TWO OLD GOATS ESSENTIAL OIL LOTION REVIEW

I read about it.

It sounded kind of interesting.

So, I contacted the owner.

It still surprises me that people respond the way they do. I sent an email letting the owners of the company that I would be reviewing their product. I also ask them for additional information that would be helpful for the review. Honestly, I don't expect a response. They probably get tons of requests and I just don't expect much.

We were on the phone 45 minutes.

It was a great conversation.

What absolutely floored me is that they cannot call it an "Arthritis and Fibromyalgia" Essential Lotion anymore. Get this. You can lodge a complaint with the FDA and it can be a totally fabricated one. Like the one lodged against this company allegedly from a competitor. The FDA swoops in "to protect the public." Now, a small company has to change all of the packaging because of a bogus complaint. That's an enormous cost. What kills me is that the FDA allows medications and other formulations that have TONS of side effects on the market.

Protecting the public??

From lotion and soap?????

Give me a break.

I was on Facebook and someone in one of the forums happened to mention Two Old Goats lotion. The comments about the products were positive so I decided I'd try them out. I went to the website and then checked out Amazon. I'm a Prime member so I get free shipping. Anyway, I ordered the product off Amazon. This was before I had spoken with one of the owners of the company. I got the soap, body wash, balm and lotion. I wanted to make sure that I tried everything. Plus, I like to layer my products. I do this with everything. I buy soaps, lotions and even deodorant that matches my scent du jour.

I love the bath. One of my problems is that I own a jetted tub and have a habit of closing my eyes and opening them to bubbles galore descending onto the bathroom floor. I know you're not supposed to add ANYTHING to the tub but I have NEVER listened.

So, with the soap in hand I shuffle off to the bath. I was SO SURPRISED!!! First of all, the smell of the products is very pleasant but the scent doesn't stay on your skin. It leaves just a fragrance that I can only describe as "clean." I really like the smell and, to me, it's combination of lavender and eucalyptus. Here's the thing.......it didn't make bubbles galore!! It lathers wonderfully and dissipates in the tub. I have found a soap that I can use!!

Hooray!!!!

I've given it three weeks. I've used all of the products and I can honestly say that they made me feel better. My hands are a real problem area for me and it helped. I don't know whether it will work for everyone but I really loved these products and I will definitely order them again. 

It contains Lavender, Chamomile, Rosemary, Eucalyptus, Peppermint and Birch Bark. Lavender and Chamomile are relaxants. Rosemary, Eucalyptus and Peppermint have anti-inflammatory properties and Birch Bark is an analgesic. 

When you see the products on the website now you will see that the Fibromyalgia and Arthritis Lotion has been taken off and it's now just called an Essential Oil Lotion. It really irritates me that someone can lodge a bogus complaint against anything and bring the wrath of the FDA down upon your doorstep and you'd better comply. They don't give you a time frame. You just better change everything and then they will take their sweet time in getting back to you about those changes.

I get that the public needs to be protected.

There's a lot of garbage out there.

But when the claim is unsubstantiated???

Protecting the public??

What a crock.

I have to say that I LOVE the products and will order them again.

Even if they didn't give me relief I'd still order them.

It's that bath thing and an FDA thing.

TBT...PUMPED UP KICKS AND FEEDBACK LOOPS

I always knew I was dysfunctional.

I just didn't know it ran so deep.

Clear down to my neurotransmitters.

I think we all have a dysfunctional neurotransmitter system. There has to be a reason that we don't all have the same symptoms and we don't all respond to the same therapies and medications. 

We have pain perception problems. 

Isn't this linked to neurotransmitters?

Chronic stress can contribute to Fibromyalgia but it isn't a cause, otherwise, everyone on the planet would have it. We all know that chronic stress changes the neural pathways in the brain but to what end?  Depression isn't the cause because not everyone who is depressed has Fibromyalgia. I think it's like everything else. There may be risk factors for the development but that doesn't mean you're going to get it. There may be a genetic predisposition depending on many things, but again, what is the trigger?

I'm on a roll here.

So what do we know?

1. We know that Substance P, glutamate, are elevated in Fibromyalgia and this accounts for an increased pain sensitivity. 

2. The lowered levels of serotonin and noradrenalin in the central nervous system could be the reason that the descending neural pathways are messed up.  This can cause issues with sleep and depression. 

3. The HPA (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal) axis and the sympathetic nervous system are off but it may be a symptom but not a cause of Fibromyalgia. Dopamine levels are also off which can cause our achy-breaky stiff muscles and brain fog.

I'm not a doctor (obviously) but doesn't this suggest subgroups? I know people with Fibromyalgia and they have pain but the fatigue seems to be more of an issue than the pain. With me....yes, I have the fatigue but pain is far more of an issue with me. Maybe this is why medications like Cymbalta and Savella work well with people who have more of an issue with serotonin levels and less of an issue with elevated Substance P and glutamate. 

Maybe by targeting the specific subgroups and medications that work specifically for that group.....is that a way to get better results than lumping us all into one group? It seems that pain with depression and pain without depression respond differently to medications. 

The only thing that works for me is the oxycodone in very small doses (5 mg.) and Zaniflex which controls the muscle spasms. Lyrica made me squirrely and gain weight and did nothing to help the pain or fatigue but others swear by it.

