New data-mining study - Sharethis: Women's migraines linked to higher stroke, heart attack risk - CNN.com

Interesting article. Do read, everybody, because even if you don't have Migraine, odds are you know someone who does.

Others have opined on the results of this data-mining study so I'll refrain except to say this: Anyone who tells you, "These results are nothing to worry about" should always add "unless they apply to YOU."

To recall a parallel situation:

Thalidomide was only a birth-defect problem for an extremely limited demographic group:

• Women who were pregnant and who took thalidomide
  

Now that's a small group of people. Nonetheless, thalidomide-related birth defects were, are, and will continue to be extremely serious and worthy of the most stringent prescribing restrictions (after being removed from the market for years, thalidomide is being researched once again for issues unrelated to pregnancy).

This article is clear about the small group of people who should be concerned about the conclusions from the data mining. But, if you're a woman who sustains attacks of Migraine with aura once a week or more often, you're one of those women.

I am one of those women.

Data mining: frequency of Migraine with aura attacks connected to cardiovascular events
Women's migraines linked to higher stroke, heart attack risk - CNN.com Source: cnn.com
Parin Stormlaughter sent this using ShareThis.

Diclofenac Potassium Oral Solution now FDA Approved for Migraine Treatment

New NSAID for Migraine treatment. Trade name will be Cambia but if you do searches for that word, be sure to search in English. The Spanish language articles you may get may not have anything to do with Diclofenac.

TO SAVE YOU THE TROUBLE of searching the FDA website, here is the Cambia prescribing information (.pdf).

Heeeee! This explains the flurry of anti-tylenol and anti-NSAID commercials over the last couple of months!

"One man's meat is another man's poison". Be aware that anything you put into your body--food, medicine, somebody else--can be dangerous.

But, this is good news on the Migraine front. Indocin, an NSAID used frequently for chronic daily headache and hemicrainia continua, does an excellent job for me (although I feel quite certain its effects would be less pronounced if I were not on a good preventative program of Effexor XR, Keppra, and verapamil as well as the energy and rock medicine things I do too). If it ever stops being effective, I'll consider Cambia.

Slept all night, woke feeling dreadful, then slept 9 more hours. Back to sleep--this is a combination Migraine/Meniere's attack and they're, well, dreadful.



Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. And remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Envy Me, or Hades Moons Attract: Sharethis

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"...but the thrill we've never known
Is the thrill that'll getcha when you get your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone."
artist Dr. Hook

Ah, envy me gals: A Rolling Stone magazine subscription promo consisting of a trial subscription that includes--a handbag with Johnny Depp on the cover of the Rolling Stone.

And the bag is mine, all mine! Well, it's really Aikichik's (thanks for modeling honey!) but we live in Castle Anthrax and have raised sharing our stuff to a sacred state.

And speaking of Hades Moons...Johnny Depp has a Hades Moon. Here's a link to his chart in the Astro-Databank maintained by Astro.com. Johnny Depp is only 3 years younger than I am so outer planet signs aren't as significant as House placements. His Capricorn Hades Moon is in his 6th house and his Jupiter is in his 9th house, like both of mine are, and he has the Taurus/Scorpio axis on his angles (his is the IC/MC angle and mine is Asc/Desc).

IMDB has an in development page for a movie version of the 1960s TV soap opera show Dark Shadows. On behalf of those of us who ran home from school as fast as we could to catch Dark Shadows every day, you're welcome for the link to Wiki.

So what has this to do with Johnny Depp? Rumor has it that he is more than interested in playing Barnabas Collins in the Dark Shadows movie, scheduled for 2011 according to IMDB. According to the Wiki article, Johnny Depp was so obsessed with Barnabas Collins that he wanted to be him. I understand. I wanted to be Doctor Julia Hoffman. There's a reason that Wiki deems Dark Shadows to be a cult series. To me Johnny Depp certainly exhibits Hades Moon characteristics. It's said he has a working electric chair in his living room.

That's one Hades Moon trait--our obsession with obsessions, frequently Dark ones. Birth charts do not make us what we are, but they certainly provide a convenient way to understand ourselves.

There's another person in the Dark with whom I share some natal chart similarities: Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the exorcist for Rome who has written the new top two books on my Amazon "Important" list (on left). No matter who you are, if you work with demons or have never dealt with them in your life that you're aware of, everyone should read those two books. People who work with demons frequently have little factual knowledge of how the Church sees the subject, people with Hades Moons who are just curious about exorcisms will appreciate Fr. Amorth's straightforward, non-superstitious information, and every Christian needs reminding. All good, the way I see it. And go disinter a life, anyone who thinks I'm picking a fight. Sheesh. Just move on.

