Encouragement From Around & About

I have come across a lot of Thyroid/Autoimmune/Pregnancy/IBS discussion boards as a big part of my Internet 'research' (on these types of non-academic issues especially). The reason I am posting exclusively about this is because I think that people's experiences, successes, and failures are just as useful to me as the information posted on the Mayo Clinic web site.

That is truthfully how I feel. Why wouldn't someone who has a chronic condition, tried various treatments, seen various doctors, etc. etc. be a sort of expert in their own right? In any case, as an illustration I will use DD's last pediatrician appointment.

My DH told the pediatrician that our DD had had a runny nose for some time and that it seemed to correlate with teething. The pediatrician said that a runny nose as a symptom of teething is not supported in any medical literature that she's come across, but that she has heard from hundreds of parents that runny noses and teething go hand in hand. So because of so much practical evidence, she is able to see that a runny nose might very well be because of teething.


So the following is from a Baby Center discussion board in which a woman posts about treating her own thyroid. Obviously, I found this quite interesting. She did go see an endocrinologist and seems to have a regular doctor, she just isn't all about taking their word as law.

"Hello!

I came on this chat page to answer...and her question about Selenium and Thyroid antibodies.

I'm 25 and was diagnosed with Hashimoto's about 2 years ago. My TSH was a 7.0 (normal range is 0.3-3.0) but it is best to be between a 1.0-2.0 for pregnancy. My Thyroid Antibodies were at 607.2 (normal is .03-3.0) I started taking 200mcg of Selenium with 400IU of Vit E in the mornings. 3months later my TSH was down to 2.3 and my antibodies were down to 290.4. My last blood work was this week and My TSH is at a 1.9 and my antibodies are the same, so I'm starting a Gluten free diet and taking B vitamins to see if this helps the antibodies to go down more. Selenium saved my life, before going on it I was having such horrible panic attacks that I could not leave me home. So Selenium did drop my TSH back to normal and my antibodies in half! I really hope this helps you!" 

[Here someone basically says "What the hell?! You have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and have to be on medication for the rest of your life. Aren't you on Synthroid?"

"Yes, your thyroid peroxidase antibodies should not be over a 3.0, so I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's when they were at a 607.2 and my TSH was a 7.0 It's only considered Hashimoto's if your antibodies are high AND you have a high TSH. I never started taking Synthroid/Thyroid Replacement even though my doctor wanted me to. After 4 weeks on Selenium and Vit E my TSH dropped to 5.3 and my Endo said not to get my hopes up, that I may still have to go on synthroid, then the next month my TSH dropped to 4.6 and by the 3rd month my TSH was down to a 2.3 and my antibodies were down half of what they were. It's been almost 2 years and all I've ever taken is Selenium and last week my TSH was 1.9, so now I technically do not have Hashimoto's, Because my TSH is normal without medication. At the same time 2 years ago I was diagnosed with IC a cronic bladder problem and fibrocystic breast disease. After being on selenium for a year, they both disappeared! My docotors have even done case studies on me and are giving their patients selenium now. I just want other people to know that there is something out there that may help them. Also Many studies have been done on pregnant women taking selenium and they have found it to help with other complications that can happen during pregnancy."

"Hello,

Here are the links to the Selenium and Vit E that I take

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/SWU086/ItemDetail?n=4294967189

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/SW131/ItemDetail?n=4294967189

DO NOT take selenium with any Vitamin C...Supplements, orange juice..ect...It will counteract the Selenium. Vitamin E helps the uptake of Selenium that's why I take them together.

I've been told that Selenium is safe during pregnancy.

alot of studies have been done in Italy on the subject

here's a link to one

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-171953127.html

Here are some intersting facts about Hashi's

Vitamin D deficiency can cause Hashimoto's

Just had my blood work done and found out that I have a very bad Vitamin D deficiency. Most people do and don't even know it.

Also if you have ever used antibiotics, they can cause your antibodies to go radical, so my doctor also told me to go on Probiotics, they play a huge part on calming Thyroid Antibodies as does Vitamin D.

Also I've started using a non fluoride toothpaste. When Hyperthyroid first showed up in the USA the only thing they used to slow down they thyroid was Fluoride! If you use it everyday in your toothpase, it very well could be making you hypothyroid.

Another thing...Gluten allergies can also cause High Thyroid antibodies!

Something has to be causing us to get Hashimoto's! I just feel it is best to be tested for the CAUSE of the disease, then try to fix it natural first.

If I would have listened to my first doctor and endo, I would be on drugs for the rest of my life.

I now daily take:

200mcg of Selenium with 400IU of Vit E

B-50 Complex Vitamins with folic acid

Omega 3's

all in the morning

then 5,000 IU of Vit D before dinner!

I Feel 100% better than I did 2 years ago!

Oh and by the way! The FDA hates natural cures because they can not make money off them! Haha!"
 
[Here someone says that Synthroid is a supplement like any other and that it seems the same philosophically to take Synthroid or Selenium.]

"Sorry to say, but Synthroid is medication! Your Thyroid naturally produces T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 and a bone protector. Synthroid is Pure T4 That's all! Hence the reason many women who are on Synthroid for life end up with Osteoporosis. Also your thyroid uses T4 and converts it to T3 (what the bodies uses) So if there is a problem with the thyroid converting the T3 you will still be Hypo.

Also 90% of people with Hypothyroid do test positive for thyroid Antibodies! Your thyroid does not normally stop working on its own, something causes it to.

As far as taking supplements goes, most people with autoimmune disease have issues with their intestines absorbing the proper nutrients. It is very hard to get 200mcg of Selenium a day just by eating food. You would also need to go outside buck naked EVERY day for 30mins a day to get the proper amount of Vitamin D from the sun. It is a Fact that most people with Hashimoto's are Deficient in Vitamin D, Iron, B12 and Selenium and being so can cause hypothyroid. Also Omega 3's are anti inflammatory and calm thyroid antibodies. I'm living proof!

Then again I could have just gone on Sythroid for the rest of my life, let my thyroid DIE and constanly be going in for tests and readjusting my medication dose..yes medication because you do need a perscription for it! Most doctors are drug pushers, because they get kickbacks from the pharmaceutical companies.

At the end of the day

Synthroid was created by MAN

Vitamins and Minerals are Created by GOD

I trust him more than man.

I do understand that some peoples thyroids are dead and they HAVE to go on thyroid hormone replacement. I'm just letting people know that there are other things out there."

Obviously, I hope I have as much success doing natural stuff. I did find another woman online who tried all the 'natural' things and didn't feel any better at all. She was essentially very discouraging because her attitude now is that you WILL need some medication, so just take it already and give up trying for something better. :/ It bears noting that she believes her health problems are largely due to growing up in a house filled with black mold that wasn't discovered until she moved out. Eeek.

It's very nice reading and connecting with people online who are striving for the same things--to locate the source of 'inflammation', stop the inflammation, and ideally recover from the autoimmune processes that have been started.

Puzzle Piece #1, Thyroids & Gluten Don't Mix

So I recently joined a page on Facebook that is for people who have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. It is really interesting to me how many people have been reading up on this stuff in more 'alternative' books and web sites. As a result, lots and lots of the people with Hashi's have been going gluten-free.

If I've already answered this question before, I'm sorry! But I'd like to post about why people think it's important to stop eating gluten and wheat when you have an autoimmune thyroid condition. From what I can gather, my body, for example, doesn't like gluten. Gluten molecules (I'm probably using the wrong word here...) look really similar to thyroid cells, so when your body creates antibodies against gluten or wheat....those antibodies go on ahead and attack the thyroid too. It's a case of mistaken identity.

I like Chris Kesser's post about this issue quite a lot: "Several studies show a strong link between AITD (both Hashimoto’s and Graves’) and gluten intolerance. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The link is so well-established that researchers suggest all people with AITD be screened for gluten intolerance...

What explains the connection? It’s a case of mistaken identity. The molecular structure of gliadin, the protein portion of gluten, closely resembles that of the thyroid gland. When gliadin breaches the protective barrier of the gut, and enters the bloodstream, the immune system tags it for destruction. These antibodies to gliadin also cause the body to attack thyroid tissue. This means if you have AITD and you eat foods containing gluten, your immune system will attack your thyroid.

