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 

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.

Cleanse Day 3

Well, I actually slept through the night last night.  I didn't nap yesterday, so must've stayed in control water wise.  I think I slept the night through even though it was warm, and I had TMJ but didn't have a nightmare. Woke with my neck in a total ache.  Lower body is better than normal, less tight.  Upper body, neck and shoulders is really bad.

Huge fast bowel movement upon waking that didn't feel great.

Breakfast-

Lemon tea which I really like so far, w/ maple syrup and tiny bit of colon cleanse.
Maybe a protein shake, my stomach feels like it could use the cold and my mouth can't chew due to TMJ.

Ate a yummy oatmeal with some dark chocolate, with blueberries and banana.

possible:

Lunch-  I have leftovers of my lentils.  I might throw out some lentils and add some more broccoli/arugula.

Dinner - Maybe a salad, although I would need to buy ingredients - lettuce

update- Just had ugly diahhrea out of nowhere.  This is not something that normally happens to me, ugh. 

 I remembered that when I was feeling slow in mind the last time I food elimination dieted, what made me feel like that was eating mainly (almost only) sprouted bread, with goat cheese and arugula. 

Veggies just give me the shits, which sucks because that's what I'm supposed to be eating.
I feel very conflicted over my supposedly great detoxing cleanse now.  I know its just going to bring diahhrea and that's not good. 

What else?  I mostly watched TV all day yesterday.  My low back hurts today - it has for the last 3 days.

update my stomach hurts.  I ate bread and hummus for the first time in 3 days.  drnnn 

Cleanse Day 2

Cleanse day 2 started off badly.

I did that thing I do of going to bed at 9 pm, too early but because my body is hurting all over and I can't stand or do anything.  Then lying awake/thinking/maybe sleeping until midnight.  Woke up, was up till 2:30 AM (with energy- the only time I ever get energy).

But slept fairly well once I fell asleep again, slept in till 11:30 AM (holy shit, that's a record).  I'm very sleep deficient in this hot weather.  It was a good dreamy sleep, this has happened to me many times and is kind of weird.

But what started cleanse Day 2 off badly was the decision to try the 'colon cleanse'- with lemon.  It gave me diahhrea instantly.  I was enamored that I drank from the cup of nasty nasty looking stuff and 'barely tasted it!'.  But, my body knew what was underneath and put up an instant protest.  Dunno why I react quite so badly to herbs. 

I might try it again with a teeny 1/4 teaspoon with lemon with maple syrup / honey / ginger.  That would be interesting if the ginger calmed my stomach. 

Then I needed to eat since my stomach hurt.  And I got around to something I have barely done in my life- cooking!

I made lentils from Trader Joes (combine with broth, 'white wine' which I used white vinegar and olive oil instead).  They don't taste great, although texture wise they did come out almost fully cooked.  I added a lot of spices- smoky spice, and lemon pepper.  At the end I added arugula, and made veggies - broccoli, red onion, mushroom, tomatoes.  The mushrooms smelled great, I used butter to cook.  Could've cooked a bit longer and cut smaller, but in general it feels successful.  The butter in the mushroom veggie mix smells really good.  I've never cooked with butter before, I typically always use oil. 

Yesterday I mostly ate salad, I forgot about the protein of lentils/green beans/peas, so that will make the diet much better.  Hopefully seriously hopefully I won't have a bunch of diahhrea on this diet, that would suck.  I know from past diets my body doesn't like to many vegetables.  I probably need to find something starchy, asap to make myself feel okay.

Wish I could find ginger candies that don't have quite so much sugar.  Hell I could eat them morning and night, my stomach always hurts.

Day 2

Breakfast- Attempted a tea of 'colon cleanse', honey, lemon but died immediately after drinking it.  And in my regular diet, I don't get diahhrea anymore so that really sucked since it was a change for the worse.  For food, had a little bit of canned pineapple with berries and ginger candy. 
Lunch - Lentils and vegetables (tomato, onion, mushroom, broccoli, arugula - with butter)
Dinner- I was full for a long time.  Dinner was more like dessert- grilled platains (yummy)
Dessert - Late night- squash and ice cream because I started getting nauseous, unfortunately.  shitty cheap mint ice cream.  First ''bad' thing I've eaten in two days

whoops, all in all, that's not near enough vegetables.  I got so full on lentils, I didn't realize how much lentils I was eating versus everything else.

