he must have been sick with worry when he picked up the 100th call. Of course he didn't believe that the home pregnancy test was positive. Just like me he had his hopes dashed so often that it took a lot to convince him that he was going to be father. To make matters worse, I just couldn't stop crying. We were going to be a family, we would have a child of our very own. I wasn't a failure…

Rachel had known a week before (my best friend - the tongue had given it away again!) that I had conceived and knew that a pregnancy test would bring home the good news. She had been right again just like with the other women. When I told her, she was genuinely happy for me. We hugged like friends - a woman to woman. She understood...

For the next three months, I took acupuncture treatments to make sure I gave my baby the best possible start. The treatments were designed to prevent a miscarriage and to help bolster my general health. I was perhaps the happiest during that time. And I finally believed in the power of acupuncture and in the power of positive thinking. Rachel was right - I didn't have PCOS after all. All I need was some TLC.

I had a healthy, uneventful pregnancy and a normal, full-term baby. He was the most beautiful newborn and when he opened his eyes to look at me, I knew I had met my destiny. A year and a half later, I conceived again. I didn't even know I was expecting till seven weeks later. His too was a full-term, uncomplicated pregnancy. I had not been taking any medication, even prenatal vitamins. I was just happy being a mother and God rewarded me again…

My experience with Rachel was so positive that I told everyone I could. A friend who had also been given the “death sentence” of IVF due to PCOS got help from Rachel and got pregnant after four months of treatment. Yet another friend got help for her fibroids under Rachel’s treatment but couldn't conceive, unfortunately, because of other complications. I am not advocating acupuncture as a cure-all for infertility. Several factors have to be considered before embarking on this path- age of the patient, correct diagnoses of the underlying problem, the academic credentials and successful track record of the acupuncture practitioner etc. The game changer, however, is faith. A strong belief that non-conventional treatments help the body do what it was designed to do naturally.

My children are thriving today and are as boisterous as children can be. I am an extremely happy and grateful mother. I learned an important lesson along the way: alternative medicine has an important place in restoring our body’s natural rhythm. Our bodies are capable of healing themselves with a little help. Western medicine definitely offers quick results but it also comes with a lot of excess baggage in the form of long-term side-effects. More and more women are finding that acupuncture can help them in their journey toward motherhood, either used alone or in conjunction with standard medical protocols.

I am happy to answer any questions. Just email me by commenting on this post and I will try to answer your questions to the best of my ability. Thank you!

Treating Multiple Sclerosis with Ayurveda

noreply@blogger.com (Meghala) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:42:00 +0000

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is “a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another,” according to the National MS Society.

There are approximately 400,000 people suffering from MS in the United States, according to the National MS Society. The cause of MS is still unknown, but most researchers think that MS results from an abnormal response by the body's immune system.

The treatment for MS is relatively new (founded only in the 90’s) and includes multiple steroidal injections accompanied by mild to severe side-effects. These steroids only suppress the immune system, however, and so far no permanent cure has been found for this condition.

Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine (TAM), an ancient healing practice originating in India, has successful treatment outcomes for MS that help the patient heal naturally. There are specially formulated treatment options that go beyond treating the symptoms of the disease to restoring balance in the body’s immune response.

Marcia E. West (62) of Colorado shares her miraculous true story of battling MS successfully with TAM here:

"Normally, each nerve is protected with a covering called myelin, but with MS that myelin shield is destroyed, disrupting the connection from the brain to the affected area of the body. It’s very similar to a short circuit in a lamp. The lamp seems okay, but somewhere the connection is interrupted—and you may not be able to find it, except for the blinking and inconsistency in the light, and until it is diagnosed by a professional, you really don’t know what is happening, or why. However, unlike the lamp wire, which in many circumstances can be fixed, MS has no such solution.

I call it a sneaky thief. Without warning it takes away precious motor functions in the strong and the weak. My first symptom appeared 17 years before I was diagnosed. It’s called Optic Neuritis, an inflammation of the optic nerve, and within one day the sight in my left eye was almost totally gone. With the help of a good Ophthalmologist and a new treatment (steroid injections into the eye socket to reduce the nerve inflammation) my eye recovered with only a small amount of scar tissue as a reminder of what had occurred. The Dr. did tell me there was a connection with MS and optic neuritis, but I discounted the input until my second exacerbation, another totally unexpected, and I might add, uninvited setback. Did I say, sneaky?

