Milk Is Good Food? Think Again!

No other animal in the wild drinks the milk of another species. No other animal in the wild drinks its’ own mother’s milk past the age of weaning. There are a number of reasons why drinking cow’s milk is not the best choice for humans. Here are just a few:

• Cow’s milk protein is 85% casein which is potentially carcinogenic to humans. It is therefore a potential contributing cause of eczema, acne, kidney disease, arthritis, tooth decay, asthma, irritable bowels, sinus problems, Crohn's, colitis, MS, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.
• Cow’s milk is rich in a simple sugar called lactose, or “milk sugar.” However, after infancy, many people lose their ability to digest lactose. The result is that undigested lactose travels to the large intestine where bacteria break this sugar down, producing anything from gas, to cramps, to diarrhea. Cow’s milk is either a contributing cause or the sole cause for many people’s intestinal problems.
• Cow’s milk and other products (eggs, cheese, and yogurt) create an acid-ash in the body. This causes mucus in the nasal cavity and mucoid plaque in the digestive system. This also forces the body to leach calcium from bones and teeth to neutralize the acid which leads to osteoporosis and tooth decay.
• Dairy cows at conventional factory farms are subjected to horrific living conditions and as a result their immune systems are greatly weakened. To compensate for their ill health they are injected with antibiotics, which contaminates the milk we drink.
• To increase milk production dairy cows are injected with steroids and hormones which put them in a perpetual state of pregnancy. This also contaminates the milk we drink, reduces the nutrient content and creates pus in the milk.
• Legally, 135 million pus cells are allowed in one glass of milk.
• Infants especially need mother’s milk because it boosts their immune system. Studies show that infants fed formula or cow’s milk are 80 percent more likely to develop diarrhea and 70 percent more likely to develop ear infections when compared with infants who are exclusively fed their mother’s breast.
• Cow’s milk can cause colic in babies.
• Cow’s milk may cause allergies and asthma.
• Store bought milk is pasteurized which destroys most of the nutritional content.
• Humans have a difficult time absorbing the calcium in cow’s milk.

The age which children lose their ability to digest lactose varies. Well over half the world’s population is lactose-intolerant. Some races tend to lose the lactase enzyme earlier in life than others. Human breast milk provides a child with the mother’s antibodies, and those antibodies are very protective when it comes to infectious illnesses. Conversely, cow’s milk or infant formula is devoid of these protective agents. White blood cells called macrophages can be passed from mother to child through breast milk. These macrophages provide useful immune functions while in the child’s intestinal system. Human breast milk also contains a compound called lactoferrin. This agent tends to block the growth of E. Coli in the intestine. For these reasons and others many people choose to breast feed until their child is two years of age.

Cow's Milk Alternative

A great alternative to cow’s milk is milk made from raw nuts such as almonds, brazil nuts or sprouted buckwheat groats. These nut milks taste great and are high in protein, calcium and many other high quality nutrients without the risks associated with consuming casein.

It is easy to make almond milk at home. In a blender add 1 cup of raw almonds to four cups of filtered water. Blend at high speed for one minute. Pour the mixture into a nut milk bag and strain into a bowl. You can use more or less water to make your milk thicker like whole milk or thinner like skim milk. You can also save the pulp for use in other recipes such as making dehydrated cookies or flax crackers.

by Brian Hetrich, featured article on the Hippocrates Health Institute webpage, Dec 16, 2015

Aulait's Bloodwork

On April 17 Aulait had blood drawn to find out why she was so sluggish, listless, and just sick overall. Oh my poor baby, it turned out that she had liver problems, gall bladder problems and very low white blood cells ... those were the three biggest problems. Oh, so sad! While I can do liver cleanses for myself, I had no idea how to clean out Aulait's affected liver and gall bladder. I know that when the liver registers as being bad on a test, then the liver is already 60% or more impaired ... oh poor baby!

