First Week

Okay, here's the disclaimer:

I do not publish this information to treat or diagnose any disease. I only share what works for me and hope that someone else gleans information out of my posts. Hope that's enough for the FDA.

Monday, Sept. 28-Received shipment. Started out with 1 tsp of Diatomacious Earth in water. It wasn't bad-good, that will make it easier to stay consistent.

Tuesday, Sept. 29-Tried it in my coffee 1/2 tsp at a time. Not bad-gotta keep it stirred, but this isn't going to be terrible. I'm now taking 1 tsp in the morning and 1 tsp in the evening, before bed. I stirred into grape juice. Is it too soon to notice that I have less phlegm? I do but is it due to the DE?

Wednesday, Sept. 30-My coffee didn't back up in my throat today. Not so much phlegm today, either. Had coffee with my friend Diane and gave her a container of DE. She noticed that I didn't cough much. Folks, I coughed ALL the time-strangers would come up to me in restaurants thinking I was choking or had pneumonia. I had to cross my legs, I coughed so hard.

I increased my dosage and today is the first full day of a full dose-1 tablespoon in the morning and 1 in the evening.

People are noticing that I'm not coughing as much. I've been plagued by hot flashes for ten years. Bad ones-if I bent over the sweat would run like a stream. I used to be on the cold side. It would take a while for me to warm up when I went to bed, then in the last ten years I would have to throw the covers off to sleep. Last night I shivered for an hour until I warmed up enough to sleep. No, I don't have a virus. Hm-now that I think about it, I haven't had a hot flash all day and I didn't have to take my coat off at the restaurant. Maybe.....

I have this feeling of well-being. Not sure if it's due to the DE. Can't be the weather-cloudy, 36 and windy.

This next thing is kind of gross. I mentioned the cleansing effect of this stuff. Yeah, I'm cleansing-and every time it has a different odor. Wonder what that means?

Anyway, I'm encouraged. I'll stay on the stuff for a while and see if my good results continue. My ultimate goal is to completely get off the antibiotics and dampen some of my allergic reactions. We'll see.

My "Dirt" Is Here

The FedEx guy dropped my package off this morning. I thought they were supposed to get a signature! At any rate it's here. I put the bag in a 5 gallon bucket that Stan had, and found a cute glass jar to put some of the "dirt" in for the kitchen.

I think I'll start tonight, taking it just before bed. I'll start with a teaspoon, and work up to the recommended tablespoon. It's supposed to to a cleanout and I tend that way anyway so I'd better start a bit slow. I'll try it straight, in water first, then if that isn't palatable, I'll figure something else out. Straight water would be less of a hassle and will ensure that I take it regularly. Any kind of a fuss and it's harder to keep on a schedule.

Well, here goes!

My "Snake Oil" Journey

I'm a fan of alternative medicine, and my oldest son calls it all snake oil. Of course he's wrong, even if he is my wonderful son!

A couple of months ago, an elderly friend started talking about taking her "dirt." She was thrilled with her results-joint pain going away, and digestive disorders gone. She couldn't remember what it was really called-one of her grandkids orders it for her. When she started talking about killing ants with it, I knew exactly what it was-diatomaceous earth, otherwise known as "fossil shell flour." I did the Google thing and found a reliable site to order it from and got it ordered this morning. My friend Diane and I are going to split a bag just to test it out. It's very inexpensive and you get a lot in a shipment.

The alternative circles believe that allergies are mostly caused by "leaky gut syndrome," and this stuff, if it works right, would help to get rid of that. Leaky gut syndrome is said to be caused by an overgrowth of Candida in the intestines, caused by overuse of antibiotics. Well, that is me for sure-I've been on a preventative dose of antibiotic for about twenty years now to try to avoid the chronic urinary tract infections I've been plagued with since my wonderful son was born 40 years ago. I do many things to keep the Candida down, but Candida is very stubborn and virulent. It also returns because I'm still taking the antibiotic, so that dose of Diflucan only helps for a while. My goal is to get off the antibiotic.

I'm going to try to chronicle my progress with this stuff. I'll be totally honest-if it doesn't work I'll tell you, but if it does work I'll shout it from the housetops. Western medicine has done very little to help me with my cough and allergies-even to the point of refusing to test me for food allergies at one point (not my present doctor-a fancy specialist wouldn't)-so I've left it in God's hands and I am praying that something natural will take care of it. At any rate, according to my research, it doesn't hurt anything, so it's worth a try.

I'll keep you posted.