Pregnancy Leg Cramps- Why are they here, and how can I make them go away?

Kelly Swift, RMT

You're pregnant! Congratulations!

But as the months go by and your weight increases and center of gravity starts to shift, you may begin to notice that you are increasingly getting cramped up leg muscles. They always seem to come at the most inopportune times (like right as you're about to fall asleep), in your calf, in the soles of your feet, in your hamstrings... and you may be thinking to yourself, "How in the eff do I make this go away?!?". 

Let's start with the basics. 

Why are they here?

Leg cramps are mainly caused by a few things:

1. Low amounts of minerals in your diet. 

Calcium and Magnesium are largely involved in nerve conduction and muscle contraction. If you have too little, or more rarely too much, of these minerals in your diet they can sometimes cause increased instances of muscle spasms in your body. Low blood levels of either calcium or magnesium directly increase the excitability of both the nerve endings and the muscles they stimulate. Also, because you are growing a precious tiny human, sometimes the minerals you eat will go to baby instead of you. The end result either way is usually to increase calcium and magnesium in your diet. You can talk to your doctor about whether or not a calcium or magnesium supplement may be right for you, or you can consider eating foods high in these minerals such as nuts and dark leafy greens. 

2. Not enough water

There is a theory that if your fluid intake is low, your body will not effectively be able to flush waste out of it's tissues. The idea being that waste may sometimes be trapped inside the contractile tissues of the muscle, irritating it and causing it to spasm. However, in recent studies, hydration has been shown to have little effect on muscle spasms. You can read up on that here. However, I personally do believe that good hydration is key to good muscle health. I sometimes tell clients to picture their muscles as a steak... and then to picture it as jerky. Which one do you think is going to perform better? Additionally, increased fluid intake (about 2L/day for women, 3L/day for men) is good and healthy for many other organ systems as well. 

3.Increased Physical Activity

With your weight increasing from your growing babe, your muscles are now working harder than they're used to to move your body. The increase in strength and endurance required of your muscles can irritate them, sometimes causing minor strains or microtearing in the tissues. While they attempt to heal (while still supporting an increased load) they may begin to spasm. 

Okay. So What Can I Do About It? 

1. Increase the amount of calcium and Magnesium in your diet 

2. Increase your fluid intake 

3.Take a break! Let your muscles rest, heal and recharge. 

4. (My favourite) Get a Massage! An RMT should be able to help you to stop the cramp, if it is happening currently, and describe to you how to stop them if one is happening while you are at home. You can book online with Kelly (myself) or Seana here

So what should I do if I am having a cramp RIGHT NOW?

If your muscle is in a spasm and you are at home, you should attempt to slightly contract that muscle, this will confuse your golgi-tendon organs, found in the muscles tendons, to relax the muscle when you stop contracting it. Slightly contract it, and then relax it. Repeat this process until the spasm stops, and then use some sort of heat pack afterwards on your muscle for 20 minutes, in order to maintain that relaxation. 

written by Kelly Swift RMT

Suggestions for managing your own integrative health care:

Given that an integrative health care approach has yet to develop fully, how might you go about managing the required Integrative approach yourself?

Suggestions for managing your own integrative health care:

1. Consider what health means to you: Does it mean to be symptom-free? Does it mean being able to get to work and back, get the job done, pay your bills and support the children till they leave home? Does it mean to wake feeling happy and eager to enjoy another day? Does it mean to sleep soundly with a clear conscience? Does it mean to love or live deeply and fearlessly? Though at first glance these may seem like irrelevant questions, they are not. Your answers to them, even if subconscious, will determine how you manage your health. By consciously determining what health means to you, you are more likely to be healthy as per your criteria and not someone else's.

2. Consider your health goals: Do you want to get rid of your symptoms? Do you want to understand why you have the symptoms you have? Do you want to become healthier over time? Once you have determined what health means to you, it will be that much easier to set your health goals.

3. Once you have an idea of what health means to you and what your health goals are it will be much easier to find health care providers to help you attain your goals. Pharmacological and surgical medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and Homeopathy are considered by many as complete systems of medicine unto themselves, able to manage, or even successfully treat, many acute and chronic complaints. There are are also a myriad of complementing modalities, some regulated  and some not. (See here for the list of regulated health care professions in Ontario).  Some are very specialized and most serve as effective complementary treatment options at the very minimum. Some questions to ask a potential health care provider are:  How would you treat a case like mine?  What other effects might result from treatment?  What is the projected time line of treatment? What level of success can we expect?

