Conversation with the Doctor

I can't believe how much better I'm feeling since cutting out maple syrup for Baby E's sake. I thought the yogurt and whipped cream I used to be able to eat in moderation were making me sick. But once I cut out maple syrup to flavor them and started using honey or fruit instead, suddenly those items didn't bother me at all any more.

Since I tested allergic to maple pollen, I guess it makes sense that maple syrup would be a problem.

The other thing that's made a huge difference for me is minimizing dust mite exposure. I'm noticing a distinct difference in my "fibromyalgia" symptoms--my pain levels and ability to sleep well, as well as the respiratory symptoms and headaches, fluctuate drastically according to my dust mite exposure. With allergen covers on the mattress and pillows, and washing all bedding frequently in hot water, I feel much better.

If I spend any amount of time in our most dusty, cluttery rooms (especially the rooms that have bags of clothes I bought at thrift stores and haven't dealt with yet) I seem to get an immediate flare-up of the fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue symptoms. Any exposure to mildew makes it even worse.

All that, of course, begs the question of how much of the supposed FMS/CFS is really just allergies.

The real challenge is how to get the clutter and the items infested with mildew and dustmites cleaned up without making myself sick in the process. So far I've ended up quite ill whenever I've tried to work on it for any length of time. No wonder it's so hard for me to keep up with housework or declutter--it literally makes me sick.

I think once that's done, though, there should be a huge difference in my health--especially if I can carve out enough time from cooking and taking care of the kids to actually do some vacuuming and dusting once in a while.

On a related note, I talked to the naturopath who was such a help to me in dealing with the FSM/CFS symptoms in the past. She recommended that we add just one food at a time, 4-7 days apart.

She said that with very allergy-ridden kids, she's seen good results with adding three things to their diet to help the body, immune system and digestive system heal itself. It seems pretty simple; just a fatty acid (such as fish oil, evening primrose oil or flaxseed oil), probiotics (the good bacteria such as acidophilus that are the active ingredient in yogurt), and glyconutrients.

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We're going to try adding some flaxseed oil to our diet and see if Baby E tolerates that. I've been trying to make sure we get yogurt in our diet, but I recently bought a yogurt maker and will probably experiment with making some out of homemade rice milk. We're going to try a particular probiotic supplement to see if Baby E can tolerate it, too--it has no ingredients other than the acidophilus and other organisms in it.

My naturopath recommended a particular glyconutrient supplement (Ambrotose), but I checked the ingredients and it looks like some of them may be corn- or soy-derived. So I'm going to find out if I can just add some of the whole foods it's derived from, such as aloe and seaweed, to our diet instead. I much prefer eating whole foods rather than taking pills or powders, anyway.

I'm going to do the same protocol myself--it can't hurt, and it would certainly be nice if it would help me to be a healthier and less impacted by allergies. I'd really like to feel better and have more energy.

We're also going to test both Baby E and myself for Candida yeast and bacteria levels. When I was the sickest back in college, I did this test and had astronomically high levels of both. Treating the yeast and bacteria levels and supplementing with a good probiotic and a healthy diet supplying the needed nutrients made a world of difference for me at that time.

I've been wondering for a variety of reasons if I and/or Baby E have a candidiasis issue at least contributing to our symptoms. Especially since I know that was a primary contributing cause to my health problems in the past, it makes sense to look in that direction. We'll at least be able to rule it out, or treat it if necessary.

My naturopath said we should be able to tell within a month if what we're doing is really helping or not. I trust her enough to give just about anything she recommends a try, since I have a longstanding relationship with her and she's helped me so much in the past.

Now I'm off to make some rice pancakes with pear syrup, served with a side of chicken. Tomorrow I think we'll add celery.