My chronic headache part 2

{Disclaimer; this story is intended for entertainment purposes only and in no way intended to diagnose or to make recommendations for other people's medical conditions}

Headaches, symptom or illness?

    Over the past few decades the medical community has progressively gone from identifying illnesses, to identifying symptoms as illnesses. . Labeling symptoms as diseases is in large part due to pharmaceuticals trying to create diseases that they can sell drugs for. Arthritis is now an illness rather than a symptom of an illness, and headaches are now an illness instead of a symptom of an illness. If you look up the definition of arthritis, you will find that the word simply means inflammation of the joints. This is not a disease it is a symptom that can be caused by numerous things, including food allergies. Tomatoes and potatoes which are a member of the nightshade family can cause a toxic reaction to the body. This includes inflammation of the joints and is many times mistaken for arthritis. I have noted that one of the types of headaches that I get, is related to what I eat. Tomatoes and potatoes will cause my hands and feet to swell and ache followed by tension headaches. In talking to people I have found that some people are more sensitive than others and it may be related to the type of the doshas (an Ayurveda term that refers to one of three bodily humors or body types) that a person falls under. This is not to say that I have given up eating tomatoes but that I make a choice to limit the amount that I eat and to counterbalance with a base food that counteracts an acidic food. At times this may be as simple as putting a half teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water and drinking it. It should be noted that this does not always work and I do not recommend using on a regular basis. I guess what I'm trying to say is at times you have to choose whether the pasta with tomato sauce is worth the headache that you know will follow and if eating in moderation will solve the problem?

Tea Tree Oil

    I remember that years ago I started chewing on cinnamon toothpicks and seeing in the health food store tea tree oil toothpicks, thought how cool and started using the tea tree oil toothpicks instead. Basically I use the toothpicks to help cut down on smoking and to eventually help me quit. Thinking that it was a very good antiseptic, thought nothing about swallowing small amounts from the toothpicks. Tea tree oil is used as an external antiseptic and is found in many different products including toothpaste and mouth wash. The small amounts that are consumed in mouthwash toothpaste are considered to be safe and packaging recommends not swallowing product. In further research I have come to find out that even small amounts that are swallowed can cause side effects, which includes headaches. This is why it is so important to do your homework and research any homeopathic or holistic remedies yourself, as many can be as dangerous as prescription drugs. On the whole herbal remedies and vitamin supplements when used properly have far less side effects and are far safer to use compared to anything created by a pharmaceuticals.

Dollar store bargain?

In my never-ending search for answers I came across something I did not expect. I am a regular patron of dollar stores and like anyone else looking for a bargain. At the time I was a regular coffee drinker and other hot beverages. The dollar store had some nice extra-large coffee cups that I like and used on a regular basis. One of my homeopathic doctors made the recommendation to test the dinnerware and porcelain coffee cups in my house for lead. To my surprise several the coffee cups turned out to be unsafe to use. Even though this was a company distributing products in the US, some unsafe products do slip by inspectors. I found this out for myself many years ago when I owned a novelty store and thinking I was getting a bargain bought color crayons from China only to find they may have contained lead. I now drink hot beverages from glass mugs only and use only dinnerware made in the US, preferably Corning Ware.(Lead poisoning symptoms: vomiting, constipation, headaches, difficulty thinking and abnormal weight loss.)

Mercury tooth fillings

This is one that was also brought to my attention by one of the homeopathic doctors. The homeopathic doctor put it to me with this simple question. If Mercury is not safe to handle with your bare hands why would it be safe to put in your mouth? The next time you're at the dentist office and the dentist is about to put a filling in your mouth, asking that same question. (Some of the symptoms of mercury poisoning are: inhibited memory or memory loss, headaches, profuse sweating, hypertension, and too many other ailments list here. Keep in mind that where I live the fish in Lake Lahontan are considered to be unsafe to eat due to Mercury. The government solution to the problem was to limit people on the number of fish they consumed, even though the federal government considers there to be no safe level for mercury. In addition the federal government has mandated the elimination of incandescent light bulbs recommending that people use more Mercury florescent light bulbs in their homes. Yet one homeowner in the Reno area reportedly broke a florescent light bulb in his home and asked a local hardware how best to clean up the broken glass. To his surprise the hardware store reported the incident to the local hazmat that then arrived at the homeowner’s home in full hazmat. After the hazmat team cleaned up the broken florescent light bulb, they promptly presented the homeowner with a bill for $1200.

