Need Input that I'm not going to get from Dr.

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Sun Oct 04, 2015 9:11 pm

Hi Jud
Welcome to my journey. Yes much to learn in the gut world. Up an down days, we ebb an flow with MC.
Yes do indeed ask questions.
Cheers
Erica

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 1:46 pm

Well 49 days later and I have a migraine....last one was on Sept 1st.

If I am calculating right then my body's estrogen is at its lowest point every 25 days. I recall getting Eye Auras about Sept. 20th too which was about 25 days ago, and is a precursor to migraines but I did not get a pain headache with that aura (maybe my magnesium was at a tolerable level).

I can't say I am thrilled to be 'All Natural' hormone free, but I am tracking my bodies movement as crazy as it has been. This migraine though has been more prominent and direct, and I thought I had been taking sufficient magnesium to help get me over this hump for this month (guess not). I have been able to take internal magnesium for the last 2 weeks which is a nice change.

Since I had to supplement myself with an Imatrex or two caplet it made me nauseous more than I can ever remember and my body cleaned out! Boy I can't wait to get this aspect of my body cycle under control, but it has only been two months since I tapered off the natural hormone supplements.

I am experiencing a bit more heat flush, I notice it more late night and early morning, with a couple sprinkled in the day. So to say that I can't live with it would be a lie right now. They do make me feel a bit off, but they don't last long so I am able to carry on.

I think at this point if I can get my migraines in check each month I will be able to live with the few daily heat flushes. Thankfully for the most part I have been able to maintain constant 4-5 Bristol scale BMs (except when I'm compromised by a migraine). I have also had better than normal energy. I wish I could get a grasp as to how my hormones regulate when I extend myself so I could reel myself in and eat or sleep accordingly to allow the hormones to replenish properly. We are in the day an age when wearing a monitor would be so cool as to detect fluxes in our system.

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 1:24 pm

I feel it is time to check in once again.

Now that I am in my 6th month of healing and have had normal BM for a good 6 weeks I am feeling the affects of mast cell histamine I am sure.

Tried to eat a couple different foods one of them an egg (it was the lower end of my Enterolab results but still considered a reactive food) and it took 6-7 days for the effects to hit. I have had a very foggy brain, all over head pain, water bumps in my mouth and achy legs. I ended up taking benedryl for two nights in a row and may have to take it for a third night.

I have had dryish mouth, and little bits of sticky thick mucus that clung to the back of my throat, and the throat felt like it was inflamed/puffy but not sore. I did not have a runny nose, and my BM's were slightly compromised.

The achy parts of the body were the cruel part of this whole thing, I didn't realize what little egg I had tried would produce such debilitating symptoms. I still have some head fog as of this writing. This tells me that I still need to stick to my small array of foods and keep letting my gut heal.

The 23andMe I ordered I am hoping may provide light as to where my body is going right now.

The end of this week time will tell if I have a true migraine, as this last week I ended up with the beginning stages of a potential one but took one Sumatriptan and it did not continue so wasn't sure if it was a real triggered migraine or not, especially since I compromised myself with antigen from egg.

With the Holidays approaching I certainly want to try to feel as best as possible.

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 1:42 pm

Progress... not perfection hey..

glad things are a bit stabilised for you... how many weeks have you been doing the natural approach to the hormones?

the body aches and brain fog is the main motivator for me to stick to my eating plan.... Days are so much better without them.

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Thu Nov 12, 2015 1:59 pm

Hi Gabes,
It's been since the last week of August that I went hormone natural. So by the end of this month my body should start to be more in tune to how it's gonna be. It may take some more time, but 3-4 months should give a guideline id think.

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 5:53 pm

Just wanted to post a quick update that I did have a short lived migraine a week before Thanksgiving, but the better news is that after all the hard work of boring foods and changing life style I was able to eat quite a bit of foods at Thanksgiving, and I made a pumpkin pie all safe ingredients and it turned out great

I didn't feel left out at the dinner table, I had plenty on my plate. I find I do a lot better if I don't stuff myself, but eat heartily with a protein included when hungry, and try not to get over hungry.

I'm still giving my diet a good strong year before adding very many more veggies or fruits into it...healing is happening and that I am thankful for at this time.

jlbattin · Post by **jlbattin** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 7:18 pm

So, Erica, what did you have that you could eat? And how did you make your pie? I had a rough week last week. My husband went to visit his family and I stayed here. So, change of routine, being by myself, cold, cold weather.......I dunno............but I stuck to only my safe foods and even with that, had a few rough days........stress is really not our friend.....................

But I am interested on what you had and how you made your pie.................maybe Christmas................