One of Fr. Amorth's favorite movies? The original The Exorcist. True. He says it's quite accurate although the special effects are a bit exaggerated.

Fr. Amorth does not have a Hades Moon (link to his Astro-Databank chart here); however, he and I both have our Suns in the 8th House of death, sex, and the occult (and inheritances, legacies, taxes, and things of metamorphic processes of all sorts) which is ruled by--Pluto of Hades Moon fame. He and I have the Cancer/Capricorn axis on our angles (his is MC/IC and mine is IC/MC). His 8th House cusp is Taurus so he's "right at home" in the Dark. It's where he "lives" one might say. My 8th House cusp is Sagittarius so I've got a more philosophical interest in sharing about it. His Pluto is conjunction his MC and opposition his IC. My Pluto is 115o (not too far from 120o trine) my Scorpio Desc and trine my MC.

The Vatican couldn't have picked a person with a better natal chart for his job than Fr. Amorth, at least as I see it from my kindergarten perspective.

Oh, and so everything is clear: I don't talk to demons or work with them at all and I'm not really in any sort of deliverance ministry. If you need help in this area, I recommend making an appointment with your pastor or priest.

WHAT I'M SAYING IS that we Hades Moon and others with Pluto-Scorpio-related connections live in the Dark. We're all in an eternal embrace of sorts whichever your side.


Barbossa: "So what now, Jack Sparrow? Are we to be two immortals, locked in an epic battle until Judgment Day and trumpets sound, hmmm?"
Jack Sparrow: "Or you could surrender."
POTC: The Curse of the Black Pearl

"Ophiuchus means 'he who holds the serpent' and that is how he is depicted. The struggle will last forever, since they wage it on equal terms with equal powers". [Manilius, Astronomica, 1st century AD, book 1, p.31]

Fr. Amorth in Messenger of Saint Anthony-please note that article content is highly belief-system intensive
Messenger of Saint Anthony - The Exorcist Source: messengersaintanthony.com
Parin Stormlaughter sent this using ShareThis.

Cure Together - Open Source Health Research wellness site

New chronic illness link at left here at Sparkling With Crystals. I'm making hay while the sun shines (and burns us up--forecast is for 97o today) and before I give out, I want to share this with you.

Cure Together - Open Source Health Research is a ten-plus year old organization. It has a number of offerings for chronic illness folks, participant reported information, and a rather stellar staff.

I'm looking forward to fully exploring the areas I've scanned through. In a Twitter message, @accarmichael of Cure Together explained that information comes from members. That disclaimer is at the bottom of the pages along with the copyright information. Would that everyone would be so upfront about their sources! Big plus for Cure Together, to me.

I value anecdotal information, frankly, provided it's not part of an advertisement for a product or cure. I see good things about the member-provided information at Cure Together. The homepage lists the number of participants at more than 3,000. Seems to be a well to draw from and I'm encouraged.

It has 18 gajillion things for people to track for themselves such as various medications, exercise, weight, caloric intake, and many dozens more categories.

I'll share things from Cure Together as I find them. Check them out when you can in the meantime!



Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. And remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

"Of which vertu engendred is the flour" or Do You Have What it Takes?

" Healing takes patience, persistence, and perseverance. Do you have what it takes? If you said *no* then you'll stay exactly where you are."
Sue Ingebretson, from Twitter

True words. I needed encouragement this morning. Just one of those down, crap-happens days but ta-da! Pleasant, positive phrase popped precipitously preaching patience, persistence, plus perseverance! Aha! Accept, all alliterative ants! XD

I'm in the midst of a combination Meniere's/Migraine attack. Any minute now, gray matter will explode from the sides of my head through my ears, I just know it. The Chinese gongs are sounding nearly continuously and the tinnitus is absolutely screaming. Hearing is going up and down, up and down. The nerves in my head have become sore to the touch now and even smiling hurts.

BUT I'm really getting pumped about the possibility of someday going back to school. My dream was to be a university English teacher. I had been admitted to grad school, had my course of study all planned out--my emphasis was going to be Chaucer with a sub-specialty in linguistics. But, see, I got this job in New Orleans and ....well...didn't go to grad school.

My full-time job now is getting well. Both of my disabling conditions are "triggered" conditions which mean they're rather unpredictable. And I have very little other than patience, persistence, and perseverance--but I do have them.

