Has it been awhile???

Since I haven't written in forever, here are some bullets from last time I wrote (not in any particular order):

• My little girl turned 1.
• My little guy turned 3.
• MRI: Tumor is the same as it was a year ago which is great considering I've been nursing like crazy!
• Weaned Xaylia last month, naturally I might add, it was hard and painful, but I'm soooo happy  to know that I can do hard things :)
• Last blood results showed prolactin levels at 201 (Nov 2012).  Down from 300.
• No headaches.
• Good energy and less anxiety.
• Lost about 10 pounds (20 to go.)
• Classes, classes, classes.  We have officially replaced our income with our home-based business.
• Trips to Boise, Idaho Falls, and Texas.
• Found a decent source of vitex and have started on that again.
• Started a new oil blend called DDR Prime that is amazing for getting rid of tumors :)
• I got called to a new church position with the kiddos that I LOVE.
• Planning a trip to Costa Rica in April.
• Looking for a new Obgyn or Family Physician (UGHHHHHH!!!!)

So, what would you like to hear about next?  I can expand on any of those points or talk about something totally different....

Life gets in the Way :)

There is nothing wrong with that right?  My life is nuts, and sometimes I forget all about this little blog.  It doesn't mean I forget about all of you though.  It was fun to get on and read all of the comments I just barely published (some of them were from MAY, sorry!)  I just want you all to know that I appreciate all of your emails, thoughts, concerns, prayers, vibes and love!  You have no idea how much all of these things mean to me.  I was recently asked how I maintain a positive attitude.  The answer is ALL OF YOU, plus my amazingly supportive hubby and my beautiful children.  I have such a neat support system and I feel like I have things under control.  I think this has taken away a lot of the stress that I have felt in the past and so I haven't felt the uncontrollable need to write on my blog as much.  A lot of my previous posts are ranting....ranting about the healthcare system, about doctors, about the knowledge that is NOT OUT THERE!  Know that I am here, that I am thinking of you all and that I am doing REALLY well :)  I got my latest prolactin levels and they are 245.  Down from 300 and those are down from 575.  I feel blessed.  I am trying a few new things and I'm hoping that when I do some tests next week they will be down EVEN MORE.  I'm still nursing my sweet 9 month old.  She is a doll.  I have no idea how I am ever going to wean her.  I know I need to soon, but I love that she needs this one thing from me.  She is so stinking independent and wiry.  I'm afraid that when I am done nursing that will be old news!  haha!

 

Here's a few pictures of us (I know I know....I need a good family one, but at least ya'll can see what keeps me so occupied)

Anyway, my hubby also lost his job and so we have been pushing long and hard to get our home based essential oil business off the ground.  We have been doing a program the last 4 months that pays us to travel which has been so nice, but so tiring!  I can't wait for the end of August (and this crazy, fun program) to come to the end.  Our business is amazing and enables us to spend lots of time together as a family and traveling.  Two of my greatest loves :)

Well, that is my quick update.  I'll post more soon once August if over!  Thank you all for everything!

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!

The Scoop on Toxins

So, I am finally coming up for breathe after a fun filled week in Texas!  We fully enjoyed the Vitamin D as we spent all 7 days outdoors!  So nice to be outside for a change.  Then we came back to our 3 feet of snow and I have been trying to get everything in order since then.

So, one of my online tumor friends reminded me of a great website.  It is called Skin Deep.  Personally I think it is a little extreme (as does my tumor friend that reminded me of it) but it has great information that can help you reduce personal care products in your home that may negatively affect your hormones!  I have been aware of this website for quite sometime and have been phasing out most of my cosmetics/shampoos/lotions that contain lots of stuff that can affect your hormones.  Another great website she shared with me is Natural Cleaning Recipes.  I also have a really great e-book that a friend put together.  It contains recipes for lots of natural cleaning supplies, deodorant, bath salts, body scrub and many more things.  If you are interested in this e-book please email me at hyperprolactinoma@gmail.com .  It's in pdf format so i cannot post it via blog :)

