Thank you for sharing. I have taken turmeric off and on as it’s supposed to lower blood pressure, mine seems to increase whenever I’m taking it. I take meds for high blood pressure because no “natural “ cure (turmeric, magnesium, hawthorn, olive leaf, etc) worked. Some made it worse.
I have an autoimmune disease that is in remission-was tested Monday so I’ll see if it still is in remission- so perhaps that’s why the natural route doesn’t work for me?
The reason i am passionate about this is because I’ve known folks, as well as myself, who spent tons of money chasing one alleged cure or treatment after another and who in the end may have ended up hurting themselves in the process-
I know when people are hurting, not feeling well, they get desperate- I’ve been there myself- and it’s hard not to fall for the hype or claims made of one supplement or another- and it really bothered me that unscrupulous producers of vitamins, minerals, herbs etc would take advantage of the desperation that people have like that-
I’m not against all natural products- for sure there are3 some legit claims out there- but for folks with autoimmune problems, even things like heart disease, cancers etc- they really really need to research a particular herbal product or vitamin product or whatever, and see if there are any serious side effects that could happen- like many docs say- just because something is ‘natural’ doesn’t mean it’s safe for everyone
Some popular herbs for various conditions like anxiety, nervousness, low energy etc can have serious side effects in certain people=- Other ‘natural’ products really whack hormone levels and can cause all kinds of ill effects-
If you have high blood pressure, you need to be very careful of certain herbs- they can raise blood pressure to dangerous levels- Yuo have autoimmune problem too- so you need to really be careful because you don’t want ot cause more inflammation- more so than other folks-
I always research key phrases when looking into new herbs or minerals- such as say “Hawthorn berries and autoimmune diseases’, or ‘watermelon seed extract and diverticulitis’ etc- and always try to read the medical sites along with herbal sites as herbal sites often don’t mention problems that could be associated with an herb- medical sites do clinical trials and such and are more apt to warn about possible problems
It usually takes a few hours of research, but after possibly harming myself in the past- I now take the time to do as thorough a research as possible- if I’m not comfortable in the least- I’ll pass on the herb-
Magnesium is a pretty good mineral- pretty safe- and will likely be the most help- olive leaf I believe is a form of antibiotic/antibacterial- so be careful with that one- not sure the jury is out on whether it destroy healthy bacteria or not- coudl also interfere with antibiotics- Hawthorn is for heart and circulation, and be godo for high blood pressure- but it can itneract with certain meds- here’s a site with a list:
http://www.umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/hawthorn
Have you tried Arnica tablets? They are tiny and dissolve in the mouth. Arnica is great for reducing swelling. I get them from vitacost.com quite cheaply. Arnica tabs and gel are amazing.