Wellness

[catwhisperer]

@Quse....thank you so much for the valuable info. 

[LilacTree]

These diseases are all related, my suspicion is you may have some level of autoimmune disease.

I was hospitalized at age 14 (puberty) for several weeks with rheumatic fever, scarlet fever and epstein barr (then still called mononucleosis).

I then came down with hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's) at menopause and was severely sick for five years.  At age 66, just after retirement, I was then diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and now have four other autoimmune diseases, plus severe osteoporosis from genetics as well as prednisone which exacerbated it.  My hands are disabled and I have 10+ compressed vertebrae in my back.  Pain is constant as is extreme fatigue.

I think all of this is linked together.  I am in the process of many tests, including 33 lab tests which took ten vials of blood, an MRI and an ultrasound.  I still have one more extensive test to go, called a Gastrolyzer which is a breath test after complete fasting and takes one to three hours.  This measures the bacteria in my gastrointestinal system.

I will see my gastro doc two days after all of this is done and hopefully he will have some kind of diagnosis for me.

Our symptoms are similar and I believe the Epstein Barr and Hashimoto's was just the beginning of a lifelong fight for health.  We're going on the premise that mine originates in my gut. 

I hope you are taking something for your thyroid, I assume you must be doing so.  Don't rule out your gut being at the source of a lot of these symptoms.  I know mine is, just don't know what or how to treat it, if it turns out treatable. 

There is no "cure" for autoimmune disease, but it can be controlled.

Good luck.

[Quse]

---

@morganjen wrote:

@QuseFor real. I had a chronic, toxic level dose of Vitamin A last year as part of a protocol for an EBV reactivation. I have Hashimoto's and my doctor thought it might be a root cause. One of the components was an immune supplement that included had a large amount of Vit. A retinol. The dosage my doctor had me on amounted to 100,000 iu a day for over a month! (That is equivalent to 30mg of Accutane.) My skin and eyes started immediately drying out and I had MANY other symptoms of toxic level. I was so sick. I should have listened to my gut and stopped after the first week. I had trusted my doctor and therefore stuck it out for the full 5 weeks... Yes, the virus tests negative now, but at what price. I now have much drier skin, severe dry eyes, and my Vitamin A blood level still tests high after 6 months. I would take the Chronic Fatigue in a heartbeat instead.

---

@morganjen Yikes! That's a LOT of vitamin A! I hope you start feeling better as your body eventually depletes the high dosage...

[Quse]

@catwhisperer You're welcome

[Quse]

---

@LilacTree wrote:

These diseases are all related, my suspicion is you may have some level of autoimmune disease.

I was hospitalized at age 14 (puberty) for several weeks with rheumatic fever, scarlet fever and epstein barr (then still called mononucleosis).

I then came down with hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's) at menopause and was severely sick for five years.  At age 66, just after retirement, I was then diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and now have four other autoimmune diseases, plus severe osteoporosis from genetics as well as prednisone which exacerbated it.  My hands are disabled and I have 10+ compressed vertebrae in my back.  Pain is constant as is extreme fatigue.

I think all of this is linked together.  I am in the process of many tests, including 33 lab tests which took ten vials of blood, an MRI and an ultrasound.  I still have one more extensive test to go, called a Gastrolyzer which is a breath test after complete fasting and takes one to three hours.  This measures the bacteria in my gastrointestinal system.

I will see my gastro doc two days after all of this is done and hopefully he will have some kind of diagnosis for me.

Our symptoms are similar and I believe the Epstein Barr and Hashimoto's was just the beginning of a lifelong fight for health.  We're going on the premise that mine originates in my gut. 

I hope you are taking something for your thyroid, I assume you must be doing so.  Don't rule out your gut being at the source of a lot of these symptoms.  I know mine is, just don't know what or how to treat it, if it turns out treatable. 

There is no "cure" for autoimmune disease, but it can be controlled.

Good luck.

