Costochondritis- The Doctor Show

To those new to my blog, howdy! I've recently been diagnosed with Celiac, the reason for my costochondritis. The doctor who recently told me my Celiac diagnoses was Dr. Wallach. I called into his national radio show to talk about Costochondritis, and he told me I had Celiac after a chat about my symptoms...I was skeptical, but then went on and got a diagnoses via gene testing. Holla!

So to those who have asked for the information to call into the radio show and talk to Dr. Wallach (for free). who originally told me I had Celiac.- here's the number for the radio show:

"Dead Doctors Don't Lie" Radio Show LIVE with Dr.Wallach.
Monday through Friday # 1-888-379-2552
12noon-1pm pacific, 2pm-3pm central, 3pm-4pm eastern.

If you are interested in calling in to the Dr. Wallach radio show here in the U.S....have these things ready:

• Notepad and pen, be prepared to write crazy fast- he talks fast
  
• Check out his Youngevity website HERE, so when he talks to you about supplementation, you have an idea of what he's talking about (of course, you don't have to use his supplements or suggestions at all, but free advice while sitting on the couch ain't so bad).
  
• Have your most prominent symptoms ready to read off to him (think quick bullet point list of all your symptoms)
• When you get on the show, it moves fast, say "my name is blank and my symptoms are A.B.C.D. and E, and I'm seeking some advice." Then be prepared to write, write, write.
• He may ask your name, age, and weight ( to tell you the supplements he may want you on)
• When you get off the phone, remember you don't have to take ANY of his advice, just think of it as another tool to use. However, after 75 doctors...this dude nailed me. Pretty cool.

Or if you want to meet him in person, His 2010 schedule is HERE.

So, do I assume everyone wants to call into this show? No, my friends. I'm not saying that at all. This is just another option to possibly try, no pressure from this little blogger, just a wish for us to all be well. And since my Costo blog, that has become like a fuzzy pink security blanket to me, is coming to a close this month, I want to put as much information as I can out there into the bloggy world for my Costo/invisible illness brothers and sisters. You guys are so special to me!

Hugs,
Lucy

Costochondritis- Celiac Q & A

This is my 100th post....wow.

That deserves an electric slide with a pop and lock to finish it off- dance.

To those new to the blog, welcome- I've just been diagnosed with Celiac Disease, the reason for my Costochondritis. To my normal peeps, may I just say thank you with all my heart to everyone who has been celebrating with me! It has warmed my heart soooooooo much. You all are such a life line to me. Seriously, I have lots of luv for you people, no lie. That's right, I said luv. Cause I'm attached to all you crazy cats. That's how I roll. All attached and stuff.

So the past week has been a wee bit NUUUUTs! My mom had her last surgery from her breast cancer battle and she's doing amazing. Cancer free looks good on her. And so do her new boobies! You knew I was gunna TMI on you. I can't stop it. So I've been with her a lot and loving it. Soooo...I won't lie, I've been unbelievably excited about the new Celiac diagnoses. And going gluten free is wild. I have slowly...okay, whom I kidding, I've been like a gigantor tornado trying to make sure everything that remotely comes near my body is gluten free. I have the food down, then yesterday I started checking the gluten content on all my vitamins, thyroid meds , makeup, shampoos, laundry detergent, leave in conditioners, hairsprays, hand soaps etc...so I've been on the phone for like 10 years so far, calling all the manufacturers, making sure that what's on my body is gluten free. I thought I was going gluten free...yeah...no...not so much. I feel a little jaded- lol-...because I was SHOCKED at how I'm practically bathing in gluten every day. One of my vitamins has gluten, my hairspray- (ewww- I'm INHALING it!? lol.), my lipstick, my mascara...AHHHH!!!! ....and the list goes on. This is encouraging- so folks, I have yet to make it one full day without putting it on my person. And I thought I was all gluten free already. oops.

I tried to cook something gluten free and well....I still have to work on what a square is. chuckle.


Alrighty then, let's get to business, here are some Q & A from my comment section, here we go!

Did you have an endoscopy? My G.I specialist suspected all my issues were coming from my stomach and wanted to do a endoscopy to check my small intestines. I showed up for the procedure at the hospital, the smell just blew me over, and I went down hill from here- hives, shaking, panic, a full blown PTSD episode and all. Glorious. My fault for not going to this hospital before hand and walking through and letting my body adjust before the procedure. So no...no endoscopy for me....soooo we went a different route.

