Archive for the ‘Cfs’ tag
Help……ready to just throw in the towel. Need company today!
I am an alcoholic....there I finally said it to someone. I never realised it until a little while ago, but it seems thats what I am. Worst off all I got out of the habit of drinking and this past couple weeks I managed to get back into it. I am really upset with myself for what I have done.
A little history.
I suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome. This is partly respobsible for my alcoholism as it saps you of all of your energy. I turned to drink -specifically beer- as a pick me up and as a way of dealing with the constant feeling of exhuastion. However the drink has stayed with me on and off. The problem is that since I was a teenager I have always binge drank ever couple weeks or so, and more so as the years went on and my tolerance grew. I am now 31.
Last year everything snowballed. I start drinking more regularly after a period of living on my own. Then I became exhuasted and had a CFS attack in August 2007 where I couldn't get home without having about 6 drinks to give me the energy to do so. Since then things have been a struggle. The worst of it was shortly after when I totally descended into oblivion. I ended up drinking one and a half bottles of vodka a day and I became severely adicted and pretty much unable to do anything. Life was a struggle and unenjoyable. Drinking was not pleasurable because the feeling of illness was so bad that I really struggled to cope with any moments of sobriety. I would frequently pass out and no remember the previous day.
However, since summer this year I was beginning to get a hold of things, so much so that in recent times I have gone on a cycle of drinking, feeling rough and then coming out of it once I thought I'd had too much and then going a week, on and off, without the drink. As time was going on my energy was coming back more and more. I felt that my life was coming back but that I could handle a few drinks now and again. Usually when I do drink its just a number of beers, which is more than tolerable and generates an easy withdrawl. However, the last time around I managed to drink 5 bottles of wine in two days and that left me with not only a nasty hangover, but it left me with weak arms and legs, which in turn led to depression. This is usually the first sign of a CFS period. I was desperate to sort things out and got by for a few days without drinking until Thursday when I made up a meeting so that I could get out of the office and down to the pub for a pint. 7 pints, a bottle of wine and a treble whiskey later and I went to bed. The Friday was a similar affair, although this time I ended up drinking vodka, beer and brandy. This was a turning point as it had been the first time that I had turned to spirit drinks out of choice. That was a bad sign that things were going to go downhill.
I had the worst hangover and withdrawl on Saturday than I think I'd had in a year. I have been struggling since then. The anxiety has dropped off a bit, so much so that I am in work today. By the fatigue, weakness and depression are worse than they have been for a long time. I feel right now as if I can't function, as if I won't make it home and like I am ready to die. This feels like the end. I have promised myself that from now on I will only drink on special occasions (such as Christmas Day). I will otherwise be off the drink. However, I am desperate to get back to that feeling of normality I had a few weeks ago. I have even thought about going out for a couple pints right now as a way of easing myself off the booze. My drinking so far has been thus:-
Saturday - A large brandy
Sunday - 6 bottles of alcohol free lager (which says no more than 0.05% alcohol on it so it must still have some booze in it) & a few squirts of Barts Rescue Remedy spray on the tongue - which is flowers suspedned in a brandy like fluid - you don't get much through the spray - but its still booze).
Today - so far nothing, although I have been drinking so much water and herbal tea to compensate that I've already made five trips to the loo since getting to work.
I hid Friday and Saturday's drinking from my fiancé out of shame.
I'm not sure whether or not to treat this as day 1 or day 2 of withdrawl, but I think day 2 judging by the slight improvement (I would not have been able to go to work on Saturday he it been an office day). I know I need to bear it through, but this is by far the worst I've had in a long time...and I know its down to the Brandy and vodka - they affect me far worse than wine and especially beer. I'm not sure if I can manage. This one is the last one as my fiancé has basically told me to give up the booze or give up her. I just can't contemplate the latter so I have to be strong and listen to my logic over my body.
Anyhow, I signed up here in the hope that there may be some people who have felt like this before and can try and help me through. I can't really tell anyone how I feel so I was hoping I might find some friends on here who could help me through this. :sad2:
A little history.
I suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome. This is partly respobsible for my alcoholism as it saps you of all of your energy. I turned to drink -specifically beer- as a pick me up and as a way of dealing with the constant feeling of exhuastion. However the drink has stayed with me on and off. The problem is that since I was a teenager I have always binge drank ever couple weeks or so, and more so as the years went on and my tolerance grew. I am now 31.
Last year everything snowballed. I start drinking more regularly after a period of living on my own. Then I became exhuasted and had a CFS attack in August 2007 where I couldn't get home without having about 6 drinks to give me the energy to do so. Since then things have been a struggle. The worst of it was shortly after when I totally descended into oblivion. I ended up drinking one and a half bottles of vodka a day and I became severely adicted and pretty much unable to do anything. Life was a struggle and unenjoyable. Drinking was not pleasurable because the feeling of illness was so bad that I really struggled to cope with any moments of sobriety. I would frequently pass out and no remember the previous day.
