My Health (the neverending story)

I've had a lot of people ask about my health lately, so I decided to just post it on my blog for those that read it. For you that don't know, my health is a little crazy. A couple months before I got married, I decided to go to the doctor for intense pain in my lower right abdomen. From this, I went into surgery a week after getting married and unfortunately it didn't end there. The surgery was unsuccessful with fixing my pain but a different blessing came with it and we were able to remove the fibroid on the outside of my uterus and determine I don't have endometreosis, which is what the doctors thought was causing my pain. So I'm thankful for my blessings.

Along with all this pain we discovered I have an infection in my body called Candida or in other words yeast. This is not your typical girl yeast infection. This Candida thing is through out my body and the removal process is very intense. At first I was annoyed when I found out that I had the infection. My thoughts were, "Okay, I've worked so hard to keep myself healthy and fit. WHAT THE HECK!!" Then I came to terms with it and decided to work really hard to do my research and find out everything I can about Candida. I originally went on the Candida diet for two weeks some time before my wedding and thought that would be good enough. Little did I know that it was just the beginning of a long road.

In November 2008, it flared up again and this time worse than ever. Now the Candida is controlling my life. Basically I'm on a high protein diet where carbs only come from veggies. My food intake consists of Carbs: veggies only except high glycemic index foods such as potatoes, carrots, corn & rarely whole grains such as brown rice, oatmeal, oat bran and steel oats (I can only have these a couple times a week). Protein: pretty much anything as long as it's natural. I can't have protein powder because there are too many added preservative and artificial stuff, so fish, chicken, turkey, egg whites, tuna. Fruit: berries, tart apples, grapefruit, limes/lemons (can't say I love to eat limes/lemons on a regular basis). Fats: natural, raw nuts except peanuts and high glycemic nuts (cashews), oils, butter apparently these are all really good for the infection, but not very appealing to me. NO DAIRY except Natural Plain Yogurt and I've become extremely accustomed to this (gross I know but you do what you can). Everything is wheat free, gluten free. Also natural with no preservatives. I guess it could be worse like take away all veggies but I'm not going to lie sometimes I feel like I'm starving. It's fine though because I'm learning to adjust. Although the "Clean eating" is nothing new for me, I was already eating fairly healthy prior to my infection, there are additional changes I've made and food I've eliminated so it's challenging. And to be completely honest, sometimes I just want a bit of Jon's ice cream and brownie!!!

The most difficult part for me is dealing with what is called the "die off". Not only do I have a particular diet, I also take a pro-biotic and a bunch of other things to kill the Candida. The Candida die off symptoms include: SUGAR & CARB CRAVINGS (no joke, i feel like I'm a sugar addict and never before have I craved sugar like this), headaches, body aches, flu like symptoms, extreme fatigue/exhaustion, swelling/pain in joints & muscles, irritableness, foggy head/confusion I swear the list is endless and can I say ANNOYING TO LIVE WITH.

Anyway, I think I'm slowly getting better but it will take some time. I'm not perfect at the diet, but I really am trying my best. The fatigue is really really hard to deal with and the sugar cravings are crazy, but I know it will get better and it's definitely all worth it in the end because this infection is not fun to live with. There you go that's the update. I'm slowly moving in the right direction and I'm grateful it's not something worse. Of all the health problems to have, I'll take this one. Thanks for all the concern, it's much appreciated!