Suffering With Joy

Beating Essential Tremor and Bad Hair

July 13, 2010

One of the greatest blessings given my husband and me this year has been our help from Dr. Stuart Hoover, NHD. Following his advice, Roger lowered his blood pressure to normal without drugs in two weeks and markedly increased his energy levels and stamina.  As for myself, this very skeptical lady has become convinced that there is definitely hope after all.

When I started following Dr. Hoover’s recommendations we were focusing on several key issues verified through saliva testing, which is far more indicative of certain problems than blood testing:

1. Gluten sensitivity,
2. Severe adrenal fatigue,
3. Estrogen dominance.

We also focused on the head, arms and hand tremors I inherited from my mother.  These are known as essential familial tremor and differ from Parkinson’s disease. They get worse when I’m tired and have limited a lot of my activities.  All the conventional literature on this problem indicates that the condition worsens with age and that little can be done for it, although sometimes brain surgery can help.

Aside from the fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue issues I wanted to improve, I told Dr. Hoover there were a couple of other areas I wanted to see results in.

1.  My hair has been thin most of my adult life, and got so scant on top I could see scalp front to back after my hip surgeries.  A year after the operations nothing was coming back.  So growing back thinning hair is a big thing to me.  It will never be thick but I really wanted to see a lot more of it on top.

2.  I wanted to see my tremors walked back and if possible, eliminated along with the ulnar nerve damage in both arms.

These were tough challenges no one has ever been able to meet to date.  I’ve had the tremors since my early twenties and bad hair since then, too.

Since mid-April I’ve been gluten free which has vastly improved absorption of nutrients and supplements.  How do I know this?  Because I am growing HAIR!!!! – on my head – where it’s thin. My husband, friends and hairdresser have noticed the improvement.  True, there’s a long way to go, but no other health professional has helped me with this issue even though I’ve asked every M.D. I’ve ever seen.

Dr. Hoover put me on his own formulation for adrenal stress that is loaded with B vitamins.  He also put me on Neuroplex for myelin sheath improvement.  It has a lot of B vitamins, too.  In addition I take a multi-vitamin, D3, Iodoral, DHEA and other supplements.  This combination is also working.  Friends, family, and Dr. Hoover have noticed that my tremor is markedly improved. Moreover, after doing chores like chopping veggies, harvesting in the garden, weeding, and doing minor housework, my recovery time for the use of my arms and hands has also markedly improved. I can now rest for an hour or so and have the energy and control to get up and do something else.  For me, this is HUGE.  In the space of two and a half months there is obvious improvement.

How far will this go?  I don’t know.  But I do thank God for bringing Dr. Hoover into our lives.  We may be limited still, but we are able to function better.  The systemic issues plaguing us may just be made right, and all without drugs. Sure, we all have to die sometime, and I’m not doing this to live longer, just to live with better health.  It’s something I wish for everyone.

Dr. Hoover helps people from all over the country.  If you have health issues and you believe there has to be something better for you than what you are presently doing, find a good natural health doctor to consult with.  Dr. Hoover’s web site is e2health.com and I recommend him highly.

Tags: wellness

Asthma and Vitamin D Deficiency

April 6, 2010

The incidence of asthma is growing, especially among children.  One thing that seems to be an underlying cause is a vitamin D deficiency. I am writing about this because I know so many people who suffer from asthma, and if you have a chronic problem such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, lupus or other autoimmune problems, any other health difficulty makes the major problem much harder to deal with.

Only 5% to 37% of American infants meet the American Academy of Pediatrics standard for daily consumption of vitamin D – a mere 400 IU per day. This dose is required to prevent rickets, but it is not nearly enough to protect from other diseases. Who gets sick and who doesn’t may be affected by genetics and environment, but the more researchers study vitamin D deficiencies, the more they find that a key factor in many illnesses is not enough vitamin D.  One key problem parents should know about is that most blood levels of D considered “normal” are actually too low.  To reap the greatest health benefits from vitamin D, the blood test 25 OH D should result in a reading of 60ng/ml.  From Dr. Mercola’s site are recommended daily dosages of vitamin D and a warning:

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that poor diets and lack of vitamin D among mothers were determining factors in whether their children suffered from asthma, quite apart from the D levels of the child after birth.  Another issue of the journal calls the need to have an effective intake of vitamin D “urgent”.

Dr. Mercola says:

If you get your child’s levels to about 60 ng/ml, there’s a strong likelihood — especially if you combine it with exercise and balancing out her omega 3 and omega 6 fats as described below — that she will not experience asthma anymore.

He also points out:

Advair, for example, contains the long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol. A 2006 analysis found that regular use of LABAs can increase the severity of an asthma attack. Researchers estimate that salmeterol may contribute to as many as 5,000 asthma-related deaths in the United States each year.

Conventional asthma treatments can also increase your risk of heart disease and osteoporosis, just to name a few.

To read the full article on the subject of vitamin D deficiency and asthma in children, go to Mothering Magazine. As far as adults go, look hard at keeping vitamin D levels adequate.  It is very inexpensive and has no side effects. Parents, ask for the 25 OH D blood test for all your children.  It could save their lives.

Tags: chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, wellness