Kinesiology.

I have been suffering more and more with my stomach and last week was in agony; so much so I nearly went to hospital with suspected appendicitis.

I had been wanting to go to a kinesiologist for a while but finally decided to book an appointment a few weeks ago and get myself sorted. I know why I put it off as I feared what would come up in the testing.

Kinesiology

Kinesiology is in layman's term muscle testing to find what is affecting our bodies. There are several different arms of kinesiology. Practitioners can specialise in emotional, nutritional, muscular or classical or applied kinesiology which is all three. Applied kinesiology is what iI had done today.

Diane, the practitioner asked me my history, which gives an idea of what to look for then on the couch lying down she finds a muscle that is workable, in this case she used my arm. She asks the body questions of where to start by doing something with her fingers placed on my arm, I couldn't see what but my arm was weak at certain points as she could push it down easily.

Ileo-cecal valve.

There is a lot going on in my body so the session was an 'emergency' fix. The first thing that came up was my ileo-cecal valve (ICV) wasn't functioning properly. This is located in the lower right abdominal area half way between the hip and navel, it is the valve between the large and small bowel and stops the back up of waste into the small bowel. If the valve is malfunctioning, waste can back into the small intestine where it can get re-absorped and cause horrendous symptoms as you can imagine. I had been having terrible pains in my right lower stomach along with indigestion, bloating in my upper stomach, a feeling of being poisoned, regurgitation and irritable bowel. Diane told me that there is a close link to chronic fatigue syndrome and ileo-cecal valve problems and that she could help me with that. I cried!

I was so relieved that someone could help me with this problem. Diane carried out a few tests to find out what would help me with it which included her releasing the ICV by pressing on it and releasing it. It was painful! She carried out the same thing on the other side, which was less painful.

Self-management for ICV problems include:-

•  Drinking plenty of water throughout the day between meals. Up to 1/4 hour before eating and an hour after eating.
• Avoiding stimulants like coffee and alcohol.
• Avoid irritants such as spice foods like curries.
• Chewing properly to aid digestion. 
• Avoid too much roughage (bran/fibre) for a couple of weeks as it irritants the bowel.
• Take moderate exercise to stimulate the bowel.
• Take good pro-biotic such as one from bio-care, which is made of human strain bacteria.
• Avoid allergens such as gluten or dairy. You can easily see which one or both affect you by avoiding one at a time for a few days and noting the difference then reduce or avoid the other one completely. 
• The ICV is located in the right inguinal area. Massage this after eating and after a bowel movement.

The Houston Valve.

The Houston valve is located in the left inguinal region of the bowel and stops the large bowel emptying rapidly. Getting this valve to function correctly again is important to stop diarrhoea. 

Here is a video that shows how to get your large bowel valves working properly again.

Candida.

Candida (thrush) problems can also affect the ICV so Diane tested what would be helpful for candida, which is an overgrowth of thrush in the guts. It can lead to horrendous symptoms such as fatigue, aching of the muscles and joints, brain fog, indigestion and pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) amongst other things. I have always had a problem with candida but largely chose to ignore it but could no longer as my symptoms were too bad.

An anti-candida diet isn't for the faint hearted.  I love sugar (of course I do, I have candida) and drinking, or at least I did drink rather heavily but recently not so much. I'm known for my love of cake and booze! So this is going to be a hard one. I did the diet for a week before but I need to do t for a long time this time as I have leaky gut too. I'll talk about that later.

Basically on a anti-candida diet the best things to do are:-

• Eat fresh veg, preferably organic as having candida usually means your body is full of toxins form malabsorption.
• Eat good quality protein at each meals. Again preferably organic.
• Cut out sugary foods and drinks, yes that means alcohol.
• Cut out yeasty or fungal foods like mushrooms and vinegar. 
• Cut out gluten as the is an allergen which most candida sufferers are sensitive to. 
• Cut out processed foods.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Cut down on foods like potatoes as they act like sugars in the gut. 
• Cut down on diary as this can inflame the gut.
• Cut down on hydrogenated fats or out altogether. Especially fried foods.

Leaky gut

This causes the gut, as it suggests, to leak toxins into the blood stream and cause all sorts of problems. A lot of the problems are similar to candida. It can cause IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), PMS, allergies, skin problem, depression and chronic fatigue. 

