And My Guitar Gently Weeps....

So, today is the end of day 3 of low carbing it, plus no coffee....not for the faint of heart!. I ran out of fermented veggies which really help to curb sugar cravings and at about 9pm it was seriously touch and go. I had strong sugar cravings passing out all that Halloween candy, and I felt a binge coming on.  I've done this before, tried to go on the straight and narrow path to regaining my health and usually it by day 3 that you want to cut loose and say, screw it, this is too hard..I want to run free, and live!!!  Problem is that because of my compromised health nothing else really works well, your body, your thinking etc....so you have to take the tough road for a bit knowing it's for your higher good...but oh man would those little bags of chips and kit kat bars rock my world, about a thousand of them..their bite size, how bad could it be?   So, I tried to distract myself and I picked up my guitar and played and I got so lost in it that I forgot about the many bags of chips and candy I had left over and more importantly the storm passed, I rode it out by absorbing my mind into music.  I think I'll remember that for next time as well as a couple of other ideas, a good book, a walk call a friend.  There are ways, safety plans so you dont knosh on friken 10 pounds of candy...I prefer the beatles..although...eating candy and listening to the beatles is pretty awesome way to kill some time....nah! just kidding.

Coffee....Sorry We had to break up...It's not you..it's me

When people post pictures like this one on facebook when I'm trying to quit coffee...I seriously want to stick a fork in my eye!!!

 Thank god I have the book "Caffeine Blue" for support, it tells me why Coffee and I did not infact have the perfect relationship I thought we had. Why I think I'm so in love when really it's an addiction, I'm addicted to the way it makes me feel...but really I can do better. It's holding me back. I have started dating green tea and yes, gt is not as exciting as coffee was, but coffee's a bad boy and Im so done with bad boys...:)

Symptoms of H-Pylori...and my bloated stomach

Wow, last night after dinner which was scrambled eggs with onions, garlic,kale and broccolli along
with 1/2 of a cup of fermented veggies, pretty friken good I thought right? well, i got terrible stomach cramping, I took two digestive enzymes with my meal and Vit-C , my theory was that the bacteria was freaking out as it's had no sugar or anything to feed it for two days and apparantly fermented cabbage kills H-pylori but maybe I'm wrong. Now that I know I have the stomach/digestive infection called H-pylori I view my bloating in a totally different way. I thought for a long time it was my Endometriosis or Candida, and it very well may be partially due, but it's clear to me that my digestive track is very stressed out.  It's super hard to get any information on H-pylori it seems. Me personally I think I got it from my trip to Cuba two years ago, where i got food poisoining on the first day, in retrospect I wish i had known then what i know now as I would have made sure i had lots of probiotics with me and digestive enzymes.
Here is some of the low down on how H-pylori gets to hang around:

• H. pylori reduce the acidity of the stomach in order to survive.
• When stomach acid is too low, this invites H. pylori infection.
• As the body ages or after an extended time of eating a vegan or vegetarian diet, the body produces less stomach acid, or hydrochloric acid (HCL).
• Antacid medication (PPIs) can also reduce the secretion of stomach acid.

Here's a really good article on H-pylori and alternative treatment
http://www.advancedhealing.com/blog/2009/09/13/heartburn-gastritis-gerd-achlorhydria-h-pylori-treatment/

"Reduced stomach acid means that carbohydrates are less likely to break down and more likely to feed bacteria, causing overgrowth in the small intestine (SIBO). In addition, the pathogenic bacterium called H. pylori favors a low-acid environment and produces its own chemicals in order to reduce stomach acid.
The main three main "drugs" that finally eradicated the H Pylori for me were Monolaurin (derived from coconut milk), Manuka Honey (activated and only from New Zealand), and Mastic Gum (derived from the Greek Mastic tree). I did add in several other healing agents consistently like L Glutamine (a powder I put on my oatmeal, which helps heal gut tissue, thanks to the bacterial damage this potent bug can do), Aloe Juice (from the aloe plant), among other items I don't feel like typing in here. If you're interested in my saga with H Pylori that almost caused me to have a defibrillator in my chest (extreme, yes, but they decided the now-gone heart issues were not related to the infection) or if you want to read about this "crazy" alternatives that have restored my life and caused me to test negative for H Pylori"

