Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Hormone Based Contraceptives - I hate them

As I am still struggling with my major side effects from Yasmin I am trying hard to keep my head above the surface. Nothing is easy - every step I take drains my energy and I can't seem to focus or get anything done. Even making time to cook is hard and it is easier just not to eat... Luckily I have a husband that gets hungry so I have no choice but to eat.

The only thing that makes me feel that it is not ALL to waste is my ability to educate others with my experiences while getting my own physological sessions by talking about it, or writing about it to be more precise. I am absolutley not ready to talk about it without bursting out in tears.

I realize that it is hard for all readers to understand what I am talking about and from and outside perspective I look fine. I mean; I eat every day, I go to work every day, I run to the bathroom every day, I take a shower every day, I kiss my husband every day, I watch TV every day... I must be OK right?!

I so wish it was that easy - it is not. I don't even find pleasure in shopping anymore and that is crazy!

I can pretty much say that my recovery from Yasmin has been far from symptom free. But I know I will get there, I just don't know when. But this message was really not about me - I have found a great link that talks about all hormone based contraceptives and wanted to share it with all you women out there. One very strong point that they share in their report is that about one THIRD of all women who take a hormone based contraceptive are suffering from depression - ONE THIRD!!!

Visit the link and send it to others PLEASE

Proud to be a Swede?

This article is scary to me... but I have seen the debate first hand. I have watched TV shows and online papers and blogs. I have seen this Mrs Linde with my very own eyes - she is convincing and calm and if you don't know what to think you most likley will believe her. Doctors has even been told not to speak their own oppinion if it goes against the national guidelines regarding the swine flu vaccine in some states... I thought Sweden was a democtaric country?!

Like it is said in the article - Sweden is up for a medical scandal... I am sure this does not only happen in Sweden, but I am embarassed to say that it is happening. I have seen some of the propaganda used here in the US too though, like: "Think about your loved ones - get vaccinated"

Fifth "swine flu" vaccine death in Sweden - vaccinations still go ahead as planned!
By Johan Niklasson at http://www.theflucase.com/


Media in Sweden is having a tough time maintaining the propaganda as more and more people question the reasons for the mass vaccination. Now, authorities say that if not "80% of the population takes the shot, we risk 100 deaths from the swine flu". Most Swedes know that a normal flu season see several thousand dead from complications from the seasonal flu so the proportions of the propaganda coming from media and the government has caused a growing revolt against the massive attempts to scare people to take the poisonous injection.

We have earlier reported on the first death, the second death (also here), the third death and the fourth death in Sweden from the poisonous Pandemrix vaccin shot.

Today, Svenska Dagbladet reports that over 350 cases of side effects from the Pandemrix "swine flu" shot, has been recorded so far. It has also become clear that this shot contains the most deadly mix of substances of all the known vaccines manufactured against the so called "swine flu" H1N1 influenza. The official number of deaths from the "swine flu" vaccine is now five. And that is only those who have strong immediate reactons, the long term effects are usually never even investigated. If you would die from the shot two weeks after you took it, your death would not be considered to have anything to do with the vaccination. Severe health problems years after will of course be very hard to link to the poisonous injection. Even if these five official cases died within days, the official story is of course as expected: "none of these deaths has been confirmed to be linked to the vaccine".

In Aftonbladet, Jan Liliemark from The Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control (SMI) says: "- Nothing points to a connection. There will be more deaths. We are looking for a pattern, if the cases have something in common. We have so far not found any clear connections between them yet." Officially 198 cases of confirmed "swine flu" exist in Sweden today among a population of over 9 million. How these cases have been tested and determined is not clear.

As always with statistics like this, historically we know that very few of all real side effects are actually reported. Optimistically, up to ten per cent would be reported. It is also highly likely that deaths are being kept secret by the authorities so that the massive and hugely expensive vaccination program will not come to a complete stop. Too many have put their job, reputation and title at stake for the truth to be reported and published.

So far, three people have been reported dead from complications from getting the H1N1 virus. Five dead from the flu shot before the real vaccination campaign has even started should be an indication to question the vaccine and the strategy chosen but the authorities have so much prestige invested that it is unlikely it will ever happen - no matter how many will die from the poisonous injections.

The Swedish public are being kept in the dark about the most simple facts about the vaccinations. The questionable protection against the virus will only be for this present strain - any new mutations would immediately require a new vaccine for that strain. The new second wave of the new mutation is exactly what authorities warn about and use as an argument to take the poisonous injection.

