I have discovered that I may not be able to tolerate even cultured butter (butter with friendly bacterial critters). I got SO gassy and uncomfortable yesterday when I put a little cultured butter on my steamed broccoli and it was so not pleasant. I may try to pick up some ghee and try that if I really need a butter fix, but for now I think I'm sticking with coconut oil and olive oil. I suppose it could have been the broccoli, so I'll have to test that hypothesis, but I'm leaning toward the butter. I'm still eating lots of kale, and some baby tomatoes occasionally. The Body Ecology Diet book says that you can have them occasionally if you tolerate them ok, and so far I haven't had a bit of trouble with them. But of course that's eating them with a ton of kale, dressing made with apple cider vinegar/olive oil, and hemp seeds.
I'm finding more and more ways to make my food interesting with spices and stuff. Dessert options are something I need to play with more, as I've been mostly focused on eating regular meals. So far the chia seed pudding and my morning smoothies are holding me for the sweet/chocolate fix.
My sinuses are still well under control with the new remedies. I've got a little bit of a sore throat today, but that's because a bunch of garbage is draining down the back of my throat.
I had a good workout today, especially now that my trainer is back from his vacation. Getting up early doesn't wipe me out like it used to. I'd be a walking zombie on workout days normally and feel like I was about to keel over and fall asleep. That never happens any more. I guess getting the candida under control has normalized my serotonin/melatonin cycle somehow. I'm still turning into a pumpkin at about 10 PM and HAVE to go to bed or I'll fall over, but that's a good thing I think.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Saturday, May 28
My sinuses cut loose last night. My contacts were acting squirrely all day yesterday because my eyes were dry, and I suppose that's why. I had stuff running out of my nose and down the back of my throat. I used some SinuOrega to flush out my sinuses and took a tub bath with a few drops of eucalyptus oil to help steam out my sinuses. It seemed to help. I went to bed early and got up with a bunch of dried crud to blow out of my nose, but otherwise not sick. The stuff coming out is all white or clear, not yellow or green that would indicate an infection. I'm moving stuff through today with accupressure.
I have also noticed over the last few days that my posture has changed. Normally I have been a bit swaybacked, but now my pelvis seems to be tilting backwards more, with the butt tucked under. I'm guessing that's a combination of the weight loss and the loss of stomach bloating from the candida. My lower back is staying much more relaxed now. The change has been so much that I've had to completely change the configuration of my car seat. My back has been popping a lot, so I guess that's just my spine adjusting itself.
I have also noticed over the last few days that my posture has changed. Normally I have been a bit swaybacked, but now my pelvis seems to be tilting backwards more, with the butt tucked under. I'm guessing that's a combination of the weight loss and the loss of stomach bloating from the candida. My lower back is staying much more relaxed now. The change has been so much that I've had to completely change the configuration of my car seat. My back has been popping a lot, so I guess that's just my spine adjusting itself.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Friday, May 27
My pants are falling down, falling down, falling down... Yep, it's time to get some new pants or take up the ones I've got. My weight seems to have stabilized for the time being at about 197ish, which is 18 pounds down. I guess my body is going to have to take some time to adjust to the new me and continue to detoxify. For the first time I feel like there's some real hope for me on the weight front without starving myself.
I have been WELL over 200 pounds for a long, long time now, so this is epic! Since I lift weights I know my weight is going to be naturally a little higher than your average chick, but I'd like to get to 180. Then I'll re-evaluate and see if I need to lose more. I'm not a fan of being scrawny. But I think my 900 calorie days are behind me. I may try to track my calories carefully and stick to around 1500 if my weight doesn't budge any more for a few weeks, that seems like a much healthier amount. The Livestrong calorie tracker is pretty good and has gobs of foods in the database.
I've added the Rejuvenate Plus stuff from the NaturalNews store to my morning smoothies and I've started pooping green. I'm guessing that's a good thing?
I'm really amazed at my eyelids, the texture of the skin is perfect (no more sandpaper) and now I'm not having to use the silver gel any more. As long as I keep it moisturized it seems happy. I've also been off the birth control pills for several weeks and haven't had a single zit. Considering I used to get the really painful cystic kind that looked like Mount Everest decided to grow on my face, that's pretty cool! Those suckers would take weeks to go away, and usually I'd get impatient and dig them out with a sterile needle until I could squeeze out the infection. I'm really not even getting clogged pores much.
I went to my very first farmer's market today! There is one down the road a bit from my work on Tuesday and Friday afternoon, so I went on my lunch break. The veggies looked like nothing I have ever seen! So pretty and fresh, the farmers had just cut them today! I got a huge mess of kale (yes, I am rapidly becoming a kaleaholic) and a bunch of broccoli that is just ginormous! I got some yellow squash and zucchini too.
All of the farmers grow their stuff organically and it's all non-GMO. So awesome! You definitely can't find veggies like this at the produce department at Wally World. I also got some fresh yogurt cheese too, made from goat milk and cultured with friendly bacterial critters. The guy who makes it even let me try a taste before I bought it. How cool is that! The cutest thing is that they have a photo album at the table of all their goats, and they are so adorable. The best part, I got everything for 11 bucks! Talk about a crazy good deal.
Speaking of crazy good deals, I got the big Hemp Seed/Oil deal at NaturalNews too. I just started putting hemp seeds on my salads and LOVE them, but I haven't tried hemp oil yet. I will have to find some recipes to play with it.
The sinuses are still doing much better. I woke up this morning without any headache at all. Yesterday, even though I was feeling a ton better, I still had a teensy bit of a headache when I woke up that resolved shortly after I got upright. There's still tons of crap draining out of them, especially when I work the accupressure points, but I guess they will detox at their own rate.
I had another brief bout of eyelid twitchies again yesterday. Definitely another good sign!
I have been WELL over 200 pounds for a long, long time now, so this is epic! Since I lift weights I know my weight is going to be naturally a little higher than your average chick, but I'd like to get to 180. Then I'll re-evaluate and see if I need to lose more. I'm not a fan of being scrawny. But I think my 900 calorie days are behind me. I may try to track my calories carefully and stick to around 1500 if my weight doesn't budge any more for a few weeks, that seems like a much healthier amount. The Livestrong calorie tracker is pretty good and has gobs of foods in the database.
I've added the Rejuvenate Plus stuff from the NaturalNews store to my morning smoothies and I've started pooping green. I'm guessing that's a good thing?
I'm really amazed at my eyelids, the texture of the skin is perfect (no more sandpaper) and now I'm not having to use the silver gel any more. As long as I keep it moisturized it seems happy. I've also been off the birth control pills for several weeks and haven't had a single zit. Considering I used to get the really painful cystic kind that looked like Mount Everest decided to grow on my face, that's pretty cool! Those suckers would take weeks to go away, and usually I'd get impatient and dig them out with a sterile needle until I could squeeze out the infection. I'm really not even getting clogged pores much.
I went to my very first farmer's market today! There is one down the road a bit from my work on Tuesday and Friday afternoon, so I went on my lunch break. The veggies looked like nothing I have ever seen! So pretty and fresh, the farmers had just cut them today! I got a huge mess of kale (yes, I am rapidly becoming a kaleaholic) and a bunch of broccoli that is just ginormous! I got some yellow squash and zucchini too.
All of the farmers grow their stuff organically and it's all non-GMO. So awesome! You definitely can't find veggies like this at the produce department at Wally World. I also got some fresh yogurt cheese too, made from goat milk and cultured with friendly bacterial critters. The guy who makes it even let me try a taste before I bought it. How cool is that! The cutest thing is that they have a photo album at the table of all their goats, and they are so adorable. The best part, I got everything for 11 bucks! Talk about a crazy good deal.
Speaking of crazy good deals, I got the big Hemp Seed/Oil deal at NaturalNews too. I just started putting hemp seeds on my salads and LOVE them, but I haven't tried hemp oil yet. I will have to find some recipes to play with it.
The sinuses are still doing much better. I woke up this morning without any headache at all. Yesterday, even though I was feeling a ton better, I still had a teensy bit of a headache when I woke up that resolved shortly after I got upright. There's still tons of crap draining out of them, especially when I work the accupressure points, but I guess they will detox at their own rate.
I had another brief bout of eyelid twitchies again yesterday. Definitely another good sign!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, May 26
My sinuses have been pretty bad (still not as bad as before the silver/aloe protocol), so I contacted Robert Scott Bell to see if he had any suggestions. He suggested Kali bic, sticta, allium cepa, and phosphorus. I was able to find all but the sticta and it really has helped. The headache gone, and I'm draining stuff out pretty heavily today. I'm still a little tired, but I stayed up til 11 to watch In Plain Sight. Love that show, but my body really wants to be in bed at 10 PM. Very strange considering my former delayed phase sleep disorder. Ready for bed at 10 is a whole new concept for me. So at this point here is my regimen:
King Bio Sinus Relief - 3x/day
King Bio Regional Allergies Southern U.S. - 3x/day
Sinusalia - 5 pellets 3x/day
Kali bic - 5 pellets 3x/day
allium cepa - 5 pellets 3x/day
phosphorus - 5 pellets 3x/day
Sovereign Silver oral - 1 tsp. 3x/day
Sovereign Silver nasal spray - 2 squirts each nostril 3x/day
SinuOrega nasal spray - as needed
Oreganol - 3 drops 3x/day
1 tbsp coconut oil - 1x/day (plus what I cook with)
I'm having a little reflux today, not sure why. Maybe it's just all the drainage. I'm glad Robert thinks this is just more junk draining out of my system, that's what I was hoping this was.
I've been having major kale cravings since I had some in a salad I got at EarthFare. So I read up on it and apparently it is pretty potent for detoxification of the body. I bet that's why my body is wanting it so much. So are broccoli sprouts, which probably explains why I'm craving them too. I'm obsessed with kale now though, I think about it all the time. I had some last night cooked in scrambled eggs with sweet cherry tomatoes. I couldn't really call it an omelet, because I'm trying to stick to the Body Ecology 80/20 rule about non-starchy veggies and protein and you can't get enough eggs to make it an omelet and still have the 80% veggies in it. Added some garlic, himalayan salt and fresh ground pepper and it was pretty freaking awesome. I cooked it in coconut oil too (my first time cooking with it) and it definitely added to the taste. Most of the time I eat it raw.
