Functional medicine, other alternative strategies and traditional medicine

[Mamabug]

Update

Here's an update on my symptoms. It's not really related to Dr. G, other than I'm keeping him updated.

I could have taken a UA sample in to the lab he works with in Wichita, but it was easier to call my PCP doctor here in my community. They found an infection. I wish I'd asked more questions, but I assume it was a kidney infection, based on the symptoms I was having. I'm currently on an anti-biotic for it, so I should be better in a week or so.

[Mamabug]

Appt. #13

Appt. #13 was December 10.

- Dr. G asked about how I managed with my diet at Thanksgiving. I, actually, did really well. I attended a large family reunion. There were just over 100 people there. There are 700-800 living direct descendants of my husband's great-grandfather. They get together every year for a large carry-in for Thanksgiving dinner at noon; it used to be annually, but they changed it about 10 years ago. So, it includes my husband's first and second cousins and aunts and uncles, my father-in-law's (FIL) cousins, etc.

It is generally just those that live in the south-central Kansas area who attend, although a few of my husband's cousins and their families from other states did attend this year (Texas, NM, CO, MI, PA).

Anyways, how did I do with eating? Great. I was able to eat turkey. I brought a vegetable dish that I could eat. And, there were two or three other healthy vegetable dishes that worked for me, including sweet potatoes that weren't smothered in marshmallows or brown sugar.

There are a number of Type I diabetics in the family of one of my FIL's cousins. I anticipated that they would be some sugar free desserts, but, I correctly guessed that there would not be any gluten free ones. And, pumpkin pie has dairy, so that wouldn't work for me, even if the crust was gluten free.

So, I found a recipe on-line for gluten / dairy /sugar free pumpkin pie. I brought one piece along, just for me. It was pretty good. I bought a gluten free pie crust from Natural Grocers. I used coconut milk instead of dairy, and honey instead of sugar. I left the meal not feeling deprived at all.

- We also talked a lot about some symptoms I'd been having, off and on, for over a month. Originally, I thought it was a UTI, but that was ruled out. I'd tried treating it naturally, with supplements, for quite awhile, but it hadn't gone away for a few weeks. My symptoms finally had discontinued, but then re-started a week or so later.

So, he looked at the ingredients on some of my supplements, etc. He tried to figure out what I might be sensitive to that could be causing it. He gave me some testing sticks and instructions to test my own urine at home, and told me if they weren't normal, that I needed to go to a lab and get a UA.

We also talked a lot about the high-dose Vitamin D protocol that he put me on, and whether that could be playing into it. I'm currently sort of on the fence about whether I want to continue on it.

We didn't set our next appointment yet; he wanted to wait to see how this worked out.

[Mamabug]

How are you ingesting the ACV- straight up?

No; that would be way too strong. Most days, I put 1-2 T. in a 24-28 oz smoothie, and I can barely taste it.

On my UTI days, I also drank an extra T. once or twice a day in a glass of water. Doesn't taste very good, but it's do-able. I used to drink it in a glass of tomato juice or V8 juice. That helps a little.

[Temagami]

How are you ingesting the ACV- straight up?

[Mamabug]

I neglected to mention that I've been dealing with a UTI, off and on, this week.

In the past, I used to get them once or twice a year. I probably haven't had one, though, for about 10 years. I'm not sure what triggered it this time.

Also, in the past, UTI's used to trigger an MS flare every time. And, that was back in the years before I was on Copaxone, which has managed my MS and its flares much more effectively than Betaseron did for me. This time, I had no flare, which was really good news. I haven't had an MS flare for over four years.

I've been treating this UTI naturally. Dr. G practices what he calls "concierge medicine" and being his patient offers the opportunity to text him with questions whenever I want. He's usually fairly good at responding in a fairly timely manner. So, he's been advising me on how to treat my UTI. I've also done a lot of Dr. Google for additional suggestions.

Dr. G recommended mostly Uva Ursi. Initially, before the symptoms included urge and inability to pee, I didn't recognize what was going on, so he also offered suggestions for symptoms for back ache, etc. Ideas included mega-doses of Vitamin C, and higher doses of Omega 3 than usual.

I also added D-Mannose and ACV (apple cider vinegar) to my treatment regime.

So, that was something else we talked about at my November 8 visit.

[Mamabug]

Appointments #1-11 (June through October, 2018) are here: https://www.msworld.org/forum/showth...49#post1514649
I decided that the thread was long enough, so I'd start a new one. Now that we're finished going through his initial packet of info and have moved to monthly visits, it seemed like a good time.

Appointment #12 was on Thursday, November 8.

I had a month between appointments this time. Dr. G had usually been trying to schedule them one week apart, although sometimes my schedule didn't allow for that. Other times, I chose to stretch it to two weeks, simply because I felt like I needed more than one week to make the necessary diet and lifestyle changes.

This time, Dr. G wanted to focus on what improvements I'd seen since my October visit. I'd reported a few minor improvements at my last visit. But, I'm not sure there were any additional improvements.

I blamed it on my choices. About 2 or 3 weeks ago, for the first time since July, I ate gluten. I acknowledge that it was a choice, and I could have avoided it. I just didn't want to. Casa Betania is a "sister church" to First Mennonite Church, where I attend. We share some activities, such as our Wednesday evening Church Family Night, which includes a meal and classes. And, we share a building. They used to meet in our basement during our worship service. When they outgrew that, they moved their worship time to 4:00 pm and now they meet in our sanctuary.

Anyways, on one Wednesday evening, it was Casa Betania turn to prepare and serve the meal. Our congregation always looks forward to that because they prepare absolutely awesome authentic Mexican food. And I had some.

I tried to be somewhat "good":
- I took a Food Enzyme before I went, to help my body digest it better.
- I chose to have mine without cheese, since I am also supposed to avoid dairy.
- And, I didn't have any dessert, since I am also supposed to avoid cane sugars.

But, after a day or two, I noticed that I was having more mobility issues and it didn't get back to normal for almost a week.

I was actually sort of glad that I had that experience. Although I'd seemed to be experiencing some minor improvements on this diet, I really still wasn't sure how important it might be. I can live with experiencing some short-term additional symptoms now and then, if I would choose to "cheat". But, it seemed like this also delayed my progress / healing.

Dr. G also had the same opinion. That it was OK that I'd experienced this because I had the opportunity to learn from it.

We also talked quite a bit about drinking water. We've been using a Brita pitcher for a few years already. And, after we purged our kitchen of a lot of plastics, we pour our filtered water into a glass or stainless steel container after it is filtered. But, during our conversation, we realized that we needed to look into whether our filter also filtered out the flouride in the water. And, it was a reminded to hubby to change the 20-year-old filter on the ice maker on the refrigerator.

So, this week, we ordered a different water filtering option that also filters out flouride. And, he ordered a replacement filter for the refrigerator. We should have done those things months ago, probably, when we were making lots of other changes.

To prepare for the next appointment, Dr G wants we to focus, again, on looking for improvements in my symptoms. Specifically:
- stamina, energy
- length of time that I can stand
- quad strength
- changes in use of cane
- naps
- balance

Dr. G thinks that I walk faster, now, than I did back in June and that I seem to rely less on the cane. Hubby and I aren't sure that's accurate, but, maybe it is. We live with my symptoms daily; Dr G might be more likely to notice changes when he observes me less frequently.

Next appointment: Monday, December 10