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I live in chronic pain. The reason for my pain, is Endometriosis. I was diagnosed through surgery when I was 17. I have decided to have this blog, so that those in my life can get a peek into my day to day issues that affect my life in every way.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

The delicate balance within the body, and how medication effects it (part 1)

Warning this post contains too much info in aspects so if you don’t want to know the nitty gritty stuff, please skip.

The body is a funny thing.
To remain healthy, is a very delicate balance between a great numbers of things.
Chronic of any kind upsets the balance, as does being over worked or lack of sleep. This is because the body is over worked. When I was working fulltime, even over time in freezing conditions (but with fluctuation in temperature changes because of working in trailers and then back into the main building during the winter) with less than 7hours sleep nightly I was far more “healthy” then I am today. My immune system was far better those days (this was before the chronic pain began so sever). Now I get far more sleep, am not exposed to temperature fluctuations nor barely the germs of others since I hardly get out. Yet when I do get sick I remain with a cold longer, any infection holds fast. If I am exposed to children it almost seems a guarantee that I will catch a cold within a week.

This I can only take is that although I have way less obvious things wearing at me, the constant nagging pain within me is what upsets the balance within me. Leaving me with a delightfully useless immune system, more so aggravating because in my teens (other than the year I was in chronic pain) my immune system was actually rather great.

Other things upset the balance to people in general. This is why often medications can seem worse than the sickness.

*If you have examples please feel free to comment about them, my mind is only focused on the things I know myself today.*

With a low immune system something that should not necessarily cause infection often will and then despite best efforts to make the infection disappear it will persist for a long time. By best efforts on the use of my toe for example, I mean using antibiotic creams, soaking my foot in Epson salts, letting it breath and not putting it in tight shoes (I once again have an ingrown toenail, and it of course is infected and has been now for 2 weeks I think gross I know, I am the one living with it!).

So now if you lack endometriosis, or have a strong immune system you likely wonder well why doesn’t she just go to the doctors and get prescribed an antibiotic.
Well there are 2 reasons, one is the main point of this post however the other too is important to think about. Antibiotics are prescribed constantly (not the point of post reason), for years people managed without them, and yes I know in those years people did die also, but now we seem to prescribe antibiotics for things that people dealt with perfectly fine 150years ago. When I was a child I had recurrent ear infections, or at least ear pressure (now I wonder what it truly was since when I go to the doctor now with the exact same pain I am told it is simply pressure build up from having a cold) but anyways, because of my constant ear “infections” I was always given antibiotics, more precisely I was given that miracle drug known as penicillin. Well that’s all well and good and each time it made me better or I got better (I was so little I really don’t know what one applies).

The thing is, I had so much penicillin as a child, and I now have to tell doctors to prescribe me something else when I do have an infection that needs to be treated. This is because my body no longer responds to penicillin; I had too much as a child. I also know I am allergic to another antibiotic (though I stupidly have no idea what one); I was given it for when I had strep throat last summer. While taking it I realised by a full body rash and itching that I was allergic to it, however after consulting with the pharmacist and learning that even if I had an allergy that it would still treat the infection I resided to finish the treatment since I was already 1/3 of the way through. He said as long as I didn’t have any reaction in my mouth/throat or having problems breathing I could continue to take it if I chose. I did this because of my next point.

Antibiotics help with infections, however they often cause a yeast imbalance in the body there for causing a yeast “infection” I quote infection because although it takes over antibiotics will not help it they often are the cause, antifungal are what help with yeast. Yeast is in fact a fungus (Beer does not become infected to become beer; it in fact starts growing a fungus). Yeast imbalance can affect many places besides where people assume it does (your vagina). Babies often get a yeast imbalance; their tongs become coated in this white substance and often to their lower regions become raw/sensitive. In adults it is more common to have uncomfortable lower regions along with unhappy discharge but also things as simple as itchy underarms can occur.

Hers where my issue lies, my immune system is the pits so now and then I will get an infection that I will try to fight without medication but if I take the medication I now have an issue with yeast, and once again because of my crappy immune system it is unlikely to balance itself out. So then the theory is I now need medication to deal with the yeast, but because of how the medication works and because of my immune system I now have to take 2times the normal dose. So my question is what will I do when this treatment no longer works for me because my body has become used to it? This is why I try my hardest to deal with the issue in alternative ways; so that I don’t have yet another medication my body has a tolerance towards.

So there is my rant as to why I lay here with an infected toe. Though I think I found the solution though it may take another week. Tea Tee Oil, it not only has antifungal properties (so good for yeast issues also) but also works and an antiseptic so that along with the Epson salts soaks and it should be cleared up (the infection) however the issue will remain but hopefully I can do something to my toenail so that it will strop growing into the toe itself and causing these issues.

3 comments:

  1. Hey Shelley. Go the rant! I luv your honesty. I am in the dilemma you speak of. As you know, the tiny cold which gave my 15 year old sniffles has given me a @#%! chest infection for which I have to have antibiotics which have already started the joy of yeast. The normal across the counter stuff doesn't work for me and I have to have the proscribed horse tabs which make me ill and cause liver issues, which will further screw with my immune system. Woo Hoo! What are we supposed to do? I have to second your use of tea tree oil (native to Oz) I've used it for years and its great. Michelle :)

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  2. oh same for me. they now tell me to take those pills once and again in 3 days, but i can often be needing them next month, and without insurance at $20ish a pill it gets a little extream when the guy needs to take them also.

    this time around, i have the issue without even having taken anti-biotics so i am already fighting one and dont want to loose any chance of wining. i wont nessisaqrily win, but win enough that i am not suffering

    right now the tea tree oil seems to be doing amazing, that or the knockoff medication i got for almost nothing (i was buying my chencromen (spelling?) from india and pay same shipping of $25 no matter what i buy and those meds are only 80cents per box of 8 and need only be taken 2times a week, so they also had some of the yeast meds and although i have been warned alot of what is sold there is of no medical use i thought it was worth a try at the clost od less then a buck of pill so i bought 8 to try, also aloe capsles since i was told they can help with the bladder issues.

    either way it is seeming to get better. goodluck with the meds! :(

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  3. http://www.aphroditewomenshealth.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=4

    Centchroman

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