My eyelid eczema is completely gone now. I still put some of the shea/argan salve on it for moisture, but I'm not putting the silver on it any more and it shows no signs of coming back.
Interestingly my body odor has changed too. It's not as strong, and the natural deodorant that I'm using (Tom's of Maine aluminum free), I had to reapply over and over to hold me through the day, and now just putting it on in the morning is good enough (unless I'm doing physical, sweaty labor or something). The aluminum stuff could keep it well under control but I stopped because of the toxic effects of the aluminum. So the silver/aloe protocol has solved yet another stinky problem. Armpits are still happy. There's a little redness at the front of them, but not like they used to be. I think it's just chafing, and a little silver and/or moisturizer seems to make them happy. It never bothers me though. The rash I had before had me scratching myself like a chimpanzee.
The poison ivy spots are finally dying down, and the swollen spots are flat against my skin and drying up. I'm keeping the arnica gel and some moisturizer on them, but they're not itching me to death any more.
King Bio Sinus Relief - 3x/day
King Bio Regional Allergies Southern U.S. - 3x/day
Sinusalia - 5 pellets 3x/day
Kali bic - 5 pellets 3x/day
allium cepa - 5 pellets 3x/day
phosphorus - 5 pellets 3x/day
Sovereign Silver oral - 1 tsp. 3x/day
Sovereign Silver nasal spray - 2 squirts each nostril 3x/day
SinuOrega nasal spray - as needed
Oreganol - 3 drops 3x/day
1 tbsp coconut oil - 1x/day (plus what I cook with)
I'm having a little reflux today, not sure why. Maybe it's just all the drainage. I'm glad Robert thinks this is just more junk draining out of my system, that's what I was hoping this was.
I've been having major kale cravings since I had some in a salad I got at EarthFare. So I read up on it and apparently it is pretty potent for detoxification of the body. I bet that's why my body is wanting it so much. So are broccoli sprouts, which probably explains why I'm craving them too. I'm obsessed with kale now though, I think about it all the time. I had some last night cooked in scrambled eggs with sweet cherry tomatoes. I couldn't really call it an omelet, because I'm trying to stick to the Body Ecology 80/20 rule about non-starchy veggies and protein and you can't get enough eggs to make it an omelet and still have the 80% veggies in it. Added some garlic, himalayan salt and fresh ground pepper and it was pretty freaking awesome. I cooked it in coconut oil too (my first time cooking with it) and it definitely added to the taste. Most of the time I eat it raw.
My eyelid eczema is completely gone now. I still put some of the shea/argan salve on it for moisture, but I'm not putting the silver on it any more and it shows no signs of coming back.
Interestingly my body odor has changed too. It's not as strong, and the natural deodorant that I'm using (Tom's of Maine aluminum free), I had to reapply over and over to hold me through the day, and now just putting it on in the morning is good enough (unless I'm doing physical, sweaty labor or something). The aluminum stuff could keep it well under control but I stopped because of the toxic effects of the aluminum. So the silver/aloe protocol has solved yet another stinky problem. Armpits are still happy. There's a little redness at the front of them, but not like they used to be. I think it's just chafing, and a little silver and/or moisturizer seems to make them happy. It never bothers me though. The rash I had before had me scratching myself like a chimpanzee.
The poison ivy spots are finally dying down, and the swollen spots are flat against my skin and drying up. I'm keeping the arnica gel and some moisturizer on them, but they're not itching me to death any more.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, May 23
I had a pretty bad sinus headache on Saturday, but it finally let up. The headaches are still not as painful as they used to be. I found a couple of new things to help me. The New Chapters Sinus Take Care seems to be helping manage the symptoms. I also found the Sinusalia by Boiron for acute sinus pain. It has Belladonna, Sanguinaria canadensis, and Spigelia anthelmia. It seemed to knock out the headache but it took two doses.
The scabby feel is gone from the sinuses. I'm still keeping the silver and stuff going in, and will keep it up as long as it takes. Considering I've probably had a long standing sinus infection since I was 4, it may take a while to kill this bad boy. Even then it's still not as bad now as it used to be, and that is with no drugs. Today I don't have a headache, but there's a little bit of congestion. Snorted some SinuOrega and it seemed to clear it out. Accupressure points are less sore. Still doing the Sinus Relief and Allergy stuff for the Southeast from King Bio too.
The scabby feel is gone from the sinuses. I'm still keeping the silver and stuff going in, and will keep it up as long as it takes. Considering I've probably had a long standing sinus infection since I was 4, it may take a while to kill this bad boy. Even then it's still not as bad now as it used to be, and that is with no drugs. Today I don't have a headache, but there's a little bit of congestion. Snorted some SinuOrega and it seemed to clear it out. Accupressure points are less sore. Still doing the Sinus Relief and Allergy stuff for the Southeast from King Bio too.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Friday, May 20
Doing well. My sinuses are drying up pretty heavily like they were a few days after I first started the silver/aloe protocol. I think getting off the Claritin has been good for them. A friend and I went to an outdoor concert last night where a ton of people were smoking. We did pick a less heavily smoky spot to stand, but even then I was having to breathe some of it (apparently the morons think it's ok to force others to breathe their crap). Normally that would give me a lung/sinus infection that would require a month or so of antibiotics. I flushed out my sinuses with the SinuOrega immediately afterwards.
Oddly enough I'm fine today. The sinuses are still a little sore when I'm doing accupressure, but not much more than usual. Obviously there is still some inflammation there, but considering I've likely been running a sinus infection for years straight, that's not terribly surprising. The head's not hurting though. The silver, grapefruit seed extract, Oreganol, and Sinus Relief seem to be holding it. No doubt there's a lot of healing of the membranes that's got to happen too as the infection dies. Fortunately it seems to be trying to do that. Oddly it feels like there are scabs forming in my sinuses?!?!?! I can really feel it when I wiggle my nose or am doing the accupressure. It was like that when I was on the silver/aloe protocol too. I think it must be a good sign.
I'm going to keep hitting it with all this stuff as long as it takes to get the infection out. Considering I've had this for years I'm realizing it could be months before the sinuses finally get cleared out. But that's ok, it takes what it takes. My regimen now is not toxic and not causing the gut bombs that the antibiotics did.
Well, my new poopaholicism is causing problems with my toilet. Apparently it having difficulty handling my new output volume. I guess I really understand Sen. Rand Paul's statements to the enviro-police lady about his toilets not working now. Good times!
I'm not as tired as yesterday after the massage, but I'm still pretty sore. Not quite as sore, but sore. Plus I worked out with my trainer yesterday morning, so I'm sure some of it is from that.
Oddly enough I'm fine today. The sinuses are still a little sore when I'm doing accupressure, but not much more than usual. Obviously there is still some inflammation there, but considering I've likely been running a sinus infection for years straight, that's not terribly surprising. The head's not hurting though. The silver, grapefruit seed extract, Oreganol, and Sinus Relief seem to be holding it. No doubt there's a lot of healing of the membranes that's got to happen too as the infection dies. Fortunately it seems to be trying to do that. Oddly it feels like there are scabs forming in my sinuses?!?!?! I can really feel it when I wiggle my nose or am doing the accupressure. It was like that when I was on the silver/aloe protocol too. I think it must be a good sign.
I'm going to keep hitting it with all this stuff as long as it takes to get the infection out. Considering I've had this for years I'm realizing it could be months before the sinuses finally get cleared out. But that's ok, it takes what it takes. My regimen now is not toxic and not causing the gut bombs that the antibiotics did.
Well, my new poopaholicism is causing problems with my toilet. Apparently it having difficulty handling my new output volume. I guess I really understand Sen. Rand Paul's statements to the enviro-police lady about his toilets not working now. Good times!
I'm not as tired as yesterday after the massage, but I'm still pretty sore. Not quite as sore, but sore. Plus I worked out with my trainer yesterday morning, so I'm sure some of it is from that.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Thursday, May 19
What a crazy day! Work has been insane! I am tired today, and very sore. I got a massage last night and the guy who worked on me warned me that I would be sore today and sure enough I am. It was the first time I've seen this particular one and apparently he has a sports therapy background and really went after all the muscle groups that my trainer (former Marine Corps sniper if that tells you anything about my workouts) really hits on. Unfortunately I usually require a good bit of pain and deep tissue work to get all the kinks worked out, but I know by tomorrow I'll feel so much better if I keep the H20 going in. I've been taking some oral arnica to help with the soreness and using the gel and that seems to really help. I think the tired is just because it flushed so much stuff out of my tissues and my body is having to process it out.
Sinuses are behaving pretty well. There's a little soreness with pressure in the usually sore places (above the eyes and just under the cheekbones), but I've been working them pretty hard with accupressure to try to help them drain. Still off the Claritin, and stuff is still draining, but not nearly as much as yesterday. Considering this is prime allergy season in the allergy capital of the planet that is no small accomplishment. Still doing the Sinus Relief three times a day to keep it happy along with the silver and stuff.
I just discovered that arnica gel works on poison ivy today!!! It's doing better than the silver gel on keeping the itchy down and the spots aren't as swollen. The spots are only the size of bug bites, but they pack a lot of itch into a tiny space.
I decided to try young coconut kefir, and was not terribly impressed with the taste, but at least I didn't gag like I do with regular coconut. I'm going to have to doctor it with some stevia or something. I much prefer the dairy version, it tastes way better. I'm now in the section on food combining in the Body Ecology Diet book. That's going to take some getting used to, but I'll manage.
Sinuses are behaving pretty well. There's a little soreness with pressure in the usually sore places (above the eyes and just under the cheekbones), but I've been working them pretty hard with accupressure to try to help them drain. Still off the Claritin, and stuff is still draining, but not nearly as much as yesterday. Considering this is prime allergy season in the allergy capital of the planet that is no small accomplishment. Still doing the Sinus Relief three times a day to keep it happy along with the silver and stuff.
I just discovered that arnica gel works on poison ivy today!!! It's doing better than the silver gel on keeping the itchy down and the spots aren't as swollen. The spots are only the size of bug bites, but they pack a lot of itch into a tiny space.
