Saturday 22 March 2008

Preparing for the nipper

Last year, as documented on this blog, I went on a no sugar, no yeast diet for three months to try and sort out my CFS symptoms. Despite this being quite a challenge, both physically and of my will power, the diet was a great success. Three months on and I was feeling more alert and full of life than I had since the onset of my symptoms. However, after that I gradually slipped into my bad ways. Starting out with a bit of chocolate each week, which turned into a bar .... you get the idea.

This year I have been OK health-wise, managing to control the symptoms through no dairy and wheat. However, I was still having problems especially in the mornings and a bad night's sleep and I was not fun to be with. Expecting the birth of my first child in June meant that I was also expecting a few (with any luck) sleepless nights, so I wanted to be back in tip-top condition for that. So, about 3.5 weeks ago I decided to go back on the diet.

It is funny how it followed almost the same pattern as last year. Apart from a few cravings for sweet stuff, the first week was pretty easy and I was feeling quite good. Weeks 2 and 3 were not so pleasant - I started to feel slightly sluggish and concentration was a problem. This week has been extremely tough. Stomach cramps, lots of wind, heavy arms and legs, poor concentration. My insides have been like a war zone. However, with perseverance I think I am starting to turn the corner.

I'll keep you posted on my progress

8 comments:

Sophers said...

Hi David, I stumbled across your blog a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to say hello and pick your brains (and anyone else who reads this!) I have recently been diagnosed with CFS and have been suffering since October last year. A friend recommended the anti candida diet as it worked wonders for her when she went through a similar situation a few years ago. I've been on the diet for 10 days now and so far so good, my sugar cravings have reduced greatly, and although I spend 75% of my time thinking about food, it's not about cake, which is an improvement! Along with an improvement of symptoms I was also excited about the weight-loss side effects, as I have put on vast amounts of weight due to my complete lack of exercise (I used to be quite fit and loved to run..). However I have not lost a ounce of weight, I know when you last did this diet you wrote about losing too much... have you heard of people not losing weight? I'm hoping it's not a sign of the diet not working. Of course an improvement in my health large enough to exercise would be the best outcome, but a little weight loss would be very welcome! I would really appreciate your thoughts on this. Nice to "meet" you! Many thanks, Sophie.

David Elsweiler said...

Hi Sophie,

Nice to hear from you. I am glad that you are doing well on the anti-candida diet. I have "done it" twice now and both times I have had good results. The first week or so normally goes very well. However, be prepared for the next few weeks to get quite tough. In my experience I had worsening symptoms of varying degrees from week 2-6, but don't let this worry you. Everything that I have read (and that is a lot) seems to indicate that this is normal. After week 6 the symptoms really seem to get better after that.

Regarding your weight issues. I lost a lot of weight when I first became ill, not because of the anti-candida diet, but because I wasn't able to exercise I lost a lot of muscle tone. I went from 80kg to 60kg (about 3 stones) in 3-4 months - which is not good! I am currently about 68kg as I have started to be able to do more and more exercise and watching my diet including stopping wheat and dairy has helped with this a lot.

I wouldn't worry so much about gaining weight when I lost weight - it will have depended a lot on you body shape before you were ill. The most important thing is to make sure that you find a good lifestyle and diet for you. Then your body will come back in to balance.

If I can help with this please don't hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,

David

Sophers said...

Hi David,

Many thanks for your reply, your words really helped - sometimes just a bit of contact with someone who understands is enough to get by! I have been on the diet now for around 6 weeks and the difference it has made has been phenomenal, my energy is still low but my other symptoms have really cleared up :)
I am now on the second stage, taking caprylic acid to kill off the candida, I have been taking them for 3 days and think I may need to up the dose as I haven't yet experienced any die-off symptoms.

How is your diet going? I hope it has improved things for you this time around.

Best wishes,
Sophie.

Anonymous said...

Hi David I just found your blog. I have just been diagnosed with candida and was wondering how your diet went? Did the symptoms you were experiencing prior to this eventually disappear?

Anonymous said...

Hi! Do you use Twitter? I'd like to follow you if that would be okay. I'm
undoubtedly enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.


Feel free to visit my blog post :: crash diets that work

Anonymous said...

Simply desire to say your article is as astonishing.
The clarity in your post is just great and i could assume you're an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please continue the enjoyable work.

my page; SlimBerry cleanse

Anonymous said...

Great post. I will be dealing with many of these issues as well.
.

Also visit my web-site - while particular

Anonymous said...

Hey very nice web site!! Man .. Excellent ..
Wonderful .. I'll bookmark your website and take the feeds additionally? I am satisfied to search out so many helpful info right here within the post, we'd like work out more
strategies on this regard, thanks for sharing.
. . . . .

Look at my page ... http://buygarciniacambogianow.net