Road trip to mitochondrial therapy
Every few months I go for Mitochondrial testing but this time we made it into a mother-daughter trip.
First, let's talk about mitochondria quickly so you know what's going on. Mitochondria are in all cells of the body (except eyes, I think), they are the powerhouses...batteries if you'd like. They provide energy for our cells so our bodies can function. Our muscles, heart, lungs, and brain cannot function efficiently without sufficient cellular energy.
My Mitochondria and M.E
My mitochondria had become slow, scarce and all round pretty pathetic. I was told that my body was not living it was surviving and had caused my heart to work overtime and become damaged. I was told with the state my heart was in I was likely to get 5-10 years out of it, which as a 27-year-old at the time was a hell of a shock! Although my friend Salli, who was with me at this test seemed more shocked than me! To be honest, having only 5-10 years of my awesomeness left would be enough to devastate anyone!
The test...
The test assesses aspects of the body’s autonomic nervous system and is the most non-invasive test ever suggested to me. The test itself is called a HRV (heart rate variability) test. All you have to do is relax and sit still for 5 minutes with some clip on electrodes on your wrists and ankles, then the results come up on a computer and are printed out.
I originally went to see a practitioner for the first 2 tests but he was somewhat stumped with my body and was worried about my heart so like any decent practitioner he was truthful and recommended I go and see the Doctor that created the programme and who can see the heart function.
This is my heart view on my first test with Dr. Kucera and then my heart 5 months later.
Results
Results are printed out and there is a lot of words and graphs I don't understand fully even after 2 years! I do know that the 'overall' score is not what you should be focusing on. Doctor Kucera's main focus is the box called 'general parameters of the heart rate variability' I personally use the book by Sheri Dixon to try and understand this box better as she explains it so easily and even has examples of a variety of people and their results so you can understand your own test more. You can find her book The FAST way to SLOW down ageing on Amazon (I was gifted this book at one of my appointments) it really does explain all you need to know about your body, mitochondria, and the test.
The thing I tend to look at on the results is the scattergram as you can clearly see the oval shape and you should be aiming for the blue dots to fit within the oval. As you can see my very first test was barely within the oval and now I'm very nearly fully in.
At my last appointment, I was informed that I have a new body! Although, he did say from my results he can see that I'm a very emotional person and I can confirm this is accurate! Dr. K said that the supplements I take cannot help with this as it is who I am and the parts that show this on the test will change on a daily basis! But at a cellular level, I am functioning well and he is happy with my results, which lead to an even happier Katie as my supplements have been reduced which means my bank is also doing a happy dance!
If you would like more information on mitochondrial therapy and where your nearest practitioner is then you can go to their website.
Our trip
It takes 4hours to travel to my appointment in Macclesfield for a 15-30minutue appointment then we about turn for another 4 hours back, SO mother dearest and I decided to stay away for a night. Mum said to look for a travel lodge but I just think if I'm spending money I'd like to spend it somewhere I'd actually want to stay that gives me all those 'feels' you know?!
I was straight on to Airbnb as I'm slightly obsessed and made a little wish list of places to stay but I knew when I came across this place it was exactly where I wanted to stay.
It was set off a beaten track in the Oswestry area with incredible views everywhere you looked. Alys, the host, also has a beautiful Shepards hut too, you can book here to get £25 travel credit for your first trip!
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We met Aly and her beautiful dogs, had a cuppa tea and chatted about mitochondrial therapy and the power of the mind as Aly is a cognitive behavioral therapist. We couldn't have asked for a better welcome and also learnt a lot within the first 30 minutes of bin there. We then dumped our stuff in the room and headed out to the local pub as we were STARVING!
The Railway Inn was a cute little country pub and the food was lovely. I was still hungry after eating my main but didn't want anything sweet for dessert so, me being me asked for a starter for my pudding which by the way was amazing creamy garlic mushrooms.
The next day we had a slow chilled out morning until about 10 and then headed to a waterfall that was only 6 miles away. It was, in fact, Pistyll Rhadaer which has been on my list to see for years. Mum and I got there and it started to snow so we waited it out. Once the sun made an appearance we headed to the falls and there was only one other person there. It was magical, stunning, huge and just darn right spectacular, highly recommend going to see. As we left loads of people started turning up, the universe was on our side that day to let us enjoy the magnificent beauty in peace.
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We had a fantastic 2 days away with lots of giggles, great scenery and ate our body weight in food...ok maybe that was just me but it was so worth it and that was without the great news from Dr. K!