I decided to try young coconut kefir, and was not terribly impressed with the taste, but at least I didn't gag like I do with regular coconut. I'm going to have to doctor it with some stevia or something. I much prefer the dairy version, it tastes way better. I'm now in the section on food combining in the Body Ecology Diet book. That's going to take some getting used to, but I'll manage.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Wednesday, May 18
No sinus headache today. I think the Claritin was the culprit. Just to be safe, I slept with my head and shoulders elevated on two pillows. Sure enough that was a good move. My sinuses drained like gangbusters last night. I woke up several times with gobs of stuff running down my throat. I did actually get up and have diarrhea once last night (par for the course with sinus drainage), but it appears the Claritin was stopping all the gunk that wanted to drain out from doing so. I hate that it may have messed up some of the progress I've made with my gut, but glad that it's getting out. At this point I'm just relying on my Quercetin/Bromelain supplement, the Sinus Relief, and the SinuOrega for control. I'm going to keep the SinuOrega going in today to keep flushing stuff out. Oddly, it doesn't seem to be burning so bad, or maybe I'm just getting used to it. Will still do the oral silver, nasal silver, Oreganol, and grapefruit seed extract 3x/day for the next two weeks to help everything heal up. I'm a little gassy this morning, probably just leftover from the drainage caused upheaval last night. I've got the King Bio Headache Relief (nice stuff!) in my purse if I need it.
I wasn't sure I'd like these King Bio spray bottles, as pills are more compact, but they carry pretty well in my purse and the caps stay on. It's pretty easy just to pop them out and take a few squirts without having to hunt down safe water to drink. The coconut oil last night was nasty, but admittedly I have a serious taste aversion to coconut. I used to eat it like candy as a kid but then I got sick on it and now I can't even stand the smell of it, much less the taste. Fortunately there wasn't enough coconut taste to the Nutiva stuff to really make me sick, just a bit grossed out. Going to try some coconut milk kefir today to see if I can tolerate it.
After looking at the "bug bites" they are starting to get little blister looking things, so I think I actually got into a little poison ivy this weekend trimming back the jungle. The silver gel/shea butter-argan salve seems to still be working pretty well to quell the itchiness. I have to reapply several times a day when it starts getting crabby, but I'd have to do that with hydrocortisone too.
Another interesting tidbit. We had "cake day" at work a few days ago. They bring in some desserts and we celebrate the month's birthdays. I walked into the kitchen to get some silverware and caught a whiff of the cake and buttercream frosting and actually got nauseous and gagged from the smell. Apparently my body really has changed. The funny thing is that the smell was actually pleasant, but it was like my gut was warning me "I am happy now, so don't you dare go near that stuff" - not that I had any intention of doing so. Still it was pretty funny, as everyone else is in there getting their cake and I'm trying not to puke from the smell. I'm starting to believe that the gut is actually a second brain, because it was DEFINITELY talking to me that day!
Made chocolate "tapioca" pudding tonight with chia seeds. Just some raw cacao powder, stevia, almond milk, and the chia seeds. It was pretty good. I'm going to have to refine the recipe a bit but it's definitely workable. I may try a cinnamon variety next time. It's super filling too. I had a quinoa tabbouleh with added sprouts and some chicken for lunch. Not too shabby! I can see the key to the Body Ecology diet is finding ways to be creative with the allowed foods.
I wasn't sure I'd like these King Bio spray bottles, as pills are more compact, but they carry pretty well in my purse and the caps stay on. It's pretty easy just to pop them out and take a few squirts without having to hunt down safe water to drink. The coconut oil last night was nasty, but admittedly I have a serious taste aversion to coconut. I used to eat it like candy as a kid but then I got sick on it and now I can't even stand the smell of it, much less the taste. Fortunately there wasn't enough coconut taste to the Nutiva stuff to really make me sick, just a bit grossed out. Going to try some coconut milk kefir today to see if I can tolerate it.
After looking at the "bug bites" they are starting to get little blister looking things, so I think I actually got into a little poison ivy this weekend trimming back the jungle. The silver gel/shea butter-argan salve seems to still be working pretty well to quell the itchiness. I have to reapply several times a day when it starts getting crabby, but I'd have to do that with hydrocortisone too.
Another interesting tidbit. We had "cake day" at work a few days ago. They bring in some desserts and we celebrate the month's birthdays. I walked into the kitchen to get some silverware and caught a whiff of the cake and buttercream frosting and actually got nauseous and gagged from the smell. Apparently my body really has changed. The funny thing is that the smell was actually pleasant, but it was like my gut was warning me "I am happy now, so don't you dare go near that stuff" - not that I had any intention of doing so. Still it was pretty funny, as everyone else is in there getting their cake and I'm trying not to puke from the smell. I'm starting to believe that the gut is actually a second brain, because it was DEFINITELY talking to me that day!
Made chocolate "tapioca" pudding tonight with chia seeds. Just some raw cacao powder, stevia, almond milk, and the chia seeds. It was pretty good. I'm going to have to refine the recipe a bit but it's definitely workable. I may try a cinnamon variety next time. It's super filling too. I had a quinoa tabbouleh with added sprouts and some chicken for lunch. Not too shabby! I can see the key to the Body Ecology diet is finding ways to be creative with the allowed foods.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Tuesday, May 17
My sinuses have been acting up yesterday and today. I'm going to stop my Claritin (the last allergy drug I'm on - I'm off the Astelin and Mucinex now). I'm wondering if maybe it's drying things up too much now. It's worse in the AM, but resolves toward the middle to end of the day. I take my Claritin at night, so maybe that's an issue. Even then it's still not that bad, way less than the usual killer sinus headaches I would get. I added some grapefruit seed extract (liquid diluted in water) that I've been using to de-mold my sprouts but it tastes NASTY, NASTY, NASTY so I'm going to get some pills. Blech, blech, blech!!!! Did I mention it tastes nasty? I'm upping my Oreganol and SinuOrega (which burns like heck but seems to be the most effective at opening everything up and cleaning it out - relief is usually immediate) along with the silver nasal spray and oral silver. My inner ear wax/eczema is improving greatly with the increased silver intake, so I'm sure it's hitting my sinuses too since they're all connected up there. My eyes have been a little dry and it's been messing with my contacts, but I'm sure it's all the garbage going on in my head right now. Continuing the Sinus Relief spray and added the Headache Relief spray to it. It seems to help too. I'm carrying them in my purse along with my silver nasal spray and SinuOrega.
I have no doubt that this is the candida monster in my sinuses and ears, and I'm going to throw everything at it. I know I'm going to have to be patient, as it has been there for years and years, and it's going to take a strong concerted effort to get rid of it once and for all. I'm working the accupressure points my massage therapist showed me a while back to try to get everything draining out. Actually if I just sit there and put pressure on them the headache pain disappears completely, but then I'd never get anything done because my hands would be tied up and I would look like a complete idiot running around with my fingers on my accupressure points.
Oh, I got some bug bites on my ankles that were itching all to heck yesterday. I kept scratching at my right ankle without realizing why yesterday during the day, and then it got to hurting really badly yesterday afternoon and I looked and lo and behold, bug bites! I slapped some silver gel (which is also in my purse - I've practically got a naturopathic first aid kit in my purse now!) on it and a bit of the shea butter/argan salve and it quelled the itchy hurtiness right down. No hydrocortisone needed!
I actually had a teary moment today. I was waiting for the elevator to leave work this evening and saw my reflection in the office doors. It took me a second to recognize myself. I have slimmed down so much I look completely different and choked up for a minute. Honestly I never believed I would see that girl looking back at me in a reflection again. I am under 200 pounds for the first time in YEARS! My skin has been getting noticeably more radiant too, so much so that I have toned down my makeup.
This really has been as much of a journey of self discovery as it has been of healing. I have been fighting my body for so long on weight and everything else, not realizing there was any other way to go. Now I am working with my body and slowly bit surely gaining control over the candida monster. But not by fighting my body with all sorts of allergy meds and starvation diets. For the first time I am starting to see the innate wisdom of my body in the weight, the allergies, the eczema, the rashes - everything. My body has been screaming at me for help or years and I just didn't know how to listen. Sadly neither did my doctors.
Now I know the candida had completely taken control of my body and my poor liver was doing everything it could to detoxify me. No wonder it couldn't burn fat even on a starvation diet. It was too busy just trying to keep me alive through all of it.
I know this isn't over by a long shot. My sinuses are still having minor flare ups. But for the first time I am in charge, not the candida. I am going to give my body everything I can to keep pushing back until it is back in its place helping my body instead of hurting it.
I am taking a leap of faith tonight by stopping my last allergy med - the Claritin. My three doses of oral silver are in, 6 doses of King Bio Sinus Relief, I started grapefruit seed extract today and I am continuing the silver nasal spray, Oreganol, and SinuOrega. I am also starting a teaspoon of coconut oil tonight too. Take that candida monster!
No zits either even though I have been off the birth control pills for a couple of weeks. I have extracted a few little comedones from my chin but that's par for the course for any gal. The only difference is I do it myself instead of paying an aesthetician to do it (I have a little extractor tool). None of them have shown any signs of infection like they were moving toward zitdom and they've all popped out quite easily. Yes, I am cheap!
I have no doubt that this is the candida monster in my sinuses and ears, and I'm going to throw everything at it. I know I'm going to have to be patient, as it has been there for years and years, and it's going to take a strong concerted effort to get rid of it once and for all. I'm working the accupressure points my massage therapist showed me a while back to try to get everything draining out. Actually if I just sit there and put pressure on them the headache pain disappears completely, but then I'd never get anything done because my hands would be tied up and I would look like a complete idiot running around with my fingers on my accupressure points.
Oh, I got some bug bites on my ankles that were itching all to heck yesterday. I kept scratching at my right ankle without realizing why yesterday during the day, and then it got to hurting really badly yesterday afternoon and I looked and lo and behold, bug bites! I slapped some silver gel (which is also in my purse - I've practically got a naturopathic first aid kit in my purse now!) on it and a bit of the shea butter/argan salve and it quelled the itchy hurtiness right down. No hydrocortisone needed!