How did you come to the diagnoses of Celiac? So here's the delio- when the 90 year old Dr. in chaps-lol- Michelle!!...told me he thought I had Celiac, I started rocking out the gluten free diet (or so I thought!). This meant that my gastro doctor could not do any normal Celiac tests on me unless I wanted to go back and do a "gluten challenge" for a month. I most certainly did not, I had started to feel better and there was no looking back. So this is how I was diagnosed:

1. My blood was packed with protein.
2. After 5 weeks of being mostly gluten free, I started having heart palpitations, so we did a blood test to check my thyroid 2 weeks ago- and it confirmed that my meds were waaay too strong due to my body beginning to heal without gluten in it- super cool. (Heart Palps are one major symptom to thyroid meds being too strong- and since the only change I'd made was the gluten, I requested that it be tested....no, that's a lie- I called and sorta demanded it...in a nice but- I've had this crap for way too long and my heart is skipping beats, run his test now...sort of voice.).
   
3. Then we did a blood test that showed I was experiencing malapsorbtion- a marker for Celiac. If you are consuming gluten, you can do a stool test for this.
   
4. And last, we did Genetic testing, the test I was waiting on. Mine came back positive, positive, positive. I can back with the strongest DNA combination for Celiac disease that you can have. Holla!
5. So with those results and my symptoms, the conclusion was Celiac. ta-da!
   

Are there other ways to conclude Celiac? Sure, absolutely. I did the best I could with where I am in my life. I wish I could have done the endoscopy. But it's all good. Other Celiac and more traditional tests can be checked out HERE.

Do you feel better being off gluten?
Crap yes- I feel better! Healed, No. But one day at a time. Here is what I have slowly noticed:

• My headaches are GONE. (Insert booty shake victory dance here)
• I can wake up easier. While on heavy gluten, I can easily sleep 14 hours a day. If you suffer from fatigue or mood swings, maybe getting checked would be a good option.
• My insomnia is gone
• I think I'm a Celiac who's stomach hates Citric Acid- steering clear
• My nails are starting to grow
  
• My back pain /tightness is releasing more and more each day
• My right neck/shoulder pain is getting less and less
  
• My stabbing attacks have almost stopped and my breathing is getting better and better. My pain is about 25% less than it was 6 weeks ago. Am I nervous it won't all together go away? Yes. Si. For Shizzle . I totally am. But I can't focus on that, I have to focus on the task at hand: Target gluten. Slay Gluten. Then run like mad from the SOB... So yes, I still have Costo and I have no idea how long it will it will hang around. I'll keep you posted.
• TMI ALERT, PEOPLE! I'm not constipated anymore if I stay away from dairy and gluten, and I don't have diarrhea any more due to staying away from canola and palm oil. Here's the deal...can't believe I'm going to say this.Ugg. The next time you visit the loo, check out your ...(you know)...and if it's soft, fluffy, light brown, and one long tube-ish , and you have this little experience once or preferably 2 or 3x a day, chances are your digestive system is SUPER happy with you! But if you are constipated, have diarrhea-ish/ or stringy/ or pile-ish poo etc...then yes, getting checked for Celiac could be a good thing. Mercy,I want to wash my hands just writing about it. AHHH!!!

So what do you eat now? Well, Since my tummy is so jacked up, I'm not drinking cokes, or eating gluten, dairy, soy, corn, or any oils. Not until my stomach is healed. I hoping to add corn, soy, oil, and possibly dairy back into my diet after 6 months to a year. So currently I'm eating a pretty plain all organic diet:

• Homemade toubule Salad- I substitute water or applesauce for oil
• Red Beans
• Black Beans
• Brown Rice Cakes
• Veggies
• Lundberg Brown Rice
• Mary's quina Pretzels- the sea salt ones
• Chocolate Chips- Yum!
• Sweet Potatoes
• Apples
• Bananas
• Blueberries

How does it feel to have this answer? Weird, amazing, overwhelming, peaceful...and just right. I feel like a I just met a weird brother I never knew I had, ya know? But one that I want to shake with excitement...and then make him go square dancing with me and tell everyone we are related. Even though he's ugly and awkward and I'm pissed off at him, I'm proud to finally know him. I also feel a little guilty. I know there are so many amazing people out there waiting for their good news of healing. It's so strange to go from, "I'm a girl with Costo" to " I have Celiac." I'm still in shock. But I feel really blessed, and eternally grateful to God for this gift. After walking through the past 3 1/2 years, living the anti-gluten life will be my honor. And I know in my heart that I will never feel bad for myself for being a gluten freak, cause this kind of freakishness is totally welcome. Bring it on!

If you'd like to check out another great chick who has costo and Celiac as well- you can follow Alyssa's healing journey at Young and Going Gluten Free.

