Image made using pictures by Roman Grac & yabayee from Pixabay
Eat, Sleep, Groan... Repeat đ
I've been feeling the effects of my chronic illness the pretty bad the past four days, leaving me bedbound for most of the day, useless for anything other than watching the odd TV show and throwing something in the microwave so I eat in between bouts of nausea.
The combined symptoms are enough to fck up even the hardiest 'suck it up' dipshit out there; thumping headache, constant nausea, fatigue with muscle aches, brain fog that renders you a slobbering moron, sore throat & pain swallowing, hacking cough, sleep that brings no rest (wake up more tired than when you went to bed 12 hours ago) and bloating that is so severe it makes me look like I'm pregnant.
I ventured onto the demented collective unconscious that is Facebook the other day to check in on some old friends and see what was happening with their lives. As I read through updates, shared articles and peoples meme themed fevered dreams it occurred to me that social media (as it exists today) is a massive amplifier of human reactivity. 90% of what you see on social media is either people selling their lives as something amazing or them vehemently expressing their stance on a subject.
This came home to me strongly as everyone who asked how I was doing, were completely uninterested in the answer when I told them the truth. My illness became a talking point, a problem to be debated.
Had I tried this treatment?
Was I exercising?
What made me think I had nausea?
Ermmm... because I have nausea so bad I can't even think properly you self-centred moron đ If I've got fatigue so bad I canât make fresh food, how am I going to exercise?
Anyway, before I go off on one...
I'll get to the point.
Not one of those people asked me questions about the history of my illness, despite me mentioning it was chronic. Not one of them asked if I wanted their advice. Not one of them asked what treatments I had tried before, or offered a simple I'm sorry for what you're going through.
The reoccurring theme seemed to be one of a strange type of passive aggressive insinuation that I hadnât done enough to 'find the cure' for my illness. I got the distinct impression that I was shiting all over their day by simply being honest about my life instead of breaking out the pictures of my friendâs cat or banging on about how amazballs my new job is.
It reminded me why I got the fck off mainstream social media in the first place.
I'm feeling somewhat more normal today, which means I'm able to drag my carcase to the computer to pen my rambling thoughts and throw them out into the universe to be devoured by almighty internet monster đ
Propolis - hope on the horizon from a product that comes from a Bee's bum...
Ok, that title might have been clickbait đ
Propolis is a product made by bees to be used in defence of their hives. It exhibits antibacterial, antimicrobial and antifungal properties which help insulate the hive from air borne pathogens. The bees include propolis in the hive's structure and particularly the outer wall.
Propolis is a natural resinous mixture produced by honeybees from substances collected from parts of plants, buds, and exudates. The word propolis is derived from Greek, in which pro stands for âat the entrance toâ and polis for âcommunityâ or âcity,â which means this natural product is used in hive defence.
source
But the million dollar question... does it really come from a bees bum đ Maybe...
Propolis is a complex mixture made by bee-released and plant-derived compounds. In general, raw propolis is composed of around 50% resins, 30% waxes, 10% essential oils, 5% pollen, and 5% of various organic compounds.
source
I'm pretty sure that means the bees produce it and they're not known for their tiny miniature chemistry labs.
But what interested me most - and inspired me forking out the ÂŁ20 to buy enough of it to try it out - is its purported ability to help heal the gut lining and stop leaky gut.
There is currently a medical study underway to find if Propolis is effective in the treatment of IBS, and my chronic condition started with IBS before developing into something much more complicated. I've seen a bunch of specialists over the past 4 years and their consensus now seems to be that it is incurable.
Not a diagnosis I am prepared to accept.
So I continue to try various alternative treatments in the hopes of stumbling on the silver bullet, on that elusive thing that will tip the balance for my bodies self-healing mechanisms to work.
We hypothesize that propolis supplementation would be useful for treating IBS through its antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and prebiotic properties. This trial will show the results of propolis supplementation, whether positive or negative
Propolis medical Trial
The trial's study protocol is comprehensive and offers hope to people suffering with IBS or other related illnesses. Leaky gut is something that is recognised by only about 50% of the medical community, and unfortunately not by the NHS in England where I live. This results in the reality being that they won't even consider a treatment that is addressing gut permeability, let alone give you that treatment. Even though it is scientifically proven that gut permeability can vary due to a number of factors, they're not interested because they don't recognise that it could be a cause for GI illnesses.
Propolis is a rich source of prebiotics that can improve the intestinal barrier and subsequently can prevent pathogens, toxins, and bacterial dislocation from gut to blood, and also they have anti-inflammatory properties. IBS has an inflammatory nature. Considering its pathophysiology, we hypothesize that propolis might affect bowel habit changes in patients with IBS, including bowel movement, stool consistency, efficacious, frequency, abdominal pain, and bloating.Propolis Medical Trial
As you can see from this Medical Trial, gut permeability is rtecognised as a contributing factor to IBS in some countries.
I figured fuck it... it is worth trying out.
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