Finding my way
Dear Andreas
Thankyou so much for taking the time to read this. I've just read it over and realised I sound very formal - I'm sorry about that - I'd like to sound friendly but it must just be one of those days!
I'm 26 and have had a lung problem ever since I had pneumonia nearly 2 years ago. I've recently qualified from medical school so have exhausted all allopathic investigations and treatment. My main symptom is excessive phlegm, which is exacerbated by dust, weather change, cold, alcohol, dairy, large meals, and numerous other factors. On a good day I only cough it up in the morning. I have some bronchospasm. When my problem is triggered (eg sometimes just being in a carpeted room will do it) I sometimes get aches and pains in my chest which are relieved when I've coughed up the phlegm. Untill recently I was getting very frequent infections. I was also quite tired (less so now) and often had a sore throat with enlarged cervical lymph nodes.
I haven't responded well to any Western medication, including high dose steroids. About a year ago I begun to change my approach to the problem. I had an extremely unhealthy lifestyle (too much alcohol, staving/binge eating, drugs (methamphetamine) and the list goes on). I've gradually made changes so that now I am eating an organic diet, high in fresh vegetables and fruit (and juices), no alcohol (which I'd begun to stop tolerating anyway), no caffeine, no refined sugar/flour, no dairy, very little meat (but don't want to rely entirely on suplemented B12), and no drugs! I am also seeing a Chinese doctor who has helped enormously and feels I can get over this in time. I'm using herbs and accupunture and wearing a mask when in polluted areas. I've had food sensitivity testing and have cut out all those I'm sensitive to. It's only for the last 3 weeks that all the above have come into place - I changed things a bit at a time over the year as that works best for me.
My symptoms have improved a lot and I'm starting to feel grateful to my illness for guiding me to make these changes when I did. I now have a very different outlook on health and disease. I still have quite a way to go and would obviously like to recover fully if possible.
I'd like to know if there's anything else you would advise. I've been considering liver flushing but thought I should ask you first. I do have Gilbert's syndrome so although in Western medical terms my liver functions fine, it probably eliminates toxins at a slightly sub-optimal level (until the last 3 weeks I was jaundiced for about a year). I've been doing 3 coffee enemas a week (for 3 weeks) and taking milk-thistle to aid my liver function (though I think this helps with phase 1 not 2, so perhaps with Gilbert's this is not necessarily a good thing - unsure). I've read that flushing may not be a good idea for someone with Gilbert's either. I'd really value your opinion on this and my situation in general.
Many many thanks again for reading - I wrote more than I intended, sorry! I've also realised I seem to rather like brackets - I hope they don't make it too hard to read.
p.s. 3 weeks is no longer quite accurate as I wrote this a little while ago and have only just caught your page open.
Another note. I posted this a little while ago. I realise I focus very much on physical symptoms in my message. Although I am trying to become physically healthy, I don't isolate this from my spiritual health any longer. It sounds strange to me to say this but I feel I was meant to become ill. I have learnt a lot from it. My questions about liver flushing etc still apply, but I am not looking for a quick fix to my problem.
I won't add any more!
Thankyou so very much for your time