Fungus and Bacteria

Fungus, mold and bacteria contamination can be a homeowner's worst nightmare. Not only is it extremely difficult and expensive to decontaminate at home but even in the cleanest homes you are exposed to these contaminants on a regular basis. They are in the air we breathe and exist in almost any conditions, wet or dry. A few years back I came down with a lung infection that was referred to as Valley fever. It is a fungus that exists in the Valley from prehistoric times and when the weather conditions are right cause a spike in lung infections. The symptoms are very similar to pneumonia but medications that work well for pneumonia generally do not work for this type of infection. These types of contaminants in the sinus cavities can cause excruciating headaches and in some cases act as flesh eating bacteria. They can also be responsible for chronic sinus infections that seem to recur or never go away. In one such case a man became contaminated with bread mold in his sinus cavity. The mold quickly adapted to the moist conditions and promptly began to eat that man's face away. His life was saved only through radical surgery and high doses of pharmaceuticals. Although this is the extreme end of such cases, many people including myself have found themselves having to resort to drastic measures. Remove carpeting and other materials that may be harbingers of contaminants including parasites such as dust mites are just a few of the things that people have had to resort to. Living in a desert such as Nevada does not help and sinus headaches can come and go with the changes in the weather. One of the types of headaches that I have is referred to whether migraines. They are triggered by dramatic changes in barometric pressures and changes in weather patterns. They are similar to altitude sickness and generally do not last more than a day or two. But with living in Nevada and as often as the weather changes here they may seem more like chronic headaches.

Styrofoam insulation

Several years ago while attending college I took the course in" Man and the Environment" which involved pollution and environmental contaminations. The college course turned out to be an eye-opening course that resulted in my having nightmares about the end of the world. The amount of toxic substances that we are exposed to on a daily basis is mind-boggling. One of these substances is Styrofoam insulation. This product was touted at one time as a safe alternative to fiberglass and a more efficient installation, this product is now known to emit formaldehyde gas as it decomposes. CH₂O or HCHO can be toxic, allergenic, and carcinogenic and formaldehyde exposures in buildings include frequent headaches, unusual fatigue, lethargy and troubled sleep. This also may explain why some of my headaches started to occur while working for Amazon. One of the main products that were used on a daily basis was cardboard boxes and cardboard products. One of the chemicals used in making some cardboard's is formaldehyde. Reports of people in the facility breaking out in rashes were commonplace. Amazon never fully explained the cause or tried to blame it on dust mites and to this date as far as I know has not been resolved. The effects of exposure to formaldehyde are too many to list here but it is apparent that OSHA and other government agencies have become complacent in protecting workers in the workplace.

Lighting, florescent to strobe

Due to changes in the laws incandescent lighting has gone by the wayside being replaced by florescent lighting. Even before the laws were passed florescent lighting was always blamed for causing eyestrain and headaches. It seems almost coincidental that the number of headache related illnesses have increased since the passage of a law that outlawed the use of incandescent lights. . As if it wasn't bad enough having to use lighting that is known to cause headaches we now have engineers designing strobe lights to transmit data. Engineers say that the lights will flicker so quickly that the human eye cannot detect fluttering in the light. Personally I'm tired of corporations using me as a guinea pig to try out products that should be tested in the lab first.

Iodized salt

One of the problems with being such a health-conscious person is that we sometimes take for granted what is presented to us. A few years back my wife and I began using sea salt because we believed it to be healthier. In my research little did I realize that sea salt does not contain iodine. Iodine is needed by the body's thyroid system and the deficiency of iodine can cause numerous illnesses. Goiters are the more common signs of iodine deficiency, as well as extreme fatigue, slow mental processing, depression and weight gain. Iodine deficiency is also one of the leading causes of mental retardation. This also goes to show that a lack of vitamins and minerals can be the cause of so-called illnesses.
    On another note, my wife was dealing with a goiter and since returning to iodized salt my wife's gorier has disappeared.