I'm recovering from bronchitis, which would never have hit me if I'd paid attention to my gut instincts a lot sooner than I did.
Fighting being sick for a month and a half was so totally not necessary that I'd kick myself in the behinder if I were agile enough to do it.
Me, I did not go to a doctor for a bunch of pharmaceuticals to deal with my bronchitis. I looked to the grandmothers.
When, some years back, I found myself seemingly locked into something I couldn't find my way out of, emotionally speaking, and the steps I'd taken on my own weren't working, I did go see a 'professional'.
Working as I do in a health care facility, it didn't cross my mind that the professionals I work with all the time would be so absolutely oblivious to signs they're trained to look for and recognize. Granted, it's not in their job description to be alert to the well-being of their colleagues - but I was in dire shape.
Regardless, my first stop was a self-requested visit with our on site 'mental health professional', a ten minute interview consisting of me filling out a brief questionnaire and her immediately reaching for a prescription pad as I was mildly depressed in her estimation. Horrified at the offer of anti-depressant pharmaceuticals based on our few minutes of contact, I declined.
I had already tried a visit with another site-recommended professional when our whole shift team was struggling with what my social worker daughter (she works in an elder-care facility) had informed me was Compassion Fatigue. Now, this guy's clients were largely in the medical field but I had to finally bring up the term, and then define it for him, which may not have been totally appreciated but geez ... my education, training, and experience is largely crisis intervention. I'm not completely ignorant. When I know something is affecting me and my crew and we need help, I'm going to ask for help. Well, at least I did back then. His advice, when we declined pharmaceutical intervention, was a bubble bath in the middle of the afternoon and us listening to a DVD of his voice soothing us to sleep. That was more than enough for me to say, 'No thanks.' It's a little disconcerting to go to someone for help and find out you know more than they do.
Eventually I found myself in such bad shape that I finally did end up going to a 'real' professional. One who ordered blood-work immediately. One who called in a team to address the issues I had brought up as being of concern. One who told me flat out that the St. John's Wort I had added to my arsenal was absolutely no different from me taking Prozac or Zoloft so really, considering what it was doing to my brain I ought to knock it off and start taking my vitamins like a good girl. That's a paraphrase, by the way. He was much kinder. Vitamin D (the absence thereof) was maybe the biggest culprit, and the fact that my age was a factor hormonally speaking, aside from the Compassion Fatigue.
He gave me DBT from which to choose my weapons on the latter front, and approved my use of Red Clover as a hormone replacement treatment. Together, the D and the Bs of the vitamin arsenal, plus a good daily multi-vitamin, and my Red Clover tea on a regular basis as opposed to being an occasional 'tonic', and the DBT, made magic happen. Within days the effects were dramatic.
I was extremely blessed to have happened into the team I did at that time. The other diagnosis was 'homesickness' believe it or not. To have that validated was an eye-opener for me. The 'cure' being far beyond my grasp, at least I knew what I could do about it if/when I was financially able.
What nobody brought up but which I'm darned sure was a factor in all this, is that I'm INFJ/P personality type. I have a very strong hunch my demand for paper and pen and the subsequent articulated narrative would have been a dead giveaway as to what they were dealing with - and told them how to proceed.
The point of being so transparent about the darkness that haunted me then is to illustrate how much difference there can be among professionals, and that pharmaceuticals may not be right for everyone, nor necessary for everyone.
It also serves as a reminder that 'natural' treatments aren't necessarily innocuous child's play. Where do you think pharmaceuticals spring from?
Yes I did extensive research on St. John's Wort as a result of what that doctor told me - and of course he was absolutely right. It acts the same way in a person's brain as SSRIs. I also deep-checked Red Clover; same results on the hormone front. Vitamin D and the Bs - same thing. I had to discontinue the Red Clover because it re-activated the intrauterine fibroids that gave me such grief, but the rest of my 'prescriptions' minimized the effects of not having it in my arsenal.
There are scads of articles on line about 'natural' treatments. If you're thinking about trying any of them DO YOUR HOMEWORK AHEAD OF TIME.
There's no way I can over-stress that.
