GAPS Intro #7: Day 1

Symptoms this morning: Headache, upper backache, anger, heart rate up to 120s, dizzy, weak, distended abdomen, puffy face, right eye lid slightly swollen, not fully cognitive, and stiff body.

The headache and backache seemed worse this morning when I first got up (around 5 AM) but seem to be going away now. I went back on the Berberine and GSE Supplement yesterday starting with half of a capsule. Hopefully the die off won't be too bad and I can start increasing the dose. Mom got the Pro-Symbioflor, Symbioflor-1, and Symbioflor-2 for me and mailed them Tuesday. I hope to get them early next week and will start with Pro-Symbioflor first. Maybe with all of this I will then be able to start adding other probiotics and ferments again. I do believe that re-balancing my gut flora is going to be key to healing.

My current theory is that whatever is going on in my gut is causing my RT3 to go too high when I go back to T4/T3 medication like Armour or Naturethroid. Taking Cytomel helps reverse this but causes tachycardia because it is too much of a strain due to the autonomic dysfunction (POTS) which could quite possibly be connected to the gut dysbiosis as well. If I fix my gut I will be able to go back on T4/T3 medication which will resolve the POTS issues. The reason the gut issues have not resolved on GAPS is because whatever is overgrowing in my gut has morphed and learned to live on whatever I am eating - even meat and fat. Therefore adding the supplement mentioned above will knock down the level of candida or whatever it is, the Symbioflor products will strengthen my immune system, and that combined with GAPS intro will eventually allow me to add other probees and ferments. I hope I am right about this because I am still a little bit hopeful that I will have a normal stomach, better digestion, and more energy by the time we go on vacation in November.

Not sure yet what I am eating today. It depends on what we are doing today and whether DH is going to see his dad or not, but I am thinking boiled salmon, fish broth with Great Lakes Gelatin, and lots of pork fat or tallow.

Update:

I had fish broth, gelatin, boiled salmon, and lard for lunch and dinner. Started getting a slightly stuffy nose mid-afternoon and now (8 PMish) I feel like I am getting a slight ear ache. This is a typical die off symptom for me. Headache and backache eventually went away. Abdominal distention is awful now that I have eaten two meals.

GAPS Re-Intro: Day 3

Woke up with the usual symptoms (headache, right eye lid swollen, tired, not really cognitive, heart racing, etc.) but overall not too bad. Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?!

Anyway, sometime after lunch I started to get a headache and felt really tired and out of it. I thought the Nystatin increase yesterday (from 1/16 tsp to 1/8 tsp) must have done it but around 2:30 PM I realized I hadn't taken my mid-day dose of 7.5 mg hydrocortisone. Since it was a bit late already I took 5 mg then and within half an hour the headache was almost gone. That's good but the pain in my right wrist and knuckles continues and it flared up in my left wrist as well until I took the HC around 2:30 PM.

I went to the lab this morning to get blood drawn. Can't wait to see what the RA factor and ANA indicate. If the pain in my wrist is RA then the RA factor should be elevated - at least you would think it would be. What is odd though is that the pain started sometime after the blood donation and low blood volume. I don't understand it and Dr. Cowan didn't have a possible explanation either.

I also had a free 15-minute consultation with Chris Kresser yesterday. I had read some of the articles on his blog and like them. In addition, at least one couple from the GAPS Yahoo group is consulting with him. After listening to my chief complaints he feels I have parasites. Since I have done several herbal parasite cleanses and my diet is extremely strict and limited, he suggested I take medication for them and then rebuild gut flora once the parasites are gone. He said since he can't prescribe medication he can't really help me right now but would be happy to consult with me after I am done with the meds (should I decide to take them). Incidentally I had just ordered another stool test kit from Parasitology Center Inc. the day before. Chris likes Metametrix for parasite testing and that's who I did the last stool test with. However, I was told that this place is even better. Chris also felt that the difficulty I am having taking probees and ferments could be an indication of parasitic infection since parasite can feed off of them.

I really didn't want to do more tests (or spend more money on tests), but I am desperate to feel better. Right now I am not living. I am merely making it through the day as best as possible and there is no joy in that. I am praying that Dr. Amin from the Parasitology Center Inc. will find something IF there is something to be found which needs to be addressed. As much as I hate taking medication, I probably will give it a try considering that everything else I have tried has not worked.

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.

GAPS Intro: Day 6

Not much to report really. I am dealing with quite a bit of die off, my heart rate seems higher again and I don't know why, and I am still on stage 1 except that I ate grilled meat last night. I also started the supplement last night that Dr. NCM recommended. In addition, I am thinking about adding Interfase Plus back in. I took it last year for a while and was starting to see improvements. Then I stopped taking it, got strep, then scarlet fever, and things have just been rough since then. I may order it today and start taking a small dose in the AM. Maybe the combo of Interfase Plus, the Berberine/GSE supp, and increasing probees and ferments slowly will finally show some improvements.

I mowed the yard yesterday and I had barely started the backyard (which is a PAIN to mow due to the slope and uneven soil) when the new, self-propelled mower stopped working. I could not get it to start back up. My guess is that it was just overheated and I should have waited a while but instead I finished the backyard with the old push-mower. What a pain that was and I am feeling it today. I probably won't be doing much the rest of the day although it's so nice outside it's a shame to sit inside.

GAPS Intro: Day 3

I took no probees or ferments at all yesterday yet I still had a slight headache and backache when I woke up. Other symptoms - right eye lids swollen, tired, fatigued, not really cognitive until the hydrocortisone kicks in, and my heart rate was still high. Actually, it went all the way up to 152 as I was standing in the kitchen waiting on my coffee. I am thinking it's safe to say that it's not from die off and I need to reduce Cytomel even more (I went from 87.5 mcg Cytomel back in January to now 37.5 mcg Cytomel and 1 Grain Naturethroid).

Last Sunday when I woke up my heart rate was hovering around 89 which was the lowest it has been in a long time. It felt so good. No dizziness when standing or feeling like I need to sit down. I had reduced from 50 mcg Cytomel to 37.5 mcg the day before. That day I went back up and since then it's been pretty high again. Going back down to 37.5 mcg has not done the trick so maybe the T3 started pooling in my blood. I really don't know - it's all speculation. I am thinking about just taking the 1 Grain of Naturethroid today and no Cytomel at all to let the T3 clear, then going back to 37.5 mcg Cytomel with Naturethroid tomorrow.

I am crazy hungry, too, and I don't know if that's from die off or too much T3. In addition, I am feeling very warm, my temperature went up to 99.3 after eating lunch yesterday, I sweat at night, and I am waking at lot during the night. All that seems like too much T3.

Food today is Mahi Mahi boiled in water. I will drink the resulting broth and will add some pork gelatin since there are no bones in the fish and I normally have bone broth. I will add pork fat to the fish. I think I will go back to taking my probees today (L. reuteri, Symbioflor2, Custom Probiotics 11-Strain Formula) and skipping the fermented veggie juice. I know the latter is very important but the die off yesterday was brutal. If that works out ok then I may go back to adding the fermented veggie juice but a smaller amount - maybe 1/8 tsp instead of 1/2 tsp.