Kal El

I have been wanting to try out the Far Infrared sauna therapy at Zazen Health Solutions for a very long - got to know this place from Health Today magazine, but have been postponing my visit due to time (ah! lame excuse) and the distance - Well, Dataran Sunway in Kota Damansara isn't that far - only that I wasn't adventurous enough to go find the place - if it wasn't for Amir (thanks very much Amir) who brought me there, I would have gone to Sunway in PJ instead of in Kota Damansara.

FIR is a NASA technology that helps burn calories, detoxify as well as relaxes the body - FIR is especially good for diabetic like me, who over time accumulates toxin in the body because the kidney just doesn't function very well.

FIR is similar to conventional sauna - it makes you sweat, but from experience using conventional sauna, five days a week, for over a year and a half, i could say that the FIR sauna makes you sweat even more - without the presence of steam and the convenience of a CD player as well as lighting for you to do a little reading in there.

Basically Zazen (free promotion lah ni - in return for your 3 free trials, thank you) provides 3 free trials (only at their Kota Damansara office) and offers a 40 days package (yes you can go there every day except Sundays) for RM420. Or, if you have that extra cash you can purchase the sauna system (easy installation, no plumbing required) for less than 10K (yes, gasp!) - well nothing is free but I'm sure there are alternatives (check SaunaHolm's website) for those who can't afford to fork out 10K - sorry Zazen, got to be fair to the public - and especially if you're sick, you are already readily burdened with heavy financial commitments so asking these people to fork out a ridiculous amount of money is simply day light robbery, especially when there are alternatives - but again, thanks for the free trial.

What is beneficial is the FIR technology - to those who are sick and can't afford to do heavy exercises, or simply those who are lazy to go outdoors, try this therapy. You can read more aout FIR here. And here. According to Zazen staff, i will need to come everyday in order to benefit from the therapy, well, I guess this may be true as when i was using the conventional sauna, pair up with 5 days of gym and 3 days of squash, I was really feeling very healthy- that was 6 years ago when my workplace had the luxury of a gymnasium, a squah court and a sauna for their staff.

I will go again to Zazen this weekend to claim my second trial, even though I may not immediately benefit the use of FIR, i just love the sweat - it has surely been awhile! Go try!

My greatest problem now is water retention (Edema). from my readings this may due to a couple of factors; kidney or heart.

It all started more than a year ago when my feet started to swell after sitting for long, especially at the office. My work requires me to sit a great deal of time and wearing socks makes it worse. Being diabetic, I know socks is an essential pair of garments that would in the end save my life.

The swelling wasn't that bad at first - what was worse was the numbness on my feet, especially the sole. Again from my readings it's caused by diabetic neuropathy. A diabetic will eventually experience this usually 20 years after being diagnosed or maybe longer if one takes good care of himself. Since I have really done the total opposite here, experiencing neuropathy 15 years after being diagnosed can be considered premature and extraordinary.

Neuropathy is generally the damage to the nerves, usually attacking the feet, hands and certain parts of the body of a diabetic, over time will attack organs in the body as well. In my case, apart from the feet and hands (usually around the finger), I experience prickly pain on my chest and the back of my body. Now even, my legs are weakened causing me great pain when i have to climb uphill or the atairs. Sometimes I feel like I am already 80 when the fact is that I'm not even 32.

Sometimes I just can't feel my legs, risking injury - when I drive, I can't wear slippers any longer, it has to be a pair of shoes or a strap on sandal - pernah sekali aku drive pakai selipar, tertanggal dan I couldn't feel the pedal. A swollen feet when coming back from work is not a rare sight at all. Now, that would have caused by water retention problem. Only one possibility and explanation - my kidneys couldn't eliminate water well. Sometimes I even feel bloated at the tummy - macam baru lepas melantak bergelas-gelas air - and this leads to breathing difficulties.
There are so many things I can't do well now because of these two problems. My muscles are weaked because of the nerve damages therefore I can't walk much or climb stairs without experiencing pain. Water retention problem causes breathlessness - I would have difficulty sleeping, buat kerja-kerja berat and so on.

Sometimes I just feel embarrassed with my own self. Sometimes I just feel like giving up but there's something that is pushing me to go on with my life. I'll tell you about this later.

When i was browsing the Internet (like many other days) I came across Alienware and what I discovered was amazing... I want!!!!

Yup.. i want to finish summing up 15 years of my life so that i can start sharing my current situation. So now you guys know that I haven't been taking my medications well for God knows how long. Sampai la tahun 2004 when I started feeling numb kat my feet and hands. In 2004 alone I was hospitalised twice because of this darn diabetes.

My body was so used to being hyperglycemic (high glucose reading of more than 20 mmol) sampaikan when my glucose reading came down to the teens pun i can experience hypoglycemia (low glucose reading). Click here to learn more about Hyperglycemia. Click here to learn more about Hypoglycemia.

My body was so accustomed to having high sugar sampai I did not experience any of the symptoms like feeling nausea and vomitting, headaches, blurred vision and so on. Apa yang aku rasa was I was getting thinner walaupun I was eating my usual amount of meals. (well, for someone who has been trying to tone his body down, this may seem a bless - but of course, I was a fool to believe that)

One thing I did not tell - I was 120kg when I was first diagnosed with this thing but after less than 6 years i was 35kgs lighter (a good sign for people who doesn't know I was diabetic and truly a bad sign to myself) - otherwise I was happy to see myself shrink although deep inside i knew it was because of uncontrolled diabetes.

Now I am more or less between 75 - 80kgs, forever fluctuating because of water retention problem - apa lagi if not suspect of kidney failure or mungkin heart failure jugak... jeng jeng jeng...

Hi. Thanks for dropping in.

I am a 32 year old male living in KL. I am a diabetic blessed with hypertension and a list of other illnesses. No, I am neither HIV + nor do I have AIDS but still death knocks... There are many reasons why I am writing here. Well, generally to share my feelings, what I go through every day of my sick life. So that orang yang tak sakit, jangan sekali-kali carik penyakit. Tak... bukan aku yang carik penyakit-penyakit ni tapi depa datang sendirik.

Let me start by telling you - I honestly feel that my parents shouldn't get married to each other - bukan aku tak bersyukur tapi baka yang dibawa dalam darah masing-masing tu. My father, known to have strong family history of diabetes - hampir semua orang ada dalam family dia. Papa pun got it when he was 30 if i'm not mistaken. Arwah mummy plak known family history for cancer, hypertension and heart problem. My late mother passed away 3 years ago - after a major bypass - heart failure. She had diabetes too, and hypertension.

Korang mesti kata what is so bad having diabetes and hypetension - millions of people have it and they live long. It could be ok if its was controlled and well maintained from the beginning, macam kereta lah.. kalau dari awal tak jaga maka dah lama-lama esok habis la....

Aku bukan nak salahkan my parents kawen, dah jodoh dorang. And kalau dorang tak kawen maka aku adik beradik takkan ada kat sini. Aku tak salahkan sesiapa tapi diri aku sendiri. Seingat aku, papa selalu marah kalau aku minum air manis dan itu pulak jadi kesukaan aku heheheh. Yaaaa gelak lah aku pada diri sendiri. Sendiri pun malas nak eksesais, padan la muka...