I actually had a teary moment today. I was waiting for the elevator to leave work this evening and saw my reflection in the office doors. It took me a second to recognize myself. I have slimmed down so much I look completely different and choked up for a minute. Honestly I never believed I would see that girl looking back at me in a reflection again. I am under 200 pounds for the first time in YEARS! My skin has been getting noticeably more radiant too, so much so that I have toned down my makeup.
This really has been as much of a journey of self discovery as it has been of healing. I have been fighting my body for so long on weight and everything else, not realizing there was any other way to go. Now I am working with my body and slowly bit surely gaining control over the candida monster. But not by fighting my body with all sorts of allergy meds and starvation diets. For the first time I am starting to see the innate wisdom of my body in the weight, the allergies, the eczema, the rashes - everything. My body has been screaming at me for help or years and I just didn't know how to listen. Sadly neither did my doctors.
Now I know the candida had completely taken control of my body and my poor liver was doing everything it could to detoxify me. No wonder it couldn't burn fat even on a starvation diet. It was too busy just trying to keep me alive through all of it.
I know this isn't over by a long shot. My sinuses are still having minor flare ups. But for the first time I am in charge, not the candida. I am going to give my body everything I can to keep pushing back until it is back in its place helping my body instead of hurting it.
I am taking a leap of faith tonight by stopping my last allergy med - the Claritin. My three doses of oral silver are in, 6 doses of King Bio Sinus Relief, I started grapefruit seed extract today and I am continuing the silver nasal spray, Oreganol, and SinuOrega. I am also starting a teaspoon of coconut oil tonight too. Take that candida monster!
No zits either even though I have been off the birth control pills for a couple of weeks. I have extracted a few little comedones from my chin but that's par for the course for any gal. The only difference is I do it myself instead of paying an aesthetician to do it (I have a little extractor tool). None of them have shown any signs of infection like they were moving toward zitdom and they've all popped out quite easily. Yes, I am cheap!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Sunday, May 15
Hit either 16.5 or 17 pounds gone. It's hard to tell with the little needle on the scale. Feeling pretty good today, sinuses and ears are happy. Arms are still a little shaky from all of yesterday's exertions (or maybe just the leftover vibrations from the hedge trimmers!). Forearms are sore as heck. Going to put some arnica gel on them. Love, love, love arnica now.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Saturday, May 14
Down another pound. Goodbye number 16! No more eyelid twitchies today, but I woke up with a sinus headache. Still not as bad as they used to be. Took a few extra doses of Sinus Relief and upped my oral Sovereign Silver to a tbsp 3x/day. For some reason the oral silver seems to help a lot. After my second dose of the day my headache went away. I wonder if perhaps the infection in my sinuses hasn't cleared up completely, and I've still got the ear gunk (starting to smell a little yeasty again). Intestines are still happy as a clam though. I didn't have a single headache other than day 2 during the silver/aloe protocol. The nasal spray silver helps, but it doesn't seem to really get to everything like the oral silver does. I'm going to keep up the 3x/day oral silver for a couple of weeks as if I was on antibiotics with a sinus infection, maybe longer if I think I need it. I've had chronic sinusitis since I was a little kid that antibiotics have never completely knocked out, so it may just take a while to get it finished off, even after the silver/aloe protocol.
Even with the headache I bounded out of bed this morning and trimmed a huge severely overgrown hedge (more like a jungle really) and hauled a bunch of heavy crap around the backyard. My arms are kind of shaky now afterward. My energy level is still up pretty good. Cramps are under control with the King Bio PMS Relief. Geez I seriously love that stuff. Mom and I are trying to get our back porch set up so we can do some container gardening. With me going organic, I want to get some cherry tomato plants and some herbs to go with my sprouts and Mom wants some other stuff to grow. Some strawberries would be awesome too. It should be a blast!
Even with the headache I bounded out of bed this morning and trimmed a huge severely overgrown hedge (more like a jungle really) and hauled a bunch of heavy crap around the backyard. My arms are kind of shaky now afterward. My energy level is still up pretty good. Cramps are under control with the King Bio PMS Relief. Geez I seriously love that stuff. Mom and I are trying to get our back porch set up so we can do some container gardening. With me going organic, I want to get some cherry tomato plants and some herbs to go with my sprouts and Mom wants some other stuff to grow. Some strawberries would be awesome too. It should be a blast!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Friday, May 13
The PMS Relief is continuing to do its job. Tummy is feeling much more comfortable today. No cramps and my usual gastrointestinal upheaval at the start of my cycle has been pretty limited. Poops have stayed pretty much solid, just a little softer than usual. Gurgles have stopped. A little gas but way less than normal. Day 2 is usually the worst if it is going to be problematic or annoying at all.
Taking Sinus Relief 2-3 times a day. It really seems to be keeping the sinus headaches at bay. My butt muscles are SO sore from my workout yesterday. Took some arnica pellets and it has helped some. Sore is good in this case though. We did flies and presses on a balance ball yesterday where only my back was supported by the ball, so I had to keep my lower half elevated and stable using my butt and abs, then on top of the chest work. My butt was definitely more sore than my chest, although it was a bit sore too. Definitely going to have to do that one again.
Figured out why my morning smoothies are so filling. I ran it through the calculator at Livestrong.com and for about 250 calories I am getting 21 grams of protein and 13 grams of fiber. Awesome!
This afternoon I had a bout of eyelid twitchies! It is actually a good thing, and I've been half expecting it. Let me explain. The definitive signal for me when I am overmedicated on my Prozac is muscle spasms in my eyelids. Strange but true. This has happened before usually in the transition from my winter dose to summer dose. Only due to the stress of working for crazy lawyer types and probably the candida, I haven't been off my winter dose in years. One of my eyelids went into full blown spasms today for about 60 seconds. This is a good thing as it confirms what I have been feeling. I am going to keep a close eye on it and watch for more spasms. It may well be time to see my doc and drop the dosage a bit. I'll know for sure over the next few weeks if it shows up again a few more times.
Taking Sinus Relief 2-3 times a day. It really seems to be keeping the sinus headaches at bay. My butt muscles are SO sore from my workout yesterday. Took some arnica pellets and it has helped some. Sore is good in this case though. We did flies and presses on a balance ball yesterday where only my back was supported by the ball, so I had to keep my lower half elevated and stable using my butt and abs, then on top of the chest work. My butt was definitely more sore than my chest, although it was a bit sore too. Definitely going to have to do that one again.
Figured out why my morning smoothies are so filling. I ran it through the calculator at Livestrong.com and for about 250 calories I am getting 21 grams of protein and 13 grams of fiber. Awesome!
This afternoon I had a bout of eyelid twitchies! It is actually a good thing, and I've been half expecting it. Let me explain. The definitive signal for me when I am overmedicated on my Prozac is muscle spasms in my eyelids. Strange but true. This has happened before usually in the transition from my winter dose to summer dose. Only due to the stress of working for crazy lawyer types and probably the candida, I haven't been off my winter dose in years. One of my eyelids went into full blown spasms today for about 60 seconds. This is a good thing as it confirms what I have been feeling. I am going to keep a close eye on it and watch for more spasms. It may well be time to see my doc and drop the dosage a bit. I'll know for sure over the next few weeks if it shows up again a few more times.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Thursday, May 12
I was dragging so bad yesterday, yawning all day long even after getting in bed at 10 and getting up at 7:30. This is what I felt like pre-chromium. I don't think the GTF chromium is doing what I need, even at 400mcg/day. I took my regular Chromax last night before bed and am feeling much better today. I think I'm going to try to split the difference and do part Chromax and part GTF, because I know whole foods are better, but for some reason my body and brain are seeming to react better to the picolinate/histidinate chromium combo in Chromax than the whole food version. I know one or the other is a fast release chromium and the other is a slow release chromium but I can't remember which is which. The Chromax formulation from Iceland Health has been extensively tested specifically for my type of depression (atypical depression, which oddly enough is actually the most typical kind of depression - weird). According to Dr. McLeod's body weight formula for chromium dosing (he's the doc who discovered the chromium/depression treatment), I could actually take a good bit more chromium than I'm currently on, so I'll add 100 mcg of GTF chromium to it and see how it goes.
I have noticed that the delayed phase sleep disorder that's always been associated with my atypical depression now seems to be gone. My sleep cycle was always screwy as heck, and my natural cycle would be to go to bed about 3-4 am and get up about noonish. I've had to use sun lamps in my bedroom to trick my body into letting me wake up when I want to. Now I'm dead on my butt and ready for bed by 10 PM (and out as soon as my head hits the pillow) and getting out of bed much easier in the mornings. I guess cleaning out the candida monsters has somehow fixed my serotonin/melatonin cycle. I'm still using my sun lamp in my office at work (no windows) and in my bedroom, but the whole thing just seems so much easier now, although I am still definitely NOT a morning person.
Just started my cycle after lunch and am actually cramping a bit. I normally take aleve but want to try something else. It is tolerable if I have to suffer through it but more crampy than usual. Perhaps because I stopped my birth control pills mid cycle, but when I found out the candida could be related to them I just wanted off them as fast as possible. I only need the for acne control and now that the candida monsters are on the downward slide my skin has cleared up. Ugh, going to Google some homeopathic cramp relief.
Well King Bio has done it again. Got the PMS Relief at the Vitamin Shoppe and stated feeling better about 30 minutes or so later. Intestines are a bit gurgly but that's typical when my cycle starts.
Considering the PMS, I'm going to try restarting the switch to the GTF Chromium after my cycle is over. It's possible that this is just the PMS and not the difference in the chromium that was making me tired.
I have noticed that the delayed phase sleep disorder that's always been associated with my atypical depression now seems to be gone. My sleep cycle was always screwy as heck, and my natural cycle would be to go to bed about 3-4 am and get up about noonish. I've had to use sun lamps in my bedroom to trick my body into letting me wake up when I want to. Now I'm dead on my butt and ready for bed by 10 PM (and out as soon as my head hits the pillow) and getting out of bed much easier in the mornings. I guess cleaning out the candida monsters has somehow fixed my serotonin/melatonin cycle. I'm still using my sun lamp in my office at work (no windows) and in my bedroom, but the whole thing just seems so much easier now, although I am still definitely NOT a morning person.