What I find VERY interesting is that Zaniflex (tinzanidine) reduces Substance P levels. Since the prevalence of pain is my main issue isn't this why this might work for me and not for someone that has a predominance of fatigue?

I think that the argument against using opioid in treatment  has more to do with the general issue of doctor liability and the risk of dependency. Right now it's politically correct to be against these in pain management because of a group that abuse them. 

I don't like a lot of them because of the addition of acetaminophen. Long term use can cause damage to your liver. When I went on the oxycodone my pain doctor and I had a long talk about it. He did explain the risks but also told me this would be better as a long term treatment because of the damage that anything with Tylenol or acetaminophen would cause. He knew that addiction and dependency were two very different animals and I was low risk for addiction. 

I just don't think you can pour everyone with Fibromyalgia in a bowl.

It's like making a cake.

You need to add one ingredient at a time.

If you add too much of one,

You get a mess.

This is what they've done with us.

WHEN DID I BECOME A DOCTOR?

I've done it myself.

I'm as guilty as the next person.

We really need to find a balance.

The vaccine issue the past few weeks has been a real eye opener for me. It isn't about vaccines because, for me, there is no debate. When my daughter was close to having her baby she asked me to get the Tdap vaccine. It's a Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis vaccine. 

I didn't even hesitate.
I'd do that, and more, to keep my grandchild safe.

It seems that we are on information overload. We don't trust doctors, medications, pharmaceuticals, corporations or vaccines. I was reading a forum posted by Fibromyalgia patients and there was a person that was having chest pains and slurred speech. She was asking what she should do. What? WHAT?

Get to the emergency room.

Pronto.

There were people that were diagnosing her. It might be a side effect of medication or costochondritis. Seriously? I didn't even know what that was. I had to look it up. When we get to the point where we are asking others for a medical diagnosis we have gone too far. I know that it's frustrating to find a doctor who is sympathetic and understands this mysterious and symptom-fluctuating illness. I get that. 

But.

It's at the point it is just ridiculous. We are heading back to the dark ages where medicine was equated with witchcraft. We are not doctors and to distrust everything that the medical community has done is just stupid. That mentality could have life threatening consequences.

It's become the "thing" to question everything. Now, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I get my blood tests before my appointment and look up anything that is out of range and get information about it. This way, I feel, I have some background and can ask some intelligent questions. More than once, my doctor (who I adore) has looked at me and asked how much I googled everything. 

Ok....he got me.

But I do respect his opinion.

I didn't go to medical school. I may know some jargon and have information galore at my fingertips. Having said that, I don't know how it's supposed to fit together. I can't take a few articles from online "experts" and throw out everything that legitimate science has dictated. Reading a few clinical trials does not make me an expert. I don't know what has been acknowledged and what has been discarded by the medical community. I know that discoveries are made all the time and things change. They may find that they need to change formulations on certain vaccines. But the bottom line is that they save lives. You never want to see an infant struggling to breathe because they were denied a vaccine on philosophical exemptions. It's terrifying.

We need to stop playing doctor.

It's unsafe to diagnose each other. I saw an article where diet helped cure someones pancreatic cancer. Steve Jobs thought that way too and put off a potentially life saving or life prolonging surgery. If it were that simple every disease would be cured. I'm not saying that diet and supplements don't help. I think they do but everything needs to be in balance. 

I've got some thyroid issues and autoimmune issues along with the Fibromyalgia. If a diet could cure it I'd be back in the saddle in no time. Again, all this helps but to discard medical science in favor of "natural" cures to me is foolishness. It isn't just to be in favor of it, it's to have disdain if you choose something else.

Like I said, I'm as guilty as the next person.

But when it comes to diagnosing someone on a forum?

My name doesn't have M.D. after it.

To me, that is more like Q.U.A.C.K.

Just sayin.........

FAKE SUPPLEMENTS.....THE OLD SWITCHEROO.

How dare they?

We should be up in arms.

Is anything real anymore?

I was reading an article about herbal supplements. A lot of us use them in conjunction with conventional medicine for relief from anything from colds to pain. And everything in-between. I was appalled to read an article where the DNA was tested and the herb was nowhere to be found in the bottles and if it was a highly diluted form.

What?

It seems that greed has struck again.

This is a five BILLION dollar a year industry and what people have been buying is little more than powdered rice and weeds. Yes, it is unproven that these supplements can cure what ails us according to the FDA, but,  HOW DARE THEY???

Canadian researchers tested 44 bottles of supplements sold by 12 companies. If there was the actual herb in there it was often diluted or replaced with fillers like rice, soybean or wheat. 

Where is the oversight of this industry?

If you've used echinacea, St. John's Wort or ginkgo biloba the odds would say that you probably didn't get what you thought you were buying. Or there was a highly diluted substance being passed off as the real thing. HOW DARE THEY?

Walmart, Target, GNC and Walgreens have been accused of selling crap herbals. Let me make this statement. It isn't Walmart or Target or GNC or Walgreens (unless it is their private labels) that are at fault. Who are the manufacturers of these supplements? Why won't they say who they are??

Terrible. 

Just terrible.

How do we really know what we are purchasing?

I guess we don't.

Well, unless we run a lab.

I just have a eensie, weensie criticism of the article.

RELEASE THE DAMN NAMES OF THE COMPANIES!!!

WASHINGTON POST - FAKE HERBALS

ABC NEWS STORY