Iria Vasquez-Paez

Back in my present life's past, I was into studying gemstones, and crystals, and what they could do for various health problems. Recently, before the pandemic hit full force, I have gone back to studying gemstones that I'd like to do studies on when I go back to school to see if using them is effective. Being forewarned is forearmed, gemstones do not substitute medication, I'm only writing about my personal experience, don’t bother taking this piece as concrete advice. I only know my observations, and this article is going to cover the effects of carnelian, rose quartz, angelite, amethyst, sodalite, selenite, turquoise, black tourmaline, quartz, and aventurine.

I read Facebook article links all the time about what a mentally ill person should not be told whether they are having a good day or a bad day, but more importantly if they are having a bad day. I read things about bipolar disorder; I've experienced people kicking me around though. My schizoaffective is under control but when the receptionist at East Valley kicks me around if I'm less than peppy, to talk to my peer counselor, its like, okay, you are kicking me while I'm down, so I call my peer counselor directly now.

Remember my early articles about how herbal medicine can have as many side effects as Western medicine? Well with Western medicine and its medication treatments, you can't get paranoid about every last side effect. Even normal cooking herbs can keep you healthy, such as oregano, sage, basil, fennel, garlic, lemon balm, peppermint (of which I'm allergic to), rosemary, Echinacea, (which I cannot use due to autoimmune disorders such as hypothyroidism and type 1 diabetes), sambucus or elderberry, licorice, astragalas, ginger, ginseng, and dandelion. Starting with oregano, some swear by the fact that oregano, can deal with stomach flu quite well, while also reducing viral infection. Medicinal herbs can heal you but then again don't through the Western medicine baby out with the bathwater.

The media hype surrounding the coronavirus is astounding, not to mention awfully demoralizing to watch. They do it for the ratings, the readers, as well as the information that could be put out. Yes, there could be a coronavirus vaccine soon but that is mostly reliant on other countries working together. If nothing else, it seems that a hot climate helps stomp the virus out. If more countries got together to share resources, and not blame China for every last little thing, then something good may come out of this coronavirus mess since working together is one way to come up with a vaccine faster.

Before you go elderberry or Echinacea crazy, there are things that should be spoken of in order to make sure that those interested in herbal remedies make it a point to understand that herbs have major side effects right smack next to normal medicine. If you have thyroid disorder, using herbal remedies may have an effect on you. Herbal remedies can have bad side effects just like Western medicine remedies. Don't go all gaga over herbs just yet because St. John's Wort can make a bipolar manic as well as give them sun rash on their face. Also, this article is in no way something to be mistaken for a doctor's advice, I'm just someone with knowledge, do not change your treatment rules without talking to your physician. This article is written to prove a point on how people with hypothyroidism, and in my case, type 1 diabetes, can get herbal remedy side effects as much as any normal Western medicine chemical can cause more side effects.

I try to educate most people around me into understanding that I have a mental illness, because I do not want to have to pretend I'm fine when I'm not. This was something people did in the 1990s, when saying you took medication was not as common as it is in the present. The thing is, many expect a lie to be told. I believe that this gets to ridiculous levels since nobody mentally ill wants to be felt sorry for so we try to hide our feelings around you normal people who manage to sleep by just shutting your brain off, although for some reason, you guys seriously drink a lot of coffee.