HERBALIST UPDATE - MARCH

Last Friday was the day for my delayed appointment with Jan, the Herbalist. It was supposed to have been on the Wednesday but Jan had a dental emergency to attend to: the temporary crown over four front teeth dropped out first thing and needed to be re-fitted - very embarrassing when greeting people and smiling! - and rang to ask if I minded if we delayed it. Of course not - the Wednesday hadn't started very auspiciously anyway, with a car accident at the junction outside our house - luckily there were no injuries but I hate going out on days like that, as it's guaranteed that something else will happen while I'm out. No, I'm not just saying that: it's happened so many times over the years it's just not funny, so I soon learnt that it's best to just stay home!

Thankfully Friday started well and had decent weather so I felt OK about going out. The first thing we did was to review my food diary sheets. These are very useful as I not only write down all that I eat and drink each day (very good for keeping me on the straight and narrow, as I cannot lie, not even by omission) but also any symptoms that may have occurred. The most notable thing was my first full-on, flashing light "OMG, I think I'm going blind" migraine in years. After going through the history of when I first started getting migraines (age 13) and how they developed/altered over the years until they'd all but disappeared since I've been in my 40's Jan thought that the Chasteberry drops - taken to help balance my hormones - had actually altered the balance too much and triggered the migraine. The upshot is that I no longer have to take these, though it did serve to show just how well my body does react to herbal remedies.

As I'm still having odd days when I suffer from bloating etc, despite the Candaway and Acidophilus doing their job, Jan feels it's an indicator that I probably have food sensitivities or allergies - something that doesn't surprise me, as I've suspected this for many years but hadn't been able to prove it. So I'm booked in for the full allergy/sensitivity testing with Candida check next month with the lady who does that - that will happen prior to the next appointment with Jan so the results can be assessed and the findings discussed then. It'll be interesting to see what the outcome of all that will be........ and what exactly will be left for me to actually eat. LOL

I had my blood pressure checked this time and the result was rather disappointing: it had gone back up and was at 142/90. It explained why I'd been feeling a little off since having the migraine, leaning towards really out of kilter last week, with the return of some of the previous problems with brooding and anger. Jan felt the hawthorn in the medicine had now done all it could do with my BP (which was quite a lot, initially) so it was time to drop that from the mix and add another herb instead (it's name escapes me) and that she would slightly re-jig it to help bring back a happier, more positive mood. That's fine by me. :0)

The weigh-in this time round was a little disappointing and chastening: it had dropped from 13 stone 7 to 13 stone 5, a loss of just 2lbs. After the previous months big successes I couldn't help feeling a tad disappointed BUT it's still coming off and the numbers are going down, so have since realised that it's still a positive. It was chastening because I know what has caused the slow down and it's all my own fault: my carb portion had been gradually creeping back up again, the bombay potatoes treat had got bigger, I'd had potatoes a few more times than I should have through the month, been sat on my backside more, rather than keeping busy to burn the calories, and had been having ham salad tortilla wraps almost every dinnertime, instead of the healthier fish, salad and a little rice or couscous option I'm supposed to have. Lesson learnt - I won't be doing that again. Anyway, I now have a small goal to achieve: if I can lose 5 1/2lbs the weight will have dropped from over 13 stone to 12 stone something and it will be so good to be able to say I'm 12 stone whatever, instead of 13 stone something. Don't get me wrong, that isn't my ultimate weight loss goal, but it's a nice way of breaking it down into more manageable and easier to attain goals - it'll help to keep me motivated. :0)

Overall, though I'd been a little disappointed, Jan was pleased with how things were going and feels the changes to the medicine will help get things back on track with the hormonal and blood pressure problems and that the allergy/sensitivity testing will help recognise any other dietary problems that can be addressed next time.

As Jan had no other appointments that morning and had time to kill before going for dinner, so we had time to natter about other things too. It turned out to be a very interesting conversation in many ways and we have rather more in common than we first realised. Her plans for the future are very exciting indeed, as it will see her developing the Spiritual aspect to the Clinic: there will be lots more workshops covering a wide range of subjects - not only Angel Workshop's but ones that cover things such as Sacred Drumming, Tarot and aspects of Goddess belief. I still plan on attending the Development Circle that Aureen, my Reiki healer, will be starting shortly, as that will mostly cover the psychic aspect I'm interested in. Jan's will allow me to develop my own Spiritual side with like-minded people. This has further confirmed my feelings that the Universe has played a hand in my choosing to attend this particular Clinic: just as I realised it's time to go back out into the world to allow opportunities to arise........ along they've come. :0)

When it was time for Jan to go I left and made my way to the Post Office to post a birthday card to DH's eldest niece. After that I popped into the Help the Aged Charity shop to look at the books, then along to the Hospice Book Shop to see what they had. I came away with this little haul:


The top three and the one on the bottom right were from Help the Aged and the other two from the Hospice Book Shop. A healthy dose of fantasy books, which I really love, though I'm currently reading the Dan Brown book.

Whilst in the Hospice shop I plucked up courage and asked the lady behind the counter about how to go about volunteering and, following on from talking about opportunities arising and the Universe intervening........ in came the Manageress, from the Hospice charity shop across the road. I had a natter to her and explained about recuperating from agoraphobia and panic attacks and wanting to take the next step to start meeting more people, as well as to give something back for what the Hospice movement did for my Dad, and she was very helpful. She took me over to the other shop and gave me a form to fill in and, because she didn't want me to worry about it, did the little interview that's normally done when you take the form back while I was there. Once I take the form back it's a matter of waiting until there are enough people needing the half morning induction course, which is held at the Hospice itself - that gives us a chance to be shown round the Hospice and get a better feel for what they do and the guidelines they run under. I'm already down as being willing to do a Wednesday morning in the Book Shop (to start with) and, as they are pretty desperate for extra people then, it should be an immediate start, once I've been through the induction. The manageress was lovely - I thanked her for her help and for being OK about my problems, as it can weird some people out when I tell them. As she explained: they are there to raise funds for the Hospice and as such are the "face" that most people meet, therefore they are run under the same caring principles as the Hospice itself. I've already filled the form in - just need to pluck up the courage now to take it back and set things in motion. :0)

As I was about to leave the shop I spotted a cross stitch kit I liked the look of. The manageress said that it had been there for some time and she was just about to reduce the price, which she did - knocked down to £3.00:


I bought the kit to stitch and make up the pictures to give to my MIL, so she can sell them on her fundraising stall for Treetops Hospice in Derbyshire. Two charities benefiting from one item. :0)

After that I called at Tesco Express for a few things we needed for tea. I was pretty well laden by this time so was glad to head home and off load everything. I started the new medicine straight away, taking the first lot before my lunch, and by the end of the day had already started to feel a little better, mood wise. Am also pleased to report that it tastes quite pleasant compared to the previous dirty stuff. LOL

I was back at the Clinic the following day for a Reiki treatment but will post about that another time as this post is already long enough. :0)

Thank you for visiting and for the kind comments. :0)