New Chart: I Ching, 5 elements, Hexagrams

[Guest guest]

I'm not as familiar with I Ching as I am with 5 elements, but I thought everyone would find this nonetheless interesting. I've attached two charts; one illustrating the combinations and one providing the numbers.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 04/17/2001 6:48:31 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

victoria_dragon writes:

 

Just to lend support:

 

<< I learned a lot from having CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction

Syndrome).

 

My path to TCM was also through CFIDS. Everything that you have stated has

proven to be true for me also. Western medicine could not help me. It has

been a long road but one that has ended up to be so very richly rewarding.

 

<< When I discovered TCM I discovered a big tool for balance. I began to

make improvements I never though possible.

 

I made tremendous improvement simply by changing my diet and supplementing

with enzymes and vitamins. I saw first hand how much our health is

determined by our choices. To know that I could produce such dramatic changes

by learning was very empowering. I won't kid anyone, it took a good two

years to regain my energy through diet alone. I suspect my progress may not

have been quite so slow had I known about TCM then. I remember getting the

book " Perfect Health " out of the library and after reading it ... alas ...

life made sense. This book was about Ayurveda however it then led me to TCM.

I have made and also continue to make more improvements all the time by

following these teachings.

 

<< All aspects of my life are changing, not just physical but my attitudes,

my way of looking at things, etc.

 

I had become so cynical when I was sick. I was a real pain in the neck to be

around. I truly felt as though I was losing my spirit. After a time I could

feel it returning. This was not something that I set out to accomplish, it

just happened. I have been happy, content and life is fun again. Suddenly

there just isn't enough time in a day, they go by so quickly now. I used to

spend the day waiting for the sun to go down so that I could go to bed.

 

<< I want to say a little something about the spiritual aspects of

healing. The spiritual aspect of people also includes people being

true to themselves - the real them, not what they're been told they

should be or ought to be.

 

This is imperative. I could not have made my way back had I not been true to

myself, nor without knowing that my destiny was in my control. I always knew

I could do it .... I just had to figure out how.

 

Lynn

[Guest guest]

> I'm not as familiar with I Ching as I am with 5 elements, but I

thought everyone would find this nonetheless interesting. I've

attached two charts; one illustrating the combinations and one

providing the numbers.

 

My husband studied the I Ching in a philosophy course he took in

college. I Ching is the Book of Changes.

 

One of the underlying concepts of Chinese philosophy and medicine is

that everything changes. TCM recognizes that that Yin can become

Yang, Yang can become Yin, that Cold can become Heat (like when a

pathogen is trapped in the Lungs), that Dampness can become Dryness

(like when Phlegm blocks the movement of moisture), etc. This is

also why TCM healers reevaluate clients frequently and change

treatment as needed. This is also the world view which made it

possible for the Chinese to formulate the 6 Stages of Cold-Induced

Evils so healers would have a way of knowing what was coming next so

the proper herbs would be ready. Things change.

 

Something else that some readers may be interested in is Feng Shui,

the art of placement. I'm going to simpliply things a lot here by

saying that Feng Shui offers some concepts for harmonious interior

design and decorating. It also offers some guidelines for the proper

placement of buildings within a landscape. Feng Shui, like so much of

Chinese thought is about balance and harmony.

 

So what if anything could Feng Shui possibly have to do with healing?

Feng Shui, like TCM and Chinese philosophy, is concerned with balance

and harmony.

 

The Chinese are far more holistic in their thinking than most

Westerners are. There is no sharp division in the Chinese world view

between mind, body, and spirit. Everything is interconnected. Not

only can psychological problems and spiritual problems trigger

disease (disharmony), but physical problems can trigger psychological

problems. They're all interconnected, and problems can snowball. A

good example is the problem of anger and Liver imbalance. It doesn't

matter what the original assault to the Liver is - bacterial, viral,

parasitic, poison, pollutant, trauma, blocked and habitual anger,

etc. Once the Liver is in imbalance, the person is going to be prone

to feel anger. If this anger is blocked or over-expressed, this is

going to make the physical problems associated with the Liver worse,

and this worsening of the physical is going to increase the tendency

toward anger more. It's a snowballing situation.

