Quick update!

It's been so fun to hear from so many of you recently!  It makes me happy and have a greater desire to post any new findings or experiences I've been having.  Since moving (we now live in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere) I have been trying to find a new place to get my labs done.  I think I may have found something, so hopefully I will have new blood results soon.  Meanwhile, I feel amazing.  I have more energy than I have had in a long long time.  I feel less stress and anxiety than I have in years which is amazing considering our list from the past 5 months:

-Just moved into a studio
-Moving again in a few weeks into a bigger place (YAY)
-traveling to Denver, CO and Phoenix, AZ over the course of the next 2 weeks
-starting another new business
-giving birth and nursing a newborn and chasing a toddler around
-loss of my husbands job
-finding out that my tumor is bigger than ever and my levels are higher than ever (although I have brought them down a ton since then and I'm sure they are even lower now)
-becoming landlords (haha)

I'm thinking the natural dopamines from the rosemary and basil are helping a ton as well as the anti-anxiety/stress from the frankincense (not to mention it shrinks my tumor).  Anyway, I hope you are all doing well too!  Keep smiling and remember I love hearing from you.

First Real Update in a while! Might be long...

So much has happened in the last few months!  We have had a baby, lost a job, ramped up our business, moved and preparing to move again!  CRAZY!!!  So here we go :)

Shortly after having Xaylia I went and had my prolactin tested...575!  Holy crap!  No wonder the headaches were back.  I was also struggling big time with PPD and anxiety like never before. I hadn't been diligent with the oils during my pregnancy.  I attribute that to not having something to work towards!  I usually have blood tests regularly to see where I am, but it is pointless during pregnancy since my levels are elevated anyway and it is impossible to know what it is going on.  So, I slacked big time...I won't be slacking ever again though!  Anyway, I went and had an MRI later that week and sure enough my tumor had almost doubled since my MRI over two years ago after weening Tux!  Crap.  My obgyn suggested the neurosurgeon route....no thank you.  I know exactly what he would say....uh, the same thing he said 2.5 years ago....get surgery!  I had a frank conversation with my obgyn.  I asked him if it is really truly an emergency or urgent and he said as long as my headaches aren't non-stop and I'm not having weird vision problems I have a month or two to figure things out.  So, once again....hitting everything hard!

I started doing a lot of research again.  The medications that are typically prescribed for those with prolactinomas are bromocriptine and cabergoline which are dopamine-agonists.  They are also prescribed to those with Parkinson's.  I have spent days and days researching oils that have these properties.  I also talked to an essential oil expert about oils that may be considered dopamine-agonists.  Her name is Emily Wright and she told me that Rosemary and Basil are in that category.  I started looking into them and decided to give them a go.  Emily suggested I use them aromatically since that is the best way with dopamine-agonists. So, along with my regular Frankincense regimine, I put a drop of each on a terra-cotta pendant at night and place it on the pillow by my nose.  Every time I wake up to nurse I do it again :)  During the day I wear the pendant (when I remember).  Within a few days my headaches were completely gone!  A month after my initial blood results I got another test and my results came back at 474!!!  That is the fastest my prolactin has EVER gone down!  Even when I was taking frankincense with cabergoline!  I'm hoping it is NOT to good to be true.  I really think the rosemary and basil are doing amazing things and coupled with the frankincense it is hitting it from 2 sides!  The frankincense is shrinking my tumor and the rosemary and basil are boosting my dopamine levels, which in turn are blocking the prolactin!

In a nutshell, I feel amazing!  Better than I have felt in over a year!  My depression and anxiety are gone even though the last several months have been the most tiring, craziest and busiest of my life.  I plan on having another blood test soon and I am hoping the results are just as good as my last one.  I have no doubt they will be just based on how I feel.  If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.  Email me and if you would like to talk I will send you my number via email as well.  Bless you all and I hope to hear good things from many of you as well!

Here are some interesting links.  Make sure to check out the links/references at the bottom of the links as well!:

http://www.naturalnews.com/029359_rosemary_stress.html
http://www.smart-publications.com/articles/rosemary-extract-cancer-fighter-brain-protector-and-more/page-2
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18695511

Also, for those of you that may be new.  check out the importance of choosing good oils here:

Purity, testing and potency of essential oils

What I have done...

