At about 3 an on 23 August 2018, while lying in bed peacefully, suddenly—with no warning—the room started spinning violently. Within seconds my body was nauseous and sweating.
Finally the attack subsided and I fell asleep for a few hours. But as soon as I awoke the spinning started up again. We didn’t know what was happening or what to do, so Larry put me in the car and rushed me to the Emergency Room.
It was the first time in my life I had ever been to an Emergency Room for medical care. I had taken other people, but I had never been the patient.
As much as I have a natural orientation to healthcare, I have to say, that day I was very grateful for emergency care.
The Emergency Room really is designed for emergencies. And that day I was having an emergency. My head was spinning, I couldn’t eat anything without vomiting it back up, I couldn’t drink anything and I didn’t know what the problem was. Making an appointment with my doctor and waiting in the office waiting room wasn’t enough that day. I needed help NOW.
We walked in with me crying and saying over and over. “I need to lie down, I need to lie down.” And they put me in a bed right away. Within minutes they were drawing blood and had hooked up an IV.
The first thing they determined was my body was extremely dehydrated . And it was. Over the course of the day they gave me five bags of saline. No time to consider what might be in that saline or the plastic bag or anything. My body needed fluids.
They did blood tests for diabetic complications (that wasn’t it).
They did a CAT scan to see if I had a brain tumor. Fortunately I didn’t. But I do want to mention something here. After I wrote in last week’s newsletter that I had dizziness. a reader wrote the following to me:
I want to tell you i have been into alternative health and organic foods for over 40 years, i am 68 years (young live on a farm) and a few months ago i started throwing up and then i passed out. my kids took me to the hospital and they said i had a brain tumor = not cancer and that it probably was there for 20 years and just got too big and hit my brain.
The tumor was on the back of my right ear and down below -exactly where the cell phones and cordless phones sit. I had a cell phone since they were invented and always used a cordless phone. In Europe they know cell phones are bad, but like the tobacco people lied for years the cell phone people lie and say they cause no problems since the tumor was exactly where the phones sit, i have no doubt what caused it. I had much much prayer and got a miracle but i would warn your readers about the dangers of these phones. thanks marianne
Finally, after eliminating the emergency possibilities they determined that I had simple vertigo, gave me a shot of a steroid and sent me home.
I’m going to tell you more about vertigo in another post, but here’s what I want to tell you about my health.
My body was tested all day long. They gave me two rounds of blood tests and a CAT scan, and hooked me up to an electrocardiogram, and when all was said and done, they basically had determined I AM HEALTHY except for this transient episode of vertigo.
This was actually a surprise to me because I often have attention on what is wrong with my body instead of what is right.
And then I had a big realization.
I now have been living toxic-free for 40 years. And even though my body is not perfect, I realized that at age 63 I AM HEALTHY in the sense that:
- I am alive (my mother died when she was 51 from cancer and my younger brother at 58 from prescription drugs)
- All my body systems are go: I can breathe, my heart is beating, my intestines digest food, my liver detoxes, etc
- All my senses are functioning, so I can taste, smell, see, hear, feel.
- I have energy to get up in the morning and work about 12 hours a day and then go out in the evening with Larry
- I can sleep at night. I can wake up in the morning.
- If something goes wrong, my body has resilience to set things right.
And I am getting HEALTHIER EVERY DAY instead of older and more decrepit. I don’t look 63. People think I’m about 45.
This is the result of 40 years of living toxic-free. I’m younger and stronger and healthier than people my age around me who are complaining about their illnesses and dying of cancer.
A few days later I had another realization.
There actually is a higher level of health available than can be achieved by living in a toxic home and getting standard drug-based medical care. Or even using alternative medicine and prevention. It’s above and beyond anything that can happen as long as one lives in the toxic world.
I made a little chart and it looked like this:
I realized that a toxic-free lifestyle—over time—results in a condition of health that is regenerative and transcendent to the level of physical, mental, and spiritual health we experience in our modern industrial society. It’s so different that I’m calling it “transcendent health.”
Instead of feeling like toxic-free living is moving away from toxics, I’m feeling more like I am moving toward health on a level I’ve never experienced before. And I believe this is what is ahead for everyone who continues to live this way. At first it’s about reliving immediate symptoms, but there are much more benefits down the road.
This is not something I ever expected I would experience.
I’m actually healthier at age 63 than I have ever been in my life and healthier than other people I see around me. And anyone can have this.
Wow.
I’m glad you recovered so well, but how did you become so dehydrated? That would be helpful information, thanks
I really don’t know how I became so dehydrated. It was totally unexpected to me.
I think I drink a lot of water because I’m sipping it all day long when I am at my desk, but I think what happened was I just stopped paying attention at some point when I moved from Florida to California. The water is different here, and when I go out I don’t drink much water. So if I’m out all day long, it’s not the same as drinking water all day long if I’m working at my desk.
