Very few people know about my illness...I have Fibromyalgia. On the outside I look like a well put together LA Hottie, but underneath it all I'm struggling to stay awake and struggling to stay pain free. Recently, my loved ones introduced me to a company that produces a product that makes all of the difference in my life:
Here is my story:
Four years ago I started experiencing exteme fatigue, pain in my joints, severe stomach aches. I could barely get out of bed most mornings. I couldn't understand why a girl in her twenties who spent hours in the gym could stay out all night partying and still go to work the next day suddenly felt like an immobile 60 year old.
Naturally, I made an appointment to see my doctor. To any business GP, I would have seemed like a hypochondriac. Thankfully my GP takes an active interest in his patients and really likes to get to the root of whats wrong with you rather than dismissing you. He ran every test possible and eventually came to a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. I was familiar with the disease because my little sister had been diagnosed with it a few years prior and I knew the news was not good. My sister barely made it through her senior year of High School battling this disorder and my lifestyle was going to be severly impeded.
Unfortunately, even though it had been a few years since my sister's diagnosis, the field of medicine had not made much progress in finding a cause or coming up with anything that would help to alleviate the symptoms. My GP believes in wholistic and traditional medicine so he prescribed a program of diet, nutrition and exercise. The problem was I had to summon the energy to go to the gym and eat right when most days I just wanted to pull the covers over my head and cry. I left his office fairly deflated but determined. There were a number of good things in my life at the time and I was determined to enjoy them.
Forcing myself to the gym and getting rid of a lot of toxic things in my body helped me to stay fairly symptom free for about two years but that kind of regime is hard to maintain especially when life gets in the way. I still was doing my research and trying to stay up to date with what Health and Science was doing. Several support groups sprang up as the disorder got more press and the insurance companies finally acknowledged it as a disease and started covering some of the treatments such as physical therapy and massage but still no direct cause and cure.
I found out about a doctor who had "cured" himself of the disorder and by coincidence he was right in Marina Del Rey so I booked myself an appointment and filled myself with hope that I was finally going to get some answers. I arrived at Dr. St. Amand's office and he was like a grandfather so warm and caring. He let me cry in his office because 3 years of frustration and searching were finally met with someone who could fully explain what was going on in my body and who could empathize with what I was feeling.
Dr. St Amand's "cure" was curiously Guafinisine, the primary ingredient in Mucinex. Great all I had to do was take this pill and I would be ok. Not so fast!!!!! Guafinisine had two major drawbacks: (1) Figuring out your dose was a trial an error period and during that time, the symptoms are severely exacerbated, (2) plant and vegetable minerals block out the effects of guafinisine which calls for a DRASTIC change in lifestyle. The nurse took me to a closet jam packed with items I could no longer use to brush my teeth, moisturize my skin, and keep my hair shiny. To the average person reading this, it may sound like a small swap to be symptom free but try giving up the things that make you feel like a woman or having to check labels when picking up simple items from the store and you will see my dilemma. My hats off to Dr. St. Amand because he has progressed really far and is spiriting the efforts to get infants tested and vaccinated shortly after birth, but for me that was too much of a change. I filled the prescription but only lasted through one week of the trial and error dose period.
Life went on and I continued to try to manage my symptoms myself. A few months ago things got scary. I was in my office wrapping up my day when I suddenly got the familiar chills to the point where my bones ached terribly, I felt groggy and tired, and I started shaking. I left and attempted to drive home from the office. At some point in my commute, a fugue state took over and I fell asleep driving home on the 110 South freeway and almost wrecked the car. By the grace of God I made it home and I went to bed and stayed there for two days straight in the worst pain of my life. I went to my GP as soon as I could and was prescribed a protocol of three medicines: one to get up, one to fight inflammation, and one to sleep at night. I tried this routine for three days and it left me a groggy, sleepy, drugged mess. I needed to find a better way.