So to list those items :

Manuka Honey (from New Zealand)
Mastic Gum
Monolaurin(derived from coconut milk)
L-Glutamine ( to heal the gut)
Aloe Juice

.Anytime someone mentions using honey i cant help but think but that's sugar!! Am I not feeding the bacteria in my body?I know it has some antibactrial properties but it's still sugar. It's a little confusing when you get contradictory information around that...some people say berries are ok, some say no fruit, the best best book I've read on Candida and Parasites are "The Body Ecology Diet" by Donna Gates and "Guess Who's coming to dinner" By Anne Louise Gittleman, she also wrote a book called "The gut flush plan" which I plan to read soon. . BTW..  I measured the largest part of my bloated tummy and it was 39 inches....H.P , you got alot of esplainin to do.

Paleo Diet ~Low Carb Eating ..For Oh So Many Reasons

Low Carb Eating...who knew it would change my life. Seriously, I was a roller coaster mess before that. My insulin swinging to and fro. Trust me when I say I went begrudgingly. I was at one point in my life a serious Vegan, but after two years of that I was driving around in L.A. during the day with my headlights on and very spaced out.  I decided to put an end to that when a friend begged me to have some protein. I drove over to Whole Foods Market and Bought some organic Fillet Mignion and it felt like everything started to return to me,my body started to tingle, my focus and my brain was back..I missed it..for real. I still didnt want it to be true though and i decided to try different combos, always hoping to return to my veganism.

To be honest to this day, at this very moment,  I still in my heart of hearts wish i could be a vegan but i just cant do it. Maybe when i've healed my gut issues and my pre-diabetic blood levels and the fact that I'm an O-blood type and the fact that it balances your hormones and gives my brain a serious boost....basically once i've healed ...we'll see. Hope run's eternal:)  The reason i mention it is that I am on day two of basically a paleo diet, and it's undeniable the difference it makes on my mind and even more remarkable the difference it makes on my emotional eating.  I have had cravings come up but the green tea I'm drinking and the cultured sauerkraut pull me through as well. No desire to bust into the 7-11 and buy a large bag of sour cream and onion chips and a whole lotta chocolate etc...emotional food binges make me feel like I'm the biggest bottomless pit on the planet. I just hate myself afterward not to mention that I've fed all those little parasites and candida organisims...it's like a chinese buffet time for them.

 I also tried the Dukan diet recently and I found it super helpful with the Candida, after about 3 days on that i was bursting with some serious energy. The only problem with it is, it cant help but feel a little boring after a few days, that's why I think Paleo in the long run makes sense and i found a great website with killer recipes called Paleodietlifestyle.com, their free too. Bonus!  Ok, well, I know supposedly an alkaline diet is suppose to be really good for some people as well, but i think for the next 3 months I'm going to go very low carb. I"ll let you know how it goes.

Vitamin C to Kill H-Pylori

I recently found out that in treating my UTI infection that taking high doses of just Absorbic Acid over a period of time helped to kill the infection before it got really bad.  I have since used this Vit-C (absorbic acid) therapy every time I feel a possible UTI infection coming on.  A few days ago my doctor told me that I tested positive for H-pylori. I went on a mad search for information but there wasnt much to be honest. There was one study that said that again, high doses of absorbic acid could kill the H-Pylori, and if you took 5,000 mg a day it would eradicate it.  There is also something i found called  Brassica Tea which I'm going to order @ brassicatea.com. I have no idea if it works or not. I'll keep you posted.  The vit-c (absorbic acid) treatment also relased a ton of Candida form my body, It was just unbelievable how much of it came out.  So, I'm all for it, I've yet to see if it helps with the H-pylori though.

