Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas

 I was born and raised in Michigan. My parents, sister and her family still live there. Every year, with the exception of very few since I've left home over twenty years ago, I visit at Christmas time. This visit was by far the most difficult ever. I loved seeing my family, but this felt like torture:(  

This was the most difficult test of my will power since I have been diagnosed and I failed on Christmas Eve. Right now I'm on a healing diet which only includes alkaline forming fruits and vegetables, mostly raw or juiced, and sometimes steamed. No alcohol is allowed either.

On Christmas evening, we visited one of our family members home's, exchanged gifts, played a little pool and socialized. Of course, everyone ate dinner, had some drinks and enjoyed some fabulous desserts. I drank water, and due to my lack of will power, I cheated a little, very little, and felt it the next day.

On Christmas, we visited another family member’s home for dinner and desserts that were left over from the night before. Again, I drank water, but this time I didn’t cheat!

With the exception of some raw red peppers on Christmas, nothing served at either home was within my healing diet restrictions. Now, that really didn’t surprise me because I can’t expect them to cater to my needs especially when they are so restrictive. So I expected it and ate prior to attending. Those of you with Crohn's or colitis know that you can't eat meals until you're stuffed, so within a couple hours I was hungry again observing all of these delicious foods.

By far, this was the greatest test of my will since I've been diagnosed with Crohn's. Lots of chocolate desserts which I love, fried cheese, brie with raspberry, macaroni and cheese clusters, nacho layered dip, plus many more delicious foods, not to mention the wine.

I've recently joined this page on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ItTakesGuts. This disease is nasty folks. It's just sooooo sad to read some of these postings.

Ultimately, I cheated a little on Christmas Eve, and felt a little uncomfortable on Christmas, but by being strict to the healing diet I was fine again within a day. I had the pleasure of being with my family and being healthy on these two days, when others with the disease were far worse!!

I'm blessed to be symptom free when I stick to the healing diet, and have to remember to be grateful for that when faced with such a difficult test of will.

I'm not sure I would chose to put myself in this situation again, and hope by next year my will power has greatly improved and my diet has significantly loosened, because I sincerely don't know if I would choose to do this again. When I’d want to eat something I shouldn’t, I’d go to the Facebook page referenced above and see postings from those in much worse condition and I’d put things in perspective.

An attitude of gratitude: 
  • I was there without symptoms instead of in the hospital.
  • I was healthy visiting family members I love instead of home in bed.
  • I felt pretty good, instead of feeling like the zombie I had been that needed 18 hours sleep a day.

Things can always be worse... 

But I’m also looking forward to the day that things will be better. 

No worries Mom, I love you !!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Getting Off of the Meds!

On September 6, 2011, I recall being taken home from the hospital after having a colonoscopy. I was also scheduled to have an upper endoscopy, but Dr. Sigmon felt it wasn't necessary based upon what he saw in my colon. To me that wasn't really very good news. Meaning, my colon clearly had something very wrong with it and all of my symptoms could be explained based upon whatever it was that he thought he observed with my colon.

If you've ever had a colonoscopy, you might remember that the drugs they put you on pretty much keep you from being able to remember much. So although I had a discussion with Dr. Sigmon, I don't recall anything he might have said in regards to my diagnosis. At this point, I have no clue what he thinks I have, but he did have a discussion with my friends Stephanie and Richard who are the ones that took me home.

They told me that Dr. Sigmon had taken several biopsies of my colon and that he thought he knew the diagnosis but preferred to wait for the biopsy results which he expected in about a week. He gave them two prescriptions for me, which were supposed to help my symptoms if his suspicion was correct. At this point I felt like the walking dead. I was only drinking fruit juice and not eating or drinking anything else but water due to the uncomfortability associated with having a bowel movement, and because I believe it is the best way to cleanse your body of toxins. 

I had already been taking other medications. One was for an infection that was identified from a stool sample, and the other was for my upset stomach, or at least that's what it felt like. Later of course, I learned, that it was my intestines that were upset, not my stomach.

Ultimately, beginning on September 7, I was taking four types of medications:

Flagyl:  It's an antibiotic that eliminates bacteria and other microorganisms that cause infections of the reproductive system, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and other areas of the body. In my case, of course, it was to clear the infection in my gastrointestinal tract. Dr. Signmon had identified an infection from a test of my stool the week prior. This is one of the medications I had already been taking for about a week. It was a ten day prescription that I completed.