Anyway, I'm posting Aulait's bloodwork. One day when I have time to research this better and as I gain more knowledge about treating bacteria or eating better for my own health problems, maybe I'll come across something that I should have, or at least, could have, done for Aulait to better stabilize her health. I know that Cafe, my other cat, could have been greatly benefited by barley green powders and other healing powders if I would have known about them as nutritional therapy back when she was having her kidney crystals 3 years ago. I improved a lot when treating Aulait's health issues and my own.

As for the following blood panel charts, the second chart is especially hard to understand as there are no normal-ranges. I'm just posting all 3 blood panels in the order that they were given on April 17 - respective times for the following tests are 5:41pm, 5:47pm, and 6:03pm. Given Aulait's history of thrombocytopenia, I would have given the third test first, but I wasn't the vet. (My original vet would have immediately tested those points as he was the one who diagnosed Aulait with thrombocytopenia almost 2 1/2 years ago. I moved and so took Aulait to an English speaking vet because it's very hard to explain medical problems and nearly impossible to understand them in Korea and wanted to discuss some points with the vet this time ... although my last vet was awesome about writing down the Latin and I could look up those points later - but then that was the problem, later, and I always have questions.)



LOL! The cat's eyeview of a hot cat!

 Steroids!

Aulait was treated with prednisone and two other serious drugs before I thought to ask what the vet was giving her. I was stunned! I didn't want my cat getting STEROIDS. Prednisone is steroids and if she had candida like I thought, then there would be many side effects from the steroids actually FEEDING the candida! I experienced this - absolutely horrendous! But a shot can't be undone, and really there were no alternatives, so I probably would have had to agree in the long run.

After that, I watched her so carefully to see if she would have problems. She seemed to have a bit less energy - she didn't have much to begin with - than before for about 10 days, and then for the next 10 days she really picked up! And I started looking for a caretaker for her while I would be on vacation ... but then those optimistic thoughts utterly crashed as she rapidly declined again, and lower than before. The only bright times during the day were in the afternoons when she hadn't eaten for a while and she would feel a bit playful.

But inevitably, she would go hypo (as before), and as soon as she went hypoglycemic or had eaten (food reactions!), she would yowl at me to help her. If I didn't move, she would curl up in a pitiful ball and try to sleeeeeep away her misery.

I don't think the prednisone benefitted Aulait. The vet was surprised that she hadn't "picked up" after 3-4 days ... but if she had candida like I thought, then the prednisone was not the solution to the problem. What were my choices though? I had syringed nutrients into her mouth off and on for a couple of years and was just clueless about what more to do. Some day ... hopefully ... I'll find a better solution. No human and no cat should have these awful experiences!

Antifungals, Enzymes, Probiotics, Polysaccharides

What is Candida?

Most doctors, and perhaps people, when they think about candida think about candida albicans, the most common form. However, there are many forms ... and often when I myself refer to candida, I am referring to a state of bacterial overgrowth in the body that is trying to take control and overwhelm the system. Candida is a yeast-like fungal organism that is found in small amounts in the normal human intestinal tract. It is normally kept in balance by the body's own helpful bacteria, but when out of balance, the bacteria-fungus shape-shifter can create yeast infection in the GI track and invade other parts of the body.

How does candida become a problem?

When the helpful bacteria gets killed off or injured by our modern lifestyle, surgery, antibiotics, coffee and/or in other ways, the invasion begins. Fungal yeast, when set free from the flora that normally keeps it in check, actually changes form or "morphs" to create a more aggressive, harmful type of fungal cell and develops long, burrowing legs. Without bacterial balance this candida yeast proliferates in our intestines. This new yeast cell is able to move throughout the body, actually burrowing through the intestinal wall. It clogs systems, gets into organs, causes candida yeast infections from vaginal to anal to penile - anywhere on the skin but more often in moist areas. It can even cause fungal sinus infections that cannot be helped by antibiotics.

