Before the new year began, I scheduled an appointment with a new doctor. A holistic doctor, to be more specific. As one of the many millions of folks out there that has to shop for their own medical care, I got pretty tired of going to doctors who wanted to just treat symptoms and not look at the big picture when it comes to healthcare. Besides, it was beginning to look like my previous doctor was trying to set a land-speed record for getting patients out of the examining rooms. The new doctor's office actually devotes and entire hour--yes you read that correctly--for the initial visit, with follow-ups varying between 30 and 45 minutes in duration depending on your needs.
My first visit was this past Wednesday. I have been grappling with a variety of symptoms that the new doctor feels can be tied to one root cause: a thyroid that is out of whack. I'd grown to suspect that this might be the problem, but not once has any other physician even said, "Hey maybe we should have this checked out." Dr. Erika listened to all my concerns, asked lots of questions to get a clear picture of my medical history and lifestyle, and I left feeling like we were on track to getting me to better health.
The doctor also determined that I have a problem with candida. So I have been placed on a yeast elimination diet. When she laid out the diet for me I said, "I can do this!" This is easier said than done, because in addition to removing the foods that list yeast in the ingredients it also means NO SUGAR. And NO COFFEEEEEE!!! To be honest, I had already reduced my daily coffee consumption; but to eliminate it altogether is tough. Especially when your husband, coffee elitist supreme, roasts and grinds coffee beans right here in the house. Oh, and please don't even get me started on the fruit thing--NO FRUIT for at least the first two weeks! I love fruit; in fact, I've got platter of delicious fruit sitting on my dining table that is now off limits. I can add fruit back in to my diet slowly, but some fruits may have to remain off limits for the forseeable future. The good news is that I have seriously upped my consumption of veggies, which is definitely a good thing. Ever see those commercials that talk about how we need at least 25 grams of fiber a day, and you see that lady loading up her grocery cart with broccoli and stuff? Yeah, I'm a veggie eating machine now.
I'm already seeing results--I'm feeling less bloated, I'm less fatigued, and I weight 1.5 pounds less than I did last week. I won't lie--I'm suffering from some serious coffee and sugar withdrawals; but I have hope that I'll be better soon.
Monday, January 07, 2008
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6 comments:
If you gradually feel better and better, it will definitely be worth it, but agh--having to smell fresh-roasted, fresh-ground coffee and not have any would be pretty awful.
Can you have any agave syrup on the candida diet? It's a nice, natural sugar sub that I'm finding works well in a variety of recipes.
For now I've been avoiding sweeteners, even the natural ones--though my doc says that for now I can use things like brown rice syrup (and I presume agave as well) in small doses. I do like the taste of agave; in fact, I had recently gotten accustomed to using that in my tea instead of the sugar in the raw I was using.
WOW! Glad you have someone who listens to you - but I'll bet you didn't want to listen to the no coffee thing huh?
I couldn't do no coffee - I'd be hell to live with, totally.
I started this elimination diet several years ago and it did help me too. In fact that is how I found out about gluten because I was supposed to eliminate wheat and dairy as part of the candida-ridding process. You will feel better...I guarantee it. I need to watch myself more closely too because I suspect I could be filling up with candi too...
YOU GO GIRL! LOVE YA
I have problems with candida too, and I'm afraid I went a bit over-board with sweets during the holidays and am feeling it now! Back to being stict again. I'm right there with you.
Did your doctor say anything about pears and pear juice? I've heard that yeast does not like the sugar in pears. Don't know if it's true or not...
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