Holistic diagnostics

So, we got some new tyres recently. The old ones were very bald and worn. My curious daughter, on seeing these new ones, asked me how they worked. I started to explain about tread and axels and then I realised firstly, I don't really know much about how cars work and secondly, the tyres form a single part of a very complex machine.

It brought me back to the concept of focus. When we have an ongoing problem or injury, that area becomes the focus of our pain. For me, it's my back. Over time, I have had all sorts of X-rays, MRIs, scans, specialists, poking and prodding. I was searching for a cure or a reason so that I could just "get it fixed" thus solving my pain problem. But rarely did anyone look at my how my whole body was functioning (physically, emotionally, psychologically).

Thinking back to the car analogy, if my body was a car, then let's assume I have a panel that is all smashed up (my spine). I wanted desperately to take myself off to the mechanic and get that panel repaired. They could bang out the dints and give it a new spray paint, job done! Right?

But will my car go on to then run at it's optimum...?
What about the black smoke coming from the exhaust (unhelpful thoughts/mindset)?
What about the fact I'm giving the car unleaded fuel instead of diesel (poor diet)?
What about my brake pads that are worn and useless (not pacing my daily activities and overdoing it)?
What about the sticky clutch which is stiff from lack of use (inconsistent stretching or strength exercise program)?

 "

The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts - Aristotle

"

For the most effective tune up, we need to be looking at the whole body. I believe it would be very helpful to have a holistic diagnostic of where a person is at on their wellness journey. Not a single snapshot in time of what can be a very complex pain problem. I realise that it is difficult to look at all the aspects affecting a person's condition in a single 10 minute consultation. So, what is the solution? I have been playing around with designing a pre-visit holistic wellness survey that could be used to identify a "whole of body" approach to the management of chronic pain.

If you are interested, please let me know.

Chronic pain patient writes a letter to her GP

Dear Doctor,

Please find below some suggested principles upon which our relationship could be based:

Communication/goals: The giving and sharing of information. Let’s work as a team. Together, we can go on a journey which includes communicating, listening and doing all within our power to achieve a common goal. While this goal might be different for each patient you have, surely an over aching goal for all patients is to have an optimum level of health. Let us both be clear. I know you may not be able to take my pain away but I want us both to work towards optimising health.

Solutions-focused: I want a sustainable, long term solution. There are many options available to manage chronic pain and I want us to work through these together. When an option is not working, for example the long term use of pain medications, we need to find an alternative, which may include a non-pharmaceutical approach.  I would like all options to be considerate of the end goal (optimising wellness) and therefore we need to consider lifestyle factors, side effects and not focus solely on masking symptoms.

Shared empathy: A good relationship is built on each member of the party having a good understanding of what the other member is going through. We can both actively attempt to put ourselves in the others shoes. For you, this might mean finding the underlying problem behind the symptoms presented. I understand you may never have personally experienced chronic pain. Please, go ahead and use a little imagination or rely on the many other patient experiences you have been presented with. I want to be heard and understood. And often it is the real and debilitating impact of my symptoms that I would like you to understand. For example, constant tiredness may be a symptom but imagine the impact of that on your lifestyle...disconnection from social engagements and family commitments, isolation, guilt and a lack of purpose or sense of helplessness. For me as the patient, empathy might mean walking into our consultation with a realistic perspective of your background and experience. I realise that you are taught to know a little about a lot of conditions and you cannot be expected to know everything. I also appreciate you are time strapped and under pressure to see patients for a very limited time.

Team work: This is where I believe a really good team operates most effectively. All parties feel empowered and work together without a feeling of being told what to do or following along without the option for input and involvement. I would hope that you can give me adequate information about options for self management.  I realise that you may be able to assist with some of the physical pain but much of the responsibility to manage the additional suffering (emotional, stress and lifestyle factors) comes from responsible choices I need to make.  I want you to support and encourage me to make those choices.

Finally, this is NOT what I would like our relationship to be:

• Half an ear listening to my story, a quick scribble on your prescription pad and a gentle shove out the door without a second thought.
• A sense that my story is not being believed or understood.
• Me submitting all my power to you to take my pain away and/or find me a miracle cure (because I know this is unrealistic and unfair to our relationship).

So that said, let’s get moving....