What did you do when I found out? Well...my hubby and I quietly celebrated all day on Friday. He brought me roses, very sweet....and then I got money and went shopping!! haha! It was awesome! I love shopping by myself and never do it anymore...I mean...am I going to ice my ribs in bed in a comatose state while in a new pair of hot jeans before I drag my exhausted self to the granny stroll? Nada. But maybe one day....so did I buy a pair of super sexy unneeded pair of hot jeans and a romper that is OH SO CUTE??!- You bet I did!! I went crazy. lol. I even bought lipstick. What?! Then my hubby rubbed my feet Friday night and we watched a chick flick. It was such a quiet, but really joyful and peaceful day. I was in awe and shock all day. And you know I strolled extra saucy during my granny stroll..uh huh!

Are you going to do a Celiac blog? You know it!! It's in the works.

Alright folks- wanted to add a few random links where folks are chatting about Costo and Celiac:
Chatty Link 1
Chatty Link 2
Chatty Link 3
Super Long but AWESOME Link 4
Chatty Link 5
Random person with Costo and Celiac

Here's a website with more Celiac info and both GI and non-GI symptoms of Celiac

And remember, I'm not saying that everyone with Costo has Celiac. What I AM saying is that it's one more option to check out: if you notice your costo gets worse after you eat...or your attacks happen sometimes when you aren't lifting anything at all (sign of delayed gluten reaction) or just chilling, get yourself checked for Celiac. If you're looking to get tested on your own, cause your doctor is a knuckle head, these are some great tests in the USA:

My Celiac ID
The University of Chicago Celiac Testing Center

Well, that wraps up this post. Let me know what I can answer- or if I can help in any way. Much luv and prayers to everyone. May you feel the hope seeping through this blog to you, and the peace of God leading you to towards healing.

Costochondritis- Success Story

I have total Success Story OCD. If I find anyone who has healed in any way from Costochondritis, or what they thought was Costo., I hit NEW POST faster than my dog can knock ice cream out of my hand. Found this on another site...just sharing...

"I was diagnosed with Costochondritis when I went to see the doctor complaining that I had sore ribs. I initially had this very sharp pain in my chest, near to my heart, and thought that I had perhaps torn something. a few weeks after my ribs began to feel sore at the front of my chest, particularly if I raised my arms, arched my back or pushed down on my sternum. The doctor gave me some anti-inflammatory drugs, which helped.

I then went back and checked on the internet and everything at that point seemed to make sense.

A few months passed and the symptoms never went away. The symptoms changed slightly, in that on days that my ribs were not sore, I got the felling of indigestion and acid reflux. I started to develop an itchy cough.

A few more months passed and I noticed that my stools were rather black and tarry. At this point I went back and met another doctor (one who specialized in Gastroenterology), who gave me an endoscopy and confirmed that I had a stomach ulcer, presumably as a result of taking too many anti-inflammatory drugs.

I was also told that I had an inflamed Esophagus junction (EG Junction/OG Junction) and this was later diagnosed as Barrett's esophagus, which is a little more worrying.

I had been introduced to the idea of acid reflux but I was convinced that I had costochondritis. If you think that you have costochondritis, but you sometimes get the feeling heartburn or acid reflux or general indigestion, or a feeling of having a lump in your throat, then it is probably your esophagus. You should not exclude this possibility, and get it checked out and dealt with."

The OCD itch has been officially satiated for today. Now where's the ice cream? J/K...I mean organic yogurt. Gag.

Costochondritis- Success Story

The following costochondritis success story is from curezone.com. Here goes...

"I'm a 24 year old female and come from Europe. I will describe my painful Costo experience over the years!!!

Ever since i was little, i have now and than had a HORRIBLE knife-sticking pain between my 6th and 7th rib on the left side, near the sternum. When i was about 10, my mother took me to the dr., who said, that i was just stressed and i should drink a glass of water. Well, i did it the next time i had it, but it didn't do anything.

Last year I had my attacks:

1. One time during sex
2. Two times before badminton, cause i was coughing a lot
3. Couple of times just so, without any reason, when i came home from work.

Every time i had it, i could hardly breath (fast and shallow breathing) and could just be in a vertical position - every movement from it felt like a heart attack.

Then I caught a cold from my co-worker and it was now constant. So my doctor send me to a pain clinic, where i was crying because of the pain and they didn't give me anything. They said i should stretch. I did it and it got worse!

I went to a acupuncturist, who i told all my problems and that i think i have intercostal neuralgia. First she needled my heart meridian and i almost went unconscious- she took the needle out and said that i have a sensitive heart (nothing wrong with it) and that's why I had to start slowly with everything (and in fact i was doing everything in my life VERY FAST!!!). Than she said, that such a pain between the ribs in Chinese medicine indicate a liver and gallbladder energy depression or a stagnation of blood there.