Staff at Candida Support have heard just about everything from their customers in the 4 years since running their website. People complain about having candida yeast infections in their mouths (called thrush - common in babies who give it back to their mothers in a vicious cycle), in their ears, eyes and even on their scalps, making their hair fall out! Candida becomes fungal yeast cells which ingest sugars and carbs eaten by the host and then they make alcohols and a large variety of poisons called mycotoxins (myco - fungal, toxins - poison) and slowly the host gets poisoned in various and unique ways. This is best said by Ann Brooch, N.D. (Naturopathic Doctor):

In a study conducted by doctors at Biolab in London, UK, a number of chronically unwell patients were tested for blood ethanol levels an hour after ingesting a sugar solution. The study found the patients consistently had high blood levels of ethanol which the researchers concluded came from small intestinal candida yeast overgrowth. Today's food industry packages "convenience" foods for long shelf-life and easy sales and shipping. The types of foods that fit into this model are highly processed and made mostly from refined sugars and carbohydrates. Refined carbs are not much better than sugar as they turn into sugar at an unnaturally fast rate once ingested ... and feed the growing yeast problem becoming more and more apparent in the western world.The standard American diet (SAD), top-heavy in sugars and highly processed carbs, along with the overuse of antibiotics are huge factors in the number of people suffering from yeast overgrowth. Candida yeast produces a lot of alcohol (ethanol) and acetaldehyde (chemical responsible for the main symptoms of a hangover) as its major products of metabolism, and over time the body can no longer cope with detoxification, resulting in liver overload and stress.

"You're not only dealing with candida yeast overgrowth but also the fact that Candida albicans puts out 79 toxic by-products, all of which weaken your immune system. One of the major toxins produced from candida albicans is acetaldehyde, which is transformed by the liver to ethanol (alcohol), creating the feeling of intoxication and brain fog. There have even been cases where candida patients have been pulled over and tested positive with elevated blood alcohol levels above normal."

Why is my Candida so difficult to remove?
Candida is a tenacious tenant in the body that can hide in the joints, organs, sinuses and other body tissues where many candida treatments do not reach. Candida thrives on foods common to the western diet, particularly sugar and refined carbohydrates, which alter the body pH towards the acidic (acidosis), which sets up a perfect environment for ill health and candida yeast overgrowth.

Antibiotics, steroids, or oral contraceptives can also trigger the change from good candida to bad. Chlorine in drinking water, while killing harmful bacteria, also kills the good, and thus encouraging yeast overgrowth. Stress contributes to the proliferation of candida. Heavy metals like mercury and other toxins in the body do likewise. Candida is also easily transmitted from close person to person contact when someone is "ripe" and susceptible (weakened with illness, overly acidic, using antibiotics).

Nystatin, the preferred prescription drug for treating candida, is not so effective; Diflucan, with side-effects like possible liver damage, is hardly a choice for treatment. Skin creams and ointments for intimate areas only provide temporary relief and do not eliminate the yeast problem.

The Candida Doctor Vacuum

In our modern times, there is a huge "glitch" in the medical system. Candida overgrowth in the body is not a "disease" that they can be traced to a familiar pathogen, and medical doctors usually don't have the understanding to diagnose candida. In fact, no medical specialty dealing with fungus in the human body exists. It's just not taught. And when most people in the western world relying on doctors explain their problem to medical personnel, they find only frustration. Treatment are not difficult but following careful protocol, the following 4 treatment categories can work to alleviate/eradicate the problem (must be done in conjunction with careful diet control):

• Anti-fungals
• Enzymes
• Probiotics
• Polysaccharides

Category 1: Anti-fungal Products

This group of products relies mostly on anti-fungal agents in its ingredient base: caprylic acid, oregano oil, grapefruit seed extract, Pau D'Arco, olive leaf, coconut oil, garlic, black walnut, collodial silver, etc. These anti-fungals will send a person into a spiral of "die-off" (so it seems like they are working!) but anti-fungals do not eliminate the problem, but they sure do point the person in the right direction for recovery. Rotating the anti-fungals so the yeast cannot build up immunity is vital.