 I would love to know your thoughts and experiences...Just so you know, I wrote this blogpost based on a recent request by Chronic Pain Australia for feedback for doctors from consumers living with chronic pain. Many of the responses were negative towards GPs and their lack of understanding.  I was inspired to write this based on my positive relationship with my own GP. He helped me to become my own health champion and self manage my chronic pain. Without his insight and understanding (and without his life-changing referral to a self pain management clinic), I would never have reached the levels of health and wellbeing I have today. So I would like to say a big "Thank You" to him. You know who you are!

How I got rid of my psoriasis without drugs or potions!

I have had a very bad flare up of scalp psoriasis since about February this year. Having never had it before I found the condition to be quite debilitating. I felt horrible with such flaky skin and I was constantly wearing a hat to hide the dandruff-like appearance of my hair. It was my second flare (last November was the first one) but this time I was decided to take a difference approach. The first time I followed the dogma and went to my GP who sent me to a dermatologist, who prescribed cortisone creams and other drugs and it went away...for a while.  



This time I did a bit of my own research. I had never been diagnosed with eczema or psoriasis before. I really wanted to know how and why it would just appear. So I read up about the gut brain connection and auto immune disorders. I decided I was going to trial following the Auto Immune protocol. What is that? It is a way of cutting out all possible inflammatory food products from your diet then slowly re-introducing them. It’s better to read up on it from the experts such as The Paleo Mom, Mickey Trescott or (a similar approach) the Wahls Protocol. A basic summary is that auto immune diseases are linked to a leaky gut. This just means you have holes in your digestive system causing things to leak out and this can cause inflammation. But you are better off reading the real science behind it from these experts. (I’ve just listened to a great interview with Dr Sarah Ballantyne, The Paleo Mom, on one of my (many) favourite podcasts – if that is more your thing!)

So, I stopped eating grains, dairy, nuts, seeds, eggs and plants from the nightshade family (tomatoes, potatoes and paprika among others). I just went cold turkey from day 1 although I was already near 100% gluten free and had trialled dairy free in the past. It also means no processed food, artificial colours, flavours, chemicals. It is pretty hard work because everything you eat needs to be made from scratch but its REAL food.



The protocols and recommendations all say that you need to exclude everything to give your gut the chance to heal and repair (plug up those leaky holes!) I worked out within the first few days there were three main things I was going to struggle with. Coffee, alcohol and chocolate. Yes, I know, it’s not very good. But I was subscribing a little to the theory that I shouldn’t be too hard on myself and I was also doing this protocol at the same time as I was starting my first pain management course so I didn’t want to put myself under too much stress and pressure! I thought that surely a small compromise could be made if I didn’t appear to have any adverse symptoms by keeping it in my diet and also by allowing myself a small “cheat”/”reward” maybe I was going to be more likely to stick to the rest of the exclusions. So, sadly, I did continue to have a daily coffee – predominantly with soy. And I did eat a bit of dark chocolate...and some days, I struggle around dinner time with dealing with pain and tiredness and...well, I just like a glass of wine.  But let me make it clear this is NOT the recommendation, it was how I dealt with it at the time.

Some other things may have creeped in there inadvertently as I progressed. Eating out was a problem (near impossible) and so I would just to go with the flow sometimes resulting in being a little slack on following the protocol. But mostly I did eat at home, made everything myself and was pretty good (I thought) at sticking with it.



I'm afraid I don't have a before picture -
but trust me you wouldn't have wanted to see it!
But here is me checking my scalp and
enjoying my healthy, shiny (flake-free) locks!

Now for the good news...I have been following the above approach for over 8 weeks now and I am feeling really energised and happy. I am not craving sugary foods or even really missing the foods I am not supposed to eat. I am just enjoying the lovely fresh healthy nutrient dense foods I can eat.  I have slowly started to re-introduce foods and don’t seem to be having much reaction to eggs, nuts or seeds and am being a bit more open with the alternative grains but being consistent with wheat/dairy free and sticking to a nutrient-dense wholefoods approach.  

And as for the psoriasis, my skin is alot less dry, it is even become more supple (I am also daily applying coconut oil to my skin). My scalp isn’t flaking away and my hair is looking healthy so I believe it is going, going, gone!? So for those of you out there with an auto immune disease, maybe do a little research and give something a try, what’s holding you back...? The results could be amazing! I am expecting (hoping) to receive a barrage of questions now so please, fire away....

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” ― Hippocrates