Sharon Moore - Lupus: Alternative Therapies That Work

Sharon Moore has done a great service for people with lupus, and for all people suffering with a chronic disease. She has written a very useful and informative book that can serve as a roadmap back to health. It should be read by those who are ill and by the practitioners they choose to work with.... The information and explanations presented are the pearls from thousands of dollars worth of consultations with many different types of practitioners.

John Ruhland, N.D., Bastyr University

Lupus: Alternative Therapies That Work is a book I recommend to not only those with lupus, but to anyone with a disease that is difficult to categorize or treat. It is the story of the authors journey through a painful and confusing disease process, and it is a success story because of her own strength and persistence.... This is a book about life and all its possibilities, and the rewards that come from a commitment to healing.

Eric Steese, Ph.D.,Clinical Psychologist

Sharon Moore has eloquently documented her journey with lupus. She describes the therapies that helped in her recovery and gives rationales for each treatment. Particularly helpful is a twelve-month plan for incorporating these varied therapies into a lifestyle that optimally supports recovery and personal growth.

Pamela Houghton, N.D.,L.Ac.

From the terrifying opening to the clues that lead to her own recovery [Sharon Moores Lupus] reads like the best kind of detective storyone where the case is solved through tenacity, intelligence, and compassion. Theres a wealth of good information about alternative medicine in this book and Sharons message of hope shines through every page.

Rosemary Jones, HealingPgs.com, online bookstore for alternative medicine

Ms. Moore gives the reader both scientific and historical background with an upbeat, informative, compassionate, and spiritual flair.... Lupus: Alternative Therapies That Work may well be the most valuable reference material for providing the information needed to care for oneself.... Ms. Moore has shown that taking her power back has helped her to feel better and given her hope for life beyond lupusit could well do the same for others.

George J. Grobins, D.D.S., P.S.

Lupus

ALTERNATIVE

THERAPIES

THAT WORK

Sharon Moore

Healing Arts Press

Rochester, Vermont

To my husband, Steve, and my parents,

Muriel and Don,

who never stopped believing

that I would recover from lupus.

Acknowledgments

Many people participated directly and indirectly in the creation of this book. To each of them I extend my deep gratitude for their assistance and compasssion over the long years of my recovery and the writing of this manuscript.

Marion Waby encouraged me to write about my healing process. Ruth Ann Londardelli spent many hours reading and discussing the manuscript with me. Librarians Patty Bergman, Rosalie Spellman, Pat Matheny-White, and Jay Windisck provided research assistance. My agent, Joshua Bilmes, found an excellent home for the book with Healing Arts Press. Book project editor Elaine Sanborn was a skilled and patient teacher.

Friends and family played a vital role in helping me stay connected with the world when I was suffering with a debilitating illness. They are: Jonnie Kae Anderson, Reverend Don Bernard, Harry Bowron, Sharri Faulkner Boyd, Kathleen Cannon, Barbara Cashion, Jo Curtz, Terry Curry, Joel Davis, D. J. Delaney, Carol DeMent, Karen and Bob Dick, Rollie Geppart, Barbara Gilles, Velma Grigsby, Jane Hall, Trisha Hamilton, Tim Haralson, Rosana and Kelly Hart, Betty Hauser, Rich Henry, Danny and Anna Hernandez, June Kersog-Hinson, Joe, Yolanda, Janiva, Sonja, and Chago Cifuentes-Hiss, Jackie Huetter, Rosemary Jones, Lorna Joslin, John and Dorothy Killian, Deb Langhans, Doris and Clayt Larsen, Reverend Sandra Lee, Don and Peggy Levine, Marilyn Lewis, Pia and David Lozier, Blanche Mailhot, Susan Meline, Lucia Miltenberger, Dr. Michael Moore, the Peeples family, Sue, Julie, and Nicole Peters, Ruth Pevey, Rick and Cindy Quam, Laura Ralph, Kim Riano, Bob and Alletia Simons, Don and Carol Stubb, Geshe Jamyang Sultrim, Susan Tepper, Patty Thoe and Terry Hogan, Samantha and Rachel Schechter-Thoe, Carol Trasatto, Susan Wallace, Bermaht and Phil Wampler, Jan Wiesenfeld, Barbara Williamson, Kathleen and Chris Wolfe, and Joan Zappetini.

A team of compassionate health care professionals guided me on my journey back to health. They included: Suzanne Adams, N.D., Liliane Bartha, M.D., David Buscher, M.D., Qiang Cao, L.Ac., Sherwin Cottler, Ph.D., Walter Crinnion, N.D., Sandra Denton, M.D., Pamela Houghton, N.D., Steve Kirkpatrick, D.D.S., Mary McCanna, M.A., Robin Moore, N.D., Eric Steese, Ph.D., Jonathan Wright, M.D., and Bing Zhou, L.Ac.

lntroduction

This is the story of my recovery from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using alternative therapies. It is the story of my healing from an illness so deep, so encompassing, that my survival seemed unlikely. It is the story of my discovery of my own healing resources. It is also the story of the compassionate alternative health practitioners who helped me.

Fourteen years ago, in the middle of my mystery illness, I made the choice of treating my debilitating symptoms with alternative medicine. I hoped to avoid the potentially serious, long-term effects of the pharmaceuticals my doctors wanted to use to treat my symptoms, so I began a search through health care practices that hover outside the boundaries of conventional Western medicine. Five years into that long and difficult process, I was finally diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus. By then, I had found alternative therapies from other cultures and other perspectives within my own culture that were helping me. Over time, those therapies have healed most of the lupus symptoms that plagued me for so long.

This book offers an account of what Ive learned about self-care and alternative treatments for lupus. Various applications of naturopathy, nutritional medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, nontoxic dentistry, environmental medicine, and energy medicine have helped me. The information and suggestions I present here do not guarantee recovery. Nevertheless, if you have a mild to moderate case of systemic lupus erythematosus, I hope this book will empower you to begin managing your illness using some of the alternative therapies I discuss. As a lupus patient, you have a right to know about treatments spanning the whole healing spectrum that may help you regain your health.

My Story

There is only one journey. Going inside yourself.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Whats wrong with me? My eyes sweep the inner city hospital emergency room as I lie very still. What began as a pleasant holiday for my husband, Steve, and me, at the 1986 Worlds Fair in Vancouver, Canada, has plummeted into terror. Its 10 p.m. The bright overhead lights of the room burn my eyes. Ambulance sirens signal injury and suffering. The screams and sobs of ill and wounded people ricochet through the rooms. The man next to me moans with acute food poisoning. Two beds away a gunshot victim whimpers as a police officer guards him.

This is not my idea of a holiday. Ive been lying here for hours now, terrified and exhausted. After endless waiting, Im still hoping the doctors can give me a diagnosis for this mystery illness. Over and over I review the day, my mind stuck on details, searching for clues to what has happened to me. After viewing the international exhibits at the Vancouvers 1986 World Exposition, Steve and I dined on chicken and kimchi in a Korean restaurant on the exposition grounds. Following dinner, we entered the U.S. pavilion. Standing on a conveyor that carried us through a large darkened room, we were watching a colorful collage of American life on several slide screens. Then, quite suddenly, I felt as though the room were closing in on me. My heart began pounding wildly. The room began to swirl. I groped through the crowd gasping, Excuse me, excuse me, Ive got to get out. People pressed aside as I staggered toward the neon exit sign. Lunging through the door, I collapsed on the pavement outside. Steve found me moments later dripping with perspiration, struggling for breath and babbling, Get me some help. Please help me.