Then she needled me in the liver and gallbladder meridians, so that the energy started to flow again. After the first session (the affects takes place after 1-2 days) my pain went away for 25%. After the second acupuncture she took another 50%. I went back to work. After the 3rd acupuncture i didn't feel that well, it was cold outside and my ribs were shaking because of the coldness, everything started to hurt again. The next morning i woke up, wanted to cough a little and I HAD AN ATTACK AGAIN! When it went away i went for a walk with a friend. I had 6 attacks during the walk, so she took me to the ER. They gave me an intravenous analgesic and while i was getting it, I HAD 2 MORE ATTACKS, this time - FOR THE FIRST TIME - between the 4th an 5th rib.

They tested my blood in the ER and found out, that there are signs of an inflammation! Gave me antibiotics. The pain didn't go away.

The next day i went to acupuncture and she needled me 1 mm over the spot, were i get the attacks, and i couldn't breathe anymore - it was like someone was sitting on my lungs!!! Then she needled another point and i said OAUUU out loud - she said this is the ALARM point for a gallbladder problem. The gallbladder is a very sensitive organ, which takes damage, when you're really emotional. And indeed I was very depressed for actually no reason, ok i was working to much and was unsatisfied with my life!!! And every time i had something to worry about i felt it in my stomach and sometimes even vomited green gallbladder stuff. And here we are! 3 days ago I was coming home from the neighbor country with a train and my whole cartilage next to the spine was hurting on the left and the right and it was swollen.

So I cleansed my colon yesterday, today I'm starting a liver flush.

I hope it will help, because i have to go to work soon. I've been at home about 5 weeks now, i do not want to loose my job!!!!!!"

She posted again a few days later....

"Oh My Word. Since I did the liver flush this Weekend, 95% of the pain is gone!!!! Wuhuuuuu. I can breath normal again, I can move normal. I feel good again.

I started on Saturday, when I quite eating at 14.00 at just drank teas and Water and flushed my collon. On Sunday at 17.00 I was so hungry, but I pulled myself together and didn't eat anything. At 18.00 I drank the first cup of Epsom salt water. The hunger was gone and I almost felt better with my chest pain. I drunk the second cup at 20.00 and at 22.00 I drunk the oil-grapefruit cocktail, which was better than I thought. I slept til 01.00 in the morning, when I felt the oil coming upwards in my throat. I tried so hard not to puke, but I had to - 4 times. I couldn't fall back asleep, so I watched the Oscars the whole night. It was the worst night ever!!!

At 5. and 7. in the morning I drunk the last cups of Epsom water. I was on the toilet every 15 minutes and at 6. in the morning the first stones came out. Til 12.00 there were about 50, some were larger and some smaller, all of them were grass green!!! I felt better Immediately, and it got better every hour. It's been 2 days now, I do feel a little tenderness on my cartilages, but only 5% and there are times, that I even don't feel this 5%. I'm so happy and thankful that i found you. God bless you!!!

The kind person, Molly, who helped her responded with:

"My pain went away with my first liver flush too. I think that sometimes our pain is tied to our stress, which is tied to our colon. The liver flush is a tremendous colon cleanse. Almost intense.

It think you'll find that as long as you continue the colon cleanses , you'll nip this in the bud. A stressful digestive system does play havoc with your costal region. Believe me on that. Liver Flushes are king. Colon cleanses are their queen.

It's all about inflammation. Cleanse the body, and the body can fight anything. -Molly"

Costochondritis- Success Story

Success Story from Parenthood.com

"Regarding Costochondritis: I have that problem. Not that bad, but was taking Ibuprofen 3x daily for it for several years, getting progressively worse. A guy at the health food store said it might be food allergies. I quit eating everything I knew I was allergic to and anything I suspected I was. Then I went on a gentle liver cleansing diet (with lots of raw veggies) for 3 weeks and it went away. My anxiety and seasonal allergies also cleared up. I was starting to think I should get checked for asthma but that also went away. As long as I am vigilant with what I eat it stays away. If I start eating junk again it starts to return. It's a pain to have to monitor my eating so much but the reward is well worth it.
Another line of thought could be parasites. Allergies and inflammation can sometimes be brought on by parasites. I traveled abroad and picked up 5 different parasites and bacteria, which went undiagnosed for 14 years, so maybe that's what caused such bad allergies in me. Maybe the liver cleanse cleaned out the parasites and that's what did it.

I have no idea if that's always the root of the problem or just mine. I just know what helped me. Hope you can find something here that might be helpful to you as well."

Costochondritis- Success Story

The story of Molly- She's a very kind person who helped and inspired me when I was first diagnosed. I've shared bits of her story on another post- but wanted to share her full story. Here goes....

