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.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
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.
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