Even worse, the immune response to gluten can last up to 6 months each time you eat it. This explains why it is critical to eliminate gluten completely from your diet if you have AITD. There’s no “80/20″ rule when it comes to gluten. Being “mostly” gluten-free isn’t going to cut it. If you’re gluten intolerant, you have to be 100% gluten-free to prevent immune destruction of your thyroid."

I have left in the citations and links to sources because it's all backed up by one study or another.

About.com has a whole page dedicated to this phenomenon written by a woman named Mary Shomon, a self-made expert and author. Anyway, this page is really interesting. The high points:

• A significant number of people with autoimmune thyroid disease also have Celiac Disease.
• Research published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences indicates that after three to six months on a gluten-free diet, organ-specific antibodies will disappear. 
• Some researchers believe that undiagnosed celiac disease (i.e., you shouldn't be eating wheat and gluten but you still are) can trigger other autoimmune diseases.

(To be fair, another study published more recently from the Scandinavian Journal of Gastoenterology indicates that even going gluten-free cannot stop an autoimmune thyroid attack. As always, there is conflicting information out there that I feel I need to represent!)

Interestingly enough, I haven't gluten in a long time. And remember how my Physician's Assistant had my thyroid antibodies checked awhile back? They were 'normal'. So....? Food for though.

This dude's web site (Jeffrey Dach) has a story about someone with a gluten sensitivity. The part I thought was most interesting is how eating something that you are sensitive to could trigger an attack on any part of your body. He says, "Autioimmune thyroid disease is especially common among people with gluten sensitivity, with elevated anti-thyroid antibodies (Hashimotos) which decrease after initiating a gluten free diet.(24) One can make a case for gluten sensitivity testing for all patients with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimotos)." 

Of course the word to describe this reaction--inflammation. "The immune response involves production of various antibodies and immune cells which damages the small intestine, reducing its absorptive ability.  This is called malabsorption, and results in the inability to absorb key vitamins and minerals such as Iron, Calcium, folate and B12.  These abnormalities will show up on the blood count as iron deficiency anemia, and B12/folate deficiency anemia." 

Funnily enough I have had borderline anemia at least since my son was born.

I don't really understand fully what is going on with my body, but between the stuff out there suggesting gluten is bad for my thyroid (i.e. that it is possibly encouraging my own body to kill off an organ I need...) and the IgG markers I have saying that gluten and wheat are inflammatory to me, I think I'm better off staying away from it, don't you?

Leaky Gut Syndrome, Not Just For Alcoholics

I have been coming across a lot of information on something called 'Leaky Gut' syndrome. No matter what I'm looking for (candida, parasites, food intolerance, Celiac Disease, Crohn's Disease....) I always come across this Leaky Gut business.

What is it? I thought it was almost exclusively something that happened to alcoholics, or people with chronic abuse of some sort. I guess it's fair to say I really had no idea what it is.

Wonderful Wikipedia says that it "is a name used to describe intestinal or bowel hyperpermeability. Tight junctions (TJs) represent the major barrier within the pathway between intestinal epithelial cells that line the digestion tract. Disruption of TJs leads to intestinal hyperpermeability (the so-called "leaky gut") which has been proposed by some researchers to involve a relationship with acute and chronic diseases such as systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), inflammatory bowel disease, type 1 diabetes, allergies asthma,and autism."

Hopefully you can see why this would be interesting to me. If stuff you eat can leak into your body because your intestine is permeable, it might screw with your inflammatory response and lead to serious problems.

The other interesting thing to me is that Leaky Gut can cause foods that you aren't techincally allergic or intolerant to, to cause a reaction in your body. I have been scratching my head over why nuts or strawberries would affect me one time so markedly and another time not at all. Leaky Gut is a theory that explains that. 

One of my favorite sites, Women to Women, explains that "The leaking of these [food] particles alerts your body that something is wrong, and your immune system tries to come to the rescue by igniting inflammation. As inflammation increases, the layer of beneficial bacterial colonies lining the intestines decreases, which only makes the problem worse." Here is a diagram from this web site:

Further, the site says "Your gut plays a crucial role in immune function because it contains special areas called gut-associated lymphatic tissue (GALT) that protect you from allergy-causing food antigens and disease-carrying microbes. With leaky gut, these and other harmful substances can gain access to your blood stream and travel far and wide throughout the body."

How does a leaky gut start? Perhaps from things that you are really intolerant or allergic to, in my case I'd say wheat and milk for starters. This site also lists "certain medications, treatments...antibiotics ...radiation, chemotherapy, steroid drugs (corticosteroids), aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, other NSAID’s...Leaky gut may also show up along with parasites, Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and irritable bowel syndrome that is traced to food intolerance."

Of the things mentioned here, I have had parasites, crazy amounts of antibiotics (for the c-section and then for the parasites, aside from the 'normal' for ear infections, etc.), and food intolerances.

Dr. Weil (whom I also love), says that food leaking into your body "triggers an autoimmune reaction, which can lead to gastrointestinal problems such as abdominal bloating, excessive gas and cramps, fatigue, food sensitivities, joint pain, skin rashes, and autoimmunity. The cause of this syndrome may be chronic inflammation, food sensitivity..." I added emphasis to show what symptoms I have had. Could it be that I have had chronic inflammation, because of food intolerances and parasites and stress and it finally got to be too much? Of course there could always be something additional going on too.

Another dude's (Chris Kessler) web site has a great illustration:

This sites says that one of the gut's primary functions is to prevent bad stuff (waste) from getting into our body. Our gut takes the good stuff and leaves the rest. And more: "Another important function of the gut is to host 70% of the immune tissue in the body...Problems occur when either of these protective functions of the gut are compromised. When the intestinal barrier becomes permeable (i.e. “leaky gut syndrome”), large protein molecules escape into the bloodstream. Since these proteins don’t belong outside of the gut, the body mounts an immune response and attacks them. Studies show that these attacks play a role in the development of autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s."


It is worth noting that every doctor I have ever seen says I have INFLAMMATION, what they fail to put together is that I have generalized inflammation, which signals some sort of underlying problem to me.

The thyroid doctor sees just the thyroid inflammation, the arthritis doc sees just joint inflammation, the gastro sees just intestinal inflammation.

My point is that it's a problem I like to look at as a whole, not in its parts. The Western solution would be to take a drug for each of these separate problems. Seems silly if cutting out certain foods and rebuilding my intestinal health would eliminate my symptoms.

But of course this idea is not totally accepted in Western medicine, at least not from what I can gather. 


The solutions? From these sites collectively, here are their suggestions for helping heal the gut:

• Avoid foods that cause inflammation
• Avoid foods you are intolerant to
• Avoid processed, fried foods
• Take a fish oil supplement/Eat more fish (Omega 3s!)
• Try supplementing with glutamine 
• "Glutamine has been found particularly helpful for maintaining the structure and function of the intestine. For example, glutamine has been shown to improve damage done to the gut mucosa from radiation and chemotherapy." -Women To Women
• Take probiotics
• Avoiding NSAIDS

The good news? I'm already doing all those things! So....I guess I'll keep doing them since it doesn't appear to hurt anything.

And my update? After a WEEK of taking lots and lots of probiotics, I'm starting to have normal poo! I guess that's the important part of this whole post. If what has been wrong with me this whole time is just not having any good bacteria....wow. I guess having a balanced intestine really does make a big difference in health.

Another Woman....Our Juicer

I meant to post this a million years ago, but better late than never! We bought a juicer a few months ago, just like the dude in Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead, because we were inspired. I have found that if you add sweet to anything vegetable, it tastes just fine.

If we juice lots of kale and spinach, put in a few limes, some pineapple, or apples, and you can't taste the sour vegetable taste at all. I don't mean all of those fruits, just a few! I was adding carrots and celery to our juicing, but then realized that the carrots aggravate my tum-tum some.

Here are some of the things we have thrown in there:

• Kale
• Spinach
• Parsley (not a lot of juice)
• Tomatoes
• Radishes
• Cucumber
• Celery
• Carrots
• Limes
• Lemons
• Pineapple
• Apples
• Oranges
• Ginger Root
• Any Kind of Lettuce
• Blueberries

I just love it. For my DH, he has noticed a few more pointed improvements in his health since we started juicing stuff up. He feels less fatigued and more clear-headed, which is saying something. I personally think that upping our fruit/veggie intake in this concentrated way is probably anti-inflammatory, which everyone could use.

