So, get this.
Last week before she left, I went with Ari to see an acupuncturist. Ari has been seeing this nice lady for a few months now for a couple of different health reasons and she's been ranting and raving about how much better she feels and all this good stuff on and on. I was skeptical. I pictured curtains of beads and shrunken heads floating in jars of plant syrups.
I was shocked to walk into a professional doctors office that provided you with hot tea, ginger candy, and home improvement magazines. The lady, her name is Karyla, is a normal, Italian-American human being. She just found herself interested in herbal medicine, which lead to Asia, which leads to sticking people with pins in all the right places.
I know it's a weird thing, but it's more a matter of changing your perception of what medical treatment is. In Asia, people see this kind of doctor first, before they consider antibiotics and hospitals. Karyla was extremely nice and funny and could laugh about how kooky her herbal talk sounded at times. She was able to explain acupuncture and herbal medicine to me in a way that actually does make sense if you take the time to consider it. It's just a different way of thinking about health and healing. Anyways, I casually mentioned to her that heat was bothering me and making me dizzy. "When did it start?" she asked. "About a year ago, after a trip a to Greece." I replied. And then she asks lightheartedly, as though she already knew the answer, "Were you on antibiotics in Greece?" I was. I was!! Remember that bacterial throat thing I got towards the end of my trip? They gave me some really high powered antibiotics. I remember Abby being concerned about the prescription, saying it was very strong and in the States, this particular antibiotic is prescribed for really big problems, not a bad sore throat. But I took them like they said. I finished the round of 'em a week into Wales and another week later was my first big dizzy spell, like the ones that have plagued me since I've been back.
I became so excitable when she asked me this question. I don't know why. I think I just knew that she just knew. She told me basically that the antibiotics were too strong and wiped out the good "flora" in my stomach and intestines that help to keep my body cool and in balance. She says this happens a lot actually. The antibiotics kill more than just the bad stuff and leave peoples insides like dry, barren deserts. She told me to eat lots of Greek yogurt.
Oh, I meant to show you this picture. I think Ari had 19 pins in her. Three on her face!!
Anyways, I continued grilling her and even set up my own appointment to come and talk to her, which I did yesterday. Oh as a fun fact, she told me that hot flashes are in the same category of my ailment, and that they are predominately caused by eating too much sugar and carbs (and a dwindling supply of estrogen) (See! Throwing off that flora balance). She said that the plain Greek yogurt helps your body to cultivate the good flora that keeps your body cool. Mom was devastated when I told her this, though she promptly consumed almost the entire tub of yogurt Dad had purchased to help heal his sick child. Thanks Mom.
I told Karyla that I was worried about going back to Greece. She told me that being hot is a little dangerous for me just because my body can't cool itself properly. She gave me some strong probiotics which she explained to me as microscopic bugs that will make my good flora grow back. I take these strong ones for two weeks and then I move down to some less potent ones. She did say that it will take 3-6 months for me to get back to how I was before (a lover of the humid days) but that this certainly won't last forever, especially if I eat my yogurt and lay off the sugar. Consider it a Christmas present, she said. "To be back to normal by New Years."
After feeling "not myself" for a year, I'm somehow disproportionally excited that only 6 months from now I'll feel good again. I just have to make it through this hot summer...
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