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wish me luck!!!!

chicorychicory Raw Newbie

some of you guys may know that I have a ton of health problems… been diagnosed last year with MS, fibro, and migraines, and a few years ago with celiac. I have been on a 90% raw whole foods diet now for 2 months…. only raw veggies, fruits, seeds, cooked plain salmon on occasion, and free range eggs from my neighbor. well, most of my “MS” symptoms have completely gone away in the last month. I did notice though, like clockwork, every weekend my boyfriend comes home, I get sick with the old symptoms, because I cheat a bit. i started making a list of what made my usual symptoms come back, and all the ingredients in them, then looked for things in common. (even nutritional yeast brought back migraines, face flushes, heat, stinging, sweating, chills, weird pains, pins and needles and spasms!) The only common ingredient in all is msg. I discovered that msg can come in many forms…. citric acid, any vauge protein, or enzyme, soy, gelatin, hydrolyzed anything. Then I looked up what msg can do to people that are super sensitive. Every symptom I have is exactly the symptoms of msg toxicity, to a tee. right down to the urinary irritation, and frequency to the twitches! It can even cause MS like lesions in the brain, symptoms that parallel chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, etc. so the final test…. felt good for a week, and then took a small sprinkle of pure msg pilfered from a chef friend that works at a retirement home(restaurant suppliers carry it, what a shame!) and after 15 minutes, the exact same symptoms I’ve had for years came back, and lasted for 3 days. I took before and after pictures of my face and how red and puffy it got, and the dark circles around my eyes. My neurologist is very excited, and seeing if they can do a test that will confirm. He seems optomistic, (which is unusual for most standard doctors), and so there is a possibility that I have been grossly misdiagnosed, and if i just stop using the stuff, (which should be easy now on raw!) I will be cured YAY! so wish me luck that this is the case. I just have a really good gut feeling about it :). Boy though, that stuff is in everything, even my shampoo…. no wonder my scalp and back are always itchy! Switched to baking soda 2 weeks ago and have not had one itch since. if this is true, than i have everyone here at gone raw to thank, because I would never have been able to pin point this problem without going raw and eliminating all that junk from my diet. I feel like I have just been reborn!

Comments

  • troublesjustabubbletroublesjustabubble Raw Newbie

    Chicory!!!!! This is wonderful!!! How exciting for you and for your doctors!

    I’m so happy for you and I hope that the tests come back right.

    sidenote-with the baking soda did you have a bad detox time? I’m thinking of switching

  • chicorychicory Raw Newbie

    nope… i mean, my hair is a bit stringier, but also, it could use a cut, so that may not be from the baking soda. I just mix a tablespoon into a jar until it is a liquid, then pour only on my scalp a bit at a time. massage, and rinse. i try not to scrub my hair with it, just the scalp, and let the water rinse it down the strands. then just use a 1/2 tsp of ACV in a big jar of water and rinse. I tried more than that but it weighed my hair down. twice a week seems to be good so far. I also find it easier to do the in between water rinses in the tub, because with your head in the water it is easier for your fingers to really get in and give a good scalp massage. tried it in the shower, but my fingers kept getting caught in the locks

  • troublesjustabubbletroublesjustabubble Raw Newbie

    nice, I think I’ll try that. Shampoo is the only unnatural thing I use on my body now and I’m wanting to get rid of it

  • chicorychicory Raw Newbie

    i use it on my face too. but no more than 2 or three times a week. ANd i keep it dilute. it burns when you first put it on! it is more of an exfoliator though. Just like the scalp, too much or too frequently used and it may dry out the skin causing more oil. Like everything, (except greens) less is always more!

  • troublesjustabubbletroublesjustabubble Raw Newbie

    haha awesome! Well I use it occasionally on my face too and it feels good to exfoliate. I use ACV too and that makes my skin so soft so I’m sure it’ll be nice on my scalp

  • Oh that is wonderful! Really really wonderful! The possibility is exciting for you I’m sure. I hope you are not too nervous and wish you well!

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    I do hope this is identified as the root of your health problems and you can get back on track. That would be so fabulous for you.

    It is my understanding MS is conclusively identified via a brain MRI. My good friend has MS and this is how they confirmed her MS. If you have had this done and abstain from MSG such that a a new MRI shows your myelin (the insulation around our nerves) is growing back, that would be remarkable and I hope you would share that info with us. There may be hundreds or thousands out there who could be misdiagnosed.