Leaky gut, candida and ICV incompetence are all interlinked. I think mine started with gluten intolerance which caused leaky gut which in turn became colonised with candida. But that is just my point of view. 

Healing leaky gut is a long, slow process and requires dedication and perseverance. 

Supporting supplements.

Diane uses a combination of acupressure point stimulation, bach flower remedies, dietary changes, vitamins, minerals and herbal preparations to support your body whilst it recovers. 

Bach flower remedies.

She advised me to get two Bach flower remedies. Bach flower remedies were discovered by Dr  Edward Bach a Harley Street doctor who believed the mind plays a great role in illness so developed 38 remedies for each negative state of mind. 

My body responded to Olive, which is for complete mental and physical exhaustion. Pretty accurate description for the state of my body at the mo! 

This remedy show total exhaustion of mind and body after a great strain or nursing the sick.

LOWERED KIDNEY FUNCTION is seen and LOWERED OXYGEN LEVELS IN THE BLOOD as well as TOXIC INTESTINAL FLORA and ALCOHOLISM. The Olive state is always a call to humility, and a challenge to deal with one's vital energy as well. This remedy will help to deal with stress with stamina and joy. The remedy belongs to the group LACK OF INTEREST IN PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES along with CLEMATIS, HONEYSUCKLE, WILD ROSE, WHITE CHESTNUT, CHESTNUT BUD, and MUSTARD. There is weariness of mind, body, and emotions, and rest and recuperation are called for. Apathy can be present, one starts a task and doesn't finish it. Those in social services or suffering from prolonged illness.

I also responded to impatiens, which as the name suggests is to treat impatience. 

The personality is irritable, tense, and driven. There is loneliness like HEATHER and WATER VIOLET.

The state creates NERVOUS TENSION and CARDIOVASCULAR STRAIN. Inner tension mounts out of concern for others. NERVOUS BREAKDOWN. The individual is efficient with lots of skill and ability. They are leaders with short tempers, and are arrogant, intimidating and self centered. There is also a problem with impulse control and the remedy restores a balance of mind over emotions. A feeling of self mastery is achieved as with HOLLY and CHERRY PLUM AND VERVAIN. These individuals can experience HOT FLASHES, and are QUICK THINKING and NATURAL EXTROVERTS, and can suffer from SKIN RASHES.

I'm definitely impatient that's for certain and tense but driven I'm not sure about.

As for being 'arrogant, intimidating and self centred' I'm not sure I would say that about myself and I'm definitely not a leader. 

...is, as its name suggests, the remedy for impatience and the frustration and irritability that often go with it. Anyone can get into this state of mind, but there are also genuine Impatiens types, who live life at a rush and hate being held back by more methodical people. To avoid this irritation they prefer to work alone: the Impatiens boss is the one who sends staff home early so she can get the job finished quicker.

The remedy helps us be less hasty and more relaxed with others. It is also an ingredient in Dr Bach's original crisis formula, where it helps calm agitated thoughts and feelings.

Dr Bach's description 

Those who are quick in thought and action and who wish all things to be done without hesitation or delay. When ill they are anxious for a hasty recovery. They find it very difficult to be patient with people who are slow, as they consider it wrong and a waste of time, and they will endeavour to make such people quicker in all ways. They often prefer to work and think alone, so that they can do everything at their own speed.

I much prefer this description but I don't think I would have picked it out for myself. That's what is great about going to a kinesiologist, they can find what out what the body is craving for. 

We shall see if it helps with my irritability and impatience!

Herbal supplements.

For the herbal supplements my body responded to vitamin c and liquorice for adrenal fatigue. Licorice root extract is a good herb for mood lifting and yeast infections. It it instrumental in assisting the adrenals produce cortisol, which is the main function of the adrenals. Cortisol is the stress hormone and when the body experiences great, prolonged stress the production of cortisol is altered leading to adrenal fatigue. 

Vitamin C is needed by the adrenals when working overtime. As soon as the adrenals are called into action, vitamin C is rapidly used up.

Pomegranate is the third supplement shown by my body to be of benefit and it's action is to kill candida (thrush).

At the time of writing, I'm on day 3 of the diet and day 2 of the regime. I think it's too early to tell for the most part but I have noticed a change in is my bowel habits. I'm not not waking up and rushing to the bathroom and the pain in my stomach is much better. My mood has been really low today but I'm not sure if that's circumstantial as well.