Hi Lisa, with that kind of family history and your past history of the sympathetic reaction, I am certain you are consulting the wrong specialist. Talk to your primary physician to see if a referral for an integrative medicine doctor can be made, ideally an Internal Medicine doctor trained in functional/integrative medicine. I did a search in Pennsylvania and there are several, I just don't know if they work in a system that will be covered by your health insurance. You need some blood work testing other than the ANCAs. All autoimmune markers and immune system components should be tested. Also all virus markers, vitamin and mineral levels and ideally toxicity levels of several compounds. It is surprising how one gets a problematic virus without any significant past exposure. A dentist visit could do it. Vascular surgeons don't know how to interpret these tests correctly. When you tell them you are a smoker, this somehow arrests their thinking capability and they start to believe it is all due to the smoking part.
If you can't get hooked up with an integrative medicine doctor, at least get a referral for a doctor or someone who can test all virus, immune markers related with autoimmune diseases, other than the measurement of inflammatory markers, hormonal, vitamin and mineral levels. If the rheumatologist didn't do this, then prolly is best to see a "all body doctor", i.e. Internal Medicine. You would still be able to network about alternative therapies here, but at least you have a chance of working with someone who is not so stuck on the label of "smoking=vascular problems".
From what you are saying, I still get the impression that you are not typically those people who have a weird allergy to the tobacco plant and develop serious obstructions in their arteries among other clinical manifestations. I think you are self-medicating with tobacco. IF I where you, I would not say I'm a smoker to help them docs think out of the box. But I understand the situation you are in. Also, I don't know how it works in the US. Over here, once you are a smoker on the electronic medical history, any doctor will know it whether you like it or not.
If you are not able to increase your time in the FIR sauna, then the trick is as follows: do the time you tolerate, whether 15' or 30', but do it at least twice per day. If it goes alright, try 3 times per day. If not cut back. With time, you will be able to increase your time on the sauna.
I don't know about the oral DMSO, it can have some serious detox reactions in some. You could give it a try though, but I would be careful.
If you are taking C crystals 1/2 teaspoon 3 times per day, that is way too little. You should titrate to bowel tolerance. Just to give you an idea, I'm tolerating 6-8 full teaspoons these days for adrenal support ONLY.
If there is an autoimmune reaction or health problem related with your vessels, I would not be surprised if you tolerated 20 teaspoons (or more) throughout the whole day before the onset of tummy gurgling and/or diarrhea. If you don't take enough vitamin C, it would not be able to help you. And vitamin C is the one thing that can help you because Vitamin C also helps manufacture collagen, vital for the health of all our tissues and the repair of blood vessels, teeth, joints and bones. It also helps to normalize blood pressure. It is vital so our immune systems can fight viruses, bacteria and other microbes. Vitamin C is also important in the synthesis of brain chemicals such as our happy mood neurotransmitter - serotonin. From "The Experience of Robert F. Cathcart, M.D.- Oral Vitamin C, Titrating to Tolerance published on Medical Hypotheses, 7:1359-1376, 1981 and available
here:
"The following problems should be expected with increased incidence with severe depletion of ascorbate: disorders of the immune system such as secondary infections, rheumatoid arthritis and other collagen diseases [blood vessels have collagen on them], allergic reactions to drugs, foods and other substances, chronic infections such as herpes, or sequelae of acute infections such as Guillain-Barre' and Reye's syndromes, rheumatic fever, or scarlet fever; disorders of the blood coagulation mechanisms such as hemorrhage, heart attacks, strokes, hemorrhoids, and other vascular thrombosis; failure to cope properly with stresses due to suppression of the adrenal functions such as phlebitis, other inflammatory disorders, asthma and other allergies; problems of disordered collagen formation such as impaired ability to heal, excessive scarring, bed sores, varicose veins, hernias, stretch marks, wrinkles, perhaps even wear of cartilage or degeneration of spinal discs; impaired function of the nervous system such as malaise, decreased pain tolerance, tendency to muscle spasms, even psychiatric disorders and senility; and cancer from the suppressed immune system and carcinogens not detoxified; etc. Note that I am not saying that ascorbate depletion is the only cause of these disorders, but I am pointing out that disorders of these systems would certainly predispose to these diseases and that these systems are known to be dependent upon ascorbate for their proper function."
This is something that the liposomal vitamin C should take care of. Around 35-40 grams of vitamin C in liposomal form will be the equivalent of getting a super duper megadose in IV vitamin C form. That is the kind of dose you need.
The sleeping part can be problematic due to pain, but it is essential. A good sleeping cycle goes a LONG way towards healing. Can you find a sleeping condition where you will feel comfy, but your feet will hang? In that way, blood is circulating by gravity and you will have less chance of waking up due to pain. How about those big fluffy chairs that are reclining. That way you can put it into a somewhat horizontal position, but your feet will hang down. Something like this, but more comfy:
There are several tricks to prevent infection in your wounds and/or help them heal faster. One is to use a topical compound with silver on it. In pharmacies they have creams used for burns. But there are gels with colloidal silver on it. Another possibility is to make your own sprayed solution with the C crystals:
The experience of Fred R. Klenner, MD, Journal of Applied Nutrition Vol. 23, No's 3 & 4, Winter 1971.
http://www.orthomed.com/klenner.htm
There is an increase demand for ascorbic acid in burns especially when epithelization and formation of granulation tissue are taking place. Limited amounts of ascorbic acid to a dose range of 300 mg to 2000 mg daily, in divided doses, have been capable of hastening the healing of wounds by producing healthy granulation tissue and also by reducing local edema. It also made antibiotic therapy rarely necessary. A 3% ascorbic acid solution as a spray over the entire area of the burn can be used every 2 to 4 hours for a period of roughly five days.
Are you at 0 carbs or getting there? I thought I would mention that if you are still eating carbs for transitioning purposes, make sure they are as most neutral as possible, i.e. green beans seems to be fairly well tolerated. A lot of veggies have evil lectins on them that set off the immune system in a bad way, for instance, tomatoes and aubergines. Also, I'm not sure if you should be eating eggs or nuts at this stage. Are you doing well with the diet transition?
)? It seems like they should do some basic blood work (CBC--with full differentials, if possible--maybe thyroid work, testing some nutrients that could be lacking and possibly causative for this, etc) and that may also provide some kind of clues as to what's causing the issue.
