reason for fewer posts lately

Hi everyone

Just wanted to check in and say hello and apologize for the slower pace of posts recently -- I'm
still working hard on my fibroid shrinking routine in preparation for my ultrasound next month.
However I've been a bit distracted as Prince Charming and I recently got engaged! Am planning a summer wedding so have been scrambling for venue, dress, ring, place to live, etc. Time for the fibroids to be gone and get on with the rest of my life!

Two progress items to report. Last month my period was a few days late (unusual for me) and started with a 1/2 day or so flow of very dark brown blood. I was worried and discussed it with my acupuncturist and he said that it was normal for his patients to have a "strange" period 3-4 cycles after starting work with him, so I was just on schedule. Am hoping this means that some good changes are taking place inside.

Also, after not having been able to put them on for a very long time, I am finally able to fit back into my favorite pants. So I think that the low fat content of the fibroid-fighting diet and my increased exercise (althought I should be doing even more in that regard) has been helping.

racism and fibroids

As a follow-up to my post about fibroids and African-American women, I just wanted to share this article I just found, which links perceived racism to increased risk of uterine fibroids in black women.

iodine

A friend just sent me a fascinating article about iodine, which says "a reasonable hypothesis is that...fibrocystic disease of the breast and breast cancer (and also uterine fibroids) are iodine deficiency disorders."
Similar information by the same author is available free online here. If you want the original article my friend sent, you can get it online for $1.50 here (when you get to the page, search for "iodine", the article is from January 2008.
The upshot is, eat more seaweed, which is a great soure of iodine!
Personally I have been wanting to do this, but am having trouble working it into my diet..plan to do more experimenting with seaweed recipes -- will report later!

red wine for fibroids?

Picking up from Serra's helpful comment on my post about chocolate, I looked into the connection between resveratrol and fibroids.

Resveratrol is a compound found in red wine (and also grapeskins and peanuts and blueberries). Here's more information about it on this page. Evidently it's the fermentation process that really makes the resveratrol, so wine is better than just grape juice. And red wine has more than white, because there are more skins included.

Resveratrol was found by doctors at the University of Michigan to have action against fibroids in vitro. according to this research. According to what's written here, next step is animal studies. Looking at other research however, it seems that resveratrol taken in the form of food or supplements is unlikely to reach the bloodstream in sufficient quantities to have a therapeutic effect, at least in the case of cancers. So don't go out and buy the resveratrol supplements yet!

Also interestingly, according to this page resveratrol is a phytoestrogen, so too much of it would probably not be good for fibroid shrinkers.

As reported in an earlier post, research has shown that alcohol consumption can promote fibroids. This makes sense because alcohol is a burden to the liver.

However, if you're like me you can't resist a drink once in a while socially. Amd there are documented health benefits of consuming alcohol in moderation. My acupuncturist says up to 3 glasses of wine a week are ok. although I seldom do that. But from now on when I drink, it's going to be red wine! But I wouldn't go out and drink just to get the resveratrol.

Update Oct. 2013: Resveratrol is apparently better taken up by human tissues when delivered in a stable sulfate-conjugated form. Link here. Not sure how one can get that, but if I find out I will update this post again.

need to wait until next month

I was getting all geared up for my sonohist (ultrasound including injecting saline solution in order to see inside contours of the uterus better) scheduled for this week, in order to get a sense of how well my fibroid shrinking plan has been working.

However, they have to be done a certain amount of time after one's period, and uncharacteristically I was four days late this month. When I called just now to reschedule, the doctor wasn't available on Monday or Tuesday and then after that is out of the office until the end of the month! Ugh! So looks like I have to wait another month to get some data.

One thing I can say. About the time when my fibroids were growing, I developed a lipoma (fatty deposit under the skin) on the side of my waist. According to Chinese medicine, lipomas are similar energetically to fibroids, in that they are congealed phlegmy deposits. And interestingly, I've noticed that my lipoma has definitely shrunk a lot since I have been doing this fibroid shrinking program. Am hoping that that's a leading indicator for what's happening with my fibroids! But will have to wait another month to find out...

Oh well, am thinking I now have another month to keep on working on the things that I am doing, and also do some of the things I have been wanting to try but haven't had time to do, like preparing more seaweed dishes, and using aromatherapy massage, etc. And by so doing to make sure I have an excellent result for next month's test!

more on chocolate (and coffee and tea and cola)

Thought I would provide some more information on why I'm avoiding chocolate, tea, and coffee in my fibroid shrinking quest. It's because they contain methylxanthines, which "confuse chemical messengers in the body". Some detailed information on methylxanthines, as relates to fibrocystic breasts, is on this page. I have fibrocystic breasts too, and based on this page it sounds like the causes are similar to the causes of fibroids. Also, this page gives a lot of excellent information on caffeine, which is one type of methylxanthine, including the negative health effects and how to detox yourself if you have been drinking too much caffeine. I wasn't able to find any hard data, however, on a link between methylxanthines or caffeine and fibroids, only found this study which showed no link for caffeine (but did prove a link for alcohol consumption)

Also in researching this, I found this disturbing page about how all the hype about chocolate being good for you is really just that -- hype. For years I had allowed myself to splurge on chocolate thinking that it wasn't really that naughty after all, so reading this page was depressing. Also, there is some fascinating information in this page on how chocolate can contribute to copper imbalance, and how that can worsen fibroids. This is a good argument for avoiding chocolate. I'd like to learn more about this copper imbalance issue too...