Ok, I'm sure lots of you are wondering what I did to get pregnant.....well, I should say, what I did medically :)  ha ha!  I have made myself a guinea pig of sorts and I am so excited and thrilled to have another little miracle coming to our family!  I will give a brief nutshell history of everything so far for those of you trying to catch up or just refresh on my story.  If you have questions on the oils I use and why I use them see THIS post.

Diagnosed with 7mm tumor March of 2008.  Went on Bromo and clomid was pregnant within one month.  I miscarried after 9 weeks had a D&C in June and started all over.  Bromo made me miserable.  Major sinus problems, vertigo, severe nausea, bloating and dizziness.

In December 2008 we were pregnant again with our little man!  Had an uneventful pregnancy and gave birth to a beautiful perfect bouncing baby boy on August 6, 2009.   After nursing for 3 months and many many severe headaches I went to the doc to see what was up.  MRI in November showed a 12mm tumor pressing against my optic chiasm.  I was recommended to an endo and neurosurgeon.  At this time I had no inclination towards "alternative" or "natural" remedies.  Endo wanted me to quit nursing and go on meds.  The Neurosurgeon wanted me to quit nursing and have surgery.  I didn't feel good about either and started writing this blog and went on my quest for natural alternatives to what was recommended.  I just knew that God had put some sort of natural remedy on this earth to help me!  Started vitex.  After several months there was no change.

January of 2010 I went off vitex and started Frankincense February of 2010.  Headaches were gone within days and after a few weeks my prolactin levels dropped from around 250 to around 200.  A few weeks later they were at 150 and over the course of a few months they were down to around 100 while nursing!  They plateaued at 100.  I stopped nursing and got another MRI at the end of June.  My tumor had shrunk from 12mm to 10 mm while nursing and on frankincense.  I started other oils to push me past my plateau.  My levels went down a bit, but not as much (or as fast) as I wanted....I am so dang impatient!  Wanting desperately for my period to start again for pregnancy and anti-osteoperosis reasons I started on caber in August.  Within 3 weeks my prolactin was at 7.  The lab lady made me come in and retest as she had never seen prolactin go down so fast.  I attribute it to the synergistic combination of cabergoline and frankincense.  I took cabergoline very minimally and had zero side effects except for the two week period in which I ran out of frankincense.  In those two weeks I suffered severe depression and headaches.  Once I started ovulating in Oct. I never took it past ovulation day...so about half of the time.  My prolactin levels stayed between 6 and 17.  Once I realized my periods were lopsided (follicular phase was at 24-25 days and LP was at 7-8 days) I started using oregano and thyme on my adrenal and uterine reflex points on my feet an ankles to increase my progesterone and clary sage to help with cycle regularity and fertility.  I also used Whisper blend to help with hormone balancing and Balance blend to reduce stress and help balance hormones.  Every month my LP would lengthen by about 1 day.  Cycle 5 my Ovulation day came before day 20!  That is the magic number apparently.  If your egg is released after that day it is past it's prime and may not fertilize or even if it does it will probably not implant.

Anyway, I am still continuing with the frankincense at this point as well as cycling lavender, grapefruit, wild orange, and patchouli.  I have cut the doses in half, but I want to keep this thing under control so I don't have to bring my levels down from 250 again or my tumor from 12mm!  Also, I have been using peppermint to keep my nausea at bay and wild orange to quench the heartburn and acid reflux!  I have been so much less sick with this one and I attribute it solely to the oils, grapefruit and ginger ale :)  Thank you all for your great support, well wishes and prayers!

Really cool article if you can make sense of it

So, I had a friend tell me to read this article, so I did, then I went back to the person and asked them to interpret.  I should have recorded the interpretation but I did not.  So you will have to interpret it yourself :)  The conclusion pretty much sums it up but I love that there is research and studies to back it all up!  Enjoy!!!

Biomed Article on Frankincense and Cancer/Tumors

Frankincense Webinar

So, Dr. Hill just did an amazing webinar on Frankincense last night and I have to share it! I'm sorry that I've been posting so many webinars, but I've been so busy and these webinars are AWESOME! Anyway, I promise I will write a real blog really soon, but here is the webinar :)



To see more webinars click HERE!