Authorities are running out of arguments and completely idiotic arguments have been published the last week in Sweden. "There is less mercury in the shot than you get from eating mercury contaminated fish", "You might get sick from the vaccine but you should take that risk to ´save" someone who could die from getting the H1N1 infection from you", "It would be like killing someone to not take the shot out of solidarity" and "Mercury is not dangerous and also squalene is not dangerous, there is nothing called the Gulf War Syndrome and if there is, it has nothing to do with squalene because there was no squalene in the vaccines the US troops got", "German politicians will not get a different flu shot than the rest of the German population".

The number of flat out lies are so many, it is hard to keep track of them all.

The chief of The Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control (SMI), Annika Linde, says in the article: "- The Vaccine is principally natural to the body. The mercury was necessary but the amounts are very small. There are many who have been making statements without qualified knowledge. It is of course good that this type of matter is debated but some of the reporting is rather devastating for the possibility to vaccinate the whole population." You are welcome Mrs Linde.

The official line in Sweden is bordering to madness and the biggest medical scandal in the history of the nation has just started.

Johan Niklasson

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Battle of the Diets

Christopher Gardner PhD of Stanford University made this very interesting presentation in 2008.

He is comparing four different diets: Atkins, Zone, LEARN, and Ornish from a perspective of the every day book reader. (If you read this book - how well will you success on the diet it is recommending?) So the research is very public friendly.



One thing that the study shows is that it is VERY hard to follow a book without assistance from someone helping you get back on track every month or so. Off course this takes me back to my every day longing of becoming a nutritionist to have classes and follow up sessions with all of those who wants to succeed, but that is another story.

Enjoy the show!
If you cannot watch this post please click to get to the YouTube page

Friday, October 16, 2009

Yasmin & Yaz Information Group

It’s been over a week now since I stopped taking Yasmin… I still feel many of the side effects that I listed in my previous post but I didn’t expect this to go away over night either. This has taken me very hard. Not as hard like someone died but hard as in “I have to do something about this”. I have started sending a letter to every person I know and have received great response from many; both to thank me for sharing this and from people feeling the same thing as I have.

And I am not stopping here. I just started a Facebook Group: Yasmin & Yaz Information. My goal with the group is off course to get the word out to as many as possible and then we will see where this leads. I am also working on notifying both the FDA and Bayer about my health but have not gotten to that yet.

All I know is that this is the beginning of something big…
Something has to be done about the medical companies’ ways of getting their products approved. It is so much bigger than just the birth control pills… I am on a roll here and I cannot be stopped!

Help me getting the word out by joining the group and spreading the word.

Thank you for your support.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Yasmin and I

For as many people that I have been trying to “save” from heart disease and false information, I myself have been walking a straight path to stroke and heart attack every single day. I never cared to take a look at myself; I ignored the signs for the benefit.

It is almost funny how someone like me can even be in a situation like this. But it is not funny… it is scary to say the least. I have made a horrible mistake, probably the biggest mistake of my life, and for what?!

Today when I look at it – the benefit isn’t worth it, not even a little bit. Not for anyone! I understand that I didn’t know better when I was 18… but NOW after experience the side effects for so long. But instead of question them; I have taken the side effects into my life and I have accepted them as part of me and my life. How crazy is that?! I have done something that I tell other people to watch out for… How can I be so stupid???

My biggest mistake is my companion Yasmin. She has been here for probably 6 or 7 years. Before her I was friends with some others, but Yasmin was introduced to me as the new and fresh thing, the better thing. The safer thing.

It started with me wanting to be protected against pregnancies off course but after having numerous of issues with the first few brand names I tried you would have thought that someone simply would have said that I should just stay off the pill completely. That is off course not what happened, since no one put two and two together. I was recommended Yasmin as the last option, take it or leave it. I wish someone would have told me to leave it, because I took it. And I have been taking it ever since.

Side effects

The very same year I started my pills I developed pollen allergy, and my allergies have been developed into other allergies as well since then. My vision has been drastically decreased the last few years. Not long ago I received my first prescription glasses ever due to my lack of ability to see in the dark. I was seriously a traffic danger before my glasses. The optician classified my problem as astigmatism, and that is normal I guess… But my vision issues goes beyond that. Sometimes I can’t see what I am actually looking at. It is like something is blocking the exact point I am looking at that I have to look just a bit to the side of what I want to look at… It is milder than the migraine aura but similar. At first I thought all of these vision issues were due to old age (I’m 29) but I am not convinced anymore. I am starting to believe that this is because of the pill…

So far I have told you about my allergies and my vision blurs, and there is more to come. For years I have been suffering from bad sleep and hard time falling asleep and this has resulted in me being tired all the time. Never felt rested. Headaches and neck pain has also been two close companions. Probably because the body can’t take up any water and is dehydrated.