Water- I will try.  I think I did pretty well.
Exercise - hopefully I will jog.  I couldn't, I jogged very little.  My upper back is horribly tight from sleeping badly.  To be fair, that might've loosened up if I did something more variable aerobic.
Supplements- same as Day 1 - multivitamin,

My body yesterday hurt too much to even use the foam roller - my back is all jacked from sleeping badly in hot nights, which I hate.  I need total cool to get to sleep.  Wish I could figure out what to do.

My neck is better than usual.  I laid my neck over a pillow to get it to curve, and various pops and things occurred; it feels better now.  Ironically, the left side of neck issue transferred to the right side.

Wondering if I have fibromyalgia ...

Cleanse Day 1

I'm starting a 21 day cleanse, through the Standard Process 21 Day Cleanse guidelines.   https://www.standardprocess.com/Products/Literature/Patient-Purification-Program-Guide

I have an extremely long and bothersome list of complaints, mental and physical, which I am hoping will become regulated and decrease during this detox / cleanse.

I've tried elimination diets.  I had a big benefit when I stopped eating rice (which my Genova blood test listed as a moderate allergy).   I noticed some benefit when I stopped eating grains (wheat/corn/soy/etc) but I wasn't able to keep up with that at the time.  Both times, my mind slowed.

I barely eat vegetables at all. 

I consider myself to not have the patience to stand up and cook because my body hurts.  It hurts all the time.  It doesn't ever feel light enough to just stand.  When I stand, I shift around, and want to sit or lay down so I don't have to hold up my body weight.  This is part of the reason I don't cook, the other is that cooking is unfamiliar and I don't have the mental stamina to deal with it.

Complaints- dry skin, itchy eyes, poor sleep, not getting tired at night, waking up from sleep in total pain, thinking all the time, a million different body knots, digestive problems- needing to eat constantly or else I got nauseous, particularly, needing bready carbs to feel better, I can't eat anything acidic - no alcohol, coffee, or fruit. Total pain in all parts of my body - muscular, joints, bones.  Nightmares, food comas, needing to drink excessive water to prevent food comas, excessive TMJ that really hurts, painful ears, back and neck pain, forehead and temples pain (but not a headache), low appetite, constantly cold feet, trouble moving, driving hurts due to back pain, PCOS > head hair doesn't grow as a result of treatments, my head hair and eyebrow hair fall out all the time, really dry lips, really hoarse voice throughout the day.  Thinking around the clock without being able to stop, with the exception of after food coma naps.  Chewing is hard due to TMJ. Asthma- breathing trouble that may or may not be due to TMJ but is getting worse.  I have no energy, ever.  I don't know what it is to have energy.  I am slow sluggish, hoarse, and freaking unhappy. 

These complaints have been going on for a decade.  In high school, I never wanted to stand and had back pain and poor skin.

Medically-

Last year my gut inflammation levels were off the charts.  I tested negative for any diseases such as Chrohn's or Lupus, however.  I went on elimination diets but never got my body pain to stop.  One test says I'm allergic to rice, almonds and flax.  The other says I'm allergic to wheat, soy, corn, sesame, walnuts, peanuts.  I currently eat plenty of these foods and haven't noticed any averse effects to my digestion, but constant body pain. 

This year, an acupuncturist said my adrenals were fatigued, as evidenced by poor pupil response to lights.  The Chinese explanation for me is yin deficiency, causing liver (detox) overwhelm.  That would make me think I need to eat things that will support my liver.

I am just finishing a 6 week of personal training which made me stronger at first, and then not after that.  I was eating more protein than ever.  I am a little sad to lose that muscle for this diet, but I've already been losing it.  It didn't make my body feel any better though.

Day 1 -

Last night it was hot.  I couldn't sleep, watched TV without getting tired, woke up at 4 AM not knowing if I had been sleeping or awake.  Changed bedrooms, and slept very well (cooler) until 7:25 AM.  TMJ was less bad than usual but still hurt. 

