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Advice please?

Hi, I am hoping to get some advice as I am really frustrated and I don't know what else to do.

More than a year ago I went through some heavy stress and at that time I got sick with a nasty cold flu bug that lasted about 10 weeks. Since then and until this day, I have been battling fatigue. I am no longer stressed. I have had numerous blood tests and all come back normal. I stopped the birth control pill because I thought it was that. This year I started to become allergic to dairy, wheat etc. and was battling constipation and stomach pains and gas. I went to a naturopath and he said that I have candida. I have been treating the candida in hopes that my fatigue would go away but it hasn't but all other candida symptoms I had have disappeared. The fatigue has been so bad that it has ruined my marathon running performance and all the races I have done since last year are about 5-9 minutes slower than I used to be. Not only do I battle fatigue but I am always cold and I get irritable and moody. I have to drag my butt to workout or do anything around the house. I did a half marathon 2 weeks ago and the entire time I felt horrible and I felt as though I couldn't get air into my lungs and my legs felt like lead.

In the last few weeks I was certain I am anemic based on the symptoms and went back to the doctors and had blood work done again. I just called my doctor's office and was told that my serum ferritin is normal but my B12 is high. Is the fact that my B12 is high alarming? Should I be worried? I couldn't ask many questions because the receptionist was busy and I could tell she didn't want to answer me. I am slowly transitioning to raw and I know this will be healthier but I need help determining what is causing the fatigue first. I am falling asleep at work and I find it worse after I eat. My doctor is convinced that I have a sleeping disorder but I get atleast 6-7 hours sleep and I am a sound sleeper with very little interruptions Does anyone have any advice? I am so frustrated that it makes me cry because I just want to find the answer to this. I don't want to feel this way anymore. My hubby and I are planning to have kids next year but I can't even think about having them if I feel this way. HELP!

Comments

  • SuasoriaSuasoria Raw Newbie

    I'm so sorry! Sounds rough. Have they checked for hyperthyroidism? Urine tests? I don't know of any toxicity levels for B12 so I think that is safe.

    For me 6-7 hours of sleep would be no way enough.

  • Did the naturopath order a blood culture or mention where exactly the candida infection is located?

  • Who said you have a sleeping disorder and did they order a sleep study or just assume? It's worth doing a sleep study in case you do have some disruptive thing to REM like sleep apnea. A lot of people get tired after they eat. Don't sweat it so hard. Could you be over-extending yourself in general? marathons and work and stress? Idon't have any great advice nor do i assume to know what you feel like. Those are just the things that popped into my head after I read your post. That and it seems candida overgrowth is kinda a blanket diagnosis if you look at the symptoms. I guess I am skeptical to the whole candida thing.

  • Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. My doctor is sending me to a sleep lab in the next month which i really don't want to go to. I will be so nervous that I am sure the results will show that I am a bad sleeper. I have always slept about 6-7 hours my entire life and have always been an early riser. I sleep through the night, I guess my doctor is convinced it is a sleep disorder because I don't feel refreshed after sleeping. If I had it my way, I wouldn't go to work and would sleep all day long!

    The naturopath did not order a blood culture. He suspected candida based on my symptoms and my health history. He said that the candida is systemic. He said after our first visit that all symptoms should go away and I will feel fabulous if I follow the diet....well most symptoms did go away but I don't feel fabulous. I feel old, and tired and I am only 33 which is sad.

    My thyroid has been checked and it is normal. All other blood work (extensively) has been tested and everything has come back normal. Urine test was also done and was normal.

    I was with a good friend last night and she said maybe it is my diet. Maybe I need to add back the sugar and more pasta's and breads. Do you think that could be it? Maybe my body needs more simple sugars and complex carbs like pasta's and breads? My diet has mainly been nuts, poultry and fish (which I am slowly weaning off), lots and lots of veggies, and I just started eating fruit again (my naturopath cut it out completely).

    My blood pH a few months ago was quite acidic, could it be that? I have been trying to get it back to more alkaline but haven't measured it lately to see where it is at.

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    I really don't think your body needs foods that have been processed or animals that have been killed, like the pasta, breads, fish, and chickens/turkeys. I also don't think nuts are good for your body in large amounts (and for some people, small amounts).

    I think a high fruit diet is best. If you're not eating a lot of fruit, where are your calories coming from? Vegetable calories don't add up. I guess you're eating the meats and nuts? No wonder you don't feel well! And that you're acidic.

