Functional medicine, other alternative strategies and traditional medicine

[Mamabug]

I'm curious: Have you read Dr. Gundry's thoughts/theories as he explains in the Plant Paradox book?

No; I haven't. I'm not much of a reader anymore. I used to be. I'll have to get through The Wahls Protocol first.

I'm also reading The Daniel Plan for an IN.FORM maintenance group that I'm in. It also has a good focus on health.

I'll try to put it on my "To Read" list. I do focus on getting mist of my protein from plants. I'm not vegan or vegetarian, but I don't consume animal protein every day.

What are your thoughts on the book, Golgotha?

[Golgotha]

I believe food matters because what you eat determines which bacteria thrive in your gut and the gut-brain axis is key to how your brain is doing. Feed the good bacteria and starve the bad. Your immune system has a grand role in your gut so itīs all connected.

I'm curious: Have you read Dr. Gundry's thoughts/theories as he explains in the Plant Paradox book?

[Mamabug]

Temagami --
I'm interested in following you. Please let me know if your change in diet results in any change in symptoms.
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[Temagami]

I believe food matters because what you eat determines which bacteria thrive in your gut and the gut-brain axis is key to how your brain is doing. Feed the good bacteria and starve the bad. Your immune system has a grand role in your gut so itīs all connected. Then thereīs the molecular mimicry and leaky gut so if you eat gluten and your GI tract cells have loose junctions, then proteins enter the bloodstream and cause a reaction from your immune system.

Iīve started on a grain bowl kick- quinoa, kale, a protein, maybe mango or beets or sweet peppers. Change up the dressing and youīve got something new every day. Donīt forget to massage the kale!

[Mamabug]

Appt #16

Reviewed my disease progress. There really was very little difference since last visit, except that I've often been able to fall asleep without Valerian.

I have some toenail fungus which I'm treating naturally.

Dr G talked about placebos and nocebos. A nocebo is when we don't get better because we don't believe treatment will work. He thinks that is slowing / stalling my healing.

He loaned me Dr Wahls' protocol book. He has not treated many with MS (3or4) but claims 100% success.

I've always had some skepticism. Maybe this can help me believe more in the food as medicine approach.

On the positive side, I'm not getting worse anymore. Some friends seem to think I have more energy.

I continue to include things that complement his approach -- acupuncture, kinesiology, my monthly peer counselor, my small group and church activities, a little bit of volunteering. And I'm getting ready to start an in.form maintenance group that is studying The Daniel Plan.

[Mamabug]

Appt. #15

My appointment with Dr. Garrett was yesterday, March 14.

He checked in with me about past kidney / bladder symptoms. They seem gone. The only symptom that might be somewhat related is urination continues to seem more frequent than before, but that's not a big deal.

He also checked in with me on what I'm doing with Vitamin D3. In addition to re-starting the higher dose last month, I've also begun slowly increasing it, along with the recommended Vitamin K, in order to try to reach Dr. Garrett's recommended dose. I've had no negative symptoms with the increase. My follow-up appointment with Dr. N, urologist, is scheduled for April 4.

We reviewed my MS symptoms, to see whether they had progressed, or improved, etc. No symptoms have been worse, except one day last week when I was starting with a bad cold. My ability to go down sidewalks curbs without a cane seems to be improving slightly; I try to go down without using my cane to help and I can do that sometimes. Also, a week or two ago, when we went to the pool at the YMCA with my daughter's family, I was able to function without exhaustion after getting out of the water. For me, that's a significant change. Usually, I'm so exhausted that it's difficult to change out of my swimsuit and into my clothes; and I need my cane on one side and my husband on the other side to walk out of the building and to the car. This time, changing clothes was fine, I walked out of the building with just my cane, and, although I was somewhat tired and requested hubby's assistance to the car, I wasn't exhausted. When I got home, I didn't have to sit and do nothing and recover.

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[gargantua]

1. Dr. G, functional medicine / clinical nutrition
Next appointment with Dr G is scheduled for March 14. He wants to re-test (IgG food sensitivity) 9-12 months after my initial test. It was done in June.

My son usually plants a garden every spring. He might want to start some plants indoors, soon.

I'll check with Dr G to see if he can do the test a little early so I'll know what vegetables to recommend that my son plant.

2. Dr. Lynch, MS Specialist
I had my 6 month MS specialist appointment today. In her neurological exam, nothing was worse than 6 months ago. And my walking was a little faster. That might be related to my dietary and lifestyle changes. Or it might have been just a good day. It's hard to know.

She seemed a little less negative about Dr G and his functional medicine.
- Last time, she called it "hooey" and thought "getting rid of entire food groups" could have a negative impact on my health.
- Today, she just said that, although she didn't agree with it, it didn't seem dangerous.