My husband and I used to take long walks or ride bikes whenever we had the chance. After one long ride, I noticed my left leg was dragging a little as I walked my bike home. Again, I thought it was due to the length of our outing. But when I finally returned home all I could do was sit….and sit. It was as if my energy had been sucked from my being. I didn’t recover for two hours. Those patterns continued until multiple MRIs determined there were lesions on the brain affecting my left leg movement. By then there were other, smaller symptoms showing up—slow finger movements, enormous fatigue even though I was rested. Getting too hot or cold added to my increasing lack of energy and movement capability. I didn’t know what to expect, or what to do about it. Even when a neurologist actually diagnosed me with Relapsing/Remitting MS in 1995 I denied it for another year, allowing more exacerbations and their resultant damage. When I finally admitted I did indeed have MS, I thought my world was over. In some ways it was; in others it was the beginning of a new life, one where I lived with MS but stubbornly did not allow it to be my entire focus.

Unfortunately, there is no prevention or cure for MS, not yet, anyway, but there are numerous medications offered to help slow the progression of the disease and others which offer relief from the many other turns this disease can take. My treatment for 10 years was AVONEX, a weekly intramuscular injection, which I was able to give to myself. I no longer use this form of therapy, but I believe it did help slow the progression of my disease, as it was intended.

A friend told me about Soukya, a holistic health treatment center outside of Bangalore, India, and their use of Ayurvedic medicine to treat MS. After looking through their website (www.Soukya.com), my husband and I decided to see if their therapies could/would impact my MS symptoms. The good news is they did.

I went to India not really understanding Ayurvedic medicine, but I went with an open mind and a great deal of acceptance. I had used other types of alternative therapies in the past with good results for the conditions being addressed, so this step did not seem so far fetched. Why not try something new?

Soukya is Internationally acclaimed. Treatments range from wellness packages to intervention for medical conditions. I was the perfect candidate—my disease had progressed minimally over the ten years and unless you knew me before, there would not have been any noticeable pointers that I even had MS. After 12 hours of evaluations by their team of doctors, it was determined they could “cure” my MS if I stayed for six weeks of intensive, specially formulated treatments. We stayed.

The facility itself is a totally self contained enclave dedicated to mind, body and spirit connections. I thought of it as a Shangri-La, and for six weeks I was immersed in Indian cuisine (organic foods designed for one’s individual needs, most of which was grown there), natural treatments, some formulated especially for the program as designed for me by the doctors, daily acupuncture, hot oil massages, which grew more intense as time progressed, and so much more. I was first detoxified and when the detoxification was nearly over, new Ayurvedic medicines and massages were introduced to replace the old with the new. Never before had I been so well-cared for, and I fell in love with Indian culture, the people, as well as a form of medicine thousands of years old.

Every day, I was scheduled for at least five different treatments, some more intense than others. Specially trained, Indian therapists—women-- caringly put me through my paces. Some spoke a little English, others, not at all. It was better that way. The treatments were becoming more and more intense and took my mind and heart places I thought were no longer a part of my life. Sometimes I’d be in tears, for no known reason. Other times I felt so exposed, as if I was a filleted fish. None of the treatments hurt physically. For the most part, they were delightful. But it was the unexpected emotional times that hurt. What I now know is the emotional ups and downs are a natural part of the detoxification process. When you are treated so specifically, by people who genuinely care about your well-being, you have to let go of pre-conceived ideas. In letting go one can take the next step forward. I took many.

All in all, my body responded well to the mind-body-spirit connections they enabled with their treatments. At my last meeting with the Director of Soukya, Dr. Issac Mathai, I asked about continuing with the AVONEX therapy. He sat back in his chair with arms folded over his chest, and told me, “I don’t think you will ever need it again.” I have not. For three years I have not used any type of therapy for what MS symptoms remain. Nor have I experienced any new exacerbations. I don’t expect to.

No, I am not “cured” of MS. But I can do things now I previously was physically unable to do. And although I can’t say I’ve changed my lifestyle since Soukya, I can say quite gratefully, Soukya changed my life. I will no doubt always have remnants of MS (those nerves that are damaged remain so), but MS is a dimmed flame since my adventure in India. I will return this year to make sure my progress continues.

Not everyone will have the opportunity I had. However, anyone interested can study and learn about alternative treatments and where they are offered. For those who do, I wish you great success. For everyone suffering to whatever degree with this sneaky disease, I wish you great understanding and hope for your futures."

Water Aerobics for All

noreply@blogger.com (Meghala) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:50:00 +0000