Tuesday, August 31, 2010

vitamin D and fibroids

New research indicates that Vitamin D inhibits the proliferation of uterine leiomyoma cells.

More proof that every fibroid shrinker should be taking Vitamin D.  And just makes me angry that nobody thought to check my Vitamin D level until a year and a half ago! Ugh!

Monday, August 30, 2010

interesting article on minimal stimulation IVF

link here.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

two fibroid-friendly snacks I recently discovered

One is kale chips.  Made from dehydrated kale, they satisfy that crunch while also being chock full of nutrition.  I particularly like Earth Chips in the coconut curry kale flavor. They have coconut which is good for taming Candida (scourge of many fibroid shrinkers) and the tumeric in the curry is good for fibroid shrinking too.

Another is Go Raw Super Cookies in the original flavor.  They contain just coconut, sesame seeds, and dates.  Very crunchy.  Good source again of coconut, and the sesame seeds have a lot of nutrients.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

zinc link to good eggs?

Doctors are probing that topic, in mice for now. Details here.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

supplement update

This past month, I did the homeopathy for Candida that I mentioned in my last post. It's a series therapy of ten doses, and on the box it warns that you might have worse symptoms between bottles 2 and 4.  Boy did I ever!  I felt absolutely atrocious, puffy and sluggish.  And my stomach bulged out so much, a work colleague asked me if I was pregnant!  It didn't help that I did it while traveling in Japan, so this was all combined with jet lag -- not a good combo. Then a couple of weeks later, I noticed that my sweat smelled absolutely atrocious.  I decided that must be the dead Candida working its way out of my system.

Once I got home and back on my normal additive-free diet (see post before last) and away from various allergens (love those tatami mats but they have lots of dust mites in them, and humid Japan is full of mold!) I noticed that I felt a lot better.  So I was convinced that I had kicked the Candida.

Today was the day to find out for sure, as I went in to see my Bioset practitioner.  Turns out I did triumph over Candida Albicans.  However, there are 3 other strains of Candida that are still doing their nasty stuff in me.  Ugh. And it seems that other homeopathic remedies for Candida tend to target the Albicans, not the others.  However she did give me Flora Wellness, which is aimed at supporting healthy flora balance in the digestive system.  And some of its ingredients such as Coptis and Pau D'Arco are supposed to be good for fibroids too.  She also upped my B2 to 400 mg a day to help combat the Candida.  Also I will do a 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil every day, which will help on the Candida front and also for hormone balance (Coconut oil is one of the things recommended in Fibroids Miracle too).

For homeopathics I am back on Prunus Amygdalus Gemmotherapy, which is the one for sticky blood. 

Then I had her check some of the anti-fibroid herbs I have been taking -- the Kachanar Guggul, Essiac, and Hortense's Formula, and they all checked out negative.  Which confirmed a hunch that I had -- that it's time to go back on the Chinese herbs.  Two checked out, that she wanted me to take together. 

The first is Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan. This is a remedy for in deficiency, and is often used for yin deficiency pattern fibroids. Also it's used for infertility.

The second is Jiaogulan, which is sold under the name Immortalitea.  And in fact had some in my cupboard, although hadn't drunk it in ages.  It's an adaptogen with many benefits, some of which are listed here and here.  I was feeling rather tired, and a big pot of it that I brewed earlier this evening has perked me right up.

Also adding maca powder to my regimen, a tablespoon a day.  I've written about maca for fibroids before, here and here, but never took it for a long time so will be interested to see how it works.  This article talks about how one should not take too much maca too soon, so will be gradual.

My Bioset practioner said that she felt I had made a shift.  She used the machine to do an organ system scan, and she said that my liver and adrenals look better, and that I am much less spleen deficient.  She thinks that now the problem is the communication between my heart and kidneys needs to be better, and that my pituitary needs help.  (Pituitary is not a surprise, as I had my FSH tested again the other day and it had jumped to 11.3 (by far my highest ever) and my Estradiol-6 was a low 16.  This could be due to exhaustion and difficulty eating well during the trip, also my practitioner said that the detox is hard on your system and it could be due to that.  But of course the new IVF doctor I am seeing tomorrow will just say that it's my age...Anyway my acupuncturist is planning to work on that, and it sounds like these new herbs should help.)

Due to lack of time we weren't able to go over all my supplements, which is a shame because I feel like I am taking too much.  She had said that once I get rid of the Candida I should be able to take fewer pills, because they will absorb better.  Can't wait for that.  Meanwhile, I do get to take a break from the Vitamineral Green, and just do the Vitamineral Earth.  Will see her next week and hope to sort through the supplements more then.

vaginal steam -- Mayan style and Korean style

I've been working with a Mayan Abdominal Massage practitioner, and she suggested that I do a vaginal steam each month.  Normally this is done right before your period and would be contraindicated if you are TTC, but she has her patients do it right after the end of the period but before ovulation, so it's ok to do it if you are TTC.