"I think I've come full circle with my natural health regiment.

The reason I came to Curezone forum over 2 years ago was because I was battling a debilitating case of Costochondritis, which is inflammation of the rib cartilage. For over three years I went to GP's and specialists. Costo is a diagnosis of exclusion. They check everything, pleurisy, cancer, MRI's, Ultrasounds, etc etc. When no other diagnosis is found, they end up with this diagnosis. They treat this with a variety of NSAIDs and Gabapentin (anti-seizure meds), and I was on about 4 different pain meds, each getting progressively stronger. My GP told me that NO ONE has chronic Costo, and finally, in exasperation told me that I WOULD get my gallbladder removed. When I questioned this, he said that I didn't need my gallbladder anyway, and he didn't know what else to do for me. I said NO, walked away, and have only gone back except for virulent infections that I absolutely needed antibiotics. My husband walked away too, after suffering for decades with clinical depression. He had been on Prozac for 10 years, and was still going to bed on the weekends and pulling the covers over his head. Neither of us knew anything about natural health, and indeed had mocked those who we thought were airy fairy herb takers.

Needless to say, we were a mess. We were both overweight, physically and psychically destroyed. I was about to request long term disability. I was worried that my husband would not be able to work anymore also. We had a child in grade school. Our diets were typical American with many processed foods. We would eat low fat items, thinking we were doing ourselves a favor. We both had terrible acid reflux...and were taking at least one Tagamet a day. If I didn't have Tagamet in my purse when I went to work, I would panic.

The one diagnosis I had was a fatty liver. So I found Andreas Moritz 's book on-line called the "Amazing Liver Flush"....By then I was desperate, so I decided to try the liver flush. I was pretty scared of the whole process. I read carefully about cleansing all the organs. The rest is my very short history.

So I did the liver flush. Personally I think I was dealing with chronic constipation also. All of these things, I believe were adding to my inflammation issues.

After the first liver flush, amazingly I started to have some pain free days. It was the longest two weeks of my life before I could do another one. I think that the flush also helped relieve some of my colon problems by virtue of the Epsom Salts flush.

After the second flush, I could go for weeks without pain. I started to read...hours and hours of reading. I have over 1,00 health sites bookmarked on my computer. My husband was suffering from something strange. He had really bad breath. He had athlete's foot, that would not go away. He would sweat at night, and it smelled horrible. And this was the worst.....the sweat he seemed to be generating was causing mold on the walls near the bed. I kid you not.

I started to drag the man down this path with me. We stopped eating acidic foods (coffee stopped also). We did some Liver Flushes , and then we did a colon cleansing, along with a few colonics. We did a parasite cleanse. We started taking ginger and turmeric (those were our first two supplements). My pain had at long last gone away, and we started to exercise almost everyday. Soon I started weeding my husband off of the Prozac (he has been off for over a year, and has far fewer attacks of depression that in the last two decades).

Well, about three weeks ago my Costo came back. And it was worse than before. I was devastated. But then I realized that all those things I had learned in the beginning I was not practicing like I had before. Sure we have changed many things....distilled water, Organic foods and many more vegetables and fruits. We don't eat anything white anymore. But we had stopped doing those things that were sure fire cures for us.

Most of you that know me, know that I spend all my time on the Oil Pulling forum. I know a lot about oil. I Oil Pull everyday, and I only use Coconut Oil to cook with (with occasional Olive Oil). But I have stopped eating as much oil as I used to.

In fact, I have not really been paying attention to my cleansing anymore. It's been a long time since I've done a Liver Flush . I haven't concentrated on my colon. I am overdo for another parasite cleanse. I don't ingest enough good EFA's like I should be doing. And I have forgotten the overwhelming benefits of Turmeric and Ginger in fighting inflammation. In a word, I've gotten lax. So lax that my arch nemesis has reared it's ugly head again. To me that means that inflammation has crept up again, and this is a very clear warning.

So, I am going to start all over again. The nice thing is that I don't have to do all the reading I did before. And I can do everything in it's proper order (Colon, Liver then Parasite, then liver again).

It is well know in both natural as well as allopathic practice that inflammation might just be one of the biggest killers of the humans body. They have linked it to heart disease, organ destruction, brain diseases - like depression and dementia. One of your best bets is good EFA's, and by that a well balanced Omega 3-6-9.

That is why I posted here. I think that much more attention needs to be paid to inflammation and good Omegas. And for those that have just started this natural healing, be perseverent. When your symptoms go away, do not become complacent. All of this takes time. There are no magic bullets, either in natural health, nor in allopathic. The beauty of natural health however, is that all the dots are connected. Your liver, spleen, pancreas, adrenals, thyroid, hormones, colon, mental outlook....integrated into the human machine. You've heard of a "well-oiled" machine?....well that's us!

