How dryness and cold don't work
When I first started seeing my acupuncturist, I suffered from being in a very damp house (it sat over a spring). Then I moved to a better one. Then I moved into halls where, for whatever reason, it is very dry. I meant to put some bowls of water out after I returned from hospital at Christmas, but got distracted (duh) and forgot. When my lung function dropped badly in February, I remembered THEN tested the humidity. It was reading 33-35 using the (free) meter I was borrowing. Before it must have been below that. The ideal is 50 but I would be happy with 40.
With that knowledge we could start changing up the herbs. The kidney generate heat, sending it upwards; the lungs cool the energy down, sending it back to the kidneys; just like those convection drawings from Physics classes. Unfortunately, when it produces too much heat (or the lung don't cool enough), you get a furnace which is what was happening to me. I have continued to take rehydrators but mainly we have been focussed on cooling the heat in the kidneys. Now it's cooled down a lot, I am on no.30, a variation on no.14. Since the problem is one of deficiency, it cools the kidneys and tonifies them, with a bit of phlegm clearance for good measure. (There was also a 29, a focussed cooling of the kidneys and lungs.)
The end result of all this has been slow. I have been tired for much of the year and at several points needed to take days of work to recuperate. But there has been a gradual improvement; most noticeable when I remember to take all my herbs and do good physio. With tiredness from CF and tiredness from a crazy workload (or even just creeping stress from knowledge of the same), I haven't always remembered and that's sent me back a bit a few times. Similarly, I have neglected exercise - I did some Tai Chi on Sunday and realised how much more I needed to do.
There have been moments when a friend's reference to a "demanding job which you are unable to quit" really hit home. Luckily I got over them.
The crunch here is the hospital appointment next week. Have I done enough to improve my lung function? I have no idea but I'm not optimistic. If I haven't, what then? IVs? I don't have a rampant infection. My phlegm is still thick and dry, but my diabetes only goes demanding when my diaphragm gets tight. Maybe some oral antibiotics would be enough. Fingers crossed.
With that knowledge we could start changing up the herbs. The kidney generate heat, sending it upwards; the lungs cool the energy down, sending it back to the kidneys; just like those convection drawings from Physics classes. Unfortunately, when it produces too much heat (or the lung don't cool enough), you get a furnace which is what was happening to me. I have continued to take rehydrators but mainly we have been focussed on cooling the heat in the kidneys. Now it's cooled down a lot, I am on no.30, a variation on no.14. Since the problem is one of deficiency, it cools the kidneys and tonifies them, with a bit of phlegm clearance for good measure. (There was also a 29, a focussed cooling of the kidneys and lungs.)
The end result of all this has been slow. I have been tired for much of the year and at several points needed to take days of work to recuperate. But there has been a gradual improvement; most noticeable when I remember to take all my herbs and do good physio. With tiredness from CF and tiredness from a crazy workload (or even just creeping stress from knowledge of the same), I haven't always remembered and that's sent me back a bit a few times. Similarly, I have neglected exercise - I did some Tai Chi on Sunday and realised how much more I needed to do.
There have been moments when a friend's reference to a "demanding job which you are unable to quit" really hit home. Luckily I got over them.
The crunch here is the hospital appointment next week. Have I done enough to improve my lung function? I have no idea but I'm not optimistic. If I haven't, what then? IVs? I don't have a rampant infection. My phlegm is still thick and dry, but my diabetes only goes demanding when my diaphragm gets tight. Maybe some oral antibiotics would be enough. Fingers crossed.