It was a bit of a wake up call to take a whole new look at water and how much I’m drinking.
I think we need constant vigilance about basic things for bodies. Are we really drinking enough water? Are we really eating enough nutrition? Are we really walking 30 minutes a day or whatever. Make decision, keep track with logs or charts. Be aware and don’t just rely on auto-pilot.
Dear Debra –
Thank you for your story.
I discovered your website many years ago, really by accident, because I was always looking for answers on toxic substances and better household products, organic foods, allergy issues, etc.
You have been my “go to”, person for most of the answers I need.
THANK YOU FOR BEING OUT THERE FOR US – ESPECIALLY US SENIORS.!!
I am now 87 this coming week and can tell you I am reasonably healthy for someone my age, and take ZERO medications.
All due to good ITALIAN/ALBANIAN genes and organic foods and healthy lifestyle.
Please continue to be healthy and thank you again for all the wonderful information you gather to keep us and our planet in better health.
Many blessings…………Charlotte
Thank you Charlotte.
I have good Armenian genes—and a big dose of them because my mother was 1005 Armenian. But genes alone didn’t help her. Sadly she died of cancer at age 51. It was about that time that I also became disabled from exposure to toxic chemicals in my home. I’m now way past 51 and am healthy so I can only attribute this to living in a toxic-free home, eating organic food, drinking pure water and all the rest I do.
Hi, Debra: Be very careful about hydration. I too have had vertigo and it comes back. I have found the “Epley Maneuver” very helpful. There is a Mayo Clinic video on You Tube. Yes, it does come back once you’ve had it. It is very disconcerting but can be dealt with. Mine is the common Benign Positional Paroxsysmal Vertigo (I think that’s the correct spelling). I also read somewhere that dehydration can be a contributing factor. It’s frightening especially when accompanied by nausea and vomiting. I’m sorry you had this. My husband helps me with the “maneuver” and it usually resolves with one or two treatments that can be done at home. The little crystals get out of position in the ear canal and can’t get back to where they belong, thus the maneuver.
Thanks Anne. When I read your comment about the little crystals I thought they are like little children who have lost their way and can’t get back home. I’ve been doing the half somersault manuver in the video. When I do it in the evening the next day I have no vertigo. If I then don’t do it for a few days the vertigo comes back.
So it seems to need “crystal management” at least until all the crystals have found their way back home.
I’m managing well now that I know what it is and what to do.
I am sorry to hear of your ordeal. Really glad you are better. Unfortunately a few years ago, I too had the nausea so bad I could not eat, drink, or even open my eyes without getting nauseated, and could not walk without a walker.
I was taken to the emergency room. The nurse put a motion sickness pad behind my ear, and I was getting better. The only thing the doctor did was order blood tests and wanted to do a CAT scan of my head because he wanted to rule out a brain bleed. I told him I didn’t want it unless it was a matter of life and death. I told the nurse that if the patch was making me feel better I thought it ruled out a brain bleed, and the nurse agreed with me. I went home without the CAT scan with a prescription for Meclizine, and went to physical therapy to get the crystals in my left ear back in place after my regular internal medicine doctor told me what the problem was.
It has happened twice since then. The second time I went to the emergency room, a physician’s assistant did what I call a proper evaluation; i.e., shining a light in my eyes and getting me to follow their finger with my eyes. She determined it was vertigo like it was before. The ambulance driver told me that when the weather turned cold and dry all of a sudden they had lots of people going to the emergency room with vertigo. Since then, I have had a third episode; however, this last time I was prepared by having the Meclizine to take at home and calling my physical therapist for an appointment a few days later to get the crystals in my ear back in place as soon as I felt like I could drive.
Sorry this is so long. My point is you never know in an emergency room if you are going to get a doctor who automatically throws a CAT scan at everything that comes along without ruling out a simpler diagnosis.
In my case the CAT scan didn’t happen until the very end and there was a lot of other diagnosis.
Those pesky crystals! I didn’t know anything about this! But you know, it’s not an illness, or a disease, it’s something out of place, like a bone that needs a chiropractic adjustment. Apparently it happens to a lot of people.
Glad it wasn’t anything more serious, Debra. Living a simple, clean, and non-toxic lifestyle can go a long ways. My husband and I are in our late 20’s and have become very conscious of the toxic living our society perpetuates over the last few years. We have changed the way we live and the food and products we buy – our families roll their eyes at us, but we know we are doing what is best for our bodies and minds and that this will help us be around longer for our children. Your website has been a great resource for us and I really appreciate how you connect directly with your readers and personally respond to inquiries. It is inspiring. Keep up the great work (and health!)
Thank you 🙂