Diet Changes

Get ready, because this is going to be a long one. I know, I know. I have written about wanting to lead a healthier lifestyle before. Remember this post about making homemade granola cereal? I've done it like 4 times total. Yeah, I totally didn't stick with it.

And I started getting sick again.

Long story short, I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism when I was pregnant with Baby J. We accidentally found it, but we think I might have had it for as much as 10 years. MD treatment suggested I stop nursing Baby J and begin treatment, to be followed with radiation therapy to remove my thyroid. The more my husband and I discussed it, the more we agreed it would not be wise to do something so drastic at age 27, but to seek alternative treatment for now and come back to the MD if it didn't work.

Here were the symptoms I was dealing with:
-FAST heart rate (up to 140 bpm resting)
-Incredibly fast metabolism but retaining weight
-Shakiness and dizziness when I needed to eat
-Lack of focus, eyes twitching sometimes
-Urine samples show glucose dumping, but diabetes tests came back normal
-Chronic girly-infections (I know, sorry TMI but it's important) since I was 13, unable to treat with prescriptions
-Energy surges and crashes, needed a nap almost every day but could not sleep at night no matter what I tried

The antithyroid medications would help some of these symptoms, but definitely not all. In fact, most likely make some of them worse, like weight retention and tiredness in the afternoons. They also would do nothing for the glucose levels or chronic infections. Honestly I felt hopeless to ever truly get "better."

Then I met Dr. Lauren Kolowski. She and her husband are a chiropractic/holistic treatment team, and she came to our moms group and talked about her story with Nutritional Reponse Testing. She had suffered from all kinds of problems since early adolescence as well, and went to every MD, chiropractor, naturopath and more she could find, and no one could help her. Finally she went to an NRT specialist and within one week she started feeling better. I identified with her story A LOT and talked with her afterwards. I couldn't afford the appointments quite yet with Christmas around the corner, but my husband and I agreed I could start seeing her after the new year. I began working with her on January 17, and OH, WHAT A DIFFERENCE it has made already.

In the first appointment Dr. Lauren identified a toxicity in processed sugars and grains (of which I was not surprised at all), a deficiency in healthy fats, and a blockage by fungus. The fungus was the most important piece of this puzzle for me; MDs had kept trying to treat a yeast problem instead of a fungus, and that's why the treatments never worked before. She also determined that my bladder was functioning at a 0 on a scale of 1-10, not so good. She sent me home on a pretty strict diet of NO processed sugars or grains. No more bread or pasta, no more sweets, no more of about 90% of what I was eating. She instead suggested breakfast EVERY morning of eggs fried in lots of butter to give myself protein and the healthy fats I needed. Sugars could only come from natural sources like fruit, and even then somewhat in moderation. No more diet soda or other artificial sweeteners either. She also determined what supplements I needed to make this entire process work for MY body. I actually did really good on this, and I only cheated once the night before my next appointment with regular homemade macaroni and cheese (which gave me a MASSIVE headache, by the way). By the next appointment my bladder was functioning on a 4 and I was already feeling much better. (BTW, I had tried to drop sugar before and it made me REALLY sick, this time I was only sick for one day and I'm pretty sure it was with the help of the supplements.) By the 3rd appointment my bladder was at a 9!! Here is my current state:

-Bladder functioning at a nine - meaning my body is doing a good job of REMOVING the glucose that would normally show up in my urine! No more worries about diabetes tests!
-Energy level - normal during the day, actually tired at night!
-Hunger - still get weak when hungry (usually fixed by eating a piece of fruit) but no more shakiness and dizziness
-FOCUS LEVELS are much better, no more eye-twitching! These were most likely caused by the large amounts of artificial sweeteners in my diet, which are actually neurotoxins
-Heart rate - still have episodes of fast heart rate, but they don't last as long as they did
-Depression - still working on that a bit. Energy levels have helped, but my patience with my children is not where I need it to be still
-My milk production has DOUBLED! I have been able to still exclusively nurse Baby J and she still sleeps through the night! She is also getting all of the benefits I am getting, including her really bad yeast/thrush problem has gone away!
-I'm also losing weight! I never thought I would be the kind of person that could lose weight so quickly and safely. I lost 4 pounds in the first week and 3 in the second, even though I am eating just as many calories as I was before because they are healthy calories.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and I'm not completely better yet. And I understand that this is going to be a lifelong change, yes I will still be able to have a cookie every now and then. The key is to get rid of the toxins that are flooding my body and replenish it with the healthy foods it needs to grow. I will be writing more about this as I continue through this new lifestyle, hopefully with even more great results. Thanks for putting up with such a long post today! Blessings!