Just started my cycle after lunch and am actually cramping a bit. I normally take aleve but want to try something else. It is tolerable if I have to suffer through it but more crampy than usual. Perhaps because I stopped my birth control pills mid cycle, but when I found out the candida could be related to them I just wanted off them as fast as possible. I only need the for acne control and now that the candida monsters are on the downward slide my skin has cleared up. Ugh, going to Google some homeopathic cramp relief.
Well King Bio has done it again. Got the PMS Relief at the Vitamin Shoppe and stated feeling better about 30 minutes or so later. Intestines are a bit gurgly but that's typical when my cycle starts.
Considering the PMS, I'm going to try restarting the switch to the GTF Chromium after my cycle is over. It's possible that this is just the PMS and not the difference in the chromium that was making me tired.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Tuesday, May 10
I had a sinus headache yesterday, and was kind of blah because of it so I didn't journal. I'm feeling much better today. Even though I am still getting headaches here and there, they are not anywhere near as bad as they used to be, where you feel like your head is going to explode and you can't think straight.
Poop was a little less solid this morning (not bad or anything) but I think that may be due to all the drainage yesterday. I was bound and determined again not to go to the aleve, so I went to the local Vitamin Shoppe to see what homeopathic remedies they had for it. I had a little printout from online of the different HPUS remedies and was trying to figure out what to get, then I looked over and saw the King Bio Sinus Relief and it had almost everything on the list I printed out, so I just went straight to that. It seems to have helped, and definitely took the pain down a couple of notches.
I still used the Sovereign Silver nasal spray, SinuOrega, and Oreganol, but it definitely added to it. I took a tsp of silver orally before bed and slept with my head elevated and woke up fine and dandy this morning. Maybe I still have some stuff draining out of the sinuses and I just need to do that for a while til my body finishes killing off all the candida monsters.
Diet is going great, I may have lost another 1/2 pound but it's hard to tell on the regular scales with the needle. My typical daily diet is a kefir shake in the morning with a cup of organic low-fat kefir, 1/2 cup almond milk, 2 scoops Amazing Grass (raw cacao infused - it has all sorts of raw greens and superfoods), 1 stevia packet, 1 tablespoon raw cacao (additional). It really is awesome and thick like a nice chocolatey milkshake and it holds me for HOURS. Then I may have some raw pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or almond butter for a snack (morning and/or afternoon). Lunch I'm usually doing some kind of organic greens, either salad or sprouts, with the Bragg Healthy Vinaigrette (organic apple cider vinegar and organic olive oil) and some meat. Either organic chicken or fish mostly. I'm eating a lot of wild caught salmon, and honestly I think I cook it better that most restaurants but it's taken me a little bit to figure it out. The key is brushing the whole top with olive oil to keep it from drying out and then adding the seasoning. Yummy! Dinner is usually salad or sprouts and some form of meat or protein. Sometimes I just mix in some pumpkin seeds or almonds instead of meat. I'd like to be able to add a little goat cheese or something at some point, but I'm holding off for a while on that until I get the Body Ecology book read all the way through and figure out the full game plan there.
I started growing my own sprouts over the weekend. We'll see how that goes. It definitely should be cheaper to grow my own than to buy them and it's kind of fun too to watch 2 tablespoons of seed turn into a whole gob of little sproutlets.
I'm thinking that I'll eventually need to reduce my Prozac dose. Admittedly it is WAY overprescribed, but it has been a godsend to me over the past 17 years. I do remember when I first got on an SSRI how it was like having been in a black and white movie all my life and someone just suddenly flipped on the color. Seriously, it was amazing in that I had been so emotionally dead, numb, horribly shy and then all of the sudden everything changed. All sorts of new shades and new nuances of emotion I had never experienced before became possible for me and I turned into a social butterfly. Far from numbing me down or making me a zombie, I felt completely alive for the first time in my life at 19.
Quite a few years back my doctor, who does a lot of clinical trials and is pretty well known in research circles, wanted to have me participate in a trial to see if my depression could be controlled exclusively through nutrition. He thought I was a great candidate to pull of the meds altogether and go strictly that route. I was obviously an idiot (and very young) and should have tried it, but when I saw how strict the diet was I balked. I had tried once before in my early twenties to get off the meds and use St. John's Wort, but that was a freaking disaster. My GP weaned me off of it gradually and upped the St. John's Wort. I had a complete breakdown and I got mono and was pretty much in bed for 8 months (my immune system and the depression have always been pretty closely tied, whether the docs would acknowledge it or not - now I know why). Never mind I'm pretty much on the diet now.
I was on a lesser dose in my twenties, and I think a good starting point is to go back to that since getting rid of the candida seems to have relieved a lot of the little niggling stuff that I thought was part of the depression but I think now it was the candida monster. Good grief, I've probably had this crap since I was a kid. My doc is very good about advising me to integrate chromium, fish oil, phototherapy and other treatments into my arsenal - as well as letting me manage my medication dosage. In the past I've tended to reduce my dosage in summer, so sometime in the next month or so will be a good time to try knocking it down a bit.
So far I can't really tell much difference between the GTF chromium and the Chromax, but I've only been on it a few days. I was a little more draggy today than I have been, but I remember when I started chromium it took a few days to build up in my system. If I don't feel it's working as well I'll try upping the dose of the GTF chromium a bit. The mcg/lbs of body weight suggested for depression treatment is higher than the 300 mcg/day so I may still need more.
Poop was a little less solid this morning (not bad or anything) but I think that may be due to all the drainage yesterday. I was bound and determined again not to go to the aleve, so I went to the local Vitamin Shoppe to see what homeopathic remedies they had for it. I had a little printout from online of the different HPUS remedies and was trying to figure out what to get, then I looked over and saw the King Bio Sinus Relief and it had almost everything on the list I printed out, so I just went straight to that. It seems to have helped, and definitely took the pain down a couple of notches.
I still used the Sovereign Silver nasal spray, SinuOrega, and Oreganol, but it definitely added to it. I took a tsp of silver orally before bed and slept with my head elevated and woke up fine and dandy this morning. Maybe I still have some stuff draining out of the sinuses and I just need to do that for a while til my body finishes killing off all the candida monsters.
Diet is going great, I may have lost another 1/2 pound but it's hard to tell on the regular scales with the needle. My typical daily diet is a kefir shake in the morning with a cup of organic low-fat kefir, 1/2 cup almond milk, 2 scoops Amazing Grass (raw cacao infused - it has all sorts of raw greens and superfoods), 1 stevia packet, 1 tablespoon raw cacao (additional). It really is awesome and thick like a nice chocolatey milkshake and it holds me for HOURS. Then I may have some raw pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or almond butter for a snack (morning and/or afternoon). Lunch I'm usually doing some kind of organic greens, either salad or sprouts, with the Bragg Healthy Vinaigrette (organic apple cider vinegar and organic olive oil) and some meat. Either organic chicken or fish mostly. I'm eating a lot of wild caught salmon, and honestly I think I cook it better that most restaurants but it's taken me a little bit to figure it out. The key is brushing the whole top with olive oil to keep it from drying out and then adding the seasoning. Yummy! Dinner is usually salad or sprouts and some form of meat or protein. Sometimes I just mix in some pumpkin seeds or almonds instead of meat. I'd like to be able to add a little goat cheese or something at some point, but I'm holding off for a while on that until I get the Body Ecology book read all the way through and figure out the full game plan there.
I started growing my own sprouts over the weekend. We'll see how that goes. It definitely should be cheaper to grow my own than to buy them and it's kind of fun too to watch 2 tablespoons of seed turn into a whole gob of little sproutlets.
I'm thinking that I'll eventually need to reduce my Prozac dose. Admittedly it is WAY overprescribed, but it has been a godsend to me over the past 17 years. I do remember when I first got on an SSRI how it was like having been in a black and white movie all my life and someone just suddenly flipped on the color. Seriously, it was amazing in that I had been so emotionally dead, numb, horribly shy and then all of the sudden everything changed. All sorts of new shades and new nuances of emotion I had never experienced before became possible for me and I turned into a social butterfly. Far from numbing me down or making me a zombie, I felt completely alive for the first time in my life at 19.
Quite a few years back my doctor, who does a lot of clinical trials and is pretty well known in research circles, wanted to have me participate in a trial to see if my depression could be controlled exclusively through nutrition. He thought I was a great candidate to pull of the meds altogether and go strictly that route. I was obviously an idiot (and very young) and should have tried it, but when I saw how strict the diet was I balked. I had tried once before in my early twenties to get off the meds and use St. John's Wort, but that was a freaking disaster. My GP weaned me off of it gradually and upped the St. John's Wort. I had a complete breakdown and I got mono and was pretty much in bed for 8 months (my immune system and the depression have always been pretty closely tied, whether the docs would acknowledge it or not - now I know why). Never mind I'm pretty much on the diet now.
I was on a lesser dose in my twenties, and I think a good starting point is to go back to that since getting rid of the candida seems to have relieved a lot of the little niggling stuff that I thought was part of the depression but I think now it was the candida monster. Good grief, I've probably had this crap since I was a kid. My doc is very good about advising me to integrate chromium, fish oil, phototherapy and other treatments into my arsenal - as well as letting me manage my medication dosage. In the past I've tended to reduce my dosage in summer, so sometime in the next month or so will be a good time to try knocking it down a bit.
So far I can't really tell much difference between the GTF chromium and the Chromax, but I've only been on it a few days. I was a little more draggy today than I have been, but I remember when I started chromium it took a few days to build up in my system. If I don't feel it's working as well I'll try upping the dose of the GTF chromium a bit. The mcg/lbs of body weight suggested for depression treatment is higher than the 300 mcg/day so I may still need more.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Sunday, May 8
Hello, my name is the Candida Slayer, and I am a poopaholic. I am pooping in the mornings, after every meal, and then probably then some more. I have never pooped this much in my life. Even better, it's all still perfectly solid now.
