A New Test

I have been doing the strict diet and drops regimen now for 4 months, and have still been struggling with digestive issues.  I have moderate to severe heartburn and reflux, despite cutting out all the usual triggering foods.  When I cut back on coffee, it occasionally will help it die down, but it still is not gone.  As a result of this, my chiropractor is recommending a gut bacteria test, to rule out (or confirm) a parasite or a bacteria.  I have been putting this off for awhile now, mainly due to cost.  However, I don't want to ignore something that could potentially be negating what progress I have been making, or worse, could potentially cause a more severe issue. 

So once again, more $$ will go into this, but in the end, peace of mind will be worth it.  

I am currently waiting on my chiropractor to call and let me know that the test kit is in.  Once I get that call, I will purchase it and proceed with the test and send it in for the results.

Meanwhile, since I am still struggling with moderate to severe eczema and seborrhea (confirmed at a recent dermatologist appointment) and some acne, as well as the digestive issues, I plan to add a liver supplement.  My chiropractor is thinking my liver is struggling to keep up with some things, and that this may help.  So I will begin that when I go in to purchase the stomach test kit.  

I am trying not to focus so much on these things, as I know that I have improved greatly since 4 years ago, and even since 4 months ago when I began this healing process.  I have good days and bad, though, as anyone does.

The Chicago Half Marathon went really well, and I finished!  I am grateful to give my body some much-needed rest from training lately, but am starting to get the itch to run again.  I'd like to run regularly again to maintain the level of fitness, before I lose it.  I love to run, and plan to continue, without wearing my body out beyond what it can handle.

I will update more later once the stomach test is complete and I have had a chance to try out the liver supplement.

I appreciate anyone's prayers as I plug away at this.  :)

Thanks!!

3 Months In

We are now at the 3-month mark of when I began this Adrenal Fatigue program.  While I am still struggling with several things, I have definitely improved in a lot of areas as well.  This is what I need to focus on.
My list is as follows, which I have pasted in from a previous post, and as you can see, I have crossed out those that are no longer an issue for me:

Extreme fatigue/exhaustion

Occasional dizziness

Mental fog/haze (this comes around occasionally, but is mostly gone)

Incontinence

Bloating, stomach gurgling

Menstrual woes - severe gas pains, short cycles (23-24 days), long periods (7-8 days)

Memory loss

Tonsil stones

Halitosis

Depression

Anxiety (greatly improved, but still an issue at times)

Eczema - right ear, right hip, back of neck/hairline, left forearm, elbows and knees

Reflux/heartburn

Irritability

Occasional shortness of breath

Heart palpitations

Poor circulation

Kidney stones

Low libido (to none)

Dry skin (seemingly improved)

Fingernail ridges

Sugar cravings (occasionally crave, but not nearly as bad)

Acne - forehead, neck under the ears, upper back

Neck going out - needs readjustment every 1-2 months

Severe seasonal allergies

So we have come a long way in the past 3 months, but we are definitely not there yet.  And even that is ok, because according to the doc, it should be a minimum of 6 months to a year (and maybe beyond) before I would be completely healed.

Today, I had my 3-month follow-up with the chiropractor and we discussed some things that are lingering.  Since I still have some issues with reflux and heartburn occasionally, he wants me to supplement a digestive aid that I have on hand and see if that helps.  If I continue to have issues, we will address them another way.  There could still be a chance of a bacteria issue, or it could be that since I have to steer clear of gluten, my diet is heavy on corn, which is difficult to digest for most.  Either way, I'm not giving up, and we will take it a day at a time.

I have ordered my next 3-month supply of all my goodies of vitamins and drops, so I'm ready to continue down this path and keep plugging away.

The first of my three school kids starts back up tomorrow, so life will kick back into full swing again.  (Even though I don't feel like summer slowed down anything!)

My big race, the Chicago Half-Marathon, is in just 19 days.  I am very excited to run this, and have been working hard training for it.  At the same time, I'm looking forward to it being over so I can give my body a little more rest that it needs to recover.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.  Romans 5:3-5

Just A Moment

Remember the story of the eagle who was raised by chickens? From the floor of the barnyard she spots an eagle in the clouds, and her heart stirs. "I can do that!" she whispers. The other chickens laugh, but she knows better. She was born different. Born with a belief.