I tend to think that remaining stable can be attributed to my functional medicine changes. I am hopeful that, in 6 months, I will see more improvements and that might more clearly suggest that my changes are effective.

3. Dr. N, urologist
Urinary problems seems gone. Urologist thought it was a bladder, not a kidney issue -- possibly IC -- Interstitial cystitis. It doesn't seem to be that. It had started to clear up on its own, prior to that appointment. It continued to improve, before the med (Vesicare) was supposed to have begun to become effective. Their dietary recommendations did not seem to make a difference. During a follow-up phone call, their office said I could try going off the med after 4 weeks, which I did, and things have not become worse again. My symptoms seem pretty much at my personal "normal" -- up 1-2x per night to use bathroom.

I guess it just cleared up on its own. The whole 2 or 3 month ordeal remains sort of a mystery, since UTI and kidney problems were ruled out and anti-biotics didn't work.

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Congratulations on the clearing of your urinary issues and being able to go off a med. It gives hope that you regimen is helping to at least relieve some symptoms.

[Mamabug]

Health strategies / resiliency strategies

1. Started seeing a health consultant a few weeks ago. Had a free consultation, and today was my second appointment.

My current goals are to drink more water. Last week, I'd thought I was averaging 40 oz daily but I realized it was only 30. So I worked on increasing and I'm about up to 40 now. I'll keep trying to increase gradually.

Second goal is adding strength training to my weekly exercise routine.

Her special scale indicated that I was more hydrated, had lower body fat and more muscle weight than last week.

I also see a kinesiologist regularly for kinesiology and acupuncture, and a peer counselor just because I love visiting with her.

2. Had a follow up to my June IgG Food sensitivity test today. Will be a few weeks before I have results. I am hopeful that I will have fewer restricted foods.

3. I try to include some meditation, yoga, listening to calming music, playing piano, participating in social activities every week. Today, I attended the first meeting of an 8 week "My Purpose" group. It's kind of a personal mission statement setting group.

[Mamabug]

Update 02/11/2019

1. Dr. G, functional medicine / clinical nutrition
Next appointment with Dr G is scheduled for March 14. He wants to re-test (IgG food sensitivity) 9-12 months after my initial test. It was done in June.

My son usually plants a garden every spring. He might want to start some plants indoors, soon.

I'll check with Dr G to see if he can do the test a little early so I'll know what vegetables to recommend that my son plant.

2. Dr. Lynch, MS Specialist
I had my 6 month MS specialist appointment today. In her neurological exam, nothing was worse than 6 months ago. And my walking was a little faster. That might be related to my dietary and lifestyle changes. Or it might have been just a good day. It's hard to know.

She seemed a little less negative about Dr G and his functional medicine.
- Last time, she called it "hooey" and thought "getting rid of entire food groups" could have a negative impact on my health.
- Today, she just said that, although she didn't agree with it, it didn't seem dangerous.

I tend to think that remaining stable can be attributed to my functional medicine changes. I am hopeful that, in 6 months, I will see more improvements and that might more clearly suggest that my changes are effective.

3. Dr. N, urologist
Urinary problems seems gone. Urologist thought it was a bladder, not a kidney issue -- possibly IC -- Interstitial cystitis. It doesn't seem to be that. It had started to clear up on its own, prior to that appointment. It continued to improve, before the med (Vesicare) was supposed to have begun to become effective. Their dietary recommendations did not seem to make a difference. During a follow-up phone call, their office said I could try going off the med after 4 weeks, which I did, and things have not become worse again. My symptoms seem pretty much at my personal "normal" -- up 1-2x per night to use bathroom.

I guess it just cleared up on its own. The whole 2 or 3 month ordeal remains sort of a mystery, since UTI and kidney problems were ruled out and anti-biotics didn't work.

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[Mamabug]

Appt. #14

My appointment was on Thursday last week.

We talked about my kidney / bladder symptoms over the past two months. I had initially wondered if the Vitamin D protocol that Dr. G had put me on could be creating Vitamin D toxicity and causing those. So I had discontinued my high Vitamin D dose and went back to 5000 mg / day.

But after the urologist (Dr. N) dismissed kidney problems and thought it was related to bladder, I had re-started the higher dose.

Dr. G was as perplexed as I am as to what is going on, but it's not his job to dx and treat. I'm working with him on other goals. He was also, though, pleased that, although my symptoms are not totally gone, I'm feeling much better. He was glad to hear that I'm resuming exercise and some of my resiliency strategies. For a good part of the past two months, I didn't feel up to doing much.

