Thursday, December 29, 2016

Day 1 - Day 45 (first 1.5 months) Gluten Free Diet / Naturopathic Doctor

Current Regimen:

Supplements:
Prolent - 2 in morning
Lentra - 1 at night
Melia (Neem) - 2 per meal, three times a day
HCL (Hydrochloric Acid)- I'm currently at 2,000 mg per meal and don't feel anything.  I've been building it up for two weeks from 150 mg per meal, since my one-month follow-up.

Eating regime:
Gluten free, as well as no wheat/grains/oat, soy, dairy, coffee, nuts, peanuts, sesame, rice
A few cheats along the way- a Clif Bar, ice cream

Changes (very low to no improvement in my quality of body pain):

There's been a few (maybe 5) days where I felt like I slept pretty well, where I slept through the night, and woke with my mind feeling kind of rested for a few minutes.  That doesn't ever happen for me normally.

I had been getting very vivid dreams since this treatment (from the brain supplements).  I was switched to taking two Prolent in the morning instead of at night.  The vivid dreams have backed off somewhat, but are still there, just at less intensity.  I got this with antidepressants so I was sensitive to my brain supplements being the culprits.

I've been waking up (again, a handful of days only) without my normal horrible TMJ.  Its just absent.

Its the weirdest thing; I always thought it was a result of my depression and frustration with my life.  But within the last six weeks, I've had more nights without TMJ than I've ever experienced before.  My jaw still hurts and has knots from all the previous years of TMJ, though.  I'm just not getting 'fresh' TMJ from the night before in the same manner I typically do.

My neck and shoulders are a bit more flexible, which I noted at my one-month follow up.  A BIT.  They are still in huge knots.  I can do arm circles and shoulder circles better than usual, less pain/tightness.

My mood- its hard to explain- I (today) feel pretty good in my mood even though my body still hurts just as much.  I'm not in a massive depression, although I was at my one-month follow up; my mood seems to have improved just since then (nothing is new in my life).  My 'switching' thoughts have calmed down somewhat- not to the degree I want, but there has been noticeable change.

I've had tons of gas these past 6 weeks.  I'm not usually particularly gassy, but I've had gas every day.

I've been having pretty good BM's.  They've been good texture, but sometimes they aren't daily.  I haven't had a single 'dump shit', diahhrea, or sludge shit for the past 6 weeks, which is certainly an improvement.

Biggest Complaints- severe low back pain and can't get tired at night, neck pain

neck pain side note: I've gone to the chiropractor so many times, I'm just getting greedy with it since my insurance is covering it.  I love hearing it crack.  But it never helps ease the pain.  I've been having major troubles with putting my head on a pillow (neck pain), and moving my head let and right to listen to people talk or see things that are to the side of me.  Nothing new, but its bad.

General Complaints - thinking all the time every second, don't want to focus, no energy moving through my body, sometimes get really tired and sick if I don't eat, and then sometimes fall asleep when I do eat, laying on my side hurts my back as I'm trying to sleep, can't walk but knees hurt from cross legged, all my muscles hurt so much.

Last thoughts-
  • I am reading Grain Brain and will switch to a higher fat diet, and if I'm a stickler- lower carb too.  I'm currently pretty personally invested in the idea that gluten = body problems. 
  • My brother also has dilated (big) pupils.  HUH.
  • At 6 weeks I really don't feel much better.  I'm a little irritated that all the gluten free elimination diets are for 30 or 60 days, and I really haven't felt much of anything, and I'm being much more restrictive than most of the diets call for.
  • Its so wierd that my C-Reactive Protein (test for inflammation) is at a normal level, when I've been told and having been reading 'INFLAMMATION, INFLAMMATION, INFLAMMATION.  I don't get it.  I've responded well to Naproxen, Cortisone shots- both of which are supposedly anti-inflammatories.  I've had huge levels of gut inflammation tested.
  • If my stomach acid is low, then shouldn't my nutrients all be low in blood tests?  But they aren't, they are normal.
  • Just utterly surprised by my TMJ going away, as well as my head pain going away.  That means I'm not some kind of despicable life hating depressive weak jerk that I thought I was; rather I was at the mercy of mental illness that was HAPPENING IN MY BODY, not something that I WAS THE CAUSE OF.  Also surprised that 'my brain is hurting because my body hurts so much' does not exactly seem to be the case anymore. My body is hurting just fine, but my brain is doing okay. 
  • Basically I've been told so many times to see a therapist for my mental problems that I thought it was all something in my experiences that were holding me back.  And no, I did not know WHY the depression ever started.  But currently, it seems like my depression is just absolutely biochemical in nature, and that its caused all the loneliness and frustration and social issues, rather than being the end result of it.  This is really a big deal for me.  Pain in the ass to try to describe it in words though. 
  • Why is everything hurting so much?  All pain, and no pain relief in sight. FML 

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

New- Dr. Olsen repeat in November 2016

I'm seeing Dr. Olsen again, in November 2016.

I got tested for gut troubles of many kinds with a gastrointestinal test, and a neurotransmitter test, Neurolab.

We are basing the treatment off of those results.

I would like to update this blog, monthly, with how my body and mental health are doing, in order to keep track.