You were too. Your world extends beyond the barnyard of time. A foreverness woos you. Your heavenly life Everests the pebbles of your earthly life. If grains of sand measured the two, how would they stack up? Heaven would be every grain of sand on every beach on earth, plus more. Earthly life, by contrast, would be one hundredth of one grain of sand. Need a phrase to summarize the length of your life on earth? Try Jenna's: "Just a moment."

Wasn't this the phrase of choice for Paul? "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV).

What if we had a glimpse of the apostle as he wrote those words? By this time he had been "beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times," he writes, "I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep" (2 Corinthians 11:23-25). He goes on to refer to life-threatening river trips, wilderness wanderings, and exposure to cold, attacks, hunger, and thirst. These, in Paul's words, are light afflictions to be endured for just a moment.

What if we took the same attitude toward life? What if we saw our tough times as a grain of sand scarcely worthy of contrast with the forever dunes?

.....The brevity of life grants power to abide, not an excuse to bail. Fleeting days don't justify fleeing problems. Fleeting days strengthen us to endure problems. Will your problems pass? No guarantee they will. Will your pain cease? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But heaven gives this promise: "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV).

The words "weight of glory" conjure up images of the ancient pan scale.  Remember the blindfolded lady of justice? She holds a pan scale--two pans, one on either side of the needle. The weight of a purchase would be determined by placing weights on one side and the purchase on the other.

God does the same with your struggles. On one side he stacks all your burdens. Famines. Firings. Parents who forgot you. Bosses who ignored you. Bad breaks, bad health, bad days. Stack them up, and watch one side of the pan scale plummet.

Now witness God's response. Does he remove them? Eliminate the burdens? No, rather than take them, he offsets them. He places an eternal weight of glory on the other side. Endless joy. Measureless peace. An eternity of him. Watch what happens as he sets eternity on your scale.

Everything changes! The burdens lift. The heavy becomes light when weighed against eternity. If life is "just a moment," can't we endure any challenge for a moment?

We can be sick for just a moment.

We can be lonely for just a moment.

We can be persecuted for just a moment.

We can struggle for just a moment.

Can't we?

Can't we wait for our peace? It's not about us anyway. And it's certainly not about now.

--Max Lucado, It's Not About Me

Light and Momentary Troubles

Muuuuuuuchh better week this past week.  My energy returned, my mood was more level, etc.  It seems I just had a bad week there.  I won't panic next time if that happens again - - especially knowing it's probably temporary.

TMI alert:   I have now had two periods while on this program, and I am seeing HUGE improvements in that area.  This makes me so very happy, as this area has been extremely troublesome and frustrating.  I used to battle SEVERE gas pains and extremely painful bowel movements, periods lasting 8-9 days, and the whole thing would just kind of knock me out for days.  This past cycle only lasted for 4-5 days, and had little to no gas pains and regular, painless bowel movements.  SOOOO much better.  

I am still struggling with pretty bad eczema, so I've resorted to supplementing with my steroid cream just to get some relief.  Elbows, ear, and back of the neck are the worst.  

Interestingly enough, I have had almost no spring allergies this year.  I don't know why, but I'LL TAKE IT.  I am usually extremely miserable during May/June (since as far back as I can remember).  I don't know if it's diet or what, but I'm quite pleased with the break.

Running is going well.  I ran 11 times in the month of June, and feel like I'm improving a lot since last year.  Still making sure I get adequate rest in between, and taking it a day at a time.  This past weekend's long run was 6 miles, and it didn't feel that long at all.  I felt great!  

 

This picture of me and my boys was taken while we went blueberry picking the other night.  

This passage has been my favorite lately, and I wanted to share:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  -2 Corinthians 4:16-18

 

Sticking With It

This past week has been a little worse than previous weeks.  But I've come to expect this type of roller coaster in general, and it has been my life story for the past 4 years.  Just when I think I'm getting better, or getting relief from a specific problem, it comes back or something new forms.  Through this therapy process, I think it would be only normal and expected for the ups and downs to still occur.

Some of my acne trouble spots have returned, and I seemingly have new eczema spots now, which is extremely frustrating.  This could be environment, allergens, or anything else I suppose.  But now my elbows and knees have flared up and I never had problems with them before.  