4. Keep clear records of who you see, when, why, recommendations provided and results of those recommendations. This may look something like:

Date	Practitioner	Modality	Reason	Questions	Recommendation
Ap 25th, 2016	J. Jones, OD	Physiotherapist	Lower back pain and stress	What exercises can I do to decrease pain? What postural recommendations have for during work?

5. Note and subjectively rate your symptoms in terms of mind, emotions, body. This may look something like:

Symptom	When first time felt	Possible associations/reasons for onset	Description	Rating (10 being worst possible and 0 being non-existent)	Treatment	Subsequent Rating
Headaches	After bad week at work	Stress	Head throbbing top	9	Ice, Tylenol 3	5

6. Keep a calendar of life events and symptoms, doctor's appointments and medication changes. This might look something like this.

Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat.	Sun
Dentist, root canal						Argument with child
		Cold

7. Research the medications recommended to you. While many Canadian health care practitioners use the Canadian Pharmaceuticals and Specialties, much of the contents of this resource are available to you at www.drugs.com. If you are able, read the Professional section. There you will find more details about the medicine you have been prescribed. If you are taking more than one medication, use the Interactions tab to search any interactions identified within that system.

No matter what treatment options you choose, your caregiver(s) is/are caring for many patients, whereas you are caring only for yourself and or loved ones.  Also, you know what your normal is better than anyone else.  These factors mean your notes are very important to your successful care.  Sharing these notes with your health care provider(s) gives you both a much better chance of success in your treatment.  Having clear ideas of what health means to you, what your health goals are and sharing these with your health care providers will enable you to meat these goals and take charge of your own health.

Edited by Ivy Lishman, Staff Writer for Lisa Torres, Homeopath

3 Ways to Better Understand your Health.

3 Ways to Better Understand your Health.

We have previously addressed the public approval of integrative health care; how medications, herbs and supplements effect various body systems.  We have addressed several ideas about how to take charge of your own health. 

When we think of health 'testing' we often think of invasive testing, such as blood tests, but there are many non-invasive ways to understand what is happening inside your body.  Here are three, simple, non-invasive and economical home diagnostics that you can do to get an idea if a certain organ needs some attention.

#1: Your tongue

Consider your tongue an extension of and mirror into your digestive system.  Tongue analysis remains common in Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Herbalism. While it was, in the past, more commonly a part of Homeopathy, it is less so now. The healthy tongue is relatively nondescript: pale pink, not too moist, not too dry; it is free of crevices, lines, tooth marks, and colours aside from light pink. It is not trembling or slanted when stuck out. It is not coated with yellow, brown, purple, or creamy colours. 

Localized parts of tongue may be indicative of certain organ health:  

Back of tongue on sides - kidneys.  

Sides of front of tongue - lungs.  

Middle of front part of tongue - heart. 

See more here. For further information, here are some links which provide more on understanding of your tongue and you:

http://www.spinachandyoga.com/ayurvedic-tongue-analysis/

https://minnesotaherbalist.com/2013/09/11/introduction-to-tongue-assessment-for-the-western-herbalist/

https://www.sacredlotus.com/go/diagnosis-chinese-medicine/get/tongue-diagnosis-chinese-medicine

If you notice any obvious marks of concern about your tongue, you may wish to see a health practitioner who uses tongue analysis in her or his work.

#2. Your teeth.

The Center for Natural Dentistry has published an interactive user-friendly chart which tells us quickly which teeth and organs are on the same meridians. This is useful as the health of teeth may indicate the health of organs along the same meridian. A struggling tooth may be a sign of a struggling organ.

#3 Home urine analysis.

Areta produces a useful, simple 10-panel urine test. Follow the instructions and it can provide initial indications of any possible concerns regarding glucose levels, liver and kidney function, acid/alkaline balance, and immune function.

Here is a PDF link elaborating on the same information.

Other non-invasive diagnostic testing may be done through reflexology, iridology, live blood analysis, and hair analysis. More on these next time!

Edited by Ivy Lishman, Staff Writer for Lisa Torres, Homeopath

Medications (Homeopathic, Natural and Pharmacological) Effect the Whole Body

Last week we considered how illness is an individual experience.  The value of an integrative approach to health is that it allows for more effective care to the degree that it takes the individual into account.

