Update: I got the test results back AND found some surprising things in prior test results that my doctor didn’t catch or didn’t tell me about, things I didn’t discuss in this post because they kinda came out of left field. A twist I wasn’t prepared for. As it turns out, I tested as having high oxalates in 2008 and I didn’t know until I requested copies of old blood work. Click here to read the update.
My current list of health challenges shows auto-immune, hormonal problems and systemic inflammation. I suspect my detox pathways are overburdened. I’m currently dealing with thin hair, vertigo, brain fog, a lack of growth hormones, thin skin, vision problems, a red ring around the back of my throat and what I suspect are thyroid symptoms, among other things. In the past, I was diagnosed as having PCOS and being pre-diabetic. I’ve dealt with mercury poisoning and celiac disease.
In 2007-2008 when I turned myself around after celiac disease almost killed me, I healed my gut to the point that I no longer had digestive symptoms. I even healed my cavities. But I didn’t heal my metabolism.
That work begins now.
Just going paleo has given me energy back, going grain-free has stopped the thyroid pain and constant tenderness and appears to have relieved the swelling I had in my thyroid. I need less sleep, I have more energy, my head is clearer. But it hasn’t resolved all of my health issues. That laundry list above is still very bothersome. Yet I push myself to continue, to go and to do, despite it. For my long-term health, it must be under control and these problems must resolve.
Why I Am Metabolically Broken
You can read my story to get the background. When I wrote that post, most everything had resolved and I was doing well. I did do well for a time, my body leveled out and I was able to resume normal life. I was a normal weight, I had chelated enough to beat back the heavy metal symptoms. Then abnormal hit again- I had an unexpected pregnancy which resulted in a miscarriage. That kicked off a flood of hormonal problems which just spiraled. I believe I had metabolic problems during that time period, but they were minor and easily controlled- I was able to overcome them. I tend to push myself despite my limitations and that can be a downfall.
Basically, I believe I was born metabolically broken and some of the events in my life only made the problem worse. Conceived and raised on a brownfield, premature birth, fed soy formula, very early menarche, high carb diet, constant rounds of antibiotics, mercury exposure, birth control pills instead of working to resolve PCOS symptoms, a family history of auto-immune diseases. The list goes on.
In 2006-7, when I was so ill, so sick, I only consumed 800-1,000 calories a day. Why? It was all I could get down and keep down. I had 24/7 nausea and vomited and had diarrhea many times a day for over a year. I suffered from chronic dehydration. It totally messed up my metabolism and my endocrine system even further than they already were. My hair started thinning. Cuts and scraps wouldn’t heal. At one point, I accidentally fell down the last few steps of our steep staircase and skinned my knee on the way down. It took months to heal. I still had an ugly, dark purple scar there a year later.
I had a one year old and a three year old. My priority wasn’t feeding myself, it was getting them fed and keeping them alive while minimizing how much I had to suffer through puking. Yet my poop was normal beginning in 2007 and through that time period I had no digestive symptoms. My reaction to gluten gradually disappeared. Even though I eat a normal amount of food now and take in plenty of calories, and have for about 4 years, my metabolism is still messed up. But I still don’t have any digestive symptoms.
I’m learning through this process that healing your gut isn’t enough. Great digestion doesn’t always translate to great health. You can also have other problems that aren’t controlled solely by nutrient intake. Eating a real food diet alone won’t heal everything. You can be born with metabolism problems or you can develop them. You can have a gene activate and cause issues. Your detox pathways can be functioning sub-optimally. You can have exposures to things in your environment beyond your control that cause negative effects. What goes into your mouth isn’t the end-all and be-all of health.
Where Do I Go From Here?
Up until now, I’ve been rather vague about what’s been going on with my health, as I wanted to get the test results back before saying any more publicly in case we were wrong. We expect the blood work to be back next week. But you know, even if the test results show that I don’t have what we suspect, I do have celiac disease, which is auto-immune. So while we wait for test results, I’m going to go ahead and do what I believe my body needs- another round of elimination and challenge to see if I’m reacting to anything else.