 

I learned a lot from having CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction

Syndrome). I came down with this 10 years before the outbreak in

Incline Village, Nevada first began to bring CFIDS to the attention

of the medical profession and the general public. I went the rounds

of conventional medicine trying to get help. Some doctors did help

because they cared and they used their training to try to figure out

things which would help. Some of the things which they figured out

in those early days have since become recognized treatments that tend

to help many PWCs (People With CFIDS).

 

I also began to use my talents and training in engineering

(Biological Agricultural Engineering) to begin to figure out things

to help myself and to make sense out of what was happening to me.

It's helped that I have a talent for research, that I'm very

analytical, and that I have a background in science.

 

One of the things that I discovered over the years is that the

Western paradigm of healing - zap it with an anti-drug or remove it

with surgery (I'm simplifying things here) is useless a lot of the

time and actually prevents figuring out solutions when it comes to

treating something like CFIDS.

 

I began to think of my health like an old-fashioned balance scale.

On one side of the scale was this big ugly rock called CFIDS that

weighed me down into poor health. (This was years before I knew TCM

existed, but I was starting to think in terms of balance.) I didn't

know how to remove the big ugly CFIDS rock. In other words, I didn't

know how to cure it, I didn't have an anti-drug for it, I couldn't

have someone cut it out, etc. Nor did I have a weight of equal mass

to place on the other side of the scale to balance me into health. I

didn't have something like insulin to control diabetes.

 

Instead, what I gradually discovered over the years were a lot of

little weights that over time balanced me more towards health. This

was me in the pre-TCM days.

 

When I discovered TCM I discovered a big tool for balance. I began to

make improvements I never though possible. Certain things began to

reverse that never had reversed before. Improvement continues as

long as I stay on TCM treatment. As I learn more I'm able to

finetune treatment and improve even more. My chief problem is Yang

Deficiency, and this is a problem that can take a long time to

resolve, especially when it has gone as long without treatment as it

has in my case. TCM also recognizes that the longer a problem has

gone on without proper treatment, the longer it's going to take to

correct the imbalances. All aspects of my life are changing, not

just physical but my attitudes, my way of looking at things, etc.

 

The use of Feng Shui in healing can be looked at as " a little rock " .

By itself Feng Shui is not going to cure anyone of anything. At least

not in the Western viewpoint. But, harmonious environments can help

in healing.

 

Western science recognizes that environments can have physical and

psychological effects on people. For example, the blood pressure

will tend to go up in subjects placed in a room painted red. People

tend to feel more relaxed when they're placed in a beautiful

garden. Blood pressure tends to come down. The person is more calm.

Healing is a lot easier in a harmonious environment than in a

stressful one.

 

I want to say a little something about the spiritual aspects of

healing. The spiritual aspect of people also includes people being

true to themselves - the real them, not what they're been told they

should be or ought to be. The classic example is a person working in

a job s/he hates and which is totally unfulling to the person simply

because s/he's making a lot of money or there's a lot of prestige in

that particular field or there is some kind of family or societal

pressure to be in that field. Getting up every morning and going to a

job you hate or playing a role which really isn't you is courting

physical sickness, and sooner or later the body will start to break

down. And when it does, there is no incentive deep down inside for

the person to get well. What will you help the person heal for? So

s/he can go back to a job or a role s/he hates? So s/he can continue

to deny, suppress, and even kill off his/her most basic being?

 

Sometimes healing includes a person taking a look at what s/he really

is and needs in order to be fulfilled. And healing is a lot easier

when a person continues to be true to him/herself. This is something

that has been discovered with PWCs. The ones who continue to be true

to themselves have an easier time and tend to make more progress than

the ones who don't. By training and by aptitude, I am an engineer.

