Pushing My Cholesterol Down from 265 to 191

 Since following my husband on the low-fat plant based diet, I have been able to keep my cholesterol hovering between 170 1o 194 up until the last five years, at which time, despite following a low fat plant based diet, my cholesterol started creeping up to 215, to 235, to 265!!!

Being in denial, I would slip a nut in here and there, and a piece of 100% sugarfree dark chocolate in here and there, and during Covid-19 shut downs, my weight shot up ten pounds.

The 265 level was the wake up call, and I decided it was time to get very serious and follow the Esseltyn plan to the T.  

I started strictly eating low fat plant based 100%, with no artificial sweeteners, no sweeteners, and no flours, not even whole grained for ten days.  And of course, avoided all fats like nuts, avocadoes, and oils, plus, avoided anything with a mother or a face until March 29th.  

 On March 29th, I self-referred to Quest Direct labs for a full lipid profile, and my cholesterol tested to a mainstream medical safe level of a total of 191!!!!!  

This was the first time I was able to drive down the cholesterol below 200 in five years despite much consultation and hand wringing with two primary physicians over whether to take statins or not. 

 I felt like I could play with this for a while until the 265 level cropped up, but now I know I must be strict, and that a comforting thought is I am an addition to the thousands of Esseltyn followers who have faced their genetics and defied them by driving cholesterol down through nutrition.

My goal is now to get my cholesterol down to under 150, and I'm sure I can do it now!!!  

Here are my numbers:  191 total cholesterol, HDL 53, LDL 115 (a little high but much better), triglyceries 120.

I'm so happy!!!

Update on My Husband's Heart Journey

This is going to be a really short post.  I kind of stopped losing interest in blogging for a few years, so unfortunately, no updates.  

However, this was also an indicator of good news, in that there was no need to report any bad news on my husband's condition.  

Today I was cleaning up my Google account and noticed I had not updated on this blog for two years.  So, here it is.  

Currently, my husband still weighs 215 pounds, that's down from 275, and he has maintained this weight since 214.  His heart disease, as shown by a angiography has cleared up, and his latest cholesterol total is 107.  

He is still on a strict plant-based diet, and "medication free".  I say this in quotes because he is taking natural supplements to keep his cholesterol low.  

He takes berberine, red yeast rice, magnesium, vitamin D3, and Coq10.  

To determine the best dosages and brands of these, we bought a subscription to ConsumerLab, and read all of the articles and looked at the lab text results of the supplements they tested and ordered the supplements suggested on Amazon.  

He is vibrant, healthy, and can still run up and down the basketball court giving his boys a run for their money.  

My Way of Dealing with SVT

I have suffered from SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia) for eight years.  When I first started having trouble with it, I would go into SVT frequently enough that my cardiologist recommended I could see an cardiac interventionalist if I wanted to.  Back then I was going into SVT every few weeks.

For the last four years, I have been going into SVT once per year, and I am able to convert into regular heart rhythm within minutes instead of tens of minutes. 

Here is my theory....

Those of us who suffer from SVT have an errant extra electrical pathway, and sometimes something happens to make the heart forget which pathway to use.  Usually for me it's a constellations of things, stomach upset, stress, and having a cold or something at the same time.  Also, sometimes dehydration can be in that trigger mix.

My theory is that when my heart gets tickled by my hiatal hernia in the case of having a full stomach and doing something to push my stomach up to physically hitting my heart, the heart gets off it's rhythm through that physical tickling of the heart by the stomach and does some sort of hiccup or pause caused by that physical touch of the stomach.  It would be similar to touching a butterfly when it's moving it's wings back and forth, when you touch them, the wings stop momentarily, and I believe in people with SVT, when the stomach touches the heart it also stops momentarily.  And then when it tries to get back on rhythm, it sometimes finds the wrong extra pathway that is the pathway characteristic of SVT.

If I am stressed, my stomach is sick, or if I have a cold, I become more vulnerable to my heart not being able to recover from that physical tickling and goes into SVT much more easily.

When I go into SVT my heart is usually beating about 150 beats per minute (more if I am anxious or panicky).

My theory is that in order for my heart to find it's normal pathway I need to get it to slow down.  If I can get my heart down to about 120 beats per minute, it seems to find it's normal pathway and converts.   It's like there's this open door and my heart needs to find it, and it does if I can get the heart rate down close to that door by calming down.

When I first started having SVT, I used to panic, and I would urgently try every vasal vagal maneuver I could, and when that maneuver didn't work, I would panic more and my heart rate would go up even higher.  The period of which I was in SVT would be prolonged to the point I would beg someone to take me to urgent care and while on the ride over, knowing I would soon be under medical care, I would start to relax, and my heart would convert on the way to Urgent Care.

Last night, I was at a neighbors house standing up in her front yard.  I had just had dinner and quite a full stomach.  While standing there talking to her, I was laughing and I crossed my arms over my fat stomach which put pressure on my bloated stomach, and immediately my heart went into a trigeminy rhythm, followed by SVT. 

I explained to my neighbor that I was in SVT, and it alarmed her, but as I was telling her about how it all works, in my mind I was thinking, "just pretend you are okay, and calm down, and ride through this. You aren't going to die." 

As I was explaining it to her and trying to keep my normal composure, I suddenly relaxed, and all of the sudden I converted.  I was in SVT for less than a minute!  It's crazy, but just ignoring the SVT as urgent as it felt was the action that stopped it.  Those of us in SVT feel so urgent about stopping the SVT we cause more harm them good by trying to stop it when for some of us, just going about  business as usual and trying not to think about it, can be the very thing to stop it.

In the past, I have always asked for a big glass of cold water to drink when I have SVT.  I think the cold water triggers the vagus nerve to vibrate and helps my heart to get back on regular rhythm.  Plus, the drinking usually distracts me from the panic, and I usually quickly convert. 

I've had SVT's last up to 45 minutes, but lately, they have converted in less than ten, and most in less than a minute.

This time, last night, I didn't have water, I didn't have a place to lie down, which I usually seek for, and I didn't even have a place to sit.  Yet, the technique of distracting my mind from panic helped my heart to ease it's pace to the point that it was able to find that door to regular rhythm, and I converted without feeling worn out or tired. 

I realize that this might not work for all people, and it might not always be the case as I grow older, but I also realize that this information can be helpful to many SVT sufferers which is why I am sharing it.

I have only been having about one prolonged SVT per year.  Prolonged for me means over a minute.  I will go into SVTs that convert in ten seconds or less about five times a year now. 

 My rules for avoiding SVT or at least making them bearable are:

1.  Manage stress (I had accompanied a choir on four pieces at the piano in front of an audience of 300 people yesterday making me susceptible to SVT)

2.  Get enough rest

3.  Don't get dehydrated

4.  Control your allergies in whatever way you can, especially food allergies that upset the stomach, i.e. gluten.

5.  If you are sick don't over do.

6.  If you have a hiatal hernia, as I do, don't overstuff your stomach.

7.  Stay off of rollercoaster rides that make you go upside down.  I have gone into SVT twice on Rockin' Rollercoaster, but I usually convert on the second loop.  LOL!  The first upside down experience puts me in SVT, and the second takes me out.  I have only tested this twice.

8.  Don't raise your arms up above your head while your heart rate is already up.  It pulls other internal organs up against your heart and moves your vagus nerve around.  Last year I went into SVT walking through a parking lot.  I was really chatty, and laughing and raising my arms up, and one got triggered.  I felt so stupid.

