Autobiography - Our Health

My Autobiography III – State of Our Health

When George and I met I had just been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. What? That is what I said. I learned early on just what it meant. I learned that one had this syndrome for at least ten to twelve years before it could be diagnosed. I was involved with golf, volleyball and baseball and an avid gardener so experiencing achiness, stiffness, and soreness and great pain in my shoulders was, to be expected. Doctors, at least my primary doctors, were not familiar with fibromyalgia so they just gave me a whole litany of pain pills. Men and woman are both afflicted with this syndrome although evidence shows that it is more commonly found in women and their symptoms are more severe.

Pain is the chief complaint most people experience with this syndrome. Fibromyalgia is characterized by a “deep”, sharp, dull, and throbbing pain. Pain in fibromyalgia patients is located in muscles and connective tissues rather than in the joints.

Some of the symptoms of fibromyalgia that I experienced are:

• Depression: Depression truly affected my daily life. I attributed this to the lack of quality sleep. Long hours of rest just did not help me through the day. I believe this depression was caused by the fear and anxiety attributed to the fact that I could not do what I once could do. Just raising my arms to write on a blackboard was painful.

• Morning Stiffness: The stiffness spread from muscles and joints to my back, arms and legs and the doctor gave me lots of pain pills to relieve the severe pain.

• “Trigger” points: When the endocrinologist pressed on tender points around my joints I experienced a sharp throbbing pain. He told me that I had eighteen of these “trigger” points.

• Chronic headaches: Years earlier I had severe headaches when I was hospitalized with spinal meningitis and encephalitis. These headaches were, of course, nothing like those but I did suffer from them.

• Irritable bowel syndrome: This was the result of abdominal cramping with severe bouts of diarrhea or constipation. Needless to say this greatly disturbed my lifestyle. I had numerous tests and recall how excited the doctor was when he actually saw my colon go into spasm.

• Overwhelming fatigue: I spent twelve to fourteen hours a day in bed and had to plan my whole life around my sleep. I would teach late afternoon and evening classes and late do late afternoon advising, because I knew that I could not get up before noon. Even though I had spent many hours in bed, I was still exhausted.

• Frequent infection: I can’t tell you how many times I had to go to the doctor’s office for respiratory infections, sore throats, bladder infections. Vaginal, bowel and skin yeast infections can also associated with fibromyalgia. I recall going to the spa and sitting in the sauna for a long time in order to clear my lungs. It worked but was just a temporary solution.

• Muscle spasm: I recall having a great many muscle spasms particularly while driving my car. A sudden turn or twist would engulf my whole trunk in to excruciating pain - so much so that I had to stop the car and walk up and down the sidewalk.

• Brain Fog: The last semester I taught before discovering Noni juice, was the worst semester I ever had. I could not think, nor finish my thoughts. The students had to finish my sentences for me. It was so frustrating!

• Achiness: I also found that along with the achiness in my muscles and joints I was left with extreme weakness. I had to use a cane to get up from a chair and to get around.

• Increased thirst: I noticed that I had increasing thirst but I did not know if it was a result of fibromyalgia or due to fact that I was just diagnosed with diabetes.

What was the cause of my fibromyalgia? I believe there is a no single cause. I recently read there is some evidence that Lyme’s disease could have caused it. I believe it is different each and every person suffering from this mysterious syndrome.

Just to mention a few of the benefits I reaped from drinking Tahitian Noni.

The first week after drinking Noni I noticed that the “fog” lifted and I now saw things much more clearly and brightly than I had for a very long time. Within a short period my mental faculties returned. My student’s remarked about the changes they saw in me and were quite impressed.

Noni contains a natural serotonin so my depression was lifted. The morning stiffness was gone and I could now touch those “trigger” points I could not touch before. Irritable bowel episodes were gone after a short period of time. I was no longer tired and eventually was able to do a lot, much of what I had done before this onset. Initially, achiness and muscle spasm were almost extinct. I was able to toss the cane immediately and was able to go off the steroid because Noni contains a natural steroid. My diabetes is under control and my reading is consistently between 100-110.

An added note concerning the pain associated with Fibromyalgia. Noni is not a drug. It does not cover up pain, rather it attacks pain. For example, after being on Noni for only about two months, George and I were singing in a choir. I woke up in the middle of the night with agonizing pain in my left shoulder and left knee. We were scheduled to sing the next day and would have to stand on a marble floor for four hours. My initial thoughts were that I would not go, but then decided that I would go and offer up the pain. I finally fell off to sleep and woke up the next morning with absolutely no pain. When Noni works on an area there will be pain - and that is good sign.

Now a word from George

For the first several years of my marriage to Eileen I caught one long lasting cold sometime during the winter or spring. And lingering they were with coughing and sneezing for weeks on end. In the late nineties I developed arthritis in both knees that was especially severe in my left knee. This made it difficult to walk and to climb steps. In snowy New England I slipped and stumbled many times on ice and snow covered walks and steps.

I should mention that in my late sixties I developed an aggressive early stage Prostate Cancer. I received thirty-four radiation treatments which arrested the tumor; however the after effects were quite fatiguing for at least the next few years. What concerned me was both the impact on my immune system and the possible return of the cancer.

When Eileen became a Tahitian Noni/customer/distributor in early 2000, I decided to try her products to deal with my cold problems, arthritic and my immune system weakness. I figured that the Noni would help my immune system and would help stop the lengthy of my winter colds. Yes, it did just as expected, and since 2000 I have had very short lived colds and a much stronger immune system. With respect to the prostate condition I have consistently zero reading of my PSA – a sign of no return of cancer.

A couple of other personal effects of using the Noni product are worth noting: like a lot of guys my hairline was receding and thinning. Regular use of Noni and the Noni shampoo helped to thicken my hair and produce new growth. When I went to have my teeth cleaned the dental hygienist remarked about the healthy look of my gums and the smaller pockets around these gums. And finally, I noticed that finger and toe nails grew at a more rapid rate and were healthy. My wife and others also commented that my skin had an overall healthy look.

Yes, indeed, George and I had some wonderful results from Noni. The Noni was also helpful with my knees. After several weeks of daily dosages of Noni I noticed a significant lessening of the arthritic pain and stiffening in my knees. This made walking a lot easier and safer for me.

While Noni does not cure this syndrome it does renew your cells allowing you body to renew itself. Noni has certainly changed my life and has, also, helped George.