I didn't stop being an engineer because I got sick or because I don't

work outside the home in an engineering firm. I simply applied the

talents and training to figuring out solutions to the CFIDS. And I've

been true to other aspects of the inner me, the real me in spite of

the CFIDS. It does make a difference for the better.

 

Victoria

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

I read foloowing books and I thought each one of ypu

would like it.

 

1. You can heal your life : Louse L Hay

 

2. Awakening Intuition : Monalisa Schulz

 

These books do give lot of insight in Healing.

 

Regards

 

Suresh

--- victoria_dragon wrote:

> > I'm not as familiar with I Ching as I am with 5

> elements, but I

> thought everyone would find this nonetheless

> interesting. I've

> attached two charts; one illustrating the

> combinations and one

> providing the numbers.

>

> My husband studied the I Ching in a philosophy

> course he took in

> college. I Ching is the Book of Changes.

>

> One of the underlying concepts of Chinese philosophy

> and medicine is

> that everything changes. TCM recognizes that that

> Yin can become

> Yang, Yang can become Yin, that Cold can become Heat

> (like when a

> pathogen is trapped in the Lungs), that Dampness can

> become Dryness

> (like when Phlegm blocks the movement of moisture),

> etc. This is

> also why TCM healers reevaluate clients frequently

> and change

> treatment as needed. This is also the world view

> which made it

> possible for the Chinese to formulate the 6 Stages

> of Cold-Induced

> Evils so healers would have a way of knowing what

> was coming next so

> the proper herbs would be ready. Things change.

>

> Something else that some readers may be interested

> in is Feng Shui,

> the art of placement. I'm going to simpliply things

> a lot here by

> saying that Feng Shui offers some concepts for

> harmonious interior

> design and decorating. It also offers some

> guidelines for the proper

> placement of buildings within a landscape. Feng

> Shui, like so much of

> Chinese thought is about balance and harmony.

>

> So what if anything could Feng Shui possibly have to

> do with healing?

> Feng Shui, like TCM and Chinese philosophy, is

> concerned with balance

> and harmony.

>

> The Chinese are far more holistic in their thinking

> than most

> Westerners are. There is no sharp division in the

> Chinese world view

> between mind, body, and spirit. Everything is

> interconnected. Not

> only can psychological problems and spiritual

> problems trigger

> disease (disharmony), but physical problems can

> trigger psychological

> problems. They're all interconnected, and problems

> can snowball. A

> good example is the problem of anger and Liver

> imbalance. It doesn't

> matter what the original assault to the Liver is -

> bacterial, viral,

> parasitic, poison, pollutant, trauma, blocked and

> habitual anger,

> etc. Once the Liver is in imbalance, the person is

> going to be prone

> to feel anger. If this anger is blocked or

> over-expressed, this is

> going to make the physical problems associated with

> the Liver worse,

> and this worsening of the physical is going to

> increase the tendency

> toward anger more. It's a snowballing situation.

>

> I learned a lot from having CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue

> Immune Dysfunction

> Syndrome). I came down with this 10 years before

> the outbreak in

> Incline Village, Nevada first began to bring CFIDS

> to the attention

> of the medical profession and the general public. I

> went the rounds

> of conventional medicine trying to get help. Some

> doctors did help

> because they cared and they used their training to

> try to figure out

> things which would help. Some of the things which

> they figured out

> in those early days have since become recognized

> treatments that tend

> to help many PWCs (People With CFIDS).

>

> I also began to use my talents and training in

> engineering

> (Biological Agricultural Engineering) to begin to

> figure out things

> to help myself and to make sense out of what was

> happening to me.

> It's helped that I have a talent for research, that

> I'm very

> analytical, and that I have a background in science.

>

> One of the things that I discovered over the years

> is that the

> Western paradigm of healing - zap it with an

> anti-drug or remove it

> with surgery (I'm simplifying things here) is

> useless a lot of the

> time and actually prevents figuring out solutions

> when it comes to

> treating something like CFIDS.

>

> I began to think of my health like an old-fashioned

> balance scale.

