I was sent a link to Dr. Terry Wahls TED video on how she reversed her MS. I have posted this before but it is such a wealth of information and inspiration that I wanted to get it out there again. Her ideas on nutrition are for everyone not just those with autoimmune diseases. Take notes!! She reversed her severe progressive MS. Reversed it.
I also have adrenal fatigue and metabolic damage and this is also how I treat those issues. Basically, its giving your body the best circumstances, environment, and support to heal and recover.
Taking notes each time, I watched this video about 5 maybe 6 times now. I have implemented just about all of the things she suggests. The ones I do not do are particular to me and I know this after trial and error. Dr. Wahl also has a book called Minding My Mitochondria
which goes over her points in the video and also she provides a huge list of recipes using the foods she recommends. I am looking forward to researching and implementing the use of clay as a toxin remover.
which goes over her points in the video and also she provides a huge list of recipes using the foods she recommends. I am looking forward to researching and implementing the use of clay as a toxin remover.
So, what do I eat and take to address my MS, adrenal fatigue, and overall general health.
I used to have (the key word is used to) daily scary heart flutterings and palpitations. I used to have wicked anxiety every single day. I used to feel like I was crazy, foggy brained, and couldn't think straight. I felt stupid and frustrated. In would wake in the middle of the night at 3ish and be up for hours. This would happen every night. I used to have aches in my legs. I used to feel depressed.
I had blood work done at the beginning of the summer and it showed that I was low, very low, in Vitamin D, B-12, and Ferratin. I learned that this is not uncommon. Its just a blood test. I reccommend everyone have this done and I look forward to the day when this information about our bodies is readily available through our smart device......but I digress. I decided that the first thing to do, since I needed a place to start, was to get those numbers up and see how I felt. I wrote a post about how I got my D levels up here. I have my blood levels checked about every 2 months.
One of my favorite quotes is "When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." I hung on to the idea that I would feel better when I got those numbers up and I wouldn't worry about if it was going to work or not, which it did by the way. I still get fatigued at times but I also have days that are stellar. If I push too hard and do too much I can tell and the fatigue sets in. This is tough some days since I no longer mask my fatigue with caffeine.
Some tough rules I follow. NO CAFFEINE! (although I do put cocoa powder in my raspberry tea and the chocolate does have a bit of caffeine.) cut way back on the sugar. Sometimes if I feel like I am crashing I will eat a bit of candy and it keeps me from crashing but I use the sugar as a tool for now.
As for exercise, I take it day by day. If I overdo it I pay for it with fatigue. I am embracing yoga more and more these days. It goes hand in hand with my philosophies on barefoot running. I like being so close to my family when I practice and am able to share with my spawn as well. Exercise and sleep are so crucial to our overall health.
This is what I take. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT!! I am in no way saying that you should take the same. Also I suggest working with a Naturopath or a dietitian to monitor your blood work. I have my blood levels tested about every 8 weeks. Vitamins and nutrients are complex and their relationship to each other is important so do your homework and keep an open learning mind when supplementing.
In no particular order~
As for exercise, I take it day by day. If I overdo it I pay for it with fatigue. I am embracing yoga more and more these days. It goes hand in hand with my philosophies on barefoot running. I like being so close to my family when I practice and am able to share with my spawn as well. Exercise and sleep are so crucial to our overall health.
This is what I take. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT!! I am in no way saying that you should take the same. Also I suggest working with a Naturopath or a dietitian to monitor your blood work. I have my blood levels tested about every 8 weeks. Vitamins and nutrients are complex and their relationship to each other is important so do your homework and keep an open learning mind when supplementing.
In no particular order~
- I take Holy Basil which is also an adaptogen. I take this one in the evening.
- I am trying to take an iron supplement to raise my ferritin levels but Iron is really hard on my stomach. Right now I am taking Floradix liquid.
- Vitamin D3 10,000 iu daily (for now. I monitor this every 8 weeks and I went up to 10,000 after my numbers dropped 20 points the last blood test)
- Vitamin B-12 methylcobalamin 3,000 mcg 1x a day
- Co Enzyme B complex 50 1x a day(the coenzyme means the vitamins are already in a form that you can use right away and not have to be converted in the liver)
- Coenzyme Q10 2x a day (for Mitochondrial support)
- Magnessium Calm at night before bed (most people are deficient in Magnesium)
- Magnessium Calcium calm during the day. This one has electrolytes and boron in it. I can feel I need it when I get heart palpitations. I don't take this one every day but have it on hand.
- creatine monohydrate 2x day This one was the game changer for me. creatine supports your mitochondria your energy powerhouses!
- Salmon Oil 1000 mg 2x a day (omega 3 was something I was low in)
- Spirulina powder
- BioAstin Hawaiian Astaxanthin
- Mirena IUD (I have battled anemia and I am hoping the IUD will get rid of my period which will mean less stress for my body. I am waiting until the 6 month mark to make a judgement on its success)
If you have any questions please feel free to ask or to share your story as I would love to hear it. There are a lot of people who suffer from Adrenal Fatigue and Metabolic Damage. Especially in the fitness industry as well as runners. As for MS, I have my opinions about it. I treat it the same way as I treat the adrenal fatigue. Rest when you need it and eat to support health and healing. My body is amazing and capable. I believe Doctor Wahl is on the right track and I am seeing more results with her treatment of MS and there are no side effects other than some gas when I first started eating massive amounts of kale!!
I am open to new ideas and to letting go of the ones I have now if I need to in the future. Some days are better than others but I am doing what I can and learning. Reading and researching and arming yourself with knowledge is mandatory. Its your body! Know it and take care of it!!
Life is a work in progress with the emphasis on work and learning!