This page  descibes how to do it.  Also there is more information in the book Rainforest Home Remedies: The Maya Way To Heal Your Body and Replenish Your Soul.  Note in my case rather than using a chair, I put the bowl of herbs in  the toilet, works pretty well.  I used fresh rosemary from my garden. 

I haven't had time to write about my detox adventures in June, when I did some intensive detoxing activities, but one of them was to visit a Korean spa in the Chicago suburbs.  I noticed there a setup that looked like it had to be for something like vaginal steam, that they called a "wormwood sitz bath".  I couldn't find anything online about it, so I asked one of my Japanese friends who used to live in Korea, and who is interested in alternative medicine.

My friend told me "Wow, I'm surprised they have that in the U.S.  Yes it's very common in Korea. Due to the cultural pressure to bear a male heir, in Korean traditional medicine they have lots of ways to treat infertility, and this is one of them."  Then, she gave me a link to a wormwood steam spa in Tokyo!  So I just had to visit during my trip.  A spa specifically devoted to uterine cleansing!  And what's better, the website said specifically it's good for uterine fibroids.  (When I told my acupuncturist here she was so excited, as she said that wormwood has all sorts of beneficial properties.  And I found out that wormwood is the same thing as mugwort, which I have been drinking as an herbal infusion.)

One does two treatments at the wormwood spa.  First, you put your forearms and feet in a warm germanium bath, which according to them "makes you sweat as much as two hours of aerobics."  I've seen these germanium baths in Japan before but this was the first time I tried one, and wow it really did seem to work!  I felt detoxed.  I wonder why this hasn't caught on here in the U.S.

Then came the vaginal steam.  Wearing a cotton undergarment then a large cape over it, I sat down on a chair with a hole in the seat, over a steaming container of Korean herbs (wormwood and others -- I chose the "female complaints" blend) for 30 minutes.  Then a shower, change and go!  I really felt cleansed, and very warm inside!

I am going to order an at-home setup from Rakuten, the Japanese shopping site -- this one.  And got some extra bags of herbs here.

fibroid shrinking in Japan

Haven't had a chance to write much personal lately, was in Japan for over a month on a combination of business and pleasure.

Japan is a hard place to be for fibroid shrinking, because it's hard to control what one eats. (This is for three reasons -- 1. I was often eating with clients or others and could not control restaurant choice, 2. Even when could control restaurant choice, most Japanese food comes in set menus each with a variety of different things, and 3. Since portion sizes are small, if you skip one part of the meal everyone notices, plus you risk not getting enough to eat!)

I felt it was kind a mixed bag for me food wise.

On the positive side:
1. Seaweed is often served -- I could usually eat it once a day.
2. Sally Fallon would be happy -- lots of seafood, eggs, and meat with some fat still on it are served
3. Lots of detoxifying daikon and cabbage are served
4. Lots of pickles (a nice fermented food)

On the negative side:
1. Lots of soy, and it's delicious too so it's tempting (tofu in Japan is a zillion times more delicious than tofu in the U.S.)
2. Japanese are totally unaware of hormones in meats.  A nice restaurant might stress that its meat is domestically raised (as opposed to being from China, which means goodness knows what is in it) but "raised without antibiotics" or "raised without hormones" or "grass fed" are issues that are just not on the radar screen.
3. Lots of carbohydrates, which is particularly hard since I am supposed to be working on getting rid of my Candida.  White rice everywhere, and a lot of wheat too (Italian is now popular in Japan, plus noodles were always a staple anyway).  Plus the cutest most delicious deserts. 
4. Overall, not enough vegetables. Combined with too many carbohydrates, on several days I felt seriously imbalanced (too acidic)
5. Lots of food is fried (think tempura).  In some cases, fried is the only way to get a vegetable!
6. Lots of MSG and other additives in the food.
7. At one restaurant, I spied them warming up the food in the microwave, with saran wrap over it and touching it. Yikes!
8.  Lots of trans fats.  They still use margarine and shortening in cooking with zero awareness of the negative health effects.  So every time you eat a bakery product you might be getting trans fats in there.
9. Often the only place to get a snack is a convenience store, and almost nothing sold in there is healthy.  In a pinch I would get a bag of nuts. I do admit to grabbing chocolate covered almonds more than once though. (I had planned ahead, and had made a batch of soaked-then-dehydrated nuts (recipe from Nourishing Traditions) to bring with me using my new food dehydrator, but unfortunately I didn't get them dry enough (first time doing it) and after a week they started to get moldy and I had to throw them out, what a waste!
10.  Most Japanese health food type restaurants are macrobiotic style, and very heavy on the soy and rice.  So not a very good option for me.

