It’s been almost a month since my most recent health update. This one is different than I initially expected it to be. But that’s how life goes sometimes, ya know?
I had my second appointment with my functional medicine doctor a few weeks ago. The appointment went relatively well. I got back some test results that I’ve been waiting for and that was something that I was looking forward to. I left feeling very overwhelmed but determined to follow through with the six week protocol that I was given.
This appointment left me with extensive restrictions that have driven me crazy. At the time I immediately went to Whole Foods and bought all of the foods on the list that I could eat, drove home with my groceries and bag of supplements, and read over everything again. The first week of the protocol was pretty doable in regards to the supplements that I had to take. Although it’s important to keep in mind that I was taking 20 pills a day at this point. Yes, twenty. Along with the supplements I now had to eliminate corn due to an allergy to it and I have to restrict high oxalate foods including sweet potatoes, kale, spinach, Swiss chard, and almonds. Goodby to everything I love! So at this point I have had to eliminate soy, gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, sweet potatoes, almonds, kale, spinach, and Swiss chard. OKAY, NO PROBLEM.
If you’ve been following along on Instagram, then you know that this has been a struggle for me. Food is a big source of joy in my life and it just keeps getting more and more restricted. I often wonder if the pros of the strict elimination outweigh the cons of such intense restriction. That’s s story for another time though.
So according to this testing that I got back, I have a corn allergy. I was wondering if that’s what gave me hives but I had hives last night and haven’t had corn in over a month, soooo???
I also have high levels of oxalates which is the reason I need to reduce the consumption of the foods that I already mentioned. This was tough for me at first. I never realized how many almond based products I consume in a day! But now I am much more at ease with it. I still consume these things, usually once every day or every other day.
I have high levels of heavy metals which was believed to be true before, but the test confirmed it. They aren’t super crazy high, but they’re high enough to be a concern. I’ve been using magnetic clay foot baths and epsom salt baths as a main source of detoxification for that. The clay baths are insane and I’ve said this before but I still can’t get over it; there are actual specks of heavy metals in the water when I am done. Little tiny black specks of metals being pulled out of my feet. Insane! I want to include infrared sauna but it’s tough for me to find one in the area that I can use regularly. Working on it!
My serotonin levels are pretty low. That’s not good, but it makes me feel better knowing that there’s a reason why I’m so dang sad and anxious all the time.
These are the big things that were highlighted in my protocol. Which is great and all, but a lot of these issues stem from my stomach and digestion issues and the more I went over the protocol, researched the supplements, and thought about things the more I began to realize that I’ve just been buying a million supplements for things that aren’t healing my gut and that I don’t feel safe taking. I’ve contacted my doctor but haven’t heard back from them yet so I will see what they say but right now it just is what it is. Since some of the new supplements are different, I’ve researched them and I don’t feel safe taking them and as a result I’ve basically threw the whole six weeks out the window and I’m back to square one, kind of.
I’m still doing a lot of the detoxifying methods such a dry brushing, rebounding, clay baths, epsom salt baths, diet, sleep, meditation, yoga, etc. but I don’t want to live a life where I’m on such a strict diet and spending hundreds of dollars on supplements each month. That’s not sustainable. I’m not sure yet what this means for me. I’m still taking some of the supplements but at the same time I’ve researched and found some that I think I will try that will better serve me. For example, the magnesium I take is a spray that you’re supposed to spray on your feet every night. I’ve been doing this consistently for almost 2 months. My feet have never been so dry and cracked. It is insane. I went to yoga this morning and I wanted to hide my feet. I regretted not wearing socks. It looks like I spent 12 weeks airing them out in a snow storm. They’re that bad. This isn’t something that I can keep doing. So basically I’m going to stick to some supplementation, but switch it up a bit as to the method that I use for it.
I’m not sure yet if I will be going back to this doctor again. I’m still waiting for their thoughts about the supplements that they gave me that I don’t want to take.
I always say this, but I think it’s so important. Always, always, always do your own research and advocate for yourself. Just because you’re seeing a doctor or someone more qualified than you doesn’t mean that you can’t ask questions and tell them that you don’t feel safe taking a product for whatever the reason may be. Have those conversations and try to come to a common ground. Maybe you don’t take the supplement, but you add something else into your diet to take it’s place. Or maybe you can implement a different lifestyle factor that will help. It’s always best to find the things that work best for you and your unique body and it’s important to find a health care professional who is willing to assist you in doing that.
That’s about it for health update #2. Nothing too exciting, in fact this has been a super hard month for me. I’m struggling with the diet portion as I mentioned and I’m not necessarily feeling any better. It all makes me want to go live in a cabin near the beach somewhere and do nothing but focus on healing myself for 6 months. Sounds nice, right?!
I’ll keep you guys updated and post again soon. Let me know if you have any questions in the meantime and I’ll answer them in the next post!