Varicose Veins

February 2, 2001

VARICOSE VEINS

(An article I wrote about a year ago)

You know - every once in a while, fortune smiles on you and a piece of a puzzle drops in your lap when you least expect it.

Well - a few weeks ago, I experienced this wonder, and I can honestly say I have been absolutely delighted with the results.

A little bit of family history here: Varicose veins run in my family, and as the years go by, I felt that I was doomed like my brother and two sisters to a life with big ugly blue and purple bulges running up and down my legs. My mother had them quite severely and it was just one of those things I expected to have in my life without really being analytical about it. It just never occurred to me that there was anything I could do about them.

Well - last New Years, I determined to lose some weight and during the holidays, I bought a pair of jeans that were a size (or two) too small for me, and I intended to lose enough weight to be able to get into them easily enough as time went by. (does this part of the story sound familiar?)

A few days after I had started my weight loss program, I started my usual morning by running 4 miles and then made the mistake of putting these "form" fitting jeans on for the day. The tightness cut off my circulation and as the day wore on I started experiencing pain running up and down my leg. I awoke the next morning to discover a very large blood clot had formed half way up my left shin where two of these large varicose veins intersected.

Being a bit stupid that morning, I decided to run another 4 miles to see if perhaps exercise might dissolve and break it up. Instead, by the time I returned home, the clot had moved from my shin to behind my left knee. I decided I had better get smart so I went to visit my favorite Chiropractors at Family Life Chiropractic here in Clearwater. After slapping me aside the head with a two by four for running the 4 miles on that second day, Doc Lee recommended Enzymes to dissolve the clot and made me promise to keep the leg elevated and my movements to a minimum. I knew he was serious, because he made me sign my patient form that he also recommended me seeing an MD (those of you who know me realize that there is no other way to strike fear in my heart). He was afraid that the clot might break lose and end up in my heart as a heart attack, or my lungs as a pulmonary embolism, or my brain as a stroke. It was time for me to get busy.

I looked up all the data I could find on veins and blood clots, both in medical and herbal texts and put myself on an emergency regimen to handle the condition. This is the daily program I created and immediately followed:

1. Vitamin E - 1200 IU2. Niacin (B3) - 100 Mg3. Plant Enzymes - One with each meal4. COQ10 - 100 Mg5. My Heart Formula (2 dropperfuls 6 times a day)6. Lecithin - 1 Tablespoon7. Leg elevation - Most of the day - I worked with my leg up8. Hot and Cold therapy - One hour9. Intestinal Cleanse #1 & #210. An all raw Vegan diet and lots of juicing.

Of Special Note

We make the Heart Formula above and it is composed primarily of Hawthorn. The secondary ingredients are: Cayenne, Red Clover Blossoms, Garlic, Ginger, Cactus Grandiflorous, & Motherwort.

Of primary importance is the Hot and Cold therapy which is done for at least an hour each day. I used a special flexible Ice pack and a regular Heating pad for this part of the program. I started off with ten minutes of the freezing cold pack and then ten minutes of the hot (as hot as I could stand it). I alternated this back and forth for the hour and ended with the heating pad. During this entire process, my leg was elevated on a big pillow.

Now, I had put this whole program together to handle the blood clot and was expecting no more than a reduction and eradication of it. At the end of two weeks the blood clot had disappeared, but wonder of wonders, my varicose veins were gone too. At first, I couldn’t believe it. These things are hereditary aren’t they? But no! It’s 3 weeks later and they’re still gone. Completely!

(Authors note: Still gone!!!!!)

Ian "Doc" Shillington N.D.505-772-5889Dr.IanShillington