Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The right time, the right place, detox day 3

My cool summer tan, August 2013




What kind of place is this- there isn't a *light* near the toilet, only near the sink & shower (big bathroom). How am I supposed to read in there?


Reading is the only thing that has been remotely successful there, actually. I have a complete and total gridlock... nothing is moving anywhere. I spoke to some people about it here, and they said they are having the same reaction. No poopage at all. It is really uncomfortable. It's from the drastic switch of diet; cold turkey- from carnivore/anything goes, to vegan/raw food.

Today and tomorrow are "juice fast" days. That means that we get blended juices for breakfast and lunch, and hot, cooked (!) soup for dinner. After these juice fast days is the only time we'll get cooked food, and only soup, at that. It's actually fine with me; I even skipped my afternoon juice- I was full from breakfast- it is *that* filling. I had a cup of hot water with mint leaves instead. I know, boring, twigs and berries sort of thing, but I can handle it for the goal of detoxifying and cleansing my system. It is the right time for me, and absolutely the right place.

The juice is usually green. Lettuces, parsley, celery, cuzbarra (cilantro, I think, in English), cucumbers. Some people get carrots and an apple as well. The nutritionist here said I should go "only green" for these days, based on the huge job my body has to do to expel the toxins (and sugar because of Candida) that have built up all these years with the antibiotics and all my meds. Especially the opiate- the Fentanyl- It is obviously extremely toxic. The cleanse that I am doing here is the best thing I can do for my battered body. I still am on my meds, of course, but this is a good step. Jerry, the founder, a Canadian guy, said he has seen people be able to go off pain meds (yes, opiates) after changing their dietary and lifestyle habits. He suggested I come after the Jewish holidays (in a month's time or so) to do a longer stint to really get a life-changing benefit, like perhaps achieving healing all the pain I have...? Personally, I cannot imagine life without pain, but I believe it can happen. Anything is possible, right? I'm not sure if I will stay another week at this juncture (stay next week as well), or go home and help with back-to-school/getting Dov into a high school, and then come back after the holidays. I will know the answer soon, it will come to me.



At this point, I am waiting to feel better in order to be convinced that I can manage another week. My stomach  feels *awful*. It's not just the constipation; I am, unfortunately, very familiar with that problem from the opiates I take. It is a general feeling of upset stomach, kind of like nothing is getting digested. I know, intellectually, that being on a two day juice diet is the *easiest* thing for a digestive system to handle, so I don't quite understand why I feel so awful, but the nutritionist here is confident that it is my cleansing process. Lots of work to be done in that department.




I am also coming off sugar, cold turkey. I am/was(?) addicted to sugar for the quick energy push I need through the day to keep me going. It is shocking knowing how much sugar I ate just to keep going. My doctor is almost certain I have Candida from all the years of antibiotics. My sugar cravings were sky high. At this point, I do not feel cravings... not as much as I used to (last week), that is. I would love to have just one chocolate chip cookie, but actually what I miss more is BREAD!
I want a beautiful piece of crusty rye bread, cut fresh from the loaf. You know- the kind that is dusted with flour? Yeah, I *love* that kind. OK, enough food talk, it is making me hungry. :)
In truth, my appetite has gone way down, and I feel full all day, which is interesting.


Today they brought in a specialist to speak to us. He is an osteopath, and lives in Safed (Tzfat). I don't know much about the profession of osteopathy, but my curiosity was sparked when I learned that they are wholistic and trained in skeletal/internal organ relation. He was quite clear to explain the differences between osteopaths and chiropractors. It was a fascinating lecture. I decided to go see him afterward. He had a clinic opened for the day, [charging a mighty fee of course] for people to come get an opinion and a treatment.

So, I went. Just filling out the medical "rap sheet" took me 15 minutes (also because I write Hebrew *really* slowly, and my spelling is awful). One guy next to me took three seconds to fill his out... looked it over quickly and signed it. I was jealous.

Anyway...
I went to him, and told him my whole story. He actually prompted me asking other questions like- do I have migraines? Yeah, I had forgotten to tell him that *really important* fact. Of course, the shocked look came over his face. I recognize that look well, each time I detail my medical history. He was also floored when I told him I am 45. He thought I was much younger- like 10 years younger! That was nice. (I actually had just had a wonderful spa facial treatment, so maybe my skin was especially radiant. :)


I digress again...
He is fairly confident that osteopathic treatments can significantly help, or even eliminate, my migraines. That sounds GREAT! please Gd.
Since I told him that my main problems were the pain with my hips, he was going to start there. Soon after palpitating my abdomen, he realized that we need to work on getting... things going. His treatment hurt!! Pressure on all the areas that would open up the sphincters. It was so sore, I nearly yelped. Actually, a few times I did. Not just pressure, a special kind of rocking pressure technique he used. It felt like he was digging down into my innards as if there was nothing protecting them (no muscle, fascia, etc that is between the outside and inside of the body & it's organs). Did I say it hurt?


No luck yet, but I have hope for tomorrow. They gave me prunes today to soak in water and eat/drink.


The osteopath said that one of his partners lives in Be'er Sheva, and that he would be happy to get in touch with him on my behalf so I could possibly start treatments with him. There wasn't enough time to work on my hips as well. It always takes so much time to discuss my medical history that it always takes time away from first-time doctor's visits (or alternative practitioners, in this case).

I am so incredibly tired these days, I take a lot of naps. I try to get up at 7am to do the gikong, but this morning I had a headache so I passed it up. I hope on tomorrow!
I am learning how to reset my body to go to bed early and get up early. At home, it will be much harder, but I am learning and practicing it here. Here, though, I have time & space to nap when I need to. At home, it's not that simple. I have to learn all new ways, and I am not so confident I can do that in a week. So, maybe I will stay, or come back in a month.

Good night from the Jordan Valley, where the air is beautiful, and the Kinneret (sea of Galilee) is divine.

Did I tell you that this is my view? Those are the mountains of the Jordan valley. I should photoshop out the light post, though, you know? I could stare at this and feel God's awesomeness *all day*. I so appreciate this time I have here!

4 comments :

  1. What I know from having recurrent yeast infections is that when the yeast is being killed off you can feel very sick and nauseated. You can feel really really horrible. I also know that withdrawing from sugar gives horrible headaches. Hopefully your liquid diet helps with the constipation issue. Oh, one other thing I know my my OT (occupational therapist) is that sometimes they can push on places that take your breath away but over time it gets better. She and my chiropractor always tell me to drink lots of water after that as it flushes away those toxins. I'm sure you are doing that too.

    So, what I'm saying is that feeling not so good is a normal part of the process. I am a sugar addict (trying to get out of that and nuts in place of sugar snacks is what has helped me) so I totally get how you use sugar to help lift that fatigue but at some point in time that quits working and no matter how much sugar you throw at it nothing helps. I even think that possibly when you don't have the sugar your body is so used to it that you might be more tired. Just observations from myself of course.

    Keep up the hard work. You can do this. If you come back in a better place being gone one more week might be better for the kids.

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    1. thanks, Sandra- all true. I don't actually have any yeast infections, which is the interesting part. We are going with the theory about Candida because I am so addicted to sugar, and don't have diabetes, or any other reason to explain it.
      Anyway, this process is good. The juicing was only two days, we are usually eating raw foods.
      Thanks for the cheer leading! I love that.

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  2. It is helpful to swirl the liquids around in your mouth before swallowing to get saliva with its digestive enzymes
    added.
    love

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    Replies
    1. That's interesting, I never heard that before. Hmmmm....

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