Heck, maybe a pilgrimage would help--enlist the aid of a "blisful martir" for to "holpen" this pilgrim. I've followed another genealogist's work back a few centuries and if his work is accurate, then Chaucer's wife Philipa de Roet's sister Kathryn Swynford (who was John of Gaunt's third wife) is a direct ancestor on my mother's side, through John and Kathryn's daughter Joan de Beaufort, through the Nevilles down to George Stanley who married Joan, 9th Baroness LeStrange (in her own right). Their daughter Mary Stanley married John Hardy about whom I'm writing a novel of historical fiction .

Anyhow, I need a nice Saint as patron for my wellness efforts. Job's open--accepting suggestions now. :D


Here bygynneth the Book of the tales of Caunterbury
"...Of engelond to caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke..."
Geoffrey Chaucer



Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. And remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Sharethis: 'You'll try anything,' says cancer patient - EarthLink - Health News

If nothing else convinces you that we poor folk need trustworthy guidance in dealing with serious illness, these two articles will.

In this country, people have the right to participate in treatment choices. But, as they teach you in first aid and first responders training, people reach a point when they no longer are able to make sound, rational choices regarding their conditions.

My father reached that point. He and my mother had been through so much with his metastasized prostate cancer, so much pain, so much dreadful treatment, so much sickness, so much much, that all they had left was desperation. Mom was his primary care giver, and they had believed the surgeon who operated on him 18 years earlier who said, "You'll die from something else, Rudy. You won't die from this cancer."

When the hospice nurse told my mother that my father had gone, my mother said, "What?" Between two of them, two nurses had been there for nearly 24 hours. My father had released his last breath some minutes before, the nurse had steadily checked for heartbeat with her stethoscope, yet my mother was in such bad shape that all she could say was, "What?"

All the doctors agreed that he had fared far better than any other patient than any they had treated. His surgeon wrote about his management of my father's case for a publication. To a one they all told him, "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it."

There has GOT TO BE A WAY to integrate what we know now, the miracles of modern Western medicine--which did treat my father successfully with hormone courses three times and radiation at the end--with what we know now about supportive care and healthy completing treatments.

My father breathed clean air and drank clean country water, ate my mother's marvelous organic food, rested and exercised on their farm, and love and played with his grandchildren who adored him right back. He and I spent time researching the drugs he was being treated with, I kept up with his OTC meds and such, and as a family we were united in working with his squamous cell skin cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure as well.

He lived 18 years and 6 months after his diagnosis. He had surgery, 3 courses of hormone treatment, radiation for palliative purposes, good food, the love of his family, and died peacefully having been relieved of his pain by God 3 weeks beforehand. True--my mother came screaming up the stairs one day near the end hollering, "Your father's been cured! He's been cured!" His pain was gone, he felt strength enough to move his arms and legs, and they thought the cancer was gone. It was a different gift from God than cure as it turned out, but they took it and we all gave thanks! He had 3 good weeks.

He had held so tightly to the dream that he might be cured that he was taking physical therapy treatments even after the doctor released him. His last session was exactly one week before he died.

If I ever get my way, clinics will someday have a staff of health care providers all with only one thought: integrating the astronomical amount of knowledge available to mankind to provide patients with not only the best treatment--which is subjective, as the second article below illustrates--but with the best of both Eastern, Western, and belief system advice.

And love. There must be much, much love.

Someday. Someday.

Patients need guidance
'You'll try anything,' says cancer patient - EarthLink - Health News http://shar.es/WIo7
Parin Stormlaughter sent this using ShareThis.

Patient choices
'A sad case': She chose herbals over surgery - EarthLink - Health News http://shar.es/WIWG
Parin Stormlaughter sent this using ShareThis.

Out There: I am Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer

It appears there is a 13th, generally unused astrological sun sign called Ophiuchus. It is generally defined as falling somewhere between November 29th and December 17th of a year. I found it when I was reading Love is in the Earth: The LIITE Fantastic and Last Testament by Melody, (c) 2007 by Earth-Love Publishing House. [At once cloyingly sentimental and egg-headed, it's not a terrifically practical book but it does keep some useful crystal information at hand such as the chemical formulas (good for figuring out which rocks have a good chance of working well together) as well as the Mohs hardness scale for more than 1,300 rocks, minerals, and other things that generally fall under the title of 'crystal'. Unfortunate that the name of the book is misspelled on its own title page but oh well...]

