Study – Grow – Know

Continuing Road to Health

January 30, 2019 at 11:42 AM 10 comments

We’ll get back to our study in the life of Joseph, but I wanted to share a bit more about my health and how the Lord has been working to bring me to a greater level of health overall. Wanted to also briefly share that my wife is doing very well. All your prayers are appreciated. She’ll be having the second phase of her reconstruction sometime this June. The doctor wants to wait until things are healed and settled nicely.

As those who have been following this blog for any length of time will know, I have cataloged my journey back to health. Five to six years ago, I weighed 255 pounds, had to use a CPAP machine, was on five blood pressure medications and in general, felt like garbage the majority of the time. The journey to health has been long and remarkable. I’m now 170 pounds and hope to get down to below 165 pounds if my body will cooperate with that. However, I now no longer use a CPAP machine and I’m only taking one (5mg) blood pressure pill daily.

In spite of all this growth and improved health, I’d forgotten one huge thing, which continues to impact me almost daily. Several years ago, I saw a doctor in Florida who specializes in allergies and fibromyalgia, an interesting combination. Even though it was out of “network” as far as our health insurance was concerned (meaning, they wouldn’t cover it), we thought it important to see what he could determine. After reading his book – The New Fibromyalgia Remedy – there appeared to be some connection with my own health issues.

Shortly after blood lab tests were done, he determined that the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) that most people get when they’re children (and which their immune systems generally fight off successfully), had somehow reactivated itself. I saw the results of my blood tests and it was interesting to see that the titers for EBV were off the charts. In other words, the lab’s scoring mechanism only went up to a 5 point something and it showed that my results were greater than that, but stopped measuring it once it hit the five mark. There’s actually quite a growing body of study and evidence that supports the idea that long periods of stress (as well as other issues), can weaken our immune systems to the point that things like EBV can be reactivated and ways to treat it. [1] [2] [3]

So, what does this mean? Unfortunately, what science and the medical community are finding out now is that a reactivated EBV can cause what is commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Interestingly enough, CFS and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) are often considered much the same because of the overlapping symptoms. However, with FMS, there is normally a good deal of constant pain and tenderness in roughly 18 specific areas on the person’s body. CFS often causes mainly a good deal of fatigue, though both can cause fatigue because both take tremendous toll on the immune system.

At any rate, my doctor began treating me with Valtrex, an anti-viral medication and studies have shown its efficacy. It took months before I began to feel somewhat better. In this case the anti-viral stops the virus from replicating itself pushing it back into remission. The problem of course, is that the EBV can come to the surface once again because it is never thoroughly destroyed, but only pushed back into remission. It can rear its ugly head again through a number of causes, mainly stress. It is the same with other types of viruses like Herpes, etc.

I’ve gotten used to starting and stopping my Valtrex to deal with my EBV. When I start feeling really fatigued and cannot think straight (brain fog), can’t find the right words, etc., I know that my EBV is coming back to the fore. So, I start taking Valtrex again and within a few weeks, it is once again pushed back into remission. One of the biggest keys to this is the amount of stress I might be experiencing at the time, which will weaken my immune system and allow the EBV to rise to the surface again.

I began wondering if there was a better way to deal with this whole problem. I wasn’t trying to second guess my doctor, but I was just wondering about other things like supplements. I really don’t like taking prescription medications but I am fully aware that sometimes, they are the best option so I’m not opposed to them completely. I simply prefer to eat right, making sure I’m getting the correct amount of nutritional supplementation, instead of relying solely on prescriptions.

But over the past month or so, I noticed that in addition to my fatigue that was restarting, I was also noticing an increase in anxious and there was absolutely no explanation for it. There was no earthly reason why I should be anxious. My body and brain also began at the same time to feel very weak and fatigued. I of course thought that I should start retaking Valtrex, which I did, but that didn’t help as much as it had done previously. What to do?

Our new puppy, Buster. Rescued after being dumped behind a grocery store at about 8 weeks old. Bitten by a snake and blind in his right eye, he’s an extremely intelligent and compliant boy. We are blessed to have him.

We have a new puppy and as most puppies, this boy has energy so we try to take him for a walk daily and make sure he has play time as well. We are blessed to live across the road from a 1300 acre farm and the owner allows us to walk on it nearly whenever we want. It was during several of these walks that I began to pour out my heart to God about my health issues as I had done previously. I explained that I really needed help knowing what to do about my fatigue and anxiety. I knew there were certain medications that could help (including anti-anxiety and/or anti-depressant meds), but as I said, I don’t like to automatically go that route. My heart was heavy because I am only 61 but feeling like I imagined an eighty-year-old plus to feel. I really did not know what to do at all. I was at my wit’s end, but still trying to trust the Lord that He had not abandoned me to my own devices and problems. Scripture is clear that He does not do that.

