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My progress
I am so grateful whenever people post their updates, thank you @Liz. Meat and carbs, carbs and meat! yup!
I loved your statement that gout is VA, and gout does seem to be something my family tends toward. I have a toe that wants to be gouty. We do eat onions and garlic. Glycine, eh?
I saw a loved one take estrogen and not be happy about it in the long run, but I can see that you are good with it so we will leave it at that. My hot flashes are more livable here. Half as many, half as bad. I entered meno at the same time I entered lowered VA. about 22 months ago.
Maybe someday you can post your bread recipe! That is so great that you are making it from scratch. Is your flour free of iron? I think that, to me, is a reason to bake at home. However I haven't got a routine going yet.
Coconut cream cheese? !
My gout is gone. Glycine had an immediate effect. Took a heaping spoonfull morning and night and now after a week from the first pain it is all gone. I cannot explain the why though.
As I am on gnrh drug I need estrogen addback not to kill myself 🤷♀️. My menopause is not natural, it is chemical. I have tried without. I will not try without again as long as I am on this drug.
Bread is very simple. I heat water until fingerwarm, maybe 2 cups. Add my soursough and whole or cut grains like barley or oat and a bit of flower of choice to a very watery mix and let sit in room temperature up to 12h. I want to soak the grains and soften them. Then I add more flour og choice and extra water to make a wet but not runny dough. I remove some to a jar for next bake and put in fridge add salt to the rest and spoon into loaf forms. I leave covered in fridge for ca 24hours. Bake in oven in 175 degree Celsius until inner core is between 92-98 degree celsius, depending on the type of flour and wetness. I dont measure anything, i go by feel. I knew nothing when I started, I got a sourdough from my mom and I have just gone by trial and error. Ok this batch did not turn out great, what can I change, sort of thinking. I find long time rising in fridge to be the best for taste, room temp will have a sour taste I find but when I keep it chilled on the second rise it comes out not sour. That is all I have to say. Trial and error. Google is your friend and motivator. Organic flour do not have any additives in my country. I only use organic ingredients.
I want to clarify I did not abandon my diet last year. By relaxed I ment had some milk products on occation and some form of chocolate mainly dark like every day which was not a great idea. I never went back to vegs and fruits and heavy milk or egg consumption. I kept it basic all the time with wholegrains and legumes as a base. I did take sun fiber long before dr G found it beneficial because it has always made my gut very happy, also pre-A. But the added sugar plus chocolate probably kept my detox in the very slow state. Dropping it now has for sure caused a lot of detox issues. I felt great last year. Loads of energy and great mood. So far this year mostly tired and headaches 😑
In my country we have a coconut oil based cream cheese among the vegan products. It is basically oil, starch, flavor. It tastes good, i use it as I would butter. For flavor 🙂
Quote from Liz on April 26, 2019, 8:12 amQuote from Josh on April 26, 2019, 7:00 amQuote from Liz on April 26, 2019, 12:29 amHere is my 5,5 month low/no vit A update. I have had days with more butter than optimal (cookies) and it has bit me in the arse afterwards for sure, and I think I had a cake with whole eggs as an ingredient, on one or two occations.
Adhd - gone
Ocd - gone
Brain fog - mostly gone [...]Wow, Liz, that's an amazing list! If you feel comfortable sharing, I'm curious what kinds of ADHD and OCD symptoms you had and for how long. Thanks!
Sure. I got my diagnosis a couple years ago and I paid a shitload of money to get the best doctors and a thorough investigation to make sure I got correct diagnosis. I have been awkward since I was a kid but was extremely smart so no one noticed I never did any homework or studying. However all got worse as a young adult.
To make a long story short, basically they said I either have a severe case of ADD or narcoleptia
or both, as I was staring at screen during one test, i thougt i nailed them all but i had missed most
Adhd/add symtoms:
Ability to focus = nil. Extreme short attention span, could see mouths moving but missed most what was said. Very restless, unable to sit still for long. Superfocus if interested in something. Fell asleep if bored. Fell asleep all the time at work, in meetings, when typing, while doing anything monotone. Could basically fall asleep anywhere. Burned myself out completely when had energy and hardly slept, then crasched for weeks, cycle repeat. Misplaced everything (did develop strategies for this but hello toothpaste in fridge and phone in closet) and could throw away banana and attempt to eat the peel. Could not stick to one task, started many and unable to finish any of them (= loss of focus) . Many more but that is some I guess.
Ocd: mostly related to extreme order/tidyness, like things must have their place, dishwasher filled a certain way, socks folded a certain way and so forth. Else I would freak. Also body related involving mirrors, training and so forth. Only classified as medium severe ocd though but still enough to get a diagnosis.
I was also borderline dissociative/dissociation and that I still feel in certain situations in certain places.
Forgot to add PTSD as a disgnosis I have which I hardly notice anymore.