Synthetic, chemical anti-fungals like Diflucan, sporanox and Nystatin  can give temporary relief but they don't finish off candida or restore balance to the body while doing damage to the liver. Just a comment, Diflucan, at its inception, came out in 50mg tablets, but now comes in 200mg tablets! A person can just hear their liver run! The 150mg tablets are 3 for $125.00! The synthetic anti-fungals are prescribed by doctors who learn about them from pharmaceutical reps.

Basically, anti-fungals work only if the candida infestation is relatively new and weak. By the time most people start searching for help via the internet or wherever ... it's too late for them to rely solely on anti-fungals to eradicate a now very entrenched problem.

Category 2: Enzymatic Products

Enzymes work on the cell wall of candida and can attack candida almost anywhere in the body, at least this is the theory. Certain enzymes do dissolve the type of cell wall common to these fungi but enzymes need to be supported by other eradicating products to achieve balance as the "fungal factory" deep in the intestines keeps churning out new yeast cells to such an extent that enzymes by themselves can't effectively curtail the activity.

Category 3: Probiotic (acidophilus) Products

Some probiotic products offer huge numbers of bacteria or are blended with herbs, enzymes or anti-fungals to make them "candida fighters". However, many probiotics are poorly designed. Good probiotics have the following two aspects:

• The friendly bacteria in them must be alive and kicking. Many studies of late reveal that the acidophilus-type flora in some/many probiotics is dead or largely dead. (From a ConsumerReports study on probiotics: "All products contained the major groups, or genera, of probiotic bacteria labeled, but seven supplements - four pills and three liquids - had far less than the amount claimed at the time of manufacture."
• The bacteria must have some sort of guaranteed delivery system that gets them through the stomach without being digested and into the colon where they are needed. Always check the labels. Most do not have any delivery system at all.

Category 4; Polysaccharide Products

Some new products on the market tout the benefits of mushrooms, and new scientific research has shown these mushrooms contain polysaccharides, sometimes called phytonutrients, glyconutrients or essential sugars. The essential sugars are: Mannose, Galactose, Fucose, Glucose, Xylose, N-acetylneuramic acid, N-acetylgalactosamine and N-acetylglucosamine. A study of the ingredient labels show that these sugars are derived from a group of mushrooms that over 5,000 years of history are believed to be very healing. (These sugars are also found in lesser amounts in Aloe Vera).

The original content (much edited) came from the blog site Gripes of Wrath. I post it here as a compliment to my previous entry also on anti-fungals, enzymes, probiotics and polysaccharides posted here last month. These two articles should be read in conjunction with one another.

3 Guru Role Models

In regard to my candida, there are three people who have been guru models in shaping my decisions about how eagerly to pursue full recovery. One is my younger bro (Bro), another is a church member with Multiple Sclerosis (JB), and the last is a close family friend with Rheumatoid Arthritis (SC).

BRO

Bro got very sick many years ago in his early 20s. I wasn't around at the time so didn't see his bouts with anaphylactic shock when eating peppers of any kind, difficulties breathing when eating other things, difficulty with reflux and I really have no idea of his problems. He was having so many severe reactions to food that of course he would eliminate from his diet all those foods he had eaten in the meal. Pretty soon, he had only about a list of 20 items: apples, oats, a few green leafies and not much else. He had even eliminated garlic and onions because they were in a meal he had a severe reaction to. He was so sick and could hardly perform his job, so took some time off and went to a lifestyle center in Battle Creek, MI that unfortunately is no longer open, and got amazing help.

