My Journey

Yesterday, I began the Master Cleanse for the third time. This time, my husband has joined me in the fun. It is interesting because I know what to expect, but he is experiencing it all for the first time. I love hearing his reactions!

Cleansing is NOT fun AT ALL, but I know in the end, my body will be mostly free of toxins, and I can start fresh again. For the past 9 months, my husband and I have been living a MOSTLY vegan lifestyle, but I have to admit that we are not doing it as strictly or as correctly as we should. Therefore, I'm taking this cleansing time to not only refresh my body but to refresh my knowledge of how to live vegan.

My journey began three years ago when I was first diagnosed with migraines. They started off mild, but by the time they reached their peak, I had them everyday. I forced myself to go to work and kept my students in the dark all day as I just tried to exist and keep my job. My students surprisingly were so understanding and kind to me and really tried to be on their best behavior. Not bad for middle school kids! However, I knew things had to change because I couldn't keep that up forever.

I went to a naturopathic chiropractor, and he said he could help me. While his methods were mildly working, his expenses were high. Honestly, as I look back on that experience, I just wasn't ready to take the step into the natural medicine world just yet. I didn't realize that the expenses then would be well worth it and would save me from a huge amount of expenses later on. I stopped going to him and went to my headache specialist. Of course, like any good physician, he did what he had been taught, and went straight to medication. He quickly swept by any natural methods and mentioned them only because I'm sure he felt like he had to, but he pressed me to take medication. Like a good patient, as I had been brainwashed to do all my life, I took the prescription and got it filled. So began my experience with Topomax, or as I fondly call it - Dopomax. By the way, it's not even made for migraines. It is for seizures. They just happened to notice that it helps migraines as well.

I was on a VERY low dose, but I tend to be very sensitive to medication and if there is a side effect, I will get it. I became lethargic, irritable, and I couldn't think straight. It only got worse as time went on, and I didn't see any improvement in my migraines. I gave it a few months, but things were not going well. I think my students and my husband had had enough of the meanie I had become.

So, I went back to the headache doctor, and this time, he recommended an antidepressant. He once again put me on the lowest dose he could. At first, I didn't notice much, but after time went on, I noticed my moods were different, and I felt different inside, more irritable in fact. After some time, after almost convincing myself to drive to the other side of the road and hit another car head on, I called my doctor in a panic and started the process of getting off the medication.

At this point, I had had it with medication. I was tired of the fear of which side effect would surface next, and I didn't want to be a different person anymore.

I reached my lowest at a party. I drank myself into oblivion because the pain was so bad, and I just couldn't handle conversation. Frankly, I was depressed beyond anything and had stopped caring about what others thought. By that point, we were constantly cancelling engagements with friends due to onsets of migraines, and I couldn't do things that I loved because of the pain. I had had enough.

After the party, my inlaws came to me and told me that they would like me to see their acupuncturist. I did so, and she said that she could help me with my migraine issues. I was skeptical because by that point, several people had told me that they could help me with migraines and had only made things worse. Yet, I promised my inlaws I would try it and went. I was completely freaked out at first. I knew there would be needles involved (which surprisingly didn't hurt!) but I didn't know she would put them in from head to toe or that I had to lay there for 45 minutes with them in me. I was completely tense and didn't know how to handle laying there at first, but eventually endorphins released in my body, and I was in a state of euphoria. I knew that I would do this again!

Thankfully, I kept going once a week, and after a few months, I noticed a dramatic change in the frequency and intensity of the migraines. My husband and I also began eating organic food whenever possible to avoid pesticides and hormones. I knew these were all things I should continue. By spring, I was down to one migraine a week, but I still had them, so I had to take further steps. After absorbing health book after health book, I had come to realize that my diet may be the culprit. I told my amazing husband that I was going to go vegan. I will go into the reasons for that in further postings. I told him that he didn't have to do it with me, but I thought for me it was the best course of action to finally nip these migraines once and for all.

To my surprise, he told me that he wanted to do it with me. We decided that we would give it a try for six months and see how things went. At first, I couldn't imagine how we would be able to create meals from just veggies. Then, I realized that the vegan world was so much more than just veggies, and I found creative meal after creative meal. Surprisingly, I began to crave vegetables, and after a couple of months, no longer craved meat. Meat made my stomach feel heavy, and I always had digestive issues when I ate it.

After 9 months, I can safely say that I am migraine free as long as I keep up this lifestyle. One time I veered off track, and I suffered from a minor migraine, but I knew exactly why I got it.

One thing I realized though is that we aren't really living the healthiest of vegan lifestyles, so I picked up Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Life for some inspiration. I decided to cleanse and educate myself by reading this and other books to learn how to best live the vegan lifestyle. Her book has truly been an inspiration as I will elaborate on in future blogs.

So I am beginning a new leg of the journey this week. After the cleanse, I will be OFFICIALLY vegan with a macrobiotic bent, and I plan to stick to it with a vengeance because I know it is the best way to feel healthy and live a long life.

Feel free to join me on my journey and share with me about your experiences. Should be a fun ride...and a LONG and healthy one too!

Love,
Ginny