Update On All My Natural Supplements

I have been researching a lot about natural supplements. I am no longer willing to do only as my doctor prescribes (although I will always continue to do all that he prescribes). There are so many other options outside of the medical world and as I feel more and more desperate to be as healthy as possible for my daughter I am now delving into the natural side of treating CF.

Part of me wants to start all the supplements I have been researching right away and see how it improves my health. The problem is I am the daughter of a scientist and so for me, this just isn't possible. I want to make sure each supplement works for me and that I can feel the difference. I don't want to waste time and money on things that don't work for my body.

I started juicing in April and after deciding I felt a positive difference, I enjoyed the taste, and genuinely liked juicing so I decided I continue to juice.

In June I started L-Glutathione and noticed a HUGE difference and loved the change. I decided it was absolutely worth my time and the cost. The first night of using it my mucus was so thin I actually woke up gurgling. This was such a dramatic difference that I instantly wished that I had done L-Glut since my diagnosis. But then, something not so miraculous happened. I started to feel tight. It was subtle at first, but over the next few days I felt much more tight to the point that I became hard to breath let alone move mucus at all. The only change I had made was L-Glut (which is why I didn't start everything new at once) so I immediately stopped it. I felt some relief within a day or two. In order to be a good scientist I want to try L-Glut again and see if it was a fluke (something in the air that made me tight like an allergen) or if it really was the cause of my extreme tightness. Honestly, I have been a little nervous to try again.

In July I started Fizzy NAC for the second time in my life. I felt like I had positive results two years ago when I was using it, but stopped when I got pregnant with K. I am not as impressed with it this time around. I don't seem to feel a huge difference, but my health has been a little rocky since I got the flu last winter and so maybe it is just harder to tell the difference it is making. I am still using it, but have not decided if I am going to buy another shipment.

In late June I started Liposomal Vitamin C. Again, I am not 100% convinced it does much. I haven't noticed the difference that a lot of my CF friends have noticed. I wonder if I was getting enough Vit C through my diet so I didn't really see a difference. Again, I am not sure if I will be buying more when my bottle runs out.

Juicing

I have been using the juicer my brother got me for my birthday everyday for the last month. I can officially say I love juicing (and so does my husband. Kaylee even gets a few sips. Her favorite is spinach, kale, apple, carrot, and celery juiced together. Strange kid!). Before I get to the health benefits, I will say I love juicing mainly because I simply love the taste of fresh juice, it is the most refreshing drink! I have yet to find a combination I don't like (granted, the only food I can think of that I don't like much is cilantro so maybe I am just easy to please when it comes to flavors?). I will admit that I have yet to build up the courage to try adding garlic to my juice which I read is really healthy, but yuck! I am finding I might have a slight addiction because fresh juice is the only thing I want to drink now and I seriously crave it.

Okay, as for health benefits. I really wanted to start juicing because I have been having such a hard time recovering from the flu. I have no energy and cant get back to feeling like myself. I will admit it is hard to know if the juice made the difference or if it was simply my body building back strength due to time, but I have been fever free for a few weeks now! I have more energy (stopped napping every day with Kaylee, although I still lay down with her every few days) and I feel much more me than I have in a long time. I am sure juicing played some role in my recent health, but I will never know exactly how much. With breastfeeding I know I am using a lot of the nutrients I eat to make milk and give to Kaylee so I feel grateful that I can make an extremely nutrient dense drink everyday to help replenish some of what I am giving away with each feeding.

I am really trying to juice foods that are high in the vitamins that CFers usually need more of so I always add carrots (Vitamin A) and often add kale (Vit A, C, and K). I am supposed to get my labs drawn at my next CF clinic so I will be curious to see what my levels are (especially since I nurse). I also juice carrot and apple (yum) often because it is supposed to help with inflammation and I have a pretty severe asthma component to my CF.

I will keep everyone posted on my juicing journey. I am excited to continue juicing and trying new recipes especially as the heat of summer is just around the corner.

Love and Honey

My husband and I try to have a family outing at least once a week. It is usually something free like going to the river or the park, but sometimes we will go out to eat or go to the zoo. We decided this Friday we would go on a picnic. When we woke up this morning it was really windy and with allergies in full force we decided to go to an early dinner in the city instead. After we finished eating and we were sitting back and talking a young attractive man came by and was cleaning the tables. My 9 month old daughter was transfixed. She stared at him wide eyed, watching his every move. She then started saying hi to him in her sweetest voice. He was too far away to hear her, but she kept at it. At one point she had to lean away from my husband and push him out of the way so she could keep her eyes glued to the young man cleaning tables. He was eventually close enough to hear her little, "hi". and he responded, but of course kept about his work. As he moved further away my smitten daughter decided to pull out the big guns to get his attention, blowing raspberries all while watching for his reaction. He traveled further away until he was out of site and my sweet daughter finally turned her attention back to us. At this point my husband and I were wiping tears from our eyes because we had never seen her respond to someone like that before and it was hilarious!

On our way home we stopped by a honeybee store to pick up local honey in hopes of reducing our reactions to spring allergies. The place was beyond adorable and despite the fact that it was only 5 blocks form our old apartment this was the first time I ever stepped foot in the store. The place was really busy and according to the owner it had been that way ever since allergy season hit. Here is to hoping that local honey along side my allergy pills this spring will be less allergy induced than last year. Anyone used local honey to reduce allergies?