Adi's Turmeric Log

This post will be my Turmeric Log, where I will document my experiences using Turmeric as a painkiller. I will just continue to update it as I go.

November 19, 2010

5:30pm - I purchased turmeric root powder in bulk. I added about 1/8 of a teaspoon to my noodles. It numbed my tongue a tiny bit and that lasted for about 5 minutes after I finished eating. From just that little bit, I feel a sense of well-being. My body feels happier.


November 20, 2010

1:00pm - I made 3 capsules with 500mg turmeric powder and a pinch of black pepper. I took them all. I had a relatively pain-free day. A person who had been healthy all their life might wonder why they felt so stiff if they felt like I did today, but to me it felt like there was nothing wrong. Not only was there no pain, the stiffness was 90% less than usual. Instead of shuffling around while wincing, I walked like a normal person and was smiling. Never got a hint of a headache, even when I got tired and was low blood-sugar, which are normally unavoidable headache times. My joints in particular feel much less swollen and the pain is a ghost of what it was. My sinuses must be less inflamed because usually it hurts to breathe at all times, and breathing perfume feel unbearable, but today my sinuses didn't hurt and perfume made me nauseous but did not hurt my sinuses at all.

7:00pm - I made enough capsules like the ones above to fill a small pill bottle. I took 3 more capsules. Felt some pain in my tummy that turned out to be a bit of gas. I continued to feel all the above benefits, and also my mind seems much clearer than it has in years. I feel almost no brain fog, which I assume must be a benefit of the strong anti-inflammatory aspect of the spice. This is a benefit I never got from ibuprofen.

November 21, 2010

8:30am - I woke after only 6 hours of sleep feeling rested and refreshed. The turmeric has clearly cut way down on the inflammation all over my body. I feel peppy. There's a little bit of mold getting into my house from the garden outside (it's rainy right now), and normally that would cause a complete body freak-out, but this morning I just feel some slight sinus and occipital lobe pain. Honestly, after all the pain I've dealt with in my life, it's practically not worth mentioning. I have more energy than usual in spite of the mold. As a matter of fact, I'd say I just don't feel fatigued. That's not something I've been able to say for a few years. My mind continues to feel incredibly clear. I also feel much happier. I am having less anxiety.

5:00pm - Run over with exhaustion. I think it is due to the moldy season and some mold spores getting into my house, but I'm not sure so I'm noting it here. I had a bout of diarrhea after eating my first meal of the day, so possibly it was from eating something bad. It could also be a symptom of dehydration as I forgot to drink water today! I was not able to drink coffee. My body did not want it.

9:00pm - Took 3 capsules and went to sleep. I did not sleep well.

November 22, 2010

10:00am - I woke at 6:00am feeling rested in spite of not sleeping well. My body does not want coffee as of yet. I am making a Wellness Blast as that sounds fab to my body. I had enough energy to do all the dishes and clean the kitchen. I'm going to take 3 turmeric capsules and go to the book store.

7:00pm - I did not make it to the bookstore. I continue to feel much better physically, but my emotions have dipped significantly. After many hours of lamenting because I thought maybe the Turmeric was losing it's power, I realized I was going through caffeine withdrawal.

November 23, 2010

10:00am - I fell asleep last night without taking my turmeric (or my nettles). I woke up after 6.5 hours of sleep, feeling rested and alert in spite of missing my previous night's dose. Mind you, I never woke up feeling alert even before I got sick. I have never been a morning person. My mornings are generally groggy and slow. So the introduction of Turmeric into my diet is benefiting me way beyond what I was going for. I am still feeling rather pain-free. I can now sit on my bed with my legs crossed for an hour. Before the turmeric, my knees and lower back were so swollen and painful I could not do this for more than a minute without changing positions.

