Oh my. This is long. I'm trying to include anything I think could be relevant. Which is like, my entire life history. Sorry. I have a hard time with brevity.
I am a 30wk preemie, born in 1980. Clinically dead when born. Given a very low survival rate with a poor prognosis. Here I am, 28yrs later, not dead and not mentally retarded. Yay for me.
As a result, I was formula fed from day one (well, tube fed from day one, until I could take a bottle). I had repeat thrush and pneumonia as a baby, but other than that I was a pretty healthy kid. No apparent allergies, outside of seasonal stuff as I got older. No ear infections. No rashes other than "heat rash" because I "drooled a lot" and drool got caught in my fat rolls. (My mom is so not a sentimental memory recaller.
)
In the past few days (while mentally composing this history) I remembered that I had fillings as a child, in my baby teeth. At least one. I'm pretty sure it was amalgam (was there another choice 20yrs ago?). I had another when I was 12 or 13 in an adult molar, but it fell out and wasn't replaced (long story; eventually lost that tooth). I have fillings now, but they are composites. No amalgam.
Back into my teens, I remember that I constantly had stomach aches and was also an exceedingly gassy child/teen/adult pre-ED. I always had highly irregular BMs - usually stuck in a constipation/diarrhea cycle. As a child, I was given mineral oil to "soften" my poop so I could go without bleeding. When I went dairy-free for good 2yrs ago, I suddenly was regular as could be.
I also had predictable sinus issues at the changing of the seasons - spring & fall.
I am allergic to several abx and to birds (to the point where my eyes would start to swell shut if I was around one/handled one for too long).
When I was 10 or 11, I had a SERIOUS rxn to poison ivy. Ended up on steroids. It was miserable. It just wouldn't clear on its own and got worse and worse.
When I was 20, I developed a "spontaneous" allergy to cashews & pistachios. I take no chances with mangoes. The rxn is serious hives all over the entire surface of both hands. Lasts about a week. Is excrutiating. Before I started avoiding all nuts for fear of xcon, I had a couple of mislabeled stuff. The rxn escalated each time, with the last time including lip/tongue/face tingling. The last rxn was from taking one bite of something before realizing it had cashews in it and then spitting it out. I am scared of cashews!
In hindsight the cashew allergy is pretty obvious, given the severity of my poison ivy rxn.
I didn't start my period until a few months before I turned 14. I was a late bloomer, and then I "blossomed" (breast, hips, thighs) overnight. And I have the lovely stretchmarks to prove it.
Depression starting in teens, significantly worsened in college. Was in a long-term relationship with an emotionally abusive man. Ate like crap. Went on BCPs. Gained weight. Tried various meds for depression and bipolar. Brief hospitalization when I was 21 for finally breaking down and trying to kill myself. Various diagnoses: depression, bipolar, OCD, borderline. Blah blah blah.
Always had seemingly high blood pressure outside of pregnancy - around 135/85. [Now it's always in the 110/70 range or so.]
Anyway, so clearly, I've had issues for awhile, and didn't know exactly how bad and why.
Lily was born when I was 24. I had abx during labor (w/o my permission). Lily had a 36hr course of abx at birth. She was born vaginally at 41w4d after being induced the day before. 9lbs 13oz; 22in.
We successfully decline vaxes in hospital, but were harassed into them at the doctor's office. She's had all the vaxes through 6m. Plus the rest of the series through 15m, minus chicken pox and minus MMR.
She was/is breastfeed without formula. Started solids early - around 4m - based on misinformation and bad advice. She was a big baby and hit 18lbs & 26in by 4m. She did poorly on them, so was not on them regularly at all until she could get food from a plate to her mouth by herself (6 or 7 or 8ish months?). We started with rice cereal and bananas. Quickly abandoned that. Did oatmeal for a bit. Then saw the light and just let her eat little bits here and there of whatever we were eating. Started yogurt & cheese at 7 or 8m.
VERY fussy "colicy" baby. Wouldn't sleep anywhere but on me, on the breast. Nursed constantly. Lived in the sling. Green, mucousy diapers as a rule.
We suspected dairy very early. I was actually dairy-free when she was 3wks to 3m old. We reintro'ed dairy w/o an issue, we thought (things were better, but not "solved" when I was off it. Things didn't get monstrously worse when I went back on...)