God was looking out for me once again, coincidentally during this time my husband and best friend were both introduced to MonaVie from two different sources and they both felt it would help. If you know me personally, then you know that I find anything that appears to be a "get rich quick scheme" distasteful and tacky; So when my husband and best friend introduced me to MonaVie, my first reaction wasn't one of excited anticipation. But after looking at the science behind MonaVie. . . I was impressed.Before diving in and even TASTING the juice, I did my own research. Here's what I found independent of the corporate website from Lisa Bergman, a source who runs a "scam buster" site that investigates Multi Level Marketing organizations:
What MonaVie Is
MonaVie is a proprietary blend of 19 or so fruit juices, including blueberry, cranberry, white grape and pear. But the star of the MonaVie show is a little-known Amazonian berry called acai. Sold in ready-to-drink packages or convenient concentrates, MonaVie offers, according to its distributors, "the phytonutrients and antioxidants you need".
What MonaVie Is Supposed To Do For You
The first thing that struck us in doing research for this article is the lack of "miracle" claims made about MonaVie. We couldn't find a single MonaVie website claiming that MonaVie was anything more than a highly nutritious fruit juice. And in an atmosphere full of other juice products claiming to treat everything from diabetes to the common cold, MonaVie's marketing was a very, very refreshing change.So what is MonaVie supposed to do for you? Well, Dr. Nicholas Perricone, author of The Perricone Promise and other books, calls the acai berry "nature's perfect energy fruit". Dr. Perricone and others believe that the anti-inflammatory activities of many of MonaVie's ingredients may help alleviate symptoms of arthritis, psoriasis, fibromyalgia and a host of other conditions.
What SCIENCE Says About MonaVie
Many of the various fruites and berries in MonaVie have been used for centuries to combat inflammation-related conditions and today there's mounting evidence that those ancient healers were right. A number of studies looking at blueberries, raspberries and other fruits suggest that these foods may have strong anti-inflammatory properties.Does this make MonaVie a "cure all"? Certainly not; but some of the research on MonaVie's various components is compelling, to say the least.
Lisa's Opinion of MonaVie (Lisa Bergan)
You already know that I'm not a huge fan of the multi-level-marketing approach, especially when it comes to health care products. Too often, products like MonaVie are peddled by "wellness consultants" with absolutely no education in health, herbalism or natural medicine. That sets up a potentially troubling situation in which you have unqualified "practitioners" dispensing health advice to customers who aren't aware of their lack of training. After reading this information I was even more impressed.
Still concerned about the idea of a Multi Level Marketing Program, I spoke to a high ranking distributor and was impressed by the ethical way the product was presented and the detailed product, notice I say product not SALES training distributors are given so that they present the product in the proper light and inform their consumers. I tried the juice and after 5 months, I am having more pain free and energetic days. Is my fibromyalgia gone, by no means and in times when the pain is too much to bear I still have to resort to the medicines my doctor prescribed but I don't have to take them EVERYDAY as prescribed. My skin is balanced, my hair is healthy and I feel great all around along with my friends and family who are drinking the juice too.
Not only am I happy to be feeling better myself, I am proud to support an organization who gives back to the land that gives so much to so many people through the MORE Project. If you want more information please contact me at
lifeisintheberry@live.com.
Thanks for reading...God Bless
xoxo
Ebs
References:Lau, F., Bielinski, D., Joseph, J. (2006). Inhibitory effects of blueberry extract on the production of inflammatory mediators in lipopolysaccharide-activated BV2 microglia.Lansky, E., Newman, R. (2007). Punica granatum (pomegranate) and its potential for prevention and treatment of inflammation and cancer.Goncalves, F., Torres, O., Campos, A., Tambara, F., Rocha, L., Thiede, A., et al. (2006). Effect of Passiflora edulis (passion fruit) extract on rats' bladder wound healing: morphological study.Schaus, A., Wu, X., Prior, R., Ou, B., Huang, D., Ownes, J., et al. (2006). Antioxidant capacity and other bioactivities of the freeze-dried Amazonian palm berry, Euterpe oleraceae mart. (acai).