---

This may get boring to read, but here goes. Technically, autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammatory diseases are related, but not the same thing. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, while other forms of arthritis are not, but inflammation is part of them.Epstein Barr virus is part of the herpes family (this is why the Lysine works well, also works well for any nonsense similar: cold sores, even hemmoroids, although not herpes) and herpes develops "pathways" along nerves.(also why B vitamins help) If you get cold sores, etc...they tend to occur in the same areas each breakout bcz of their development along the nerves. If they migrate down a nerve pathway to another area, then a breakout may occur there. The insidious thing about this virus; however, is that once it's in your system, it's pretty much there forever, and systemic, meaning your whole body, although you may only have symptoms that manifest in certain areas.It may lie dormant for a very long time, and then one day, you are overstressed or some other trigger, and it rears its ugly head again. And it feeds on sugar and stress (much like cancer does) because both sugar and stress create inflammation...which can become chronic if you are constantly stressed and/or eating a lot of refined carbs. Reducing the chronic inflammation is key in reducing the symtoms of any of these diseases, both autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases. Fish oil helps many people, although purity is of the utmost importance, as high levels of metals like mercury are found in oilier fish. (Tuna, salmon) 

IFOS (International Fish Oil Standards) thru nutrasource.ca is a great resource on fish oils. Tumeric, curcumin are also helpful (however, you have to be careful with fish oil and turmeric or curcumin if you are on blood thinners, as they also act as blood thinning agents)

Two good books I've found helpful are "Prescription for Nutritional Healing" and "Prescription for Herbal Healing"

And yes, your gut is a HUGE part of you overall health. Pre and pro biotics are really good to restore intestinal health, most especially if you do take any pharma drugs. 

I recently was sick and took antibiotics, which threw my intestinal health off and made me feel lousy. I don't eat dairy, so yogurt is not an option. I ate saurkraut instead, as it restores the intestinal flora and within a few days, back to happiness. 

Also, sometimes, if my gut is recovering from a "stomach bug" I use food grade diatomaceus Earth (yes, I drink dirt and it's not nearly as yucky as you think) and it also works magic.

So, sorry so long, but I've been at this a while. Thought I'd share in case it helps.

[VaBelle35]

If you want to try an elimination diet, Whole30 is probably the easiest and most comprehensive to try.  It's only 30 days.

[catwhisperer]

@VaBelle35...great book. I just started reading it.

[VaBelle35]

@catwhisperer  That's good to know.  I never read the book, just their blog/Instagram/etc at the time and the program materials and they provide a lot of good information.  When I got to day 27 of my Whole30 I found Primal Blueprint and read that book and have continued on with that plan.

I still follow Dallas on The Living Experiment.  Melissa is a bit of a crab.

[VaBelle35]

---

@Quse wrote:

---

@violann wrote:

I absolutely agree that sugar, and really ALL REFINED CARBS, can be the enemy.

I feel MUCH better when I'm eating as low carb as I possible can. I get plenty of carbs from veggies, low carb fruit, and nuts.

---

@violann I totally agree! And for anyone reading this, thinking, "there's no way I could do that. i love pasta, bread, pastries (whatever) too much", don't think you have to go cold turkey and don't tell yourself that you can never eat ________. Just cut down, see how you feel.

I was the biggest carb/sugar junkie and I thought there would be no way I would EVER cut them out. I still eat bread, pasta, candy, even chips, but I learned what I feel like when I do eat them...and have to be prepared to decide whether it's worth it or not. Once you start feeling better physically, it gets harder and harder for the refined carbs to be "worth it"

---

+1

I never thought I could give up sugar.  When I did my Whole30 (starting on Halloween 2014), I did it strictly by the book.  I made all my own food for 30 days.  I remember during the last few days asking myself what I wanted to eat on day 31 and there really wasn't anything I missed.  I thought I might miss corn on the cob when summer came, but it didn't even tempt me.  I've thought about making home made pasta a few times, but haven't yet because I know I will probably pass out if I eat a plate of pasta and feel horrible for several days after.

When I travel, I have to eat out most meals unless I can stay at a Residence Inn.  I notice that eating grain fed proteins has an effect on me after 2-3 days of travel.

[saltysails]

Vitamin B-12 clears brain fog right up.  Have you tried that?