Another issue that I have been battling with is my heart. I can wake up in the middle of the night with it beating like I am running for my life and sometimes the heart beats are so hard that it hurts and it feels like the heart is going to explode out of my body.

I experience panic/anxiety attacks that are a mix of heart palpitation issues, feeling warm, feeling faint, and feeling that I have to either vomit or run to the bathroom. Off course the only thing I can do is lie down in my bed to try to breathe calmly. Standing up is not even an option when this happens. I don’t even think I would be able to take myself to a car if I had to be transported to the hospital without passing out.

So all the above mentioned side effects (allergies, sleep issues, vision problems, head aches, heart palpitations, feeling faint, and panic/anxiety attacks) are things that I only have to deal with sometimes. They don’t haunt me every day. They don’t remind me every day that something is wrong. But I have one thing that does – one thing that I will never get rid of from taking the pill. Never ever. Every time I stop taking the pill (I have done that for a few months here and there) I instantly feel a difference. I feel like ME, like Helena.

This thing that stalks me EVERYDAY is what most people would classify as depression. It increases and decreases, but it is always there. Everything is gray. Nothing is fun, exciting, and nothing impresses me. This is something I feel the second I go back on the pill and I feel it every single day from that day. It is horrible for me to even say this but I have come to be a pretty good actress, most of the time anyway. I would act excited when I know I should and I would sound happy when I know I should. But sometimes people see through it, especially my husband. He sees it right away but probably don’t realize how deep it goes… But here goes – I am depressed and I have been depressed for the last six or seven years. Sometimes the depression isn’t as heavy but sometimes it is unbearable. Off course I have wonderful days too and I can enjoy myself but there is a shadow somewhere in there… always.

Heart issues, vision issues, head aches… anyone hearing that bell? I didn’t for years and years. Now it feels like the bell is sitting in my very own ear… I am lucky to be ALIVE! As so many healthy young women fall victim for heart attack and stroke due to Yasmin or Yaz I should feel so lucky I am alive, that I am not them. I am thankful to what caused me to even look into myself and these side effects, I am thankful for all other women before me that have posted their experiences with Yasmin. They made me feel confident that all this is related. They made my feelings real and not imagination. They made me realize that now is the time to stop.

Yesterday morning was my last day on Yasmin… now I will work on stepping out of the gray shadows that have been an evil parasite inside of me for so many years. It is time that my husband gets his real Helena. It is time I get to enjoy who I really am!

I say this now and I will never take it back: I will never, ever take a hormone based birth control ever again. And I will say this to everyone that wants to listen, and probably a few more.

To all my ladies out there: Be strong! We can do it!

Good websites about Yasmin Side Effects
Yasmin Survivors Forum
Yasmin Side Effects at Medications.com



Friday, October 2, 2009

Express Course; Cholesterol

Translated and slightly modified by Helena Mathis from: Snabbkurs i kolesterol (blodfetter) by Andreas Eenfeldt, M.D.

The underlying reason for the low fat diet ideology is based on the theory that fat increases the cholesterol and high cholesterol generates heart disease.

But eating natural fat has never been proven to increase the risk of heart disease. In fact, many late studies, done in the 21st century, have shown that there is no health gain in lowering the intake of natural fats. On the contrary, it might even be dangerous to do so.

How dangerous is cholesterol?
Cholesterol as a key risk factor for heart disease has been heavily questioned by many, especially because cholesterol is a substance that we cannot survive without. Cholesterol is needed to protect our cells and to sustain normal hormone levels. And many of the people that suffer heart disease do not have high cholesterol levels.

A more modern view
It has been proven that the total number of the cholesterol is not a good reference to show a correlation between cholesterol and heart disease (with the exception of genetic deviation). There is a much more reliable risk analysis when looking at the different types of cholesterols.

Most of our cholesterol travels in our blood in small packages called lipoproteins with the largest being VLDL or Triglycerides > LDL > HDL; which is what most cholesterol tests will give you along with the total amount.

Triglycerides and LDL
Triglycerides and LDL is what many refers to as the bad cholesterol but there are very few that know it is crucial for keeping us alive. The only danger is if you get too much of some of them.

