Can I really heal???

[Healing1]

Hello everyone,
I so apprecaite all your support. I have been raw 3 months. I just posted in the "other (health) area, quite long....
I am depressed with still being in so much pain. I went raw to try to heal life long joint and muscle pain (have other probs too). My question is "am I expecting too much?"
I have read many raw books that sound like people heal everything so quickly. It gave me so much hope. So... here I am at 3 months and if anything some of my pain is worse the last three weeks. Nagging pain, 24/7.
I have been in pain since childhood.
I mention my diet on the other link. It looks pretty good? But who knows, maybe I am doing something wrong...maybe raw dosn't heal everything....maybe it takes a lot longer than three months!!!!?????
I don't care that it takes time, I am really just afraid it won't happen. I am scared. All these years I have done EVERYTHING that one can do allopathic and alternative, raw is my last hope (and actually, I enjoy raw!).
Terri

[starry-eyed-doe]

I really can't say as I have just started this, but if it's any consellation, I just wanted to wish you well, and say that I sincerely hope that whatever you do, you feel better! Sorry you are feeling so badly. :(

[solarliving]

Healing1,

May I ask what happened when you were a child to cause such pain? How old were you when the symptoms came on, and were you ever diagnosed with something?

[Sweet lips]

I too am interested in what happened as a child - I will go and read the other post to see what I can glean.

[Healing1]

THank you all for your support. Yes, childhood abuse. Terrible situation to be in. I have done quite a lot of work on this and made good progress over the years. I have recently finished a year of work with a wonderful psychotherapist. I belived that it was time to move along and work on my physical body more as well. So the raw and living foods diet seemed the only alternative left and to my thinking the best way to go. I am surprised that I am still in so much pain.
I have been "diagnosed" by a rhuematologist as having been born with Fibromyalgia, but recently been told it is a genetic thing with my joints. THe dr. did not give it a name, nor did he do the expensive tests to find out for sure. It was told to me as if it was a collagen problem. "Genetically loose joints" he said.
I am still willing to do more inner work. I was just really hopeful with all I have read about raw foods that I would heal. I am sure many other people have had trauma too.
Thank you for your support
Terri

[tglasco4]

Hi Terri, Welcome aboard! It could very well be that you just need alot more time. But as the others have said, there are alot of questions that come to my mind. Such as.....

(1) are you eating 100% raw? What raw foods are you eating and what makes up the bulk of it?

(2)Are you able to do any exercise (like walking)? If so, do you do that consistently?

(3)Do you have other major stresses in your life?(Stress is probably the number one killer on the planet).

(4)Are you angry at something or someone (pent-up anger destroys life forces).

(5) Are you getting plenty of sunshine?

(6)Plenty of fresh Water?..Do you drink coffee or soda?

There are more, but these are most of them.

Todd

[sweetgoddess]

Terri, hello and welcome.

I just wanted to add, believe in it with you're whole being~and you will! :)

Many blessings to you on your healing journey~

[pizda]

Terry,
My sympathy to you. will raw food heal you? May be. Most definetly it will be a great improvement from SAD. It will take a long time 3-5 years for you to feel the positive impact. Oh, you will gradual omprovements on the way. Be patient, consistant and realistic. One day at the time.
You will be better.
Good luck.
MK

[Sweet lips]

Rather than explain a whole lot about me - just know that I know. Raw is only part of your healing but it will open doors for you beyond measure. It will change many things and perspectives for you, but it is part of a package - exercise and spiritual beliefs are also necessary. As S.G. said, believe in those things that be not as they are, and they will manifest.

Learn to cry and when you cry, learn to laugh, learn to feel with not just your hands, but with you whole being, rejoice and celebrate your life, you can inot improve on the past, but hey you have a now and a future. Take one step at a time, and the rest will come.

Can you heal, yes, you can! We believe in you and for you! :)

[solarliving]

Hi Terri,

I was sad to hear about your abuse. After reading your post I thought it is possible you are still recovering from what happened. I understand you have gone to counseling, but sometimes there are things that go so deep that you have to dig to find them. I have one question for you. Do you feel that you deserve to heal, that you deserve to feel good? I know it is a strange question, but sometimes after a prolonged period of abuse one can start to feel unworthy or that they have done something to deserve it, especially as a child. Also feeling pain can become familiar and comfortable. I hope I am not overstepping my place here. I believe the body can heal itself from almost anything once the source of the illness is gone. Feel free to e-mail me: angelberet@hotmail.com

Best wishes,

Angelique

[levamssg]

Hi Terri
I also believe eating raw is the very best you can do for your body. Are you expecting too much? no -- raw can do wonders. Couple that with positive intentions and expectations, and amazing things can be achieved. But it won't happen on Your timetable -- it will happen on your Body's timetable. I can relate to your childhood trauma and congratulate you on working your way through it. The struggle is worth it.

