posted
Well, after 20 some years of perfect health and belief in Christian Science, I think it's safe to say that my unwavering faith has been chipped away enough that the idea of "mind over matter" doesn't really work for me anymore. Maybe if I started going to church again, it would click, but for now, I feel icky, and I'm wondering what the name of it is and what medicine can do for me.
My joints, fingers, head, and even teeth have been aching all day, to the point where I'd rather not move at all. I've been getting very cold and very hot, and sometimes food sounds good and sometimes the thought makes me feel slightly nauseous. Nothing has gotten particularly better or worse throughout the day.
So what would most people call that? A cold? Are there any pills I can take to make the aching joints stop? I tried some Ibuprofin this morning, thinking it was a hangover (from one beer?), but it didn't seem to do anything.
I did spend 45 minutes standing outside in a thunderstorm waiting for a late bus yesterday, but that doesn't actually cause anything, does it?
Mortality sucks. Maybe I will start going to church again. Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
Sounds like arthitis to me. I don't knwo much about CS but are homeopathics OK? I use topical arnica gel for mine.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Sounds to me like the flu (the hot and cold sounds like a low fever of your body fighting infection). It's not much fun, but usually doesn't last too long. Ibuprofen can help with joint ache (provided you don't have stomach problems you can take 800mg 3 times a day for a short while), but won't make it go away totally. Make sure to get adequate sleep, drink lots of clear liquids (no, alcohol doesn't count), and try to take it a little easy. For me, it usually will clear up on its own in a couple days.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
I'm not much of a believer in pills and drugs, though it's a personal preference rather than a religion.
However, I can sympathize with you. Something my chiropractor emphasizes though is that sometimes we have to let our bodies feel bad - a lack of energy and vitality is meant to slow us down so we'll let ourselves heal. This doesn't mean we have to go running for the medicine cabinet, but it doesn't mean we're going to feel just peachy all the time since we're drug-free. Sometimes you have to let yourself be snotty or feverish or sleepy, and let your body work through the illness.
Of course, if this is something that persists or gets severe, my personal belief is to get some kind of professional help, even a naturopath or acupuncturist. I don't know where the limits are religiously for you, but I think that medicine does have its place in helping when you're seriously ill and in danger of causing serious harm to your body, I just don't think that point comes as often as most people think it does.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
Thanks guys. I actually cruised on over to the CS website after I wrote that, feeling kind of silly about "just wanting a pill", and read some very inspiring articles that sort of brought me back to that way of thinking. I don't think I'll be needing anything else.
posted
Can we turn this into an "Ask the Christian Scientist" thread? My friend and I drove past a Christian Science church the other day (I'm assuming it's the same as "First Church of Christ, Scientist") and I asked her "What do Christian Scientists believe?" She replied, "I was just going to ask you the same thing."
I'm totally ignorant, so forgive me for being dense, but where and when did the church get started? It's not the same as Scientology, right? Do a lot of people ask that?
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Sure, we can talk about it, but you have to remember that I haven't been to services since I was about 11 years old, so it's possible that my personal view of the belief system has veered off from the official one... I don't think it has, but it's possible.
Yep, First Church of Christ, Scientist is what the churches are named, it's the same thing.
I think the church was started in the late 1800's, by a woman named Mary Baker Eddy (she has been a Jeopardy question before, so memorize that to impress your friends!). She was a smart but unextraordinary woman who slipped on some ice and severely injured her back when she was in her 40's, and while bedridden spent a lot of time studying the Bible. She found a new way of interpreting the scriptures, and after her miraculous recovery, wrote a book about it and started a religion. It caught on pretty quick.
Christian Science has NO relation to Scientology. Yes, a lot of people ask that, and then edge away from me.
In skimming over the Wikipedia article on CS, it seems like they do a pretty good job of summing it up, so I'll just link you to them:
posted
Honey, you feel icky because you are sick. It can happen to the best of us. The chills and sweats, the aches and malaise, the fatigue and nausea are all part of the picture.
Ibuprofen, aspirin, tylenol, Aleve can all make you feel more comfortable, but they won't cure you or shorten the duration of your illness.
You need rest. Call out sick to whatever you were going to and just lay around and nap and take it easy. You need lots of fluids. Tea is nice, juice is good, but best of all is chicken soup.
And the best way to get chicken soup is to have someone who loves you make it for you. Second best is to get some delivered (maybe by someone who likes you) from a take-out restaurant.
Failing that, open a can.
Feel Better, and Refuah Shleimah (a complete recovery)
posted
So as far as "What Christian Scientists believe", to me the root of the religion has always been that the "mortal" world is merely an illusion, that man was created in God's image, we're all reflections of Him, and thus are as perfect and whole and spiritual as God himself. Therefore we can't really be sick or injured or hopeless or afraid, because God isn't and can't be be any of those things. And so the religion is focused around quiet prayer and study, usually focused on better understanding this relationship to God and clearing our minds of any mortal fears ("oh no, I'm sick! I'm going to miss my kid's pageant!" "oh no, I just slipped and fell, therefore I'm going to have a lot of pain in my back!").
