Emotional Factors

The biggest obstacles to effectively dealing with your PN are resignation and cynicism in you and your physicians. Hope and resolution to make the most of your situation will empower you and make you strong, happy, healthier, and give you control of your life.

Fear, anger, resentment, and other strong emotions make our symptoms much worse for days or longer. With the PN constantly there, it's easy, but harmful to feel sorry for ourselves and focus on the negative. Anger or fear cause the flight-or-fight syndrome resulting in vasoconstriction and exhaustion of ACTH and other healing hormones. Blood pressure goes up. Homosystine levels go up and start constricting our blood vessels and hurting our nerves. We sleep poorly and eat poorly. We are snappish and whining to others who we need for love and support. Our doctor's don't want to see us. We have a tight, defensive attitude toward the world and don't have the hope or energy to do what we need to do to better our lives.

When we focus on hope and healing we make things better. Our blood circulation is optimized and our hormone balance fosters healing. Blood pressure goes down, we sleep well, eat well, and gather love and support. Our doctors try harder for us. We are curious and participate in finding and implementing our own cure. We naturally do things that heal us and make us feel better.


Getting the Help You Need

We cannot do it alone. We need our doctors, our families, each other. Mobilizing the support we need is addressed above in the emotional factors section. If there is a support group near you, join it. Stay active in this forum. Let your family and caregivers know how much you love them and appreciate what they do for you. If you don’t feel love and appreciation for your doctor, keep looking until you find one who is worthy.

Part of the help we need is to learn from others. This forum is a good starting place. The expertise that many PN Forum members have developed is amazing, far more and far deeper than my understanding. I rely on them, and on you. People thrive on your taking their ideas and knowledge and helping yourself with them, so don’t be a stranger.

Educate your family. They would rather hear what you learned than what hurts for the umpteenth time. Share your knowledge, and they will help you put it into action.


Conclusion

These lifestyle changes and supplements can only help, but be patient. If you change your diet and take the supplements, you will start noticing improvement within a month and continue to improve...not necessarily a cure, but you’ll feel better and hurt a lot less. I’ve been thrown a few time by setbacks and regressions, but they have been temporary and I’ve been in less pain and have better balance, feeling, and strength from one year to the next. You can too.

There is much cause for optimism. You are a miracle of creation. Your body has its full complement of DNA that evolved over billions of years and makes us the most successful large animal in the history of this planet. That DNA represents all the knowledge your body needs to be healthy and vibrant. If you are religious or spiritual, you might consider that DNA to be God's gift to you, and God's way of insuring your health. You have been healthy for most of your life and there is no logical reason you cannot be healthy again. Every molecule in your body will be replaced within a year, so it isn't like you are an unchanging rock. In the next year, the new you will be either sicker or healthier...nothing is cast in stone.

Your worst enemies are cynicism, despair, and resignation. They stop you from doing healing things and getting the help you need and make happiness and fulfillment impossible. You are on the right track and will prevail if you continue learning and trying different things. If you set up the right conditions by such things as eating right, taking supplements you may need, avoiding toxins such as insecticides or some drugs, and cultivating love and tranquility, your amazing body and spirit will naturally heal. Your hope, optimism and energy will guide you to the people you need to help you and the knowledge you need to heal.