Cheers,
Angie Bee
14 comments:
Fair play to you. Good to hear you are tackling things head on. My wife was told she had ms about 4 years ago. 4 years and 2 children later thankfully everything is going well and no relapses for 2.5 years since she started taking high dose of vit d3, spirulina, low sugar and acupuncture every second week. As you said everyone is built differently hence we all have different optimal health requirements. Most of us don't ever look into this until we are told bad news. Anyhow love life and lots of positivity, that's probably the important vitamin
Clive, I am so glad to hear that your wife is doing well! I love that she tried things and found that they worked. My neurologist said to try the vitamin D but that he didn't put much stock in it. I think it was the supplement that reduced my anxiety and depression so drastically.
I wish you and your family health and happiness and thanks for the comment :)
So glad you are confident enough to manage everything you are. I had to read this post twice before I could remember it all. I know you are sharing information that will help other be confident enough to help themselves too.
With our move, I have put doctor visits on hold until after the first of the year. I am eager to get fresh blood work done since I know I am not "feeling" like myself the past few months.
I know iron supplements are often not tolerated well. I was just thinking that beef liver is supposed to be a good way of raising iron levels, but many people don't like it.
Then I recalled that I've recently read some good things about liver capsules, like Uni-Liver. I wonder, being made out of a natural substance, if you would tolerate them better. They're also packed with other good stuff like b-vitamins and choline. Just thinking out loud, really.
Just googled and found this:
http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Uni-Liver-Tablets-500-Count-Bottles/dp/B000GOX0WU
"Each 30 grain Uni-Liver tablet starts with 1950mg of the highest quality glandular substance derived exclusively from prized, grass-fed (hormone-free) Argentine beef. The liver is then freed of all fat, water, connective tissue and then quickly flash frozen to -18 degrees C. Because of this processing, Uni-Liver retains the biochemical spirit of the original source and contains a full spectrum of amino acids and other necessary nutrients including Vitamins A, C, D, E, K; the entire family of B Vitamins, Copper, Zinc, Chromium, Selenium, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Magnesium, Manganese, Potassium, Phosphorous, Calcium, and more. Most importantly, Uni-Liver is a rich source of heme iron, the most bioavailable form of iron available anywhere. For your confidence, our product is certified 100% BSE-free. Note: The Tryptophan in this product is naturally occurring in the protein. It is not added or manufactured."
There's a breakdown of the nutrients on that page. It kind of ties in with Terry Wahls's remark in her video (if I remember correctly) about when she thinks that she'd get better quality vitamins and cofactors by eating foods that contain them than using a supplement. I have no personal experience with Uni-Liver or other liver capsules (I'm trying to get it into my diet with actual liver), just read some good reports of it lately.
Hi Joe,
Thankf so much for the link and the info. I think this is something I def want to check into. I do eat liver. I eat about 1/2 ounce a day but its not organic and free from all the blah blah blah that I know is not good for me. The capsules though sound like they would be great. We already budget for Iron Supps and the ones I am taking are ridiculously expensive. I think I will look into this more and see about taking that for a while to replace the iron supps. I like that its not a vegetable heme form of iron as it is not absorbed as well. My supplement is veggie form.
I entirely agree about getting the nutrients from foods and I do work to do that however there are some that I just can't seem to get enough of. Its frustrating but not at all hopeless.
Please don't think I was criticising the number of supplements you take! I was more justifying the use of the liver capsules as more like a food than a supplement :-)
My wife has a serious autoimmune condition called Behcet's disease and it's a right bastard. It's not responded to anything yet, diet, supplements or medical intervention.
No worries Joe!! I didn't take it that way at all :) I agree about the liver caps being more like food.
I am very sorry that you wife has not found something to help her. That is so very hard.
I have my rough days and I doubt what I am doing but figure its the best ive got for now so sticking with it. Give my well wishes to your wife for me :)
If you're not a meat eater or don't like liver, just take Uni-Liver. There's really no need to take a direct iron supplement. And remember, as a woman, you're going to lose considerable amounts of iron every month due to menstruation. That's why women hardly ever have iron toxicity whereas it's much more common in men.
I have been following closely. I am wondering if you are still running at all? I haven't run in weeks/months. But I would really like to. I have no idea how much is too much or too little. Anyways I know everyone is different just wondering what you have been doing?
Robbie, I haven't ran since the spring. I took many months off and then started running again in the spring and then realized that it was too much so stopped again. I have to be careful with doing ab work and yoga. Ive over done it with that too.
I have been loving Dr. Lams website on adrenal fatigue and he says it can take 18 months to 2 years to recover and often if its bad enough that means no exercise. I did the no exercise at all for a long time but it drives me nuts! Some exercise is really good for us but it can also have quite the opposite effect than what we want.
I go day by day. I like walking and the yoga for now. I am done with racing but would love to run even a few miles a couple times a week eventually.
Thanks so much!! This is a crazy road to go down. I appreciate knowing it's not just me. Thanks again.
Some comments. There is some evidence that 2mg might be a better dose of astaxanthin than 8 mg (PMID 20205737).
With 10kIU of vitamin D, you might want to supplement some vitamin A (from cod liver oil) and vitamin K too (http://www.westonaprice.org/blogs/cmasterjohn/2012/01/22/new-evidence-of-synergy-between-vitamins-a-and-d-protection-against-autoimmune-diseases/).
Good luck!
Thanks Stephen! I really appreciate your comments and taking the time to share with me.
I am new to the astaxanthin so I will look more into the lower dose. I was sent some to test out and why I am taking it. I did read some about it before jumping in but not a lot.
I take the Salmon oil that should have the vitamin A but also eat lots of kale, cabbage, and spinach daily so that should cover the vitamin K. I eat at least a packed cup of kale and a packed cup of spinach however most days its more like 3 cups kale and spinach. The surfer veggies are fantastic!
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