Jun 6, 2015

Herbal Medicine: Take with Caution

Trapped, I couldn't make a graceful escape and attended a wellness seminar today, June 5. The various products were made from herbs that have been used for healing and rejuvenation since time immemorial. Herbal medicine does work and nearly all medication in the drugstore contain a percentage that is botanical and/or mineral. Yet, taking such herbal supplements isn't a thing that one should just do as there are adverse affects when the dosage is wrong. Herbs have been used since ancient times to provide relief and cure by the village healer in all corners of the globe, and it's not a hit and miss, there has to be the proper formulation, the correct amount of intake, how often it should be taken, and the targeted cure. Though there are herbal beverages one can take for wellness such as green tea and ginger tea, there are still certain concerns when taking these, as it is not wise to go for unlimited drinking. Detox is the same, as cleansing became a fad, and this I tried, crumpling up in agony due to the husks in the formula and trying also those natural cleansing teas that had me running to the bathroom - it's not for me. Taking anything internally without any sound proof that it works is not advisable as I know this person that took a health supplement that was made with a combination of herbs and she went into a diabetic comatose. 

The safest way to take herbal supplements is to go back to the grass root remedies. Don't take chances with new formulations. For you and your loved ones to get well, obtain pain relief, treatment and a cure, my advice would be to take the tried and tested ones such Ayurvedic medicine and Chinese medicine, and follow the doctor's advice to the letter, keeping in mind that most prescribed medication contains botanicals and these have passed the standards. 


Personal Reflection

My grandmother lived until the age of 94. My grandmother, Pilar Locsin Dominguez, who we fondly call Mamaita is one of the most awesome people that have ever lived. She followed the doctor's instructions to the letter, even using an alarm to wake up every 4 hours to take a medicine if required to do so. She had a notebook that she used to jot down all meds, what it was for, and had a weekly chart that indicated which med would be taken, at what time, and she would tick this after she takes the med as she might forget that she did. She would have lasted longer though she was weak already, needing to hold someone when she was walking, and she told us that we cannot allow the doctors place that tube down her throat again so that she will live as. I remember when her sister, Adelaida Locsin Ledesma, my grandaunt who taught me how to bake and cook things with her inspirational precision and perfection, had gone into coma. I was driving my Mamaita to the hospital and she asked me what to do as the doctors had said that the only reason why my Lola Adelaida was still alive was because of the apparatus and the meds. I told my Mamaita that Lola Adelaida made sure she had enough money so that people will take care of her when she was sick and she had stated that, and we are not going to pull out the plug. She lasted 5 days longer than what the doctors had said.

These wonderful women are forever gone and my life is just a pale reflection of how fabulous and perfect they were. What I learned through the years is more that just their experience as they were both teachers, it was how to create a niche in life and a happy home. My Mamaita couldn't cook yet she did other things to reach out and touch people, making them think that they are her favorite, and when she passed away, all us grandkids were insisting that we were the favorite, yet I know I am because she gave me all her books and my Lola Adeliada's recipe boxes, cookbooks, and collectible plates, the things that they valued the most. 

It's assuring to know how much I was loved by my Mamaita.


And it's assuring to know how I will look when I get old.

The morning of the day she died, Mamaita asked to go to the hospital and they said there was nothing wrong with her. She slumped down on the table during dinner time in her home. I had felt a great weakness during that day and that afternoon had fallen into a deep asleep. As I heard my Dad's phone ring in and my parents conversation as it was loud, I sensed the trouble and when I was asked to go with Dad, I couldn't open my eyes as all I wanted to do was sleep and I said, "Let me sleep." A couple of hours later, I heard my Mom crying and she said to me that my grandmother was dead and that we have to go, and I said, "Let me sleep." as I couldn't move, I felt frozen on the bed and the need to rest was overwhelming. After midnight, I had to stand up to go to the hospital to make sure my father eats and to take him home as my Mamaita told me to always take care of him.

I will never forget the feeling that I had that time my grandmother died. It was like a wave of tiredness covering my body. My eyes were forced shut as I refuse to open them and it was a peace like no other in a warmth that enveloped. I had felt her dying and it's not a scary thing at all, it is a deep sleep and rest. 

I don't know how to end this post, so I will just end it by repeating what I stated about taking herbal medication with caution and saying that I have to rest now as in many ways, I have died inside. 














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