Re: aching joints. Here is a remedy that has worked for lots of folks (myself included). Take a small amount of very virgin cold pressed olive oil (about 6-8 ounces) and add about a dozen drops of rosemary essential oil. Every nite rub a few drops of this into each joint. You won't use more than a tsp or so for your whole body - so it lasts a long time. Rub it in gently, and for knees rub the front as well as the back. Works on joints and muscles.
I have a container in the shower and rub some in every morning as well. The added bonus is your skin is really soft all the time ... :)

Congrats on your raw journey!!

[Healing1]

To everyone,
THank you for all your valuable input, support and suggestions. I appreciate you all very much.
I have been doing all kinds of healing work for 17 years now. I have a close spiritual relationship with what I call God. I know about universal timing. I have been experiencing the healing/learning/growing spiral for a while now and I see that I have healed tremendously over these years...and yet I revisit it on another loop of the spiral from a little different perspective. During this past year of therapy, I actually began to feel parts of my body I had never really physically felt before, like my head and back of neck. I remember my therapist was surprised that after all my previous work I could still be so numb. I was just delighted I could feel my head and back of neck! So I realized over again, how tramatic life can be, and how much we do to protect ourselves from pain. I must have a ton of protection plans.

I wondered if it had to do with the nature of the abuse. Being bound up and abused and always trying to get away could have really sealed trauma deeply in my cells. The ritualistic nature and the fact that it was my own parents may have set me up for seriously strong prevention of furthur emotion risk or pain.

I am actually doing very well considering all that has transpired. But I have worked consistently and hard on it. Do I still have anger, yes, here and there hiding in pockets that I have not looked at yet, even though I have gone round with love and forgiveness for myself and others many times, many levels.
Your listening and support has really helped. I am so thankful that I have this site to learn from. I am thankful I was ready for raw food.
One of you asked about my diet...
I eat fruit first (rarely oranges)
Fresh green drink each day (usually with wheatgrass juice)
Salad (raw fresh dressings only)
Avacado(s)
dates and once in a while raw choch. receipe.
Some dehydrated foods like flax wraps for veggie burritoes and cashew type sour creams.
I never drank sodas or coffee or ever smoked or drank. So I don't now. As far as I know everything I eat is raw (I ask) I drink filtered water.
I walk, or bike ride and take the occasional yoga class. Sometimes my muscles and joints are so sore I will miss a day or two of exercise.
I will try the rosemary and olive oil suggestion. I have never tried that.
I have though used olive oil for years on my skin. Lately I have been using pure raw coconut oil. Its heavenly.
I am considering going back to therapy. It may be time to look at who I would be without the pain. (Most of me wants to experience life without pain, but there may be parts of me that do not feel safe without it).
I have recently moved across the country and am building a new house. This is stressful. It could be adding to my pain load, that is possible.
THanks again for all the wonderful help and assurances that with time I will heal.
Blessings to you all!
Terri

[Revvell]

Whew! Been there done that! A few questions for you ~ has your therapist worked w/ sub-personalities? Sounds as though s/he has because of one sentence ~ "Most of me wants to experience life without pain, but there may be parts of me that do not feel safe without it".

Are you journaling? Doing any sentence completions? Have you ever asked yourself ~ "Who would I be w/out this pain?"

I'm "ass"-uming your therapist has related with you that, if/when you let go of this pain your relationship with yourself (who ARE you?) and with your friends and family will change? People have learned ~ and you have learned ~ to relate w/ you/yourself in a certain way. Eliminating something that you've carried for so long will change that relating. Are you ready for that? Are you (and all your sub-personalities) ready to not know who you are for awhle ~ until you can build and inner core of consciousness? Are your sub-personalities willing to let go of their ideas of what is good for you? Are they willing to integrate and form a support group for your health and healing? From what I'm reading, you've wrapped yourself in this cocoon of pain and are now, like a butterfly willing to let go of it and free yourself. You go gurl. Do whatever it takes. It's well worth it. Ask me how I know. :)

:cool:

[Healing1]

THanks too, Revvell, You are right on. I have done quite a bit of sub personality work. (In fact, I have training in this area). I have done great work for myself with this. There is still more to do. I have also considered who I would be without the pain, and I believe now it is time to look deeper into this. I don't know about you or others, but I seem to go around with the same theme and healing it at my level of conciousness at the moment...then I grow some more and begin to heal it again at that level. Thank you for asking questions (and the rest of you too) it has really focused my attention and last night I had a significant dream that I have gained new insight from.

As far as the raw food...I am going to continue with 100% raw as I have been. Yesterday I was having serious cravings for thanksgiving dinner, buttered toast or indian food. All comfort foods to me, so I know I have been in some kind of emotional pain.
Thank you for your help.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Hey Terri - Congrats to you on your journey and commitment to healing.

Just a heads up that as the average person experiences some emotional detox, you will probably go through quite a bit, just to prepare you. Perhaps your subconcious is holding back the healing. Whatever you do, when this emotional detox comes on, do everything in your power to stay on track - this could be a time when you'll most likely slip.