Even though I have been to Japan many times before and used to live there, at the beginning of this trip I was thinking that I could try to keep to a semblance of my normal eating style.  I even looked up a restaurant in Tokyo that had naturally raised meats and organic veggies, and convinced a Japanese friend to go there with me.  It ended up being rather embarassing, as the food was quite mediocre.  And let me tell you, you have to work to find mediocre food in Tokyo!  At some point I just gave up, and other than completely avoiding dairy and minimizing wheat and desserts, decided to just go with it rather than let being fussy about food spoil my trip.

Of course I had all my supplements with me -- it took me a full two hours to dole out the portions of my daily vitamins and get everything else all packed up!  It was hard to keep up fully with the regimen, but I think I did a pretty good job considering.

It's very hot in Japan this year, and humid. So basically everytime you go outside you are soon completely sweaty.  Unpleasant, but in a way it was like spending extended time in the sauna, so good for detox!

I also went to a great Asian treatment especially for uterine fibroids, more in the next post.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

more information on alcohol consumption being associated with fibroids

This study was done in Japan.  Interestingly they found no association with soy isoflavones, dietary fat, or fiber.

A reason to lay off those cocktails!

one reason fibroids can lead to infertility

They increase uterine peristalsis.  That's the message I got from this summary of a recent study.  Not sure what we can do with that information, but interesting to know.

Monday, August 23, 2010

eating well for not much money

Following up on my post the other day about a way to save on vitamins and supplements, here's a nice article about how to eat healthily even on a limited budget.  It is possible to fight fibroids on a budget!

I'm a big fan of Dr. Mark Hyman, the author -- love his articles on Huffington Post.  His Ultrametabolism Diet is on my wishlist.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Kundalini yoga for women

Have been going to an excellent Kundalini class at a nearby yoga studio.  Tonight noticed that the instructor was teaching from kriyas described in a book called I am a Woman.  It looks interesting.  There's also a DVD called  I Am a Woman - Vol 1and a series of lectures called I Am a Woman (General Reader) (Selected Lectures from the Women's Teachings of Yogi Bhajan).  All are going on my wishlist.

One of the kriyas we did the instructor said was good for evening out menstrual problems.  You lay on your back with legs extended in front of you.  Raise one up to the ceiling 90 degrees, then lower it and raise the other.  Alternate back and forth.  It's harder than it sounds.

Also important Kundalini yoga information -- do not do breath of fire while menstruating, and also not during the second half of your cycle when you are TTC.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

story of someone who cured fibroids with raw food diet

Link here.

Your Happy Uterus

Happened upon this resource on the internet, a licensed acupuncurist she does phone consults on fibroids and other reproductive/sexual issues.  She also has some interesting products, including the Maya Abdominal Hortense's Formula that we have been talking about, and some detoxifying herbal clay packs for the abdomen and a "thighmaster for the vagina" that looks interesting.  Site link here.

Friday, August 20, 2010

a way to save on vitamins and other supplements

We fibroid shrinkers tend to spend a lot of various supplements.  I've been saving money on my various online purchases recently using Ebates (just got a rebate check from them for $73.00!)  They give you a percentage back (depending on the site) when you click through from their site to the online store you are shopping from.  Their stores of interest to fibroid shrinkers include drugstore.com, Gaiam, Vitamin Shoppe, Vitamin Creek, GNC, Vitamin World, Walgreens, and Vitamin Emporium.  Plus lots of others like J.C. Penney, Nordstrom, Walmart, Ebay, Target etc.  Worth checking out.  They are also currently giving $5 to everyone who signs up -- not sure how long that will last however.

miracle stories from women with high FSH / low AMF

Link is here.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Thursday, August 12, 2010

interesting research on how follicles develop

Researchers from Stanford and Japan, onto some interesting stuff.  Glad someone is researching this!

Stamino Gro

Happened along information for a supplement called Stamino Gro that is supposed to help with fertility through stimulating production of human growth hormone.  Sounds similar to what I am doing already (amino acids, vitamins and minerals), but may be more convenient for some people due to a variety of things mixed together in one package.  However, based on a brief search, it only appears to be available in New Zealand, U.K., and South Africa.

Monday, August 2, 2010

chenopodium ambrosioides for fibroids?

Saw online someone got a patent for a tea using this herb for fibroids.  Meanwhile, this site mentions anecdotal reports of it helping with fibroids and other tumors, but both that and this site mention it's an abortifacient so don't take if you are TTC!