Purity, Testing and Potency of essential oils

So, I've been meaning to address this for awhile, but recently I have had some emails and comments regarding this so I thought I would hit it hard!  These three thing go together beautifully and I will try to explain fairly well :) I did not know how important this was when I first started using oils, but I have been learning a lot about it lately, so I am excited to pass it on.  I will also list additional books and resources at the end to help aid in learning about these things!!!  This may seem very boring, but please read as it is very important!!!

Purity

Purity is huge with essential oils!  It is the most important thing when choosing a brand or company to buy from.  If an oil is 100% pure it means has no synthetics, fillers, chemicals and residual pesticides.  It must have all of it's proper constituents, be grown in it's native habitat and be harvested at the proper time in it's life cycle and season.  There are many many things that can affect an oils purity and therefore how well it works.  Unfortunately there are many oils that claim to be 100% pure therapeutic grade, but are actually 100% synthetic.  Or they may have fillers, or chemicals and/or pesticides that have absorbed into the plant.  Any of those things can cause major problems (allergic reactions, poisoning and etc.) if someone uses them and especially if they use them internally!  How do you know if the oils you are using are truly pure or just claim to be.  Well, it's not easy :)  I have recently learned that smelling and visual examination are not good ways to tell as an oil can be 100% synthetic and smell really really good or look really really good!  The best way is testing.

Testing


There are several tests that oils need to go through to make sure they are really truly 100% therapeutic grade!  The first and most common test is the gas chromatograph (GCT).  Most companies actually do this test which is good, but not enough.  This test determines quantity of compounds but not there origin.  It cannot tell if the compounds are synthetic or natural and it does not test for fillers, pesticides and stuff like that.

The next test is far less common.  It is called the Mass Spectrometry (MST) test.  This test is very expensive and so most companies do not do it.  I know of only 2 companies that do this test and of those two companies only 1 that does it on EVERY batch using an third party to run this test.  The MST takes the results of the the GCT and breaks it down even further.  It can tell if the compounds are natural or synthetic and if there is anything in the oils that shouldn't be!  This test is a must to determine the purity of an oil.

Other tests include Infrared Spectroscopy, NIR FT Raman Microspectroscopy and Heavy Metals Testing.  I won't go into details on them, but they are also tests that are done for purity purposes.

If you want to know if a company does these tests, call them or email them.  I have called or emails a dozen companies and most of the time they beat around the bush or don't respond.  Personally I use doTERRA.  They are the only company I know of that do ALL of those tests on EVERY batch and if they don't pass with flying colors they are shipped back.  I would love to know if any of you know of any other company that does any or all of those tests besides the GCT....I love doTERRA, but I would like to know of any other...just to compare :)

doTERRA actully puts supplement labels on their oils that are ok to take internally.  Plus they say right on them "For aromatic, topical or dietary use" if they can be used for those things.  They have been tested and found pure enough that they can do that!  IF YOUR OILS DO NOT HAVE SUPPLEMENT LABELS ON THEM DO NOT TAKE THEM INTERNALLY!  Here are some pics I just took of my lavender oil :) My Frankincense also has supplement labels as do my clove, orange and all of the other ones I mentioned in my regime (except for Balance) I hope you all can see them ok!  Click on them to enlarge.

 

Sorry if they look kinda weird!  I turned the pics on their side so they would be easy to read!!!  

Potency

Here are a few quick facts.  So, if an oil is really truly pure it is extremely potent.  Because of that you can use less to get the same effect as if you used an oil of lesser quality.  Essential Oils are 50-70 times more potent than dried herbs.  One drop of the peppermint oil I use is roughly equivalent to 26 cups of peppermint tea.  Thats super potent people!  Price point is important to people, so I thought the potency was an important thing to include.  Even though the extra testing means pricier oils, they go a lot further and you will have better results.  Not to mention your chances of negative reactions are greatly decreased.

Additional Resources


Most of my resources are doTERRA specific as far as the oils go, but the other info (such as on purity and testing) that is also found in these resources is pretty global info.

Modern Essentials: A Contemporary Guide to the Therapeutic Use of Essential Oils


Has so much info on oils, their compounds and constituents and how to use them for hundreds and hundreds of conditions.  Lots of footnotes backing up the things they are used for.

   'Frankincense—Essential Oil Library Volume 1' by Dr. David Hill



This book  has so much info on Frankincense in general but also on purity, testing, quality and method of distillation.  Dr. Hill is an MD that is also one of the leading experts on oils.