His body was choked with mercury and toxins because he couldn't sweat, and he went through intensive regimens of therapies throughout the day and even wore charcoal packs around his waist at night to rid his body of pollutants trapped in the skin, intestines, lymph system, everywhere. The kitchen workers cooked special meals for him - fresh ground grains that had no time to mold (wheat was included without reaction) and made many dishes using specially cleaned cutting boards and kitchen equipment because of his huge issues with cross-contamination. He came out of that lifestyle center two weeks later able to eat quite a lot! The docs even convinced him to eat a small slice of pepper, which instead of giving him anaphylactic shock only gave him a mild skin rash. No sugar of any kind, freshly ground grains, tons of fresh fruits and even more tons of fresh vegies, a careful selection of herbs and spices, and only specific oils were the backbone of his no-deviation vegan diet. What a comeback!

Maintaining such a strict diet would keep a person in the kitchen all day, so he's back to having anaphylactic shock with peppers, reflux and other problems ... but no where nearly as bad as before. After 15 years he started eating pure chocolate (absolutely without dairy contaminants), imagine the cravings, and other sweets. But he's been on a gluten-free vegan diet (except last 3-4 years he added some free-range eggs) that is carefully regimented to avoid all those hidden food allergens other people tolerate quite well but which crash his system. BTW, he hasn't been able to eat in a restaurant for most of those 20 years, so when I go home, I try to plan "exotic" meals that he just doesn't have time to fix. I blend herbs and spices I know he can have to create recipes I've experienced in foreign countries or seen online.

So when I got sick almost three years ago, adjusting to a carefully monitored diet wasn't that difficult. We packed lunches for Bro's working days, and carry snack or energy foods with us when going somewhere. So for me to pack and carry a lunch is kind of normal. Bro loves going into restaurants with people (provided there's not a lot of pepper cooking) and he "eats with his eyes", then goes home and tries to replicate. Over the years he role modeled "eating with his eyes" and since I've gotten sick too, my taste buds and senses to mixing foods with herbs and spices has gotten much keener. Bro is absolutely INCREDIBLE! He doesn't whine about his food limitations and cramped lifestyle because of it. He works with it, and leads a pretty active life. He is so AMAZING, and he's one of my biggest role models in life!!!

JB

JB was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when she was about 60 years old. I also wasn't around at the time but heard that she was fighting for her health and sanity. Before she could get treatment, help and maybe even diagnosis, the disease blinded her in one eye and really compromised one side of her body. Her MRI of her spinal cord showed heavy plaque and prognosis was to be soon confined in a wheelchair.

Our Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches a lifestyle that we often refer to as "the health message". Longevity reports come out of Loma Linda, California attesting to this healthy lifestyle. Therefore, believing that nutrition and healing go hand-in-hand, she decided to go to the Black Hills Health and Education Center located in South Dakota, and for some reason, she and her husband ended up staying and working there for the next six years.

At first her system was so run-down that she told me years later, she only could eat lightly boiled spinach to nourish her body as raw vegies were just too hard for her body to deal with. We didn't hear much from she or her husband for about six years when they moved back and again were attending our church. She was ecstatic! Her most recent MRI had shown absolutely no plaque anywhere on the spinal cord, and she had been symptom free for quite a while. They attended our church regularly, joining us in our vegetarian potlucks that did have cheese and other dairy, wheat, unknown cooking oils and sugars. I'm not sure if she maintained the gluten-free, vegan lifestyle of the Black Hills Center at home but after eight months she was experiencing the by-now familiar symptoms of ... Multiple Sclerosis.

She went back to her strict diet and the symptoms were well managed. She had heard that once a person has an auto-immune disease that it is for life. Hers evidently is. So now we're both watching how my health problems are going to ultimately work out. Will I be able to lick the candida problem? Or has it already rewritten my DNA and I will fight this for life? I'm still hoping for the complete cure ... and no, I don't plan to go back to my former diet, not that I wouldn't like to indulge upon occasion in some foods not permitted at the moment. But if I ever recover, knowing what she taught me through experience will be big incentive to keep on enjoying the great foods I'm eating now!

