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I have always suffered from rhinitis since I could ever remember. I've also had strange issues with my joints getting very stiff to where I've had to physically move them to pop them (mostly in my elbows).
I moved overseas to Austria and Germany when I was 19 and started eating mostly organic whole foods and walking walking pretty much everywhere. My hay fever symptoms were virtually non existent during this time.
When I returned to the US 8 years ago, my health drastically plummeted. I was required to purchase a meal plan at my university and had to eat there for 15 meals per week. They have a salad bar and some healthy options, but I was still getting sick. Horrible IBS (IBS-C and IBS-D), abdominal pain that would keep me in bed for hours, pain level so high that I would be crying. I had brain fog, fatigue (sleeping 12 hours per night), irritability, depression, mood swings, and OCD-like paranoia.
I started to try to research what to change. I moved off campus my second year. I went soy free, gluten free, and pretty much became vegan. I tried corn free but didn't notice a change. Eliminating soy from my diet pretty much took care of the IBS. Gluten was a minor issue, so I thought, so I ate it from time to time.
I moved back in with my parents 3 years ago. I started eating their food which is not even close to as bad as the standard American diet, but is still not as strict as my own diet. My health problems started to trickle back in one by one.
I've always been prone to colds, coughs, and generally have a weak immune system.
After doing a fast with my church this past Nativity (I am Orthodox, so fasting means going vegan for 30 days leading up to Christmas), I noticed everything started returning back to normal.
Last fall, I had been doing a lot of research on MTHFR because so much of what I read seemed to fit my symptoms. I decided to do a saliva test of my own accord. I don't have MTHFR, but I have other methylation issues with other SNPs. I started to take Trimethyglycine (TMG) every day. I started to feel even better.
In January, I paid out of pocket to see a naturopath. He told me to keep the vegan diet up since it seemed to be working really well for me. I committed to it with a vengeance. My mom and I have been doing it side by side (she has lost almost 40 lbs thus far). We did a 7 day smoothie challenge in January. I detoxed from that like crazy.
The naturopath also told me about some supplements to take which I tried out for a while (over a month) and noticed no significant results. If you would like, I can send you the list that he recommended. He also told me to stop taking the TMG because according to my SNPs, in his opinion, he couldn't see why I needed it...
My health was finally taking a turn for the better. Brain fog- gone. IBS- gone. Joint pain- gone.
A typical day for me meal wise is oatmeal for breakfast, green smoothie for snack (includes hemp and chia seeds, turmeric, greens, almond milk and banana) salad and leftovers for lunch, and some kind of cooked vegan dinner (usually gluten free). Dinners are things like spaghetti squash with marinara (usually completely homemade), rice and vegetables, coconut curries, quinoa and veggies, vegan vegetable soups, spiralized zucchini, etc. I am an artisan bread baker, so I avoid store bought bread and make sourdough myself. It doesn't seem to give me IBS problems (I buy organic high quality flour). We eat virtually no processed foods in the house. Once in a while, I will buy an Amy's dinner if I'm in a hurry for lunch.
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Ok, now let's talk about this joint issue. Last November, I woke up one morning and my foot was swollen. This had never happened before. It was on the left side of my foot where my cuboid bone is. I didn't think anything of it assuming that I must have hit it on something at work and didn't notice. The pain and swelling became pretty mild after a while and I kind of forgot about it.
In, I think, February, the foot swelled up massively and was very painful, so I went to my nurse practitioner. She had X-rays taken. Nothing was broken or irregular. As I went full- force vegan, I've only had one other flare up with the foot, but it woke me up. I soaked the foot in epsom salts in the middle of the night and went back to bed. It felt fine by morning.
I went on an international trip to Serbia in June for 2 1/2 weeks. While I was there, I stayed vegan, but ate a lot of bread and due to the language barrier, did not realize that this spread I had been using for my bread contained soy and dairy. I had no way to make my smoothies since there was no blender. I started to feel weird.
My knee started to ache. It was kind of minor. It gave out on me a couple of times and felt like it needed to pop but it wouldn't. I returned back to the US and had a layover in Chicago which due to inclement weather lasted 24 hours. I walked on my leg for several hours. It got massively swollen. The pain and swelling did not subside so I went to the doctor.
We had x-rays done on the foot and knee again. Nothing significant was shown on the x-rays. I was referred to an orthopedic surgeon. They basically acted like the foot was not in the equation since it wasn't swollen and had an MRI done on just my knee. I even mentioned in my appointment that I have had strange joint issues for years and that my foot was flaring up off and on. They looked at my foot, but said it "wasn't connected."
The MRI showed nothing. No tears in any muscles or ligaments. The only thing it showed was excess synovial fluid (duh!!!).
This week, the pain and swelling started to subside as I went cold turkey gluten free again on Monday. Since returning from my trip overseas, I was lazy and didn't make any bread... I had been eating the family's store bought organic bread.
The pain is now in three places: the left side of my left foot, my left ankle, and my left knee. I am afraid that it will continue to travel around my body.
I have been doing castor oil packs every couple of days. I did one on my foot for an hour with a heating pad this afternoon and I had a metallic tasted in my mouth soon after. I also have a mild fever right now and cold-like symptoms. Caveat: my father said he had a little cold last week and on Friday had a temp of 101 at his annual check-up at the doctor, so it could just be a cold. Thought it would be worth mentioning anyway... covering my basis.
I've been waking up every morning around 3 AM with intense pain. If I weren't already in contact with doctors about the matter, I would have gone to the ER on several occasions. The pain is horrible! I have been limping around and have been having trouble dressing and showering. I've been getting a bit depressed thinking about the possibility of disability. I'm 28 years old...
I'm also going to mention that I had a tick bite three years ago when visiting Europe. I've been researching Lyme's and similar diseases as well as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Ehler's Danlos.
I don't know what to do at this point! I need to change primary care doctors due to my insurance changing. I am looking for someone who has a holistic mindset. I also think I need to see a rheumatologist.
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