Dolasetron: I believe that this is the medication I was given to settle my upset stomach. In addition to the diahrea and painful hemorrhoid, I felt like I was going to vomit all the time, but never did. This was another reason why I felt that drinking fruit juices was better for me, than eating. If I already had an upset stomach, what would eating have done to it. So the juices I'd drink were not as acidic as others. For example, I drank a lot of white grape juice and apple juice, instead of orange and tomato juice.In any regard, I had the worse upset stomach for weeks and had been taking this drug for a couple weeks prior to the colonoscopy. Dolasetron is used to prevent nausea and vomiting. It works by blocking the action of serotonin, which is a natural substance the body makes that may cause nausea and vomiting. This seemed to give a little relief but not much so I stopped taking it immediately upon getting some minor relief from the healing diet.

Mesalamine:  This is one of the prescriptions that Dr. Sigmon gave after observing the inflammation in my colon. Mesalamine is an anti-inflammatory. If you look up this drup on the Internet, you will see that it is an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. It is a bowel specific drug that acts locally in the gut. Therefore, before I was even told the diagnosis, I had a good idea it was either ulcerative colitis or Crohn's.

Mesalamine is thought to work by inhibiting the production of inflammatory chemicals in the lining of the colon. Mesalamine decreases the production of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase, which are enzymes that produce prostaglandins and leukotrienes. Prostaglandins and leukotrienes are chemicals that lead to inflammation. It is believed that the cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase enzymes are over-active in people with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's and Mesalamine is believed to work by blocking the activity of these enzymes, which then reduces the production of prostaglandins, which reduces inflammation in the colon as well as the symptoms.

One issue with stopping the production of prostaglandins is that they are useful for many things other than inducing inflammation, including the construction of muscle cells around blood vessels, aggregation of platelets during blood clotting, and they deliver and strengthen pain signals. 

The side effects of taking mesalamine can be mild or severe. Mild symptoms can include headaches, muscle or joint pain, back pain, nausea and vomiting (as if I needed this right now),  heartburn, gas, constipation, dry mouth, sore throat, coughing, flu-like symptoms, runny nose, stuffy head, ear pain, anxiety, sweating, hemorrhoids (oh no...too late, I already had this), rectum pain (had this too), difficulty sleeping, acne, and hair loss. Now these are only the acceptable side effects. You could also have more serious side effects such as chest pain, shortness of breath, tarry stools, bloody vomit, vomiting material that looks like coffee grounds, increase in your need to urinate, blood in the urine, confusion, and swelling of other body parts. 

Now, according to Dr. Sigmon's P.A, Tanya Williams, mesalamine is safe for long term remission of Crohn's. Candidly, with the little bit of research I have done on mesalamine, I knew I didn't want to have to take this medication for a long time. But if you think this medication sounds bad, just wait for the next...

Budesonide:  Now this is a nasty drug. It's a corticosteroid that works by decreasing inflammation in the digestive tract. When budesonide is taken, it is released in the ileum, which is the area at the end of the small intestine, right before the large intestine. Budasonide is absorbed into the cells of the intestines. Here it works by preventing the release of certain chemicals from the cells. These chemicals are important in the immune system and are normally involved in producing immune responses that result in inflammation. By decreasing the release of these chemicals inflammation is reduced. 

The budesonide that slips away and is absorbed into the blood stream is about 10 to 15%:( This is actually very low for a corticosteroid in relation to the other options for treatment during a flare up, and therefore, budesonide actually has fewer side effects than most. The biggest concern I have with this drug works by weakening the immune system, which may lower your ability to fight infections. This most likely will make you more likely to get a serious infection or make any infection you have worse. 

In regards to the side effects, other than weakening your immune system, well they pretty much are as bad as any other drug:  nausea, heartburn, headache, oral thrush, yeast infection, tiredness, vision problems, easy bruising/bleeding, puffy face, unusual hair growth, mental/mood changes (such as depression, mood swings, agitation), muscle weakness/pain, thinning skin, slow wound healing, rash, itching and swelling, severe dizziness, and trouble breathing.

So Ultimately, the mesalamine and budesonide I began taking on September 7. I began the healing diet on September 14. I stayed on the healing diet for about two full months as I reduced the medication to be off of all medication within two months of my diagnosis. 