I’m going on the paleo auto-immune protocol (PAIP). I really hate that I have to resort to an elimination diet again, but so be it. I will focus on making sure I’m taking in enough calories, and I will also eliminate all sweeteners for a time period to see if they’re a problem for me. I will work on tight blood sugar regulation.
In the last two weeks, I’ve read articles from Stacy at Paleo Parents, Jimmy Moore and had long conversations with my nutritional counselor, Lydia of Divine Health and talked to some other real food bloggers and paleo folks who are struggling with various auto-immune issues and also looking for answers. I believe this is the right path for me.
I Am Not Alone and Neither Are You
I know I’m not alone in this boat. I have multiple blogging friends and multiple readers who are struggling through auto-immune disease. I know I am not alone. I’m being so public and putting myself out there because I know you need the support and the community just as much as I do. So I’m going to begin by blogging my meals every week so you can gain inspiration. I hope you will consider leaving your meals every week in the comments here or Facebook and we’ll provide support and encouragement to each other.
Every day on Facebook, I will post what I ate for that meal, and try my best to include a picture. Click here to join us on Facebook. I’ll do a weekly recap here with as many pics as I can do.
If you are facing this, I want you to know that there is support out there. There are Facebook groups and other bloggers finding their way, too. In the coming weeks, I will be linking to them, their stories, their meals, their posts. I will leave a trail as I find my way as these folks have been so helpful to leave a trail for me.
The Paleo Auto-Imme Protocol
First up will be the food, of course. I will first go completely paleo, then I’ll slowly eliminate foods as I work my way down into the auto-immune protocol (AIP). I will hold the protocol as long as I need to, then I will begin re-introducing foods.
As I understand it, the PAIP is the paleo diet that goes into an elimination diet that removes all pro-inflammatory foods and foods that commonly show allergenic/intolerance potential while encouraging anti-inflammatory foods. You wait until your body is re-set, then you re-introduce those foods one at a time to look for reactions. If you react to something, you stay off of it until you no longer react.
At this point, I plan to eventually eliminate:
Grains
Sweeteners of all types, including natural sweeteners such as honey, dates, etc…
Nuts
Fruits
Seeds (including spices, coffee and chocolate)
Eggs
Soy
Yeast
Nightshades (including pepper-based spices)
Dairy
Beans and Legumes, including peanuts and guar gum
Alcohol (I don’t drink, but this might mean I can’t use things like extracts)
I will also continue to avoid avocado and kiwi (and latex) due to my anaphylaxis reaction to them. What does that leave? Meat, fish, poultry, some non-starchy veggies, coconut oil, bone broth, organ meats. Once I’m back to baseline, we’ll challenge foods, one at a time.
It’s important that it is understood that this is only a temporary diet to help me find and remove intolerances. It wouldn’t be healthy to permanently remove all of these foods from your diet. It’s an elimination diet to give my body a chance to re-set and then we add things back in, one at a time, to find out what causes inflammation, aggravates the auto-immune problems or the like. If it’s a problem, it goes back out and we re-visit it again later. If it doesn’t pose a problem, it stays in.
Planning the Journey
I will slowly drop one category at a time. In addition, I wish to go to 70-100 grams of carbs a day again. I also want to do a time where I am off of all sweeteners for a while, to see if it makes any difference in belly bloat as it did for Stacy at Paleo Parents. So I’m not going cold-turkey all at once. I’m working into it slowly.
I am currently gluten-free, grain-free, bean-free and mostly fruit free. I don’t drink coffee. Next week I will eliminate peanut butter so I am legume free and soy will go, too. Currently, I’m only having organic tamari once every week or two.
I will consume bone broth daily and do what I can to increase my organ meat consumption.
I will also need to return to exercise. I do T-Tapp. I will log off of my computer at 9:30 each night and be in bed at 10:00. I will aim for 9 hours of sleep a night, but if I wake up on my own, then I will accept less. I tend to only sleep 8 hours when I’m grain-free.
