A.Vogel Herbal Remedies

I see a lot of achy, pain-harassed people in my clinic, with many different conditions causing their discomfort. A case in point was a woman called Julie (not her real name), who was in her early 40s and had a wide-ranging selection of intense aches and pains that sometimes made it difficult for her to get out of bed and get going in the morning. It was all completely random, so that she never knew if her hands or feet would be stiff and painful or not. She had spent a great deal of time being investigated and tested over the past 4 years and definitely didn’t have rheumatoid arthritis. She was living on alarming doses of painkillers and still finding it tricky to manage the demands of being a mother to young children.

Firstly I took her off caffeine. She’d been a bit of a coffee addict, trying to get up some energy and not realising that she was blocking her iron absorption. Then I removed refined (white) flour from her diet – bread, pasta and pastry had to be wholegrain-based. These actions freed up her dilatory bowel, which meant fewer toxins lurking in her system. She drank heaps of water and nettle tea instead, which was excellent for flushing uric acid out of her joints.

Then she made a huge effort and got all the magnesium-rich foods she could into her daily repertoire. Magnesium lurks in decent quantities in Brazil nuts, cashews, sesame seeds, soya, haricot and kidney beans, chickpeas, millet, oats, brown rice, figs, spinach, dark green vegetables, dried apricots, buckwheat, and bananas. All yummy stuff, as she quickly appreciated. I also added a daily dose of Salus Haus magnesium liquid. Magnesium is great for lowering pain perception.

Then we used Devil’s Claw to counter the inflammatory pain. Devil’s Claw has a long history of being used for all types of inflammatory pain: muscular pain, joint pain, back pain, you name it. I love using it because it so rarely causes any problems, unlike a lot of painkilling medication. It’s gentle and when you’re treating long-standing pain such as Julie’s it takes a while to kick in, but kick in it usually does. Within a few weeks of starting this programme Julie was able to wean herself off her painkillers and rely on the natural remedies. Fortunately Devil’s Claw is suitable for long-term use and doesn’t become less effective the longer you take it. In fact its action is cumulative so it works better the longer you take it for. Her improved diet meant Julie dropped a few surplus pounds too and she had masses more energy, so she didn’t regret her dietary changes!

One of the most common conditions behind ongoing pain is a syndrome known as Fibromyalgia. The key symptoms are much like flu, and every patient has a different selection, experienced at a different intensity. It may be diagnosed as arthritis, IBS or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome instead of Fibromyalgia, as these are very similar conditions and elements of them may be involved in some people’s cases.

Symptoms: aches, pains, especially bad muscle pains, stiffness, headaches, lethargy, intolerance to exercise, disturbed sleep, inability to concentrate, feeling cold, tingling and numbness, restless legs, anxiety, depression and digestive disturbances

For more information on Fibromyalgia visit http://www.avogel.co.uk/health/fibromyalgia/