He was also pleased to hear that, although I'm felt some decline in ability during those months, that has all returned. He wants me to continue to work on his overall protocol. He mostly emphasized diet, removing environmental toxins, and practicing resiliency strategies. I looked back at my handouts, and his protocol also includes:

• food
• movement
• immunity
• breathe
• stress
• hydration
• hormones
• purpose

I guess I've mostly continued to do those things, even the past two months. Especially the dietary recommendations (food), and the toxins. I did experience considerably more stress while I was feeling bad, however,. Although I tried to utilize some resiliency strategies, it seems that I almost have to feel "well enough" to do those strategies that help me feel "better". It's kind of a catch-22. But, I did some, although certainly not as many as I wanted to.

I also saw my kinesiologist (CG) last week. In the past, I went only occasionally for kinesiology and somewhat more regularly for acupuncture. In the past 3 months, I've been going regularly -- once every 3 weeks -- for kinesiology. I do think that some of her supplement recommendations helped (sometimes a little, other times more significantly), with managing the bladder symptoms I was having. This visit, she indicated that my "systems" were much healthier and she gave fewer recommendations for supplements.

Today, I have an appointment with M, a peer counselor. I've been going to her once a month, just because she's an awesome person and I always feel good after having a visit with her.

[Mamabug]

Thanks, Seasha. Yeah -- I don't know if the meds are helping. It was supposed to take two weeks for me to notice any change. My symptoms are improved from before my appointment, but it's really too soon for the med to be the reason for improvement. And, things haven't continued to improve; they are just sort of better-than-before, but stagnant.

Next Dr. G appt -- Thursday, January 17

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[Seasha]

Mamabug - I'm sorry your problems aren't going away sooner than you had hoped for.

About 15 or so years ago, I was having some urinary problems and thought I had a uti. I too had to pee frequently and it was painful. But, tests came back negative, so I went to a urologist who dx me with IC and said I'd have it the rest of my life (it being incurable). The Dr. performed a Cystoscopy procedure where the he inserted a thin tube with a tiny camera through the urethra which showed the lining of my bladder.

He also inject water into my bladder to measure the capacity called hydrodistention. This was a horrible experience for me as it caused the lining of my bladder to tear and required a hospital stay. I have since blacked out what was done, but was in much more pain! (He later told me he was sorry and didn't realize that I have a small bladder)

Well, I'm relating this story because and after about 5 months, all symptoms disappeared and have never returned!! And much later, after a visit with my neuro where I explained this horrendous ordeal, I was told it sounded that a bad MS flare was a much more likely culprit.

Maybe it's not IC after all and just a nasty flare up like what I went through? I did go to an herbalist and got a blend of teas that did help calm things down some, but all I can remember is that it contained marshmallow root and urvi ursa among other herbs.

I hope that you feel better

[Mamabug]

Thanks, Reg. I hope so too. This has been a long haul. And, if it's what the urologist suspects, it sounds like it isn't curable. If it's that, I hope I can find a way to manage it well. These past two months have been horrific.

[REG53]

Mamabug, I'm sorry you are having urinary problems, as you know I can relate somewhat. I hope the Vesicare helps. It's rough having to get up at night so many times.

I hope you feel better soon.

[Mamabug]

Another Update

This is also not related to Dr. G. I continue to keep him updated.

My PCP thought I had a kidney infection, not a UTI as I had originally suspected. They treated me with a round of anti-biotics; it didn't clear up. They did a second UA and treated me with a second anti-biotic; it still didn't clear up.

Although my PCP believed that the abnormal UA's indicated a kidney infection, he also believed something additional must be going on. He ordered a CAT scan to look for possible kidney stones. CAT scan came back clear. He referred me to a urologist.

My urologist appointment was yesterday. He said that, although my previous UAs were abnormal, they had not been indicative of a kidney infection, as my PCP had believed.

He did another UA yesterday. Although it was improved from the 2 UA's done at my PCP office, it still wasn't normal. He suspects some kind of bladder inflammation -- possibly IC (interstitial cystitis). It appears IC is manageable but not curable.

He gave me some diet suggestions and a med (Vesicare) to try. Their office will follow up with a phone call in three weeks to see if med is making a difference.

So, I have been feeling somewhat better, although not normal. Mostly, my remaining symptoms include getting up 4-8x per night to try to void. I usually can now, so that is improved. And, it used to be 7-8x per night, so that is also improved. Sometimes, my stomach still feels unsettled.

I'm not sure what I hope for. I think that, if the med works, maybe he'll be able to diagnose IC? I'm not sure if having a dx that is incurable is a good thing (because I'll at least have a dx and it can be treated and managed), or a bad thing (because then I have to deal with another incurable illness).


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