31.5 months

Every time I start to write a blog post, I have to take a deep breath and try to de-stress. So here goes. Woosahhh.

So at 31.5 months, I am still suffering daily. I was going through all the photos on my phone because I know that I was healing last year and wanted to figure out WHAT caused this change. I know during TSW we always try to find reasons for our flares, and most of the time there isn't any. But I KNOW this time there is. I could feel it. At some point this year (2016), I felt my body stop healing. It literally felt like my body was saying, "Okay, not going to do anymore! Too much going on in here!" I explained in my last blog post the process of my "awakening" and that has only continued. So rewind to the beginning of the year. Starting Jan 1, I did a Whole30... and that's where my problems began (well, you know what I mean). I remember feeling great prior to doing the Whole30. I was bouncing around with energy trying to convince others to do it with me. At the end of it, every asked if I was feeling better. I was honest when I told them no, not at all. Admittedly, I went heavy on the meat during this "cleanse". It was not long after the cleanse ended that I started feeling my healing stall. I started having gastrointestinal problems. After a few months of this, I went on to develop daily diarrhea (sorry if tmi but come on, that what this blog is all about), crazy gas, and general discomfort. During this time, I submitted a stool sample to my functional medicine doctor because I felt I was having issue with bile production. This was later confirmed. BASICALLY, I went so meat heavy on that cleanse that I essentially blocked up my entire digestive system. The liver is in charge of digestion and detoxing. I have genetic defects that make my body detox at a 10% rate (more on that later). So I flooded my system with that which it cannot break down. It makes perfect sense. Thats probably why I started being repulsed by meat because my body was sending me signals that I was having too much fat and protein. Imagine that!! I love being in tune with my body. Most people think Im oversensitive but if I wasnt, I would literally still be using topical steroids. So F that notion.
So back to the genetic defects. Alot of people in TSW are exploring this route and for good reason. When the methylation and detox systems in your body are slowed down, it takes alot longer to heal. That is because the toxins that would normally be expelled through regular detox methods are still in the body trying to get out. This causes in flammation and the cycle continues. My new doctor explained it like this: if you have no defects, then your 6 lane highway is speeding along just fine. These are the people who heal from TSW in record speed, leaving the rest of us wondering WTF?! If you have 1 mutation or are heterozygous, you're detoxing at about 50% the rate of normal people. So this is probably where the bulk of us lie. Then if youre homozygous, which I am on MANY pathways, you're detoxing at a rate of 10%. Ten fucking percent. Who knows how that plays into Dr. Rapaports estimates of time usage. Im guessing the people who are methylation and detoxing fine are the ones who heal in a year, like I said above. The people who have a heterozygous mutation probably make up the bulk of that average. Then, if you really dig around, you can find people at 5, 6, 7 and even 8 years still in TSW. Now, Dr. Rapaport will not say these people are in TSW. He will say they now have eczema. I believe these people are still detoxing.
Then there is the issue of how the original eczema began. I think alot of people will be happy and content with the outcome if they get through TSW and still have eczema. Not I! I am not going through all this to still have eczema. F that. This new doctor I'm working with has cured people of depression and anxiety, both of which I have struggled with, as well as allergies, which I struggle with as well. Most importantly, he has worked with people going through TSW as well. Halleleujah!! Someone who knows how to deal with me. Im sick of going to doctors and knowing more about how nutrition DOES affect the entire body. Like, hello. Doctors spend 3 course hours learning nutrition in their entire education. 3 hours. Thats the equivalent of an elective. I love Dr. Rapaport and am so grateful for his help through TSW. But he doesn't know everything. He doesn't believe nutrition has anything to do with TSW and I can definitively say that it does. For those of us with methylation malfunction, we typically have an inability to process or convert folate (think leafy greens) and therefore anything fortified with folic acid or b12 is building up in our systems, waiting to be detoxed. If we cannot detox, we cannot heal!!! Our bodies can only focus on a certain amount of things at a time. It's why us ladies flare so much with our periods because all of our reserves are going towards menstruation. So if you're in later stages of TSW and feel you've reached a standstill like myself, I would recommend you take a look at every single thing that goes into your body. Diet, lotion, bath salts, whatever. Everything that goes in must come out.
Now, regarding diet. I was a big proponent of Paleo. I still resonate with alot of their information. BUT is high fat/high protein/low carb the answer? I used to think so but not anymore. CARBS are where it's at!!! The liver, which in eastern medicine is known to be the cause of eczema, is in charge of digestion and detoxing. So how would eating a diet high in fat and protein, both of which are hard to digest, make it easier to heal? It just doesn't make sense. The brain runs on glucose. The body, for the most part, runs on glucose. Yes, we need protein. But how much? Nutritional science is still a young science and the available information is always changing. This is where I say - USE YOUR INTUITION!!! I liked being Paleo. I enjoyed eating high fat foods. But I always felt deprived of carbs. Now that I'm eating all the carbs I like, I do not feel deprived of fats and protein. I believe we have been taught we need more protein than we actually do. Where do you think this information came from? THE MEAT AND DAIRY INDUSTRY. Why would you trust an industry who is only out for profits? Think they care about your health? No. Do you think they care about the health of their product (cows, chickens, pigs)? No. I now know that we do not need meat to survive. We WANT meat. We have been raised to eat meat and therefore think it is normal. It's not. We are the only animals who need to cut, cook, peel and mask the real taste of meat. We call it a different name than the animal (think pork or steak rather than pig and cow). But where do you get your protein, you're wondering. If you research how the body actually converts amino acids into usable human protein, you'll realize that we don't need meat. If you're eating a nutrient dense diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, you will easily meet most of your needs. You'll need to supplement B12 and maybe a few other things but that's really no big deal. I think the trade-off of saving lives and earth's resources outweigh the "need for protein" when you can easily get it in other ways.
My plan of action - Obviously I have lowered my fat intake to relieve some of the burden on my liver. I have a bunch of new supplements that have been recommended by my new doctor. I am really hopeful with these new additions!! I was already taking B12, 5htp, curcurmin, zinc, selenium, and probiotics. Now I've added in digestive enzymes (was taking these before so bringing them back), histamine block, GABA and prodovite. Will post another update once Ive been on them a bit and can notice if they've made a difference. Pictures next time too!! Hope everyone else out there is healing. Oh! And I've started an instagram account to track my photos and food. Feel free to check me out - mangomama11.11! Peace and love to you all :)