    What you eat really does make a difference. I have read that aspartame damages and depletes myelin. I keep telling my friend that changing her diet will help her MS, which expresses itself cyclically.

    Since I started eating raw, my sensitivities to additives has gone way up. My body just can’t take it anymore. Who knew it could be a diagnostic tool.

  • that is so awesome, chicory, i’m so happy for you! further proof that we can know our own bodies better than anyone else can. s

  • chicorychicory Raw Newbie

    I probably shouldn’t get my hopes up too much, it is tough not to though! As of my last MRI, 4 months ago, I have 5 brain lesions, none on spinal cord. Doc says stay on the raw diet for another month, and then see about another MRI. It’s going to be a long month!!!

  • Blue_EyesBlue_Eyes Raw Master

    YAYYYY CHICORY this is fabulous news!!! You already know it works for you I hope it shows improvement or better yet gone when you go for your MRI I have friends that have children with MS I am going to suggest that they give it a try to cut it from their diets Keep us updated on your results. I have tears of JOY for you. Keep up the good work. Life is Good again!!

  • So, I have been doing the same kind of diet you have been following (including the cheating bit!!) and suffer from migraines and CFS. I have known for a long time that MSG gives me problems, but reading your story made me take a look at something I was eating (Trader Joe’s Organic Tortilla Chips), and lo and behold it contains modified corn starch and citric acid!! No friggin’ wonder I don’t feel well the next day.

    I am so glad you figured it out.. thanks for sharing it with us. :) I hope the tests come back with positive results. :)

  • Wow Chicory! How wonderful exciting for you!! And how inspiring a story for all of us, too! The fact that you have had the diligence and perseverence to take control of your own health and not give up on searching for the ultimate answers and solutions, nor just accepting a medical doctor’s diagnosis(no offense towards them, they are just not trained in solving the root problems nor nutritional originations of dis-eases) and accepting a life of medications and suffering is a testiment to your character!

    Perhaps when you get the teste results back you can even write a book about what you have learned. I’m sure there are many MANY people out there who are in the same condition and situation you were in and haven’t realized the freedom and health they could truly experience by changing what goes into their body. Congratulations and best of luck!!!! :)

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hi Chicory -

    This is great news for you! I so hope your tests show good news! Please keep us updated! I was wondering if you had any links on this thing with the MSG. My bf is at a high risk for MS because his father died from it. He eats mostly raw and has for a long time and has been vegan since high school (he is almost 40 now). In the past few years, he has a few MS symptoms pop up. He says they come and go and it seems pretty random.Sometimes they get better and sometimes they get worse (tingling in the fingers, balance issues and confusion) He has never been diagnosed (he has no health insurance) yet but wants to get the tests done.

    He likes spicey foods and sometimes will get those store bought chili hot sauce. So I was curious about your statement about the additives and preservatives. How can I find out about what “hidden ingredients” might be in these things? If you have any links that would be great.

    (the bf is sort of stubborn and doesn’t want to accept the fact that it could be possible that certain ingredients might be contributing to his problem.)

    Oh also I don’t know if you are familiar but there is a MS group that focus on raw foods. A member on here, 123, is the creator of it (I haven’t seen her in a while). I think the link to the group is under her profile if you look up her member name.

    RawSarah – Do you think that modified corn starch could cause certain problems? Does it have MSG in it? The stuff my bf eats that has the modified corn starch in it is from China and he claims that don’t have GMO stuff there or put MSG in it. Is there anyway I can find out? Of course I offer to make him a raw one but he concerned about the price of it. (chilis are expensive!)

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    Okay, so how do I know what is/contains msg? Corn starch & citric acid? Yikes! I thought I had my son off msg a while ago – I only knew “natural flavor” and “yeast extract” as other names of msg. :(

  • CalebCaleb Raw Newbie

    I am really anxious to see how this turns out for you. I have neurofibromatosis and since I have introduced raw into my diet I swear some of my tumors are shrinking, I think some are completely gone too. I don’t know that it is all due to raw though because I have had at least one problematic one in the past go away.

    I am going to have to look into the MSG thing though. I wonder if there is any correlation in other neurological problems.

  • chicorychicory Raw Newbie

    my boyfriend doesn’t make me eat anything lol! here is a link to some ingredients with free glutamic acid, and how it is labeled. http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    I really hope it goes well chicory!! You’ve been in my thoughts. Best of luck, keep us posted!