I had a bit of sinus headache yesterday morning, but nowhere near as bad as my usual sinus headache. I took an extra dose of oral silver and Oreganol and kept my silver nasal spray going in every two hours. I also worked my accupressure points pretty heavily. Sure enough it cleared up in about 6 hours. The pressure points are still a teensy bit sore today, but no headache.
I'm still putting silver gel on my eyelids. The left one hasn't quite completely cleared yet, so I'm hitting both of them until it's gone for a while. I wish I had known about this stuff before I went on the ProTopic. The silver gel doesn't quite have the moisturizing I need, and the shea butter/argan salve doesn't deal with the inflammation and swelling, but put together they are doing a bang up job.
I had a bit of sinus headache yesterday morning, but nowhere near as bad as my usual sinus headache. I took an extra dose of oral silver and Oreganol and kept my silver nasal spray going in every two hours. I also worked my accupressure points pretty heavily. Sure enough it cleared up in about 6 hours. The pressure points are still a teensy bit sore today, but no headache.
I'm still putting silver gel on my eyelids. The left one hasn't quite completely cleared yet, so I'm hitting both of them until it's gone for a while. I wish I had known about this stuff before I went on the ProTopic. The silver gel doesn't quite have the moisturizing I need, and the shea butter/argan salve doesn't deal with the inflammation and swelling, but put together they are doing a bang up job.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Friday, May 6
Down 15 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not that I'm excited or anything. And I'm eating normal quantities of food, not my 900 calorie doctor prescribed/supervised diet. Mostly eating organic meats, seeds/nuts, and veggies/sprouts. The only dairy I'm throwing in is the kefir and yogurt (all organic). I did find some crackers made from flax seeds and quinoa (totally gluten free, non-gmo, organic) and I am eating a few in small quantities. Working on quinoa too, but haven't quite gotten the hang of cooking it from a taste/recipe perspective. I need to play with it more since I know it's good for me. Found some organic roasted red pepper/sundried tomato sauce/dip sort of thing that doesn't have anything bad in it. I'm putting it on everything! I love spicy food and this has some real kick to it.
Thumb is way better today. It still is a little cranky if I go nuts typing on my cell phone but other than that it's happy. Loving the arnica. I'm really starting to enjoy the kefir every morning.
Scalp is feeling better today. I switched a few days ago from my Head and Shoulders intensive with the selenium sulfide in it to a sulfate free shampoo, so I was honestly expecting a little flare up. I'm just going to let my body handle it with the help of the silver gel like I did with my eyelids. Before the selenium sulfide was the only thing that would keep it in check but I'm going to have to start trusting my body to be smart enough to handle it as long as I give it the proper support.
Sinuses were trying to flare up a bit, I can tell when the accupressure points start getting a smidge sore it's coming. It's funny cause every time it does a couple of squirts of the Sovereign Silver nasal spray in each nostril stops it. I'm just going to keep using it as a preventive on a daily basis.
Thumb is way better today. It still is a little cranky if I go nuts typing on my cell phone but other than that it's happy. Loving the arnica. I'm really starting to enjoy the kefir every morning.
Scalp is feeling better today. I switched a few days ago from my Head and Shoulders intensive with the selenium sulfide in it to a sulfate free shampoo, so I was honestly expecting a little flare up. I'm just going to let my body handle it with the help of the silver gel like I did with my eyelids. Before the selenium sulfide was the only thing that would keep it in check but I'm going to have to start trusting my body to be smart enough to handle it as long as I give it the proper support.
Sinuses were trying to flare up a bit, I can tell when the accupressure points start getting a smidge sore it's coming. It's funny cause every time it does a couple of squirts of the Sovereign Silver nasal spray in each nostril stops it. I'm just going to keep using it as a preventive on a daily basis.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Thursday, May 5
Great workout this morning. I am still having great energy even when getting up at 6 in the morning to work out. Before I was all blah/blech for my morning workouts. My smoothie was better this morning. Put a full cup of kefir in it with only 1/2 cup of almond milk and I actually liked it better and it was more filling. Pooping like clockwork at about 8 AM every morning and often throughout the day. Obviously my little gut is a happy camper now.
My watch is seriously loose and I'm going to have to get a link taken out of it. I've lost so much weight it's just flopping around on my wrist. Took a teaspoon of Sovereign Silver straight last night. I'm going to start taking a teaspoon a day like the box recommends as a preventive and to keep up the happy body.
I have had sprouts the past three days and I really like them. I broke down and ordered my own sprouter and some sprouting seed yesterday. I am eating them with the Bragg vinagrette made from apple cider vinegar. Yummy, except for the sprout burps. Soured sprout burp smell is not so charming. So far I like broccoli sprouts, clover sprouts, and radish sprouts.
Strained something at the base of my thumb. What kind of nitwit strains a thumb? Apparently me. Had arnica gel on me but had never used it and it had a vial of arnica pellets in it. I massaged the gel in and figured what the heck. Popped 5 of them like the instructions said. In about 45 minutes or so most of the throbbing stopped. Yay! I had no idea a silly thumb could hurt so much.
Mom and Dad were super sick today with the fun stuff coming out both ends. I am totally fine:) Yay new immune system! Had a little eczema creep back at the hairline on my temples. Slathered silver gel on it. Eyelids appear completely normal this evening. Noticed my face is depuffing around the jawline too.
My watch is seriously loose and I'm going to have to get a link taken out of it. I've lost so much weight it's just flopping around on my wrist. Took a teaspoon of Sovereign Silver straight last night. I'm going to start taking a teaspoon a day like the box recommends as a preventive and to keep up the happy body.
I have had sprouts the past three days and I really like them. I broke down and ordered my own sprouter and some sprouting seed yesterday. I am eating them with the Bragg vinagrette made from apple cider vinegar. Yummy, except for the sprout burps. Soured sprout burp smell is not so charming. So far I like broccoli sprouts, clover sprouts, and radish sprouts.
Strained something at the base of my thumb. What kind of nitwit strains a thumb? Apparently me. Had arnica gel on me but had never used it and it had a vial of arnica pellets in it. I massaged the gel in and figured what the heck. Popped 5 of them like the instructions said. In about 45 minutes or so most of the throbbing stopped. Yay! I had no idea a silly thumb could hurt so much.
Mom and Dad were super sick today with the fun stuff coming out both ends. I am totally fine:) Yay new immune system! Had a little eczema creep back at the hairline on my temples. Slathered silver gel on it. Eyelids appear completely normal this evening. Noticed my face is depuffing around the jawline too.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Wednesday, May 4
Woohoo, off the silver and aloe! Robert Scott Bell talked about how your body would tell you when it's ready to stop and mine definitely did yesterday with the queasiness after taking the silver. It's like my body was hollering "I want my good critters back!" I actually thought I was a little constipated yesterday (which never happens) but it turned out just to be a little gas. Of course I haven't had solid poops in ages so this is a whole new world for me! Had a great solid poop this morning. Eyelid eczema still continuing to get better. Just the barest bit left on my left eyelid. Still using Sovereign Silver gel and shea butter/argan salve.
Now down 12.5 pounds without even trying. Yay me! Eating mostly meat, veggies and nuts/seeds (being careful not to get ones that are susceptible to mold) along with organic yogurt (just the cultured milk and associated critters) with some stevia. Made a smoothie today with organic kefir for the first time. I did about 3/4 cup of almond milk, 3/4 cup of kefir, 2 scoops of raw cacao infused Amazing Grass, 1 stevia packet, and 1 tbsp of raw cacao for some extra chocolate (I will eat anything with chocolate!). It was actually pretty good, with a bit of an interesting whang to it.
Both the Amazing Grass and the kefir have probiotics so it should start cramming the good critters in. I have felt strangely balanced over the past few days: mentally, emotionally, and physically (except when talking about politics - then I get totally off balance but that's another story). I can't really think of another adjective to explain it. I'm not exactly springing out of bed in the mornings, but then again I'm not a morning person. Even then, I'm not draggy in the mornings or hitting the midday slump like I used to, even on days when I get up at an ungodly early hour to go work out with my trainer (I do a lot of weight lifting, I don't know if I've mentioned that before - I may not be a skinny little supermodel but I can bench press one). My workouts have gotten a lot better over the past couple of weeks too.
Now down 12.5 pounds without even trying. Yay me! Eating mostly meat, veggies and nuts/seeds (being careful not to get ones that are susceptible to mold) along with organic yogurt (just the cultured milk and associated critters) with some stevia. Made a smoothie today with organic kefir for the first time. I did about 3/4 cup of almond milk, 3/4 cup of kefir, 2 scoops of raw cacao infused Amazing Grass, 1 stevia packet, and 1 tbsp of raw cacao for some extra chocolate (I will eat anything with chocolate!). It was actually pretty good, with a bit of an interesting whang to it.
Both the Amazing Grass and the kefir have probiotics so it should start cramming the good critters in. I have felt strangely balanced over the past few days: mentally, emotionally, and physically (except when talking about politics - then I get totally off balance but that's another story). I can't really think of another adjective to explain it. I'm not exactly springing out of bed in the mornings, but then again I'm not a morning person. Even then, I'm not draggy in the mornings or hitting the midday slump like I used to, even on days when I get up at an ungodly early hour to go work out with my trainer (I do a lot of weight lifting, I don't know if I've mentioned that before - I may not be a skinny little supermodel but I can bench press one). My workouts have gotten a lot better over the past couple of weeks too.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Silver/Aloe Protocol Journal
On Saturday, April 16 I met someone who would help me change my life. Robert Scott Bell was speaking at the Nullify Now event in Austin, Texas. I listened to him speaking about his horrible battle with allergies, and we had been on the same drugs, had the same surgeries, the same allergy shots - pretty much everything - since childhood. The only difference, he was healthy and I was still struggling with constant sinus and allergy drama. I was on Astelin, Claritin, and Mucinex every day, but still having trouble.
Of course after he spoke I had to ask him what he had done to get well. We talked for a couple of minutes and he told me that what I needed to do was simple. I needed to use a silver/aloe protocol, which involved taking a dose of 1 oz. of organic aloe juice and 1 oz. of Sovereign Silver mixed together three times per day for two weeks. This would clean out my gut and rebuild my immune system.
