Slowly Figuring Things Out

I skipped the SR potassium yesterday and it seems my heart rate is not quite as high this morning. I find that odd since potassium is supposed to help with tachycardia, but there it is. Diane from the adrenal/thyroid Yahoo group recommended staying off of it for one week, taking in at least 2 tsp of sea salt a day, then adding it back in and retesting after 3 weeks.

My trip to Austin is not happening this week. I couldn't find a free flight with decent dates. I could have left Wednesday and come back Sunday, but we are supposed to have wicked thunderstorms this Wednesday and I can't leave Mojo all day. This is so crazy. We really need to figure something out regarding Mojo's fear of thunderstorms. I cannot re-arrange my entire day because of him every time there's a thunderstorm.

Anyway, looks like I am re-starting intro TODAY. I think I am just not going to worry too much about boiling meat for every meal and will focus on getting some of the ferments in. Incidentally there are messages going around on the GAPS Yahoo group regarding using fermented foods only and no commercial probees. I guess it's worth a try. I have Beet Kvass, fermented carrot ginger brine, and sauerkraut brine in little dropper bottles so I will start with one drop a day. It seems ridiculous to start with such a small amount but hey - whatever it takes. I did eat 3 medium sized water kefir grains yesterday and I have a headache and backache this morning, feel worn out, swollen eye lids, etc. - all the usual die off symptoms. A friend from GAPS had an interesting theory about me feeling worse. She said the following, referring to the blood donation:

"I think something happened in your system- maybe by concentrating your blood and getting rid of extra iron storage- it got some critters out of hiding since critters love love feasting on iron and now they are on the surface causing you misery and you are flaring.  I think the way we define flare for every individual body is withing a given context to that specific body.  Knowing you after all this time- this is one of the ways you flare."

See, I think this makes sense and is very possible but I know if I say something like this to Dr. Cowan he will think I am nuts. I never did have my appointment with him yesterday. Apparently he was out sick so it was rescheduled for tomorrow.  

I did get my blood test results from last week yesterday. My iron is slightly higher but ferritin has dropped from 75 to 44, RBC, hematocrit, and hemoglobin are back to normal but at the low and of the range, sodium and potassium are both still low normal. I noticed that my WBC was 5.2 the day I went to the ER and now it's back to 3.8 which is too low. I do wonder why my WBC fluctuates so much.

Day 1 (for the 2,357th time)

Fell off the wagon again yesterday and paying for it today. This time it was the nut butter bars I made for Bob. I figured since they have Splenda in them I would be able to stay away from them, knowing what Splenda does to me. Nope! Ended up c/sing after lunch and after dinner then, as usual, totally regretting it. I didn't feel too bad when I woke up today but around 10 AM the oh so familiar headache, upper backache, and lower backache set in. Haven't gone away yet!

So far today has been good as far as eating is concerned. I had lamb and shrimp for lunch and will have the same for dinner. Our friend and petsitter L. is coming over for dinner tonight. We are grilling jalapeno stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon, ribeye steaks, and some lamb steaks for me.  L. is bringing a tossed salad and I am making haricot vertes sauteed in butter with spices I brought from Germany. The salad and haricot vertes are for L. and Bob. I am still doing ZC with fermented veggie juice.

Speaking of fermented veggies, I just started another batch of Sauerkraut. I have one batch that has been in the fridge for about two weeks now. In another 4 or 5 days I should be done with the juice from my fermented carrots and by that time the SK in the fridge should be perfect. I am planning on always having a batch in the fridge ready to go. It's just better if you put it in the fridge for 2 to 4 weeks after you are done fermenting it at room temperature.