9.  Don't bend over to pick things up at the waist.  Bend at the knees. Again, it pushes internal organs up against your heart.

10.  Get checked for celiac disease.  I'm a celiac, and I know of other celiac's that have SVT.  If you are, stay away from gluten.

11.  Don't eat sugar, fried foods, high fat foods, or any foods that you know cause damage to the stomach lining, like caffeinated drinks, or create discomfort for the stomach.  The vagus nerve gets stimulated by a sore, sick, or inflamed stomach, and since it is connected to the heart also, when it is stimulated, it will stimulate the heart and trigger SVT.

Anyway, these are my impressions on SVT, learned from many years of SVT experience.  I really hope this will help other SVT sufferers!  Let's hope we all improve as we work to calm down our worried minds.

Taken Off of Statins

This may, happily, be my last post for a while.  I know it's been a while since I've posted too.

Since the last post, our family has moved cross country and DH, thankfully, has a new cardiologist.  This was a very good change since this new doctor has more faith in dietary treatment of heart disease.  We didn't know that he would be that way.  We just chose him because he was close to DH's work and had the best reviews from Google.

Well,  he ordered a nuclear stress test for DH, and the results showed no signs of heart disease.  I call that a reversal.  This is what the Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease program has proven over the decades, and this is the goal.  It is what we have realized with years of faith in the studies.

His latest numbers  Total Cholesterol 144, HDL 35 (and the doc says because the total is so low he can't see the HDL being able to go higher - this goes against what our previous doc would say), triglycerides 165 (a little high because he eats a lot of fruit), and LDL 76 (very good!).

Yesterday, the doctor said, "Keep doing those natural things that you are doing.  They are working!"

And then he offered to take DH off of the statins.  "What!!!!!??????""  Dr. Martin said DH would never get off of the statins no matter what his numbers were.

But, Dr. Grullion says that the statins are hampering DH ability to exercise and were the cause of his calf muscle exploding two years ago.

He said if DH can reach the 45 cardio three times a week, the statins will not be needed, and he needs to go off the statins to be able to exercise.

Anyway, that is our report.  I will be checking the blog for comments once in a while and answering any questions that come up, but this chronicle was for the sole purpose of following our experiment and documenting the journey to provide hope and education to, particularly, young heart disease patients.

You might check back for updates, but I have a new project brewing, so probably won't be updating much, if any.

Many thanks to those who have followed this blog with an open mind.  The diet works.  DH is our personal proof!  Best of wishes and luck to all of you heart patients out there who desire to take your heart health into your own hands and try this approach.

Three Years After Stent Placement and New Lipid Profile Numbers

DH's last stent placement was three years ago this week.  From that time he has been following Dr. Caldwell Esseltyn's low fat plant based diet program to reverse his heart disease.  http://www.heartattackproof.com

Every three to six months we have had his lipid profile to see if the diet is working.  His numbers continue to improve.

Today he had his lipids checked again, and these are his numbers:

Total Cholesterol: 104
Triglycerides:        166
LDL:                        38
HDL                         33

And now he has his glucose checked and it was at 87.

Take a look at his numbers last time:

Total Cholesterol:  157
HDL:                        28
Triglycerides          198
LDL:                        90

In past months his doctor has always gotten on his case for the LDL, but look in the huge drop, it went from 166 to 90.

I will say that he is on 10 mg. of Atorvastin three times a week, but this is a decrease in medication from a daily dose of 40 mg. of Simvastatin, and the pharmacist told him to tell the doctor he doesn't need to take the statins anymore.

He is not on anything else, no adrenaline blockers, or beta blockers.

Want to know what he eats every day?

Breakfast:  1 huge bowl of oatmeal, 15 frozen cherries, and 1/2 grapenuts
Snack:  1 cucumber
Lunch:  1 large potato, refried beans, 1/4 salsa, 2 T sugar free ketchup, and 2 tablespoons of mustard

(okay, I can't get into the mustard, but he has developed a taste for it)

A discussion on potatoes:

People say that russets cause blood sugar problems, and weight gain, but not for DH.  Russets are what he has added to the diet since the last test and look at the numbers!

Since he has added potatoes to his regime, his glucose has gone from 110 to 87.  The numbers don't lie.  He has also lost 10 pounds, so where is the problem with the potato I ask?

The problem is what is added to the potato.  Dr. Neal Barnard has proven that it is the fat added to the potato in the form of butter and sour cream that drives up the blood sugar.  I was once pre-diabetic and I have tested out this theory over and over again testing my blood sugar frequently and as long as I eat the russet with the skins, and stick to one large, not over eating, my blood sugar stays below 125 during digestion, and goes back to the mid 80s two hours after.

Continuing on with what he eats during the day.......

Snack:  Banana, and or apple.

Dinner:  Dinner almost always consists of something really starchy, whatever the paleo low carbers would call taboo: brown rice pasta, another huge potato, or brown rice.

Examples of dinner meals:

Pasta with low or no oil marinara sauce
Pasta with a veg cheese sauce I make out of blended cooked cauliflower, garbanzo beans, and nutritional yeast.
baked yellow potatoes, ketchup, no oil homemade hummus.
Stir fry with no oil added.

Like I said dinner always has something very starchy and he eats as much as he wants, and at a least a couple of veggies in the from of stir-fry salad, cooked veggies, etc.  Then he also has fresh fruit for dessert as sweet as he wants, like pineapple, and as much as he wants.

He also does something else the diet experts would call deplorable, he eats a huge bowl of oatmeal before bedtime.

He has lost 75 pounds and maintained that weight.  The only exercise he does is 10 minutes of strength training three times per week, and puttering around the house.

I have friends and family struggling with life threatening health crisis as I speak now.  This diet works, and I pray for you that you might give it a try because it is an easy way to live and it's does work to reverse conditions that not even medical intervention has been able to do.   We've been at this for three years, and the proof is in the pudding.  He lifted a 26 cubic foot refrigerator into the back of a pickup yesterday and didn't even break a sweat.

Saturday night we walked two blocks to an event in downtown and I couldn't keep up with him.  He had no breathlessness, no sweating, no dizziness, no left arm heaviness and pain.

Three years ago, he couldn't walk to the end of the block.

How many people do you know who have had heart procedures that have gone for three years without heart medications and without having a degradation in their heart health?  I struggle to find one person.

How many people do you know that have diabetes, or have been diagnosed pre-diabetic, as DH had, reverse their diabetes without medical intervention in the form of pills?  I know many, but all of them are people I have only seen on the Internet, and are doing this diet.  I don't know any personally, except for one and he works hard physically, and has changed his diet, but doesn't do a low-fat plant based diet, but he is on a good diet, but let me make this a long sentence and say he does a lot of hard physical labor.  DH does not.

I only want to bring this up because it has been three years now, and DH has now become one of Dr. Esselstyn's hundreds of statistics that have supported the studies that a low-fat plant based diet reverses heart disease, and if your doctor is saying there isn't anymore he can do for you, and you are crippled by your chronic condition, there is hope that there are answers in this diet.  If you are up against a wall, try this diet.  You don't go hungry, you can eat how much you want (if your a guy), and when you want, and still heal the chronic condition.

All you need is education to learn how to prepare the foods, and setting it as a priority in your lives.