A small update on me--things are marginally better! My DH, who used to help quadraplegics poop on a regular basis, can certifiably say that it's getting better with the probiotics and avoidance of inflammatory foods. And he IS an expert.

The Plan of Attack

This is basically part two of my last post, but I'm dividing it up for easy digestion. Ha! A punny tummy joke.

In our last conversation (besides advising why I should get a tube shoved up my bum), my dad pointed out that I have been too impatient and then wanted to know exactly what action I was taking to improve my health.

This is confusing ("Slow down! Do something! What are you doing?") and it's his fault anyway that I am so impatient so this is clearly all his fault. But he's right, I am very impatient. I'm confused and I'd like to move on from this valley in my life. Given that I need to 'give things time' and that I need to stick with one health regimen, here's what I have decided to do. Hopefully I will stick with it for a good few months and see some positive changes.

1. Stick with the Cool Acupuncture Guy. He is the only one who is never flummoxed by what's happening with my body because it's all explained by how 'cold' my body is. I am still taking the Herbal Concoction he made to stop the Big D. I am also still taking the Thyroxal medicine from his office so help support my thyroid.

2. Take crap loads of probiotics. Because I have 'sparse normal flora' I am taking some probiotics that the CAG gave me as well as some probiotics I had in the fridge. I have some non-dairy yogurt. I am also taking something called Florastor (I think I've mentioned it before) that is basically this amazing yeast called Saccharomyces Boulardii. I took it when I was on Flagyl for a parasite and I think that's why the parasite hasn't come back.

Because several people I've spoken to have never heard of a good yeast, I did a fair amount of research into this little yeasty and it is an amazing, amazing bug. It promotes enzyme production by your intestines, inhibits the inflammatory response in your gut, discourages parasites, can help mediate diarrhea, discourages intestinal tumor growth, can help alleviate the symptoms of virtually all the gasto disease (Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis, etc.), and there is very little risk of overgrowth. A-mazing. There is study upon study out there about this stuff.

A good one: Saccharomyces Boulardii Effects on Gastrointestinal Diseases.

I digress. Not having any good bacteria is a reason in and of itself for having diarrhea. :( So, must remedy this one before I move on to some other diagnosis.

3. Eat low-carb, low-sugar.

I have noticed that when I eat lots of carbs, like rice pasta and potatoes, my symptoms are worsened. I postulate this might be because this stuff feeds the bad bugs in my gut--the yeast, c-diff....In any case, eating less sugar is hard (remember the day I tried that?) but probably worth it. :(

4. Avoid foods that I had an IgG reaction to.

I don't know if you can see this, but the picture is a part of my test results from the IgG blood test I had done. Supposedly it tests whether your blood reacts with inflammation to certain foods. The RED boxes are the ones that I react to strongly. Wheat and other grains aren't on this page, but milk is. Casein, Whey, Milk products were all way higher than wheat (which was still very high), so no milk and wheat for me. Still.

The End. :)

Mystery Diagnosis

I still have the Big D, everyone, but the good news is that I seem to have plateaued on the weight loss front.

So, I made a spreadsheet a few days ago to compare the main ailments that are being considered by myself, by my new doctor, by my family...here are the forerunners:

1. Recurrent Parasitic Infection by Blastocystis Hominis
2. Overgrowth of Yeast 
3. Celiac Disease
4. Crohn's Disease

Here's where I'm at on our theories.

1. Three samples of poo have shown no itty bitty parasites. So I'm going to leave that one alone right now and assume there are no parasites in my gut. Thank the Lord.

2. Overgrowth of yeast--technically still a possibility. The yeast they did find in a stool sample was not overgrown, it was sparse. Still don't know what type it was though. We all have yeast in our gut, but it's supposed to remain balanced with the good stuff in your gut. Everything is all about balance. The universe must have an equal amount of good to counteract the forces of evil!

3. If I really just had Celiac Disease, I'm thinking that not eating wheat would have helped by now.

I have read that wheat/gluten intolerance is associated with thyroid disease and I haven't (intentionally) had wheat in a long, long time. Remember how my thyroid antibodies were down to 'normal' levels and no longer too high? I'm wondering if it was cutting out wheat.

In any case, it might have helped my overall situation because of an intolerance, but the stories I've read about people with true Celiac Disease indicates that cutting out wheat makes a drastic improvement right away. ? Thoughts?

4. Crohn's Disease is also still a possibility and can only be 100% ruled out by a colonoscopy. I have had the blood test done and it was negative. I have some reservations jumping on this one for myself because while I do have some hallmark sypmtoms (diarrhea, weight loss), I do not have others (loss of appetite, internal bleeding, pain inside your gut, ulcers, the D isn't uncontrollably urgent, possible fever...). So from what I know about Crohn's versus IBS, it sounds more like I have IBS.

So what am I doing now? Well, from my recent poo tests I have two new pieces of information. 1. I do not have a parasite (though I have heard it takes up to ten to spot those buggers! I'm not doing that right now...) and 2. I have no normal flora in my gut. This is the information I am using going forward...see next blog post.

Now, as my dad has explained to me, a colonoscopy is a 100% for sure way to rule out some of these things. Friends and family have had them done and survived! But I'm going to use my amazing powers of prediction to guess that a colonoscopy would show that there's inflammation (No, shit, Sherlock) but no bleeding, no damage to my small villi, no ulcers....and guys, I am not ready to do that yet.

I am not ready to drink that gallon of crap and then crap my pants out SOME MORE just to hear some more doctors say they have no idea what's going on. I know, I know, "How will I ever know what's going on if they don't look!?"

Doctors can't tell everything just by looking. It's like exploratory surgery 'just to see' what they can see. Not a fan. I used to have a mindset that gave doctors free reign to do whatever they said was necessary to fix the problem. So sue me if after a year and a half of no diagnosis I'm not as trusting. Last time I let people poke around by my guts (um, a c-section), my guts didn't respond very well. And also I have a neighbor who has had a bowel perforation and I am not even going to go into that...read more about horrible risks here.

A colonoscopy is obviously something I will do...at a certain point. I will talk to my doctor, see what she thinks, and go from there.

You Want to Put What, Where?!

Today I went back to my doctor to talk to her about...things. She's wonderful, did I mention that?

Here's the Rundown:

*She is willing to call the lab that did my stool test to see several things--which sort of yeast was 'sparsely' growing. She is going to double check and see if they found Blasto but aren't reporting it because they think it's non-pathogenic. She is also going to ask how they tested the stuff (microscopic or fixative) and why they included the information that there was 'sparse' normal flora.

*She is willing to let me try two more stool tests from the same lab (LabCorps) that found it the first time. I think this makes a difference because different labs are...different.

*She looked at my IgG tests and told me to stay the heck away from milk and wheat to see if it helped. When I asked if she thought the IgG test was valid, she mentioned that she posed the same question to a friend who is an allergist. He said that the IgG marker is fine (and to him, dissmissive) because it's like having a trigger on a gun with no gunpowder. She agreed that for me, whose primary problem is just general inflammation, it seemed logical to really, really, really stay away from milk and wheat.

*If there is nothing to see in my samples and there is no improvement with a stricter diet (as in, no sneaking Halloween candy and real butter, *cough*) then she suggested I get a biopsy done. :( I'm really hoping they find the darn parasite instead. A biopsy will help confirm/rule out things like Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn's Disease, Celiac's, etc. All inflammatory, autoimmune problems.

*I am still taking Thyroxal and a reduced amount of herbal tea from the Cool Acupuncture Guy. No real noticeable improvement though....

Keep praying!

 ¹ Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;
   the LORD delivers them in times of trouble.
² The LORD protects and preserves them—
   they are counted among the blessed in the land—
   he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.
³ The LORD sustains them on their sickbed
   and restores them from their bed of illness.
-Psalm 41

Guess I need to start thinking about my priorities...

Some Stuff About Healing

God can heal. Just saying.

Psalm 6    

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith.^[b] A psalm of David.

 ¹"LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
   or discipline me in your wrath.
² Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint;
   heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony.
³ My soul is in deep anguish.
   How long, LORD, how long?
 ⁴ Turn, LORD, and deliver me;
   save me because of your unfailing love.
⁵ Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
   Who praises you from the grave?
 ⁶ I am worn out from my groaning.
   All night long I flood my bed with weeping
   and drench my couch with tears.
⁷ My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
   they fail because of all my foes.
 ⁸ Away from me, all you who do evil,
   for the LORD has heard my weeping.
⁹ The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
   the LORD accepts my prayer.
¹⁰ All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;
   they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame."

