A wee bit confused ...

The last few days have been a bit of a puzzler for me. The first week or so of this diet had been so profitable. The progress I had made in a short period of time made it easy to avoid eating foods that normally would challenge my will power. My eyes were clearer, my mind was clearer and my energy levels were continuously improving. Then, on Sunday I had a wee dip in energy that got me down a little, but in the evening it came back and I was fine. Yesterday I was feeling ok in the morning, but the wind was quite bad mid-afternoon (albeit not as bad as it once had been) and continued until bed time. Today, I just feel terrible. My eyes are bloodshot, my arms and legs are heavy and I have the brain fog again. I have not had any of the foods I am meant to avoid so what does this mean? Does it mean that Candida is not the (main) problem? Is it just another period of adjustment that my body needs to get used to this diet? Is it perhaps that the problem is a food intolerance - I have been avoiding a particular food for a week and then inadvertently consumed it in the last few days?

These are challenging questions and the setbacks - I say setbacks because they are not full blown crashes, no where near - have thrown niggling doubts into my will power. Am I avoiding these goodies, things that give me pleasure for no reason? Is it sheer coincidence that I felt better for the first week?

I have to be strong and give this diet the full month to do its job. I have also finally been able to order the high strength acidophilus (biocare replete) that is meant to complement this diet.

I will also make a note of what I have eaten in the last few days incase I need to find patterns for a food allergy later. For now, though, keep the chocolate away from me....

Sunday

breakfast: Live yoghurt with oats
Lunch: Russian savoury mince with leak and potatoes
Dinner: Red lentil and coconut soup with rye crackers and oat cakes.

Monday

breakfast: Live yoghurt with oats
Lunch: Red lentil and coconut soup with rye crackers and oat cakes with walnut, tofu and aubergine spread
Dinner: short-grain brown rice and pepper stir-fry with pork

A wee bit down

I'm feeling a wee bit low at the moment. I knew that I was probably setting myself up for a fall by believing that I had found a miracle cure and it is still possible that it may be the help that I need. However, it is mid-afternoon and I am feeling really worn out and its enough to lower my spirits again. It's not like a crash - the tiredness didn't come on suddenly. Rather it crept up and gradually this afternoon I have just got more and more lackluster.

So what I'm going to do now is have a wee meditation then listen to Parky, which usually cheers me up.

Dealing with those heavy legs

One symptom common to most sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome / ME is the "heavy legs".
I know that other suffers refer to these by other names such as "lead-legs" or "velo-gubbed legs".

From my experience this is not always the same feeling, but a spectrum of feelings. At one end the problem is "chronic" with me not being able to move my legs at all, feeling as though they are lumps of metal, at the other end it is a mild heaviness that means I cannot walk as fast or as far as normal. When I was first diagnosed with ME I often experienced heavy legs (and arms) at the chronic end of the spectrum. If I was lying in bed it actually felt as though I had an invisible man lying on top of me who was pushing my body into the bed. I can assure you that this is a very disturbing feeling. I still experience heavy legs and arms from time to time, but usually the feeling is on the milder side of the scale. I have found mild stretches in the morning and evening reduce the problem considerably.

I don't recommend these if the problem is at the "chronic" side of the spectrum, but if the problem is on the milder side give them a go. Don't over do it - if your muscles are not used to being stretched then break them in gently. My physio recommended the following stretches when to aid my route to recovery.


1) The hamstring stretch (figure: left)

lying flat on the floor with knees stretched to 90 degrees and back flat on the floor. Slowly raise and straighten one leg, grasping it loosely with behind the thigh with both hands.





2) The calf stretch (figure:right)

Standing 3-4 feet from a wall with feet in position shown perpindicular to the wall. Lean against your forearms while maintaining a straight line through the spine and your back heel firmly on the floor.





3) The quad stretch (figure:left)

Stand with one hand against the wall for balance. Bring the foot up to the hand and grasp around the ankle. Pull gently upwards until the stretch is felt. Remember to keep the knees side by side.



Thank you to the city of Saskatoon leisure programme for the images and text.

Killing 2 birds ...

Two problems I have had with the sugar and yeast free diet are 1) I am worried about my vitamin C intake because of my lack of fruit and 2) I cannot find anything interesting to put on my bread substitutes (rye crackers, rice cakes, and oat cakes).

I have been exploring different ways of tackling these problems. I thought about vitamin c supplements, but these are loaded with nasty extras including sugar and various E numbers so that is out. I thought about veggie spreads that Christine loves so much and are freely available here in Germany. However, these also seem to have one or more of the things that I cannot have: sugar, yeast-extract or lemon juice.

Then I found a solution to both problems in one go. A recipe for walnut, aubergine and tofu pate. Walnuts are rich in vitamins C and E, as well as zinc. Aubergines are full of calcium, phosphorus and beta-carotene, which help clean the blood and protect arteries. Tofu is a great source of protein and iron.

So all in all a healthy snack. When I get a chance I will post the recipe to snacksby.

A strange thing happened last night ...

For the first time in over 10 months, Christine, my girlfriend was more tired than I was on a Friday evening. We visited friends to watch a DVD and returned home unusually late for me - around 1 am. I felt strangely fit, whereas Christine was dead on her feet.

Perhaps I am getting my hopes up; setting myself up for a fall, but half of me firmly believes that this diet free of sugars and yeasts may be the answer to my problems. I have now been avoiding sugars for nearly two weeks (strictly without fruit and yeast for 5 days) and an increase in energy has not been the only change. The amount of wind that I have experienced as dropped by a huge amount and the dermatitis in my finger - something that has been with me for 8 months - has cleared up considerably too. Are these all coincidences? Only time will tell, but for the moment at least, I am remaining cautiously positive.

Getting enough veggies

One problem that I have found with this new diet is getting enough vegetables into my daily intake. I never used to have problems with this because I ate lots of fruit and drank fruit juice. However these are all no nos now. Yesterday I resorted to steaming myself an extra portion of veggies before dinner to satisfy the need. I have also thought about nibbling raw carrots or peppers, but these may be difficult to digest.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can sneak more veggies into my diet? All thoughts appreciated!

Yesterday's diet was the following:

breakfast: porridge (no sugar or fruit, but plenty of milk)
lunch: rye crackers with smoked salmon and ham
snacks: cashew and brasil nuts and a portion of steamed veggies
dinner:salmon pasta, cooked in onion, garlic and cream with spinach

A no-sugar, no-yeast diet update

So, I continue on with a no-sugar, no-yeast diet in Germany. I am surrounded by goodies that I cannot have: beer, saurkraut, bread, cake, chocolate, fruit ... the list goes on. However, in truth it is not too bad. Ok, so I cannot have treats, but otherwise my diet can be pretty normal.

So yesterday when everyone had Apfelreis for dinner (not a dinner but a dessert in my book) I had to do my own thing. For breakfast I had porridge (without sugar and fruit but with lots of milk), for snacks I had rice cakes with either butter and ham or pumkinseed butter and lots of nuts. For lunch I had the remainder of the previous night's dinner - wholemeal pancakes with veggies. For dinner I had chicken with millet and veggies.

All in all not too bad a diet and the wind is disappearing. The problem is that I am still losing weight. I am now down to 66kg. I cannot continue to lose like this. Another worry is my blood pressure. I just measured it at 100 / 61 with pulse of 86. Pulse is normal, but 100 / 61 is really low. I wonder if there is a connection between blood sugar and blood pressure. Does anyone know?