random moment of happiness: Annie showing her distaste forpausing for the camera while there was snow to run in
I haven't published on this blog in quite a while. I've been trying to distract myself and de-stress more by focusing on my food blog. It was Vegan Month of Food, so I tried to blog as much as possible (I fell a bit short of my recipe per day, but I had a pretty good run).
The new medication, Ketotifen, has been helping quite a bit, but I've noticed my energy levels are going down and I'm having more gastrointestinal symptoms. I'm not in pain, but I'm having to run to the bathroom often and can't always make the ride in to work. I've noticed low grade fevers from time to time, my arthritis kicks up a bit, and I'm mentally foggy. I went to the doctor to review some test results. They made sense, but were a surprise.
I've mentioned before than LDN doesn't tend to work when I have Candida Albicans overgrowth in my intestines. I'm not sure why this is and my doctor and I tossed around a few theories. Does candida bind to receptors in the intestinal wall, preventing the medication from functioning properly? Does the LDN create more immune response and Herx die-off? I now have proof that my last flare leading up to starting the new medication was no exception to the candida vs. LDN problem. It just wasn't something I considered at the time.
I took this most recent g.i. ecology test in mid-October, before I started eating the food I write so much about on my food blog. This was back when I was vomiting and had severe pain any time I ate anything other than vegetables. My diet consisted of nuts, seeds, sprouts, sea vegetables, and vegetables. That was it. I wasn't consuming fruits, sugars, grains, legumes, mushrooms, cashews, peanuts, cooked food, or other plant material that is considered to encourage candida growth. I was also taking two Adya Clarity "Super Shots" per day regularly for a month prior to the test and on single shots for more than a month prior to that. I started out with a level 1 candida overgrowth on a scale of 5 and ended up at a 4 after months of eating a very strict diet and religiously taking Adya Clarity. This is the highest candida reading I've had to date.
Other issues that came up in the test:
- Very elevated lysozyme reading (ongoing chronic colon inflammation indicator)
- Borderline elevated Alpha Anti-Chymotrypsin (small intestine irritation)
- Gliadin AB, SIgA Borderline positive reaction to gluten (which I haven't eaten in 6 years)
- Abnormally low Chymotrypsin (Pancreatic enzyme markers)
- Positive for intestinal bleeding
I was feeling very frustrated yesterday because I felt like I was doing everything "right" and actually got worse. My doctor feels that I may have an immune system flaw that prevents me from regulating candida levels in my gut. My liver hasn't been detoxing things very well and I've had some physical signs of liver stress, so we don't want to try Diflucan yet. I'm starting on a medication similar to Nystatin that is taken orally and does not permeate the intestinal walls. He said I may need to stay on a maintenance dose once or twice a week until we figure out how to knock out the candida. I'm a bit worried it's more a systemic issue and has gone beyond my intestines. In that case Diflucan may be worth the risk, but we're also going to try separating out the candida albicans in my allergy shots and taking that a few times a week to build up immunity and desensitize me a bit to it.
Well, I'm really tired and it's the last day of Vegan MoFo, so I better get back to the food....
Looks like it's back to eating lots and lots of greens