2 Kings 20:5
“Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD."

Psalm 107
 ¹⁷ "Some became fools through their rebellious ways
   and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
¹⁸ They loathed all food
   and drew near the gates of death.
¹⁹ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
   and he saved them from their distress.
²⁰ He sent out his word and healed them;
   he rescued them from the grave.
²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
   and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
²² Let them sacrifice thank offerings
   and tell of his works with songs of joy."

Jeremiah 17:14
"Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise."

Matthew 4:23
"[ Jesus Heals the Sick ] Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them."
Matthew 9:22
"Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment."

The Results Are In!

So, here's my thesis for this whole post a) this new D.O. I am seeing is a wonderful, wonderful human being and b) there are still too many variables and questions about what could be wrong with me.

Today was the day that I thought I could get the results of my poo test, so I was all ready to call after I made the kids breakfast. BUT guess who called me at about 8:20, as I was changing my daughter's diaper? My new doctor. She's kind of awesome.

She told me that this particular stool sample was negative for Blastocystis and that there was hardly any good bacteria in the sample at all. All that started to grow was some sort of yeast, but apparently the lab didn't feel it was important to list which kind. Here is the information that I have that just makes these results confusing:

*Blastocystis Hominis can be hard to detect in stool samples because, like any parasite, it has a life cycle and will die more one day than the next. Just because it doesn't come out in your poo, doesn't mean it's not there. My friend said that even with worms, the actual worm can be in the stool and the test will come back negative. That seems silly, but if they just take the stool and culture it for worm eggs and none show up....then they must feel confident just writing 'negative'. Sillies.

*I have been taking the "good" yeast called saccharomyces boulardii because it is supposed to support good bacteria and is also traditionally used to treat diarrhea and a lot of other guy symptoms. Apparently this yeast also encourages your gut to make good enzymes. So I wonder if that's the yeast they found. It didn't sound like I had an overgrowth of yeast (which would presumably be bad no matter what type of yeast since that's out of balance...), but add that to the list of questions I have to ask the D.O.

*I have read on certain web sites that Blasto survives eating starch, simple sugars, and even the good bacteria in your gut. Now this is interesting to me because the testers said I had no good bacteria. This is alarming because a) I need good flora and b) I have been taking probiotics for about a year. Shouldn't there be some left?

Super Doc told me that she is thinking three things. 1. Treat with an anti-parasite (not an anti-protozoal drug) drug for three days just to see if it helps, 2. Treat with massive amounts of probiotics and an anti-fungal drug, or 3. Try the nuclear approach to kill the theoretical Blasto. I guess I need some more information to make an informed decision.

Super Doc also told me that all of my blood work came back normal. So despite my massive weight loss, I have normal iron levels, normal vitamin levels, even my Thyroid looks good. And I don't have elevated white blood cell count. So, truly, that is something to be thankful for.


To Do List: 
*Get a few more stool samples done. Joy!
*Find out what sort of yeast 'started to grow'.
*Find out if it was TOO MUCH.
*Stay away from simple sugars and lots of starchy foods--good for yeast, bacteria, or even Celiac's! Triply effective.

Today was also an Early Christmas for me (read-sarcasm) because I got back the results from the blood test that the Cool Acupuncture Guy did! Apparently my blood has really high inflammatory reactions to:

• Casein
• Cottage Cheese
• Cow's Milk
• Goat's Milk
• Whey
• Yogurt
• Clam
• Mozarella Cheese
• Barley
• Spelt 
• Wheat (Gluten)
• Whole Wheat
• Oats
• Rye

More stuff to avoid. But mostly, I was avoiding it all anyway. So that's good. :)

Adventures in PubMed & Some More Puzzle Pieces

 Lately I have been reading a lot about Blastocysis Hominis. If my test isn't positive again for that little f***er, then I am honestly going to be disappointed.

Here is what I have learned about this protozoa from PubMed: 

"Guinea pigs and mice (poor, poor creatures) have both been subjected to Blastocystis infections to see what would happen. Basically, some didn't get sick, while others lost weight, were lethargic, and had lots of intestinal inflammation."

"Blastocystis hominis was frequently demonstrated in the stool samples of IBS patients." From "Irritable bowel syndrome: in search of an etiology: role of Blastocystis hominis."
 

IBS is Associated with Blastocystis.

There is an "Incidence of Blastocystis hominis in patients with diarrhoea."


For every study I read that said that Blasto was 'bad' for you, another study suggested that it didn't do any harm at all. I think my takeaway is that it can do harm, especially if you're immuno-compromised (like, after having a c-section and moving etc. etc.).

I also learned this, from a simple Discussion Board:

"Dietary treatments for Blastocystis hominis: 

Some say Blastocystis hominis feeds off carbohydrates, particularly grains, so cutting out carbs and consuming a high protein diet is useful.

Saccharomyces boulardii, a probiotic yeast, can be useful. This is because Blastocystis hominis is immunosuppressive: Blasto lowers the levels of secretory IgA antibodies (sIgA) in your gut mucous membranes. Saccharomyces boulardii probiotic is known to raise sIgA."

The reason this is so interesting to me is because while I was taking Flagyl when I tried to kill Blasto the first time around, the Infectious Disease doc suggested I take something called Florastor, a probiotic that is actually a yeast. (Who KNEW there were GOOD yeasts? I still don't understand that.) Anyway, for those of you who are keeping up, after the Flagyl treatment, I didn't have the Big D.


Interesting, because either the Flagyl killed some Blasto....or the Florastor helped keep them in check.

A study talked about here says that "Metronidazole [Flagyl] or S. boulardii has potential beneficial effects in B. hominis infection (symptoms, presence of parasites). These findings challenge the actual guidelines."

This blogger says that probiotics will only make Blasto stronger because it eats good an bad bacteria! But that this yeasty thing (S. Boulardii) might help with symptoms. Hmmm.


This whole site is pretty interesting: http://blastocystis.wordpress.com/2011/02/. We who are infected lead pretty one-track lives! I don't want a stupid protozoa to keep me from feeling well enough to go out and DO THINGS. That said, I hope it is a stupid protozoa and perhaps I will be blessed with relief from many inflammatory processes, like arthritis. :D

Color Me Confused

Today I had a lovely (read, not lovely) chat with my Cool Acupuncture Guy. I started off the day by forgetting that I had an appointment with him and instead getting a 15 minute reminder on my cell phone. I called, thinking surely it was a mistake.

It wasn't. The receptionist said she was just wondering where I was.

In any case, I actually spoke to Cool Acupuncture Guy. To fill in the blanks, I had started taken the Herbal Tea to help with "Loose GI" but after six days I hadn't seen any improvement so I stopped taking it. On Day Three I actually noticed an increase in ick. Day Four I called and left a message but because it was right before Thanksgiving no one was really around and I didn't get a call back until Monday.

Point being...I got chastised for not taking my Herbal stuff. When faced with someone's passive aggressive disapproval, I can apparently get fairly tongue-tied. Instead of coherently saying what I needed to say I'm pretty sure I came across as a bumbling idiot. I tried to tell him that I was interested in getting checked for parasites, but to him I think this seemed very out-of-left field.

So I tried my best to explain what I was thinking (namely, that a parasite problem might be inhibiting my healing and herbal remedies) and he said that the Herbal Tea would help with parasites and would help with the loose GI. Also, someone with a damp constitution (read--out of balance) would be susceptible to parasites. So I ended the conversation like a downtrodden dog, confused about what to do next.

I think the CAG assumes I have some sort of worm, which compared to the Blastocystis that I do have is a cakewalk. Worms are easy to kill! Protozoa or whatever, that dig into your intestinal walls, not so much.

How to keep the peace and explain my thinking? I have no idea. I left a message and emailed CAG, because I do value his opinion and I want his help through this process. Hopefully it won't be a battle if I want to take Western drugs to kill my-maybe-surviving-parasite. And it would have helped if I hadn't missed my appointment in the first place.

Parasite Vs. Celiac Tutorial

This web site has a really succinct list of the symptoms that come from having parasites.

