It’s been a while since I wrote anything, mainly because I haven’t felt well. I think I was ill for pretty much all December. I recovered for Christmas day but then maybe all the tidying and cooking finished me off again, as from Boxing day, boom, down I went again with a sore throat and head cold. I’m just starting to feel much better, hence finally writing this blog piece!
So I’m going to have to go back a little while to my last blog post where I was happy to be having sugar and not starch. That did not last long! My temperature just will not rise if I do not have starch. It will be 36.3 in the morning and it will remain there, or it will get pushed up to 37 because it’s stressed. I did not feel good. I lost the urge to do things and then by December I was a sitting duck waiting for the first bug/virus to attack me, and attack me they did! I was ill and miserable and something had to change. It’s difficult though because you lose the urge to do things and you don’t realise you are not doing the things you need to do to get better. I stopped doing the raw carrot salad, even though I know how much it can help, just because I became lethargic and not as pro-active about things.
So I’m going to have to go back a little while to my last blog post where I was happy to be having sugar and not starch. That did not last long! My temperature just will not rise if I do not have starch. It will be 36.3 in the morning and it will remain there, or it will get pushed up to 37 because it’s stressed. I did not feel good. I lost the urge to do things and then by December I was a sitting duck waiting for the first bug/virus to attack me, and attack me they did! I was ill and miserable and something had to change. It’s difficult though because you lose the urge to do things and you don’t realise you are not doing the things you need to do to get better. I stopped doing the raw carrot salad, even though I know how much it can help, just because I became lethargic and not as pro-active about things.
Before I fast forward to December though, I’m going to just ramble about orange juice again and the problems that I have off and on with it. Some of the time it gives me anxiety and some of the time it makes me feel really cold. I figured the problem was lack of starch so I tried to add a few potatoes in again (not a huge amount like I used to eat!) but no, I got more anxiety, sore lips and bad sleep. So I swapped to sweet potatoes to see if they were any better but after a day or two the same things started happening: anxiety, sore back, very dry skin, sore lips and terrible sleep.
It’s been suggested to me that the anxiety is psychological, or that I bring it on myself. For a couple of years now I have pondered this. Am I crazy? Lol! Probably! Do I do it to myself? Lately it’s been said to me that I identify foods as problems for no particular reason! Finally I am saying NO! No, I do not have psychological issues with fruit and veg. No, I don’t bring it on myself. No, I don’t identify foods as problems for no reason. I’ve doubted myself for so long because I know how easy it is to get things wrong, to believe/trust things are working when they’re not, to hone in on the wrong things, I know this because I do it often!! We’re human, not infallible, and it’s often hard to see the wood for the trees. Apart from the anxiety, I was also getting very sore, cracked lips, with horrible sores on them, and I certainly wasn’t bringing them on myself! Nor was I willing my sore back to come back or giving myself dry skin or terrible sleep.
It’s been suggested to me that the anxiety is psychological, or that I bring it on myself. For a couple of years now I have pondered this. Am I crazy? Lol! Probably! Do I do it to myself? Lately it’s been said to me that I identify foods as problems for no particular reason! Finally I am saying NO! No, I do not have psychological issues with fruit and veg. No, I don’t bring it on myself. No, I don’t identify foods as problems for no reason. I’ve doubted myself for so long because I know how easy it is to get things wrong, to believe/trust things are working when they’re not, to hone in on the wrong things, I know this because I do it often!! We’re human, not infallible, and it’s often hard to see the wood for the trees. Apart from the anxiety, I was also getting very sore, cracked lips, with horrible sores on them, and I certainly wasn’t bringing them on myself! Nor was I willing my sore back to come back or giving myself dry skin or terrible sleep.
So finally in a fit of desperation I emailed Dr Peat again. It was along the same lines as the last email, saying have I broken myself with too many potatoes, or too much potassium! I’ve been feeling kind of crazy about not knowing what’s going on so I might as well sound crazy as well hey! This time he emailed back saying:
“It could be problems with their digestion, rather than the potassium. Milk, eggs, meat, fish and cheese can provide the essential nutrients without the plant materials.”
“It could be problems with their digestion, rather than the potassium. Milk, eggs, meat, fish and cheese can provide the essential nutrients without the plant materials.”
Well hallelujah!! That makes sense. That would be why I got all the horrid symptoms, including the anxiety. So at first I was excited and cut all plant materials out, along with the rice. I upped the dairy instead and for a day or two everything was alright. And then it wasn’t! Lol! Sound familiar? I was pretty much doing what I had been doing. It didn’t work then and it sure as heck wasn’t going to work now just because Dr. Peat had replied to my email!! My body just hadn’t got the memo! I think if you are good with a lot of dairy then yes you would get everything you need, but I am not good with a lot of dairy. If I increase it too much then I just don’t sleep. I want to sleep! I like my sleep!