DH is a busy man, works for corporate America, eats out at restaurants because his business requires it, but he has learned how to bring foods to work that keep him going through the day, and he has learned how to order only from the menu what he can eat.  If he can do it, you can to.

My Method for Converting an Episode of Supraventricular Tachycardia

I have been a supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) sufferer for three years.  I have celiac disease and my episodes tend to happen on the heals of being glutened.

The first few episodes I had of SVT lasted for a very long time, and one episode had to be arrested with adenosine by paramedics, but I have since been able to convert my heart back into a normal rhythm by doing the following.

1.  Drink one big glass of cold water.
2.  Lie down or sit down (if you don't have a place to lie down).  I have converted before during sitting, but lying down is much more comforting.
3.  Then I take deep slow breaths while I think "slow down your heart rate and the heart will convert."

The idea behind this is that if I can get my heart rate down to about 110 beats per minute, my heart will find it's naturally slow path way and convert back to it.

I have had doctors tell me to do vasal vagal maneuvers to convert my SVT into a normal heart rhythm, but when I do them and they don't work, I get panicky and my heart rate shoots up even higher and then adrenaline feeds the the process and prolongs it.

I believe that all of my SVT's are caused by my vasal vagal nerve.  Most of the time, I am either on my period, which I am today, and did have an SVT episode today, or when I have been glutened, which I was over the weekend, or when my stomach ulcer is flaring.

The uterus, the stomach, and the heart are all linked to the vasal vagal nerve and the heart can be affected by an inflamed and irritated uterus or stomach.

The idea by the calm slow breathing is to calm down the vasal vagal nerve.  The vasal vagal nerve is also very affected by thought, and that is why some people faint when they see blood, or have other anxious moments.

The controlling of thoughts is very effective in treating SVT, in my opinion.  It is very effective to think of that vasal vagal nerve as the culprit, like a three year old that is having a temper tantrum.

Doing what you can to calm that nerve seems to go a long way to not only converting an SVT, but addressing anxiety and anxious moments in general, and visualizing your thoughts calming down that nerve can pull you out of a panic attack and SVT.

Now this is just my opinion.  I am not a doctor, but I have talked to six doctors about my SVT.  All of them have had ideas of how to convert, but the only person who was successful in helping me to understand what to do was a grocery store nurse in an Urgent Care satellite whose sweetness and calm nature was able to help me convert on my second SVT.

I have just done a lot of studying, and 100% of the time I've been able to convert since I started to visualize my vagus nerve.

Another important factor is to make sure you don't bend at the waist ever.  Today I did it, and whammo, I felt the thump in my chest, and the bunny kicking really hard, really fast in my chest after the thump.  I knew what I had done to cause it.

I have had over a dozen SVTs in my life and nine of them have been caused by bending at the waist.  Another was caused by a moment of intense anger, another by a near car accident, and another by eating past my stomach's capacity.

If you have SVT, you might get checked for a hiatal hernia.  If I had to make a guess, I would not have SVT issues without my hernia.

I hope this helps.  There is a lot of complicated SVT information out there, and I hope that I am able to offer simple relief, and calm, happy thoughts for those who suffer from this condition as I do.

Cholesterol Numbers Update - MEDICATION FREE

Today DH and I had our semi-annual date to Walgreen's to have our cholesterol tested......

DH had not taken his statins, or any other heart medications for four months.  Here are his totals....

157 total
198 triglycerides
90   LDL
28   HDL  If you don't have that much trash to take out, you don't need that big of a truck to carry it out.

Overall, we are very happy with these numbers. When we were in the waiting area waiting for the results, I was setting myself for bad news, like a total of 190, or something.  I was so delighted to see that without the statin drugs he was still close to 150.

A further comment on this, is that he confessed that he ate a huge bowl of oatmeal right before bedtime, which was within the time he was told to fast, so I think this effected the results, especially his high triglycerides level.

I am looking forward to a time when we can get a fully fasting results.  I am sure they would be even better.

I can say that after 2 1/2 years of frequently testing my husband's cholesterol while on and off statins, with and without exercise that Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., M.D.'s Reverse and Prevent Heart Disease is protective and does work.  We have tested it out under many different scenarios. And you can see how great the results have been for DH overtime.

Below is a spreadsheet that we have kept of our test results.



DH has been under 150 since he started the program while on statins.  This is his second test off of the statins.  The last test, done in August, he was at 149, and although he is at 157 today, I feel confident that at this moment he is still at a very low risk for a heart attack.

All of his heart disease symptoms, i.e. fatigue, ED, sweatiness, sleep apnea have completely reversed.  And people tell him he looks ten years younger than he did two years ago.

Being off of the medications and free of the side effects, I would not baulk if he stayed at 157 the rest of his life.  Plus, whose to say that the little drop of blood on the instant test at Walgreen's is foolproof? Additionally, since he ate late last night, not being fully fasting when he had the test, I would venture to say that made an impact on the results, as well.  In any case, the results are good.

I also bet that a 12 hour fast would have produced more accurate and happier results, but we are happy with these results because these numbers were off of the medications for many months, and with a small tweek here and there with exercise, I think we can get these numbers to the heart attack proof level.

Being medication free means he can exercise because he is now pain free. Being off of the medications means he can now exercise to nudge his numbers just a little bit more.  Until he stopped the statins, he couldn't exercise due to the pain.  While on the statins, he severely tore his gastrocnemius muscle (a large calf muscle) and was on crutches for two months.

The day he stopped his meds was the day he got off of the crutches, and the injury healed quickly afterward. That was also the day his widespread muscle pains stopped.

Now he can run, play basketball, work in the yard, and hasn't complained about pain for two months.

You have to be careful to make sure that pill you are taking for a cure doesn't prevent the cure.  In our case, the statins were making DH sedentary and aging him.

Now pain free, medication free, and still having very nice cholesterol numbers, we are looking forward and not looking back, and more committed to the diet than ever.

A Two Year Past Stent Placement Thanksgiving!

Today is the day before Thanksgiving and I have a lot to be thankful for.  Anyone who has been through hearing that "you're husband has one 99% blocked artery and the other 100% blocked" who has seen him not have a heart attack and not only survive but thrive two years later does have a lot to be thankful for!!!

DH had his 99% blocked artery stented two years ago on October 18th and his 100% blocked artery stented December 6th, six weeks after the first procedure.

Yesterday was his six month check-up with his cardiologist and together they had a bit of a celebration.  His cholesterol still mains safely below heart attack level at 125 total, 72 LDL, 30 HDL (the highest it has ever been), and 117 for triglycerides.

He continues to maintain his 75 pound weight loss without exercise, without counting carbs, without counting calories.

Three months after the second stent placement he was taken off of Lisonpril, which is a medication given to control the adrenaline response (and makes a person feel very unalive).  Three months later he was taken off of his metatoprolol (which controls blood pressure), and yesterday his statin drug was cut in half to 10 mg. and now he only has to take it three days per week.  We were told this would never happened.  Guess what?  It happened.  And we have now, also, been invited to our cardiologist special event in February to be his special guest at his Mind, Body, and Soul seminar.

Now, I'm going to talk about something very personal.  Women, you need to know that erectile dysfunction is a sign that shows some months or years before a heart problem is discovered.   This is not a sign of old age.  This is a sign of heart disease.

 I heard somewhere that the average is three years, but I wouldn't say that if this condition shows up all of the sudden that you should say, "I have three years to mess around with this."