I still stick with the diet and exercise, drops and vitamins.  On any given day, I am still about 95-99% true to the "legal" diet.  Restaurants are still difficult, because even with Gluten-Free menus, who knows what else is in there that I shouldn't be eating.  But I choose not to fret about that, as that only causes stress, and it's only a little bit of the item once in a great while.

My mileage in my running is starting to increase now, since I'm approaching that point in my training plan where the biggest month of mileage is.  July will be the highest month, and I'm slightly anxious about keeping my nutrition up and not exhausting myself throughout the training.  I am torn about this, because I want to continue training, but I don't want to undo anything I'm working to fix.  Just taking it a day/week at a time here.

The family is full-blown into summer now, and trying to do lots of fun activities and family events without going crazy with it.  We are planning a family vacation in August now, and I am looking forward to that!

I have lost a little bit of weight now because of the diet, but it seems to be leveling out.  I am keeping my eye on this, as I don't want to lose too much.  It is often difficult for me to reach my calorie goal, because most of the foods I eat have little calories.  I'm trying to focus less on the calorie number, and more on the nutrients I'm getting, and keeping that balanced.

Here are my cuties at a playground.  So in love!  

After 6 weeks on the diet:  Still have decent sleep, mood swings were a little more prominent the past week and less leveled, acne and eczema have returned and some in new places, energy is still better than when I started, but not great, stomach still seems better.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 15:5,6

No Gluten = Better Life

This past week has been pretty good, and very similar to the week before.  Energy level has remained relatively decent and I have felt pretty even keel physically and mentally.  I have started back up on my running and am hoping to gradually increase that as time goes on in order to train for my next half-marathon in September.  It seems if I allow adequate rest days, I am tolerating the exercise okay.  

It is quite amazing to me the difference I feel mentally after eliminating gluten, in particular.  This past week, it is quite evident that I feel calmer and more cheerful overall.  This makes perfect sense, when I read the following study on gluten and depression anxiety:

How gluten causes depression anxiety is by producing inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, triggering an autoimmune response to the gluten protein which releases cytokines, which then enter the brain and produce inflammation in the brain, leading to depression anxiety.

Gluten causes gut inflammation in at least 80% of the population and another 30% of the population develops antibodies against gluten proteins in the gut. Furthermore, 99% of the population has the genetic potential to develop antibodies against gluten.  Report.

This gluten autoimmune cytokine response can affect other organs besides the brain, including joints, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, heart, and more.  Which is why gluten is associated with a whole host of conditions including, asthma, arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, and brain related autism, alzheimers and depression anxiety.

Read more at:  Gluten & Depression Anxiety

This past week has also revealed a smoother complexion and less acne in my trouble spots (still there, but less).  As I continue through this process, I am enjoying seeing more improvements in many areas, and looking forward to hopefully many more!

This coming week, we celebrate my beautiful daughter who is turning 4.  While she has a special place in my heart being my only girl, she also is a constant reminder of what my physical sacrifices are for.  She has been worth every bit of my struggles, and I would do it all over again for her. 

After 4 weeks of diet change:  Smoother complexion, decent energy level, improvement in mood and mental fog, calmer overall.

Gimme an E! Gimme an N! Gimme an E!......... R! G! Y!.................ENERGY!

This past week has been relatively "easy" compared to prior weeks.  I seem to have gotten some energy back and I am not as tired all the time.  I really love this and hope it's not a fluke!  My only set-back was that I got strep throat and was down for the count last weekend.  Once that was gone, I was a new person.  
I still crash in the evenings, but it's an easy trade-off since it used to hit me about 4:00 pm.

My kids are now on summer break, and we are ready to tackle various activities!  For the past couple days, I have been going through a ton of kids' clothing to get it ready for a garage sale my friend is having.  To actually have the energy to go through it and want to is an awesome feeling.  I am feeling accomplished!
I have continued on my diet restrictions (about 95%) with an occasional splash of milk in coffee or a small sprinkle of cheese on roasted veggies or salads.  I still feel great as a result of this, even though I don't always enjoy the diet. 

I'm still plugging away at the hormonal therapy drops and vitamins.  It feels like it's been longer than 2 weeks!

After 3 weeks of diet:  Eczema improved at back of neck and ear, no heartburn, less cravings and hunger, energy increased, acne decreased, mental fog improving, sleep is decent.

This is what the Lord says -- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go."  Isaiah 48:17