A common misconception, though perhaps true for the inevitable fringe element of any religion, is that the Church forbids medical treatment. From Sunday School on up, in official Church sermons and in talking with licensed CS Practitioners, it's always been made clear to me that medical science isn't something that you have to avoid, but that it's usually less effective that simply understanding that the perceived problem is false. But it was always clear that if you, say, fell out of a tree and broke your leg, there was nothing wrong with going to the hospital and having it set. Though you'd be foolish to allow your fear about possible future pain and suffering become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Thanks, Tante Esther, but I'm feeling fine now. I just went and did my laundry, no aching or chills or anything. I just needed to get my head screwed on straight. Shoot, I think I was telling myself I was sick in the first place. Maybe I just really didn't want to be at work today. Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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I have nothing to contribute but my generally positive feelings about Christian Science. I had a dear friend who was a Christian Scientist and he gave me perhaps the very best advice I've ever had in my entire life: Be Grateful. It was in response to a migraine I couldn't shake, and darned if it didn't work. After an hour of concentrated effort at being grateful, the migraine was gone.
Now I take Zomig, which only takes 20 minutes no effort on my part to get rid of migraines, but the advice was still excellent. I've come to believe it is the cure to many ills, most especially those of the heart.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Man you were outside in that crazy thunderstorm? If you still went to Cornell, I'd say go to Gannett, but they would probably just ask if you're pregnant and send you on your way. Posts: 2867 | Registered: May 2005
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Listen to Tante Shvester. My [Jewish] grandmother always had ways of making me feel better. It was fun to be sick! Watch a good film, and have the best food and special sweets to make yourself feel better.
It's like swallowing tasty drugs, but natural ones that don't make you sicker*.
JH
* Always check the side-effects of drugs. Aspirin, for instance, has a side-effect of headaches.
Posts: 358 | Registered: May 2005
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A pregnancy test and an ice pack! Yeah, Gannett is really helpful, eh?
jeniwren, funny you should mention that, because I woke up this morning and immediately listed off all the things I'm greatful for instead of feeling grumpy about having to wake up and go to work. Hopefully today will turn out better than yesterday. (Did I mention yesterday's bus broke down and I had to walk the last mile and a half to work?)
I'm certainly in a better mood than I was this time yesterday, anyhow. Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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It's funny. Even though I'm in medical school, Christian Science is one of the few Christian (though it's fairly fringe for its views on Jesus, I think*) sects that I get a good vibe from. Partly because my friend, Soren, is such a calm, gentle, and warm-vibing kind of person. His mother's a practitioner, and he's very involved in his church. I actually attended a Weds night testimony at the church near Brown's campus.
* wikipedia:
quote:Since Christian Scientists deny the existence of evil, the devil, and all sin, the role of Jesus Christ is radically different from nearly all other Christian sects. In Christian Science, Christ did not die for the sins of man; rather, Christ's works, crucifixion, and resurrection serve to reveal the non-existence of sin and death. Christian Scientists believe that through proper adherence to the teachings of Jesus, one can also demonstrate (albeit on a smaller scale) the non-existence of such "error.
posted
Cool, dabbler! I also greatly appreciate the work of good doctors who have devoted their lives to helping others. Medical science may not be something I usually choose to put my faith in, but I know that it's a wonderful aid to those who do.
And yes, Christian Science is considered a "cult" by many people who care to make that kind of distinction. Doesn't bother me one way or the other whether people think the religion is "Christian" or not, because it's just a label. And CS practically demands tolerance of other religions (I remember being given a recording of an entire lecture on the subject aimed at kids when I was 7 or 8), so I've always just shrugged it off.
I would like to start going back to church, I think... I've never felt as calm and happy as when I've been involved in the community.
Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
Well as a little side advice if your joints are really bothering you and are feeling "icky" as whole I'd say you should take some really good daily multi-vitamins and Glucosamine + Chondroitin. The G+C really helps out your joints, I know that every once in a while I'd get a little joint pain from running too much, lifting too hard etc. and its all gone away since I've been taking it.
Posts: 1753 | Registered: May 2001
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Black Fox, while that's probably good advice for others (as in, thanks for the suggestion for those who may use it), I actually doubt Zeugma will take you up on it .
Posts: 1261 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Can we meet, finally, during Grassoots? Sorry to hijack thy thread, but some things are important. You need to be real! We will be staying at a b and ba in Trumansburg on Wed. night.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Wow, Grassroots already? Time is flying by!
My little world has been pretty crazy lately with work and school, but we have to be able to find something that works. Will you be heading into Ithaca at all?
Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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No, but you are welcome to join us at the b and b on Wednesday night. Really, though, Loser Woman, you should go to GrassRoots. Some of us travel across the country to see the bands you have in your back yard. Sheesh.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Oh for heaven's sake. These prior commitments!
We should be there some time during the day Wednesday. We will not have to do the "Land Grab" until 9 or 10 AM Thursday.
Would you just buy a ticket to GrassRoots??? You will love it. Even if you can only go a few hours a day, or one day, or two days, or part of a few days, it will be worth it.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Well, I do have this "work" thing during the day....
Honestly, though, I've been about running on empty since I started this job. Between it, my incredibly time-consuming schoolwork, my marriage, and my crazy-dog-ownership, I really don't have much time to myself these days. If I'm not focusing on one of those four things, I'm either asleep or in the bathroom.
Which means I'm either typing this in bed or on the toilet. Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Work. Why must it get in the way like that?
Well, we are going to be at the bed and breakfast Monday night as well. There is usually a show at the Rongo with Keith Secola that night. We could get pizza or something. I will email you closer to the time.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Maybe if I started going to church again, it would click, but for now, I feel icky, and I'm wondering what the name of it is and what medicine can do for me. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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