These are the ones I can personally attest to being true: ;)

Diarrhea
Bloating
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Joint Pain
 Skin Rash
Anemia
Teeth Grinding
Chronic Fatigue
Immune Dysfunction

This web site has some symptoms of having Celiac Disease. And these:

Diarrhea
Bloating (Gross, I know...)
Anemia
Stomach Upset
Joint Pain
Skin Rash

My point is....if it's parasites, no wonder I have been confused!

Doctors of Osteopathy are the Shiznit!

So today was the day I went to see a nearby Doctor of Osteopathy (not an M.D., a D.O. is a Doctor who tries to look at your body as a whole instead of parts and symptoms). The Physician's Assistant I had been seeing can't practice anymore, so I needed someone else in addition to the Cool Acupuncture Guy to help me piece things together.

In any case, I hadn't meant to bawl in front of her, but I totally did. The Medical Assistant had just weighed me (at my lowest weight since middle school) and I am generally emotionally fragile. When the real doc came in, she just looked at me, gestured to my ream of medical records, and said, "I've glanced at your records, but why don't you tell me what's been going on?" So instead of answering her, I just burst into tears.

Worse than Dawson. :)


I call this sydrome "So-Damn-Thankful-For-Help" Syndrome. In high school when a deer ran into my car, I didn't cry until an old man offered to remove the partial carcass from my bumper.

I actually enjoyed my appointment with her because her philosophy matches up with ours quite a bit. She understands why I don't want to be on drugs for the rest of my life and she is willing to help me figure out what's wrong. I let her know that I'm seeing a Cool Acupuncture Guy, taking a not-presciption med for my thryoid, and that I'm not convinced any of the doctors I've seen so far have had any clue what's wrong.

The high points:

*She is checking my thryoid, liver, and for my old friends the parasites. :)

*She understands that taking a med for my thyroid doesn't really explain the chronic inflammation I have EVERYWHERE: joints, gut, thryoid, antibodies....

*She called attention to the fact that normally people with 'true' autoimmune disorders don't have 'flare-ups' during pregnancy. Usually people with autoimmune problems have little to no symptoms during pregnancy because the body knows to calm things down so as not to hurt the body. In my last pregnancy, however, that didn't happen. Infections, hemorrhages, blah-de-blah.

*She asked why I never got re-rested for the parasite and noted that it would have been a good idea to re-test, even though she understood the other doc's reasoning for not ordering a repeat test.

*She is on board with either treating or ruling out parasites and then moving on from there. If there are bugsies, then we can deal with that and if there aren't...then I fear there are yet more specialists in my future. 

*She got me my own box of Kleenex so that I could cry at length. :)

Hopefully in three-ish days I will know what THESE tests say. I'm also interested to hear what CAG says about how Chinese medicine can treat parasites. Ish.

I feel like God answered a prayer for me in that he blessed me with a doctor who is 'on the same page' as I am and who comes to similar conclusions without any arguing. She inspires trust and peace in me and she has more knowledge than I do to add to the whole picture. CAG once said that a good primary care physician is someone who could take all the information from all the specialists I've seen and look at the whole picture. This woman is more than capable of that! Praise God for guiding me to her.

Remember Those Parasites? Those Were the Days...

At the end of the last post, I was going to pretend as if I had Celiac Disease. And I have.

For the last five days or so, I have been a very strict Celiac. If I handed my child a wheat-filled cracker, I washed my hands afterwards. I ate nothing that might even have a teeny bitty chance of having wheat in it.

You'd think that things would start improving but really they haven't. There was one time yesterday when I thought they might be getting better, but....it passed. Ha! Unintentional poo humor.

Then my parents came for Thanksgiving, and my Dear Mom said that she still thought I might STILL HAVE a parasite, specifially one called Blastocystis Hominis. I tested positive for that parasite way back at the end of last year (see Backstory...). I took the drug Flagyl for two weeks. This particularly parasite has been shown to be somewhat resistant to Flagyl, but people keep prescribing it.

 
Doctors are also in disagreement about whether or not Blastocystis is even worth treating because a) there are people who have it and do not have symptoms and b)....well, that's really the only reason. It is apparently beyond comprehension that different bodies could react differently to the same parasite. After I was treated, I had normal poo! YAY! And then the Big D returned.

I went back to this Infectious Disease doc only to be told that if I wasn't having diarrhea "all the time" then it couldn't be because of the parasite. So I didn't even get another stool test because I was sent on my merry way to other specialists.

What interested me the most in my recent Internet ramblings is that many symptoms of having this parasite were similar to having Celiac Disease. inflammation, gastrointestinal distress, anemia, grinding teeth, and weight loss are all symptoms of having a damn parasite. This particular parasite also lives off of starchy foods, like, *cough*, bread. So it seems that all these sypmtoms I'm having could be because of a Celiac-Disease-like-parasite. The site Bad Bugs lists symptoms: "Inflammation, hives, arthritis, low iron, leaky gut have all been associated in the scientific literature with D.fragilis or B.hominis."

And from a study, which I am not going to find again to cite properly because I'm too darned tired: "A patient with persistent diarrhea was found to have biopsy-proved colitis with large numbers of the protozoan Blastocystis hominis present in stool. Extensive evaluation failed to reveal any other potential etiologic agent of acute colitis. Following treatment with a course of metronidazole, the patient became asymptomatic, B hominis was no longer present in stool, and results of a repeated biopsy were normal. These observations are consistent with the role of B hominis as a gastrointestinal pathogen."

Some web sites say that nothing is effective in eradicating Blasto except for serious drugs. I have found some evidence that Oregano Oil taken for 6 weeks could help, one site from Australia that swears Chinese herbs can help, and a lot of evidence that two or three different anti-amoeba drugs (okay, I don't really know how they work) can help rid you of it. These are 'three-combo' drugs: secnidazole, furazolidone, and nitazoxanide. Granted, when I was first diagnosed with this nasty parasite, I was still breast-feeding so my treatment was greatly complicated. But now, now I could take any drug and I'm only hurting myself. :)

From a study on Oregano Oil: "Force and colleagues gave 600 mg emulsified oregano oil for six weeks to 13 adults who had tested positive for intestinal parasites (Entamoeba, Endolinax, or Blastocystis). Parasites could no longer be detected in 10 of the 13 after the treatment. The parasite score (parasites counted under a microscope) decreased for the other three. Seven of the eight who had originally tested positive for Blastocystis hominis reported significant improvement of their symptoms, such as bloating, GI cramping, alternating diarrhea and constipation, and fatigue. Oregano is GRAS (generally regarded as safe), but the oil should be used with caution, as it can be irritating to the mucous membranes. It should be taken with food, partway through a meal, not on an empty stomach. Oregano oil may trigger the  die-off  phenomenon in those suffering intestinal candidiasis or other intestinal microbial infestation due to its powerful germ-killing action."


This morning my dad said that I should make sure the parasite was gone before I just keep spinning in circles. I guess he's right. I have been spinning in circles, trying to figure out what's wrong. But if I have a parasite on board, nothing is really working the way it's supposed to anyway. So I guess I'll go find a doctor who is willing to listen and willing to look for parasites. I'm gonna be really pissed if it's been a parasite this whole time, that I knew I had, and nothing else.

I'm NOT Crazy!

I called Sami's Bakery in Florida today. They are the makers of the fantastic bread (and bagels, lavash, and millet chips) that my CAG recommends and sells. It is super good! But I could have sworn it is what triggered this whole 'Big D' business because of the wheat it has.

CAG told me I was crazy when I saw him last week (well, no, he didn't, he just said that Celiac's eat that bread). But in my Googling for Sami's phone number, I found a discussion thread that actually states over and over again the bread from Sami's Bakery, while tasty, is NOT gluten/wheat free because it's made in a place full of wheat and probably made on things that are full of wheat.

Someone actually sent the actual bread off to be tested for gluten parts-per-million (ppm) and it was too 'high' for Celiacs. I am beyond glad, because that gives me some direction.

The link to the thread is here. It's a Gluten Free Forum. Here is a quote from one of the posts:


"We sent 2 samples of Sami's products - the millet & flax hamburger bun and the plain millet bread to University of Nebraska, Lincoln to be tested for gluten. Here is what they sd. The gluten testing of the bun and bread samples that we received on Tues, Feb 13th, 2007 has been completed. The results are listed below:

Sample Millet & flax hamb bun >5000 ppm
Plain millet bread >5000 ppm
 
The lower limit of detection for the R-Biophar Ridascreen Fast Gliadin is 10
parts per million (ppm) gluten. Amounts below this level cannot be reliably
detected in this assay. One ppm is equal to one milligram of gluten per
kilogram of sample product."
 