This is a huge warning sign that your husband needs to change his lifestyle.  Educate yourself and encourage him to educate himself on how to prepare and eat low-fat plant based foods.  If he's not having any chest, arm pain, or fatigue, the new diet should help the problem. But that doesn't mean he's not having trouble with his heart.

If he's having chest pain, it's my personal opinion that he should have the cardiologist have a look see to see how bad the damage is.   It's not a time to listen to the radio commercials and have them take testosterone supplements, or nitric oxide pills.  It's a time to have him change immediately to a low-fat plant based diet. and a moderate exercise program.

I truly believe that we could have avoided both stents if we had been patient with the diet and let it do it's work, but since he was in a lot of pain, I'm glad we took a combined approach to use the medical approach for pain relief and diet to ensure future health and well-being.

You can go the medical route, totally, and take all of the medications offered and do okay, but I'm saying that having lived it, the lifestyle change approach not only prevents a heart attack but it has a high chance of ensuring well-being and taking away the looming fear of a future heart event.  Peace of mind is the result.

I strongly recommend, based on my experience, that if your husband has issues with ED and other heart disease symptoms, that you have him see a cardiologist and have a CT angiography ordered.  If there are signs of plaque, then he needs to go on the diet and stay on it, and this very well could avoid a heart event, and reverse the disease.  However, it is my opinion that everyone needs follow this diet.  I am following it myself even though I have heatlhy heart (tests confirmed).

Without violating too many sacred details, I will just say that this condition, which was so very frustrating and embarrassing has completely reversed and life for us is like it was when we were much younger.

 Do you know that that means in regards to his arterial health???????  It means that the plaque in his arteries, throughout his body is reversing.

Today I'm cooking a low-fat plant based Thanksgiving.

What's on the menu?

Bean Loaf (Jeff Novick Style)
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes (no butter or marshmallows added)
Fruit Salad
Vanilla Ice Cream (made from bananas, maple syrup a touch of vanilla, and chia seeds)
Green Salad
Whole Wheat low fat bread
Peas

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm looking forward to many more with DH which is an awesome thought when you think that Thanksgiving two years ago might have been our last together.  I am just amazed at the miracles we have seen and the blessings we have received.

A Raptured Calf and Statin Experiment

On June 14th DH ruptured a calf muscle which resulted in 3 months of resting.  He had to keep his leg up for ten weeks and not much walking happened during that time.

We blame the ruptured muscle on his statin drugs, but of course, we haven't asked the doctor for his opinion.  Healing was slow until he took himself off of the statins for a time. 

Within a week after stopping the statin he was off of his crutches and walking without assistance. 

Because he was off of the statins for four weeks, we decided to go get his cholesterol tested to see if the diet was the cause of his good numbers these past two years. 

To our delight the diet was a huge player in the numbers.  None of his numbers were diagnostic and his total cholesterol was 149. 

He wants to be further below 149 so he has since gone back on a half dose (10 mg.) of Lipitor). 

However, I wonder how low his cholesterol would have been had he been able to exercise those weeks that he was sitting with his leg up.  I'm delighted that even with his inactivity, his cholesterol was below 150 and he continued on his steady weightloss course, having lost seven pounds and one shirt size since rupturing his calf.

We will test again in a month and see how things are going.  Our opinion, independent of a professional opinion is that he doesn't need the full 20 mg. that the doctor ordered for him because he is on a low fat plant based diet. 

We'll report back again in a month and tell you how it went.

Working to Get Off Omeprazole Again

Even though this a blog about heart issues, I write here about my digestive issues because I often feel chest pains that mimic heart trouble due to GERD.

My GERD is caused by a small hiatal hernia that developed from years of being overweight and seven pregnancies.  Thankfully, it's just a small hernia, but it still gives me plenty of trouble.

Lately, I have had to go back on omeprazole due to a redevelopment of gastritis after a celiac flare up.  Yes, my GERD is also related to that.  I haven't had a flare up in about a year, but this one was nasty, lasting several weeks.

I've had much pain at the base of my esosphagus, and I went on omeprazole, temporarily, to heal it so that I don't get Barrett's esophagus, which can turn cancerous.

Along with the omprezole I took mastic gum, which is extracted from pine trees in Turkey put in powder form, and I buy it from Amazon.  I believe it is useful because it seems to kill a measure of h. pylori I might have in my system, but that is just my theory.  Mastic gum got me off of omeprazole the last time, but this time, my system was so messed up, I needed a little extra help from the omeprazole.

I also just started taking manuka honey which has been a tremendous help.  This is my favorite remedy so far as I can relieve my pain immediately from my esophagus to the middle of my gut in minutes with this product.  I just started using this a week ago and it's been so helpful, that I purchased another bottle.  Manuka honey is a very expensive raw honey I also order from Amazon.  It is very thick and it also has been known to kill bacteria.  It coats the esophagus as it goes down and, like I said, the relief is immediate.

I don't know how it would work for severe pain as I no longer let the damage get that far.

Yesterday I started taking slippery elm.  Slippery elm comes from the bark of the slippery elm tree and it is powdered and put in capsules.  It has the color of powdered bark and smells like bark.  It has been known for centuries to be beneficial to the stomach, and yesterday I took it for the first time in a long time and immediately felt relief and a feeling of wellness all day yesterday after taking it.

I've decided I've got to get off the omeprazole, or Prilosec as soon as possible because I have had widespread disabling joint pain ever since I started taking it.

I have also been doing research on licorice root in the form of DGL "Deglycyrrhizinated" licorice root, which is the safe kind.  It is very dangerous for anyone with heart issues to take the original licorice root that has not been deglycyrrhized because is raises blood pressure.  This product, DGL,  helps the stomach replenish mucous in the stomach and esophagus and there are preliminary reports that it helps to heal Barrett's esophagus.  I figure I should try it out to prevent Barrett's.

By the way, if you don't know what Barrett's esophagus is, it's a condition that develops where the esophagus cells turn into stomach cells and then chances for esophageal cancer rise a bit.  I read that the chances are 1 in 100.  So, if you have esophagitis, it's very important to get your GERD under control.

Right now mine is under control, but now I have to get off of the omeprazole so I can get rid of the joint pain and get my life back.

I'll be reporting on the slippery elm and DGL licorice in a few weeks so check back and see how I did.

Back on Omeprazole

A year ago, I wrote a post, Mastic Gum Got Me Off of Omeprazole.  Well, I am back on Omprezole.

Even though this is a blog devoted to coronary issues, I address my digestive troubles because I have GERD and GERD can mimic symptoms of heart disease.

I felt it the honest thing to do, to report that I am on Omeprazole which I was on because of my hiatal hernia.

The pain associated with my hiatal hernia results from referred pain that sits right where my heart is, and it is very disconcerting, so I went on the Omeprazole to see if it was stomach acid that was causing the pain.  Apparently, the acid is seeping up throught the hernia and burning my espophagus.

Now, I will say that a few weeks ago, I did have acute pain in my stomach, and before going on Omeprazole, I took Mastic Gum, 1000 mg. a day, on an empty stomach, in the mornings, and within three days the pain disappeared, and I am still feeling well that way, so I know it was and will continue to be a benefit in keeping me off of Omeprazole for the purpose of my stomach pain, but I fear that due to the hernia, I will have to manage my stomach acid to keep my esophagus healthy.

