Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Life, Dogs and Thunder God Vine

Today, I'm going to write on a subject that important to me and to many others who suffer constant pain. My pain is from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. For those of you who don't know what Chronic Fatigue (CFS) is, its a constant lack of any energy at all. Fatigue is really a misnomer, because many people who see the word fatigue say, "oh yes, I know what it is; I've been really tired lately too." Well, not to get morbid, but CFS fatigue goes way beyond mere tiredness; you don't have the energy to move at all. And, there is the constant pain as well. If you want to read more about CFS, the famous writer Laura Hillenbrand, the best-selling author of “Seabiscuit: An American Legend" has CFS and here is an interview with her about her writing and living with CFS.

Now, I don't want you to think I sit around in pain all the time, I have pain medication that helps, and I know how much to push myself. So, some days, all I can do is lay down and read; other days I can make jewelry and work on my computer to support my blog, my shop and my teammates. And, I have to say, watching my dogs, always brings a smile to my face. Laughter is sometimes the best medicine.  



So, I was surprised when Time Magazine devoted an issue to dealing with pain. I was a little afraid to read it because many doctors don't believe in CFS or constant pain, but I was pleasantly surprised. It actually said that doctors are starting to treat pain as a real disease in itself. And, they talked about what you could do for pain other than medication; things like massage, qi gong, yoga, acupuncture and taking something called thunder god vine.


Now, I know what the other items on this list are, but thunder god vine? What is it? How do you use it? And, most important at all, where and how do you get some?


Help! Any clues? Ideas? Hints?

5 comments:

  1. Mmmm! interesting! I don't know thunder god vine, either; my son has done some Qi Gong with me and it has helped every time. He also showed me things I can do on my own.

    Off to read more!

    Thanks so much for this info!!

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  2. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/tgvine/

    Here is a link I found that may be helpful in explaining what thunder god vine is.

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  3. Jaynemarie, you might want to take a trip to Chinatown in San Francisco and see if anyone can recommend an oriental herbalist there. This is one of those herbs that you need to obtain from a very safe reliable source, because while it appears to be effective for autoimmune disorder related pain, it's toxic if not used properly. That's the downside to herbs here in the states - they're not regulated like drugs (yet... fingers crossed tho!) and that should make anyone extra cautious in who they use as a source! If you find out anything, be sure to share :)

    Karen

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  4. I'm sorry to hear that you have to deal with this, I know how difficult it is to deal with constant pain. My husband has nerve damage in his neck and has headaches most every day. I pray that this herb is helpful to you.

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  5. I ran across your post in a search to see if Thunder God Vine has been tried with Fibromyalgia. I'm thinking it may be worth trying, but am doing some research first, of course.

    Anyway, I heard about it through a very interesting study that has been done on it recently. This information is not out on most every day websites yet, too new, but here it is - they understand almost exactly how it works now:

    http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/News-chinese-plant-holds-antitumor-posssibilities-030411.aspx?et_cid=1224596&et_rid=54635370&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.laboratoryequipment.com%2fNews-chinese-plant-holds-antitumor-posssibilities-030411.aspx

    Triptolide is the chemical in the plant that does the work. It stops production of new RNA in cells, and over time can stop the replication of DNA and production on proteins as well.

    This works best for diseases that need immuno suppression or to kill fast growing tissues - such as cancer. But, in small doses I wonder if it would help with pain syndromes too, since it would stop over-production of pain signaling proteins.

    If you're thinking of trying this, talk with you doc first. I hope you find this helpful though.

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