Breakfast -Banana.  Little bit of a mix of canned pineapple, goat cheese and silk milk.
Lunch- This ridiculous cool 'pressed juice froyo' - fruits and veggies.  Made me feel sick.
Lunch #2- Large salad- arugula and red butter lettuce, onion, tomatoes, little bit of canned wild salmon, olive oil and olives, salt and pepper.
Dinner- more of the salad, with avocado.
After dinner- another canned pineapple/silk milk/berries.
Late night 1 AM snack- alot of olive pieces, plain

Water- I didn't drink enough water throughout the day, that was dumb.  I tried but it still wasn't enough.

Exercise
Walked some with Pepper. Body fucking hurts.  Wanted to go running but in the end, didn't.  Was wiped from the beach sun, too.

Supplements
Chewy multivitamin, pantoprazole (PPI for stomach), biotin 10,000 mg, lutein

Whats going to make this cleanse harder - I can't just drink juices.  I have a digestive problem where I constantly need carbs to feel okay.  Especially after exercise, yoga, or when I haven't eaten in an hour or longer.  It just gets worse until I eat, but in the past fruits haven't made it stop.  What am I going to do about this?  (I am allowed to eat lentils/green beans/peas, so I can do that). 
I'm not used to eating vegetables.

Weight- 120 pounds, flat.

Hopes/Expectations - Body pain will decrease as inflammation from my food allergies decreases.  I'll start to get vitamins and nutrients from vegetables that I've never had, leading my various body complaints to calm down.  Hopefully digestive problems will calm down, I'm currently taking a PPI (acid blocker) because its too much.  Mind will shut the goddam fuck up.  Hair will (please) start growing again.  I won't even mention PCOS.  I just need the body pain to stop.

Concerns / Considerations:
What supplements to take? There are so many choices.  There's the Standard Process 5 different supplements: a whey powder, a gastro-fiber, a greens, and a liver/kidney supplement.
There's infyzyme, which I've been presecribed.
There's vegetarian digestive enzymes (bromelain/papelain as anti-inflammatories)
There's fenugreek, garlic, ginger for digestive health.
There's omega's for anti-inflammatories.
There's basic multivitamins.
There's melatonin, probably necessary if I don't eat enough protein.
fudge, that's a lot of choices.

I'll likely go too hard on exercise.  Never mind, I don't even have the body capacity to go too hard. 

I could just do my physical therapy routine once again (stretching and exercises) and stick to that.  I can jog and that's easy.  But I probably shouldn't do weights, feels too taxing.




 

I don't like kissing

I don't know ... would I be the first girl to say this?  But experience has proven that I just don't like kissing.

How Yoga Works - Benefits of Yoga

Yoga is a great practice for the connection of so many important things - body, mind, and soul.  See some of the benefits of taking part in a yoga practice.

Yoga is great exercise.  The poses will test your body strength and engage your core muscles.  Yoga makes you strong from the inside out.  Active yoga -hatha yoga- provides a continuous flow of movement.  Cardio exercise will benefit your heart and give you a well earned sense of pride in your body.  In addition to strengthening, the lengthening and stretching in the poses increases flexibility and balance.   Yoga includes many forms and levels of exercise that are accessible and beneficial, regardless of fitness level.

Yoga encourages embodiment.  Having a connected body and mind is an important goal for personal wellness.  So many of our mental struggles from life not going our way keep us living in our heads.  Yoga reminds you to focus and become aware of your body.  Reach out your heart as you expand the possibilities of your body.  Breathe in, breathe out.  Focus on that and feel it.  The breathwork lets you connect to your body during the poses. 

Yoga leads you away from mental dullness.  The practice of focusing your mind to the poses, engaging your body, steadying yourself in a pose when you are off balance, is excellent practice for life.  Yoga helps you reground, and find your center.  With clarity and intention, you can find more ways to be present and available to experiences. 

You can find a community through yoga.  Yoga studios offer community benefits and events in addition to ongoing classes.  You can gain the support of a community through meeting friends.  Opportunities to socialize as well as self develop go hand in hand.  Reaching out is a great way to benefit yourself and others.  

Yoga lays the groundwork to connect with yourself from the mat up.