    Please, for your health and for the animals' lives you might take, look into a high-fruit low fat diet. I think you might have a detox, but you would feel better in the end. Try it out - it's worth it and makes much more sense than eating foods with no or low nutritional value, as you listed. Your body needs nutrients. Eat fruit and vegetables.

  • troublesjustabubbletroublesjustabubble Raw Newbie

    tukiville-I struggled with these sort of symptoms for nearly a year before discovering raw foodism. I had to go cold turkey raw to rid myself of them. I have endometriosis and it became attached to my intestine ruining my digestive system. I was tired constantly, constipated and in general, didn't feel good at all. I did a juice fast colon cleanse and went raw after that and it did wonders for me! I went alkaline, my digestive system was happy and I got soooooo much more energy. I worked out before but was always tired and when I went raw I started running and I haven't ever felt better. I did my first 5K a few weeks ago and am now exploring barefoot running(due to knee injury I can't run more than a few miles with shoes on at least).

    I'm so sorry you're going through this. Raw food helps incredibly with sleep and I would suggest that if you drink coffee to stop drinking it. I hope this helps!

  • Tukiville- you might check out the Master Cleanse. I would recommend Tom Woloshyn's book, "The Complete Master Cleanse," and you can also check out Peter Glickman's book and website forums on it, http://therawfoodsite.com/mastercleanse.htm . It could help you re-alkaline your body, along with overall health. Many people have used it to help with numerous and chronic medical problems. :) You can find a lot of info on it on-line but it is best to read a book on it before doing it to make sure you do it correctly and understand how and why it works. Wishing you the best!

    One of probably numerous MC threads here on GR: http://goneraw.com/forum/master-cleanse-question

    TroublesJustABubble- hey, would you contact me? My email is on my profile. I'd love to talk to you! Btw- I am starting my second MC tomorrow. I LOVED all the energy and the way I felt the first time (I did the minumum 10 days and never had any lethargy or bad detox experiences so am excited to try it agin and feel all the energy again). :)

  • Here is my two cents: If you feel your body needs more carbs, you would do it disservice to add back sugar, bread and pasta. Those are so highly processed that I believe they will do you more harm than good. For carbs, please consider adding more fruit. They are so easily digested (especially when not combined with other foods, especially fats) and give great sustained energy. It might not be the answer to all your issues, but I believe it is a much better option for additional carbs and providing energy.

  • luxdivonluxdivon Raw Newbie

    I would 2nd the notions of

    Do the master cleanse, or some other whole body cleanse. One friend of ours swears by the arise and shine cleanse. This will Restart your system.

    Go as close to 100% raw as possible, and start paying attention.

    Are there any foods that you feel more energized after you eat?

    Which ones make you the most tired after you eat them?

    I find most people are unique, so finding the foods that work best with your body could help in normalizing your life.

    If your feet/extremities are cold then your blood is not circulating fast enough. Or enough blood is not getting to all the right places. If your blood is not clean, this will occur. Look online and research blood circulation. To me that's what stands out to me, because if your blood is not circulating well enough, of course you would be fatigued. I agree with everyone else that bread, pasta, and meat will only make it worse. Just some thoughts.

  • Bread and pasta will make you feel a whole lot worse than you do now, Trust me! I once caved in and had a small bowl of wheat pasta with raw marinara sauce and I could not get myself off the couch! Drinking juices should help. My mom in law has this problem as well as kidney stones. I recommended a colon cleanse and she's started to juice every morning. She's doing better than she did before. Cut out coffee if you're drinking them. They may wake you up for while, but you'll feel extremely tired afterwards.

    I normally have some juice in the morning, salad for lunch, and a big smoothie for dinner. I have much more energy than I did before.

    I am so sorry that you're going through this. You'll be okay. Just hang in there :)

  • hi

    heres a list of some survival gear -

    1.) natural calm magnesium powder-

    makes ur intestines move so u go the bathroom, which will give u energy. will help u to rest better & deal with a paracite cleanse/yeast cleanse. just use here and there to get things moving!

    2.) cap full of (apple cider vinagar) in water bottle with (stevia drops) added for taste & (fresh sprigs of mint) with clove liquid extract, wormwood, blackwalnut liquid extra & chlor oxygen liquid. follow directions on bottle, will tell u how many drops.:)

    try to eat salads, juicing greens ect, nuts, easily digested foods. do this for couple weeks. looking online u can find more stuff. it saved my life! i hope u go the bathroom! that will help your sleeping & breathing. xoxo

  • oh & MORINGA LEAF POWDER helps with energy too! but just take a little, powerful stuff! use it to work-out.:)

  • You're fortunate that you can still run at all. When my fatigue started to hit me last year, I couldn't even really get down the stairs to talk to my kids in the basement, and if I did, I had to rest halfway back up the stairs. It all started from a period of major stress last summer. I'll tell you what helped me, though. Dr. Christopher's liver/gallbladder herbal formula helped a little. But what really got me going again was simply adding more fresh fruit into my diet. I know I'm just repeating what everyone else has already said, but it really helped me get out of a very similar situation to what you're describing.