Just thought I would report that because my top viewed post on this blog is the one addressing my experience with Mastic Gum, and I don't want to deceive people regarding my experience.

Learning at the Master's Feet - Attending a Lecture Given by Dr. Esselstyn

On May 3rd, DH and I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a conference lecture given by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D. in person at the Iowa Osteopathic Association Conference.  I had heard he would be coming here so I e-mailed him and asked if there was anyway we would be able to attend his lecture.  Not only did he say yes, but he invited us and our cardiologist to be his special guest.

Later on accompanying the invitation to our cardiologist, a request was made by the cardiologist to have some time to meet, himself, with Dr. Esselstyn. Fortunately, for our Iowa Cardiologists, Dr. Esselstyn made himself available to lecture 200 local cardiologists the night before his lecture to the Iowa Osteopathic Association.

Following May 3rd's lecture a panel was also set up featuring four doctors, including Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. Martin, our doctor.  

I have seen Dr. Esselstyn's lecture on YouTube many times, but to hear him lecture in person was truly a once in a lifetime experience.  He is an amazing person.  He really, really cares about people and their health, and you can just see that he is not out to get rich over what he is bringing to light.  

The panel was interesting.  I could hear cardiologists under their breath from behind me sass him as if they were teenagers.  One in particular had come in late to the lecture and had brought in her plate of scrambled eggs and sausage to eat while he spoke.  Not only did she miss the compelling evidence part of the presentation, but she was defiant and rude through the whole lecture.  This is not something I was expect in Iowa, but what I learned from this experience is a hardened heart (no pun intended) can not be reached.  

"Why was she even there?"  I wondered.

My Dh and I were amazed at the questions that were asked during the lecture.  Some of the doctors asked excellent questions like, "Have any of your patients had side effects when going cold turkey on animal protein and immediately starting a vegan diet?"  Dr. Martin turned that question over to me for the answer.  Yikes!  I'm not a member of the panel, and not a doctor, but thank you for the respect, and trust!

"Other questions were, how do we convince our patients to embrace this lifestyle?"

Many of the questions were "How much saturated fat is beneficial?"  "What types of oils provide the most heart health benefit?"

Excuse me?  Were you not listening?  No saturated fat is beneficial.  No oil.  No oil.  No oil.  

They couldn't get out of their Mediterranean diet studies and hear what the good doctor was saying.

Other questions were "How much meat can be eaten before damage is done?"  

Uh.......  No meat.  All meat is harmful......unless you eat one piece of steak out of being a vegan for decades and don't ever eat another piece.

The doctors were just not getting it and they were taking the discussion down the wrong path, trying to take the role of convincing Dr. Esselstyn that what he was suggestion just couldn't be done, saying they would never be able to get their patients to do this, that moderation had to be in the program, and so on and so forth.  

I got so fidgety I couldn't stand it any longer and finally raised my hand and told our story so that they would know that patients would do it, and that they would see a benefit.  I felt as if they were saying what they were saying because they themselves did not want to take on the lifestyle change, thereby making themselves hypocrites. I can understand that, but I had to let them know that patients that don't have options, or future options, will take on the challenge.

 The room erupted in applause afterward, and whenever a patient perspective question came up, then Dr. Martin would turn the panel to us because he has worked with us for 18 months and knows we are in it 100%.  I appreciate him for his respect and trust in us, we being two of his five patients that have tried the lifestyle.

The lecture and panel did have an influence, and our involvement did also have an influence as five doctors came to us afterwards and asked us for more information.

The most thrilling part of the day, however, was getting to shake hands with Dr. Esselstyn.  He is every bit as much of a good and generous man as I had assumed he was.  He has the most warm blue eyes, a firm handshake, and happy disposition.  To talk to him, finally, in person after several phone conversations the past 1 1/2 years was a dream realized, something I will never forget.  Dh was equally impressed. 

Dh was so encouraged by the lecture, we are now making plans to go through Dr. Esselstyn's training in Ohio.

I don't want to trample on the meat, dairy, and egg industries of the Heartland.  I don't want to dash the generational family traditions of the Midwest.  I just want to help those people who were in the same situation as my husband's.  Those who have no more options.  These are the people that are most open for change and in need of the most hope.  

Iowa needs proven dietary options and education for treating heart disease.  Going to the lecture gave me the view of what a struggle making this wonderful information available is going to be.  Even the doctors who believe the science doubt that their patients will take on with the lifestyle change.  

When the questions was asked in a room of 100, "How many of you, here, vegetarians?"  Dh and I were the only ones that raised our hands.  Not one doctor, with exception of the panelists, have taken on the lifestyle. 

Also, I just want to say that the day before the lecture I fretted that people would judge me for being fat.  I still have 30 pounds to lose, even though I have lost 50.  However, when I got into the lecture, I was amazed to see that I was the skinniest female in the room, except for the two vegan cardiologists on the panel.

Dr. Martin has lectured me on being overweight.  I know I am, that's why I was self-conscience of going to the lecture in my current state, but I didn't expect to be on the skinny side of the group!!!!  

Do we have a healthcare crisis because we are not practicing what we preach?  How can patients become well when their doctors, themselves are sick.  

The lecture was held at breakfast time and we saw several doctors eating a full plate, probably two days worth of saturated animal fat.  There was no portion control, and probably 1000 calories consumed for that one meal.  I was amazed. 

It was a very educational day for DH and me.  We could see a vision of what we can do to help other heart patients in Iowa, just by making our story available.  We had a chance to reinforce the knowledge we have obtained from reading Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, and watching the lectures on YouTube.  We had a chance to meet and chat with one of the greatest nutritional experts in our country, a true gentleman who is helping many in humanity because he cares about relieving suffering and giving hope to others.  

My First SVT in 8 Months - Hiatal Hernia, Bending at the Waist on a Full Stomach

This morning I had my first SVT in 8 months.  I'm really starting to think these are really, really caused by my hiatal hernia.  This morning I woke up exceptionally hungry and ate too much oatmeal.  Then I drank 16 oz. of water.

Afterwards, I went was carrying some tomato seedlings out to the back deck.  They were sitting on a tray on the floor in my dining room and I bent over from the waist, and, "Boom!"  I felt the leap in my chest, and I knew I had done a bad thing.

My heart flip flopped momentarily like it was trying to find a normal rhythm, and then went into what I think felt like about 140 beats per minute.

I called out to my 14 year-old and asked him to get me a large drink of cold water (I will have to really go to the bathroom in an hour after having 32 oz. total of water in the last 30 minutes), and then I went down and laid on my left side.  I naturally coughed because I have a cold, and that immediately got me back into a regularly rhythm.

I think my SVT couldn't have lasted more than all of two minutes.

Now, I will say here that I tried a new technique, pushing against my eye, which was a new idea recommended to me previously,  but that shot up the rhythm to a much higher rate, and I believe it was my mental rush to get it stopped that shot up the adrenaline and caused that new vasal vagal maneuver to change things.

Everytime I try a vasal vagal meneuver it only makes things worse because my mind is messing with me.  I have learned you have to be calm to get an SVT to stop.

Lying down on the couch on my left side and thinking relaxing thoughts is the only thing that works for me, and it works fast.  When I coughed, I wasn't trying to cough or think about coughing, I've just been coughing all morning, and that worked.