I will do what I can to reduce stress and my work schedule. That will not be easy considering that one of our new kittens, Jasper is dying and that Chloe, the other new kitty, has likely contracted the infectious peritonitis from him. I expect we will have to put him down very soon. She will live with us as long as she is well, then we’ll have to put her down, too, as apparently there is no cure for they picked up at the shelter before they came home with me after Christmas. The vet said that she will likely die before she is 2.
I'm 
You are not alone. I am with you. (Two small kids, metabolism, hormone, suspected AI, and, for myself, mysterious neuropathy motivating my cure-search.) A lot of us are with you. And you telling your story is a gift to us all. So, thank you so much, and be well.
Thank you, Jessica. I’ll be blogging about this as I go, and I hope it helps a lot of people. Please come back and share your experiences.
Jessica – I am slowly getting rid of my mysterious neuropathy. A gluten-free diet and B12 shots is what it took, but the progress is slow. My doc said that nerves are very slow to heal. Have you looked into B12 deficiency? It can definitely cause neuropathy. In my case gluten ruined my intestines to the point that I wasn’t absorbing any nutrients. I’ve also had pcos, & hashimoto’s although the latter seems to have spontaneously fixed itself.
Laurel
Two things:
1. Have you read Paul Jaminet’s Perfect Health Diet. He recommends 400-600 calories in safe starches. I did 100-200 calories of carb for a year and like Jaminet developed scurvy. Please be aware if doing low carb.
2. My husband and I check out blood sugar and found that if we eat more coconut oil and shoot for 400-600 carb calories, we wake up with fasting blood sugar in the 80s. We also found regular coffee raises it. Bullet Proof coffee doesn’t (if you’re a coffee drinker). too much saturated animal fat keeps it from coming down.
3. Have you tried/considered NAET for food allergies/sensitivities ?
4. Have you considered coffee enemas to release toxins. Dr Larry Wilson Hair Mineral Analyst has had great success with those.
5. Ray Medina creator of Syontix pre and probiotics has a great blog on healing gut. We’re using his products and are happy with them.
Thank you for all your helpful info!
Love Alex
You’ve given me a lot to read up on. I’ll see if my library has that book and I’ll read through it. Thank you!
I really think KerryAnn needs some support for the direction she has decided to go in. Not new ideas to consider. If this doesn’t work out then she will be looking for new ideas but right now she really just needs us to support her. Everyone is different and need different things. What worked so well for you may not work at all for her. There are literally thousands of ideas out there on how to recover your health. At some point you just need to pick one that sounds reasonable and give it a good try.
She is working with a health care professional who is guiding her in these choices and knows her health history far better than you may from this blog post.
I know you mean well but your approach may not be as supportive and helpful as you think it is.
PattyLA recently posted..Tropical Traditions Gold Coconut Oil Give Away!
Yes…but that is the beauty of it…Kerry has an amazing Nutritionist, and ideas and research and recommendations are important. Basically, Kerry can simply ask Lydia what she thinks on these points, one may be something neither have considered but are a key….or they may not be….
First, I believe that this is Kerry’s blog and that she should be the one to decide what does and doesn’t get posted. Secondly, Kerry, if there’s anything in what I posted that undermines your quest for health, please delete it, of course. I only wanted to post something that would keep you from experiencing some very unpleasant consequences I had with low carb. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do low carb….I just think it doesn’t hurt to be aware.
Thanks for sharing this info Alex! I love the idea of Bulletproof coffee. My hubby just started having blood sugar issues again from stress and picking the coffee habit back up with his new job.
We previously had his diabetes almost reversed, but he’s a bit resistant to some of my healing methods and supplements so he can’t combat the recent stress well enough.
Hopefully, we can incorporate this one in until he can get off of coffee again.
Jennifer @ 20 something allergies and counting…down recently posted..How I Stopped Wasting Money on Conventional Shampoo
Sorry two things ended up being five things
Sorry Kerry I see you don’t drink coffee
I hope you read Jaminet’s perfect Health Diet book. It is low inflammation. If you have inflammation, you want to stick with100% grassfed meat – I’d stay away from poultry. You need very balanced sources of fat. We’ve been doing grassfed red meat, coconut oil, and FCLO. We have about a tablespoon of olive oil to balance the omega 3s on the cod liver oil. Cutting out poultry and duck has made a huge difference to our blood sugars.