Date Mesalamine Budesonide
7-Sep 2 Pills 3 times per day 3 Capsules each morning
27-Sep 2 Pills 2 times per day No Change
4-Oct 1 Pill 2 times per day No Change
11-Oct 1 Pill each morning No Change
18-Oct No Change 2 Capsules each morning
25-Oct No Change 1 Capsule each morning
1-Nov Eliminated 1 Capsule each morning
8-Nov Eliminated Eliminated

It was quite funny when I had my first follow up with Tanya and Dr. Sigmon on October 25 as I explained I had reduced my medication. Ironically it was Tanya, the P.A., that basically lectured me explaining that I really need to stay on the mesalamine to ensure remission. She explained that it was a safe medication I can take for the rest of my life.

Go re-read the paragraphs above about mesalamine and help me understand how it can possibly be safe???

Dr. Sigmon on the other hand seemed genuinely happy. They both complimented me on how healthy I looked. But remember that the last time I saw them I was the walking dead, so I certainly hope that I was looking good compared to then. Haha.

I really do like Dr. Sigmon. He inquired about what I was doing that allowed me to progress so quickly. He knew it was predominantly diet related and already knew that animal products and sugar were no nos. Mostly, he was just happy for me and said as long as I was feeling good he was happy for me. He hoped it continued, but reminded me that if I ever begin to feel like I did, that he would be there for me. 

Regarding getting off of the medication, it would not have been so easy for me if I had not already been on a cleansing juice diet. For things to go as smoothly as it did for me, I believe that the body must be cleansed of toxins. During this period, I was consulting with Dr. Azar and she guided me as to what to do. 

So far, this will amaze you, I have saved about $800 in medication. And this is only my portion of the costs, not that of my insurance company.  You see these medications are very expensive. The Mesalamine was a prescription of $1,000 and the budesonide was over $700. My co-pay for a 30 day supply was $150 each. I think of this every time I have to bear the cost of buying organic foods. Haha.

Finally, it is very important when taking a corticosteroid that you don't simply just stop taking it. Your body naturally makes steroids. When you take steroid pills, your body may stop making its own steroids especially if you are on steroid pills a long time.So it was very important to me to get off of the budesonide as quickly as possible, because long term use of it could make it impossible to live without some form of steroid treatment in the future. Meaning your body may never be able to produce the amount of steroids it needs in the future if it is long term relying upon oral steroids. 

Therefore, don't stay on any steroid any longer than you must. Secondly, wean off the steroid, instead of stopping it all at once. This gives your body enough time to learn to produce steroids again.  While your body is getting used to making its own steroids, you may feel dizzy, lightheaded, tired, have stomach pain and body aches. All of which I had, but only mildly.  I was only on the full dose of budesonide for a few weeks, so there wasn't too much risk for me, but still, reducing the dose slowly and under a doctor's supervision is the safer way to go.

I look forward to returning for my follow up appointment with Dr. Sigmon and Tanya, his P.A. Tanya insisted that I stay on the mesalamine until my sediment rate is 20 or lower. Two weeks following that visit, certainly prior to even knowing if there had been any change in my sediment rate, I had eliminated that drug from my daily routine. I'm sure I'll get another lecture from her, but I expect Dr. Sigmon will again be happy for me :)


Sunday, December 18, 2011

Stop Cheating


I've been expanding my diet and living life as if my ulcers are already healed. It typically takes about a year or a little longer for the ulcers to heal so clearly since I’ve only been on the healing diet, or a version close to it, for only three months, it is probable that the ulcers have not healed. 

It seems like a long time to heal, I agree. But if you think of having a sore on the outside of your body always exposed to wet, unclean, acidic environment  filled with toxins, then you can get a better understanding as to why the healing takes so long.

After being on the healing diet since mid-September, I’ve been feeling great and it’s been easy to just began eating things like hummus, cooked foods, some acid vegetables, and some irritants like onions and garlic and an occasional sulfide free half glass of wine. Additionally, I’ve increase my activity level with snowboarding every weekend for the past three weekends and have had many business lunches and dinners that make it difficult to follow a strict diet.

I’ve also been experimenting with my dehydrator making zucchini, sweet potato, and butternut squash crisps as well as veggie burgers and banana cookies.

Add all of this to working a few extra hours due to our fiscal year end, and the added stress of not having enough time in the day to complete everything I want to complete. This has lead to reducing the time I spend meditating, and relaxing, which is very essential to healing.