My husband and I are healthier than we've ever been.....but I think it's time to take it to another level. We've tried many many things now, some very helpful, some not. It was all hit and miss. Now it's time to take all we've learned and synthesize it to a protocol that will be consistent, the things that have worked for us personally. Both protocols will be different, because what has worked for my husband, has not always worked for me. You can't ask someone what their personal protocol is, because we are all different, with the EXCEPTION, or cleansing. Everyone needs to cleanse. It's key.

As for me....I have some liver flushing, good EFA's, a colonic, ginger and turmeric in my near future. I have to pretend I'm starting all over, but this time I will not feel fatalistic.....or paranoid.

Thanks for listening to my rant. I absolutely do not want to go back to that life of pain!"~Molly

Costochondritis- Success Story

This is a Success Story from the yahoo forum just 2 days ago. Although I went down this road and it didn't work for me, I still feel it's necessary to share any and all success stories for our encouragement. We all need it.

"Hi Everyone

I thought I'd give you my 2 week update on the cortisone injections I've had in my shoulder and back.

THEY HAVE WORKED!!!

I'm over the moon, i have had no pain at all, which is unbelievable considering I'm classed as chronic and suffered pain in the areas on the scale of 6-8 for 6 years.

Keep everything crossed that it lasts, as i cant have a top up for 4 months.
I know everyone is different and this hasn't worked for some, but maybe for those of you who haven't tried it yet, it could bring you relief." -N

2 weeks later, he posted that his pain came back after getting a flu vaccine. =(

Costochondritis- Success Story

Success Story by AK from the Natural Health Forum

"I've suffered from
chronic costo for 3 years now. My doctor gave me an ultrasound for gallbladder, and then
an MRI. Everything was negative, except for a fatty liver diagnosis. All he did was
prescribe painkillers, which really did very little when I was having an attack. My attacks
usually happened when I was standing and then twisted around at a certain angle. It
usually put me off my feet for hours after that. I haven't been able to do sit-ups for years,
for fear of pain. I can barely do housework.

So, I am now pain free, and I thought I'd share what I did in case anyone is interested.

I'm not a big herb taker or health food nut. Never have been. When the Dr said that I'd
just have to live with this, I thought, no way, my life will be over. I ended up on a website
called curezone.com, which is alternative medicine. I plunged into a complete body detox.
I did a liver cleanse first, which involves epsom salt and olive oil. Then I got some safe
parasite cleanses from Colonix. I also started a colon cleanse with this stuff called
oxypowder. Believe me, I am very careful about what I put in my body, so all this stuff is
pretty benign (no strange chinese herbs, etc). Then, to top it off I started getting hydro
colon therapy. I started all this two months ago. Within one month my pain is gone, and
has not recurred at all. The funny side effect to all this is that I lost 35 pounds in two
months (which I really needed to do).

I also gave up coffee for green tea (which does contain some caffeine) and surprisingly I
don't miss coffee at all. Believe me, I LOVED coffee.

Then last but not least, I take ginger caps for pain, and tumeric caps (the spice in curry)
for inflammation. I honestly believe that inflammation is KEY in costo (well, obviously).

I think that alot of costo cases come from chronic inflammation, stress and your internal
organs crying out for help. That is for the chronic cases.

Make use your doctor gets you an ultrasound for your gall bladder. This is important. But
please, do not consider surgery until you look at all the alternatives.

If my costo was from stress, I have to tell you that detoxing your body really does give you
a great deal of calm. I feel half my age. So I don't know if my organs were making the
situation worse, or if by working on my organs, I alleviated stress. I don't care either, but I
am totally, completely pain free. Some other things did happen too, weight loss, eyes
became white and clear, complexion is fantastic, arthritis in knee is gone, lower back pain
is gone, allergies are gone, black circles under my eyes are almost gone. I also
discovered, much to my great surprise and delight, that I was harboring quite a few
parasites. Yuck, I know, but I'm glad they are somewhere else now, not in me. Also, my
husband started doing this and he popped at least one Tagamet a day for heartburn. He
has not taken one tab for a month and a half. He also had bad breath, for years, and it's
completely gone (thank goodness).

Check out the following:

Dr. Natura for Colonix - read the testimonials
Dr. Hulda Clark at curezone.com for details on the liver flush - all natural, don't need to
buy a thing
search for oxy-powder - colon cleanse
If you are interested in Hydro Colon Therapy (this was a rush completely) you can find info
on the curezone, or just look up in a search engine
You can easily get tumeric and ginger at any grocery store that sells vitamins

I had to come back and share with you all. Thanks for listening!"