So it's very clear that the Turmeric is healing my body, causing a healing crisis, and making it so my body doesn't want any caffeine or sugar. When I think of eating those things, I feel nauseous. This healing crisis is different than past ones because the symptom of pain is absent. In the past, healing crises always included pain. Due to the caffeine withdrawal, I decided to have a quarter cup of coffee before I took any turmeric today. I now know for sure that my emotional down-spiral was due to caffeine withdrawal because upon the imbibing of my coffee, I feel light and happy and like many things are possible! It seems weaning myself a bit will be a good idea. After a few days of weaning, I plan to start herbal/supplemental adrenal support, since my adrenals don't work right. Without either coffee or adrenal support, I always feel fatigued and depressed. I am going to take my turmeric after I have my Wellness Blast and we'll see how that goes...

November 30, 2010

2:30pm - Well I fell off the Turmeric Log bandwagon there for a while! T-day threw me for a loop. I'm happy to report that I've been taking turmeric this whole time and STILL have not had to take a single pill of Ibuprofen! I'm up to 4 500mg capsules 2-3 times a day. I still have ups and downs with the amount of pain and/or stiffness in my body, but they are on a completely different scale than before. Before, an up would have been a headache that wasn't incapacitating. Now the up is, I don't have a headache!

I didn't end up giving up coffee all the way. I drink much less of it now however, and no longer am addicted to it. At this point, I simply drink it because it's delicious! Ha.

December 3, 2010

10:00am - OK, I'm warning you now that this is going to include information that might be TMI for some of you! It's about something that only happens to women. You got it...the period. Turmeric has changed mine! And yes, that exclamation mark is there because it's been changed for the BETTER. Normally, my body swells up with water and feels so tender I can't be touched for at least a week prior to my menstruation, and that's not mentioning all the other craziness that is PMS. Well, this month, out of nowhere, and for the first time since I was about 20, I barely got PMS. I got it for one day. It was bad for that one day...no that's not even true all the way. My physical symptoms just didn't show up. For one day I hated everyone and everything. That's it. It's such a vast improvement I don't even know what to say! Thus, this is where you envision me, sitting here in a cafe with a black hoodie on and my jaw on the floor.

When I started taking turmeric, an improved period was the last thing on my mind, but here it is! Not only did it practically wipe out my PMS, but I'm 12 hours into the thing itself and I haven't had to take a single NSAID for cramps. This is unheard of in my life for the last 6 years. Generally during my period the pain is so bad that I take 20 ibuprofen a day for two days. Even if I've had a great month and haven't had to take any, my period comes and there's no avoiding it. For women, period = flare up. But not this month! I keep waiting for pain to take it's revenge and come steamroll over me, but it hasn't, and you know what...maybe it won't!

5:00pm - Well, the pain did come. It's didn't, however, steamroll over me! It was way less and I managed it by taking more turmeric every few hours, all the way until about now. At this point, the headache is getting worse, starting to affect my vision, and that's almost always a precursor to a migraine. What I usually do when I know a migraine is coming is take 10 ibuprofen right quick. I decided to try just two and see if it would help. It did! Just two ibuprofen averted my migraine and relived my headache. At this point, I'm pretty much a turmeric convert...

December 7, 2010

2:00am - Yes, I'm still a convert. It's been about 3 weeks with the turmeric and it continues to do just a good a job at pain relief as it ever did. It is clearly very powerful stuff, at least for me. Actually, it' also is very powerful for my gf! She has a skin issue. She gets a lot of acne. Her skin is just super sensitive and will make a pimple at the drop of a hat! Recently she's had problems with cysts behind her ears. They got real big and finally popped and let out pus, but not all the puss. For weeks they simply opened up and spurted out more puss each day, but stayed the same size. They weren't painful, but she wasn't super into how gross it made her feel. She wanted them to go away. Well, in my research about turmeric, I came across a lot of testimonials from people who used it to draw out puss and/or infection. Everyone of them talked about how powerful it was and how fast it worked. So, when I started on turmeric, I put her on it too! She's only been taking 1 or two caps a day, but guess what? Her cysts started shrinking and now they are almost gone.

So, I think it's time for me to stop this log. It's pretty clear that turmeric is working. I am in awe of the power of nature! Seriously. And with that, I sign out!