> On one side of the scale was this big ugly rock

> called CFIDS that

> weighed me down into poor health. (This was years

> before I knew TCM

> existed, but I was starting to think in terms of

> balance.) I didn't

> know how to remove the big ugly CFIDS rock. In

> other words, I didn't

> know how to cure it, I didn't have an anti-drug for

> it, I couldn't

> have someone cut it out, etc. Nor did I have a

> weight of equal mass

> to place on the other side of the scale to balance

> me into health. I

> didn't have something like insulin to control

> diabetes.

>

> Instead, what I gradually discovered over the years

> were a lot of

> little weights that over time balanced me more

> towards health. This

> was me in the pre-TCM days.

>

> When I discovered TCM I discovered a big tool for

> balance. I began to

> make improvements I never though possible. Certain

> things began to

> reverse that never had reversed before. Improvement

> continues as

> long as I stay on TCM treatment. As I learn more

> I'm able to

> finetune treatment and improve even more. My chief

> problem is Yang

> Deficiency, and this is a problem that can take a

> long time to

> resolve, especially when it has gone as long without

> treatment as it

> has in my case. TCM also recognizes that the longer

> a problem has

> gone on without proper treatment, the longer it's

> going to take to

> correct the imbalances. All aspects of my life are

> changing, not

> just physical but my attitudes, my way of looking at

> things, etc.

>

> The use of Feng Shui in healing can be looked at as

> " a little rock " .

> By itself Feng Shui is not going to cure anyone of

> anything. At least

> not in the Western viewpoint. But, harmonious

> environments can help

> in healing.

>

> Western science recognizes that environments can

> have physical and

> psychological effects on people. For example, the

> blood pressure

> will tend to go up in subjects placed in a room

> painted red. People

> tend to feel more relaxed when they're placed in a

> beautiful

> garden. Blood pressure tends to come down. The

> person is more calm.

> Healing is a lot easier in a harmonious environment

> than in a

> stressful one.

>

> I want to say a little something about the spiritual

> aspects of

> healing. The spiritual aspect of people also

> includes people being

> true to themselves - the real them, not what they're

> been told they

> should be or ought to be. The classic example is a

> person working in

> a job s/he hates and which is totally unfulling to

> the person simply

> because s/he's making a lot of money or there's a

> lot of prestige in

> that particular field or there is some kind of

> family or societal

> pressure to be in that field. Getting up every

> morning

=== message truncated ===

 

 

 

 

Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices

http://auctions./

[Guest guest]

>I made tremendous improvement simply by changing my diet and supplementing

>with enzymes and vitamins.

 

That was my first step too. And it helped a lot. It took some rather high

dosages of vitamins and minerals to help me, but they helped.

 

For a long time I had to stay on a rather high dose of vitamin A. Every

time I tried to drop below a certain level, I would start getting problems

like the soreness behind the nose again. I don't understand exactly why,

but the A also eliminated the brain fog problems. In my case the brain fog

problems appeared to be linked to infection. Every time the pharyngitis

reappeared, the brain fog reappeared too. Overdoing physically would case

both to reappear as would dropping the intake of A too low. I eventually

got to the point where I only required one A per day, and then eventually, I

didn't even require that. But I recently had to start back on the A. I

have been doing an unusual amount of physical labor this spring. (Back in

the days when I was so sick, I also had an active case of chronic mono.)

 

BTW, when PWCs were asked in an informal poll what helps the most with the

digestive system problems, the number one answer was digestive enzymes.

 

Coenzyme Q10 also helped me a lot.

 

>I saw first hand how much our health is

>determined by our choices. To know that I could produce such dramatic

>changes

>by learning was very empowering.

 

It is. And you never look at anything quite the same once you discover

this. It gets applied to other things besides health.

 

>I won't kid anyone, it took a good two

>years to regain my energy through diet alone.