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    I am so glad you are finding some answers. I can relate having celiac and chronic pain and fatigue. I hope you keep feeling better.

  • I have Fibromyalgia and I am also doing raw for a cure. Unfortunately I am getting long term disability and am under the care of my Rheumatologist. I am on a bunch of meds that I do not want to be on. I stopped them for a few weeks and felt better except for some occassional pain. My memory was just as bad though. I started to take the meds again because my appointment is next week. I was thinking of telling my doctor about raw and wanting to get off my meds. But I know what he is going to say. I have see a mainstream doctor to get my LTD check. I am not ready to return to work. I have more energy than before but also have days where I have no energy. I have been partially raw for less than 2 months. Is anyone else on short or long term disability? Is there a way to see a neuropath and follow their recommendations and still get the money?

  • chicorychicory Raw Newbie

    I have had a really tough time getting work this past year. I basically work the bare minimum 20 hours a week, so that I can still get health insurance. Luckily I can still sculpt and make a little extra from that!:) Rawcure… I was on a couple of meds too… until I realized all the side effects of the medicine were exactly the same as the symptoms they were supposed to be treating! I couldn’t tell if I was having illness symptoms, or side effect symptoms, so i stopped taking them. plus there were no generics (of course) and just completely unaffordable. Which medicines are you taking, if you don’t mind me asking? I was put on lyrica first for nerve pain, then when that didn’t work and 20 lbs later in just a few short weeks…... I was on cymbalta. bleh. always nauseated, always felt like I was on street drugs,. my pupils were blown from the meds and so I looked like I was always on psychedelics, and was stumbling around more than usual. NOT a good look to have while at work!

  • drgonflydrgonfly Raw Newbie

    How fantastic for you chicory!! It’s amazing how these different things affect us. I went to that web site & printed out the list & will start cutting out some things.

    I have Spasmodic Torticollis, which is a neuroligical problem—has anyone in this world wide community ever heard of it?? Anyway refined sugar, artifical sugar, caffine, chocolate, too many dates, maple syrup or aguave syrup make it worse. I will be going thru everything I eat that comes packaged to check against the list (shampoo too). It’s just amazing how so many problems are caused by food/additives. And how much is fixed by being purely raw it seems. I realize that raw can’t cure everything, but it certainly cures alot!

    Wind to thy wings chicory!

  • Great news chicory, best of LUCK to you, I truly hope this is it and you get back enjoying life as you deserve!

  • chicory: I am on Elavil, Plaqinel, Cymbalta, Zyrtec, and Nasonex. I was on Advair for asthma but have been off for a couple of months. I was also on methotrexate for Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis (MD does not think I have RA now), Neurontin, Vicotin, and many other pain medications. I want to stop the Cymbalta now and will talk to my doc first about stopping it since it has not done anything. Not that any of them have really done anything except the Elavil. I do feel that a lot of my symptoms were side effects of the drugs he kept giving me because I just got worse every time I went to see him. If the symptoms come back now while I am exercising and feeling better than I will insist that my doctor take me off them. But he will just order something else. My allergist has ordered allergy shots but I do not want to take them. And just yesterday I saw my Primary Care Doctor and she wants me to get the flu shot. I just want to be left alone and heel myself.

  • chicorychicory Raw Newbie

    just make sure that if you decide to stop the cymbalta, that you do it verrrrry slowly, cutting back the dose gradually. If you stop taking it abruptly, you can have seizures. The withdrawals are awful too. crushing headache, nausea vomiting, diarrhea, you basically feel like it’s the worst flu of your life. I have read that it is just as if not more difficult than going through opiate withdrawal. every time the dose is lowered (usually every week, or every two weeks) it’s like a kick in the pants. I hope you get off the stuff. I just deal with the pain i have now… it does get a little bit better , then worse, than better, but being medicated was worse. You feel like a clone of yourself looking at the original person and not recognizing who they are and not caring!

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    how are you chicory? did you have a test checking for msg toxicity?

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    chicory – Thanks for the link about MSG. Yes, how are you doing? I’m glad you have a doctor who supports your being on a raw diet to help your MS!

  • chicorychicory Raw Newbie

    needless to say…. haven’t heard back from the doctor. They probably think I’m nuts! and i’ve been so busy with the upkeep of the house. Lots of showings today and this past weekend (fingers crossed) Been feeling pretty good though!

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