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 8:55 pm

HI Jari,

First of all I hope you are feeling better, big changes I think can be rough on us more-so than just sticking to some of the old routine and tweaking it. I hope the next adventure or holiday you can allow yourself to go and think ahead a little bit, and be happy with the outcome even it if doesn't feel the same. This holiday was new territory for me as well, but you know what it was probably one of the best ones on record, as I didn't feel yucky or make myself feel yucky after the fact...in fact I had the best weekend afterwards, no pain, no bathroom trips, I could watch football, or craft or clean and I was ok for once. If I could hug you right now I would :-)

Ok,...onto the meal....

Well....I was able to have the turkey, a little sliver of cranberry jelly, mashed potato (some set aside for me and I added Earthbalance soy free spread), a few pieces of canned yams, and some corn. The rest of the family had stuffing, and green been casserole, and rolls. I didn't miss any of those.

I didn't eat any gravies, and I had a couple plain cucumber slices off the deli tray but no dip. I brought a piece of my pie and ate it a little bit after the dinner...no one seemed any different to what I was eating compared to them.

To me this was plenty, and my pie I made from here http://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-gluten ... mpkin-pie/ I substituted the Bobs Mills for GF Pillsbury and used my Earthbalance spread as the butter for the crust (I also had on hand a couple pieces of parchment paper to put the crust in between so I could roll it immediately instead of waiting the time allotted that it said in this recipe). If you can't get the link to work let me know.

The Filling I used all but the almond milk I used Cashew milk.

It turned out just fine, in fact I had too much left over so didn't get to eat it all before I knew it was getting too much histamine. Might have to put a few in containers next time so I can savor it a couple weeks down the road.

Post by **tex** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 9:34 pm

Cashew milk? Was that homemade or store-bought?

Tex

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 9:46 pm

Hi Tex, it was the Silk store bought. I suspect the homemade would make it firm up an taste good too.

Post by **tex** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 10:10 am

Thanks Erica,

I wasn't aware that Silk was making cashew milk, but now that I look it up, I see that they are. I'll have to look for it when I go grocery shopping. Maybe it will eventually show up here, also.

You know, theoretically at least, one should be able to make cashew milk by mixing cashew butter with water. But I'm out of cashew butter right now, so I can't try that.

Tex

jlbattin · Post by **jlbattin** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 2:42 pm

Erica,

Thank you for your kind words. I had a rough several days last week. Things are looking up again now. I chose to not make that airplane trip for several different reasons. One, I wasn't ready to try to figure out what I could and couldn't eat away from home. Two, when we bought the ticket, it was very early in my diagnosis and I didn't know I'd be feeling this good. Three, I wasn't ready to navigate through an airport and try to take food with me. And four, there was going to be a houseful and I wasn't ready to share a bathroom with a bazillion other people! :) I'm getting a little braver, but that was just too much for me to try to take on. I did travel about 5 hours away by myself a couple of weekends ago to visit my family and prepared and took my food with me. I did well on that trip and I'm sure each time it'll get a little easier.

I go back to my GI doctor in January and I plan to get a letter that I can travel with so hopefully, there wouldn't be a problem when going through security.

I think that maybe more than anything else, I was just feeling sorry for myself because I felt so vulnerable and this stupid disease is dictating my life right now. At any rate, things are back to normal now. It was just a minor setback, but sad to say that's probably the way the rest of our lives will play out. I went out and bought me a brand new sewing machine (that always helps me feel better)! LOL!

Thanks for sharing your menu and the pumpkin pie recipe........I will need to try that!

Hope things are better for you also!

And Tex, I'm out of cashew butter too (that stuff was scrumptilicious!). Next time I'm ordering the bigger container! :)

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 3:55 pm

I find I have to go to a couple different stores to get my safe foods....but Walmart has been keeping the Cashew milk in supply so far, oddly enough.

I have some cashew butter, will need to use it more ;-)

I'm glad you are doing better this week Jari, I constantly run the words of Gabes thru my head a lot ....progress not perfection....it keeps me grounded often ;-)

Post by **tex** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 4:02 pm

Jari,

I'm planning to order several smaller jars this time. The reason is that the larger container makes me feel obligated to store it in the fridge between uses (because it lasts longer than the small containers), and once you get farther down in the jar, the cashew butter is not only stiffer from the cold, but also from just being denser at the lower levels. As a result, it tends to be a little hard on the hand (because it's down part way into the jar) when digging out the lower third or so of the container. That shouldn't be much of a problem with the smaller containers. And besides, they should keep OK without refrigeration.

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 8:22 pm

progress not perfection....it keeps me grounded often ;-)

Especially for us 'Ex-perfectionist' types!!!!

Jari - there is a turning point in this journey when you kinda rebuild trust in your body. you dont feel so vulnerable, unsetttled. there are still niggly symptoms, but you know the difference between a niggle and a possible explosion...
You get into the zone of your MC management plan, and when the time is right you will be ready to embrace travel... Yes it takes a bit of planning. Dont rush it, the time will come. Try a small trip first, and see how you go.