BTW, I have a colleague, about age 50, who had systemic candida so badly as a child that she hardly had an elementary school education for spending so much time at home sick or in the hospital. In her mid-twenties she did the candida diet - months and months of it. She doesn't have much recall of what she did but she does remember having to slug down 4 ounces of some kind of nasty oil at one time in order to coat her GI track to fight the bad bacteria. She's been fine ever since .... so there is hope of full recovery! I'm still clinging to that hope.

SC

The last person who is my role model is very unfortunate. He was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis about 25 years ago, and has been in such pain from serious connective tissues damage that it is evident in the way he walks, from mangled ears and droopy eyes, and from the twisting of his fingers which now are almost perpendicular to their original joints. For a few years he staunchly refused to take any meds, although he occasionally broke down and took some NSAIDS, but finally the pain was too great, and to stay out of a wheelchair he started steroids. He now heavily relies on steroids, refuses any kind of verbal or other help - claiming he's as tough as he always was - disallows that diet can help, and eats out every day and then goes home to eat ice cream, "a treat" for his old age. He's now in his early 80s.

Every once in a while he and his wife (with brittle diabetes) will stop in and eat with us, gorging themselves silly. We're so happy to give them a good meal because they obviously have little other happiness in their lives from their few moments at the same restaurant every day before they go back to their lonely house with overly loud TV.

One day we planned a massive vegetable quiche meal with tons of vegies on the side. I did the cooking - gluten-free, vegan except for the eggs, lots of greens for toxin removal. I wanted them to feel good when they went home ... and wow did they dive into that food! They ate so much, and then dad and SC started talking about the ice cream at home in SC's freezer and how that was his treat almost every day. I was a bit horrified as I know the effects of dairy plus sugar (the devil's mixture) on Rheumatoid Arthritis, or for anyone's system for that matter. Well, mom piped up that we had some nutty buddy chocolate cones in the basement and went down and brought one up for everyone except Bro and myself.

And then I watched the transformation, and it was horrible! SC became louder, perhaps it could be said aggressively so. Ah, speech changes! Behavior changes! His eyes became even more inflamed and very watery. He was constantly blinking them which reminded me of when mine were so inflamed to the point of being dry-painful. I looked over at dad enjoying his cone and his hands were trembling more from his Parkinson's. And, rude though I might appear, I just couldn't help myself. I started asking SC how he felt - a question he hates! I asked him if his eyes were stinging. Well, a bit. I wanted to know if he felt better before he ate that ice cream. He admitted to feeling better. Then I asked him if he thought the ice cream was making him feel badly, and if he always felt this way after he ate his ice cream every day. Well, hem, haw, well, yeah, I guess it does bother me a bit.

I didn't press it, but I wanted mom to see the results of dairy on the system. Bro has an immediate reaction of what feels like sharp nails piercing his stomach and intestines. From milk, I've had mild but gross reflux most of my life and just refused to drink it as a child, much to her frustration because at the time, milk was "known", and oh so falsely advertised, to be healthy. Most people have subtle reactions but obvious if a person knows how to spot them. Anyway, I asked mom afterwards, "WHY did you give SC ice cream when you know that people with Rheumatoid Arthritis shouldn't have it?!" And then I more clearly pointed out the speech changes, behavior changes, the obvious inflammation which she hadn't noticed at all till I pointed the reactions out ... and dad's out.

Well, I know that SC will probably enjoy ice cream and probably every day until he dies. But success was made that day because mom no longer keeps a stock of ice cream cones in the freezer for dad to prevent him from losing weight.

SC is my sad guru. In his miserable old age he's just looking for something to make part of his day better, but even though now he's aware that "that something" is toxic to his system, it's his crutch. Everybody has crutches. Me too, but I’m trying to be like my brother who has learned to “eat with his eyes” and to think of my friend JB who is eating to maintain long-term health while leading an active life. And then when I think of my brother eating oh-so-strictly for over 15 years and JB who must in order to have that pain-free life, the one to two years more of super strict eating seem rather insignificant.