@Liz, how is your narcolepsy these days - better? One of many of my current neurological problems...
no issues what so ever. I sleep like a baby at night and am awake and alert during the day 🙂
Quote from Liz on February 9, 2021, 9:27 pmno issues what so ever. I sleep like a baby at night and am awake and alert during the day
That's great to hear. If Low-A will low my years old narcolepsy by at least 30..50% by the first year it would be a miracle.
I really hope it helps you @rockarolla
Write a list with your issues. Forget about it for a year. Find it again and compare with current new status. You might be surprised how much can happen in a year 🙂
@liz, how are you doing lately? Your story is really inspiring!
I have a bunch of issues: autoimmune (ankylosing spondylitis), hypothyroid, SIBO, gastroparesis, liver and gallbladder issues, OCD, anxiety, sleep issues etc...
I am surely Vit A toxic with all the veal liver, cod liver oil, sweet potatoes, carrot juices, pumpkins that I have been eating in the last years. I have alternated diets: vegan, carnivore etc...I started the vit A detox. I wanted to ask how you: from your experience, what foods do you think help you most to detox from VA. Right now I am having some lentils (low oxalate) and beef. I would like to add some white rice but it tends to constipate me. Grains and nuts tend to hurt my gut lining and trigger autoimmune inflammation.
Thank you!
Hi @bertrand
I am doing great and also shitty. Great health wise and shitty Endo wise.
I have changed treatment, no longer on GNRH but now I have an IUD, mirena coil as my surgeon wanted to try something else after 15 months in menopause. This past "cycle" i was bleeding from my butt so endo has now most likely penetrated my colon wall. I have a follow up tomorrow, new country, new hospital, new doctor. Will see what they say.
Besides from that, am taking one day at a time, focusing on the Lord and knowig I am not in control over anything but He is. No matter what happens it is a part of His plan so I need not be afraid. I don't overthink my food, I focus on life for the first time, ever. Luckily I don't get any reactions from cheese or milk products anymore so I have had some of that because I enjoy the taste. It is probably not good for me as I tend to get a stuffed nose afterwards.
I still believe I have a long ways to go. But my goal is to just live a normal life where food is just a sideshow and not the main event. I have spent too many years being a slave to diets in hope they would make me healthy. All they ever did was make me sicker. I don't regard A free foods as a diet, rather I see it as a guideline.
I still have endo which is a disease of the immune system. It can be a result of stress, or A, or dioxins, or all of it. I do not know, and I no longer need to know. I have surrenderd to the Lord, I will do as the doctors say and pray psalm 91.
So I cannot tell you which foods are better or worse or which has helped me. I eat a lot of beans regularly because I enjoy them and they keep me regular. I bake my own bread, usually sourdough and eat a lot of that. A lot. It is my main carb. I also usually have a spoon of psyllium with my morning cereal. I eat what I am served when invited to dinner and at home I cook most from scratch. If I don't feel like eating beans I don't.ä and don't sweat it. Also I eat cake probably at least once a week when served at work. Non organic. Today I had two kinds, both were thank yous from colleagues for some work I had done, so to sit down with my colleagues and enjoy these treats without overthinking ingredients or work it off with exercise later is a success in itself and a wonderful freedom. I have prayed for food freedom for some time and praters have been heard.
My best advice is wite a list of symtoms, eat good food, mostly organic and whole grain, skip veggies and lay low on sugar. Don't stress and don't perfect. Pick your poison and enjoy it when you do. Forget about the list and check it once in a while to see if any symtoms has improved 🙂
Best of luck.
Edit: for update, I still have ridges on nails, no moons except for thumbs, and a lot of spider veins on legs and some in face. Still coming in white hairs and some hairs on liver spots are white then i pluck it and it geows out white or dark or white. It varies. I hope veins will go away one day. I don't like them.
Skin is okay most days, feet okay but has gotten worse past days after overdoing chocolate. Or sugar. I do not know which. Haven't had powder skin in some time and when I do it goes away within a day or two so probably food/detox related. I have started shedding more hairs again but same there regarding food/detox. Could also be hormonal due to iud.
Overall I feel good, am less stressed (moving helped, am riding bike to work bow and take daily forest walks which I believe will have an impact on my health long term), i have a lot of energy and I don't worry over anything anymore, not even my bleeding butthole. I sleep well and poop well.
Overall I am happy to be alive 😄
Quote from lil chick on July 7, 2021, 7:01 am@liz , I was just ruminating about estrogen (estradiOL) being something that might be detoxed very much like VA (retinOL), and perhaps gets stuck in the same high traffic detox route. And wondered if this applies to your case.
Probably. But I would not know and to be honest I have stopped caring ad I cannot do anything about it anyway. I do know from studies that macrophages in endo builds up tissue instead of getting rid of it like macrophages should do so it's not all about the estrogen. It is a complex disease with a fxxed up immune system.
New doctor will do another surgery in about 6 months. He believes it is still growing because last surgeon failed to remove all (they didnt, on purpose, it was too much and they were unprepared). I have a more skilled team now so I feel hopeful for the first time, that it will be removed and not grow back.
I guess time will tell...