I must also add here that I have never had an SVT that I know of that I haven't been within a week after my period starting, so I really, really think it has something to do with hormones being off.  Hormones control heart rhythm, and many middle aged women have palpitations because of imbalanced hormones.

I must remember, must remember, must remember not to stuff my stomach, and not to bend over at the waist!!!!!!!!!!

I am glad I have learned I can get these under control, however.

Points Made Recently by Caldwell Essestlyn, Jr., M.D. Support the LDS Health Code, the Word of Wisdom

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a set of scripture called the Doctrine and Covenants.  The Doctrine and Covenants contains in section 89, the Lord's code of health.  Here is the history of how the Word of Wisdom came to be.....

"When they (the School of the Prophets) assembled together in this room after breakfast, the first they did was to light their pipes, and, while smoking, talk about the great things of the kingdom, and spit all over the room, and as soon as the pipe was out of their mouths a large chew of tobacco would then be taken. Often when the Prophet [Joseph Smith] entered the room to give the school instructions he would find himself in a cloud of tobacco smoke. This, and the complaints of his wife at having to clean so filthy a floor, made the Prophet think upon the matter, and he inquired of the Lord relating to the conduct of the Elders in using tobacco, and the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom was the result of his inquiry."Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 12, p. 158

Here is a link to the text of the Word of Wisdom in Doctrine and Covenants 89.

Just to summarize, the Word of Wisdom commanded members to stay away from "hot drinks".... 

 "9 And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.' 

 and to "eat meat sparingly" .....

" 12 Yea, ^aflesh also of ^bbeasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used ^csparingly;

 13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be ^aused, only in times of winter, or of cold, or ^bfamine."

In a recent advanced study conference held by John McDougall, M.D. in February 2014, author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., M.D.  stated two things that really brought up my interest.  

1.  In a recent study done in Italy, caffeine was found to cause restriction in the brachial artery one hour after the consumption of coffee.  This was not found in participants who drank decaf.  I will add a note here that a similar study on this was done at the  Heart Institute, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv University with the same results.

2.  In another study done at the Cleveland Clinic, by Stanley Hazen, M.D.   patients who were vegan were given one piece of steak.  The gut flora and blood chemistry of all patients were tested.  The end result was that the vegan patients did not produce the same bad bacteria that caused toxic chemical changes in the blood known to cause damage to endothelial cells.  But, patients who regularly consumed meat did. 

In other words, eating meat sparingly, meaning once in a long term time of being vegan, was not harmful, but eating it regularly was.  

In the Word of Wisdom the Lord sanctions the consumption of meat to be conducted "with thanksgiving" during time of winter, cold, or famine.

The Lord has made provisions through His creation for us to overcome the negative effects of "bad" bacterial flora in our digestive systems when we have to consume meat for survival, if we do not consume, but only sparingly.  

I think it is wonderful that studies that Dr. Esselstyn cites, prove scientifically why the sparing consumption of meat is safe, if you are regularly living on a plant based diet. 

I think it is also wonderful that this research highlights the benefits of not eating meat at all when it comes to digestive bacterial balance, and detoxing the system.

What I take from this is that I should keep eating my low-fat plant based diet, but if I were to find myself crossing the plains to Salt Lake City in the winter, like my pioneer ancestors did, I should know that it is okay for me to eat some buffalo meat to survive.  Or, should I find myself in some similar situation in our modern times, it's okay to eat meat.

However, this should not be a rationalization for me to go back to my old ways.

I also think it is wonderful to see how science proves out the Word of Wisdom as testing becomes more technologically advanced, as does the brachial artery studies on caffeine in coffee, which the LDS people refer to as one of the two "hot drinks" listed in the Word of Wisdom, the other being tea.

To watch Dr. Esselstyn's video and get more accurate details than my laywomen's report gives in the post,  please click here. 

Before I end here, I do want to say that I champion personal choice when it comes to dietary choices because we each do, indeed, have our own balance of gut flora as individual fingerprints.  Upon realizing that, I am determined to try my best not to judge others.  I provide this information as encouragement for those who desire to lower their meat consumption, not reprimand those who choose a different approach.  I realize that in the end how we treat each other is vastly more important than making other's feel bad in effort to be the person that is right on this matter.

My DH and my son working on cutting down a "widow maker" tree that fell into another tree in our backyard.  My son is a plant based rugby player and high school cross country star, and my husband is down 55 pounds and shows no signs of heart disease after having been on a low-fat plant based diet for 18 months.  Despite the nerve wracking/blood pressure raising nature of this task, he had no ill effects on his cardiovascular system, even after being up on the lift for 8 hours in 20 mph wind gusts.  This is something he could haven't even dreamed of doing a year ago.

Why I Love Being On a Low Fat Plant Based Diet

It is finally spring, now, and I'm so happy to be able to get out and do some yard work.

This is my backyard...

We bought our home last fall, and when we first moved in, I would get tired just walking up and down our hill once.  However, after six more months living on a low-fat plant based diet, a diet I have followed for 1 1/2 years, I no longer get tired.

For the past three days, since spring has begun, there has been much yard work.  I've been out working and have even been able to sprint around with no shortness of breath, chest pressure, or loss of energy.

I feel my cardiovascular health, even having just gone through winter has greatly improved.  Although I have been a vegetarian for many years, this being my second time around trying a low-fat plant based diet, (I abandoned it ten years ago when I thought it was making me sick and it turned out to be a gluten allergy), I have not experienced this type of stamina in 16 years which is pretty great because I am now a middle aged person!

The diet has not been hard to follow because I can eat when I am hungry and eat until I am full.  I do gain weight when I stuff myself which is hard not to do because the food is so tasty, but it is easily lost when I listen to my body and just eat when I am comfortably full.

Because of the carbohydrates I am consuming which are not carbohydrates obtained by sugar, white flour, and juices, I have a lot of energy.

I used to suffer from severe anxiety.  I no longer suffer from this condition, and I now know the anxiety was due to not getting enough carbohydrates in my diet.  Adding those back in, I now have mental clarity, and strength to handle the stresses of the day.  I am also sleeping better, as well.

The following conditions have disappeared since I started following the low-fat plant based diet as explained by John McDougall, M.D.  and Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., M.D.  Keep in mind, I follow a gluten free version due to biopsy diagnosed celiac disease, and some of those improvements may seem to have come from going gluten free, but I had these conditions for two years after going gluten free, so the diet definitely had an impact.......


1. Ganglion cyst in my right wrist
2.  Fibromyalgia
3.  Ulcerative colitis
4.  Gastritis
5.  Acne
6.  Exaggerated PMS (I still have a little bit but with less anxiety, I have less PMS)
7.  Cysts in breasts have shrunk
8.  Candidiasis
9.  Fluid in ears and tinnitis
10.  Low energy
11.  Knee pain
12.  Blisters on fingers
13.  SVT frequency has gone way down
14.  Pelvic pain
15.  Borderline Diabetic blood sugar.  My fasting blood sugar used to be 110 and now is 83.
16.  High blood pressure
17.  High cholesterol
18.  Neck pain and back pain
19.  Worries about about future chronic disease (I no longer have obsessive worries that I'm going to get heart disease or breast cancer)
20.  Bad breath and body odor.