Bone Pain and Rib #10

By the end of 2009 I had seen a series of chiropractors for intense rib and thoraccic pain. In December these doctors had started commenting on my odd rib movement, because more and more ribs were moving. So in February 2010 when I was forced to wear a rib belt (and then later, two belts) to prevent rib movement of right rib #10, I went back to the hospital (I had boycotted going since finding out about the steroid) for x-rays of the lower cartilage that I said was breaking. [In fact, tearing. Bones break and cartilage tear, and rib #10 was in fact moving a lot and as a result causing myofascial pain in the right lingual area, the pain of which I was still attributing to the steriod and subsequent inflamed lymph nodes of months before.] Of course cartilage hardly shows up on x-ray so of course nothing to make a diagnosis on could be seen - waste of time, waste of money, what were the doctors thinking? I demanded a CT scan of the rib cage, and then had to go in again for re-taking it (and get loads of extra radiation) because the technicians didn't scan the lower cartilage area, the affected area - what were the technicians thinking? The technical report of the scan was "tortuous change to rib #10" but not one of several bone specialists I then went to acknowledged that this was a problem! WHAT WERE THE DOCTORS DOING? NOTHING!

This is my March 12, 2010 copy of my chest CT. By the time I had this CT scan, my rib cartilage was hurting badly in a number of areas. The areas I had complained about for the longest was right rib #4 where it meets the sternum but by this time my chiropracter acknowledged that three of the right ribs and two of the left off the sternum were slightly dislocated (soon afterwards, another left rib off the sternum also slightly popped up). Also, rib cartilage felt crunchy under the right breast so much that I stopped twisting in any way, and when the right rib #10 got so bad that I had to even stop wearing the two rib belts (damn, it was bad) I didn't dare move even a millimeter to the left or the right. Rib pain was on the left too, but that pain was manageable. Because the body has more lymph fluid than blood and both fluids need to be circulated so a person can recover more easily, I did make myself walk outside in the cold every day that I had energy. Exercise is important and walking without swinging the arms in the cold, cold weather seemed to ease some of the pain. [In hindsight, I realize this was what was boosting my vitamin D. Getting the regular doses on my face for 2 or so hours a day is probably what slowly eased the pain and was probably the best thing I could do for myself.]

I've finally decided to go ahead and post my personal information. Maybe someone, a medical student perhaps, will benefit from this. Anyway, note the pieces of something that very much look like cartilage fragments falling under the right rib cage. That was where I hurt, hurt, hurt, and when the doctor (the one who prescribed Xanax for me and told me to see a psychiatrist) didn't address this and it's in the area of my complaint, I asked him what that was. He said, "Artifacts." I asked, "Artifacts from what?" He looked at me like I was stupid and never said anything. He did read the analyst's comment to the CT scan, "Tortuous change to rib #10." That was all. Neither he nor any subsequent doctor ever addressed this as a problem!



I was starting to get more and more aggressive about finding my problem, so early in March 2010 I had already gone to a private clinic and had ordered a hair analysis, a complete nutritional analysis as well as blood work on 6 vitamins: B1, B6, B12, A, D, and E. [This was the first step in me becoming my own doctor.]

Candida's Illustrous Beginnings

July 2009 was the beginning of my long nightmare. It began with a vile panic attack in the middle of the night - intensively scary - and never before experienced. Family members had talked of their panic attacks but me having panic attacks didn't make sense. I had no reason to be upset, stressed or down. I was finishing my dissertation and figured it would be completely written in just three more days, and then I had a great vacation scheduled. Nothing to worry about ... but after a second equally strange and very different kind of panic attack I suddenly was stressed and couldn't concentrate; the dissertation took another 2 weeks. I became agitated, unfocused, lost sleep, and oddly I had developed asthma and intense pains in the side of my left calf and sometimes along the shinbones triggered by heat and direct sunshine. [Candida can affect all parts of the body and it may attack one area one day and then move to another and another; it is only predictable in that it will continue to ravage the body slowly, or in my case, quite rapidly. Systemic candida is very unpredictable ... but I was not to self-diagnosis myself (more on that in future postings) until 1 1/2 years later.]

