Piss-a-beds or, That's dandelion

*William Tell Overture in the background...*

I rescued both dandelion and broad-leaf plantain from my mother who was mounting an attack. I brought up the cavalry from the rear and effected the retrieval before she could toss them into her weed sack.

My Culpepper's Herbal says that the "vulgarly called Piss-a-Beds" dandelion is under the jurisdiction of Jupiter. That's convenient because I'm Sagittarius (actually, I'm that weird thirteenth solar sign, Ophiuchus, which isn't included because it's not in the tropical zodiac--don't ask what it means because I cannot answer any astrological questions due to ignorance!). Sagittarius is also under the jurisdiction of Jupiter.

Whatever--dandelion is a nice herbal diuretic for us Meniere's-y types who can't or don't want to take prescription diuretics. Don't know what effect it has on the endolymph and perilymph in the cochlea, but then I have no idea what the diuretic Maxide (first-line treatment) actually does either. The theory is that diuretics reduce the volume of those two fluids and thereby reduce the Meniere's Symptoms, but I'm not sure if any research has been done to verify that. After a year on Maxide, my hearing was restored to virtually perfect between attacks, I will say that. It drops to half of normal or less during attacks but bounces right back between times. If dandelion will suffice in place of Maxide, I would rather use it. I'll be able to grow dandelion nearly year 'round here in Alabama once I get a patch growing.

Next year, I'm going to plant a nice little patch in the back yard. Grow some yourself! But if you do, take care that NO LAWN CHEMICALS, EVEN FERTILIZER come in contact with your dandelion. Keep the animals away if you can but you'll be washing the leaves before you eat them. Besides, who knows what critters lurk in the hearts of the suburbs? Foxes, beavers, raccoons (a family of raccoons lives next door to me), turkeys, geese, and every other sort of bird you would want to watch and hear. Try to keep the dogs and cats out if you can.

The other plant I rescued was broad-leaf plantain. Culpepper's Herbal recommends it as a potherb also but mostly as a poultice for joints--as SNL's Church Lady (played by Dana Carvey) used to say, "How con-veeeeee-int!" My visit to the chiropractor after my fall last Saturday 10/18 produced a ton of information about my neck and spine from the x-rays they took last Tuesday that I never wanted to know but must attend to now, so I'll be experimenting with poultices and all sorts of spine remedies for a while.

One of my favorite crystals, aquamarine (shown in the midst of the dandelion), is supposed to be good for neck alignment. I'm going to try it tomorrow. I have been using this utterly fabulous botryoidal hematite hunk the size of a softball along with magnetite crystals for pain and they're also good for working with spinal realignment. I put the hematite at my feet and the magnetites along my spine and neck. It did help the pain but I'm beyond crystals and energy medicine now, I'm afraid. I may be beyond my fabulous chiropractor but he said he'd treat me for a month at least before reassessing.

I was not aware of any of this.

I've got an 'S'-shaped spine from scoliosis, bone spurs and degenerative disc disease in my neck (one of the bone spurs is floating around in my neck after I apparently broke it off when I fell the other day), my Atlas bone is out of alignment, and my C-6 vertebra has shifted to the left about 35% (that's about how far it looked to me on the x-ray--Dr. Nesseler [name used with his permission] said it was "completely in the wrong place") and seems to be pressing against my spine. Dr. Nesseler says that the arthritis in my lower back is affecting the nerve that is causing me to occasionally not lift up my right leg high enough when I walk up stairs and steps, which makes me stumble and fall (actually, I did know about the arthritis--back injury twenty years ago). I fall from plenty of other reasons--if Dr. Nesseler can fix this one, it would be marvelous.

My Culpepper's Herbal copy is so old it doesn't have a copyright date. It does list the publisher as W. Foulsham & Co., LTD., 2-5 Old Bond Street, London W.i, and notes that this particular book was made in Great Britain. Their website says they've been in business since 1819. It was given to me years ago by one of my late co-workers right before she retired. She got it from her mother-in-law right before she died. The mother-in-law was considered an herbal healer "of the old way" so my friend told me. Not sure what "the old way" means but the gift was priceless and made me feel like a million dollars.

*sigh*

At least I know what a lot of my problems come from. I hope to do an article soon about chiropractics explaining how they work on the more subtle things that are 'wrong' with a person, more subtle than a Western physician would trouble himself or herself with. If the Western physician can't find anything wrong, and you know it's not in your head, consider whether it may be in your spine. Your spinal nerves aren't the only source of nerve impulses for your body and organs but they're a major source. And a chiropractor won't prescribe any medicines.

For now, I'm babying my broken bone spur and my upper back. Got to, cause Dr. Evil whopped up on me Friday. He said he was going to--he didn't lie. I'll see him nine more times in the next three weeks. Might not be anything left of me by then!

Broad-leaf plantain, several rosettes, rescued from my mother's vicious weed digger the other day, destined to become both a potherb and a poultice for my back. Poultice recipe forthcoming once I've perfected it.

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