OK, I tried the selenium one more time, I really want to take this. I waited a few days for my innards to get back to normal, then tried taking one drop instead of 3. Day one was fine, day two was fine, day three was not fine, I had the same gut busting gas and other stuff, not quite as severe, but still had it. It has been suggested that I might be having a herx reaction and it is causing me to have a cleanse (the hard way)... well I'm thinking now I will try taking it once or twice a week, one drop which would be about 33mcg, that is well below the FDA recommended daily dose. If I have the same reaction, then I guess that is not for me. :(
Now to the newest supplement I'm taking... it's called serrapeptase, haven't heard of it? Neither had I. But it's not new, in fact it's been in use for 30+ years in Europe, apparently even the doctors over there prescribe it for their patients. Let me tell you what it does first, then I'll tell you what it is.
This is an enzyme, it dissolves dead organic tissue, which can be blood clots, arterial plaque, fibroids, scar tissue, just about anything that can be found inside the body that causes problems. There is a whole laundry list of diseases and disorders it helps, from arthritis, MS, neuropathy, inflammation, pain, one lady in a review said it got rid of the floaters in her eyes. I haven't even scratched the surface on what people and those in the medical field say it can do... I would consider this "too good to be true" except for all the great reviews I'm reading about it and the fact that it has been in use for so long in Europe. And for what it's worth, it is given to animals too.
Now, to what it is made of/from... it is an enzyme found in silk worms, this is how they dissolve the cocoon when its time for them to emerge. I am still trying to figure out who figured this out! Who in their right mind would think of eating something that comes from the innards of a worm is beyond me. :) But I'm glad someone discovered this.
This isn't measured in milligrams or micrograms, it's measured in units, active units, the one I'm taking is 40,000 units per pill (not horse pills either). I am on my third day, I've been taking 2 pills first thing in the morning, this has to be taken on an empty stomach, it needs to pass through your stomach quickly and get into your small intestines to work, apparently food blocks it from working or slows it down so that it dissolves in your stomach and causes it not to work. I've been told that I should start off taking this 3X a day for a while then back off to 1-2X a day. So far I have had no negative effects from it, but after the selenium reaction, I'm being more careful about starting new things, fortunately I don't tend to have a delicate constitution, I don't generally react to things in a negative way.
The reason I'm taking this is because of pain, I'm having pain in my left, upper arm, the bicep to be exact, I am having trouble raising my arm (I feel for you Dad!), this has been going on for quite some time now, many months, I don't recall injuring myself, but apparently something is going on in there. Just normal everyday movements don't hurt, it feels fine when I'm not using it, but anything I do where I have to lift my arm above my shoulder height, with or without weight is painful, not excruciating, but enough that I know about it. Also anytime I reach backward, that hurts worse, my arm is becoming noticeably weaker, I can't allow this to continue. This feels more like the joint or tendon rather than muscle but I can't be 100% sure of that. I do know that I can't even lay on the bed and put my left arm above my head, even in a relaxed position, it hurts quite a bit, enough to make me put my arm back down.
There is one possibility of how I injured it, last year I apparently slept on that arm too long, when I woke up that arm was dead from the shoulder down, this wasn't just the pins and needles kind of dead either, it was scary dead, like it was going to turn black and fall off... the feeling did eventually come back but it has never felt the same since. I suspect I may have semi-permanently damaged it when I did that. I do my best to not sleep on one side or the other for too long... ohhhh, getting older is no picnic. :) Whine whine, grumble grumble...
I do not want to start taking aspirin, acetaminophen or other pain killers, they are either hard on your stomach, liver or kidneys, and eventually they stop working as well so you have to up the dose or go on to stronger pain killers. So I am giving serrapeptase a go. I'm also going to get PB on this, the hard part will be finding a time when he's not drinking coffee (with sugar and non-dairy creamer). He has agreed to try it though, I just have to be faster than he is in the mornings :)
Reading the reviews on Amazon. I determined that the brand everyone seems to like best is called Doctor's Best. It's fairly inexpensive too (woot!). And according to what I have read, I should know before I finish this bottle if it's going to work for me or not. Of course there are some people who aren't improved by taking this, but the vast majority have improvements and continue to take it. I'm hoping to be in that group.
