Hello friends! It seems like summer and especially August has just flown by! I had high hopes of doing something clever and pretty around the house last month, but my health issues quickly took center stage, and pretty much nothing else but laundry got done. So with lots of prayer and God’s help I decided to makeover me!
In June I was diagnosed with diabetes and my doctor prescribed the usual generic medications metformin and glipizide. Very little was discussed about the side effects though and very quickly after starting the drugs I began to feel even sicker and more exhausted then I had before, but hoping for the best I stuck with them through July. When both of my knees were so swollen and aching that I couldn’t hardly walk and I started having upper abdominal spasms that kept me from being able to sit up, I couldn’t help mum, I couldn’t attend worship or engage in ministry activities I was determined to make changes!
After lots of OCD driven research, I decided that I needed to go completely off of the drugs. Even when my sugar was high I was functioning better then I was on the prescription meds. Mum and I had already been on a low carb diet and in my research I been reminded about probiotics having huge positive effects on diabetes and inflammation. I also found that diabetics are almost always low in calcium, magnesium and zinc, and when these supplements are added it can greatly help with pre diabetes and diabetes control.
I found a good probiotic supplement 50 billion cultures of 16 different strains and dove in! I knew that I could have a reaction to the toxin release, but what I got was way bigger than I ever expected! The herxheimer reaction was like a really bad flu++!! I was so sick with chills, fevers and I think I passed some gallstones too! For a full week I was one miserable girl! But I knew if I could get though it, I would be so much healthier on the other side.
In the middle of this I also needed to attend a convention and I did not want to be sick through that, so I decided to lessen the probiotics and just go with the 8 billion that was in the polyphenols that I was taking. I know I didn’t mention these before, mum discovered them in her research during my probiotic detox week and we both decided we probably needed to add those to our daily life too.
In short, polyphenols are the antioxidants in fruits and veggies, but highly concentrated, so instead of eating a couple of bushels of apples and broccoli I just mix a scoop full in a small glass of milk and I can tell you that I absolutely love the energy boost and feeling of satisfaction they supply! We chose to start with the Red and Green mix for women. I usually have just that and coffee for breakfast and I really do feel great!
Anywho, one week off and a long weekend for the convention and Sunday I was back on the 50 billion probiotics. I must admit that I was a little disappointed that I didn’t have any big reactions this time. Just a few things to let know that I was still detoxing, only much more gently this time. I decided to go ahead and bump up the probiotics to 200 billion for a couple of weeks, to really get my gut colonies started and so far, it’s been amazing! The inflammation in my knees gets a little better every day and even though I’m still carrying my cane around just in case, I know I’ll be walking marathons and dancing real soon!
The probiotics was by far the most dramatic part of the whole makeover, but after a year of anti fungal meds I’m pretty sure the die off toxins were immense, and I’m also pretty certain I might not have had any good gut bacteria left alive either at that point, so it was a hugely necessary part too. I also got some really good advice from friends. One sister suggested berberine and after researching it, I ordered it immediately! The berberine, with milk thistle to help it work a little more strongly and freeze dried pancreas has made the most amazing difference to my blood sugar levels. Yesterday after dinner my blood sugar was at 118! That’s just amazing results!
My knees have been rocky and I still need to add daily exercise into the mix, but mum and I are both relived and so happy with what I’ve been able to achieve so far. I’ve also been taking bitter melon and white mulberry leaf extract and I think they are helping too. And something I found helped with my kidney problems a couple of years ago is a teaspoon of baking soda in 32 ozs of water at least once a day with some stevia and lemon juice for flavor, helps keep the ketosis acids neutral and it lowers my blood sugar a little bit too.
For snacks, Halo Top and Enlightened ice cream, blueberries and pumpkin seeds are my favorite and pistachios are my new nut love! We found Carb Quick and that has made a wonderful addition because, mum loves to bake, so super low carb biscuits, banana bread, pancakes and even pizza and biscuits and gravy are all possible for us now too!
If you’re wondering where I found all these amazing supplements, I researched the products effectiveness and recommended dosages on Google and then ordered with my prime membership from amazon.com. I even get the Carb Quick and the pumpkin seeds from them! We usually get all of our supplements from Amazon anyway, and it was such a relief to find a great selection and read the reviews of those that had already been using these supplements.
I’m not making any suggestions for anyone else. This was my choice and my health journey. I’m only sharing it because I now know that I would have had a miserable unhealthy life if I had stayed on the prescriptions. Calcium and vitamin deficiencies were already happening and broken bones and pain were where I was headed. So I needed to take control and do what was best for me and God has blessed me so wonderfully for choosing a life that I could serve him more fully in!
Thank you friends so much for stopping by and letting me share our adventures with you! Our hearts and prayers go out to those devastated by Hurricane Harvey and all of you dear ones that keep going and doing and not giving up in these tough times!!
Happy September and as poppa would say, “Have fun and be good” friends!!
Much love, Mum and Me oxo
NEW PAIR OF WINGS 