A typical menu for me starts with oatmeal, blueberries, sweetened with carob powder for breakfast, a mid morning snack like a banana or apple.  For lunch I have a huge salad with a variety of chopped vegetables.  I crunch up a few Corn Chex (about ten squares) since I can't have croutons and I want a little bit of crunch in the salad, and my dressing is a mixture of lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and one small squirt of stevia.  I probably have about six cups of salad for lunch.  Mid afternoon snack is another bowl of salad, about half of what I ate for lunch, or a half bowl of oatmeal, and dinner might be a layered Mexian Lasagne with corn tortillas, beans, bell peppers, onions, corn, salsa, or baked potatoes, salad, and a low fat plant based chili.  Dinner is where I tend to over-eat, and right before bed time, Yikes!  It's just so good.  I have many dinner recipes posted on this blog that I love that are hard not to over consume.

I lost 16 pounds altogether and I have 20 more to lose, which I hope will just melt off now that I'm able to work like a horse, and love it.

As mentioned on other places on this blog, DH has lost 75 pounds and he doesn't exercise and consumes a lot more food than I do.

I come from a people of pioneer stock with very efficient metabolisms.  Gaining weight happens for  my family members just by looking at food because having gone through a few generations of crossing the Plains while pulling handcarts and taming The West, and the great starvation that came with that experience, my family developed the ability to survive on very little food.   I have pioneers on both sides of the family, so I am doomed, and both sides of the family struggle with weight problems.

We gain weight very easily from eating just normal amounts of food.  This is the only diet I have been able to stay on successfully because I don't feel hungry all of the time with all of the fiber I am eating and the food is very satisfying.  I do not feel deprived, even on those days I count calories, which I only do as a check up to see how much I am eating.

I am not a sleek and slender person, nor do I expect to be.  But, I am thinner than the trend that's running on both sides of my family, and I am healthy.  That makes me very happy.  I hope to lose more, in time, but I am making good enough progress for my feeling of well being and happiness.

This photo was taken in October 2010.  I weighed 200 pounds.  I had been on Joel Furhman's Eat to Live and lost 32 pounds over two years time.  I got down to 196 and hit a plateau.

This was taken Christmas 2012.  I had been on Esselstyn's Diet for 11 months and lost 40 more pounds.  I got down to 158 pounds.  Prior to going on Esselstyn's diet 100% I had to have my gallbladder removed.  After surgery I gained 20 pounds, which is typical after gallbladder surgery (a consequence of convalescence and being able to eat what you want).  I have maintained my weight at 179 pounds since April 2013 without calorie counting or a dedicated exercise program.  I'm expecting to lose more weight with my increased activity, but I have no plans to change my eating habits, other then stop stuffing myself to the point of feeling like I'm going to burst.  We'll see what happens, but I'm not stressed out about it because I feel so good

 

18th Month Progress On DH's Heart Disease

Today DH met with his Cardiologist for his 18 month follow-up. 

Here are his numbers today....

Total Cholesterol 107    HDL  27    LDL 57     Triglycerides 117

Total weight loss 58 pounds.

Dr. Martin was very happy with him this month.  Last November he had severely reprimanded DH, even though these are similar numbers.  We think that the doctor had been stressed out that day, having to deal with so many repercussions of holiday eating of patients whom he had seen prior to our appointments that day.

Today the appointment went very well and we enjoyed very much talking to
Dr. Martin about preventative cardiology as is related to lifestyle change and the low-fat plant based diet.

We gave him the book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., M.D. and he was grateful.

I later talked on the phone to Dr. Martin's nurse and she was very curious about how we have been able to implement the diet.  I told her that when my husband developed heart disease, on the day of his first stent placement, I had decided that my new mission in life was to provide healthy and delicious meals for my family.

This I do not resent or regret, as my husband is a valuable and wonderful man, and he is a blessing to our family and to this world, and I feel like I am helping a lot of people through helping him to stay healthy.

I know that if it weren't for the principles we have put into practice that we learned from Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, my DH would be suffering from some level of disability, but he does not suffer.  He is thriving.

I am so grateful for the hope that we have been able to obtain in our lives, that years ago others did not have before Dr. Esselstyn's studies were done.  

The Heart of a Crazy Woman Going Through Menopause - A Possible Explanation for My SVT's and PVC's

Yesterday, I was having amazing episodes of palpitations.  I have just finished my period, and they always ramp up during the winding down of my period.  Having just gotten over a very mild case of the flu, they were more active than usual, going through bigeminy rhythm.  When this happens, I feel a little faint and panicky.

In the middle of the night, I woke up with a panic attack.  When I have panic attacks, I feel like I'm fading out of life, like I'm going to just pass out and die, but I have learned if I get up and do something purposeful, they goes away quite quickly.  I used to have them all night long, but I have learned that distraction usually gets rid of them.

I have had another development, the past few days, where my intestines have been moving around so much that it feels like pregnancy.  It isn't painful, it just feels like I have a baby moving around in there.  So I thought, "While I'm up, maybe I should go Google "wild peristalsis" and see why I'm feeling so much movement in my abdomen.  People with celiac are very in tune to the intestines, and any changes usually prompt some sort of inquiry.  This celiac diseased person also has an acute case of health anxiety, fueled at sometimes by Dr. Google, and calmed sometimes by Dr. Google.

This time Dr. Google provided answers to a three year questioning into my perceived health problems which are real but not as serious as they are perceived.

After three years of worry for me as to why I have these frustrating PVC's and SVT's, I think I have discovered why, and this discovery has prompted ideas on the path for easing the condition.


With this somewhat unrelated Google search the 1907 written, obscure book, by Byron Robinson, M.D. came up in my search.  In the book he had three chapters devoted to the nerve ganglia of the the uterus and ovaries, and how their menopausal related death affects the intestines, stomach, and the heart.

The book is entitled, "The Abdominal and Pelvic Brain".

In very lay woman's terms, in a very short nutshell, I am glossing over here in this post, his explanation that the ovaries, are connected to the intestines, stomach, and heart, and when they begin perimenopause, there journey to death, affects the intestines, stomach, and heart.

Byron was a gynecological surgeon, who had done hundreds of surgeries not only on women, but on animals as well.  He knew the physical functioning of a women's body probably almost as well as the Creator, particularly the nervous system. What he explains is that each one of the above mentioned organs, have a "brain center", called ganglia, that are connected to each other through a very highly involved network of nerves.

Therefore, as the ovaries and uterus begin their journey through menopause and begin to die, the system becomes confused,  referred pain and response happen to areas of the abdomen located away from the female reproductive parts.  Because of this, the nervous system can no longer focus on the brain centers contained in the ovaries and uterus.  The process of perimenopause teaches the body to refocus on the remaining brain centers in the intestines, heart, and stomach,  and this refocusing takes years of time, and the body goes haywire during the process.

Because of this the perimenopausal woman develops confusing symptoms that can feel like serious disease, and he says she goes from doctor to doctor to doctor looking for a cause to her problems, often to find that nothing is noticeably wrong by the doctor.

Interestingly, I have many of those symptoms right now.

The book is very involved with lengthy explanations using medical terminology on how the nervous system that connects these organs is affected by the uterus.  I would copy and paste quotes, but they would be chapters long.  So I'm summarizing the best I can in layman's or laywoman's terms what I understand  to happen.  This may turn out to be comical because my medical knowledge is as extensive as one can get with two semesters of medical terminology.  In other words, I am not a doctor, so don't take this as medical advice, and if you are a perimenopausal person, and have concerning symptoms, go to the doctor, as I have, and make sure you have a clean bill of health before ignore your symptoms, as I am trying to do now.