A gluten-free dietician also posts on Sami's Bakery: Test Results for Sami's Bakery Products. Apparently none of the gluten-free products are actually testing gluten-free (less than 20 ppm) and the millet and flax products (which don't directly contain gluten, but aren't labeled gluten-free) are also contaminated.

And the last link I looked at was a podcast from a blog called Hold the Gluten in which the author gives her own sad Sami's Bakery story; apparently she was glutened by millet and flax hamburger buns.

I guess what I'm saying is that it IS entirely possible that those bagels I ate had wheat and gluten in them. I'm also saying that I'm still not convinced I don't have Celiac Disease. There are other problems going on, other possible 'allergies', so who the hell knows. But I am going to pretend as if I do have Celiac Disease and if the treatment works then....?

Desperation, Oatmeal, & Apples As Prophets

As many of you know, I've been trying to figure out what is wrong with me for SOME FRICKIN' TIME.

In any case, I have been going over and over and over my food diaries and scouring the Internet for answers. The other day I was so desperate and loopy that I asked my apple whether I would ever get better.

I used to play a game in middle school where you say the alphabet while twisting on an apple stem, and the letter it came off on was the letter of the guy's last name that you would one day marry. He would of course be your One True Love. So I was saying "Yes" and "No" in my head while twisting this damn thing, and because it's an organic apple it was good and sturdy. So, I'm standing in my kitchen doing that for what seemed like ever, and when it did twist off (on "Yes"!) it scared the crap out of me. I'll have you know I looked right up at Heaven and asked God "When?" Just to let Him know that I don't really believe apples are deities.

I also superstitiously put back on a necklace that I took off when Finn was born, one I wore for probably a solid five years. I'm not a big accessory-gal, so once it's on, it's kind of....on. The necklace is part of a charm bracelet that my Grandma brought me back from Jerusalem, when she visited years ago. The other charms were unsuitable for the necklace transformation. Star of David: People would think I was actually Jewish. Camel: Who wants to wear a damn camel around their neck? A Cross: Boooooooo-riiiiiing. The Hand of Hamsa/Fatima: Startlingly pretty and unique for a pasty white girl such as myself. So, this little hand with a blue dot on it won out. I Googled it once and found out that it was (superstitiously!) meant to ward off the Evil Eye. Oooooooo.

 I digress. My point is that I'm tired of trying to figure out what's wrong, so I asked an apple. That's one of the first signs of lunacy.

And tonight, as a present, God let a sentence stand out to me during a rambling Internet search. It was something like this "...certain Celiacs cannot even tolerate oats." I read it while skimming, but I wasn't looking for information on oats, so I went back and clicked on more crap. Later, as I was reading through my food diary, the sentence echoed around in my thick skull.

When I first met CAG, I asked if I could eat gluten-free oatmeal and he said not to , just to be safe. But for the past year, I have still been eating gluten-free oatmeal and gluten-free oats because DAMN! They taste good. And so many good tasting things are off limits it seems to cruel to deny my tummy one little thing! And the labels swear up and down that their foods have been ELISA tested and made on a dedicated machine for this or that.

I think the time is ripe for me to cut that out and see if the "less than 20 ppm" of gluten allowed to be in gluten-free oats is really bad for me. I'll let you know if that makes a difference. BTW, I had a yummy bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon and nutmeg on Friday night. So....if it takes at least four days for something to leave your system, I'm on Day 2 with no oats right now. Sigh.

This link talks about the reliability of oats being "gluten free". There is some question about certain strains of oats causing more problems than other strains of oats. I seriously thought there was one kind of oat. But there's lots of different types of grasses, lettuces, etc. It makes sense. Wish I'd taken it more seriously from the get-go.

Update #534

So I haven't been doing so great lately, because for inexplicable reasons, I went from doing great! to doing really, really badly as far as...food and *other* things. Two weeks ago I enjoyed a brief reprieve from my crazy intestinal system. Two weeks later, I'm pretty sure I've shed a bunch of pounds again.

I made an appointment with Cool Acupuncture Guy to figure out what the problem might be. Sadly, after a long appointment, I really didn't ask any questions. I was just so glad that someone was listening to me and trying to find a solution!

One thing that baffled me was the bagels--previously blamed (by me) for being the trigger for Crazy-Tummy, CAG said that it couldn't be those bagels! They are made--though the package says otherwise--on separate machinery from wheaty things AND he has Celiac Disease patients who eat them regularly. On the other hand, I know that different people have different sensitivities and different tolerance levels for foods, drugs, etc. etc. In any case, CAG is convinced that the handful of popcorn I had that night (yes, people, this is my life) is what the real problem is.

He prescribed taking some weird Chinese herbs (yay!) to stop the Big D and 'warm me up'. So today is Day 2 of taking Chinese-Anti-Diarrheal-Herbs. Normally I would have asked what he thought happened, what the problem might be, and what herbs I am taking, but right now I'm just exhausted from trying so hard to figure out what's wrong. They have helped a little so far, but I don't know how long they are supposed to take to "work".

He also spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get me to specify everything I've been eating. And I didn't even bother to bring my food journal in. So, I gather that CAG thinks it's something I've been eating, like my system was finally back in balance and I screwed it up again. Maybe it was the wine. ;) I'm supposed to check back in, in two weeks and I really hope that by then I am singing a different tune. A healthier, more nourished tune.

I also finally forked over some cash to have some blood-allergy testing, the IgG kind, not the IgA kind. Some believe that measuring IgG antibodies (when your blood is exposed to certain foods) will help identify food allergies and food intolerances. Some think it's quackery.

One of my good friends says I should relax, do yoga, get massages, and just try to take a mental break from what I'm eating and what's wrong with me. I will try. I will!

Epic Fail!

This picture has nothing whatsoever to do with me, but it's frickin' hilarious.

Is anyone wondering how I did cutting out sugar and carbs? Epic failure! I thought it would be simple to cut out ALL CARBS but it turns out that cutting out grains, potatoes, and other lovely things is terrifically hard. Plus I honestly don't think that your body is supposed to run very well on no carbohydrates.

Just the same, I am taking more probiotics and I definitely see the value in cutting out refined sugars, like juices and lots of chocolate, etc. I don't think I will deprive myself if I want an apple though. I wasn't just in a bad mood without any grains, I felt really run-down and depressed and all sorts of bad things.

But some other things are getting more normal, if you get my disgusting drift. :) So there's some good news too.I do wonder if I have more than a simple intolerance because what set off a week of not normal was a millet and flax bagel with TRACE amounts of wheat and gluten. So...that's interesting.

A New Frontier of Deprivation

I have had the Big D for a week or so now, and I'm getting really sick of it. As I posted before, I think I may have been 'glutened', but I can't account for how long this current bout of BLAH is lasting. I keep going through my food diary trying to figure out if it was this or that or the other thing that set off my poor, fatigued body, but generally I just feel at a loss.

After talking to a friend today I think I may try a diet designed to rid the body of yeast--the Candida Diet. I have lots of the symptoms that go along with an 'intestinal yeast overgrowth'. I figure, what the hell! I'm a Human Guinea Pig. And besides, I've had diarrhea for over a week now, so I'm feeling pretty adventurous. Also, another friend has been bugging me about giving up sugar for other reasons--sugar is inflammatory and inflammation leads to HORRIBLE things. It's true.

I have read about intestinal candida before, but I assumed that it couldn't be my problem because 'freaky autoimmune problems' wasn't listed as a symptom. Unfortunately, I am only just now realizing that I could not only have a wheat intolerance (or full-blown Celiac's Disease, who the heck knows), but I could also have other problems, allergies, disorders...

In any case, it turns out that I do have a great many of the symptoms listed for someone who has a yeast overgrowth--lethargy, muscle aches, joint pains, gastro issues, inexplicable food allergies, etc. And, truth be told, I do eat a lot of sugar. Partly because it's something that was on my 'safe' list from the Cool Acupuncture Guy and partly because I like it. I like honey in my tea, juice or something juice-like with my meals, and ample amounts of syrup on my gluten-free pancakes. Alas, I think the time is ripe for a change. It's going to be about two weeks before I go in to see the CAG again, so I have some time to try it out. Generally, I don't understand about the hot/cold Chinese food philosophy, so I will ask him about yeast overgrowth and how it might fit into his view when I go see him again.

