Where I am today with MRT

[mbeezie]

Hi Everyone,

I haven't posted my progress in a long time, but since there is some interest in MRT I thought I would let you know how I am doing.

I chose to do MRT in August of 2009. I had already done Enterolab and had some releif, but not enough - still very sick. Because I am a dietitian I opted to go through their training program and test at the same time (it was cost effective . . . got CEU instead of paying another dietitian to help me). It was around this same time that I started to figure out I had mast cell issues, but really didn't know much about them at that point.

As I previously posted the MRT was enormously helpful to find additional sensitivities. By October (6 weeks after starting the diet) I was in remission - a formed stool after 9 months of continuos D. I had a brief relapse that winter and I think it was due to a combination of stress, travelling and testing some reactive foods. However, I got back on my MRT diet (early phases) and I again went back into remission. This remission was amazing and I gained tolerance back to many previously untolerated foods (my "yellow"/moderately reactive foods per MRT).

Most recently, and I didn't post this previously, I had minor relapse. This time it was very different however. I never got horrible D, but just a bit looser. I began having other symptoms though that were troubling, like vertigo, chest pains, headaches, and what seemed to be pressure diuresis. When my mast cells are aggravated my blood pressure goes up, which is an unusual presentation. Typically blood pressure drops. It was explained to me that mine does drop initially, but then my body overcorrects and I get high blood pressure. I had every one of those symptoms previosuly so when I realized what was happening I immediately got on the histamine restricted diet and the problem resolved pretty quickly. I was having a problem with high oxalate foods in particular - high oxalate foods liberate histamine from the cells. For whatever reason my histamine load goes up in winter and I get more symptomatic . . . stress of the holiday, travelling, eating out more . . . not sure, but I am noticing a seasonal pattern. What was amazing to me about this relapse was that I didn't get explosive D and no anaphylaxis. My gut must be healing and my gut mast cells must be much calmer. So while my symptoms were concerning, they weren't nearly as bad as they were in the past.

So back to MRT and how it fit into my recovery . . . if I had known about my mast cell and histamine problems when I did MRT initially in 8/09 I would have added histamine restrictions to my MRT and probably would have achieved remission faster. As I have posted earlier, MRT doesn't identify which foods cause mast cell degranualtion and histamine release, at least not yet - the next generation test coming out this year will be better able to do that. MRT is a piece of the puzzle but it won't tell you everything. I can't reiterate that point enough.

For me, figuring out my food sensitivities was the main thing that turned my health around. I don't tolerate drugs well so for me I was determined to achieve remission with diet alone. My diet is restricted: I avoid gluten, dairy, soy/all legumes, tapioca. The only grains I eat are rice and corn. If I am in remission I can eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. If I am flaring I impose histamine restrictions and avoid MRT reactive foods. I take no drugs except for claritin when I am reacting to histamine. I feel I have a pretty good handle on how food affects my body now, but I know that we can lose tolerance to previously tolerated foods in a flare, so what I am doing today may not hold true in the future. This is why I rotate my foods so I can try to avoid developing new sensitivities. I have also started eating foods seasonally as I think that's how we are supposed to eat . . . strawberries when they are in season, not in January.

Now I utilize MRT in my practice. I've never really marketed that I do this (my practice is already busy so I really didn't need the extra work) but people find me on the internet or word of mouth. I have had some clients with absolutely amazing results and others with just moderate results, but everyone has noticed some improvement. One client who had migraines since age 12 was able to get off of migraine medicine. Another who had bloody D from ulcerative colitis went into remission. It is very rewarding for me to help people achieve these results. I use the MRT and clinical judgement to help figure out reactive foods, I don't just striclty look at MRT results. It is a tool that helps to guide us in the right direction to build a safe diet.

If you would like to do MRT I can help you locate a dietitian in your area or one who can work with you over the phone. I will only work with TX residents due to restrictions in my state license.

Mary Beth

[Polly]

Mary Beth,

Thanks for posting this overview of your progress - very helpful. Happy to hear you are back on track.

Hugs,

Polly