But it is interesting the way the Lord works. For some reason, I began researching the possibility of a “reactivated EBV” and surprisingly, I found numerous websites that offer medical studies related to this particular medical problem. The more I researched, the more I found. I’m not sure why I had not found this info before but maybe I was looking for the wrong thing. At any rate, I came across several people who found that a particular protocol – SHIN – put forth by a Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum had worked for them. I was intrigued so I began to do more research.

What is fascinating is that, like the doctor I see in Florida, Teitelbaum also went through a very bad time in his life when fatigue crippled him. In his papers and research, he found that people who suffer from CFS do benefit from things like Valtrex…IF their CFS is a result of reactivated EBV, like mine.

But more importantly for me, Teitelbaum talked about a nutritional program (the “N” in “SHIN”) that, when followed, helps heal the body in a very big way. I began devouring his book and learned that some things I had been taught a few years back (but forgot) by naturopaths were things he swore by and there were actually studies that proved their efficacy. For instance, adding Ribose to your nutritional arsenal on a daily basis is extremely important and he thoroughly discusses why this is the case. In short, Ribose is a naturally occurring sugar created in our bodies that help rebuild our bodies “furnaces” (the mitochondria at the cellular level). It’s not a table sugar, or a man-made sugar. It is a different type of sugar altogether and one that is required by our bodies.

I had taken Ribose previously, but didn’t really notice anything. Either I didn’t know what to look for or my overall health at that particular time was terrible so results might not have been readily seen at least not for several months. Our body desperately needs Ribose and under normal conditions can make its own. However, when we become overly stressed, our body begins to shut down certain things to conserve energy. It can no longer do all the things a healthy person’s body does. Ribose production goes way down.

Dr. Teitelbaum discusses in-depth the value of not only Ribose, but Acetyl-L-Carnitine, CoenzymeQ10 and several other nutritional supplements. He then provides further information in the Appendix. The more I study these things, the more I realize how wonderfully and carefully we were created by God. Our bodies were meant to be healthy and even though we have the sin nature and all live under a sentence of death, we do not need to spend the last years of our life suffering from these that can be avoided as we approach our last day on this earth.

I don’t know about you, but I would like to be at my best, health wise. I know that I’m eating right and that I avoid nearly all highly processed foods. I eat organic whenever possible and pass by all the garbage that passes off for food these days. I’m learning that this is not enough. Our bodies need more and at least some of that is found within the nutritional supplementation department. Certainly some is found in the prescriptive medication department as well.

I still marvel at how obese I used to be and when I see people who are as I was, laboring under the burden of trying to carry their own body’s weight and shuffling along as they do barely able to walk, my heart goes out to them. You want to go up to them and tell them, “Hey, I used to be like you! All you need to do is stop eating and drinking garbage and add some supplements to your diet to see things start to turn around!” We feel the same way when we see people who are lost and attempt to get them to understand their need for salvation, don’t we?

I’m hoping that this is the final stage of my health journey. Six years ago, I would’ve never seen myself here, but I continue to marvel at how fat I was with the resultant health issues that were so prevalent. Today, while I’m much thinner and much healthier, it appears the Lord has shown me that there are a few other things I need to include in my daily regimen in order to improve my health even more.

I’m not looking to live forever in this life. That won’t happen and I’m looking forward to putting on my glorified body. I do believe though that God wants us to be as healthy as we possibly can be so that we wind up living well up until the day He takes us home.

It has been a long road and I’m hopeful this is the last leg of this health journey. I’m very grateful for where I am today and look forward to improving my health even more so that the fatigue, anxiety, and even ringing in the ears may well be a thing of the past.

Even if you do not officially have CFS or FMS, the important principles in Dr. Teitelbaum’s book can help. Are you experiencing unexplained fatigue, exhaustion, brain fog or other things that seem to have no real explanation? Your body is trying to tell you it’s missing some things that will help bring it back to health.

Like embracing salvation, embracing health is your choice. Choose wisely.

[1] https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/energy/two-key-supplements-for-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-treatment/

[2] https://www.healthrising.org/forums/resources/dr-myhills-criteria-for-beginning-treatment-with-valtrex.182/

[3] http://www.treatmentcenterforcfs.com/documents/MECFSTreatmentResourceGuideforPractitioners.pdf

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