This week we consider how most medications act on many parts of the body that are not the intended target.  Whether these medications are natural or pharmacological, they can act on mental, emotional and physical levels. How they do so also varies uniquely from person to person.  This means that not only is illness an individual experience, but so are medications, herbs, and supplements.  They all affect each of us differently.

Let's consider this in more detail: We know from clinical and post-marketing studies in pharmacology that most medications have side effects in other body systems than the targeted one.  Eg: Anti-depressant medication is among most commonly prescribed medications for people aged 25-44, according to StatsCan.  Cymbalta is one of them. It "is a selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor antidepressant (SSNRI).  Duloxetine (this is the Generic name for Cymbalta) affects chemicals in the brain that (may) be unbalanced in people with depression." as per www.drugs.com.   From the same reference under the "Side Effects" tab: "Common side effects of Cymbalta include drowsiness, sedation, fatigue, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, insomnia, hypersomnia, dizziness, weakness, headache, and xerostomia. Other side effects include agitation, vomiting, tension, nervousness, erectile dysfunction, psychomotor agitation, abdominal pain, hyperhidrosis, loss of libido, anorexia, decreased libido, restlessness, and decreased appetite."  Note that the side effects may not be felt and if they are may touch on several body systems, from neurological to digestive to reproductive.  If you read under the "Professional" tab, you will find detailed results of clinical studies and side effects listed by body systems affected.

We know from Homeopathy that most Homeopathic Medicines may also have effects on the mind and on the body.  Eg: A common homeopathic medicine is Mercurius. Mercurius may be considered in cases with clinical presentation including: "Abscess Bone, Disease of Breath, offensive, Bronchitis, Diarrhœa, Dyspepsia, Joint (pain), Noises in the Head, Prostate, Disease of Taste, Disordered Teeth, Affections of Toothache Tremors " (and many more).  

In this abbreviated list we find affections of skeletal (and dental), digestive, respiratory, reproductive, and nervous systems.  These are just a few clinical indications.  But if you read on in the reference, you see that there are many more clinical indications including Symptoms, to be distinguished from Clinical Indications. 

These are (similarly) grouped by body "area" starting with "Mind": "Great anguish, restlessness (is constantly changing from place to place), and agitation, with fear of losing the reason, or with excessive internal torment, principally in evening, or in bed at night, as if conscious of having committed some crime.  ─Moral dejection, with great listlessness, discouragement, dread of labour, and disgust to life.─Great indifference to everything.─Does not even care to eat.─Apprehensions.──Ill-humour, disposition to be angry, and to fly into a passion, great susceptibility, humour quarrelsome, mistrustful, and suspicious.─Moroseness and repugnance to conversation.─Groans.─Continuous moaning and groaning.─Excitement, and great moral irritability, with a tendency to be easily frightened.─Bad effects from fright, leaving one in a state of great anxiety and < at night.─Home-sickness with nightly anxiety and perspiration.─Distraction, inadvertence, difficulty of conception.─Entire-unfitness for meditation, and tendency to make mistakes while speaking. Hurried and rapid speech." Read on to see how this homeopathic medicine may affect other body systems.

It is important to note that while Homeopathic medicines can affect various body systems, they do not have 'Side Effects' as the pharmacological medicines do.  They do not affect other body systems unless they too are symptomatic.  This is because the mechanism of action of Homeopathic medicine is completely different than that of pharmacological medicine.  There is more to this.   The point here is that both Homeopathic medicine and pharmacological medicine can affect various body systems.  Neither type of medicine works in isolation.

We know from natural medicine clinical studies that herbs and supplements also affect many body systems.  Let's consider the well-known St. John's Wort. The Natural Medicine Comprehensive Database tells us that it is "used for depression, dysthymia, heart palpitations, mood disturbances and other symptoms of menopause, somatization disorder, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Other uses include smoking cessation, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), burning mouth syndrome, headache, migraine headache, muscle pain, neuralgia, polyneuropathy, sciatica, and angioplasty. It is also used orally for secondary symptoms associated with depression such as fatigue, loss of appetite, insomnia, and anxiety. It is also used orally for cancer, glioma, vitiligo, herpes simplex, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, weight loss, as a diuretic, and for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Oily St. John's wort preparations are used orally for gastric indigestion."  Note again, that this herb preparation may be indicated for improvement of various body systems. Herbs too can affect various body systems.