Also we stop eating at 3:00pm. This gives us a 16 hour fast to do autophagy.
I’m sorry you are dealing with this. As we’ve discussed before, I have a lot of the same stuff going on so I know how frustrating and at times depressing it is. Hopefully your elimination diet will help.
Laura recently posted..Natural Home Challenge at Real Food Real Frugal
I’ll second the recommendation for Paul Jaminet’s Perfect Health Diet. The website at http://perfecthealthdiet.com has been a wealth of information for me, too, beyond that contained in the book. I went grain-free (GAPS-ish) to deal with some of the same issues you’re dealing with (vertigo was a big one, which I discovered in my case seemed to be caused by candida problems) but it was too easy for me to go too low-carb and I ended up actually making what I think were somewhat mild thyroid problems worse. When I added in carbs from safe starches (rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes primarily), I felt a lot better — better, in fact, than I have ever felt in my life… and I’m certainly having the best pregnancy I have ever had! (This is #8). In the process I’ve discovered what foods actually do affect my thyroid — sugar, chocolate, soy, gluten, almonds (actually a goitrogenic food) — and which don’t. I seem to do much better on starches than I do on sugars, like fruit, and avoided gestational diabetes this time around by not limiting my carbs… only primarily using the Perfect Health Diet protocol. I’m still tinkering with my diet, but I’m hopeful.
Good luck to you!
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I’m not sure what to think about it. I recently tried some rice flour on some sweet potato fries and it made me so, so sleepy. White potatoes also seem to make my exhausted. I’ll be experimenting going forward to find out how different foods affect me. I’ll definitely check out the book.
I think it’s all a big experiment, really, to figure out which bits and pieces of what diets fit *you* as an individual. An exhausting experiment in many ways, since it would be nice to just be able to *eat*, you know? But doing the hard work to get to the bottom of things should pay off in the end. Hope you start feeling better soon!
Angela recently posted..The Sheenazing Blog Awards
I know this is older but have to mention that potatoes are high oxalate… it could be that which makes you exhausted! Actually, many types of rice are as well (forgot that as we are so used to not eating rice anymore). Rice flour is higher oxalate as it’s ground finer than grains of rice so you would get more. If that makes sense!
One of our son’s symptoms to high oxalate load is exhaustion… he was taking four hour naps… at age 8. And was still tired.
You are not alone. I have recently decided to go back on the failsafe diet due to my and the kids numerous issues.
Thank you for sharing your story. I had never struggled with my weight until I went through a stressful divorce (he was abusive, and the divorce involved him stalking, harassing, vandalizing, me having a stalking order against him, a domestic assault criminal trial, him trying to take the kids away from me ect…) Two years later I had gained 20 lbs and I remarried and had my 3rd baby. I gained 45 lbs during the pregnancy and only 20 of that budged after he was born. I am now 40 lbs overweight and my baby is 19 months. I my hair and skin are dry and thinner, I am tired, I got acne for the first time in my life, I fell off my bike in September and I STILL have the red mark on my knee. I have felt so hopeless in trying to find that answers to reversing this.
Oh, and I should add that I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 18 and it had been well managed with a natural version of thyroid medication. However, right before I got pregnant with number three, the naturopath that I had been seeing, decided that I didn’t need it. That 3rd pregnancy was the hardest on me. I think I really did need it. I have been back on it for 8 months and I haven’t seen a huge improvement. 🙁
Thank you for being so open about your plans. I anticipate it will be of help to many. I, too, am paleo but am considering doing the AIP. It just sounds so hard! Of course, that’s what I thought before GAPS/Paleo. Your posts will be an inspiration! I hope it turns out to be a fruitful exercise for you.