 

There's a catch-22 in regards to PWCs. At the very time we most need the

good, natural food, we're too sick to prepare it. Back when I was the

sickest, I was proud of the fact that I still managed to fix supper most

nights. We ate mostly pizza and TV dinners from the microwave. I would get

the food out of the freezer and immediately have to sit down and rest before

I could make it the few steps across the floor to the microwave. Some

" high " energy nights I would get ambitious and do soup and sandwiches. By

the time I got the can of soup opened and in the pot, I would have to put

the burner on very low so I could go lie down and rest.

 

As the vitamins, minerals, and supplements began to do their work over time

and I had more energy (and the brain fog wasn't as great), I began to get

into cooking more from scratch. This too definitely helped.

 

Sometimes things have to be done in a certain order - like my getting enough

improvement via other means (the supplements) before I could get into the

more healthy meal preparation. I've known PWCs who were too fatigued to

even chew not less prepare any kind of meal, even frozen TV dinners. Plus,

many PWCs lack appetite. This was never one of my problems as I'm so

hypoglycemic I have to eat or feel a lot worse.

 

>I suspect my progress may not

>have been quite so slow had I known about TCM then.

 

I know mine wouldn't have been. In my case Kidney Deficiency Cold (Yang

Deficiency) is the primary TCM problem. None of the vitamins and minerals

ever addressed that. They helped other things, but not that. Once that was

addressed, things began to reverse that previously had just gotten worse and

worse over the years.

 

The systems that get hit the hardest in CFIDS are the Liver, the Spleen, the

Kidneys, and the Heart. Other systems may be affected too, but these appear

to be the linchpins in CFIDS. Because the Kidneys - the source of both Yin

and Yang for the entire body - are involved, both Kidney Yang and Kidney Yin

Deficiency are present, though one will always predominate. It appears to

be common for PWCs to go through periods in which the Kidney Yin Deficiency

and general Yin Deficiency predominate, but eventually the Kidney Yang

Deficiency predominates.

 

>I had become so cynical when I was sick. I was a real pain in the neck to

>be

>around.

 

I was as irritable and charming as a rabid porcupine. Or a cactus.

Sometimes I still am. The Liver involvement.

 

>I truly felt as though I was losing my spirit.

 

This sounds fanciful to many Westerners, but nevertheless it is a valid and

necessary concept in healing. There is such a thing as a loss of " spirit " .

This is Heart imbalance. It's helpful to Westerners to think of " spirit " as

it's used in the term " Spirit of '76 " . Also, the terms " dispirited " ,

listless, etc.

 

The digestive problems are Spleen (and Stomach) imbalance.

 

>After a time I could

>feel it returning. This was not something that I set out to accomplish, it

>just happened.

 

TCM recognizes that when one takes care of the physical, emotional,

psychological, and spiritual problems often resolve too. Often the primary

approach has to be physical in order to resolve these problems. Sometimes

the primary approach has to be psychological or spiritual in order to

resolve the physical problems. Sometimes a combination of all approaches

are called for.

 

>This is imperative. I could not have made my way back had I not been true

>to

>myself, nor without knowing that my destiny was in my control. I always

>knew

>I could do it .... I just had to figure out how.

 

Unfortunately, there are some people for whom this is far more frigthening

than illness or even death is. The conditioning is just so great that they

can't make the leap to being themselves, and they remain passive in all

situations.

 

Sometimes healing can be very frightening because it involves really looking

at oneself and having to dreg up some very unpleansant and painful stuff so

it can be addressed. In cases where this needs to be done it's going to be

a lot easier and more likely to happen if the person first gets some

physical relief via physical means. If a person is in severe pain or really

spaced out with brainfog or is having problems breathing, etc., this is a

person who is not able discuss much of anything. First treat the physical

with physical means to get the person strong enough if s/he needs to also

deal with issues like over-dependency, a job s/he hates, childhood abuse,

etc. And some people need to learn and practice being more dependent and

interdependent. Like the boss who can't delegate authority.

 

Victoria

 

_______________

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[Guest guest]

In a message dated 04/18/2001 1:45:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

victoria_dragon writes:

 

<I made tremendous improvement simply by changing my diet and supplementing

>with enzymes and vitamins.

