Medicinal traitor

Friday I went to a -- gasp! -- chiropractor. I gasp because I think it ironic that I have sought the advice of an nontraditional medicine practitioner given my profession. Why a chiropractor?

1) My friend K.A. had good things to say about hers (in fact, it was he I went to see Friday).
2) For at least one of my problems, the stomach issues, I had already seen two medical doctors about it before I left Boston and they had ruled out some causes of the troubles, but clearly did not solve the problem.
3) I wanted to try a different approach to my health care. And that's what I've gotten.

The doctor believes, based on my curling into fetal position when he poked at my belly, that I have a lingering parasite in my gut. So, I'm taking Candi-Bactin-BR (the herb berberine) and will add proboulardi (probiotics) on Friday when I return for a follow-up visit. So far I've not experienced many of the side effects about which I was warned, which I think is the best outcome in this situation. After all, I am killing a colony of creatures that took up residence in my gut about a year ago.

My other focus for this treatment is the pain I'm having in my right hip flexor. I was snap, crackle, and popped by the doctor on Friday and, while the pinching in my right shoulder has resolved, the hip flexor pain is the same; nearly normal for day-to-day function, but twinging by the end of my four nights of work. I'm chalking it up to a work in progress, although I may try a short run this week if I can get out of bed early enough before work.

If there is a negative side to all of this it is that I've been advised not to drink beer because 1) the parasites feed off of the sugars and 2) it's difficult to digest for a 100% health gut nevermind my traumatized system. As if the six-pack in my fridge weren't temptation enough, I'm going to a Hash campout at the Sand Dunes this weekend. I almost delayed treatment, but decided I'd had enough of my compromised GI tract. Besides, as Julie pointed out, the doctor only advised against beer; he didn't say anything about other types of liquor!