The fat we eat gets transported to the lever where it then gets packed into VLDL (triglycerides). These get released into the blood and bonds with cells in the body to supply energy or as cell building blocks. During this process the VLDL will shrink into a smaller size and will soon become LDL. Unless the LDL gets completely absorbed by a cell it will continue to decrease in size and can later be referred to as small-LDL. The smaller it gets the easier it will oxidize and get stuck on a damaged part in the endothelium (the blood vessel lining). And cholesterol can on this path contribute to heart diseases when added to other reactions in the body.

What is important and interesting to mention is that fat we eat is not the major reason we develop LDL cholesterol, but large amounts of fast carbohydrates like sugar and refined wheat is.

HDL
HDL is referred to as the good cholesterol and works by picking up the surplus of cholesterol in the blood and transports it back to the lever. A high level of HDL decreases statistically the risk of heart disease due to its capacity to remove small LDL that has gotten stuck in the endothelium.

The food that increases the HDL is saturated fats and fast acting carbohydrates decreases HDL.

Why have we been told a lie?
If carbohydrates gives you unhealthy types of cholesterol and fat gives you healthy cholesterol – why have we, for the past decades, been told by official authorities the complete opposite?! There are many reasons to this but the biggest basis is probably because focus was put on LDL very early as the biggest risk factor for heart disease.

They knew that saturated fat seemed to rise LDL cholesterol short term. Later there was medication in form of statins that showed to decrease both LDL cholesterol and the risk of heart disease.

All of a sudden it became very profitable to recommend people to control their cholesterol levels with statins. Pfizer’s Lipitor sold for 12.6 billion dollars in the year 2006; making it the world’s most profitable medicine. And why would they want to change this reliable cash cow?

The question is if this is not the biggest reason to why we are focusing on lowering our LDL levels as a main goal to stay away from heart disease. As new research shows, LDL comes in different sizes. The larger don’t seem to be that dangerous from what we know but are the easiest to detect because they are larger. De larger LDL particles such as VLDL increases when eating saturated fats, but the smaller more dangerous LDL particles increases when eating carbohydrates.

It is however much more profitable to sell statins to all people that have raised LDL levels than to those who just have raised small-LDL levels; as that number is probably significantly lower.

It is not only ironic but rather dangerous to accuse dietary fat to be the biggest reason for increased cholesterol levels and danger of getting heart disease. Dietary fat increases the larger LDL particles and the HDL particles – those particles that are good and necessary for us! This off course raises the total number of cholesterol showing again that the total number is far from reliable to use as a risk analysis.

If lowering dietary fats according to many heart healthy recommendations a normal person would increase their intake in fast acting carbohydrates to feel full. This on the other hand raises the small LDL particles that are hard to detect on a regular LDL test. And the carbohydrates also lower the protecting HDL particles. In the end this will most likely result in a lower total cholesterol level but with a VLDL, LDL, small LDL, and HDL quota that increases the risk of heart disease!

To eat less fat and more carbohydrates will lead to lower HDL levels and higher small LDL levels. High levels of triglycerides may be a sign of high levels of small LDL.

Prestige and Money
Many cholesterol researchers know all this very well. This is not new controversial news to them. Yet we don’t get to hear about it, why? One reason is that this goes against the older (and current) heart healthy low fat recommendations and it is hard for authorities to admit that they have been wrong all of these years. Unfortunately the human race pays for them to keep this secret with their lives.

Another reason is that the pharmaceutical companies don’t want to give up their market share of this huge cash cow and food producers don’t want to loose money on their very profitable low fat products. The result is that these new studies become disliked and companies that make profit of the old habits will oppose to result like these. And once again we are paying for it with our lives!

What about cholesterol in food?
Many times you hear that you should avoid eating too much cholesterol for example egg. The yolk has the highest cholesterol levels we know of today and is probably because it is needed to build up all the cells in the chicken. Even though we hear about restrictions in dietary cholesterol no one has been able to prove that less cholesterol in food gives better health.

It has, however, been showed that about 80% of the cholesterol found in our body is made by our body (mostly in the lever). If we eat less cholesterol the body will make more, if we eat more cholesterol the body will make less. The dietary cholesterol has pretty much no impact of your health and there is probably safe to not care of how much of it is consumed.

How should I read my cholesterol results?
Total Cholesterol – is in the most cases a very poor measurement all by itself. Most often the recommended levels are 200 or lower. About 70% of people between 30 and 50 have higher levels than 200, and about 90-95% of people older than 50 have levels over 200. (Good for statin selling business).