There is supposedly a horrible time after you cut out sugar in which your body totally rebels because the dying yeasties release some sort of toxins in your body. We shall see.

My goal isn't to try some new "miracle cure" everyday (as my DH has warned me against), but I don't know that there can be a downside to eating less sugar, and carbs, except that I might be a cranky, bitchy friend and wife.

Here is a Candida Killing Diet from a hospital: Click here! This one is more strict than some others I've seen.

I also liked Years Free Foods because they have a list of foods that one CAN eat. Always important when you're trying to look on the bright side..

Why Organic? Aren't All Vegetables The Same?

If you are already aware of why buying 'organic' is worthwhile, stop reading! On the other hand, if you are someone who wonders why the hell I would pay any more for a banana that appears to be identical to another banana at a fraction of the cost, read on. Sometimes I get shit from people for being crazy, but I have good reason! Or at least good intentions. Excerpts are from The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

"Of course, the healthfulness of food is not simply a question of its toxicity; we have also to consider its nutritional quality. Is there any reason to think my Whole Foods meal is any more nutritious than the same meal prepared with conventionally grown ingredients?

...Back in the fifties, when the USDA routinely compared the nutritional quality of produce from region to region, it found striking difference: carrots grown in the deep soils of Michigan, for example, commonly had more vitamins than carrots grown in the thin, sandy soils of Florida. Naturally this information discomfited the carrot growers of Florida, which probably explains why the USDA no longer conducts this sort of research. Nowadays, the U.S. agricultural policy, like the Declaration of Independence, is founded on the princple that all carrots are created equal, even though there's good reason to believe this isn't really true.

But in an agricultural system dedicated to quantity rather than quality, the fiction that all foods are created equal is essential. This is why, in inaugurating the federal organic program in 2000, the secretary of agriculture went out of his way to say that organic food is no better than conventional food. 'The organic label is a marketing tool,' Secretary Glickman said, 'It is not a statement about food safety. Nor is 'organic' a value judgment about nutrition or quality.' 


Some intriguing recent research suggests otherwise. A study by University of California-Davis researchers published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry in 2003 described an experiment in which identical varieties of corn, strawberries, and blackberries grown in neighboring plots using different methods (including organically and conventionally) were compared for levels of vitamins and polyphenols. 

Polyphenols are a group of secondary metabolites manufactured by plants that we've recently learned play an important role in human health and nutrition. Many are potent antioxidants; some play a role in preventing or fighting cancer; other exhibit antimicrobial properties. The Davis researchers found that organic and otherwise sustainably grown fruits and vegetables contained significantly higher levels of both ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and a wide range of polyphenols. 


SKIPPING AHEAD...

Why in the world should organically grown blackberries or corn contain significantly more of these compounds? The authors of the Davis study haven't settled the question, but they offer two suggestive theories. The reason plants produce these compounds in the first place is to defend themselves against pests and diseases (*my clarification--which they no longer need to make themselves since they are sprayed in chemical pesticides)...A second explanation...may be that the radically simplified soils in which chemically fertilized plants grow don't supply all the raw ingredients needed to synthesize these compounds, leaving the plants more vulnerable to attack, as we know conventionally grown plants tend to be...


Obviously there is much more to be learned about the relationship of soil to plant, animals, and health, and it would be a mistake to lean too heavily on any one study. It would also be a mistake to assume that the word 'organic' on a label automatically signifies healthfulness, especially when that label appears on heavily processed and long-distance foods that have probably had much of their nutrtional value, not to mention flavor, beaten out of them long before they arrive on our tables."

 All this is to say that I, in my everyday quest for health, do think there's a difference between the veggies sold at Wal-Mart, the veggies at Whole Foods, and even the veggies sold from your local farm co-op.

I don't know what the hell is being put on the conventionally, industrial farm stuff, so I am trying to make better choices in this area. I do think that eating veggies and fruits from Wal-Mart is better than eating none at all. Lesser evil and all.

The reality is that it's often more expensive and it's often hard to figure out whether something is industrial organic or small, local farm organic. I was just talking with a friend today about how the produce at Sunflower Market and Sprouts is, like other grocery stores, divided into organic and non-organic, though one would assume that everything in those stores is organic. I still have to read labels!

Whenever Did Food Tasters Go Out Of Style?!

I'm thinking that it would be nice to have a person with officially diagnosed with Celiac Disease taste my food before me. If I had unlimited funds, I could pay someone else to have diarrhea instead of me! Probably some sort of employee welfare law would prevent this sort of cruelty. I might outsource to China or Mexico.

In any case, I woke up this morning with a horrible case of...D. And I will spare you the details, but it's clear that a) it was the worst D I've had in a long time and b) I had recently eaten something very, very bad for me.

I'm still not sure what caused the whole fiasco, but my Dear Husband pointed out that the kind-of gluten-free bagels I have been getting from the Cool Acupuncture Guy might be the reason. The reason is that though they are (DELICIOUS!) gluten-free technically and are made from just millet flour and flax seed meal, they aren't made on dedicated gluten-free machines. So, there's a lot of room for wheat corruption.

Looking at everything else I ate yesterday, other possible culprits include broccoli and soybean oil from a garlic pill supplement. Everything else I'd eaten is something I've had before that did nothing.

I'm a little mad at myself because the package clearly says "contains traces of gluten, wheat, and yeast". I just thought for sure that trace amounts of anything wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be true.

Today is a sad, bagel-free day and I already feel better. If this experiment is successful and I get better not eating bagels with trace amounts of gluten...then I'm lots more sensitive than I thought.

P.S.--Sami's Bakery in Florida has an online store and their products are amazing. I haven't ever gotten sick from their stuff before, so I still recommend it.

Present Nicky Vs. Past Nicky

So, I found a package of my used-to-be-favorite snack crackers hiding away in an old bag of mine. I am probably going to throw it away because it doesn't have an expiration date and I don't know how old they are. Truth be told, no matter how long it's been since they were manufactured, they're probably going to be just fine. 

Forever.

I looked at the ingredients out of curiosity. In my previous life, before I cared about nutrition because my body willingly processed EVERYTHING and anything I gave it, I didn't care what the ingredients were. Even worse, I assumed that peanut butter crackers would be a good snack. The problem is that they're not just peanut butter crackers. My innocence and naivete tell me that peanut butter crackers should have wheat flour, stuff like baking powder maybe, some sugar, peanut butter, and...? But there's lots more. Here are the official ingredients from Kellogg's web site:

Ingredients

ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), PEANUT BUTTER (ROASTED PEANUTS), SOYBEAN OIL WITH TBHQ FOR FRESHNESS, SUGAR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, DEXTROSE, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF SALT, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE), SOY LECITHIN, CORNSTARCH, YELLOW #6, CHEDDAR CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES), WHEY, BUTTERMILK, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, RED PEPPER.

So, aside from all the added vitamins, here are the ingredients that jump out at me: TBHQ, Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Yellow #6, and disodium phosphate. Preservatives, more sugar, more corn parts (dextrose), and dye? I'm not even sure what the yellow is for. For the cracker? Or to make the peanut butter part look more peanut buttery? 

My point is that where I'm at right now, I am more aware of what I'm eating. But our food is so deceptive these days. It's not just peanut butter crackers, it's a lot of other weird things too. If I could, I would go tell Past Nicky to throw away all the stuff that is currently making me sick. But...maybe my angry little tummy would just find some other food to pick on. :(

The Documentary Marathon: Food, Inc. & The Omnivore's Dilemma

"You vote three times a day."

If you want better quality food for everyone in our country, make a vote that counts and buy locally grown, organic foods. I am writing that up front, because if you read nothing else, I want you to read that. I used to think I couldn't make a difference in the quality of our food, but I realize now that if the demand is greater (i.e., if everyone buys more food grown without pesticides, that is not genetically modified, or not raised in abominable conditions), then we can literally change what is sold in our supermarket.

Now the true beginning.

The other major documentary that we have watched lately is, of course, Food, Inc. It came out long enough ago that I have had it out from the library a few times and just couldn't bring myself to watch it. I finally got up the gumption to just...see what there was to see about how our food was really produced. I am a little bit of a bleeding heart about animals and the pain and trauma they go through, but specifically in factory farming, so...I wasn't excited to watch this movie at all.

