Just a relatively quick update on my experience so far with LDN (Low Dose Naltrexnone). Summing up what my experiences have been so far, what my goals are, what my hopes are, and some things coming up for me. Please don’t hesitate to comment here, or send me an email if you have any questions about LDN. I’m not a doctor and do not give out medical advice, but I can answer questions about my experiences.
I make everything into nuggets/patties. Okay, not truly everything, but more than your average person. Why do I do this? Because nuggets/patties can be finger food, are easy to eat, are easy to put a lot of good stuff into, and are easier to convince toddlers to eat. They’re also delicious. As well as easy to make and usually pretty quick. They reheat well, too, which is great for quick lunches. They’re pretty foolproof, too. You can really make them out of whatever you want or have on hand. They’re fantastic for using up leftovers. Sometimes I use leftover stuffing, and egg, maybe some tuna, and some veggies, other times I’ll food process a slew of vegetables.
This is an example of some I made with carrots and kale. I use egg as a binder in every patty/nugget I make, and some sort of dry binder to soak up liquid. For these, I used almond flour. I also have found that using gluten free oats ground into flour works very well. I simply mix it all together with whatever seasonings strike me, form into patties or nuggets, and cook in a cast iron pan in coconut oil over medium heat.
Yes, it’s really that easy. Here are some with some more photos of the ingredients and steps. Though, like I said, there’s no actual recipe, it’s really more of a make it up as you go thing. I used golden beets, broccoli (this is a perfect place to use the broccoli stalks. Just peel them, as the outside is tough and stringy), bell peppers, and carrots. I threw them into the food processor and ground it pretty finely. I poured it into a flour sack towel and squeezed out as much liquid as I could.
Here is a kind of long winded update on what I’ve been up to, why I’ve been absent from the blog, and some health updates.
If you follow my facebook page, you’re probably aware that a couple of weeks ago I wound up in the ER. I was having severe abdominal pain, and immense belly distention. I made an appointment with my doctor, and then received a call back a little while later telling me that she was canceling the appointment, and advising me to go to the ER, as the pain sounded like appendix pain, and she didn’t want me to waste time I may not have, coming into the office. Begrudgingly, my husband and I made the trip. I should note that it was begrudgingly by me, not him.
While they weren’t able to get a good reading from the MRI (who would have ever thought I don’t have enough intra abdominal fat for a good reading?! Goes to show you, appearances can be deceiving.), they didn’t find anything of concern. Everything looked good. My doctor followed up with the hospital, and they did find that I have a stone in my appendix, but I was assured that was not the cause, and that it may have been there for many years.
We went in for a followup with my doctor. She suggested FODMAP. FODMAP diet, is simply eating foods that are low in Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols, which are short chain carbohydrates. They are often not well absorbed in the small intestine, which can cause bloating, diarrhea, and other symptoms. Sounds cool, right? Well, yes. Except that includes my beloved beets, garlic, and onions. While beets are a seasonal thing for us, now is when they’re harvested, and that’s heartbreaking for me. Maybe not heartbreaking, but a real bummer. Garlic and onions, on the other hand, are what I use in basically every meal I ever cook. Also honey. Honey is high FODMAP, and something I traditionally use in almost every meat dish I make. So it’s been interesting to figure out how to create tasty dishes without my trinity of onions, garlic, and honey. I’ve done quite well, I must say, so at least there’s that!
I digress, as I often do. Let’s loop back to the cause of the ER visit. It’s been a mystery. My beloved Jamie (one of my favorite people in the entire world) suggested before I even went to the ER that perhaps the cause of my belly woes was the vegan cheese I ate the night before. I didn’t think so, because I’d had it without incident the week before. Cut to last night, I wanted a grilled cheese so badly it was all I could think about, and I was at the store picking up almond milk, so I grabbed another package of the vegan cheddar, since the stuff in my fridge was now too old to use. I made a grilled cheese (gluten free, dairy free…my life is so wild), and by 2am I was in pretty intense pain. Jamie was right all along! It was the vegan cheese!
Mind you, I’d checked the ingredients the first time I had it, and didn’t see anything strange. And last night I checked it against the FODMAP allowances, and it still checked out. So, I’m just allergic to something in it. We don’t know what, but my husband, who is just the best, by the way, suggested I email the doctor and just let her know what we’ve figured out, send her the ingredients, and see if she has any thoughts on it. I’d like to do some food allergy testing, but I’ve been shot down every time I’ve asked. I think it’s a pain for doctors to justify with insurance, so insurance usually just rejects it. But maybe since I’ve now twice poisoned myself because I don’t know what I’m supposed to be avoiding (while already avoiding gluten, dairy, and high FODMAP foods) I can get it justified.
However, in the meantime…I’m in pain. I tried everything last time. Copious amounts of digestive enzymes, peppermint tea, peppermint EO topically, gas-X, etc. Nothing touched it. This time because I believe it’s an allergy, I’m approaching it differently, and hoping beyond hopes that I’m able to curb some of the reaction and not be in pain and distended for four days, like I was last time. Here’s what I’m doing:
I’m drinking a tea consisting of turmeric, freshly ground black pepper, and coconut oil. Turmeric is a great anti-inflammatory, but is best absorbed by the body when black pepper is added. Coconut oil also aids in absorption because of the fat content. I added some organic cane sugar for palatability, but if you’re not low FODMAP, honey would be great, as well.