Thank you for being so brave and sharing this with your readers. You have really opened my eyes to something I had not even known existed (Paleo AIP). I’ve spent all day reading through the information on various websites and man is there a lot! I was going through The Paleo Mom’s site and she even talked about how some react to fructose or coconut and why. Very interesting stuff but I’m sure you’ve seen it. What is most interesting to me is years ago when I was first diagnosed with pre-diabetes at the ripe old age of 30, I did South Beach. Yes, gross, and not real food based (I found WAPF later). BUT, I was adamant about following the rules. We never ate out at restaurants. I kept the carbs extremely low with NO grains, NO fruit, NO alcohol, and NO sweeteners. There were no GAPS desserts or anything like that. I simply ate meats and veggies and a little dairy. Now, when I started South Beach I was an incredibly picky eater so I didn’t eat a lot of the highly inflammatory, non-Paleo AIP foods just because I didn’t like them (Nightshades, milk, eggs). When I compare how I was eating to the Paleo AIP diet it was very, very similar. And that year was the best of my life. ALL of my health problems disappeared (eczema, weird left side pain, diabetes). After a year, I slowly reintroduced some foods and did okay but 2 years later I found WAPF and went full blown well it’s a whole food, so it must be good for me attitude (sourdough galore, eggs, potatoes, fruits, milk). Slowly my health has deteriorated where I am now facing the same problems and new ones to boot, like thyroid and hormonal issues). I have been so frustrated because I feel like I do everything right. I eat so well! I currently, after lots of testing, am gluten, dairy, and egg free and recently cut nightshades. I get better each time one of these things is removed. But, I still eat a lot of the no foods, especially seeds and nuts. After reading your post today, I realize I MUST try this Paleo AIP (I’m almost there anyway, right?). I think you are SO brave to admit openly that just adhering to whole, real foods may not be enough for some people. I very much appreciate all that you have shared and look forward to witnessing your journey. I will be following and praying for a good outcome for you. Please keep leaving that trail for others; you are greatly appreciated.
One question: Do you plan to continue your ferments? I’ve read some mixed information about that as some people can react to the yeasts in ferments and actually see improvement by removing them. I’m getting ready to add them because I thought I couldn’t wrong with some good ferments.
And lastly, I am very sad to hear about the loss of your baby kitty. We lost a beloved cat last year and it was very difficult. I will be praying for peace in your heart and home. Hugs to you. Be well, KerryAnn.
Thank you, Katie. I do plan to continue my ferments. When something is truly anaerobically fermented, the yeasts that are present are beneficial to candida and other conditions. When you ferment where the ferment can get small amounts of oxygen or more, the yeasts that develop are detrimental. So I will continue them.
You might want to look into iodine for hypothyroid.
Pamsc recently posted..Anesthesia
Yes, depending on my test results, we will definitely be going that route if it is warranted.
Thank you for again opening up about your health issues. Right there with you. STILL undergoing lab after lab to try and figure out what is (specifically) wrong. I’m terrified that I will never return to normal, and I have two little boys to raise. And I can’t take care of them right now. I am glad we can all be in this together, if we have to be in it at all.
Hugs, Lori. I know how hard it is. I spent the first year after being diagnosed as celiac on a mattress on my living room floor with a 1.5 and a 3.5 year old to care for. At my worst, I couldn’t crawl 20 feet without panting. I had to learn to creatively minimize work, block off large areas of the house so the kids couldn’t access it and other similar ways to deal with the problems.
I am in the same boat and started pale AIP last year. What tests did you do to test for metabolic issues? Have you thought of doing a post on how to do an elimination challenge to test for intolerances? (Or have you already done one?)
Jane, we believe I might have Hashimotos thyroiditis. We should have the results back soon. For metabolic, we’re looking at things like past history, blood sugar, CBC and the like.
I’ll be posting about elimination challenges as I go through them. I’ve done them in the past, in 2007-8, but I’m sure there’s more info out about it now, so I’m going to research it again before proceeding. I’ll blog it all as we go through it.
