Day 5 - Noon

Last night the Epsom salt started working around 2 AM. SO glad I woke up! Then again around 5:30 AM but overall I slept better than the night before. I have a headache again today and I realize it’s because of the probiotics I am taking. I took 8 last night and only 3 the night before. But I would rather feel crappy here and get as much die off out of the way while I am fasting, so it’s all over and done with when I leave here.

I thought I was getting an arm bath this morning but it was an arm “shower”. You lean over this metal contraption that keeps you from getting wet and hold on to a handle on each side. A woman takes a hose and runs warm water down one arm for a few minutes and then the other arm. Next she quickly hoses down each arm with ice cold water. The whole process is repeated and then you are done. I was told to just wipe the water off my arms with my hands but not to use a towel. Not sure why and didn’t ask.

At 8 AM I went to the infrared cabin but the person before me was still in there. From the name I knew it was a woman so I peeked around the corner. She said she would be done in a few minutes. I told her I had put my name in for the 8 AM slot and apparently she was unaware that you have to sign up for it. She offered that I could come in and just join her. Ummm – NO! It’s a small cabin, people sweat in it, and I want to wipe it down with the provided disinfectant wipes before I sit in there. I bring a towel to sit on but it’s hard to keep a towel on the back part that you lean on (and that people SWEAT on). I told her I appreciate it and I would wait. I sat back down in the waiting area and heard her holler that I should come in because she still has TEN minutes left. I was thinking, OR, you could do the right thing and leave since I signed up, like you are supposed to, and you didn’t. I left…

Instead I walked to town and looked around Edeka (grocery store) and then went back to Tegut (the other grocery store I went to my first day here). The post office is inside Tegut and I needed a stamp for a post card to the US. Outside Edeka was a “food cart” that had rotisserie chicken. Boy did it smell good!

Aside from the wicked headache (must reduce probios tonight!), I feel better today. My mood is much better and I don’t feel so dark and angry. I am looking forward to reading, knitting, and watching TV today. Last night I ran into my table mates again and they seemed much nicer. Actually, one of them encouraged me to come join them for lunch and dinner today. Now that I know the ACTUAL time lunch and dinner are served I will do so. I plan on going to the 12:15 PM prayer meeting and then straight to lunch. It might be nice to sit down there and “eat” and have someone to talk to.

I want to say again (or maybe I haven’t yet), that everybody here is SO nice. Everybody I had talked to on the phone before coming here was nice and everybody I have met in person here has been equally nice and very helpful. They all really seem to care, they ask how you are doing and it doesn’t seem like a superficial question. If you have something going on like a headache, on-going hunger, etc. they give you helpful suggestions, and more. It’s a very cool place and I wish I could come here for a 7 or 10 day fast once a year.

The doctor’s appointment was sort of useless. He took my blood pressure which was 94/60. I explained that my HR is elevated on exertion for which I take a beta blocker. Said beta blocker lowers my HR so I can go for walks, ride the bike, walk up the stairs without being out of breath, etc. but it also drops my already low blood pressure even lower. We briefly discussed POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) which he didn’t know much about. I talked about taking Cytomel and it possibly affecting my HR but he was not familiar with Cytomel. I asked him if I could take Armour for a few days just as a trial or if I should wait until I am done fasting but he said that would be ok to try now. Considering how little he seemed to know about thyroid issues I am not sure I trust his opinion.

He asked why my right cheek is bigger than my left cheek. Incidentally he is not the first doctor to ask me this question but I have no idea. Of course my face is puffy right now, too, so it’s even more noticeable. Actually, everything seems worse on my right side – the swollen eye lid, my cheek, cold hands and feet, and even the pain the other night. I will ask the doctor at my next visit but I doubt he’ll have an answer.

I also noticed that my HR was about 10 beats higher this morning than it was yesterday morning. And then I noticed that I forgot to take my last dose of Cytomel last night. So if anything, I would say the heart rate issue is caused by LOW T3 and not too much Cytomel. On the last blood test my T3 was normal, but it was mid-range and when taking Cytomel you want it to be at the top range or maybe even slightly over. Since I already started with Cytomel today I am going to UP my dose by 12.5 mcg and see how I feel tomorrow morning. If it’s not better I’ll try Armour for a few days.

This is what I go through at home with all these constantly changing symptoms. I can drive myself nuts but how do you just ignore it all and let go? None of the doctors I have seen have been worth anything. We should implement China’s systems of paying doctors when they have figured out what is wrong and have actually HELPED a patient.

On a different note, I read another article on candida overgrowth symptoms last night. I found the following very interesting:

The brain is the organ that is most frequently affected by Candida Symptoms, but it also has profound negative effects on these systems:
• digestive
• nervous
• cardiovascular
• respiratory
• reproductive
• urinary
• endocrine
• lymphatic
• musculoskeletal
Candida symptoms can vary from one person to another and often move back and forth between systems within the same individual. One day you may experience symptoms in the musculoskeletal system and the next day it could be the digestive system ,etc.

If this is true, then it might explain why my HR seems fine one day and is going crazy the next. It could also explain why it’s acting up again right now. If candida can affect the autonomic nervous system then it could affect a person’s heart rate….I would think. Really wishing I had gone to med school. I find all this fascinating just wish I wasn’t my own guinea pig.

OK, back to my day. After the doc appointment I actually managed a mini-weight work out then came back to my room to take a shower. Next I am heading to the prayer meeting and then lunch. Today we get zucchini broth – yum! Oh, I finally am not all that hungry anymore. I get an occasional hunger pang but then it goes away.
More later…