 

That was my first step too. And it helped a lot. It took some rather high

dosages of vitamins and minerals to help me, but they helped.

>>

What kinds of enzymes exactly? What strength..if there even is a particular

" strength " to enzymes? I'm just asking, knowing nothing about this treatment.

 

Jo

[Guest guest]

> That was my first step too. And it helped a lot. It took some rather

>high

> dosages of vitamins and minerals to help me, but they helped.

> >>

>What kinds of enzymes exactly? What strength..if there even is a

>particular

> " strength " to enzymes? I'm just asking, knowing nothing about this

>treatment.

 

Coenzyme Q10 which plays a big role in energy at the cellular level and

digestive enzymes. I forget the recommended dose for Co Q10, but the

digestive enzymes were the regular dose.

 

I would recommend looking into digestive enzymes in any condition marked by

poor digestion. In addition there is a class of Chinese herbs called Herbs

to Relieve Food Stagnation.

 

In the treatment of CFIDS - and the treatment of some other things - the

digestive (and the allergy) problems often need to be a priority. If the

person has some severe digestive problems, the person is not going to be

able to absorb and utilize the help from good food or from good herbs. If

there are allergy problems or allergy like problems, the person is not going

to be able to eat a variety of foods and may even react to many herbs. One

of the hallmarks of CFIDS is that it's common for PWCs to react in unusual

and unexpected ways to many common drugs, especially antihistamines. This

is a real catch-2 situation in that another hallmark of CFIDS is that PWCs

tend to have a lot of allergies and sensitivities, have a great sensitivity

to histamine (histamine-releasing anesthesias can trigger CFIDS in

individuals who are prone to develop it), but tend to react to

antihistamines. One of the reasons why so many PWCs have turned to

alternative medicine is because of that tendency to react to so many

prescription drugs. (BTW, when doctors need to prescribe drugs for PWCs,

they often will try a drug with the shortest half-life in the needed

category. That way, if there is a reaction, the drug won't be in the body

as long. There also usually is Liver and often liver imbalance in PWCs.

Liver from the TCM standpoint and sometimes abnormal Western liver profile.

This started out for me as mono-induced hepatitis 6 months after gall

bladder surgery. Cytomegalovirus - the second leading cause of

mononucleosis (glandular fever) - can attack the liver and cause all the

symptoms of hepatitis. (According to the NIH (National Institute of Health -

U.S.), Epstein Barr Virus is the leading cause of mono - approximately 90% -

and CMV is responsible for most of the remaining 10%. The liver plays a

very big role in being able to detox things in the body. Hence, when

there's Liver and liver imbalance, drugs and other things aren't being

broken down like they are in a normal person. " Poisons " accumulate. (In

TCM, one nickname for licorice root is " the Great Detoxer " . So licorice

root, aka Radix Glycyrrhizae, aka Gan Cao, is definitely an herb to consider

in these cases provided its TCM criteria is met (it's a Qi tonic herb) and

there are no contratindications from either a TCM standpoint (Excess

Dampness) or from a Western standpoint (high blood pressure). I have read

that Glycyrrhiza uralensis (botanical name) is the variety of licorice that

has the least blood pressure raising properties. This is definitely one of

those cases where the variety of the herb makes a difference. Licorice root

also is used in Western herbalism for various stomach problems. In TCM, a

small amount of licorice root often is included in formulas to smooth out

the actions of the other herbs in the formula and to enter all 12 meridians.

Licorice root also has applications for allergies. It has glucocorticoid

effects. In the days when cortisone had not yet been discovered and

manufactured, licorice root was used to treat Addison's disease (adreanal

insufficiency). It's sometimes used today in alternative medicine to treat

Neurally Mediated Hypotension. (This is one of those conditions in which

blood pressure doesn't maintain and or rise when it should. One of the

symptoms is that the person may feel faint when changing from a sitting to a

standing position, when the person has been bending over and straightens up,

etc. NMH is one of those things which is fairly common in PWCs. It's

diagnosed with a tilt table test.))

