I am happy to report that I am making some needed adjustments to my regimen. After discussing with my acupuncturist, his advised me to back off a little. He thought my symptoms sounded like my body was unhappy with the changes and obviously holding me back from recovering. So, as of now I am officially adding whole grains back into my diet. I had tried replacing quinoa for fruit in small amounts but not everyday. I am also going to replace the Repair Vite with Clear Vite to get more nutrients and take the GI synergy only once a day instead of twice a day. I have tried adding in eggs but the jury is still out if they are affecting me. The diet is still strict but just easing up a tiny bit gives me the most unexpected joy. I no longer feel like any mistake I make is detrimental to my recovery and that I am in a constant state of panic with life or death decisions. It is a fluid process of what works for me and it's ok for me to experiment a little.
Just 3 days into backing off a little and I'm already noticing some positive changes. I feel less dizzy on an average, less disoriented, and my mood has greatly improved. I have less feelings of hopelessness and depravity. I still get dizzy spells, forget to put protein powder in my protein shake, and forget nouns and adjectives but it's not so bad. The only changes I've really made are reducing the GI synergy to once a day, eating bigger portions, eating more quinoa and allowing myself a treat like crackers or frozen cultured coconut milk. I also found some cacao nibs that have very little sugar so as a special treat I eat one or two and savor it, and feel much happier as a result. I'm not sure what this means for killing Candida but it does feel like a better environment to heal in. I suppose I will deal with the Candida later when my gut has healed a bit longer.
Day 36 Tuesday
Breakfast: protein shake with carrot juice, c.c. milk, fresh ginger, stevia
Lunch: baked salmon, arugula, lettuce, lemon olive oil dressing
Snack: can't remember but think I ate something
Dinner: salmon, brown rice, broccoli
Day 37 Wednesday
Breakfast: fried egg with leftover salmon, cream of rice cereal (11am)
Snack: GF crackers, beet chips
Dinner: shrimp with lemon and garlic, quinoa, broccoli
Dessert: frozen cultured coconut milk (3g sugar) with cinnamon and stevia
Day 38 Thursday
Breakfast: egg with wilted spinach on GF english muffin
Lunch: quinoa and broccoli
Snack: GF crackers (Sticks and Twigs by Mary gone crackers, and yes they taste similar)
Dinner: lemon shrimp, broccoli, spaghetti squash
Friday, March 4, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Day 34- I'm not gonna lie, this is hard.
This has been the toughest week thus far. I didn't think it would get worse but it has. Because of my severely decreased intake of sugar, my body is going through some drastic changes. The most noticeable is the bloating. Every day now I am bloated, when I wake up to when I go to bed. It gets worse after each meal. The fatigue is life-altering, and I haven't seen an energy boost even after forcing myself to exercise 3 times a week. The dizziness and vertigo occur randomly throughout the day. The brain fog is incredible, it's no wonder I can't write everyday. I can't make a clear sentence to save my life or just try to communicate with the outside world for that matter. On top of all that, I have been extremely emotional and the depression is a real, palpable feeling, like a heavy jacket I can't take off.
My research has led me to believe some of my symptoms are common with Candida die off. What I understand is that Candida releases toxins into the blood stream, whether they are multiplying or dying. They end up in the liver to be filtered, causing the liver to work overtime trying to filter out all of these poisons. This causes the body to suffer in many ways. A common toxin is acetaldehyde, which is broken down to alcohol. The drunk feeling is a real symptom, I was starting to feel crazy and thought I had begun imagining new symptoms. There have been a handful of times now that I felt like I had a really nice buzz after two martinis. Since I hadn't drank any martinis, I was alarmed and thought I was going to be sick. The other night after dinner while driving home, it occurred to me that I was swerving and felt drunk. Amazingly, I've read about people getting DUI's and testing high for blood alcohol that have not been drinking and were undergoing similar detox and cleanses. So the brain fog and hangover feelings may be directly related to how much Candida is in my body.
There is a probable history and direction now that seems to be getting clearer. Two years ago I took a hefty dose of antibiotics for a month long GI upset. Then some months later I began to have random bloating which progressed to daily pain and digestive problems. Add a high stress job with emotions I hadn't learned to cope with yet and the ball was rolling. I ate a high carb, high sugar, highly processed vegetarian diet. I had been on oral contraceptives for 10+ years of my life. All these things contributed to a Candida overgrowth which led to Leaky Gut syndrome. Through a process of elimination with medical doctors and natural healers, I've been led to this. Now of course I don't know if this is the case but I'd like to think I had an answer, it would make me feel better. I am looking for some more concrete answers at this point because I find it unbearable to live between the Leaky Guy diet and a Candida diet. It needs to be one or the other. I understand I need to heal my gut before any real transformation happens but I am looking for guidance on how to do that. Any thoughts?
