[stylist] Writers and depression

Wed Jan 28 13:14:43 UTC 2015

It's amazing how food can act in our systems. Well before Declan and Penny,
but even more since they were born, I've been on a path researching food and
how our bodies respond to it. Ross and I've made significant changes to our
diet, and how we view food. You can't always get caught up on every band
wagon because new info comes out every day, often contradicting previous
info, but a lot of what we are learning is valid and worth considering
changes.

Antibiotics are obviously a huge discussion these days. For decades, we've
treated various things with antibiotics, but we also know that we can
develop immunities after extended periods of antiobiotic use. And it seems
like with every pro, there's a con or two.

This doesn't mean I'm advocating against antibiotics at all, but I do ask a
lot of questions and research info on my own. Knowledge is always key, in my
book.

Modern medicine is great, and I'm not ready to write it off or begin to
question every medication on the market, but I think we sometimes rely too
much on medication without even investigating alternative treatments.

And this is a little off topic, but another big issue I continue to research
is how certain products used everyday that we keep in the house can and do
affect our environment. Ross and I have switched a lot of household
products, using brands devoid of harsh chemicals. Ross and Declan also have
skin allergies and have sensitive skin, so with many products-- from
cleaning to toiletries-- we have to buy special types and brands.

And it's amazing how many items for children contain high levels of toxic
properties. When we purchased a new car seat for Declan, I researched seats
with the lowest toxicity levels. The government actually has a report on
this that they continue to update. Toys, clothes, furniture... It's shocking
how items we use everyday can contain stuff that's not so great.

Maybe I'm becoming too granola, smile, It can be overwhelming, and I get
anxiety when researching sometimes, but for me, some things just make sense,
and I'm willing to consider changes when it comes to certain foods and
products. I'm not quite living off the land just yet, LOL, but who knows,
grin.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Barbara
Hammel via stylist
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 9:57 PM
To: EJ Kobek; Writers' Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writers and depression

The only thing that I could add here, as my piece for the writing prompt is
to tell you how a change in one's diet and the killing of a pesky thing
called Helicobacter Pylori can make a huge difference.

We presume that Jesse came to us with all of his hidden health issues.
Three years after he came into our family he had a surgery to fix double
hernias and we thought that would be the end of our miserable existence of
listening to him scream from sun up till sun down and most of the nights for
SIX months.

Much to our chagrin, that was only a taste of what life would be like to a
greater degree.  It wasn't continuous screaming and it wasn't up half the
night every night but the next few years were pretty long.

Then we went to a gastroenterologist who had us collect a stool sample --
such a fun task when your child is still in diapers -- so he could test it
for whatever he was looking for.  Well, Helicobacter Pylori showed its ugly
self and we began the couple of years of antibiotic treatments to kill the
dumb thing.

In case you don't know, in the 1990s it was discovered that, most certainly,
H. Pylori is the cause of stomach ulcers.  We learned that %40 of the people
over age 60 have this monster in them but only %20 of that %40 present with
the ulcers.  Due to healthier means of preparing food and treating the water
supply, the percentage of folks who have H. Pylori has dropped in the under
60 crowd.  Why his twin doesn't have it we'll never know since they came out
of the same environment.

In 2013, after having done the treatment for H. Pylori, as I said, it still
persisted in lingering in his system.  So, it was off to the infectious
disease doctor.  His recommendation:  Instead of taking the two antibiotics
one after another and the probiotic at the same time, we were to give him
both antibiotics for 42 days and then a month or two of probiotics. 
Amazingly, we are almost certain that Helicobacter Pylori is a thing of our
past.

Along with all that medicine, we finally got everyone in his world on board
to remove all gluten from his diet.  Voila!  Except for the bouts of
aphthous ulcers he gets in his mouth -- we don't know why yet -- he has
become a happy boy.  He does not have the horrible gassy stomach.  He does
not have that funny garlicky-smelling breath that was peculiar to a tummy
that was full of stuff that needed to get out.

Killing H. Pylori did not solve constipation/diarrhea cycles, but it has
helped it become more manageable.

It is so amazing to live in a time when so much is being learned about how
the health of our gut affects the rest of our body and in a time when autism
is being studied so thoroughly since it seems to be on the rise.  (Autism is
a topic for another day.)

Is it any wonder to anyone now why I need not one, but two different
antidepressants?  And, maybe you are right.  Maybe they are what is
inhibiting my creativity which also figures into why I can feel so down. 
Too many thoughts run through my head and yet I cannot make them leave
through my fingertips to my Braille Edge.

Barbara

Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.--Robert Frost
-----Original Message-----
From: EJ Kobek via stylist
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2015 6:45 PM
To: NFB Stylist
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writers and depression

Hi, all, esp. Vejas,

Want to say much more, as we all do!  What's amazing is that medicine is
starting to look at lacking of imbalance of gut bacteria as a source of
despair (whatever one calls it), and they are even starting to care for
people with schizophrenia with probiotics....A fabulous book called "Missing
Microbes" even looks at the gut and other bacteria we need for physical and
mental health that are becoming extinct, along with other, larger
creatures....micobes we really need that are being disappeared by misuse of
antibiotics.....

Gut bacteria has an amazing impact on our mental health!!!

Might I propose a TOPIC for writing? Intestinally?

The topic:  Beneficial bacteria!

A haiku, a poem, a story, a prose piece?

Just an offering. I'll get to it during our blizzard today and
tomorrow....anyone else?

(Smile, grin.....)

Warmly,

Helen (and her beneficial bacteria)
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