 

I got off track here, but getting back to the tendency to react to common

prescription drugs, it doesn't stop there for PWCs (and others). PWCs who

are very sick also tend to react to many herbs and even to many foods. The

diet can be extremely limited as a result. This is not good because the

person needs the nutritional and healing properties of various foods.

Likewise, one can't get the benefit of herbs if one can't take them because

of reactions. This is why in cases of CFIDS (and some other cases marked by

a tendency to have and to develop allergies and allergy-like symptoms)

getting the digestive system and allergy problems under control needs to be

a priority. (One thing one wants to consider in cases like this is the use

of EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids) - in particular the omega-6 EFAs (Evening

Primrose Oil) and the omega-3 EFAs (cold water fish oil, flax seed and flax

oil). I'll be posting more about this in the 2nd part of the post on

allergies.)

 

In TCM, the rule is to treat everything one can at the same time. For

example, when a person is both Blood and Qi Deficient and has Qi Stagnation

problems, Blood tonic, Qi tonic, and Herbs to Move Qi will be included in

the formula. But sometimes, you will need to prioritize and pay a little

more attention to some things than to others because these will be key to

getting other things to resolve. Sometimes symptoms will have to receive a

great deal of attention though the general rule is to treat the Root. This

is especially true when there is a " knotty " (complex, has gone on for some

time) problem. There was a post several months ago with a link to an

article on " knotty problems " in TCM.

 

In regards to the vitamins and minerals, the dosages of those were high. I

followed some recommendations in some books at the health food store. The

staff and my husband looked up the information for me for suggestive

vitamins and minerals for mononucleosis and for CFIDS. I went this route

because I was desperate, and I knew from experience what that positive

monospot test meant I was in for. I remembered back when this first

started, and how the doctor had placed me on a high-powered vitamin tablet,

telling me that that and a lot of rest were the only things that could be

done. I remembered the 2nd major flare-up when the monospot test was again

positive, and how vitamin and minerals had helped then. I had had mono

probably a couple of times before I developed CFIDS. But after the

mono-induced hepatitis, I was never the same. This was the start of the

CFIDS. I only partially recovered. And each time I had a major flare-up, I

lost more that I couldn't regain. It wasn't until I saw a TCM healer that

this began to reverse, and I began to regain abilities and levels of

functioning that had been lost through the years. I'm now back to what I

could do between the 2nd and 3rd major flare-ups. In all there were 4 major

flare-ups. The vitamins and minerals were not enough by themselves. They

definitely helped, and they played a role in my being able to recover some,

but they were not enough by themselves for me to regain everything that was

lost with each major flare-up. I was still getting progressively worse

until I saw the TCM healer. I eventually reached a point where my " bad "

days were a lot better than my " best " days used to be.

 

When evaluating progress in PWCs, it can be very important to compare how

the person was doing a year ago under similar conditions instead of how the

PWC was doing last season. PWCs tend to be very weather-sensitive. PWCs

tend to have weak Protective Qi. In my case, because I'm so Yang Deficient,

winter is my worst time of the year. I also got to the point where I had a

lot of problems with heat in the summer. Spring was still too cold for me

(had to warm to the mid-80s before I felt comfortable) and the allergies

made me miserable. Fall was my best time of year - not too cold or hot and

not too much blooming. As I began to improve, if I compared how I felt in

the winter to how I had felt a few weeks before in the fall, it looked like

I was losing ground. But when I compared how I felt that winter to how I

had felt the previous winter, progress was evident. This needing to compare

to a time of similar conditions also will come in in regards to other people

with chronic conditions who are weather sensitive, not just PWCs. It will

come up in evaluating progress in people with arthritis. Sometimes you will

need to tell clients to make comparissons to similar times in order to get a

real estimate or improvement or lack of improvement.

 

BTW, I found temps in the 70s very nice this spring and so far there's been

only slight allergy symptoms even though I'm spending a lot of time

outdoors.

 

Victoria

 

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