(It is important to note that The Natural Medicine Comprehensive Database is a valuable resource for anyone taking or interested in Natural Medicines. It provides the most non-biased, non-commercial, comprehensive, and research-based information about most known natural medicines.)

These three examples, based on publicly available information, suggest that when we treat a disease or a symptom, even such a common one as a cold, it behooves us to choose our medicine taking into consideration feelings and functions of the entire body, family medical history and pre-dispositions as well as possible interactions among medications, This is because the effect of our chosen medicine may be more readily determined by all we know about the medicine, the symptoms, and the person. 

Integrative Medicine

In the last blog entry we spread the word about the public health care system "Patient's First" plan and considered what you can do to help the public health care system meet your needs. 

The "Patient's First" plan recognizes the importance of an integrative approach in that it may better recognize the complex nature of the human body.  It can recommend and allow recourse to the most appropriate combination of specialists to address our health as safely and effectively as possible.  This ensures our health is analysed in its entirety and takes into account the individuality of the case; not only the physical symptoms and test results, but also the mental state and emotional backdrop. Ultimately, this would allow for more effective care.  "360 degree Wellness", as we would say here at the 360 Wellness Clinic.

The integrative approach allows for more effective care precisely because of the complex nature of the human body. This presents itself on various levels: mental, emotional and physical and in entirely individualized fashion. Many diseases present mind, emotion, and body symptoms. Each symptom is experienced in an individual way.

According to the Report of the Incidence and Prevalence of Diseases and Other Health Related Issues in Canada Essential HTN (Hypertension) is the most prevalent diseases diagnosed in the general population. The Professioal Version of the Merk Manual  states that Hypertension "is sustained elevation of resting systolic BP (≥ 140 mm Hg), diastolic BP (≥ 90 mm Hg), or both." While Hypertension is known as the "Silent Killer" because it has no warning signs or symptoms, this means that it presents differently in every individual.  Conventional medicine gives us diagnosis, information about causes based on test results, and correspondingly indicated pharmacological or surgical treatment.  True causes may be related to kidney, adrenal, or thyroid function,  medications, or environmental factors (Merk). Clearly, there are many causes to be considered and other tests may be done to determine these. 

Homeopathy may provide further insight and treatment options which have no known side effects.  Taking into account the conventional understanding of hypertention (see above), the Homeopath further individualizes the case based on such details as: desire or aversion to salty foods and food in general, level of thirst, flushing of the skin, conflict management approaches, or reminiscence or resentment of past events. Based on such information and more, a Homeopathic diagnosis is made and a Health Canada approved Homeopathic Medicine is prescribed.

German New Medicine provides further complementary understanding of the physiology involved, the emotional relationship to the condition, and the ebbs and flows of the symptoms. GNM theory is anchored in embryology and provides biological reasoning for symptoms. Those familiar with GNM welcome knowing 'why' their body may be manifesting certain symptoms. For example, from the GNM perspective, hypertension is related to a "fluid" conflict. This is an emotional and active conflict which can be metaphorically or literally related to fluids. From there it would generally require working with a practitioner to understand if this is relevant and if so how this understanding may be effectively, clinically applied.

TCM and Ayurveda are two other well established (over thousands of years) comprehensive medical systems which have further complementary understanding to provide.

Regulated Health Care Practitioners are required to continuously educate themselves. These continuous education courses may provide further information about recent research and understanding. Recently genome testing is becoming popular. Not surprisingly, it aims to better understand our individuality and thereby how better to meet our individual health needs.

The integrative approach allows for more effective care by way of more complete understanding of the case, causes, variables, and relevant symptoms. The greater the understanding of the individual case, the more likely the possibility for individually tailored, and therefore effective treatment.

The idea behind an integrative approach is not a competitive one, pitting one approach against another, but rather one of wise and unprejudiced understanding of a case with a view to finding what works for each person.

The Ontario Public Health Care System and You

Our public health care system recognizes the inherent challenges presented by the complexity of the human body, the many approaches to health, varied cultural backgrounds, and financial constraints. The Patient's First Action Plan for Health Care aims to provide a revamped public health care system which places Patient's First. The main goals of this Plan are to:

• Support Ontarians to make healthier choices and help prevent disease and illness. 

• Engage Ontarians on health care, so we fully understand their needs and concerns. 

• Focus on people, not just illness. 

• Provide care that is coordinated and integrated, so a patient can get the right care from the right providers. 