This made sense to me, because I hate antibiotics, as they made me as sick or sicker than the sinus infections that I was trying to treat. I had just successfully dealt with a sinus infection using the Sovereign Silver nasal spray and oil of oregano. What the heck, it was worth a try.
Now for what I didn't tell Robert. I didn't tell him that I had been struggling with intestinal drama (and when I say drama I mean DRAMA) for years. I was weighing in at 215 pounds, having lost about 15 pounds before I met him on a 900 calorie a day diet called Medifast. But alas I had gotten stuck at that weight even staying on the 900 calories a day. I have an enlarged thyroid and take a small dose of thyroid medicine to keep it from growing further. I have also had severe depression since I was a teenager. Plus, I was just chronically exhausted all the time. I didn't tell Robert any of this, but amazingly the silver/aloe protocol has helped ALL of it - and quickly!
Keep in mind that Robert never charged me a cent for any of his advice, or all the follow up questions that I asked him (and all the questions I'm still asking him). The only thing he asked me to do is keep a journal so that he can use the information from my recovery to help other people.
I thought I should put it online so that others can see it too. So here it is. The story of the two weeks that I was on the silver/aloe protocol trying to slay the candida monster.
Wednesday, April 20
Exactly an hour after first dose intestines started making crazy noises. First one lasted for 15-20 seconds and was a gurgly, moany, screechy sound - very loud. It continued making crazy noises throughout the day. After second dose got very gassy and it was pretty foul smelling.
Thursday, April 21
Felt like boiled crap. Tired and sinuses in a complete uproar. Alternated silver nasal spray and SinuOrega to keep sinuses flushed out. Took Oreganol orally three times as it seems to really help my sinuses. Horribly gassy. Way worse than my dog who is a boxer and if you have ever smelled boxer gas that is really saying something. Smelled like something crawled up my butt and died. Continued all day with some soft stools. Bloated feeling most of day but finally cleared around 4pm as did sinus drama. Started to feel human again. Drinking tons of water seems to help. Doubled apple cider vinegar to 2 tbsp a day to support liver.
Friday, April 22
Feeling pretty good today definitely better than usual. A bit gassy still nasty but not as bad as yesterday. Changing into my PJs at night noticed horrible rash in both armpits that I had given up on treating with prescription hydrocortisone is majorly clearing up. Most of redness is gone. Sinuses and ears draining most of day but not bothersome. Peeing like crazy but also drinking lots.
Saturday, April 23
Eczema under and around my ears is gone. Sinuses and ears still draining. Most scalp eczema seems to be going just a bit at the base of my neck that I can feel. Actually wore my hair in a ponytail in public for the first time pretty much ever. Coolies! Started having solid poops. Haven't had those in forever. Usually semi solid with bouts of diarrhea. Yay!
Sunday, April 24
Sinuses a bit cranky but not bad. Ear garbage still yellowish like always but no longer yeasty smelling. Still some eczema in ear canal.
Monday, April 25
Energy good. Sinuses a little cranky. Continuing to medicate with nasal silver, SinuOrega, and Oreganol. Really seems to help. Still taking Claritin but have stopped Astelin and Mucinex. Stopped using ProTopic for eyelid eczema to see if it comes back. Noticed my mild rosacea seems to be absent and my little zitlets seem to be clearing up. I have bad cystic acne and have been on birth control pills for a while. If this clears up my skin will stop taking them. Down a total of 8 pounds without trying. Woohoo!
Tuesday, April 26
Great energy and awesome workout with trainer. A little bloated in the afternoon not sure why. Poops a little off too. Ate a seed bar with agave nectar in it yesterday and the poop had seeds in it. Maybe that is the culprit. After a little gas and poop felt much better. Gas is not too stinky today.
Wednesday, April 27
Day 8 and still feeling pretty good. A little tired today but probably because of the dreary weather. Eczema on my left eyelid is trying to flare up. That eyelid is usually the worst. Mixed a few drops of silver with a shea butter/argan oil moisturizing stick I have that is really soothing to see if that helps. The stick or petroleum jelly are the only things that stop it from hurting and I am trying to avoid the latter. It seems to feel a lot better, waiting to see if it starts peeling. Eczema is not visible yet but the usual spot is itchy and the texture of the skin has changed mildly like it usually does before it goes nuts and I start looking like a space alien. I want to see if the silver will get it without using the ProTopic. Right eyelid seems fine.
Good solid poop this am. Little bit of redness under arms but nothing like before. No itching though. May try the silver thing topically there tonight as an experiment. Bout of diarrhea in afternoon. Had lunch out at employee appreciation banquet. Was careful but may have eaten something I shouldn't have. Or could just be more die off. Pretty foul smelling with gas. Took second dose of silver and aloe just beforehand. Ear canals are itchy. Appetite seems to be down, in a good way. Just not as hungry as usual.
Thursday, April 28
Feeling pretty good. Still a little bit of soft stools and gas from yesterday but not bad. Need to get the diet thing figured out. Down 11 pounds as of this morning. Eyelid eczema still trying to act up. I see a little red on right side today. Putting silver directly on it followed by the shea/argan stick seems to keep it happy. Going to get the silver gel and try that. For a little afternoon weirdness my cheeks got all pink and really warm to the touch. I have no idea what that might have to do with anything but thought I would write it down.
Appetite down except for a couple of times I got really hungry. Had almond butter with me and a tbsp of that is a good snack. Normally I love PB but read about the mold issues with them and possible mold killing chemicals being a problem with candida. Switched from skim milk to unsweetened almond milk too a few days ago. Stuff draining from sinuses is almost all clear now and not very much draining. Sinus accupressure points are not sore when pressed which is unusual. Started silver gel on eyelids tonight and put on armpits for good measure.
Friday, April 29
Ate sushi last night and paying for it this am. Soft stools and a little weird feeling in intestines. I only had a couple of pieces but apparently even a little white rice is bad. Going to have to get the food side of this figured out. Otherwise feeling good. Noticed that the past few days when I get hungry I am not shaky anymore. Silver gel took the little bit of pink out of the eyelids. Skin texture is still a little sandpapery to the touch but not visible and no peeling or itching. Seems to have helped armpits too. Have been pooping and peeing a lot more than usual since this all started. Guess that's a good thing.
Was sitting and looked down. Noticed my stomach has really shrunk. Pants and jeans have been getting loose.
Saturday, April 30
Can see a decided difference in the size of my gut in the mirror when standing sideways. Had Remote Area Medical in our church so was crazy busy volunteering. Energy level good for as early as I got up. Diarrhea continuing today, like when I have taken antibiotics before for sinus infections. Going to double my probiotics.
More diarrhea as day progressed, not terrible but I am guessing the regimen is killing both the good and bad guys as RSB mentioned on the radio after playing my phone comments. Definitely feels like the usual intestinal upheaval I have when on antibiotics. Had some plain organic Greek yogurt and that seemed to settle it down a good bit. Never had plain yogurt before but liked it - before always had the aspartame laden crap. May doctor some with stevia and cinnamon tomorrow for variety. Added an extra New Chapters AllFlora pill tonight. Will keep doubling up to see if it helps.
Eyelids still holding their own and not getting worse. I should look like a space alien by now seriously. Maybe my body is finally trying to fight this. I have covered the symptoms with topical immunosuppressants. I don't know if it is the oral silver or silver gel, maybe just my own immune system getting feisty. I am still using a bit of the shea/argan salve for moisturizing along with the silver gel. I tried using it alone way back but it never kept the eczema from progressing to a red, swollen, peely mess. It is soothing and helps the pain, but I really am in no pain with it nor is it itching. You can barely see the texture change in the skin if you know what to look for and I can feel the roughness but that's it. Maybe my new immune system will be able to pummel it once and for all with a little support.
Monday, May 2
Didn't have time to journal yesterday, things were crazy with the last day of RAM. Was still having diarrhea but the extra probiotics and yogurt seem to be helping. Eyelids still doing ok. Not getting worse, may actually be getting a little better. Ear canals still have some eczema in them, but not as bad as before. Still a good bit of ear wax, but everyone on my dad's side makes lots of ear wax so I may just be doomed. It's not yeasty smelling any more though. I may try a couple of drops of silver in the ear canals to see if it can tame the eczema beast.
This afternoon I had a pretty solid, almost normal looking poop again. Not quite perfectly solid, but definitely a major improvement over the past couple of days. Probiotics and yogurt must be working. Now I'm getting a double dose of the probiotics in the Amazing Grass (raw cocoa version), then Chobani organic plain yogurt for lunch (tastes like eating straight sour cream but I'll live with it) and two New Chapters All Flora capsules at night.
I'll reach day 14 tomorrow, so just one more day and I have to really throw back the probiotics to get my gut recolonized. I also had some quinoa last night, which I heard is good for pushing stuff through the intestines and colon, especially for candida issues. I wonder if it contributed to the happy poop.
Tuesday, May 3
Had a great BM this morning, totally solid. Guess this is my body's way of telling me it is ready for the replenishment and repopulation phase. Today is day 14 so it is the last day on the silver. I hope my body ecology book comes in today so I can start reading. I looked at the website and saw it is big on kefir and I found a local source for it yesterday. Never had that before but if it makes my gut happy I will drink it.
Energy level is up and had a great workout with my trainer this am. I can tell my mood is up. Stopped taking birth control pills since I know they contribute to this and I only take them for acne. My skin has drastically improved so I doubt I need them anymore. Eyelid eczema vastly improved today. Right eyelid is normal again. Left eyelid, the worst of the two, is still a little sandpapery but it is shrinking. I guess my new little immune system kicked some eczema butt with the help from the silver. Still no pain or itching whatsoever.
Started putting a stevia packet in my Chobani and it made it taste SO much better, not like pungent sour cream. Need to think of more creative ways to doctor it as I try to put all the good critters back in. I was starting to have trouble choking it down. Had another pretty solid poop too, not as good as the earlier one today. After I took my second dose of silver today I got a little queasy. I think my body is definitely ready to stop tomorrow and start rebuilding.
Of course after he spoke I had to ask him what he had done to get well. We talked for a couple of minutes and he told me that what I needed to do was simple. I needed to use a silver/aloe protocol, which involved taking a dose of 1 oz. of organic aloe juice and 1 oz. of Sovereign Silver mixed together three times per day for two weeks. This would clean out my gut and rebuild my immune system.
