1.) Eczema
I don't have a pic to post but I would say that my eczema has, and has not, gotten better. Has: is less red and less raised from the skin. Has not: gotten smaller or gone away. In fact, I have new spots, particularly noticed on my thighs, and my forearms. Somewhat discouraging.
I had a follow up appt with my ND who placed me on a probiotic supplement that apparently is supposed to act as a barrier to my "leaky gut." Leaky gut meaning that my gut has toxins in it that it has not been able to handle, and thus releases them into my body and my skin reacts to this. What my ND REALLY wants to treat me with is an amino acid treatment, BUT (the big but) is that I am still breastfeeding my son, and the amino acid treatment is not safe while I am breastfeeding. So folks, my son loves the boob, and it looks as if we're in for at*at least* 3 months more of breastfeeding. So my treatment is kind of on hold.
Since I have gotten new spots of eczema since I started the probiotic, I asked my ND about what was going on because I was concerned. Her response went something like this:
I’m worried the eczema is acting up because your body is starting to mobilize toxins that have been stored because you have removed the food toxins from your system. This happens sometimes when we aren’t treating with L-glutamine (the amino acid) at the same time. As for the length of time, unfortunately it is all over the place. Sometimes we see results in 2 weeks but more often it is 1-2 months. The full term of treatment depends on how you respond but I’ve had people on it up to a year (mostly at a low dose). We could always do a high dose if you ended up going that route and it might shorten the duration.
So, I'll be honest. I have been a bit disappointed. But I will say I don't think I had the correct perspective on Naturopathic treatment. I think in our Westernized medical culture we're often so used to going to the doctor and expecting a quick fix or a drug that's going to eliminate our problems. And seeing an ND is not like that. It's more holistic, it takes time, and it's about healing from the inside out. So I'm not giving up just yet, even though I would have liked to have had better results right away. But I have come this far, and learned some really interesting things, and my cooking and eating has improved immensely in health and substance. And really, hopefully I will be able to get the proper treatment in a few months. Until then, I am just going to keep experimenting with cooking.
2.) Weight
BIG BONUS! I am 10 pounds lighter than I was when I just found out I was pregnant with my son in Dec 2008. People, I put pants on today that were TOO BIG. If that's not enough incentive for you to cut out processed sugar and starchy carbs, well, good on you. And I have not been exercizing, either. It will be interesting to see what happens when the weather gets better and I get out walking and running more.
I will admit, though, having to make most of your food from scratch seems to have eliminated some unnecessary snacking on my part as well, so I am certain this has contributed to my weight loss.
3.) Cooking
Okay I know I have not been updating frequently to give you some recipes, so obviously you can't know what I have been cooking, but really, the amount of stuff I am learning to make makes me feel really empowered. I know what's going into my food, and it has been perfect timing to learn to eat healthier, because my son turned 6 months this past February. He needs food with less salt, less sugar, more content, and he's getting it. Cooking for my son has been great motivation. However, there are days that the work involved in making your own food has outweighed the scales of motivation. But, I'm working on it, and it will get easier.
I will post a couple things I've been really excited about in the next day or so: I made my own pizza and pizza sauce from scratch, and I also whipped together a really nice chicken curry.
Until the next post....
No comments:
Post a Comment