Hi KerryAnn,
In my experience, only 50% of people with the genetic marker for celiac disease, get better on the gluten-free diet. For the other 50% of people they need a full paleo diet. Some can tolerate raw dairy others are better to avoid it and do a challenge after their symptoms disappear. It sounds like your also in the no dairy population. If you are pre-diabetic, please take the program low carbohydrate, moderate protein and very high fat!
I must admit, I was worried for you with all those gluten-free additives you use in your recipes that would make me really sick! Those food additives are a real killer for me. But we are all different.
What made me write you is the phase “metabolically broken”. That kind of thinking and labeling will not promote health. If you were truly metabolically broken — well, you would be dead. Your body is an amazing system and it can adjust to many environments.
I used to think something was wrong with me because my morning body temperatures a low. I spent so much energy and time researching and experimenting on ways to increase my temperature without any success. I decided to just relax into this new me and not try to think my way out of my body’s wisdom. After all that time, I realized my body knows best. My job is to listen to symptoms that others call diseases.
Here is a lecture from Dr Rosedale about the paleo diet and eating high fat. Listen to the questions at the end and his views on mTOR:
https://vimeo.com/54542119
https://vimeo.com/52876035
You’re not broken. You have just been taught a load of nonsense but our society that would rather you be a consumer of their health products rather than healthy.
Thank you, Caroline. I healed my digestion before the GAPS diet came out and I’ve been doing real foods for over a decade now. I recognize that not everyone can digest or tolerate every food, I just publish the recipes that work for my own family. I opted out from commercial messages about a decade ago and have been listening to my own body since then. I chose the phrase ‘metabolically broken’ in recognition of the other bloggers who are using it to describe needing something other than the usual recommendations for paleo.
“We are not our genes. We are the music that our genes play… All disease is miscommunication…” says Dr Rosedale. What do you think about Dr Rosedale’s views on leptin, insulin, and mTOR?
Caroline Cooper recently posted..Aveley Heritage Sheep Ranch: My Family’s Story
Encouragement! If my 10 yr old daughter can do it…you can too! No grain doesn’t mean low carb but you know that 😉 I have been eating along side her for support, her health is improving after some pop ups of symptoms due to detoxing.
We do lots of grass fed burgers with coconut oil fried zucchini and sweet potatoes. Cauli-rice with mexican shredded chicken and avocados. Chicken wings baked in coconut oil and seasoning with baked green bean fries. Low sugar fruits like berries with coconut cream on top helps her feels like she isn’t missing out on dessert. You can do it!
Bunless burgers have been my go-to since I started working my way back down. Funny enough, I was looking at ordering some lamb today, just so I’d have something to make burgers with other than beef and bison!!
Thanks for posting this KerryAnn! I am waiting for some test results myself. I highly suspect adrenal insufficiency and a thyroid problem that developed in relation to that. I completely agree that you can be born with issues. Mothers with adrenal insufficiency draw upon their unborn baby’s endocrine issues during the third trimester when the baby’s adrenal glands are better developed. That can leave the baby with low adrenal function after birth. I’m still trying to figure out how to help my kids with this. My health history indicates adrenal issues going back a long way, so all my kids were affected. My personal opinion is that a lot of auto-immune issues are related to adrenal problems (it helps keep the immune system from over-reacting) and liver congestion. I’m interested to see you it goes for you!
Linda, I’ve read about that before, too, and I have wondered about my own children. I’ve read accounts of women whose fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue disappeared when they had their thyroid hormones balanced appropriately. I’m also tending to think that auto-immune and adrenal issues are related to each other and to liver congestion. I got my test results back (I’ll be posting about those soon) and I also suspect my liver is involved.
Dear Kerry I have been following Dr Jack Kruse blog for 18 mths now he has cuered me of all of my problems now off all blood pressure tabs
Off antacids
off cholesterol tabs
off thyroid tabs x 2
Off sleeping tabs
All aches and pains attributed to aging are gone,brain fog gone I have lost 55kgs the lowest I have been in my adult life and never felt so fit and alive in my life. He has made such a difference to my life I find it unbelievable that other Drs do not understand these things like he does and I never even paid for all this help I do not know if you know of him or not just saying his information is invaluable.