You all know that I am a big doTERRA fan.  They have some amazing products that are free of sulphates, parabens and the like.  You can find them at my online store at doTERRA.  They are under shop, and doTERRA Spa.  If you already have an account you can sign in at mydoterra.com and put in your ID number and password.  That way you can get the sweet 17-25% discount on them!  If you don't get the sweet discount and want to, you can let me know (via email) and I will explain more about it :)  I use the shampoo, conditioner and the skin care kit.  I am not a hair guru, but my sister a beautician so she is my resident expert on that kind of stuff  :)  I asked her what she thinks of the sanobello stuff and she claims it is just as good if not better than Pureology.  Means little to me, but maybe means something to someone out there.  I got the skin care kit for Christmas and I LOVE it.  I've been using it for a month and I have noticed that the bags under my eyes are almost gone and my pores are shrinking.  Plus the eye serum contains Frankincense!  We all know why I love that stuff :)  Anyway, Those are my doTERRA recommendations.  There is also a really great website where I get all of my lotion base in bulk (to which I use my oils to make it smell good and benefit me in different ways on different days!)  It is Posergy.  I also get my aloe vera gel, and bar soap there.  I avoid the stuff with their essential oils just because they don't test theirs as rigorously as doTERRA.  If I have dry skin, I add sandlewood to the lotion and rub it in.  I add lavender to it for my babies nighttime bath to help his sleep better.  Those are just a couple of examples!  Some other favorites for me are Balance, Whisper, and Ylang Ylang (all three help hormones and all three smell so good!) If you are interested in making your own lotion, chap stick and stuff, you can purchase some ingredients at aromatools.com.  I also get alot of my oil books, roll on bottles, spray tops, and glass spray bottles (which you need if you make your own cleaners containing essential oils.  Oils breakdown plastic.)

Hormones and Essential Oils

Ok, the following is a webinar that was monumental in helping me understand where all of my problems started!  I mentioned this webinar back in April and I can't believe it's taken me so long to post!  I had some questions about hormones this last weekend while teaching some oil classes and I refered several people to this very webinar.  It talks a lot about menopause, but almost anyone that has hormone problems have symptoms of menopause and it is often cause by the same hormonal fluxes.  So, I am posting the first and second part of these hormone webinars....enjoy and happy learning!  Even if you are not interested at all in the oil/supplement parts of these webinar, the information included in the webinars on hormones are invaluable!!!!

Hormones and Essential Oils Part 1



Hormones and Essential Oils Part 2

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.

The results are in!!!

I went and got the mail today and my blood test results were waiting for me!  I have been really excited to get them because since my last test I have started taking some herbal supplements and essential oils to see if they will help me.  My headaches have pretty much vanished (I had them almost 24/7 before I started my regimen).  I also have more energy and I have lost 8 lbs since then!  Anyway, I opened the envelope and they have from 241 (November) to 201!!!!  In October they were at around 225 and before I was pregnant they were around 120!  Needless to say, I am very excited!  The specialists told me the only way my levels would go down would be to have brain surgery or to go on prescriptions!  I can't wait to see my specialists' and obgyn's faces when I tell them I lowered my prolactin levels while nursing on herbs and essential oils!  Oh wait!  I probably will never have to see those guys again because I am lowering my levels on my own!!!  Completely naturally and safe with no stupid side effects! Plus they didn't have go in through my nose and drill a hole into my brain and cut a tumor out and then pull it out through my nose!  I'm sorry I wasted all that money to see those guys!  I guess if I hadn't I may not have had the motivation and determination to do it on my own!  Call me Dr. Quinn :)  For all of you that are interested here is what I have used to lower my prolactinoma:

Please visit my Facebook Group for more information on the oils I am using to support my pituitary.  Thank you!
When using essential oils beware of their purity and content.  Most of the stuff you buy at health food stores are not very pure or are completely synthetic.  Personally I use doTERRA as they are the purest in the market w/ no fillers.

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

Putting the cart before the horse is not always a bad thing!

So, I have a plan....but no doctor!  I figure that's ok because I will make sure any doctor I go to will follow my regimine and will see that I am my own advocate and that they (or their staff) will not try to take advantage of me or my family in any way, shape or form!   My plan is as follows:
-Continue to nurse until April 6th. (Baby will be 8 months old)
-Continue taking Vitex but decrease amount I take as it should be built up in my system.
-Go to my new doctor in a 2 weeks (if I can find one by then) and have my prolactin tested.
-See if my levels have improved since taking vitex
-Do a field of vision test in 2 weeks to make sure there is no urgency in my plan to quit nursing.
-Start using essential oils.
-Have another prolactin test in April before I quit nursing.
-Have another MRI around then too.
If my prolactin and MRI look good and show a decreased prolactin level and shrinking tumor I will continue on my vitex/essential oil regiman.  If not, I will probably go on cabergoline and see if that helps.  I've decided surgery is my last option! 

Sounds like fun, huh?!?  Just to remind myself to stay motivated and why I am doing all this, I am adding a pic of my sweet little boy!

  Now do you all know why I want like15 more (not realistic, but you get the picture)!!!   Now I need to go out and find that doctor.....wish me luck!