I was born on December 14th, making me not a Sagittarius but an Ophiuchus, by strict sun-sign reading.

Ophiuchus is the Serpent Bearer, the doctor. And true to my nature, medicine is a true love for me. Western medicine holds no charm but completing and alternative medicine traditions do. My first foray into studying completing therapies came about when I wrote a research paper for my sophomore high school English class. My topic? Honey!

I've gotten a parans fixed star reading to integrate into all this too. According to the parans reading, my rising heliacal star is Antares, the Heart of the Scorpion. Not surprising since my Sagittarius Sun is virtually unaspected (being trine only Uranus and that's it). My most aspected Light is my Scorpio Moon and it's my second most aspected planet with Pluto being first in the queue.

Hopefully I'll be able to integrate a couple of astrological readings done for me into a future column. Edgar Cayce considered astrological readings as a snapshot of a person's integral physical and spiritual nature as identified by heavenly body positions at the moment they were born.

What all that means is it's probably not learned behaviour that up to now, I've delved straight into deep, intense relationships, not passing "Go" or collecting $200 or even becoming friends first (my ex-husband began discussing marriage two days after we met and I was there--he and I share many chart similarities), and have made my most profound progress not through reflection or sharing with others, but through life and death. Transpersonal psychology, depth psychology, that's what I want to do.

The stars and planets don't cause me to be the way I am. They provide a way to identify and analyse personality and physical aspects in an understandable way. They'll give me a way to explain to analysands why one workaround might get faster and better results than another. Not likely that they'll care what their heliacal rising or setting stars are or which planet is aspected to the what in the where on their birth charts. All this will be useful to me mostly.

Three steps forward, two steps back...drinking colorless apophyllite, blue aquamarine, and rutilated quartz-charged water right now. I'm about ready to go back to the neurotologist about this Meniere's. I have spent a year working like a dog to see if I could solve my vestibular system problems through completing treatments but haven't made enough progress on that front to count, really. Keeping my energy balanced and using rose quartz both help with vertigo attacks but nothing has touched the disequilibrium that persists for weeks after vertigo attacks. I'm on the verge of needing a walker (the vestibular rehab therapists that I've seen in the last two years think I do), frequently I can't keep my balance sitting upright in bed even, and walking when I'm disequilibriated wracks my shot nerves. This is no kind of life.

What I've learned in the last year is that an integration of what we know now with what we know now is the key to health success. Both Libchik and Aikichik-sensei (Shodan as of yesterday!!) agreed this past week that in some ways, I am remarkably better now than I was two years ago. I owe much to the Crystal Healer's advice and the professional astrologers who've patiently answered my intense questions, the amazing books I've read on Jungian dream analysis and planet delineations, and the personal work I've done on my own ideals and direction.

Although I spent some years as a W-2 wage earner, mostly I've been self-employed in my money earnings. If I can ever get disequilibrium resolved, and can continue the good progress on the Migraine front, maybe I'll be able to rejoin my beloved self-employed. I'll have to find new route out for intestinal gas than through my mind (read: brain farts short-circuit my cognitive processes), but hey! I love a good challenge if I can figure out what it is. XD

"Life goes on within you and without you", as George Harrison put it in Within You, Without You. It'll go on for me whether in this life or the next. I certainly would rather be of service than to require being served, that's for sure. My birth chart is so others-oriented, I didn't seriously consider further pursuing who I was more than being an MBTI "ENTJ" until I was faced with the horrific spiritual attack that has now divided my life into "before July 2007" and "after July 2007", but the rest of who I am in fact will have to wait for a future column.

Time to scoot. The sun will come up soon and this nocturnal scorpion will be retreating underneath rocks shortly to wait out the burning sun until night falls again.

Sharethis: Scientists find bacterial zoo thrives in our skin - EarthLink - Top News

All I can say is yuck.

There's an age-old underarm grooming treatment of sponging off with witch hazel. Commercial witch hazel contains some alcohol so at least it probably killed some of the rain forest critters.

Underarm rain forest
Scientists find bacterial zoo thrives in our skin - EarthLink - Top News http://shar.es/Xb9o
Parin Stormlaughter sent this using ShareThis.

Wonder what Meniere's Syndrome determination is?

If you EVER think Meniere's Syndrome isn't tough, just read this thread from www.menieres.org

David.

If I wore a hat (and I think men who wear hats are sexy, BTW), I'd take it off to you, David.


On Twitter--Parin Stormlaughter

Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Contact me to request permission to link. And remember that if my work gets published anywhere else, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.