Costochondritis- Success Story

Here is an excerpt from a post by Sally from the teitze facebook group. She's been doing the Margaret Hill diet and is feeling awesome. So so so cool. I was doing a lot of research about costo, the raw diet, acid reflux, gerd, inflammation, the stomach, and raw apple cider vinegar with raw honey when I came across this post.

"I feel cured, and I am proud to shout it out. I did not have it lesser than you guys, I have really suffered too but using the Margaret Hills' diet I definitely feel cured - I did not have a little of it, or a touch of it, I had full blown Tietze like everyone else and was in the hospital believing I was dying. It was sheer hell.

I am posting only to help where I can and this diet can be partially done to see improvement, and it can be done like this:

1.Remove ALL nightshade vegetables (potatoes, spinach, egg plant, tomatoes etc)

2.add Apple cider vinegar and honey (as Cathy said, 2 teaspoons in a 200ml glass of water, 3 times a day)


if you wish to do more, remove foods that cause inflamation (dairy milk products, animal milks (all dairy but not eggs) junk food, caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, citris fruit)

and

add anti inflammatory foods, such as lean chicken, fish, apples, salad, molasses etc and anti inflammatory herbs: Basil, ginger, turmeric etc


to aid bone improvement and keep inflammation down add a good multi vitamin tablet daily, glucosamine/chroiditine and calcium/magnesium, and vitamin C. (500 OR 1000)

to aid healing and detox add Epsom Salts in the bath once a day (before bedtime as the pores open and this is not good if you are going outside)

....as all I know is listed above and I feel amazing! Please try it guys as it IS curable despite what the doc says. and here is the cure and this will get you going on finding out more about what is good for YOUR body.

This has got to be better than all those anti inflammatory drugs that do not heal the body just help the pain - I know my brother and my mother are following this route and are still suffering. (please do not ask me why they do not listen to my advice - as the answer will be the same as why so many won't listen to my advice here.) It seems it is too much effort, too much to give up etc, well then I do not know what else I can do.

It isn't easy, I know, I have had to do it. It was so hard, but you know what, I would not go back, I have my son back, my health back and we are LIVING! Unless you go for it, things will not improve with the medications, you have to go back to the cause. What has caused the inflammation in the first place, start there, and then take it out."

Sally

You can find the Margaret Hill book she followed by CLICKING HERE.

You can read more reviews of the book by CLICKING HERE.

Thanks Sally!

Costochondritis- Success Story

Hey friends, Here's a success story that was shared in the yahoo group I'm a part of. I wanted to share what Heather wrote. Thanks for sharing, Heather!

"Hello all-
I have only been a member of this group for about 2 months. I started reading and posting about a week after my breast reduction. Just to review, I had pain mostly in right sided 7th rib (directly under my breast, but sometimes on the left. It started 10 years ago while I was running. Since then I had become extremely limited in my ability to exercise. Then I had my breast reduction in hopes that it would help my rib pain.I believe this is where I was in the story when I last posted. One week after my surgery my rib pain began again. I was very upset. However, because of a persistent cough I had (which seemed to be caused by a post nasal drip) I decided to use my inhaler. And my rib pain went away within 30 minutes. I was shocked, after 10 years of suffering, do I have a solution?

I wasn't quite ready to declare that though, so I went on with my life. 2 weeks after that my rib pain began the day after I had done a lot of fast walking (something that used to ALWAYS flare my rib pain). I was upset because I was still thinking that my inhaler giving me relief had probably just been a fluke. But, I tried it anyway, after 10 minutes, no relief, and I was starting to get very upset. Then almost exactly 30 minutes after using my albuterol inhaler, the pain was completely gone. Halleluyah!!!! I am so excited. This happened about a month ago and I have walking and even jogging (YEA!!!!) without any flare ups at all. I had not been able to walk fast or jog in 10 years because of the "rib" pain. So, obviously,this problem is due to some pathology in my lungs. I'm not sure what yet, I intend to visit a pulmonologist, but to tell you the truth, I don't care what the reason is. I HAVE A SOLUTION NOW. I feel like a brand new person. Anyway, so it took me a month of being pain free to decide to go ahead and shout this from the roof tops, and I'm still a little bit afraid that I might be
"jinxing" myself by telling all of you this...but hopefully not.

So, the good news is: I have a cure for my pain. The bad news is: the cure is not for costochondritis. Good luck to all of you. I will still be checking in and reading and/or posting messages, but probably not as often. Please spread the word on my behalf, if anyone you know, or if any of you, have similar symptoms and have asthma, try your inhaler. I would hate for anyone else to go on suffering and limiting their activity as long as I did, when all they have to do is use their inhaler." -Heather

Costochondritis- Success Story

Hey Costo Buddies,
Found this success story, wanted to share it...encouragement is a good thing....

