The week before Thanksgiving, I did three things that forced me to pay attention to my musculoskeletal system: a workout, a massage and a Rolfing session. Beyond being sore, I felt very present in my body.
It started with the workout (Saturday Nov. 17). This is the third one I’ve done since I started out in October. I tried doing 2 in 2 weeks and knocked myself out so totally that I decided to wait until I got through some of the coiling season before I took another stab at it. I did the same workout as before, aiming for the muscles around each major joint with some toning with light weights. The workout took an hour because I did it slowly, pausing to rest for a minute or two between each machine. I did some exercises for my abdomen that sent my heart racing, but once I got it to calm down, I was able to do the rest with little problem. I finished off with 15 minutes in a dry sauna.
Due to a scheduling mishap, I had a massage scheduled right before a Rolfing session. The massage was two days after the workout (Nov. 19). I talked to the massage therapist and told her about the tension headaches I’d been getting and the overall tightness in my neck, shoulders and upper back. She promised to go easy on me. Ha!
An hour later, I was more than ready for it to be over. The therapist had gone down my back, knot by painful knot. Then she worked my shoulders, the muscles around and under my scapulae, my neck, my clavicle and my upper chest. I needed a lot of deep breathing to get me through the high level of pain.
Afterwards, I felt a little unstable. I got the usual headache that comes with any body work I get. I drank lots of water. Then it happened. When my headache went away, it didn’t come back. I’ve had fewer and milder headaches since then. It seems the massage therapist made a longer lasting contribution to my quality of life than I expected.
The following day, I went for a Rolfing session. The Rolfer I go to considers himself a “gentle Rolfer” which is to say that even though somethings he does hurts, it doesn’t hurt as much as what other people do. That session was more focused on my hip girdle and my lower back. Most of what he did to my legs was not painful at all. But my actual hip socket area and my ilium and sacrum are perpetually sore anyway, so pushing on them didn’t tickle.
Afterwards, I felt a looseness in my gait that I haven’t experienced in years. I’ve celebrated each time I got closer to having a normal gait: when I stopped needing a cane, when I started walking without a limp, when I started being able to walk a decent distance (like not just to the corner and back) before needing a nap. This was like icing on the cake. It was a looseness that I’d forgotten in how my legs can swing.
Longer term, the results are more mixed. My guess is that the rolfer loosened the muscles enough to allow more blood flow. But that means that my hips ache a lot more. I could be wrong, attributing it to him, because I’ve also been pounding away with the coil machine on Bartonella and Lyme, both of which can cause joint pain (especially through herxes).
In any case, I went through the three body-focused activities and found myself exhausted for a few days, dragging through the fun of Thanksgiving, enjoying food and company despite the fatigue. Yet I was also way more grounded than I usually am and happy to be in my body.
Bath Salts
When the masseuse was here, she recommended that I take some of my baths with Dead Sea Salts. It was more of a reminder than new information. I’ve been using Epsom Salt in my baths, which help tremendously with the muscle aches and pains. I used Dead Sea Salts until I finished the container and moved to a new place. I never got around to purchasing more until a week or two ago.
Dead Sea Salts make me feel more relaxed coming out of the tub that Epsom Salt. I also tried mixing the two and was ready to sleep when I got out. Apparently they both have good detoxing qualities as well as the ability to increase circulation to muscles, skin and joints. I’m happy to have added these baths back into my routines.
Chocolate Ghosts
I had chocolate back on Halloween. I’m still getting little bits of acne in all the wrong places: the tip of my nose, my left knee, my right shoulder, my neck. It’s haunting me.
I assume I had a chocolate sensitivity for years and didn’t realize it (because the rest of my body was functioning reasonably well). Back in 2005, I took a year long break from chocolate. My skin looked clear for the first time since my pre-teen years. But it took at least 4 months for me to see a difference. Then about a year and a week after I stopped eating chocolate, I had half a Snickers bar. The acne came back and continued for a while.
So I’m a month out from my chocolate transgression, and I’m still wearing a scarlet A.
Juicing
I mentioned in my last post that I was trying to get back on the juicing wagon. I’ve been coiling a lot and having heart troubles (likely from herxing). When I spoke to someone about it, he reminded me to detox more.
I drank juiced greens (big 12oz glass) for two days. My heart calmed down. Then I didn’t get around to making more and the heart stuff came back. I juiced again today. Hopefully I’ll do it tomorrow, too, and get back on track.
Coiling
I’m continuing on the same pattern as I described in my previous post.
Categories: detoxification support, healing process, Herx reactions
Tags: bartonella, detox baths, exercise, lyme, symptoms
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Coiling for Lyme 
So happy to hear about the recent improvements to your gait!! That’s great news! I’m sure it’s psychologically rewarding as well, since feeling less tightness and better circulation, moving around better, must make you feel good emotionally and otherwise! I’m glad I checked in on your blog so I could see the good news! Hope to see you soon. :o)
melissa