Everything Essential Website


Just check it out!  Tons and tons of info.

So far behind!!!!

Oh, where to start!!!  Oh wait, I'm STILL trying to keep stress levels down, so I won't stress about it, I will just type :)  I've learned so much in the last month and I can't wait to share it ALL, but alas, baby steps.  So, update on stress.  I've let go my main stress and am happy to report that I can breathe and i don't feel the huge knot in my gut!  Don't get me wrong...I still have plenty to do, but now I can do it instead of having my life completely sucked into one never ending project!  I have been getting lots more sleep as well, and I have learned that sleep majorly reduces stress!  So get some sleep!  In fact, as soon as you are done reading this, take a nap :)  You most likely deserve it.

My levels are back down to 103 as of a month ago.  I really want to break that 100 mark!  I went to see the endo and we had a nice chat.  He spent 45 minutes with me answering questions and having me explain what I have been doing.  He said that he can't argue with the fact that the Frankincense has been lowering my levels and shrinking my tumor.  He says to keep taking the frankincense.  After all, it is what the wisemen gave to Baby Jesus, so it must be good stuff!  (He actually said that).  He wanted me to go on Cabergoline and just try it out as he is worried that I haven't had more than 5 periods in about that many years!  I learned that us prolactinoma people are at high risk for osteoporosis since our estrogen/progesterone cycles are few and far between!  I haven't started cycling again since I stopped nursing so I was stressing about it too!  I really hated bromo and couldn't stand to be on it so I really didn't want to take Cabergoline either...  I have heard horror stories about it and so I drug my feet and thunk and prayed about it.  I finally decided to go on it for a month and try it out along with my essential oils and see how it went.  So far, massive headaches (my hubby thinks I'm having my first migraines ever) that last for days, dizziness, near blackouts, sinus crap.....yeah, it sucks.  I'm using the oils to try to counteract the side effects and they dull them, but the medicine induced headaches suck.  I have another appt. in a couple weeks.

Timeline.....

Just for reference I am going to do a quick and dirty timeline so that I and anyone that may read this can see and maybe give some input on my situation.....

March 2008 - diagnosed w/ 7mm prolactinoma due to infertility.  Prolactin at 70.  Started on Bromo and Clomid.

April 2008 - Pregnant and went off meds.

June 2008 - miscarried and had a D&C.  Went back on Bromo and Clomid.

Nov. 2008 - Pregnant

Aug. 2009 - Had a beautiful bouncing baby boy!  Nursing and on zero meds.

Beginning of Oct. 2009 - Blood tests show Prolactin is at 225 schedule MRI.

end of Oct. 2009 - MRI show my tumor has grown to 1.2 cm.  

Beginning of Nov. 2009 - Prolatin is at 241.  

end of Nov. 2009 - see endo, neurosurgeon and eye specialist.  They recommend for me to stop nursing, go on meds or get surgery.  I decide I want the surgery to just "get this thing out of my head once and for all".

Dec. 2009 - start researching like crazy for alternate treatments.  I start taking Vitex.

Feb. 1st 2010 - Continue my searching and start on Frankincense.   Decide to avoid surgery at ALL costs!

Feb. 13th 2010 - Prolactin is at 201!  Went off Vitex.

Feb. 26th 2010 - Prolactin is at 155.  

April 13th 2010 - Prolactin is 108.

May 6th 2010 - Start weaning process.

June 3rd 2010 - After being off frankincense for 2 weeks Prolactin is at 130.

June 26th 2010 - back on frankincense since 2nd week of June.  Prolactin is at 110.

June 29th 2010 - had an MRI.  Shows tumor at 1.2 cm, but looks different.  Done nursing...mixed feelings.

So, there is my time line.  The way I see it....from the time of my MRI in Oct to the beginning of Feb. I didn't have any blood tests and wasn't on any medication and was nursing (producing enough milk for at least 3 babies) so i have no idea what my tumor did during that time....my questions for my doc are:

-Is it possible it grew during that time and has been shrinking since then?

-What specifically made him think I had surgery since Oct.?

-What does he think in general about my alternative methods of shrinking my tumor?

-What his recommendations are.

Are there other questions I should ask????  I'm sure more will come up.

Results!!! Very infomative....