"It's been since November, 2002, when I was first diagnosed with costochondritis after being in a mild car accident.

Since then, I have attended physical therapy for 8 weeks, massage therapy, done SR (skilled relaxation) at least 3 times a day (and still doing it), and started off walking on my treadmill for 10 minutes a day at a slow rate. Also, I am taking Xanax 2 times a day for the anxiety. Also, I am practicing stress management. The TMJ pain has also gone away.

It was not a pleasant experience at all. I missed almost a month and a half of work and I thought I was dieing. That's when I started experiencing the anxiety/depression/panic. It was horrible.

Today, I am TOTALLY pain free. I am walking 45 minutes on the treadmill and doing some weight lifting to improve my strength. I am also back to work.

It just takes a lot of time and patience! :}" - Janice

Costochondritis- Success Story

This is a success story from a group I'm a part of:

"I had my first flare up about 2 years ago. I tried everything from rest, stretches, therapy, injections, just about everything. Then I started going to the chiropractor which helped by giving me more mobility in order to do exercises. After about a year in constant pain, I started to walk around the neighborhood. After I got home from my walks I would be sweating a little bit and I noticed my costo didn't hurt at all. After a few weeks I was running on the treadmill in the gym and after every run my costo was getting better and here is how sweating and body heat will heal your costo.

HOW He HEALED FROM COSTO:

costo is an inflammation of the soft tissue connecting the rib to the sternum. In order to heal soft tissue there needs to be sufficient blood flow. Just sitting and taking NSAID's isn't going to stimulate blood flow. Therefore, you must start slow like walking and work your way to other exercises.

1. Sauna/Steamroom- This is what has helped me heal the most, your body temp will rise higher than if you were exercising and you get better results for the cost.

2. Hot tubs- hot tubs can help the same way a sauna would except not as effective

3. Chiropractor- the chiropractor has been straightening my spine which was out of place because of costo and these treatments are the backbone of my healing.

YOU NEED TO HAVE A HIGH BODY TEMPERATURE IN ORDER TO HEAL SOFT TISSUE BY SWEATING AND INCREASED BLOOD FLOW TO THE PARTS OF YOUR BODY WHICH NEED IT(COSTO JUNCTION) THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT BUT IT CERTAINLY HAS HEALED MY COSTO FROM THE POINT WHERE I COULDN'T GET OUT OF BED TO NOW WHERE IM SO ACTIVE I ALREADY INJURED MY ANKLE FROM PLAYING SO MUCH BASKETBALL AGAIN HAHA! TAKE IT SLOW, DON'T GET HURT, TRUST ME!!"


I then asked him what he did at the Chiropractor b/c getting adjusted for me is very painful if I lay on the table, face down. I've seen 3 chiros and they all cause far more pain then help.

"He took an x-ray of my spine and it turned out I had a slipped vertebrae in my
back which was connecting to the same rib as the costo(I think it was rib # t-5
or t-6 on my right side) and he would adjust my upper back while I was lying
face down then I would lie on my side and he adjusted my lower back.

Have you tried running? I too was afraid it would cause more inflammation and
pain, and my doctor's at Stanford kept encouraging me to exercise because that's
the only way it will heal. And I kept telling myself the doctors didn't know
what they were talking about because costo is fairly rare, and most doctors,
even the ones at Stanford have never dealt with it before. So after more than a
year of pain and missing the outdoors, I thought I have nothing to lose so I
started walking and biking slowly and if I feel any pain I'd stop and go home
at take pain killers haha. But there was no pain, and kept a steady regimen and
after about 6 months I would say my costo area is almost better/stronger now
then before I hurt it! You have to take the initiative yourself to heal
yourself. The sauna works wonders also!"

Ok, so this success story is awesome!!! For me, since I was a personal trainer at the time I got costochondritis, working out harder is more painful. For me, when I decreased the intensity of my cardio, and my pain subsided a notch. However, I think mine was so incredibly inflamed...moving wasn't the problem, I needed to chill out. But for others, this may be a great route to try.

Thanks for sharing, Cory!

Costochondritis- Success Stories

It's really helpful to read what other Costo Sufferes are doing, what's working and what's not. Here are a few links that really helped me out!

Post 1 - Success Story

Post 2 - Success Story

Post 3 - Nip acid reflux in the bid asap

Post 4 This woman healed with a liver flush

Post 5- Lost the post, but a lady healed through using this diet.

Post 6- Colon, Liver, and Parasite Cleanse