Dairy and cats are her only IgE allergy, per the tests (blood & SPT) thus far. She was borderline on the IgG test for garlic, various beans, turmeric & poppy seeds.
We pursued allergy testing because she developed eczema when she was 20ish months old. Then she got the croup (scary not breathing, treated with steroids). Then she had a mystery fever in the 104 range that was still raging after 4 days, so we took her to urgent care and we were given abx for her.
The croup and the fever went away but eczema lingered. Ebbed and flowed. Pretty much as low as it's ever been now.
Aevryn was born when I was 26. She was born at home a few days before her "due" date. No complications. 9lbs 10oz. 21.5 in. No vax. Has never been exposed to dairy via breast milk. Has never eaten gluten directly. Had yucky green, mucous diapers for along time, too. Finally figured soy as her trigger when she was 5m old. She was also a big baby and hit 20lbs/26in by 4m at the latest. Started solids here and there whenever she could grab food off a plate and get it into her mouth. 6 or 7 or 8 or more months? Never was a big fan of food; still isn't, unless it's carbs or chicken. (Looooves "chips": potato, veggie, corn, or rice crackers. if it's crispy, salty & deep fried, she will love it.)
I had major rage issues after lily's birth and even worse after aevryn's. They are resolved now, but only with vit supp, i believe.
I have pretty much zero short term memory. My long term memory is spotty, depending on which period of my life/specific events I'm trying to recall.
I have a crazy sweet tooth, especially chocolate. I've never understood someone who would willingly choose fruit desserts if a chocolate version was available. I have no will power or self-control. I will eat until a bag or package is gone/empty.
I gained 56lbs with Lily. I gained 35lbs with Aev, but started 5lbs heavier. Lost baby weight easily with Lily - all of it plus 2lbs by 4m PP. I had a harder time losing Aev's weight. 10lbs stuck around until we did the ED. From Nov 1, 07 till when I stopped losing around Christmas 08, I lost 43 lbs. (Around 30 less than I'd been carrying for almost a decade.) I'm within 5lbs of that now.
I got insane stretch marks with Lily starting around 30wks. Didn't notice any with Aev at the time, but now I see I got them in my legs and thighs, whereas Lily's were tummy, breast and butt. I took a prenatal until 14wks with Lily. I stopped b/c it made me constipated for a week at a time. That was miserable. I didn't take prenatals with Aev, though I did to pregnancy tea (nettles/RRL). I took B vits to lengthen my LP so I could conceive her while nursing Lily.
As of now, 23m PP, I have not seen a return of my period since Aev was born. But, she still nurses 2-3x/night and LOTS during the day. Lily is back to nursing about once a day.
Our current regime is:
- nettle tea w/milk thistle
- water kefir
- ferments
- slightly less than bowel tolerance SA, broken into 2 or 3 doses over the
day
- sublingual methyl-whatever B12, CLO, zinc & mag (at separate times)
- add to that for just me: biotin & B6; Betaine with meals.
As I said before, we are now paleo and seeing where that takes us. I definitely have gluten issues. One pretzel a few months after we went GF gave me diarrhea and made me temporarily gain 5lbs for a few days. I've had diarrhea from xcon to the bulk bins BW flour I was buying (right next to the barley). We did FAILSAFE before and we were 100% clear of rxns (beh & skin & GI) for the first time in forever. We could handle fairly high levels of sals, but fell apart from amines.
We started seeing the chiropractor in early January. I am so pleased with our progress and am excited to keep up with it. I know that it's helping with detox.
I'm trying to think if I forgot anything in my novel here. This is why I was hesitant to start a thread. I'm so lost I don't know where to start and how to cull what's relevant and what's not.
I guess my focus here is to help figure out what detox stuff is going on. What pathways are clogged and how do I help them?
We are sulfur-sensitive in that we get super smelly gassy with onions, garlic, etc. I also crave garlic intensely but haven't had any in almost 2yrs.
Caffeine affects me quickly and severely so I steer clear.
I get the gross asparagus pee smell.
I off and on fail the beet pee test. Sometimes more dramatically than others, despite eating ferments, drinking kefir and taking Betaine.
Okay, I promised DH I'd go watch Terminator with him like 15 minutes ago. I have written more than enough for now, I know.