    One thing I've had to learn about myself was that fruit all by itself didn't work well for me. It made me a little sick, and headache-y. I had to have some fat or protein with it. I would highly recommend that you just fiddle with it and find out what works for you.

    One last thing. When you do find out what's wrong and get yourself back to where you want to be...when you do become a mother or move on with your life, remember what this last year felt like, and use it as a weapon when your health is threatened again. Every experience can be for our long-term good if we just use it well.

  • Tuckiville-

    WOW I feel like I am in your shoes. It just finally clicked for me that I HAVE TO STOP taking the pill. I have been on it for three years and have not been the same person since I started. I am a Div 1 Collegiate Athlete so I can relate to your activity level. I have had problems with tendonitis, muscle spasms, chronic back/hip pain, nerve pain throughout my body, digestive problems, bloating, stomach pain.. I have also gone through serious mood issues- depression, anxiety, had a very alarming panic attack, insomnia, trouble sleeping, serious fatigue...

    From what I have learned, oral contraceptives deplete your body of B vitamins (odd that your B12 is high). It also depletes you of magnesium. I have begun taking Mg and B complex supplements for now and will be consulting with a naturopath very soon for more info on how to get myself back! I feel like I was robbed of ME since I started taking the pill and I can't believe I let myself get to this point through such denial of the cause.

    Sorry if this is not familiar to you and if I'm way off, but I'm just in this moment of enlightenment and I have so much frustration behind it that I am very passionate about making sure all my friends and family know about the seriousness of oral contraceptives. Anyways, I would love to know when you started taking the pill, how you feel since you stopped. It takes time for that nasty stuff to get out of your system I'm sure, but I just stopped taking it a couple days ago. I read that it takes 6 weeks for your hormones to normalize, but I bet theres a ton of detox required to really get back to normal. I hope you are beginning to feel better and if I am way off with my assumptions then I hope that you find the answers you are looking for. Please keep me posted!!

  • Hi Rawsaysrita, you are right about the pill and it is very familiar with me. I started on it about 2 years ago, came off of it for a while which was from last October until this past June. Since I went on it, everything went downhill. I had huge immune issues as I was sick all the time, I battle fatigue, I was moody and irritable and very sensitive,. My stomach was always upset and it was the start of a huge cycle of yeast infections, hemorroids, bloating etc.

    Because I train so much, my iron is very low as well which doesn't help the situation. But back to the pill, I know alot of problems happened with the pill because I was desperate recently (due to skin breaking out all over my face and back, never had this before ever) and made the mistake of going back on it to clear my skin. So I have been on it for the past two months and already I am experiencing bad anxiety, so bad that I can't sleep at night, severe mood issues, irritablilty, and depression. My stomach is ok, because I eat so strict now and my skin cleared up almost completely, but I can't stand the person I have become. Everything bothers me, I'm so negative, the fatigue is just as bad, and the anxiety is really troublesome.

    Now that I have been off of it for a few days, I will supplement with MACA powder which is supposed to help normalize hormones. I went on the pill in the first place 2 years ago because I had hormonal issues and as a result of that my periods were all over the place. I'm hoping MACA will help and keep my skin clear.

    What other detox do you know of? I'm sure a liver detox will be needed since the pill congests it.

    Good luck!

  • luxdivonluxdivon Raw Newbie

    tukiville - speaking of detox, sounds like your skin was detoxing - skin breaking out on skin and neck. sometimes we just have to suck it up (skin breakouts) in order to let our bodies heal naturally. After they get all the junk out of our system, then they can heal back to normal. I luckily got off the pill years ago, because I had precancerous cells, so when I went natural, everything went with it. including the b.c. i hated it anyway. it made me sick every morning. and i was on depo provera for a year or more in my early 20's but you know that shit can't be good for you when you don't have a period for over a year.

