Day Twenty Seven of New Elimination Diet
August 9th, 2007NIGHT: woke up a lot off and on during the night
10:00am – woke up – felt pretty good – nose was clear, didn’t have hives, blotches on my legs didn’t look quite as bad as normal – felt good
10:10am-10:27am – brushed teeth with baking soda and showered, used baking soda to wash up, used crystal stick deodorant, and then got dressed
10:28am – had slight hives around head and ears – only lasted a few minutes though (were gone within ten minutes)
10:38am – had gas for a while
10:47am – husband ate some sandwich meat and cheese
11:00am – husband had banana but ate it in the other room for me just in case J
11:17am – nose got a little bit stuffy but nothing too bad
11:23am – nose got really stuffy L sad, I was feeling so encouraged by the fact that it had been really clear this morning and my hives hadn’t been that bad - oh, well…
11:42am – took temp and it was 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit
11:43am – ate pinto beans (plain and cold) and drank a glass of filtered water
11:51am – nose cleared up
12:00pm – drank another glass of filtered water
12:19pm – nose got stuffy again
12:35pm – had a teaspoon of zinc sulfate
12:37pm – nose cleared up
1:01pm – nose got stuffy again
1:13pm – drank another glass of filtered water
1:20pm – nose cleared up
1:30pm – cried a little – talking to my mom
2:00pm – drank another glass of filtered water
2:45pm – ate some Romaine lettuce (plain)
2:53pm – noticed my face was breaking out more than normal
3:00pm – drank a glass of filtered water
3:43pm – started the dishwasher (used the new soap that seemed to be better for me)
3:44pm – took temp and it was 97.5 degrees Fahrenheit
3:57pm – put a chicken and some potatoes in the oven for dinner
4:00pm – felt hungry – had a small handful of raw cashews
4:08pm – opened the windows – it was rainy outside – I love the rain
4:15pm – had a glass of filtered water
4:24pm – took B12 vitamin, and multivitamin and also took a coral calcium vitamin that I haven’t taken in a while but thought would be good – one capsule contains 120mg yielding calcium, 60mg yielding magnesium, and 133mg of vitamin D, other ingredients: rice powder
4:40pm – had slight hive on head
5:33pm – took temp and it was 96.2 degrees Fahrenheit
5:34pm – had web conference with boss – always a little stressful but not bad – it went well
6:00pm – closed the windows
6:10pm – drank a glass of filtered water
6:36pm – ate chicken (roasted at low temp with a little salt and butter) and potatoes for dinner – very yummy! Drank a glass of filtered water
7:11pm – had gas
7:19pm – stood up and lost peripheral vision and felt light headed
7:22pm – had hives on lips and chin after kissing husband
7:34pm – nose started to bother me a bit
7:42pm – felt like heart was racing a little bit
8:00pm – took birth control pill and drank a glass of filtered water
8:34pm – toes felt a little tingly and numb – got better when I moved around
8:37pm – had a bowel movement
8:39pm – took temp and it was 98.1 degrees Fahrenheit – it’s been running a touch higher today and I think that’s a really good thing
9:14pm – nose cleared up
9:45pm – had another bowel movement – sort of soft this time but not diarrhea
10:30pm – drank another glass of filtered water
10:31pm – opened the windows up again – to cool the place off
10:33pm – stood up to get more water and felt really, really light headed and lost all peripheral vision momentarily
10:34pm – ate a small handful of raw cashews
10:44pm – drank another glass of water
11:20pm – took a teaspoon of zinc sulfate
11:31pm – took 200mg of magnesium in hot water
12:00pm – brushed teeth with baking soda
Well, today was a pretty good day…a really good day actually. My nose was pretty clear (with the exception of a little bit in the morning and evening) and I didn’t have hives all that much. And I felt better emotionally – took some time today for myself which was nice and talked to my mom today which was nice as well. Also, I think some of the depression from the last few days was partly because of having to take two birth control pills in 24 hours (to make up for the one I missed) and I think it was starting to balance back out today. Although I was still bleeding a bit off and on all day today – hopefully that will stop by tomorrow. Importantly today I ate some chicken – it was the first bit of meat I have had in 20 days and I think it went pretty well (although my nose was a little stuffy for about an hour or so afterwards)…it seems that most of the time I don’t really react to things until the next day so I guess we’ll see how it is tomorrow 
But, I’m hopeful. I feel like I really need to start adding things back in as I have now been 27 days with some form of an extreme elimination diet and without really finding the answers that should come from such a diet. Sooo, all this to say it’s getting more and more clear that I have other things going on besides just reacting to some foods – I think a lot of my problems are stemming form hormonal issues and other things like that. Today I also did a little research on low blood pressure as a friend of mine who is studying medicine had recommended after hearing my symptoms. Well, I found it very interesting – basically experiencing dizziness, lose of peripheral vision, lightheadedness, and even fainting (especially upon standing up from a sitting or laying down position) are all symptoms of low blood pressure. Now, of course low blood pressure is a good thing normally and from what I read no matter how low your blood pressure numbers are as long as you don’t have those symptoms then there isn’t a problem but if you do have those symptoms and your numbers are low then it might be a sign of a problem. Low blood pressure can keep enough blood from getting to your organs and cause a number of problems…hum, interesting huh? Having too low of blood pressure can be caused by a number of things including dehydration and medications but the things that I found interesting are that it can be caused by hormonal imbalances, thyroid problems (both hyper and hypo), allergic reactions, low blood sugar, and adrenal problems…getting more and more interesting to me. Sooooo, I think I should start monitoring my blood pressure but I’ll need to get a blood pressure cuff to do that…hum, one more thing I’ll have to have my mom ship from the states I guess. But, the more I look at things the more I believe that I have a lot of things going on in my body and interplaying with each other – chemical sensitivity is one, probably some adrenal or thyroid issue is another, probably some gut flora imbalance, probably some nutritional deficiencies, probably some problem with my sulfate pathway and that sort of thing, probably some issues with leaky gut stuff, clearly some circulations problems (the red/purple blotches on my legs and the tingly numb feeling I often get in my extremities), probably some digestion issues (as I often get gas), and there’s a good chance there’s some blood pressure issues going on as well, and of course hormonal imbalance issues….hum, the body really is a complex thing, isn’t it?
Well, that’s Day 27…I’m genuinely looking forward to Day 28 – I hope it’s at least as good as today was.
Health to you and yours –
Beth