But quickly, since 2005 I've been seeing a good hormone specialist who's been working to keep me on Naturthroid 35 mg, Adrenal Support from Zymogen, along with Iodine (been deficient for likely 10 years now), iron, probiotics, D, B complex, and I think that's it. While my labs seem to be coming back for the most part normal, I still can't go too long without having joint pain, severe hair loss, headaches, itchy skin, food sensitivities, numbness in my hands and feet, you know, the usual. But the real kicker is that I picked up this book called "Brain Maker" and devoured it since I truly believe much of my problem does lie in my gut. In it Mr. Perlmutter defends the use of fermented foods like kimchi and kombucha so I thought "Hey, I know how to make kombucha. Let's get back to brewing!" And with that I ordered a SCOBY on Amazon and had my tea brewing within a few days.
Well, let me tell you something, I waited about 13 days before consuming any of my elixir and I wish I'd thrown it out before ever taking a sip. It tasted crappy, I guess it's supposed to, but went ahead and drank about 12 ounces over the course of a few days. The next thing I knew, I started feeling this intense pain in my stomach, like I had someone punch me deep in my gut. It was awful and didn't go away for days! I started getting concerned so I researched more into side effects of kombucha. What I discovered was that it can actually cause things like candida and gastrointestinal issues and potentially even death! What the heck! So for all this talk about drinking these healthy fermented concoctions, they actually did more damage to me than good. And to make matters worse, I gave some to my children and one has since been complaining of issues like stomach pain and headaches since.
I don't understand how something like this can be so grossly advertised while it has such potential for damage. See the other thing I read was that the drink, while filled with some good bacteria, also contains yeast, and other bad bacteria that can wreak havoc on your immune system. Why would people encourage the use of such a drink when the risk can be so detrimental? I simply can't understand it. My biggest concern is that this has now set me back tremendously on my path to better health. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do now that I can't eat a piece of spinach without getting hives all over me, have hair literally falling out without my even touching a strand, and feel tingliness in my extremities. I thought I was getting better, albeit slowly, but still, on the path to restoring my health. Now it's like I've fallen down the shoot and have landed back on square one. Ugh! I could scream.
Oh yes, and another thing. I read that l-glutamine is good for leaky gut repair, which I highly suspect I have. Given I had some in my cupboard from when I had my last c-section nearly two years back, I thought I'd try some to see if it would help with my stomach pain. Well, that too caused such a reaction in my muscles that I couldn't move without great discomfort. So please, just because you read something online that looks credible, be cautious and tread carefully before assuming you can do what these people recommend. I have been blindly experimenting with all kinds of crap and pray that I will feel somewhat better soon. It's just now the beginning of another homeschool year and I think I'm going to lose my mind if my health fails me again.
On positive note, I've purchased an infrared sauna from Sunlighten to attempt to detox from whatever is in me that's causing such havoc, but those details will have be relayed at another time. In the meantime, I use it locally when I can. It's been the only relief I've found thus far and thank God it's there to help me in a pinch. Alright, with that I'm going to sign off. I'll try and keep journaling what's happening to my body just in case something horrific occurs. Please God it won't, but should it, my family will have a record of my symptoms and supplements. Ciao.