  • I will look into MACA. Right now I experiencing severe detox...signs point to liver detox. Last night I was throwing up, i've had unexplained hives and skin itchiness for the past couple weeks, really dark/dilute urine even with high water intake. I feel extremely fatigued, dizzy, sore/achy, abdominal pain, chest pain, nerve pain, and have yet to eat anything today. I happen to be interning at a holistic health center where I do not have access to any practitioners at this time, but I have been using a far infrared sauna and I just finished with an ionic foot bath. The coloration was orange-brown, indicating toxins in joints and liver. I am a little worried that this is too much toxicity all at once for my body to handle so I'm trying to find a DO in the area who can check me out. Man this is crazy stuff and really crazy how it hit me so suddenly.

    I too was off the pill for a period of about 3 months and started again in May. Since then all of these symptoms have slowly creeped up more strongly than before the break. I'm thinking that with all the yoga and detoxing I have been doing with eating clean and all that, my body is just really reacting strongly to the hormones.

    I am going to consult also with an Ayurveda specialist and naturopath in the near future so I can share with you what they recommend to aid in normalizing our hormone levels and helping the body get back to its natural state.

  • luxdivonluxdivon Raw Newbie

    yikes! keep us updated, and stay strong. this too shall pass...

  • missemymissemy Raw Newbie

    FIrst, I too feel your pain. I had fibro for 37 years, (since age 4) got rid of that in '99, but then got Chronic Fatigue. After many tests and detoxes, etc. it was finally discovered almost a year ago I had Hep C, with mono, epstien bar and a few other virus'. I went to a wonderful Dr that does biofeedback. It took awhile for it to show up, I was on an herb that gets rid of virus (It's amazing how many can build up in the body without our knowledge) and then it showed up on her machine. I am still pretty ill, so have resided to try this raw thing, except finding out that nuts are not for me. So can't sleep as I am stuck in the gut, and I had them at 9:00 this morning. but anyway, I feel for you. ask your Dr if they can do some tests for virus', (even though Hep C doesn't always show up, but at least try) detoxes are good, but it's best to know what you are dealing with. and I just went on maca. I hear good things, and think it's helping. but in that what I have is pretty serious when left unchecked (And I refuse to do inferon) am done thinking if I just take the right combo of herbs etc I can eat dead foods and be fine.

    take care, and keep on trying to find the answer. It will come to you.

  • Did you know that they are adding stuff to chicken? I picked up a package for my family (not me) and it has dextor (corn sugar) and natural additives. Chicken is very bad for you.

    Plus sugar adds to the yeast infection. I was tired all the time, had cancer 4 times, Celiac disease (can't eat gluten), corn allergies, soy, apples and grapes. I've been on the raw food diet for 2 weeks and I am feeling great but you need to be 100 % to get the benfits. I have a heart condition too from the Celiac disease, it has given me a lot of problems.

    When I was 48, an xray doctor came out in the waiting room to look at my drivers lic. because he thought I was 68, he said my bones were in bad shape. I'm 55 and I'm going to change that with this diet.

    Please before going back to SAD, try RAW for 2 months and you will see a difference. If you go to: http://www.thegardendiet.com/ , Jinjee talks about having children on the raw diet and how they are doing. She has had 5 and been on the raw diet the whole time. None of the children has ever touched meat, dairy or any junk food.

    Just give RAW foods a chance to make a difference in your life.

    It is in mine.

    take care

  • Hello. I'm starting to feel better..still no appetite. I ate a little melon and a banana yesterday and thats about it since Sunday night : ( But I will keep listening to my body and drinking ginger teas with lemon.

    I have gotten the results from my ayurvedic assessment and will be making some big changes to my lifestyle. I know many people are able to be successful with raw+ayurveda, however, due to some serious imbalances I have decided to follow the recommendations as I have been advised. It will not be easy and I will make changes slowly and with patience. I have been advised to avoid raw foods, and to eat Warm Heavy Oily Moist Cooked Foods. I will not be consuming dairy and meat as is suggested. This change is not permanent. Once I am healthy again, I will begin to find a way to incorporate my raw foods again and eventually in the future I know this will be part of my lifestyle. Right now, my health is my priority and I belieive that once I regain balance I will finally be able to feel myself again.

    I could not figure out why I did not get the positive benefits that I was expecting through raw foods over the past year. Clearly my body needs to get back to what is normal for my constitution before I can dive back into raw and actually feel the benefits.

    tukeville- I really suggest to you that you see an Ayurvedic Specialist in your area if you can/are willing to. The assessment will be catered to your personal constitution and your imbalances. I believe that if you work with the right person and stay with it, you will eventually be able to regain balance as well and eliminate the fatigue you are dealing with.

    I can't wait to get better and hope you feel better too tukeville!

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