Gut-Brain

Hello gentle reader,

In the words of Talking Heads "When I have nothing to say my lips are sealed"

Well, still nothing new here really except to say that watched this programme on BBC the other day. Much of it will be nothing new to a seasoned UC sufferer. However there is an interesting aspect of the gut which is that it shares some similarity with your brain.

I recommend it to you. Here's the link:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01kpt6c/Guts_The_Strange_and_Mysterious_World_of_the_Human_Stomach/

Just have to say . . .

The journey that starts with guts ache can lead you to embark on new journeys and find out new things. 

Ulcerative colitis changed my life, and I venture many people who read this blog will feel the same. How it changes you is largely (not entirely) up to you?

I wonder if you don't acknowledge your journey, if you have not traveled?

On my particular journey I found a lot of pain and anguish, and I was taken to some frightening places; but there was more.

In the very nadir of fear I stumbled on something that might have helped me earlier if I had only known. It certainly helped me as I faced the knife.

Anyway- my journey continues and this is somewhere it took me. . .

Ulcerative colits, Eczema, and positive imagery.

Calm and relaxed

I don't mean to get all weird on you, but I thought you might be interested in this:

I found out an interesting thing the other day - there seems to be a bit of a link between Eczema and Ulcerative Colitis.

Imagine the skin. It is made up of many layers, and is very complex, but I am going to simplify it to make the principle clear. In a layer that lies below the surface, all the cells are packed together. The function of this layer is to stop water escaping and thus the skin becoming dehydrated. The way that this layer does it, lies in the contact area between the cells. Particularly towards the surface of the skin. Here the edge of each cell is bound to the next one by what is scientifically (and delightfully simply) called "Tight Junctions".

In tight junctions a kind of mucosal layer on each cell bonds together. Almost becoming one. This forming a kind watertight seal.

Above this there is an outer layer of cells. The ones you can actually see on the surface of the skin (I think) called the Stratum Corneum. This layer can be imagined like bricks forming a wall. The mortar that binds these bricks together is made from lipids. This layer has the function of forming a barrier to the outside world with all its microbes and chemicals etc.

But guess what. It seems that in both Eczema and Ulcerative colitis (on the inner lining of the gut) this process has broken down. The result is all too familiar to many readers of this blog. If you have ever seen UC during colonoscopy you will see that it actually quite resembles Eczema.

So, given my interest in hypnosis and imagery, and the fact that I have a bit of eczema on my lower leg I am trying, under self hypnosis, to imagine the cells of the Eczema healing and the barrier becoming functional again.

You can only try can't you? I will be interested to see if it can improve the situation.

So I have been doing this for a couple weeks now. Everyday I do about 30 mins. I will report back if there are any changes. Do you think I should make up some imagery for UC?

As a related aside if you want to download a free mp3 file, of a journey that simply encourages you to relax and let go you can do so by clicking here.

It doesn't have anything to do with eczema or UC but it will give you an idea of what it is like. Just get yourself comfortable and go with the flow. Don't listen to it in a car or in any situation which to fall asleep would be dangerous.

If you are interested to ask questions, delve deeper, or are considering a little personal archeology AND if you happen to be in Nottingham on 28th April at 3:30pm you could attend my free talk on the subject. It is at the Broadway Media Centre in the lounge.

If you'd like to come along please just send me a message from here, or from the download page I've linked to. There are about 15 seats and I need to make sure I know how many people are coming.

No obligation and a free CD to take away.

Interview part 1

This is the first of a series of snippets from the interview on www.trentsound.com.

I'm working my way through it and cutting it down a bit.

In this section everything is going nice and smoothly.

I hope you find it interesting.

This is the sound of arkayeff

Dear Reader,

Now by the wonders of the incredible technology you are using to read these words it is possible to find out what the author sounds like.

OK I admit this is shameless self promotion, but if you wish you can hear me on the radio talking about hypnotherapy, film, music and more. All you have to do is point your computer at http://www.trentsound.com/ this Saturday the 17th between about 5:15 pm and 7 by the clock on this website.

I'm being interviewed by the very talented Rapunzel M.A.P.

Having said that, I would like to say again, that it was the strangely convoluted and painful path of my quivering gut that brought me to Hypnotherapy as a client, and this in turn has opened my eyes to many new things including this very unexpected opportunity.

I remain

Glory of the world

Having something like Ulcerative Colitis by no means a pleasant situation.

My Dad, who died in 2004, used to own a number of Skoda cars, when they were still cars that everyone laughed at. Despite the fact that they were spectacularly cheap, my Dad also loved them for their badly translated user guide.

He would turn, in times of crisis, to the section entitled "Taking the car in tow" which described how to extract the vehicle from the scene of a crash.

This section started with some words to calm you in your moment of anxiety and panic:

"Having a crash is by no means a pleasant situation . . ." My Dad would chortle his way through the paragraphs. "Try not to arrive at red light with screeching brake" it advised in the spirit of prevention.

Is having ulcerative colitis a bit like being issued with a 1980's mud brown Skoda for a gut? Maybe. Maybe we somehow arrived at the red light with "screeching brake".

I have wondered about this in the past, and I'm still not sure.

If you are interested in the plumbing and the stitching, this post will not satisfy you. If you are interested in more than your own belly button in relation to life (and death as well) then maybe you might like to look at this blog entry. It is written by Gloria, who is (amongst many other excellent things) a funeral celebrant (a humanist celebrant).

I'm not in the least pointing towards Gloria because UC and death go together; rather I'm pointing at Gloria's philosophical post because it picks out many things that are relevant to someone with UC

I suggest you get some sewing machine oil and lubricate all the little wheels of your mind before giving it something really nourishing to bite on.

Click HERE to start

The Journey

OK, I realise this is not specifically about Guts and Blood, but I hope you might be interested in sending 4 minutes watching this, my 2nd video in a series of 3, about Hypnotherapy.

My journey to become a hypnotherapist started in the murky entrails of the dread Ulcerative Colitis. I therefore include it as a part of my journey.

I hope you will like it, and I think it contains quite a few interesting things to think about.

May you live to be 100