This made sense to me, because I hate antibiotics, as they made me as sick or sicker than the sinus infections that I was trying to treat. I had just successfully dealt with a sinus infection using the Sovereign Silver nasal spray and oil of oregano. What the heck, it was worth a try.
Now for what I didn't tell Robert. I didn't tell him that I had been struggling with intestinal drama (and when I say drama I mean DRAMA) for years. I was weighing in at 215 pounds, having lost about 15 pounds before I met him on a 900 calorie a day diet called Medifast. But alas I had gotten stuck at that weight even staying on the 900 calories a day. I have an enlarged thyroid and take a small dose of thyroid medicine to keep it from growing further. I have also had severe depression since I was a teenager. Plus, I was just chronically exhausted all the time. I didn't tell Robert any of this, but amazingly the silver/aloe protocol has helped ALL of it - and quickly!
Keep in mind that Robert never charged me a cent for any of his advice, or all the follow up questions that I asked him (and all the questions I'm still asking him). The only thing he asked me to do is keep a journal so that he can use the information from my recovery to help other people.
I thought I should put it online so that others can see it too. So here it is. The story of the two weeks that I was on the silver/aloe protocol trying to slay the candida monster.
Wednesday, April 20
Exactly an hour after first dose intestines started making crazy noises. First one lasted for 15-20 seconds and was a gurgly, moany, screechy sound - very loud. It continued making crazy noises throughout the day. After second dose got very gassy and it was pretty foul smelling.
Thursday, April 21
Felt like boiled crap. Tired and sinuses in a complete uproar. Alternated silver nasal spray and SinuOrega to keep sinuses flushed out. Took Oreganol orally three times as it seems to really help my sinuses. Horribly gassy. Way worse than my dog who is a boxer and if you have ever smelled boxer gas that is really saying something. Smelled like something crawled up my butt and died. Continued all day with some soft stools. Bloated feeling most of day but finally cleared around 4pm as did sinus drama. Started to feel human again. Drinking tons of water seems to help. Doubled apple cider vinegar to 2 tbsp a day to support liver.
Friday, April 22
Feeling pretty good today definitely better than usual. A bit gassy still nasty but not as bad as yesterday. Changing into my PJs at night noticed horrible rash in both armpits that I had given up on treating with prescription hydrocortisone is majorly clearing up. Most of redness is gone. Sinuses and ears draining most of day but not bothersome. Peeing like crazy but also drinking lots.
Saturday, April 23
Eczema under and around my ears is gone. Sinuses and ears still draining. Most scalp eczema seems to be going just a bit at the base of my neck that I can feel. Actually wore my hair in a ponytail in public for the first time pretty much ever. Coolies! Started having solid poops. Haven't had those in forever. Usually semi solid with bouts of diarrhea. Yay!
Sunday, April 24
Sinuses a bit cranky but not bad. Ear garbage still yellowish like always but no longer yeasty smelling. Still some eczema in ear canal.
Monday, April 25
Energy good. Sinuses a little cranky. Continuing to medicate with nasal silver, SinuOrega, and Oreganol. Really seems to help. Still taking Claritin but have stopped Astelin and Mucinex. Stopped using ProTopic for eyelid eczema to see if it comes back. Noticed my mild rosacea seems to be absent and my little zitlets seem to be clearing up. I have bad cystic acne and have been on birth control pills for a while. If this clears up my skin will stop taking them. Down a total of 8 pounds without trying. Woohoo!
Tuesday, April 26
Great energy and awesome workout with trainer. A little bloated in the afternoon not sure why. Poops a little off too. Ate a seed bar with agave nectar in it yesterday and the poop had seeds in it. Maybe that is the culprit. After a little gas and poop felt much better. Gas is not too stinky today.
Wednesday, April 27
Day 8 and still feeling pretty good. A little tired today but probably because of the dreary weather. Eczema on my left eyelid is trying to flare up. That eyelid is usually the worst. Mixed a few drops of silver with a shea butter/argan oil moisturizing stick I have that is really soothing to see if that helps. The stick or petroleum jelly are the only things that stop it from hurting and I am trying to avoid the latter. It seems to feel a lot better, waiting to see if it starts peeling. Eczema is not visible yet but the usual spot is itchy and the texture of the skin has changed mildly like it usually does before it goes nuts and I start looking like a space alien. I want to see if the silver will get it without using the ProTopic. Right eyelid seems fine.
Good solid poop this am. Little bit of redness under arms but nothing like before. No itching though. May try the silver thing topically there tonight as an experiment. Bout of diarrhea in afternoon. Had lunch out at employee appreciation banquet. Was careful but may have eaten something I shouldn't have. Or could just be more die off. Pretty foul smelling with gas. Took second dose of silver and aloe just beforehand. Ear canals are itchy. Appetite seems to be down, in a good way. Just not as hungry as usual.
Thursday, April 28
Feeling pretty good. Still a little bit of soft stools and gas from yesterday but not bad. Need to get the diet thing figured out. Down 11 pounds as of this morning. Eyelid eczema still trying to act up. I see a little red on right side today. Putting silver directly on it followed by the shea/argan stick seems to keep it happy. Going to get the silver gel and try that. For a little afternoon weirdness my cheeks got all pink and really warm to the touch. I have no idea what that might have to do with anything but thought I would write it down.
Appetite down except for a couple of times I got really hungry. Had almond butter with me and a tbsp of that is a good snack. Normally I love PB but read about the mold issues with them and possible mold killing chemicals being a problem with candida. Switched from skim milk to unsweetened almond milk too a few days ago. Stuff draining from sinuses is almost all clear now and not very much draining. Sinus accupressure points are not sore when pressed which is unusual. Started silver gel on eyelids tonight and put on armpits for good measure.
Friday, April 29
Ate sushi last night and paying for it this am. Soft stools and a little weird feeling in intestines. I only had a couple of pieces but apparently even a little white rice is bad. Going to have to get the food side of this figured out. Otherwise feeling good. Noticed that the past few days when I get hungry I am not shaky anymore. Silver gel took the little bit of pink out of the eyelids. Skin texture is still a little sandpapery to the touch but not visible and no peeling or itching. Seems to have helped armpits too. Have been pooping and peeing a lot more than usual since this all started. Guess that's a good thing.
Was sitting and looked down. Noticed my stomach has really shrunk. Pants and jeans have been getting loose.
Saturday, April 30
Can see a decided difference in the size of my gut in the mirror when standing sideways. Had Remote Area Medical in our church so was crazy busy volunteering. Energy level good for as early as I got up. Diarrhea continuing today, like when I have taken antibiotics before for sinus infections. Going to double my probiotics.
More diarrhea as day progressed, not terrible but I am guessing the regimen is killing both the good and bad guys as RSB mentioned on the radio after playing my phone comments. Definitely feels like the usual intestinal upheaval I have when on antibiotics. Had some plain organic Greek yogurt and that seemed to settle it down a good bit. Never had plain yogurt before but liked it - before always had the aspartame laden crap. May doctor some with stevia and cinnamon tomorrow for variety. Added an extra New Chapters AllFlora pill tonight. Will keep doubling up to see if it helps.
Eyelids still holding their own and not getting worse. I should look like a space alien by now seriously. Maybe my body is finally trying to fight this. I have covered the symptoms with topical immunosuppressants. I don't know if it is the oral silver or silver gel, maybe just my own immune system getting feisty. I am still using a bit of the shea/argan salve for moisturizing along with the silver gel. I tried using it alone way back but it never kept the eczema from progressing to a red, swollen, peely mess. It is soothing and helps the pain, but I really am in no pain with it nor is it itching. You can barely see the texture change in the skin if you know what to look for and I can feel the roughness but that's it. Maybe my new immune system will be able to pummel it once and for all with a little support.
Monday, May 2
Didn't have time to journal yesterday, things were crazy with the last day of RAM. Was still having diarrhea but the extra probiotics and yogurt seem to be helping. Eyelids still doing ok. Not getting worse, may actually be getting a little better. Ear canals still have some eczema in them, but not as bad as before. Still a good bit of ear wax, but everyone on my dad's side makes lots of ear wax so I may just be doomed. It's not yeasty smelling any more though. I may try a couple of drops of silver in the ear canals to see if it can tame the eczema beast.
This afternoon I had a pretty solid, almost normal looking poop again. Not quite perfectly solid, but definitely a major improvement over the past couple of days. Probiotics and yogurt must be working. Now I'm getting a double dose of the probiotics in the Amazing Grass (raw cocoa version), then Chobani organic plain yogurt for lunch (tastes like eating straight sour cream but I'll live with it) and two New Chapters All Flora capsules at night.
I'll reach day 14 tomorrow, so just one more day and I have to really throw back the probiotics to get my gut recolonized. I also had some quinoa last night, which I heard is good for pushing stuff through the intestines and colon, especially for candida issues. I wonder if it contributed to the happy poop.
Tuesday, May 3
Had a great BM this morning, totally solid. Guess this is my body's way of telling me it is ready for the replenishment and repopulation phase. Today is day 14 so it is the last day on the silver. I hope my body ecology book comes in today so I can start reading. I looked at the website and saw it is big on kefir and I found a local source for it yesterday. Never had that before but if it makes my gut happy I will drink it.
Energy level is up and had a great workout with my trainer this am. I can tell my mood is up. Stopped taking birth control pills since I know they contribute to this and I only take them for acne. My skin has drastically improved so I doubt I need them anymore. Eyelid eczema vastly improved today. Right eyelid is normal again. Left eyelid, the worst of the two, is still a little sandpapery but it is shrinking. I guess my new little immune system kicked some eczema butt with the help from the silver. Still no pain or itching whatsoever.
Started putting a stevia packet in my Chobani and it made it taste SO much better, not like pungent sour cream. Need to think of more creative ways to doctor it as I try to put all the good critters back in. I was starting to have trouble choking it down. Had another pretty solid poop too, not as good as the earlier one today. After I took my second dose of silver today I got a little queasy. I think my body is definitely ready to stop tomorrow and start rebuilding.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)