Red Clover and Alfalfa both have hormone replacement properties, for example. But one thickens your blood and the other thins it - unless you know which is which, don't mix either with any blood pressure medications. Just to make it easy for you, Alfalfa thickens your blood (lots of vitamin K) so take aspirin 80 along with it; Red Clover thins it so don't go there if you're already taking Coumadin/warfarin.
Do not dick around with any of this stuff without thoroughly researching it for yourself first and I ain't even kidding.
On the other side of the coin are things that aren't likely to do you any harm but only good no matter how you cut it.
Such is the case with the concoction that kicked my recent bout of being sick.
Honey will never hurt you.
Onion, garlic, ginger, lemon, apple cider vinegar ... all perfectly safe although the combination might appall you. Horseradish and cayenne pepper added to the mix might make you want to just stay sick.
It does, however, work. At least it did for me. I did not have to pay out of pocket money I cannot afford for a doctor's visit and expensive pharmaceuticals. A quick inexpensive trip to my local grocery store is all it took. Plus the guts to actually take my medicine, and to continue taking it after that first dose. I don't know what would have been in the medicine a doctor would have prescribed. I do know what was in the medicine I took.
As a matter of fact, ginger is the only ingredient above that I'm not sure grows locally, in gardens at any rate, and there are plenty of apple trees if you want to make your own apple cider vinegar. Well, lemons might have a hard time in our climate ...
Chamomile is another favorite - soothing and calming without being a sedative, plus it tastes good and grows wild in our area so is free. So do Red Clover and Alfalfa. Can't get better than that.
When people look down their up-turned noses at my idea of medicine, I'm fine with it. To each his/her own sez I. The pharmaceutical companies aren't in any danger of going belly up because of my choices, and lots of people are happy to keep their businesses going strong, which is presumably good for the economy.
There are many plants out there just growing all over the place that have medicinal properties. If you're interested, go on line and do some searching, then come spring, summer, and fall, do a different kind of searching. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find.
Just BE CAREFUL and don't get all gung-ho without finding out ahead of time what you're getting yourself into.
Ah, lest I forget to clarify what not everyone knows, DBT is Dialectical Behavior Therapy - mindfulness, a plethora of tools/weapons with which to battle daily events that can drive you nuts (like people who get on your nerves, or stressful situations, or having to be nice when you feel like snarling, growing fangs, and detaching somebody's face from the front of their skull - you know, stuff like that).
My personal favorites are 'pushing away' and 'role reversal'. Those might not be the technical names, but that's how I think of them.
The first is simply knowing that the 'situation' is not you, and pushing it far enough away with your mind so that you can see for yourself (so to speak) that it does not define you. You can deal with it later, which frees up the internal resources you have to use to get you through now.
Role reversal is generally speaking just doing the opposite of what you feel like doing. Instead of growing fangs, give a pretty smile with your current teeth. Instead of snarling, sing something nice. Like that. Me, I sing a lot. It might start out being a DBT weapon, but usually ends up actually how I really feel. The power of suggestion maybe. Whatever - it tends to work pretty well and I am rarely aware I'm even doing it.
DBT has something for everyone and the beauty of it is that you just pick and choose what works for you ... you don't necessarily have to go through a whole great big long process of learning the whole nine yards. It's a great camouflage technique. People think you're happy all the time when really you don't particularly have to be all that happy. What you don't show them can't hurt them, or you. And no, it's not 'being fake' - it's being respectful of their feelings and of your own. You will deal with your own stuff in your own good time. Meanwhile, it doesn't have to interfere with what you have to do right now.
Just sayin'. It comes in right handy.
Or you could go with pharmaceuticals and therapists that cost a fortune. Me, I don't have a fortune. If I did there are plenty of other things I'd want to spend it on.
So, for me, it's worth doing my homework, finding out what my options might be, trying what I think might work, going to the professionals when need be (hoping I find one who knows what the heck they're doing), and calling it good enough when it all comes together just right.
Also, for the record, today's scientists are discovering that some of the 'ancient ways' are perfectly valid. Some, of course, are clear out in left field somewhere so don't go thinking that just because it's recommended by the ancients it's a sure cure for what ails you. Decapitation is a sure cure but comes with a pretty big price tag. Not that decapitation was a recommended cure of the ancients, except in the case of the bad attitudes of their enemies maybe.
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