What supplements do you take, why and do they work for you?
Disclaimer, I am not a medical person, I have no medical training, nothing written here is meant to be medical advice or replace medical advice, this is for entertainment purposes only, use at your own risk, if you have any questions or doubts, consult with your doctor.
All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.
Wretha,
Thanks for visiting!
Not a rhetorical question, right?
ReplyDeleteI take niacin for: cholesterol, triglycerides, VLDL (fluff it up), and blood pressure. It's a crazy magic vitamin. I don't just take it hoping it helps, the numbers show it works. It's the flushy kind.
Nope, not rhetorical at all, glad to hear niacin works for you, I have it but haven't taken it in a while, it's also in the Emergen-C packets I take, in fact PB sometimes comments on the niacin floating in the air from the effervescent action of the powder as I am mixing it. :)
DeleteWretha
Hi Wretha,
ReplyDeleteDid you fall and stopped yourself with your arms or elbows? the reason I asked is I did that in 2007 and I tore the muscle that runs from your collar bone to your shoulder (about where you put your hand on your heart) Try pressing there and raise your arm if it hurts you need to see a sports doctor asap. Falling after 40 is a bad thing.
I enjoy yours and PB's blogs.
Laura
No, haven't fallen, not in many MANY years, in fact can't remember the last time, I have gone to my knees a time or two, nothing major, and didn't catch myself with my arms in any way. That's not where the pain is, it's where the bicep muscles attaches at the top front of my arm, just below the shoulder on the arm itself.
DeleteI do think about falling now, I'm 46 and traverse up and down my mountain, and we have a full set of steps to get in and out of the sky castle, going down is scarier, going up is easy peasy.
I do use my left arm (the hurt one) to carry things, I suspect that might keep the injury going too.
Not likely to be going to any doctor, gotta take care of myself for most things, the only reason I'd go to the doctor is in an extreme emergency, major injury, broken bones, deep cuts, loss of lots of blood, or some severely major illness.
Glad you are enjoying our blogs, thanks for leaving a comment, it makes me feel good :)
Wretha
We only dose out cows once a month with selenium. If we dose them. Sorry to hear about your pains! Yuck again! Interesting supplement you found. I hurt my shoulder once just doing the same thing I'd done every other day once. So in all honesty you don't have to do anything out of the ordinary.
ReplyDeleteOnce a month for a cow, hmmmm, I'm not ready to start taking the selenium again, perhaps in a few weeks, and then I'll consider one drop (approx 33mcg) per week and see how I tolerate that.
DeleteAbout the shoulder/upper arm pain, it's just plainly possible that I'm getting older and showing the effects of living life, things wearing out :)
Wretha
That was interesting. I have the arm pain exactly as you describe. Nothing showed up on xray. I think it was caused by arm wrestling with my son. I just have to live with it I suppose. I don't take any medicines or supplements. I have stopped arm wrestling though.
ReplyDeleteJohn.
I don't generally take meds either, but I am all for supplements. Arm wrestling huh, can't say that I did much of that, but I suppose it really doesn't matter what caused it, it's there and I have to deal with it, perhaps even live with it.
DeleteYour blogs look interesting John, especially your drawings, I'll be looking deeper. :)
Wretha
I am so excited that my friend sent me to your blog! I want to know all about living OFF the grid! I will try the serrapeptase for sure! I use Pycnogenol (like the milder grape seed extract, not to be confused with grapefruit seed extract - which are both also good) for pain. I mean to loosen up the muscles and whatever. I have had several friends tell me it helps with their chronic pain in joints some. I also began taking MSM recently for a lot of reasons. This serra.... will be next. We also use white willow bark instead of aspirin - same base without the bad side effects!
ReplyDelete