I got some more results in the mail the other day and I am up to 130!!!  ARGGGHHHH!  I have been off of frankincense for 2 weeks and I am sure that was the problem.  No worries though, I ordered two bottle this time so hopefully I won't run out...I'm going to start stocking up so I don't EVER RUN OUT AGAIN!!!  I feel like I am now a month behind and further away from getting pregnant again.  I don't know that I am ready for that yet (hence why I am still nursing I guess) but when I am ready I want it to happen PRONTO!  I feel like I am getting old and my dream of having 5 or 6 kids is just not going to happen, but I still want 3 or 4 at least and that won't happen if my body is trying to shed prolactin all the time.  The good news is that I am taking the frankincense again and I am going to get another blood test in a couple weeks and hopefully this one will be good news :)  At least I know for sure that when I take the Frank my levels decrease and when I don't they increase....Weaning is going well.  Tux takes two bottles a day and nursed twice a day.  I am going to drop another nursing as soon as I feel like I won't explode!  Wish me luck :)

Well, it's been an interesting two weeks.  I ran out of frankincense a couple weeks ago and haven't been able to order until a couple of days ago.  I've been taking other oils hoping to maintain my progress and keep the levels low until my frankincense gets here.  I went to the lab the other day and requested some blood work to see what my levels have been doing while weaning and w/out frankincense.  Maybe weaning will help keep them lower anyway!  We will see!  I have not felt like my milk is out of control which is huge considering I was out of frank and cutting down nursing!  I pray that is a good sign.  I think the results should come in the mail at the beginning of next week.  I'm crossing my fingers.  If all goes well, I will step up a notch w/ the weaning and Tux will be nursing 50% and taking a bottle 50% of the time.  My goal is to be done nursing by the end of June.  I'm hoping my body will be able to accept that pace and that I will be able to dry up the natural way....I bet my specialists would say that is impossible for me too!  So, wish me luck in proving them wrong!!!!

And, just for the fun of it...here is a picture of me and my babe snuggling :)  Man I love this kid!!!

Frankincense Side effects

We recently moved and I don't have the internet....so I will try to make up for lost time!!!  Here we go!

So, I've had a few people ask me if I've had side effects from taking essential oils and I will tell you yes I have!  I say how much I hate side effects from meds, but I should be more specific when I say side effects....I should say I hate NEGATIVE side effects. I've never had great skin or a good complexion.  When I was pregnant I loved my skin!  I was pretty much zit free for 9 months!  I keep saying I can't wait to get pregnant again because I love my skin when pregnant, but since taking Frankincense my skin has been a lot more smooth and radiant.  My hubby is constantly raving about it and get this....I pretty much don't wash my face anymore!  I've always done it morning and night as long as I can remember.  The medicated stuff w/ the 2% zit zapper no less...Well,  my zit zapper days are over and have been for about 2 months now :)

Have you ever seen those shampoo commercials w/ the woman who pick up their hair and let is drop strand by strand and it is so silky and smooth, it is almost impossible?!?  I recently decided maybe I should try out for one of those commercials!  My hair is impossibly silky and smooth!  It is about twice as thick as it used to be!  I love it.

Some of the other side effects are more energy than I've had in years, loss of weight, prolactin levels have dropped drastically (from 241 to 108 in about 3 months), I've hardly been sick all winter, and I just feel really good pretty much all the time!

P.S.  Did I mention my stretch marks (or lack thereof)?  Probably not, since I've forgotten that I once had them :)

Prolactin Results!

I got my prolactin results in the mail today!  My doc put a smiley face on this one because I am down to 108!!!!  Need I say more?!?

My essential Oil Regime

I have had several people comment and email me about my essential oil regime, so I am going to post it. The essential oils I use are DoTerra.  They are Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG) which basically means they are the purest on the market and the don't contain fillers or artificial ingredients that would dilute their active qualities.  Anyway, that is one of the reasons I use them specifically.  They also have really great blends of oils such as PastTense (which I use for my headaches).  Here is my list and how I take them:

Frankincense (antitumor):  1-2 drops internally every few hours 

                                         rub it on my forehead and onto my feet a couple times a day

Balance Blend (balancing): Rub on my feet before I go to bed at night

PastTense: roll on my temples, forehead and/or neck whenever I have headaches

That's what I use and how I use it!  Hope this can help someone!  The website is: DoTerra Essential Oils