Doctors, times several, told me I was stressed; a few told me I should see a psychiatrist; one (and because of the Korean medical system at that hospital, I was forced to see him again and again) told me I had anxiety disorder and whipped out his RX pad. I told him I had no reason to be stressed and if I were, I probably had low vitamin B since the Bs play a big part in the nerves. He looked at me like I was on something. Since he was the consulting physician, I was forced to meet him again ... and again. Later, when I developed throat inflammation, he slipped an anti-depressant prescription (Xanax) in among four other drugs to help my reflux, which he said I had (I didn't), among the stomach coaters and other drug cocktails commonly prescribed for reflux problems here in S. Korea. By this time I was accepting his prescriptions to keep him from getting angry so that we could at least talk about the problem, and then I would go home and do research based on what terms and things he mentioned. On the way home I would either fill the one drug that I thought was necessary or just toss the whole prescription. I've rarely taken medicine in my life and have never much believed in their necessity, and especially since living in S. Korea I've become very cynical about the drug world as Korea is known for its over-consumption, dependence and yet high-immunity to drugs ... so most frequently the prescriptions just simply went into the trash.

By September my asthma was flairing more and more and I had developed tremors and strange neural sensations mostly limited to the left side of my body, as well as a whole host of other crazy symptoms. After 3 emergency room visits - one for probable food/environment reaction with throat swelling and two related to vitamin B allergic reactions affecting the heart. [Outcome: no heart attack so I could go home; a later doctor pointed out that my EKG line wasn't steady but not considered "bad". Still later I found the answer: Vitamin B is usually produced in a fermentation process but people with candida become intolerant to fermented foods, and I had soon afterwards figured out that 40 minutes after taking a multi-vitamin B, the heart pain and extreme chest tightness started. I tried several different brands of multiple B vitamins but also had the same reaction. Then in the book "Supplements Exposed" I read that synthetic B1 is usually the trigger to people having multiple vitamin B supplement reactions. Ah hah! So now, to daily maintain healthy nerves and keep my stress low, I MUST eat my B vitamins only through foods!]

Anyway, I finally I got past that doctor and met other doctors: neurologists and a MS specialists, ENT specialists, endocrinologists ... and then the bone pain started. So then I met a succession of bone doctors and ended up in a pain rehab clinic where a compassionate doctor [functioning on the belief that the doctor knows best for his patient who doesn't know what he/she needs] gave me a very powerful steroid injection in my left cheek and two spots in the left side of my neck, after of course my telling him emphatically three times that I didn't want steroids [Oct or Nov 2009]!

So three days later another kind of hell began - lingual tears (in the groin area) followed by the beginning of arteriosclerosis in the groin area, and my lymph system went crazy! I was sent to a cardiologist because of the lingual tears and it was in his office I learned that I had been given a very powerful steriod .... There was nothing I could do except detox myself for months on an even more intense all-vegetable diet. For over four months, everytime I had a fish or a little chicken, the lymphs in my groin, armpits and neck would swell painfully. [Later I learned the nodes in my neck were mostly my salivary glands, which means my adrenal glands were involved. Adrenal stress and liver toxicity, evil results of candida ... as well as other diseases!] My whole system was loaded with toxins - not only from the candida but now also with steroids.

At some point, one of the many doctors gave me a battery of tests, liver and pancreas among them, but all came back within the margins of normalcy ...

ERGH! I was desperate! Those kinds of tests reveal a problem that shows a disease outcome. I was pursuing the source of the problem so that I could hopefully prevent full-blown disease. I already knew that if the liver test came back abnormal, then there would be only about 30% productivity of it left, but wasn't there a test that could show smaller amounts of impairment? And just why was the area under the cartilage of my right side hurting like crazy, particularly the spot under rib #10? He asked incredulously, "Do you think it's your liver?" and strongly recommended I go to the psychiatrist.