When I was doing Network Spinal Analysis I think this was an issue with me, as the back holds a lot of stress and burdens. I think I may have been holding back whatever emotions I was supposed to let out, and several factors in my life caused me to not to continue with the treatments. NSA is something you might want to consider yourself, when you are ready.

[Heart Food]

Hi Terri. I am new to the list but have great empathy for your journey.
I wanted to add to the wisdom that others have given you.

If you have a degenerative joint disease (the joint tissues are not healthy and are very diminished) it will take time to detox AND rebuild. Even though most of us talk about detox which is a big part of going raw--there is a rebuilding process that takes place, too. It all takes time. You may try to refine or change your diet to see if that helps. I looked up joint pains in one of my healing foods books and there is a list of foods that help. Cabbage is especially good. If you want the list--email me at
talshank@comcast.net


And, of course, I hope you are drinking lotz of good water. Many blessings, Lorri

[Healing1]

Thank you again for the timely and wise assistance. THe mention of emotional detox was so valuable to me. I had not thought of that, only the physical detox we all talk about. I also had not given thougt to the rebuilding phase, and I am sure it takes time too.

All of you gave me such support on this thread! I feel blessed to be here on this board.

Blessings to you all,
Terri

[Arky]

Get plenty of sunshine (allows your body to synthesize vitamin D3 - very beneficial for bone health).

Avoid Nightshades (eggplant/aubergine, tomatoes, bell peppers, chillis, cherries, paprika, potatoes (sweet potatoes are not from the nightshade family so are ok))

Avoid significant intake of acidifying foods. Beans are, unfortunately, one such foodstuff, as are seeds and nuts if you eat too many of them - furthermore, the phytic acid content, common to both beans and nuts, will inhibit absorption of essential minerals - try to eat these foods only if soaked or sprouted. Too much acidifying food will lead to your body drawing calcium reserves from your bones in order to maintain the ph equilibrium it desires (I believe this to be one of the primary contributory factors which I fell foul of, in my years on a standard diet).

Consume plenty of foods rich in silicon, calcium and vitamin K. All assist bone maintenance and regeneration. I'm talking especially about dark green leafies, here, which also serve to alkalinize your body, so they're a double-whammy in the right direction, for bone health.

Supplement with vegetarian glucosamine hydrochloride (not the more common glucosamine sulphate, which is less effective!), MSM, and possibly BioSil liquid-suspended silicon, which is highly absorbable (I get mine from iHerb, on the net).

Note that many of the nutrients which are beneficial for bone health are also beneficial for collagen and cartilage health.

Please see the folllowing thread for discussion on this topic:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5127

Yoga, TaiChi, rebounding are all excellent ways to do low-impact weightbearing exercise which will really benefit your joints (I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but trust me - the worst thing you can do for bad joints is refrain from exercising them. If you don't believe me, ask any orthopaedic surgeon, physcial therapist or osteopath). Low impact, weight-bearing and regular.

Exercise, dark leafy greens, and sunshine are your friends - more so than you might ever suspect, when it comes to bone health (and, indeed, general health). I am currently trying to regenerate my own joints and it is a slow process but every step forward is 2 steps further forward than one back, and the body does have a truly remarkable and extraordinary ability (and willingness) to heal itself if only we one provides it with suitable conditions, internal and external, to do so. As you have already noted, emotional wellbeing has some part to play here, too. Don't be disheartened by the high mountain you have to climb - I am thankful that I now have the knowledge to move my healing forwards, and the opportunity to put this knowledge into action.

Good luck, I wish you all the best.


J.

[Healing1]

THanks Arky,
Good advice. I get lots of sun. I love the sun but am careful to go out early and later in the day.
I am doing pretty good with the greens. I happen to love greens.
My bones seem to be pretty good, my concerns are with the connective tissue or collogen. I am not sure, it is supposed to be genetic.
My goal is to heal with raw and living foods. I have done all the supplements in the world already.
I am glad to hear of your healing journey too. How long have you been raw and have you seen good healing results?
Terri

[Arky]

Well... (Cough!)...I've only just begun...

"...with RAW,
White lace and promises...

Sharing horizons that are new to us,
Watching the signs along the way,

And when the evening comes we smile,
So much of life ahead
We'll find a place where there's room to grow,
And yes, We've just begun"

SIGH...:D

[Arky]

One thing I neglected to mention is that you should avoid going down the route of heavily supplementing with multi-vitamin/multi-mineral pills/capsules etc. as these can actually be counterproductive, accelerating excretion of certain elements rather than the other way around.

Of course, the vits and minerals in wholefoods are immensely superior anyway, both in terms of bioavailability/absorbability and in terms of the synergistic form in which they are 'packaged', with numerous useful co-factors many of which science has not even begun to investigate.


J.