However, since summer this year I was beginning to get a hold of things, so much so that in recent times I have gone on a cycle of drinking, feeling rough and then coming out of it once I thought I'd had too much and then going a week, on and off, without the drink. As time was going on my energy was coming back more and more. I felt that my life was coming back but that I could handle a few drinks now and again. Usually when I do drink its just a number of beers, which is more than tolerable and generates an easy withdrawl. However, the last time around I managed to drink 5 bottles of wine in two days and that left me with not only a nasty hangover, but it left me with weak arms and legs, which in turn led to depression. This is usually the first sign of a CFS period. I was desperate to sort things out and got by for a few days without drinking until Thursday when I made up a meeting so that I could get out of the office and down to the pub for a pint. 7 pints, a bottle of wine and a treble whiskey later and I went to bed. The Friday was a similar affair, although this time I ended up drinking vodka, beer and brandy. This was a turning point as it had been the first time that I had turned to spirit drinks out of choice. That was a bad sign that things were going to go downhill.
I had the worst hangover and withdrawl on Saturday than I think I'd had in a year. I have been struggling since then. The anxiety has dropped off a bit, so much so that I am in work today. By the fatigue, weakness and depression are worse than they have been for a long time. I feel right now as if I can't function, as if I won't make it home and like I am ready to die. This feels like the end. I have promised myself that from now on I will only drink on special occasions (such as Christmas Day). I will otherwise be off the drink. However, I am desperate to get back to that feeling of normality I had a few weeks ago. I have even thought about going out for a couple pints right now as a way of easing myself off the booze. My drinking so far has been thus:-
Saturday - A large brandy
Sunday - 6 bottles of alcohol free lager (which says no more than 0.05% alcohol on it so it must still have some booze in it) & a few squirts of Barts Rescue Remedy spray on the tongue - which is flowers suspedned in a brandy like fluid - you don't get much through the spray - but its still booze).
Today - so far nothing, although I have been drinking so much water and herbal tea to compensate that I've already made five trips to the loo since getting to work.
I hid Friday and Saturday's drinking from my fiancé out of shame.
I'm not sure whether or not to treat this as day 1 or day 2 of withdrawl, but I think day 2 judging by the slight improvement (I would not have been able to go to work on Saturday he it been an office day). I know I need to bear it through, but this is by far the worst I've had in a long time...and I know its down to the Brandy and vodka - they affect me far worse than wine and especially beer. I'm not sure if I can manage. This one is the last one as my fiancé has basically told me to give up the booze or give up her. I just can't contemplate the latter so I have to be strong and listen to my logic over my body.
Anyhow, I signed up here in the hope that there may be some people who have felt like this before and can try and help me through. I can't really tell anyone how I feel so I was hoping I might find some friends on here who could help me through this. :sad2:
Immune system disorders: is there a link with artificial sweeteners?
I was sent the following via email......I can not verify or find a source but it did get me thinking about the subject matter. I am interested in your thoughts and experiences as well. If you have been diagnosed with MS, CFS or Fibromyalgia have you in the past or do you currently drink or use artificial sweetners? Thanks in advance for your input and thoughts on the subject.
Quote:
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SWEET POISON In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick. She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain. By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick, she just knew she was dying. She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance, etc., in her oldest daughter's name, and made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of. She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd. On March 19, I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she ha d MS. I recalled an article a friend of mine e-mailed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda? She told me that she did. As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment. I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking the diet soda! I e-mailed her the article my friend, a lawyer, had sent. My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn 't feel 100% but she sure felt a lot better. She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home. Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed! He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind. In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda...and literally dying a slow and miserable death. When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life. If it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on 'ASPARTAME,' marketed as 'NutraSweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.' In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject. I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. Many people were be being diagnosed in error. Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is! Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition. We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas. In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly. This also applies to cases of trinities and firma. During a lecture, I said, 'If you are using ASPARTAME (NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!' People were jumping up during the lecture saying, 'I have some of these symptoms. Is it reversible?' Yes! Yes! Yes! STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels! Many products are fortified with it! This is a serious problem. Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice, a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence! Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight! These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve 'tissue specimens.' Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body! Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the 'diet products' and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period. Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance. Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, seizures, depression, manic depression, panic attacks, uncontrollable anger and rage. Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well. Documentation and observation also rev eal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turn arounds in their behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet. So called 'behavior modification prescription drugs' (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place! Most of these children were being 'poisoned' on a daily basis with the very foods that were 'better for them than sugar.' It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome.. Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners. There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison.' Herein lies the problem: There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED! There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced. Everybody wants a 'piece of the Aspartame pie.' I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is. And isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians? This has been recently exposed in the New York Times. These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products. Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants. The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioral symptoms. The bill was killed. It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you're Informed now! |