Triglycerides (VLDL) – A low number is good. A high number depends mostly on high intake of carbohydrates. The recommendation is 150 or lower. Over 200 may be a sign of metabolic syndrome and is a threat to your heart health.

HDL – A high number is good, natural fats increases HDL. Low levels leads to higher risk of heart disease, dietary intake of many carbohydrates decreases HDL. Men should strive for a number over 35 and women a number over 45, the higher the better.

LDL – Most often is the recommended number for LDL between 100 and130. But this is, as we have previously discussed, a hard number to interpret. The small LDL particles are the dangerous ones but also the particles that will not show up accurate on the LDL result. If your HDL is high and your triglycerides are low than that would show that most of your LDL particles are bigger and safe and your number could safely be larger than 100-130. If your HDL is low and your triglycerides high then your LDL particles are most likely a formation of many small particles and are dangerous to you and your LDL should be lower than 100-130.

Total cholesterol / HDL – A low number is good. This is easy to measure and is more recommended to use as a risk analysis for heart disease than just the total number of cholesterol, the LDL alone, triglycerides, and LDL/HDL.

The blood test of the future
As you have probably noticed there are controversies over the way to measure cholesterol and prove relationship between that and bad health. Luckily there is a much more reliable method to measure the small dangerous LDL particles than to measure triglycerides and LDL levels: Every LDL particle have one protein composition called apolipoprotein B and HDL have one protein composition called apolipoprotein A1.

By measuring the Lp(B) we get to know the total amount of LDL particles, small LDL included! By knowing your apolipoproteins you can measure the apo-quota: Lp(B)/Lp(A). This is probably the best way of measure blood fats to use it in risk factor analysis for heart disease.

Suggested quotas for men are under 0.7; 0.7-0.9 is ok but not excellent, over 0.9 means increased risk. Recommended quotas for women are under 0.6; 0.6-0.8 is ok but not excellent, over 0.8 means increased risk.

So does increased risk in this case mean that a healthy person needs medicine like today? No, the first treatment should always be change of lifestyle. If it is not enough, after trying for 6-12 months and there are other risk factors involved, not until then should statins be considered. One good lifestyle change is to start eating LCHF.

Statins
Statins are most often used to lower blood fat levels, example of statin drugs are Simvastatin and Lipitor. Statin drugs work by slowing down the enzyme (called HMGR) that produces cholesterol in the body resulting in lower levels.

The outcome of using statins is that the cells get starved with too little cholesterol and have to start using the LDL cholesterol that exists in the blood. First the body has to produce something called LDL-receptors that get attached to each cell membrane. The LDL particle will later attract to the LDL receptor and the cell will absorb the LDL particle and receive the cholesterol it needs that way.

The point with statins is to induce a deficiency of cholesterol in the cells of the body so that they will use the LDL cholesterol from the blood, and the number of LDL cholesterol in the blood will decrease.

The most interesting thing is that the body can do this transformation by itself, without the help of statin drugs! The HMGR enzyme production is related to blood insulin levels and insulin levels are directly triggered by eating fast acting carbohydrates… Let’s take it the other way…

When eating carbohydrates your insulin levels will go up fast in order to try to take care of all the sugar. Parts of the carbohydrates will be absorbed by the body and used as energy and the carbohydrates that the body can’t use right away will be stored as fat. When the body gets too much carbohydrates then what it can absorb the insulin level will spike. At the same time the high insulin level will call for an increase in HMGR enzyme resulting in a higher cholesterol production. Did you get that?

Eating fast acting carbohydrates > High insulin levels > Spiked HMGR enzyme > Faster cholesterol production > Cholesterol staying in the blood stream longer and can develop small LDL easier > Risk for heart disease

Solutions

So there are really two solutions on the issue with the risk of heart disease. One is simply to take statin drugs for the rest of your life and watch out for side effects. The other is to decrease your intake of sugars and other fast acting carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, soft drinks, juices, and dried fruit. This will also promote a lower risk of inflammations just as statin drugs are said to do. The back side of taking statin drugs (except for the side effects) without changing your lifestyle is off course that the body will always crave the sugars as its main source of energy, causing your blood sugar constantly go up and down, which often results in overweight.

Off course there are some people at very high risk that might not have time to waste and may have to do both for a while until the levels are manageable.

I will always vote for the natural way what way you choose it entirely up to you!