Some questions,particularly for Heather................
#134387 - 01/02/05 01:07 PM
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Greetings and Happy New Year,dear hearts.I'm SUFFERING right now for my sins over the holidays and the weather isn't helping-my spasms are so bad I feel them in my SHOULDERS.I'm on a safe diet and lots of fennel tea and peppermint oil caplets-hoping it passes in a few days.In the meantime,I have 3 or 4 CRITICAL questions for the board,especially Heather if she's listening.This will be the year I get my life back and I need advice:1)I KNOW I already asked this question,but it's important that I find out as much as I can about Yerba Mate and the related Mate teas and most of the online info seems to come from companies that are selling it.So forgive me if I'm a little suspicious.I so desperately need a substitute for coffee for those long studying days ahead at Princeton(keeping fingers crossed)when I won't be able to sleep for DAYS and need to stay sharp.I'm not mentally sharp anymore and haven't been since starting this diet.Yerba Mate could be the answer to my problem if it's safe.Any of you with any personal experience or info on this drink-ANYTHING-please post it for me.b)Does anyone else find that the weather affects the condition as well?My gut seems SO much worse on damp,rainy days then sunny ones.This really shouldn't be TOO surprising,though:MOST nagging nuerophysiological ailments-like arthritis,et al-are weather sensitive,why should IBS/Crohn's be any different?Anyone else have this problem?
That's all for now,but I REALLY need someone to point me to a reliable source of info on Yerba Mate-I really don't want to be a guinea pig right now,I can't afford a setback!
Sincerely,
Andrew L.
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Re: Yerba Mate
#134431 - 01/02/05 04:42 PM
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Angie113
Reged: 12/31/04
Posts: 297
Loc: Alternate b/w Northern and Southern California
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Hi Andrew! I hope you start feeling better soon...I know going back to school is tough, especially if you anticipate stress and more symptoms once you get there. I totally sympathize with you about needing to stay up late to study; I'm in school too (I go to Pitzer College in Claremont, CA, if anyone has heard of it) and I'm a Human Biology major so my schedule is always tough. The yerba mate is a little sketch; I have read in two different places that it can increase blood pressure and that it may not actually provide as many of the health benefits it claims (can't cite these sources though, sorry). I found a website that looks professional from the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine: Yerba Mate which lists some helpful information, including prescription drugs that interact with Yerba Mate. I would recommend drinking green tea, or white tea, if you need to stay awake; they have very little caffeine and also have the benefits of antioxidants. I am so sensitive to caffeine that even the green tea makes me nauseous and shaky, but if you are used to it they may be a good option. Also, if you can get vegan cocoa powder and make hot chocolate with soy/rice milk or something, chocolate does have a small amount of caffeine as well.
For what it's worth, I didn't have IBS until I went off to college. I personally have decided that my first two years of sleepless nights and constant anxiety over schoolwork were just not worth the physical/psychological pain and stress. This past semester I made it a point to get 8 hours of sleep almost every night (much easier since I also moved from dorms to an apt  ) and I still pulled off grades that I was satisfied with. Not surprisingly, I felt much better.
Regarding the weather, I had two weeks where I felt especially uncomfortable in October, and an acupuncturist told me it was probably due to a sudden bout of rainy weather...However, right now it has been pouring where I live for like 2 weeks and I don't think it has affected me that much...it could also be a result of being less active when it rains, who knows? Sorry this got kinda long, good luck with everything!
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~Angela
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Dear Angie;
Thank you SO much for the useful info,first reasonably reliable source of info I've been able to find on the stuff.Human biology can be a BRUTAL major depending on how seriously you take it.(Sadly,most human bio majors today are premed-which is a nice way of saying most of them don't see the point of learning anything they can't bill a patient for and anything that doesn't fall in that category they cheat on........).I was a double major in mathematics and biochemistry before this damn thing took me out of the game and i was caring for a father with cancer at the time-i spent 5 years in the anxiety nightmare of that.How much that contributed to my illness' onset is something I'm probably not gonna know for years if not decades.Going back with no coffee scares the s**t out of me.Somehow,I don't think "grades I'm satisfied with" is gonna cut it at Princeton without finding an expulsion letter in my mail several months later.Choosing between my health and my career is no choice at all.  But thank you for all the advice and kind words,girl.I can use all the kind words I can get.Good luck to you and maybe we can talk again.I'd like that.
Sincerely,
Andrew L.
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Hey Andrew! Glad I could help you. Wow, I cannot believe you were a math AND biochem major...in our science program at the Claremonts, biochem is like the hardest major. I hope you get to complete it! Fortunately, I'm not pre-med so that makes my program MUCH easier. As you can imagine, I am very disillusioned with the medical care system in the US and I get annoyed with most doctors. I want to study alternative medicine. Also, I totally identify with feeling like you have to choose between health and career. Anytime you want to vent about school, feel free to let me know!!
I was SO sorry to hear about your father having cancer. That must have been so traumatic and difficult. My uncle has colon cancer, and his struggle with it has been really hard...I can't imagine if it were my dad.
Best of luck with everything and talk to you soon!
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~Angela
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Wow - Andrew it sounds like you have a lot of stress in your life -- I hope you have a good outlet for venting some of it. I just wanted to mention that my holistic doctor took me off of green tea and chocolate because they can be irritating to the digestive system. I find I have more lasting energy from eating grains like millet/short grain brown rice/quinoa. I don't know if you can tolerate these - it's important to chew everything really well. As a student you probably don't have much time to make grains, but you can make a large pot of them and eat them (warmed) for a few days at a time. Good luck with everything -- it's so important to take good care of yourself.
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Hi, Andrew. Sorry to hear you're feeling worse after the holidays. My boyfriend is sensitive to caffeine (coffee), so he used to drink green tea with ginseng in it, and says it helped during the withdrawal phase. He said that helped him wake up. He also takes vitamins from GNC (General Nutrition Center...in the States) called MegaMan Ultra Green. He swears that if he doesn't take them, he feels tired. At one point, he also took ginseng supplements, but said I probably wouldn't want to do that myself, since they hurt his stomach (I figure they would destroy mine). So, perhaps vitamins might help add energy back? I know that I am definitely lacking some vitamins and minerals with the IBS diet (because I am still figuring out how to cook and eat for myself), which does make me feel tired. Perhaps that might be an answer for you, too?
Oh...and my colonoscopy was fine. I am structurally sound, but the doctor did find my thyroid test to be a bit low. He is theorizing that perhaps that could be causing my problem, and is sending me to a specialist. The odd thing is, is that ever since the procedure, I've felt so MUCH BETTER! I can eat, I can sleep, I'm even regular. What a strange, strange thing. Now, we are just exploring other possibilities and trying to figure out a course of action for my IBS. Thanks for your support before Xmas, when I had the colonoscopy done!
Sue
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