Thank you, Graciella. I haven’t heard of him before. I’ll look him up.
If you go to Dr Kruse’s website, put aside two weeks for reading. For such a smart guy I wish he was less convoluted with his arguments. His marketing team has put together a summary of his thoughts:
http://www.jackkruse.com/getting-started-guide/
I have been following Dr Kruse since about March 2012. He’s got some interesting ideas but I don’t think he will be winning the Nobel Prize anytime soon. He seems to polarize people; they love him or despise him. Dr Rosedale and Dr Kruse have many of the same opinions but they differ on mTOR. This is a major point and I think I have finally fallen in with Dr Rosedale. (I could be wrong though.) Dr Kruse also uses cold thremogenesis which I have been experimenting with since March 2012. For me it hasn’t been the advertised cure-all.
I think most people are benefiting from the change in diet — seafood based paleo diet — that Dr Kruse suggests. Since I have been on a modified paleo diet for about six years, CT has had some effect, but it’s a minor chord. I would say light and balancing our circadian cycle is more important and a major chord. If you want to play the music of long life and health, shut-off the artificial lights, go to bed early, and sleep with the window open!
Caroline Cooper recently posted..Aveley Heritage Sheep Ranch: My Family’s Story
I have two friends who are very well versed in what I am going through who used the Leptic Reset. When I asked them about Dr. Kruse, they immediately recommended him. I began yesterday with the huge breakfast immediately upon rising. I have a book due this weekend, then I’m going to begin reading his site.
I did get Flux on my computer a while back and I’ve slept in a sleep mask for years. We keep the lights low beginning at sunset. The black-out shades aren’t enough for me to be able to sleep. I’m working on moving my bedtime earlier, but that’s going to take a bit of schedule shifting and retraining on my part.
I am so glad you have support. Health problems can be so trying. If you going with Dr Kruse’s approach, it can be a bit overwhelming for the newcomer.
1. In my opinion getting your diet right is number one. Dr Kruse is into what he calls the epi-paleo diet and the EPCOTx Rx. (Do think critically about the mTOR issue.)
http://www.jackkruse.com/paleo-diet-easy-start-guide/
http://www.jackkruse.com/the-epcotx-rx/
2. Beware the lights at night! As a family we started turning all the breakers off in the house, except the fridges and freezers, at night and only using our LED red lights. I have been sleeping much better and deeper. Many nights I’m in bed at 8pm and up at 5am. Our electrical bills have been reduced by 1/3.
http://www.jackkruse.com/rewiring-the-leptin-rx-reset/
3. I did the cold bath cold thermogenesis thing but its not something I really got into. I liked cold lake swimming in summer though. I did give CT a good 60 day trial. What I could integrate into my life was sleeping with the windows open at night even in very cold weather. As a family we reduced the house temperature to 60F at night and 65F during the day. I am more cold tolerate now. Here are some ideas about “spot heating” and reducing heating bills.
http://www.richsoil.com/electric-heat.jsp
I don’t think the CT open any “ancient pathway” in my brain but I have reduced my heating costs! Being frugal I like that!
Caroline Cooper recently posted..Aveley Heritage Sheep Ranch: My Family’s Story
We keep the house at 67 during the day and 55 at night. We heat by wood and use the central heating and air as a back-up for when it gets too cold for the woodstove to do it alone. It has made a big difference in my ability to tolerate cold, and I’m much more comfortable this winter than I was last winter when we used the central heating and air all winter and kept it warmer.
I sleep with a sleep mask and we have black-out shades on the bedroom windows. I also have low-lighting at night and I have flux on my computer to dim it at sunset. I find that I am tired by bedtime, I’m sleeping well and I don’t wake up in the middle of the night unless there’s a disturbance, like the phone ringing or a sick kid. I consider myself fortunate right now, as I have going through insomnia in the past and it was awful.