But since I'm all interested in food and how it is NEGATIVELY affecting my body, I figured it was high time to watch this one. In no particular order, these are the things I remember strongly. :) So you might want to watch it for yourself since my memory isn't always the sharpest!

Genetically Modified Organism (or G.E.-Genetically Engineered) Crops: One thing that really stuck out to me (that I have blogged about before) is just how much GMO foods might be screwing with our bodies. This documentary kind of goes hand-in-hand with The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. Mr. Michael was a part of the documentary and, now that I look back on the movie, it kind of follows the book pretty well.

In any case, the discussion about GMO seed was poignant to me because a) GMO seeds are becoming more and more prevalent and b) it appears that GMO stuff (corn and soy, to name the biggest GMO crops) are causing more allergies. My personal theory is that our bodies can tell that it's not getting corn as nature intended and creates antibodies against corn. Makes lots more sense why there are so many allergies these days and why I seem to have a particular aversion to corn.

This reminds me of a doc I saw who swore up and down that my body couldn't tell the difference between the T4 hormone my body makes and the Synthroid that was made in a lab; funnily enough, studies show that if you take Synthroid for your whole life, you're more likely to end up with osteoporosis. Huh. So right now, companies that produce GMO seed and the farmers who are literally stuck growing it are saying, "Oh, no, this is just like regular corn, your body can't tell the difference, it still has all the same nutrients, plus the ones we added!" Apparently our bodies can tell the difference.

Food Science kind of pisses me off. We're not solving word hunger with it, we're just giving a few corporations an even bigger profit margin.

There is a lot of controversy about the labeling of GMO products--whether we should or shouldn't. Right now, companies that use, say, corn seed that makes its own pesticide in its own cells DOES NOT have to be labeled. So unless it says non-GMO, you won't know.

Unethical Corporations: I think I may have accidentally covered this up there. I am not anti-corporation, per se, nor am I anti-capitalist. But if any company or business is acting unethically and getting away with it, yeah, that pisses me off. In this documentary, Monsanto (a giant GMO corn seed seller) comes off as pretty unethical. They are the mighty Goliath pushing around our nation's farmers. Some farmers who desperately want to grow organic, non-GMO corn have great difficulty doing so because the freaking WIND blows Monsanto seeds into their fields and legally Monsanto can sue for that.

KickAss Farmer Dude: This guy owns a place called Polyface Farm. I linked it here because the dude who runs the farm (Joel) is so freaking awesome. I was blown away by him because based on appearance and his 80s brand glasses, you'd think he'd be a really poorly spoken country bumpkin, but he isn't. He is a farm-reformist. He is a revolutionary.

Joel has a fully functioning farm (that is, they grow more than one crop and have more than one animal) and he believes in giving cows grass and 'processing' his own meat. The chickens he raises and slaughters are treated well, fed well, and slaughtered so quickly and cleanly that I know they weren't as scared as a factory farm chicken. My friend (who is almost a vegetarian) went so far as to say that he made her want to slaughter chickens! The USDA (or whoever pretends to be in charge) threatened to shut him down because his chickens were slaughtered in the 'open air' and could be contaminated. So nice to know that they prefer our meat be killed on an assembly line in a giant shed and then washed in ammonia and chlorine.

He even goes so far (in the book, Omnivore's Dilemma) as to say that the big 'organic' grocery stores are crap because they have industrialized and gotten away from what it really means to be 'organic'. Food, Inc. is worth watching just for this dude.

Stonyfield Yogurt Dude: The reason my husband and I liked this guy is because he was very practical. He was a hippie commune guy who basically decided that he needed to compete on a bigger level and show people that organic could be done in a big, successful way. And he did it. His yogurt is in Wal-Mart, because Wal-Mart recognized the demand for an organic yogurt brand. If people will buy it, they will stock it. Wal-Mart got rid of the hormone-treated cow's milk simply because no one wanted it. So....remember, you vote at least three times a day.

Peace Lilies, Palm Trees, and Ivy, OH MY!

A few weeks ago my son's skin was breaking out--a rash and full-blown eczema. I take this a sign that something is irritating my son's immune system, either inside of him or outside of him.I wasn't sure what was causing it, but he also started coughing. My husband heard the cough and immediately said that our Dear Son had the signs of early asthma!

So, as I am wont to do, I tried to figure out how we could prevent full-blown asthma. I started cleaning more, keeping the pets out of the house more, and I am trying to narrow down any allergens for him. I bought him a humidifier and an air purifier just to give him the BEST air in his room ever.

In the course of my Googling, I found out that ordinary old house plants can work as humidifiers and air purifiers. !? What?! How cheap! How green! How wonderful! No filters to replace, no mineral cartridges to buy, and no bacterial gunk to clean out of the tank. Some plants can even clean mold and chemicals out of the air.

Here is the link that Zach and I liked the best, which sites the top 10 air purifying plants as determined by NASA: http://webecoist.com/2009/04/08/air-purifying-plants/. HGTV has also jumped on the houseplant bandwagon--they quote the same studies.

We were going to buy a new humidifier for the winter for our own bedroom, but instead we bought a giant Areca Palm from Lowe's for $15 and it does the job, plus it's purifying the air! I'm totally impressed by....nature.

Also an update--no tree nuts = a happy me! I am now wondering how much better I would have felt if I had cut out tree nuts before! I have been going back through my food diaries to see if I had nuts around some of the other foods I thought were allergens to me--corn, strawberries, even wine....and it turns out I eat a lot of nuts. Keep you all posted as I try some things over again with tree nuts out of the picture...

Nuts!

Today I went to see my Cool Acupuncture Guy again. This past week has been a little weird because after being hyperthyroid, now I really seem to be swinging back into the hypothyroid phase. Luckily, CAG seems to think this is normal and expected.

But after eating gluten or whatever was on those dastardly fries, I was feeling even worse---ringing in my ears, diarrhea, headaches, dizziness, and just generally being tired. Oddly enough the arthritis part wasn't that bad. In any case, I made a new (and somewhat unfortunate) discovery about two days ago. I'm going to skip my sob story (just this one time) and say that I feel much better when I don't eat tree nuts.

I really like walnuts and pecans and hazelnuts so I eat them pretty often. I couldn't figure out what was making me feel sick because SO MUCH is already cut out of my diet. But yesterday (after a whole solid day of the Big D), I didn't eat any nuts at all. And voila, normal trips to the bathroom! A miracle!

On the upside, peanuts are really legumes and so far don't appear to cause any ill-effects. So, there's a positive to go with my negative.

CAG said that now that my body is starting to heal  we can start to help my thyroid dig itself out of the hole my body has scared it into. He means two things by my body starting to heal--one is that based on my blood tests and mostly good feeling, it seems like my immune system is calming down and two is that I don't have diarrhea as much!

Here is a summary of my appointment with CAG today:

*He said that he thinks my whole body is deficient. Not just one part of me, but my whole me. He used some Chinese terms that I don't fully understand--my Yin is deficient, my Yang is deficient, and so is my Chi....all of me is suffering.

*He made a fancy Chinese herbal solution for me to take for the next month. I asked what was in it and he started speaking Chinese.

*He said that I should continue to use Thyroxal every day (unless I feel sick, then suspend taking it for a bit) and ClearVite every day or as needed. To me, ClearVite is a miracle because it calms my tummy and my immune system down quite a lot!

*He looked at my tongue and could tell some crazy shit about my body. I will not divulge any details. But if I won't publish it on the Internet, it must be personal because I am pretty much an open book. ;)

*I asked about staying away from 'goitrogenic' foods (and similarly, nightshades that might cause arthritis) and he said that from the way he was looking at it, it wasn't the food itself that was the problem, it was my body's reaction to that food. So, another way of saying that is that my thyroid isn't malfunctioning because my thyroid is broken, my immune system is ATTACKING it. So goitrogenic foods (unless they also happen to be foods that 'upregulate' my immune system) aren't the problem, because my thyroid isn't the main problem.

I would like to take a short intermission to point out that he is looking at my body as a whole instead of as a bunch of small parts. The other docs I have seen were looking solely at my thyroid, even though all agreed that I had an autoimmune problem. Instead of trying to fix the immune system (which they see as unfixable), they just tried to alleviate symptoms of a thyroid hormone deficiency. I'm hoping this Chinese, whole-body approach WORKS!