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Showing posts with the label biofilm

Getting Results--it can Take Time

It's been over a year and a half since I turned 50 and got serious about solving some health problems. My stomach felt off, I was gaining weight, getting tired, having trouble concentrating, and some cavities were emerging. My visit to the dentist today found my teeth in much better shape. I skipped my spring appointment since I  was sick, and then coughing, for so long. There were a few cavities my dentist was keeping an eye on, but the x-rays apparently didn't show any need for fillings. My dentist was impressed that I was able to get off my thyroid medication; I told her a little about Dr. Davis's program--it's a lot of effort, but well worth it. I told her truthfully that I'd have ended up on disability if I hadn't gotten better.  Incidentally, my dental hygienist and neighbor, who used to comment about my being an older person, has retired --the word they used at the dentist's office. I've got to ask her if she's getting an RV or a walk-in tub t

Flowers and Iron

This weekend, I was well enough to wear myself out doing landscape projects. I added to my shade garden, then spaded up an 8x30 foot plot on the corner. The next day, I put down some old bed sheets donated by a neighbor, weighted them down with bricks, and started setting out a hundred home-grown perennials in Xs cut in the sheets. It was hot, sunny and humid. Halfway through, a storm was coming. I worried the sheets would billow up in the wind and break some of the plants, so I threw down two bags of mulch, grabbed the clothes off the line, went inside and watched the rain come down in sheets. When it stopped I finished planting, looking like someone from Dirty Jobs when it was over. Being too tired to cook, I got a low-carb burger and small fries at the drive-through and came back home. In spite of two days' hard work, from the street, the house looked like hippies lived there: tall grass, a missing picket, and of course the bed sheets and plants that were all either little o

Leaving Quarantine

It just felt like it was time. I was feeling better, I needed a few things, I went to the drug store. I wore a mask since I'm still coughing a little. I'm as likely to end up in the hospital from COVID-19 as I was from the flu for the season that just ended, according to the CDC. The store was sold out of a lot of makeup and most of the shower gel was in a locked case, oddly enough. There was plexiglass between me and the clerk and a sign that said "no cash back" (not uncommon around here). I got some toiletries, food, and stuff to make magnesium water. Traffic was normal. I feel better than I did just a few days ago. Saturday, I cut my hair, then put in my garden even though I really didn't feel up to it and needed lots of breaks. I was sure I wouldn't be able to spade up the area next to the sidewalk to put in a flower garden, but I think can this Friday when I'm off. Going by some puffiness and a little weight gain, I must have overdone the cortiso

COVID Declining, Biofilms and Tyranny under Attack

Biofilms These aren't documentaries on the Biography channel, but formations of bacteria, viruses and other toxins that protect themselves from antibiotics and your immune system with a gooey outer layer. They can keep you sick for months, and they're hard to dislodge. Biofilm disruptors attack that outer layer, leaving the toxins wide open. When certain toxins die, they release other toxins your system has to deal with. This is called a die-off reaction, and it can also last for weeks or even months by some accounts. I didn't even realize I was embarking on a biofilm bust until I caught cold the day after I started taking lactoferrin for my low TIBC (total iron blood count). Lactoferrin coats iron and taxis it to your cells, starving the bad bacteria of it. There are other ways it helps your immune functions, too. It's a natural substance found mostly in milk; it's anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial . I don't think I caught cold from being around