I haven’t yet had a chance to go through Dr. Kruse’s website. I’m doing the high protein breakfast immediately upon waking for now, and will dive into his material once I’m on my feet with the low-oxalate diet and the paleo auto-immune protocol. Getting those two straight and plotting out a path is proving to be quite a bear.
One more thing. I can’t tell you the wonderful conversations I have with my children when the power goes out. We sit in the dark and talk and laugh and have a great time together. My husband and I have never been closer.
My youngest used to be scared of the dark. The first week after we shut-off the breakers she flipped-out. But very quickly she got used to having a power failure every night. She always knows where her headlight is and if an emergency really happened, she is ready.
Also, the girls can see in the dark better now. I used to live in a small town and my night vision has always been better than my husband’s raised in a large city. I’ve always wondered why. I now know that night vision is a learned skill. Children need to learn they can only see at night from the corner of their vision. (rod cells) This can be scary at first because things can appear at the side of one’s field of vision then disappear if one looks directly at the object. (cone cells) Anyway the girls and my husband can move effectively in the dark after almost a year of seeing-in-the-dark training.
Caroline Cooper recently posted..Aveley Heritage Sheep Ranch: My Family’s Story
KerryAnn, I’m very moved by your story and I will be following your progress with great interest.
I’ve been sort-of Paleo for awhile now, but tried raw milk again when I had a chance to join a herdshare recently (A2 Jersey cows!), but alas, the milk, although delicious, makes my face break out in blotches, and the numbness in my hands is getting worse (not just at night now), so I’ve cancelled the herdshare and am gearing up to go full Paleo to try to fix these.
You have a much tougher road but you strike me as a really tough cookie! I’m wishing you the best. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Jeanmarie! Now that things have been complicated with low-oxalate, I’m still trying to decide if I will attempt to go off of dairy or not. I’m still trying to get on my feet and figure out what to do.
I did some poking around on a celiac site last night and it said that numbness and tingling in hands could be a sign of celiac, gah! I have been mostly grain-free for several months now, with a couple of slips (“tests”), including this week, and it’s been noticeably worse this week, so I have cancelled my herdshare and taken a renewed vow of grain-free. Maybe not even white rice for awhile. Maybe I’ll even skip beans for a month, give it a real paleo 30-day challenge. Cutting out grains immediately reduces bloat and belly fat, and some of the red welts that I get on my face. I think just cutting out all of the above may help.
I really respect how you’ve made a business of healthful cooking even with so many challenges of your own requiring various food restrictions. I am a wimp when it comes to really sticking with black/white dietary changes. I usually do better easing my way into dietary changes, but then I don’t necessarily get clear-cut results. You have inspired me!
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Thank you, Jeanmarie! My Dad has neuropathy, and I’ve long suspected it is from undiagnosed celiac disease. I have found that I really do well on a strict paleo diet. Feeling better is what pushes me to keep going.
Hi, can I say how encouraging to me it was to read your story! Mine is very similar so I ‘get it’. The angst, the pain, the crying out to God for wisdom. The desire to honour God with this pathway and live to love our husbands and raise our children. God bless you. Here is my story if you are interested.
http://heleadsmesharon.blogspot.com.au
If you have Hashimotos thyroiditis or another thyroid condition, have you read The Hormone Cure by Dr Sara Gottfried? She has what she calls the Gottfried Protocol. She starts with a questionnaire to help one focus on appropriate lifestyle changes. Then starts herbals and only takes the finally step of bio-identical hormone treatments or glandulars for the very sick. I’m reading the book right now and it looks pretty good. She’s got lots of suggestions that I have worked hard over many years to find through different sources. The protocol is a step by step approach which you can test on yourself. Lots of good stuff for hormone problems. It seems for many, it all starts with cortisone disregulation.
I had Hashimoto’s disease. It is all gone now. For me, it was highly linked to gluten. I now eat strict Paleo, with a handful of berries about once a week. Nothing else sweet. I did a year without anything sweet at all. The Healing Codes helped with the stress of the changes. More info at my site if you are interested.
http://heleadsmesharon.blogspot.com.au
Keep asking Jesus for healing and He will guide you. He did for me.