My Story

About Me And My Journey

After reading a great blog on Candida tonight I decided that this will also be the topic of my blog from here on in. Candida/Parasites ADHD, Endometriosis, Emotional Eating and all the things that go along with it. I'd like to share all the things I'm trying to regain balance for my body, mind and spirit and I'd love to hear how your doing too.

To start, I personally believe that I have had Candida/Parasites since childhood, i suffered from kidney bladder /reflux , they were two life saving operations and as a result i was on many antibiotics. The next problem to surge was with my hormonal shifts and the onset of my first period. I had debilitating Endometriosis from the age of 12, I would double over every month, unable to attend school during those days and the pain was indescribable,my parents didnt know what to do, they took me to a couple of different doctors, one of them wanted to put me on the pill at 12, and the other suggested vitamin therapy, which in retrospect was very wise, my parents chose the vitamin therapy of course, the trouble was I had ADHD and trying to remember to take them three weeks out of the month just wasnt going to happen. Which leads me to my next and probably most debilitating issue ADHD, I didnt even know I had it until two years ago as a full fledged adult and let me tell you it hurts to find out so late. I wasted alot of time as a result and really was hard on myself. I couldnt figure out why i was different. Why I couldnt finish anything i started if it involved boring detailed work at any point, that's when i would flounder and it wouldnt get finished. I have recently tried Adderall for this issue and hated it so I stopped, it became clear to me that working on some issues with my gut improved my focus and energy dramatically. This was the first clue of the correlation between gut health and other health problems.

Another reoccuring issure was UTI's and then about 5 years ago, after a course of antibiotics I started limping when I walked , I would walk for a block at most and then my right leg was in pain and it felt like it was apart at the knee joint, this was odd to me as i was not exactly an athelete. I went to the Dr, she ordered xrays, called me back into the office shut the door and said "I'm sorry but you have osteo-arthritis in your knee, your young to get it, your going to end up in a wheelchair in a couple of years, I'm here for you if you need to talk"...now never mind how scary and inappropriate that was...I was terrified, I immediately started to trace when did my health exactly begin to decline and it was around the time i did two rounds of antibiotics that i noticed strange things began to happen, In once instance i was in the car with my sisters and they had come from a shower and brought me some strawberry short cake, i had one bite and had a severe allergic reaction we rushed to get some antihistamines, and then of course my knee.. I researched online and found a naturopathic dr that specialized in allergies and he sat me down and told me that I would not end up in a wheelchair, that i infact had something called systemic Candida and I must follow his protocol to the letter. I did and i was walking fine in no time and I was losing weight, something i seemed unable to do suddenly. But In no time at all i was back to my bad habits it was extrememly difficult for me not to have a glass of wine with friends or really miss out on it,the social aspect of it was hard more then anything, and most people think your insane when you talk about this stuff. They dont understand how bread can be bad for you or a glass of wine....and if you said it twice I couldnt believe it either and would join right in.

So fast forward to present day....I decided enough was enough and to go for it, to put myself first, to make my health a priority even if it involved some social challenges, I went to the Dr got a bunch of blood tests done and lo and behold I am told I have something called H-pylori...this now was new!!! jeez it was a bit too much for me, I felt defeated before i even really began. I went home and proceeded to eat and drink whatever i wanted like a rebellious child for 5 days until today . So here my journey really begins, For my first day I admit to myself that I have candida and parasites, which generally go hand in hand, that seriously sucks but not liking it doesnt do anything for me but keep me sick, it requries actions, support, and faith, so starting today i have been sugar free(that includes all fruit except blueberries) eating protein and vegtables only with a half cup of raw fermented sauerkraut with each meal and taking high dose of vit c, as that apparently kills H-pylori. No coffee(switched to green tea to avoid headaches and then will wean myself off of that eventually too) and almost instantly I felt better, clearer, and stronger. I decided to blog about my healing journey. So, so far that's me in a nutshell:)