• Help patients understand how the system works, so they can find the care they need when and where they need it. 

• Make decisions that are informed by patients, so they play a major role in affecting system change. 

• Be more transparent in health care, so Ontarians can make informed choices. 

One step the Ministry of Health has made in support of these goals is the increased and continued regulation of health care professions. There are presently 26 regulated health care professions. Regulation ensures that those practicing these professions have attained measured levels of competence and abide by certain levels of ethics and professionalism. Regulation also paves the way for increased coordination, integration, and transparency. 

What you can do to help the public health care system help you:

• While feedback was collected for the end of February, 2016, you may still submit your input here. 
• Let your insurance providers know your interests and preferences. (Letters in support of Homeopathy-Service-Reimbursement are available by contacting the clinic.) 
• Encourage your health care practitioners to collaborate.
• Seek out integrative health care practitioners and clinics. The 360 Wellness clinic offers four regulated health care services (Physiotherapy, Acupuncture, Homeopathy, and Massage). Several practitioners offer complementary wellness modalities as well.

5 effective tips to keep your children flu-free this season

There are 5 very important and effective things that parents can do to help support their children’s health and decrease the likelihood that they will get sick:

1: Ensure that your children get enough sleep. This may sound obvious, but I can tell you from field research that I have conducted in addition to classroom visits that many children are not getting enough sleep. The best sleep is generally had between, if not from, sundown to sunup in a dark, quiet room with no electronics. One of the reasons quality sleep is so important is because the immune-boosting bacteria in the gut do their work at night and in the dark. There is a lot more to this, but for the present purposes: Less sleep = less immunity. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

2: Ensure that your children get real, unprocessed, quality food. The more you succeed in providing fresh, local, whole, unrefined, non-GMO, organic foods the more your children will benefit. 

Anything processed or refined, by definition, provides less nutrition and saps the body of nutrients. Wheat, for example, has several parts: the germ, the bran, and the endosperm. To make wheat bread, the endosperm is separated from the germ (nutrients) and the bran (fiber) and ground into white flour (sugar). Most breads are essentially glorified sugar providing little of the fiber or nutrients that would support their digestion and overall nutrition. Know that food products such as “whole wheat” can have up to 70% of the germ removed. Understanding labels requires some training these days!

3: Provide quality supplementation. I have come to rely on several products to support my family. Both myself and my children take Living Fuel (available direction from the company or at the 360 Wellness Clinic) daily. It is, hands down, the highest quality food supplement on the market. Cod Liver Oil, controversy aside, can be of benefit. 
When we need an additional boost, we make a fresh dose of Sodium Ascorbate. Stir and drink:
1 tsp  Ascorbic Acid crystals (with nothing else added) 
Half tsp  Baking Soda 
1 x 8oz Cup  Water
This is the equivalent to about 4000mg of Vitamin C. The difference is that it is more easily absorbed by the body and is generally well digested. If you need it, you can feel it within minutes. (Note: This boosts your system so much that it is not to be taken before any type of surgery and may interfere with medications. Consult with your chosen health care practitioner before you take it.)

4: Use homeopathic remedies. One for consideration may be Boiron's Influenzinum. From the Boiron website: This homeopathic medicine is not a vaccine. It is a homeopathic dilution, prepared from the approved seasonal inactivated influenza vaccine. It is authorized for sale in Canada without therapeutic indication. As a manufacturer Boiron cannot substitute health care practioners who may recommend a specific protocol. 

5: This last point is for those parents who are interested in taking health care to another level, as they realize there may be another contributing factor to why children get the flu and that it isn’t just because of germs and immunity, although these are also important. 

If this is you, consider what was happening in your child’s life approximately 3 days before the onset of flu symptoms (could be 1, could be 4, but generally it’s 3) .
The flu has been associated with a preceding experience of feeling weak or of feeling uninvolved, not feeling part of the group or even feeling excluded from a group of interest. Of course, this may not be the case, and that is fine. But if it is, then becoming aware of it promotes increased understanding of the effects of such circumstances. If the circumstances and the result are repeated, a pattern can be discerned. A calendar is helpful! From here, there can be increased awareness for both the children and the parent. If you get to this point, as a parent, you’re likely to run with it and if at all possible, change the circumstances!

Stay warm and stay well!

Edited by Ivy Lishman, Staff Writer for Lisa Torres, Homeopath