On the mend

As you can see from the chart my C-reactive protein is heading towards normal.   This I knew anyway since my inflammation (and thus much of the pain) is dropping everywhere.

My iron levels seem to be coming back into order (and thus my anaemia is reducing) and generally I am feeling better all round.

Yesterday I was made aware of Wim Hof, who otherwise goes under the name of the Iceman.  He is from Holland and has done many remarkable things, including achieving 20 Guinness Records.  What has all that go to do with this blog, and more importantly me?


Well Wim claims he can control his immune system.  What?  Yes and not only that he can similarly influence his cardio-vascular system and even his endocrine system.  So over the last day I have been watching some of his extraordinary and incredibly inspiring videos.

The basis of what he, and he believes anyone can achieve starts by oxygenating the body through breathing and then moves into having cold showers.  At the end he does some seemingly miraculous feats such as walking up Everest in his shorts.

Whilst I have no aspirations to climb Everest I feel that over the last weeks and months I have been put in touch with my immune system.  I have watched my inflammation rise and fall, both with food and time of day.  I have felt the consequential pains and understood their own clocks.  Mostly I have learnt to distrust the so-called experts, my doctor and rheumatologist, who at best seem to heed me with paternalistic "yes" messages, whose real message truly is, "keep taking the tablets."

Well I am now researching what my bodies reaction might be when I come off the drugs.  The advice seems to be that I will feel some negative effects.  Whether that is depression, whether it is inflammation I have no idea.  Probably everyone is different.  But I do need to be ready for it.

My thinking now is to build up my energy levels.  The Wim Hof method I think may become part of my life.