Because the nervous system of the uterus is connected to that of the intestines and stomach, nausea results during several female life functions and or diseases i.e. morning sickness during pregnancy, diarrhea during menstruation, nausea in the case of ovarian cancer.   I often wondered why women who have ovarian cncer may have ongoing nausea as a first symptom.  Now I know why.  I also wondered why while nursing my babies while I was eating gave me nausea.  My explanation is now because nursing causes the contraction of the uterus.  And eating while nursing involves both the stomach and the uterus and they are affecting each other.

Problems in the uterus can cause problems with the nervous system of the heart as well.  Dr. Robinson explains that when the nerves are irritated in the uterus due to the process of going into menopause, the nerves of the heart can become irritated, as well, and cause premature ventricular contractions, or what a layman might call palpitations.  This nerve irritation can also cause supraventricular tachycardia.  Back in 1907 there was not a term such as this, but he just called it a very fast heart beat.

There is so much more I wish I had time to explain here, but I would be rewriting Dr. Robinson's book.  But, the function of the heart, and it's ability to regulate it's own rhythm independent of the brain and spine is amazing.  The affect that the condition of the intestines, stomach, uterus, and ovaries can have on the heart is also amazing.  Or, should I say that the effect that these organs can have on each other is amazing.

As a celiac, when I have "palpitations" or "SVT's", it is often after I have been cross contaminated by gluten that these irritations of my heart rhythm occur.

Also, I have discovered when I become nervous, or angry, my intestines will go into spasms, and I will then have pain in my chest, a pounding heart, and palpitations.

I have had to learn not to let myself get nervous or angry to keep my heart beating more normally.

Can this be why we are told over and over that stress causes illness?

Dr. Robinson also says that he has most often seen this derangement in the perimenopausal women begin, most often at the age of 45.  This was exactly the age it began for me, but he says he has seen it happen in women as early as 20 and as late as 70.  He also says the stormier the puberty, the stormier the menopause

As a surgeon taking care of the uterine and ovarian problems for many years, working with a female surgeon partner, and operating on hundreds
of female patients, Dr. Robinson developed a deep respect for the condition of the perimenopausal woman.

It was his feeling that a perimenopausal women must not be judged on her behavior because of the neurosis caused by her physical pain, which can be, often too hard to bear, and that just living throughout the day with normal daily activities could be too much for her to handle while going through all of these changes to her body.

I have been hard on myself the last three years that I have been going through this, and I think this is typical of most women, but Dr. Robinson's comments should give us permission to be kind to ourselves.

He said he had known women to go from doctor to doctor to doctor looking for a diagnosis to the cause of her heart symptoms, only to find that the doctors could not find the cause because she was having uterine trouble and the doctors didn't know to look for the trouble there, or know that the trouble was being caused by the uterus.

I can't tell you how validating that is for me, as I have been diagnosed with myometriosis, and enlargement of the uterus, and after many heart tests, I have been given a excellent condition label for my heart, but heart rhythms are a problem on a daily basis.  The crazy thing is, I don't have any uterine symptoms.  My condition was discovered during a pelvic exam.  But, I do have heart symptoms, and after many heart tests over the period of two years, my heart has been given the "thumbs up".  See how confusing it can be?

According to Dr. Robinson, these problems do calm down immediately with hysterectomy, or once menopause is accomplished.  The woman then becomes more stable and able to handle a little more in life.  Maybe this is God's way of making us emotionally okay with stepping out of the childbearing years, which for me, has been very hard, wanting more babies to hold.

Because perimenopause is so hard on the woman's nervous system, he says that perimenopausal women need to realize they need to not get themselves in stressful situations, if at all possible, and those around them need to understanding that they are going through a process of life that weakens them and makes them very susceptible to stress.

This is what I'm coming away with from his comments.  "Let the young one's do the work that you once did, and work on supporting your aging process by simplifying your life."

At age 47, I am starting to see signs that I am going through this with irregular periods, more intestinal distress, and more palpitations.  It's a time not to seek for perfection, and not to take on more than I can handle.  God will understand.  My kids need me to be sane since I had most of my kids later on in my childbearing years.

I hope this information can help other women in my shoes.  If you feel like crying, like you are going crazy, like your body is falling apart, an increase of anxiety, then maybe you need to take stalk of your life and get out the excess.  I know I need to do this.  I haven't done it yet, but it's something I know I need to work on.

Dr. Robinson also says that the organs that are subject to visceral nervousness are worse off if the woman's circulation is bad.  This, then, means to me that I must eat healthily, and for me that is eating a low fat plant based diet because science has proven that this is the best diet for good circulation, and I need to exercise.

I hope to give more details as to why the exercise is important but has to do with core support of the organs so that they do not flop into areas of the abdomen where they don't belong thereby cutting off the circulation they need to function properly.  Already, it has been seen when I had my gallbladder out that my liver has already done some settling into my abdomen where it doesn't belong.  So keeping the abdominal wall strong is important to keep this nervous system that connects the organs healthy.

This has been a long post.  I hope it wasn't too much reading, but I hope this summary of Dr. Robinson's three chapters on women's health is helpful.  Granted his book was written way before now, in 1907, and he didn't have the advances we have now, but he did have much exposure through surgery which puts him at advantage for understanding of how a women's body works.  I don't believe he knew anything about hormones and how they complicate things even further, but he really understood the plight of middle aged women.

For those who enjoy hefty medical reading, here is a link to his book.

https://archive.org/stream/abdominalandpel00robigoog/abdomin
 alandpel00robigoog_djvu.txt

Sleep Breathing Problems Cured by Raising the Head of My Bed

I am happy to report that since I have raised the head of my bed four inches by putting 2x6" boards under the head legs, I have not had anymore sleep apnea, and my husband has also stopped snoring!!!!!!!!  So, I guess the theory that I read about, where blood pooling into the brain steam from lying flat can cause central sleep apnea in some people, must be correct in my case.  What a cheap and easy solution!

I might also add that I am no longer getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and very rarely wake up with a racing heart anymore.  I would blame both of these improvements on the fact that my heart no longer has to work all night with my stomach pushing up against it.

Gravity is our friend, day and night folks.

Six Months Without an SVT

I just wanted to report that this month marks six months without an SVT!  It has been nice to have a break.

Here is what I have been doing to minimize the episodes....

1. Stay gluten free
2.  Fight for getting enough sleep
3.  Drink plenty of water daily
4.  Eat very little sugar
5.  Keep my anger under control
6.  Pray daily
7.  Keep stress down as much as possible
8.  Try not to overload my stomach
9.  Take at least 100 mg of magneisum glyicnate a day.  Sometimes I take two 100 mg. pills spread out through the day if my PVC's are more frequent, or if I am experiencing anxiety
10.  Walk two miles a day.

I don't know which or how many of these measures are keeping the SVT's at bay, but I do know that in every case, I have had an SVT when I have been angry or overly upset, so when I get those feelings, I will say "The person who is making you mad is going to cause you to have an SVT if you let them.  Being mad at them is not worth it.  You need to protect yourself from having an SVT, so don't let them have the power of making you mad.  Keep yourself calm and put it on the Lord's shoulders."  SVT's are nature's way of teaching me how to forgive others, I guess.

It will be interesting to see how I fair with the SVT's in the summer because they seem to be more frequent in the summer, so I will give a report again when the temperature changes and let you all know how I'm doing.