I don’t have results yet, since I’m sitting here having just taken the activated charcoal. However, since I’ve taken the charcoal, it hasn’t gotten worse, and prior to that I was rapidly blowing up like a balloon. I’m hopeful! I just wanted to share because it would have been helpful for me to see this from someone else. I never would have thought the vegan cheese was the issue. I never would have thought it was an allergy to one of the ingredients. And I didn’t initially think to treat the inflammation. I hope this can help someone!
UPDATE: I am almost back to normal one day later. The activated charcoal and turmeric tea really seemed to help. I was still quite sore and a bit distended last night, but nothing compared to the previous time (which was the purpose of the ER visit). This morning I’m just a little sore, nothing bad, and my distention is almost gone. That’s INCREDIBLE. This was the number of days in that I wound up going to the ER last time, and looked a solid 18 weeks pregnant. To have that much of a difference tells me that the activated charcoal, and likely the turmeric tea, really nipped the reaction in the bud. I am beyond pleased with the results! While I hope to never have to do this again, I’m making sure to keep activated charcoal and turmeric on hand at all times, now! I really hope anyone reading this, going through something similar, finds relief with this, as well.
I’d also like to note that this is NOT for anaphylactic allergies. Those require an epi pen and an ER visist. PLEASE do not try to combat an anaphylactic reaction with activated charcoal or turmeric.
***I am not a medical doctor and nothing in this blog is medical advice or to be used in lieu of medical treatment or advice from a doctor.
As you know, I have an autoimmune disease, adrenal fatigue, and am hypothyroid. Another special gift I have is Diastasis Recti. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s an opening or gap in abdominal muscles, between the right and left side. It’s typically measured by finger width. Diastasis recti is pretty common, especially among women who have been pregnant, but it’s definitely not exclusive to women. Even holding in gas can cause diastasis recti. The issue with it is that many typical exercises (including pushups and most abdominal exercises) can make DR worse. If it’s something you’re dealing with, you’ll want to ensure that whatever types of exercises you’re doing are safe and promote healing.
I’ve mentioned that I took a several month hiatus from working out. First it was throwing my back out, then I came down with a virus that knocked me out, and then the incredible outside stress that I had no control over got really out of hand, and I knew that given my autoimmune disease and adrenal issues, I needed to let exercise go for a while. I have been doing gentle workouts for several years and have had great results. I have had bouts where I get upset because I’m not pushing my body to extremes, like I did with crossfit, but my body can’t handle extremes. I even did a 15 Day Mommy Fit Challenge workout, and LOVED it, but it was too much stress on my body. I wound up sick from it. Which is honestly incredibly frustrating. But I also know better. I was just hoping that because it wasn’t nearly as extreme as crossfit, and since I’d been doing gentler workouts every other day without any problem, I’d be okay. I was mistaken.
What I have found that works well for me are short workouts consisting of two round of several exercises. Since I can’t do traditional abdominal workouts, I’ve incorporated a move that I’ve found good results from that is diastasis recti safe. Since I can’t do pushups, I try to incorporate other arm exercises, and while I know that pushups are full body, not just arms, it’s a good alternative to pushups for me. I’ve done many workouts, including the Adrenal Reset Workout, Garage Warrior, Fit in 10, and several others. I also, as mentioned, did crossfit for years. What I have found that works well for me is just the basics. Basic exercises that can be done anywhere. I use 15 lb dumbbells because that’s what I like, but before my pregnancy, I used 30 lb dumbbells. I don’t know that I’ll ever get there again, but I’m really not that interested in adding weight at this point. More about getting the movements and exercise in, and ensuring that I don’t overdo it.
These are the exercises I do. I do 2 rounds of whichever 6 exercises I choose. I do them for 1 minute each, so not a set number of reps. I do squats every time, and I do the knee drop every time, as I really like them both, and I think they benefit every workout.
When outside stressors happen, I have been taking time off of workouts, knowing that if I don’t it can be detrimental to my health. I have lost about 24 pounds since September and most of that, honestly, has been during times I haven’t worked out. My body appears to not be absorbing nutrients, and I have many deficiencies at this point. Because of this, I can easily do too much. When I’m feeling especially tired or worn out, I don’t workout, and I urge others to follow that rule of thumb, especially when dealing with autoimmune diseases, thyroid problems, adrenal issues, mineral/vitamin/nutrition deficiencies, and anyone in recovery.
Working out feels so, so good! And it’s such a reward to yourself, but it’s important to restrict it, no matter how much you’d like no to, when you’re dealing with health issues. I really hope that you enjoy these exercises and incorporate them into your life as you see fit and in a way that best benefits you. I enjoy them greatly. I do plan to post a demonstrational video in the near future, so there’s a little something to get excited about. Who doesn’t want to watch a woman in her mid 30’s who doesn’t workout for a living demonstrate exercises for all the world to see? I may even get my monkey girl to accompany me. Please note that I have no professional filming equipment and do not have a studio, so this will be my living room and my poor husband with my phone. I keep sweetening the pot…
***I am not a medical doctor and nothing in this blog is medical advice or to be used in lieu of medical treatment or advice from a doctor.