All of this has been cheating my healing process and I have been feeling that something is not quite right again. It’s very hard to explain, but recently I have had some discomfort in my gut. It felt a little like menstrual cramps, but not exactly. But it wasn’t the bloated feeling that I had in Europe when my symptoms began six months ago. Ultimately, it just doesn’t feel right. Additionally, I’ve had some gurgling going on in my gut and my bowel movements changed by becoming looser as well as more frequent.

I’ve not been fatigued and still have a good amount of energy, but I know something has not progressing the way that it should. So I’ve committed to stop cheating for 30 days on all accounts.

I stopped cheating just two days ago, and all of the symptoms I mentioned above are almost gone again. In discussing things with Dr. Azar, my holistic gastroenterologist, we agreed to 30 days of a strict healing diet, meditation, exposure to the sun and outdoors, and as much rest as possible. On January 10, I return to my medical gastroenterologist, Dr. Sigmon, for a follow up in which I will get some blood work done. After the results are in, which will be right around the expiration of the 30 day commitment, depending upon the results, I will begin adding foods slowly to my diet and eventually, I will be able to get to a diet much more relaxed.

Ultimately, these are the things I intend to do over the next 30 days to ensure the healing is expedited and that my blood work comes back with positive results.

  1. I’m going to follow the very basic diet as prior described in my blog, including bringing my lunch to work so that I can avoid having to eat out at lunch. I’ll begin making sure to schedule my business meetings during business hours, not during meal times.
  2. I’m committing to spend more time in the sun. I already get a good amount of sun on the weekend, but Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays I will sit outside at the Piedmont Town Center (where I live) after work as long as the sun is still remaining, and I will eat my lunch outside instead of in my office. All of this is dependent upon the weather of course. If I begin to do this, my vitamin D will improve, as well as it will reduce the business of my mental state, both of which are essential for healing.
  3. I will ensure that I get 8 hours sleep whenever feasible. I have been getting only 6 hours some days.
  4. I will meditate at least 30 minutes a day. Clearing the mind and body of the day to day stresses, and focusing upon the things we are thankful for is extremely beneficial to healing. I don’t want to waste energy with any negativity as that energy could be used for healing.



Not only do I need to follow the proper diet, but I also need to make sure that my body has the time and energy to heal.

Stress is very bad on the body. Your body only has so much nerve energy to radiate. Let me explain. Nerve energy is radiated from your Solar Plexus. It is a mass of nerve substance that is often referred to as abdominal brain. It is located just behind the pit of the stomach and it receives and distributes nerve-impulses and energy to all of the respiration, circulation and digestion organs, which is referred to as the Sympathetic Nervous System. The Sympathetic System controls the automatic mechanisms of the body such as the beating of the heart, contraction and dilation of the arteries, the actions of the gastrointestinal tract, the contraction of muscles and the control of the secretion of our glands.

When you are stressed, worried, feel guilty, are sad, or have any other overwhelmingly negative emotion, your Solar Plexus contracts. When you are at peace and happy, it expands. The more your Solar Plexus expands, the more nerve energy that is radiates. This is essential to healing! Therefore, meditation and quite time helps your mental state so that you can keep your Solar Plexus in an expansion mode.

A good analogy would be compared to a computer that has so many programs running that none of them work efficiently, so you have to reboot your computer in order for any of the programs to work properly again. In addition to sleep, this is what meditation and the quite time outdoors is intended to accomplish.

Also, your body heals and recharges nerve energy most efficiently when you sleep. When you get tired and need to go to sleep it is because you have nearly run out of nerve energy. When you sleep, your nerve energy is recharged. Have you noticed when you are ill that you are more tired than normal? It’s because you are using up your nerve energy more quickly on the healing. So a good amount of sleep is essential as well.

It’s 9:42 p.m. at the moment. I’ve already walked my dog, Rusty, for the night and I’m heading to meditate for about 20 minutes and then will be going to sleep for the night. I don’t have to awake until 6:00 p.m. so I’ll be getting my eight hours tonight!!