Food Journal Day 32 Friday
Breakfast: protein shake w/carrot juice, c.c. milk, kombucha, spinach, fresh ginger
Lunch: leftover pesto'd basa and spaghetti squash
Snack: beet chips, avocado
Dinner: sashimi, half roll (rice), collar (grilled), daikon, ginger, green tea
Day 33 Saturday
Breakfast: protein shake w/carrot juice, c.c.milk, kombucha, spinach, stevia
Snack: beet chips
Lunch: mahi mahi, quinoa, spinach
Dinner: shrimp, salmon, spinach, broccoli
Day 34 Sunday
Breakfast: protein shake w/carrot juice, c.c. milk, kombucha, spinach, kale, fresh ginger, stevia
Lunch: leftover mahi mahi, quinoa, spinach, beet chips
Snack: quinoa (1/4 cup)
Dinner: sauteed lemon shrimp and raw kale salad
Dessert: frozen cultured coconut milk and cinnamon (2g sugar)
Day 35 Monday
Breakfast: protein shake w/ c.c. milk, repairvite, kombucha, arugula, ginger, cinnamon, stevia
Lunch: tuna salad with leftover kale salad, kombucha
Dinner: roasted butternut squash, sauteed red chard
My research has led me to believe some of my symptoms are common with Candida die off. What I understand is that Candida releases toxins into the blood stream, whether they are multiplying or dying. They end up in the liver to be filtered, causing the liver to work overtime trying to filter out all of these poisons. This causes the body to suffer in many ways. A common toxin is acetaldehyde, which is broken down to alcohol. The drunk feeling is a real symptom, I was starting to feel crazy and thought I had begun imagining new symptoms. There have been a handful of times now that I felt like I had a really nice buzz after two martinis. Since I hadn't drank any martinis, I was alarmed and thought I was going to be sick. The other night after dinner while driving home, it occurred to me that I was swerving and felt drunk. Amazingly, I've read about people getting DUI's and testing high for blood alcohol that have not been drinking and were undergoing similar detox and cleanses. So the brain fog and hangover feelings may be directly related to how much Candida is in my body.
There is a probable history and direction now that seems to be getting clearer. Two years ago I took a hefty dose of antibiotics for a month long GI upset. Then some months later I began to have random bloating which progressed to daily pain and digestive problems. Add a high stress job with emotions I hadn't learned to cope with yet and the ball was rolling. I ate a high carb, high sugar, highly processed vegetarian diet. I had been on oral contraceptives for 10+ years of my life. All these things contributed to a Candida overgrowth which led to Leaky Gut syndrome. Through a process of elimination with medical doctors and natural healers, I've been led to this. Now of course I don't know if this is the case but I'd like to think I had an answer, it would make me feel better. I am looking for some more concrete answers at this point because I find it unbearable to live between the Leaky Guy diet and a Candida diet. It needs to be one or the other. I understand I need to heal my gut before any real transformation happens but I am looking for guidance on how to do that. Any thoughts?
Food Journal Day 32 Friday
Breakfast: protein shake w/carrot juice, c.c. milk, kombucha, spinach, fresh ginger
Lunch: leftover pesto'd basa and spaghetti squash
Snack: beet chips, avocado
Dinner: sashimi, half roll (rice), collar (grilled), daikon, ginger, green tea
Day 33 Saturday
Breakfast: protein shake w/carrot juice, c.c.milk, kombucha, spinach, stevia
Snack: beet chips
Lunch: mahi mahi, quinoa, spinach
Dinner: shrimp, salmon, spinach, broccoli
Day 34 Sunday
Breakfast: protein shake w/carrot juice, c.c. milk, kombucha, spinach, kale, fresh ginger, stevia
Lunch: leftover mahi mahi, quinoa, spinach, beet chips
Snack: quinoa (1/4 cup)
Dinner: sauteed lemon shrimp and raw kale salad
Dessert: frozen cultured coconut milk and cinnamon (2g sugar)
Day 35 Monday
Breakfast: protein shake w/ c.c. milk, repairvite, kombucha, arugula, ginger, cinnamon, stevia
Lunch: tuna salad with leftover kale salad, kombucha
Dinner: roasted butternut squash, sauteed red chard
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)