So I had to go back to what I had been doing: a bit of rice, butter and salt with each meal, a couple of small portions of butternut squash (which is pretty much all I can tolerate) along with something sweet after it. I also had a bit of a ponder and asked some people more knowledgeable than myself what might help with digestion. I still do the raw carrot every day, which will help, but I was wondering what else I could do. ‘Lysine might help’, I was told. So I ordered some. Studies have shown that lysine can oppose serotonin in the brain and the gut and it can inhibit nitric oxide synthesis. The first couple of times I took it I was really spaced out! I was at the supermarket trying to buy food and I was just staring at the shelves, like I just couldn’t make a decision! Then at home my daughter spoke to me and I just looked at her but walked out the room as I just couldn’t summon up the will to reply! Haha! Not good. After that I started just taking 500mg at bed time, but after a few days that spaced out feeling stopped so I was taking 500mg in the morning and 500mg at night. It took all my feelings of anxiety away and my sleep was great. I was feeling a bit better so what did I decide to do? Mess with things again!
I thought that as the lysine was taking all the anxiety away I would try and see if I could drink orange juice without bringing it on. I treated myself to the freshly squeezed juice that I love and had it in fairly small amounts. The first day was fine. The day after not so much! I got some anxiety coming back and even though taking lysine took it away again, the sores on my lip came back in full force. Sad times!
I took stock. I have to make my peace with not being able to tolerate/digest many fruits or vegetables at the moment. I guess this is not so bad in the winter and maybe I’ll be a bit more resilient by the summer, if I stop trying to force it. I need to take my own advice: listen to your body it’s always talking to you. The anxiety I was having after eating certain things was a message to me, but because I thought it was me causing the anxiety or somehow getting in a tizz about stuff then I stopped listening and started trying to make it so! You just can’t force things, it doesn’t work!
One of the other things I need to be mindful of, still being quite hypothyroid, is that I need a lot of salt. I know this because I can salt my food with a lot of salt before I even begin to taste it. When I decided to swap out starch for all sugar, my salt intake must have fallen quite a bit. This would also affect digestion, among other things. You should always salt your food to taste. Don’t force down more than you need (unsurprisingly I have also tried this! Lol! I just ended up awake for a lot of the night!) and don’t forget to add it until it tastes right for you. When you are hypothyroid your body wastes salt. Salt also helps edema, although I just can’t seem to get rid of mine, but hey ho, it goes with the hypothyroid territory. One day I’ll get all my ducks in a row (and they won’t be sitting!)
This morning when I woke my temperature was 36.3 °C, which is my normal waking temp if my body hasn't been stressed in the night. (This is a low waking temp by the way, but it is what it is! I consider it an improvement on the waking temps of 36.6 which were just a stress induced raise of temp. At least I've lowered stress hormones now.) After breakfast (and thyroid and progesterone) my temp was 37 °C. I picked on a few M&S foam lobsters in the morning and my temp before lunch was 36.7 °C (heart rate 80). After lunch (and aspirin, thyroid & pregnenolone) it was 36.9 °C (heart rate 84). Before my afternoon snack my temp was 36.5 °C (heart rate 76) & afterwards it was 37 °C (heart rate 80). You get the picture! Meals should always boost your temp & heart rate, so that you feel warm, including your extremities. The only exercising I do at the moment is stretching. I really love it & I just don’t have the energy to spare for other activities at the moment.
My plan at the moment is to carry on doing what I am doing and not change anything (big challenge I know!! Lol!) for a few weeks. Make sure my temp and heart rate are always increasing after meals and that my sleep is good. I think having plenty of salt, being consistent , keeping my temperature up, taking thyroid, having a daily raw carrot salad, and the biggie, not trying to force things that my body doesn't want to deal with at the moment, should go some way to fixing my digestion problems. I will also carry on with the lysine and see how that goes.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my long overdue ramblings. As always listen to your body, as I am finally listening to mine, and do your own experimenting. Feel free to leave any questions/comments below, I always love to hear from you guys! I’ll have an update in the next few weeks to let you know how I’m getting on & if I’ve managed to resist changing/messing with things!! Take care, Karen x
I hope you’ve enjoyed my long overdue ramblings. As always listen to your body, as I am finally listening to mine, and do your own experimenting. Feel free to leave any questions/comments below, I always love to hear from you guys! I’ll have an update in the next few weeks to let you know how I’m getting on & if I’ve managed to resist changing/messing with things!! Take care, Karen x
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