Good night:)

Sunday, December 11, 2011

More on The Healing Diet


At the moment, I am sitting on a couch in Kris’s apartment in Banner Elk with Kris, Byron and Geoff. They are all snowboard instructors, as am I, at Beech Mountain. I enjoy snowboarding too much to let this disease keep me from doing it. But they are all eating pizza at the momentJ I would love to join them, but the cheese, pepperoni, and flour in the bread all will wreak havoc on my colon. So the biggest aspect of healing the ulcers comes from will power and discipline. I likely am going to leave and head up to The Frog and The Monkey (the only healthy restaurant in Banner Elk) to help me with willpowerJ

Ultimately, you MUST do what you have to do to avoid the foods and things that aggravate your digestive tract, even if that means avoiding the situations that tempt you.

When I was going to the hospital to get my Colonoscopy prior to my diagnosis, I remember telling Stephanie and Richard, my friends that took me there, that when I was feeling better I was going to order a small pizza from Papa Johns and eat the entire thing. I have yet to do that, and it’s been three months. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to do that again, but I’ll make it my goal to find something that I enjoy just as muchJ

My health is worth more than the temporary pleasure of the palate. This is something I tell myself regularly when I am tempted. I remember how miserable I was walking my dog looking and feeling like a zombie, and I remind myself that I can pleasure my palate at the expense of becoming a zombie again.

Now for the discussing on diet…would it surprise you that raw vegetables digest faster than cooked vegetables? It’s true….read on…

As you know, with Crohn’s or colitis, the colon is obviously not in its optimum condition and due to the inflammation and ulcers, nutrients are not absorbed through the intestinal wall as it would be if the colon was healthy. So it is important to make sure that you eat in a manner that allows for maximum assimilation of nutrients and that is gentle on the digestive tract. This means that food should be raw to start with because when food is cooked at 118 degrees or higher, it loses its enzymes as well as its nutrients.

Raw food, and foods prepared at 118 degrees or lower, not only has all of their nutrients, but they have enzymes that assist in the digestive process so that your digestive enzymes don’t have to do all the work. This basically means that the digestive tract gets help digesting the food from the food itself. But this does not occur with cooked food because the high temperatures kill the enzymes, and therefore, cooked food takes longer to digest than uncooked food.

Ultimately, raw fruits and vegetables are the best to ensure that you get all of your nutrients and that the food enzymes will be in tact so that they can assist in digesting the food.

Also, food digests at different rates. For example, melons digest very fast. Within 20 or 30 minutes they exit the stomach, and therefore the assimilation of nutrients also begins to happen very quickly. But if the melon gets caught up in the stomach with foods that digest slowly, for example, seeds and nuts that take two to three hours to exit the stomach, then it will ferment before it ever gets to the intestines where the nutrients are absorbed. The melon not only becomes empty calories to some extent, but the fermenting of the melon may create discomfort of some sort in your gut due to the gas, acid, and even alcohol it creates.

Therefore, I have learned that eating foods in the proper combination according to the time in which it takes to digest properly is important to proper digestion for the maximum assimilation of nutrients and so that the food enzymes can aide in the digestive process.

Melons, are best eaten alone, because of how fast they travel through the digestive system. Sweet soft fruits digest very fast as well, but not as fast as melons, so sweet fruits are best eaten with other sweet fruits and non-starchy vegetables, but not with starchy vegetables, which digest much slower. Basically, the guidelines below can be used as a guideline for proper food combining:

Melons:  Always eat alone

Sweet Fruits: 
  • Eat alone
  • Eat with other sweet fruits
  • Eat with green non-starchy vegetables

 Non-Starchy Vegetables:
  • Eat alone
  • Eat with any vegetable



Keep in mind that during the time you are concentrating on healing the ulcers, the foods you eat should predominantly be fruits and vegetables that are alkaline forming and they should have low acid levels themselves. A lemon, for example, is an alkaline forming food, but it contains too much citrus acid that will aggravate your ulcers.

As your ulcers begin to heal, you may add some seeds and nuts in moderation, and only after soaking them in water. More on the reasons behind that later. But seeds and nuts digest very slowly, so never eat them with sweet fruits that digest quickly. Eat them alone or with non-starchy vegetables. At the early stage of healing Crohn’s or colitis, avoid these entirely.

Here is a typical day:

Breakfast:                        2 Bananas in a smoothie with spring water, coconut water, or celery juice

Day Time Snacks:          A pear, grapes, mango or banana are my favorite fruit snacks

Lunch:                              Cantaloupe, honey dew, watermelon or any other type of melon

Dinner:                             Steamed sweet potatoes or squash. Or a salad with either blended/juiced fruits for a dressing, or topped with raisins or chopped dates for additional flavor.

