Autumn asks: Have you ever given up on doctors??

Some people know I'm not big on pills and doctors. Yet I love Chiropractors and natural health type careers. I do like working in the medical fields...but after many years I began working for a medical malpractice attorney instead. Hmmmm...I'll let you draw whatever conclusions you may.

Everyone that knows me is familiar with the fact that I suffer from outrageous allergies. It keeps getting worse. Not only that, I have reactions to things I eat...yet nothing food shows up on allergy testing. Of course they give me an epi-pen to carry because my tongue and throat swells up and its a dash for the ER. But the tests are negative. Whaaa?

This year things got so bad I was feeling 80 years old. I was taking 3 different meds to try and control the allergies and my hands and feet and face were swelling up (can you say killing your liver with meds??) and I just hated every day. And yes, I've tried shots, but won't bore you with the horrid experience that I would like to forget forever, not rehash.

So I finally said ENOUGH. I found a doctor (Chiropractor) that deals in nutrition and supplements and decided I would give it a try for the summer if they thought they could help me (like what doctor will say they can't when money is involved?).

So, after testing here's what I ended up with:

Allergies to: Brown rice (not white, I don't get that)
Spelt
White refined sugar (OMG! Say it isn't so!!!)
Brown Sugar
Cane sugar (can I cry now?)
American Cheese
Pasteurized Milk
Commercial Eggs (not organic...it has to do with what the chickens eat)

The Milk we already know I was intolerant to. I can clear out the house with toxic fumes after eating ice cream or a shake. The rest was news. I was glad to see wheat was clear -- I've actually been tested for celiac 3 different times by different doctors because of all my symptoms/sicknesses.

Then there was the toxicity testing I was positive for:

Aluminum (yes, we are talking soda cans also)
Acetate/tones (no clue)
Chlorine
Heavy Chemicals
Preservatives (the allergist knew this but don't have testing for it - hence the epi-pen)

Add to all of this a overgrowth of yeast in my gut. That one surprised me as I have never had any kind of thrush or yeast infections.

Fun stuff. So the answer is an altered diet and supplements. To begin with its supposed to be only filtered water, vegetables and fresh meats (nuts and beans also). No dairy. No sugars or artificials (which I try to avoid anyways). No soda. No soda. Did I say no soda??? I'm dying here. Let me add here that I do not stick to the water thing, I must have cups of hot tea when cravings are plaguing me. I don't even like water so this is a must.

The first week I was sick as a dog. This always happens when I clean up my diet. But on about the 7th day I opened my eyes in the morning and the first thought in my head was "I feel good". No eye gunk. No stuffy head. No body aches. Hmmmmm. And I was losing weight without that even being a focus.

The next 3 weeks were great. I felt wonderful/normal. By the end of that time I was feeling so good I was wondering why I was torturing myself with such a restricted diet. I'm fine. And there followed a week of a soda about every day...although my eating was still along the prescribed lines. What happened? I got sick. Could not shake the headaches. Eye gunk. Allergy meds stopped working. Oh, and I did have cheddar cheese on my chef salads (about 6 that week) because I forgot to tell them to hold it.

At the doctors appointment, before confession, after he started testing reflexes, I was asked "WHAT did you do???" Ok, now I remember why I'm doing this. I confessed most (but not all those sodas) my sins. The doctor also told me to give up the allergy meds and let him handle it from now on. My response? "Are you kidding??" He told me to trust him. My response? "I've heard that for 40 years." But I accepted my 3 new supplements to handle the allergies and the reoccurence of yeast (thanks to the cheese and soda sugars) and here I am. Three days into it I am not dying from allergies. The first day I was fine. The second day my nose ran just a little bit before one dose. Today I'm fine.

It will be interesting to see what the end of summer brings. I can tell you that I am sick of the restrictive eating. I want rice with my stir-fry (although eating it over cauliflower really is not bad). I want to be able to use honey in my tea (the only allowable sugar for me per allergies). I want FRUIT! It's sweet and would be very helpful! So if you are a praying person, add me to your prayers that I can make it through my days without grabbing a soda. (On Songbirds birthday week I was sneaking frosting when nobody was looking - just for the sugar high!). And that I can maintain on our vacation at the end of July!