Night Time Snack:          Juiced vegetables including carrots, celery, cucumber, bok choy, romaine and red sweet pepper (this is good for the vitamins needed to combat anemia).

Today I’m up at Beech Mountain, and eating on the road is more difficult. When at a restaurant, a salad of mixed greens topped with raisins seems readily available, mixed vegetables, and sweet potatoes are often available too. Ask for the vegetables steamed instead of cooked. Steaming vegetables is better than baking or frying because it occurs at a significantly lower temperature and therefore the food keeps more of the nutrients. As prior mentioned, cooking fruits and vegetables basically kills the enzymes and losses their nutrients.

Today, this was my menu:

Breakfast:                        2 Banana smoothie with spring water

Lunch:                              Watermelon that I had cut up in advance knowing I wouldn’t no be close to a kitchen or restaurant that could accommodate my diet.

Snacks:                            I made dehydrated sweet potato chips last night and took them with me for snacks.

Dinner:                              I haven’t quite figured it out yet, but I likely will go up to The Frog and The Monkey, which is a restaurant in Banner Elk that has healthy choices. I will likely have a salad and maybe some baked sweet potato fries.

As you will notice, everything today, except the baked sweet potatoes, was uncooked and prepared by me. I have found that is the easiest way to stay true to the diet. I strive to keep 80-90% of my diet uncooked to ensure I get the nutrients I need.

Lastly, I do have some things I cheat with that I really enjoy eating. I’ll share a couple recipes with you in the near future, but zucchini lasagna and chocolate ice cream are two of them. Both have ingredients that are not recommended at this time, but since I am feeling great, I am testing some boundaries in moderation. Stay tuned…

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Oxalic Acid is a No-No (and a follow up on curing Anemia)


If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that I have researched what I can do in order to increase my red blood cell count. One of the things I researched is the foods that I should eat that are high in the vitamins and minerals needed the body needs. Kale is one of the foods that is rich is iron, vitamin C and many of the B vitamins.

Last Tuesday, I ate some kale crisps, which is basically dehydrated marinated kale. I thought I was doing well choosing this food because it is also alkaline forming when digested which is exactly what is preferred during the healing phase of Crohn’s. By that evening, I had diarrhea that was almost as bad as what occurs when you take the prep for a colonoscopy.  Urrgggghhhh:(

Ironically, I had a scheduled appointment at 4:00 p.m. that day to speak with my holistic gastroenterologist, which was just after I ate the kale, but before the diarrhea began   I inquired about kale with her and she advised me that it is not wise to eat it yet because of the oxalic acid within kale. I didn’t tell her during this conversation that I had had kale earlier that day, and a lot of it. I wanted to see if it affected me as she suspected that it would.

Oxalic acid is extremely strong and salty, and since the healing diet is a cleansing diet, a strong acid reacts very negatively with the body. I was unable to make it to work on Wednesday because I couldn’t be away from the toilet for more than 30 minutes in the morning hours. By the evening, I only needed to frequent the bathroom every couple of hours. My bowel movements weren’t back to normal for three days.

Therefore, if you’re on the healing diet or any cleanse, avoid oxalic acid which is commonly found in spinach, rhubarb, collard greens, and kale. I’m sure it’s in many other foods, so it is worth exploring whenever you’re cleansing.

My last blog, I mentioned that I would follow up on a couple of things regarding curing my anemia. First, Dr. Azar confirmed that  there isn’t a way to get vitamin B-12 through plant based foods and she suggested that I get tested for it when I see my medical gastroenterologist on January 10. The specific test I will request is a methyl malonic acid and homo cystine test. If this shows that my B-12 is low, a supplement that dissolves in the mouth is better than a pill that settles in the stomach since it can aggravate the digestive tract. I’m going to start taking the supplement now so and not wait for the test so that it can hopefully assist in curing my anemia.

Additionally, she agreed that exercise is okay at this time as long as it’s not in excess.  Red blood cells are needed when rebuilding muscle, but the body tends to produce more of something it needs, so a little bit of exercise at this point could be positive and prompt more red blood cell production.

I went snowboarding this past weekend so I got enough exercise and did so at a higher elevation, of course. Because oxygen is not as readily available at a higher elevation, the body tends to produce more blood cells so it can carry more oxygen.  Hopefully the little bit of exercise at the higher elevation will also help.

Next blog will be more detail on the healing (cleansing diet).