I'm healed, and I'm not kidding.

Hi,


I'd like to apologize for my lengthly depart from the blog. I must say it's only because I've gotten back into life; I've been healthy, and I've been busy. Also, I want to note that the subject line of this blog post is not taken lightly.  I don't like the idea of giving people false and unfounded hope, so when I say I'm healed, I mean it.

The last couple of years have been very difficult for me, and it's hard to revisit those days by writing in this blog. But I felt like I needed to update you. It's the right thing to do!

I'm doing incredible. Those Banerji Protocols are amazing and have resurrected my health. My immune system is no longer confused, and I'll forever be grateful to Joette Calabrese for introducing the power of homeopathy and the Banerji Protocols to me.


Let me recap what has happened since my last post, which was a long time ago...


Insomnia:

I suffered with insomnia for quite a while, and nothing seemed to help. Since I knew homeopathy was so useful, I stuck with it. Homeopathy only works if you find the RIGHT remedy, otherwise it's not that homeopathy doesn't work, its that the right remedy has not been selected. So I stuck with it. The remedies I described in my last insomnia post really did help me fall asleep and stay asleep, but they were like bandaids, and they weren't addressing the source of the problem.


I finally realized that my hormones were not well, because I FINALLY started taking my basal body temperature again (I have done this in the past). I wasn't peaking in temperature after my body ovulated, which is a sign of low progesterone. Lab tests in my 2nd half of my cycle confirmed this. I was also getting some cysts on my ovaries when I ovulated, although I don't have PCOS.


All of these, including the anxiety and insomnia, are symptoms of low progesterone. 



Addressing the Hormones:

Joette put me on the Banerji Protocols for my type of hormone issues. We've tried this before, but we took a break and let my body show more symptoms (I observed better), and tried again. She put me back on Coninum Mac 3, but she didn't mix it with Sepia this time. Conium mac is for when you have hormonal issues, particularly with ovarian cysts (I take this twice daily right now). She also put me back on Sepia, but again we are not mixing these remedies. I take Sepia 200 twice a week; Sepia is a great hormone remedy for when you have that droopy exhaustion at the end of the day. These two remedies have been amazing for my hormones. So now I'm sleeping better without using the band-aid remedies; actually I RARELY use them! I also noticed that I spot 7 days prior to to beginning of my period. I've been doing these hormone remedies for about a month and at my next cycle, I had NO SPOTTING. This is very encouraging and a great sign that my hormones are getting the right push from the right homeopathic medicines.


The Reoccurring UTI's Return:


Next, I want to say how important it is to have homeopathic remedies in your home. If you have IC, then you can count on getting a UTI infection at some point. These infections must be dealt with WITHOUT antibiotics. Go through my posts here and previously, and write down the remedies I've used and order them. Chances are they may help you when the time comes. Make sure you are selecting the correct remedies for the correct situation. Unfortunately, this takes you studying and learning homeopathy a bit. One great place to start is to visit Joettes website. She has a great "QuickStart guide" page on her site. You can also select "free resources" and sign up for free access to her community area (http://joettecalabrese.com/free-downloads-and-articles/). I'm not trying to push you to her website, but if you want to replicate exactly what I did to get to where I am now (knowledgable on how to treat my uti's with homeopathy MYSELF), then do what I did. Once you're in her free community area, you can find an article on uti's. It was very useful to me when I started getting the reoccurring infections again (read on for more details.) Trust me, if I was able to learn this stuff,  you can too!


Over the last 6 months, I suffered from 4 uti's in a row.  At first, I was upset by these UTI's but then when I realized that the more I got the UTI's AND CURED THEM BY ALLOWING MY BODY TO USE ITS OWN DEFENSES, the more education/information my immune system would get on how to deal with bladder infections on its own.  I knew that I would be empowering my immune system by allowing these UTIs to be addressed via homeopathy. ---As LONG as DIDN'T USE AN ANTIBIOTIC to treat the UTI and instead used Herbs/homeopathy/even topical essential oils, I would RE-EDUCATE my immune system on how to take care of me the right way. Antibiotics, steroids, and really all drugs do exactly the opposite. They confuse your immune system and perpetuate the auto immune issues. Trust me. Ask me how I know.

Identifying UTI's at Home (vs. an IC Flare):


Here is a timeline of how I addressed each UTI, but first let me show you how you can diagnose a UTI vs an IC flare at home:

1- Get one of those test strips that reads different urinalysis parameters, and look for the following
  a) Protiens- This one is concerning because any time you have proteins in the urine it is because your kidneys is being affected. It's important to protect your kidneys in a UTI infection because of the potential for scarring. I know there are homeopathic remedies that address the kidneys, but I'm not familiar with them as my UTI's rarely ever get into the kidneys. But when I treat a UTI at home, I monitor my proteins to make sure that it isn't getting worse.
   b)  Leuk's - these are white blood cells which indicate infection and/or a flare up
   c)  Blo- this too indicates infection, but it is really a sign of inflammation. Infections and IC cause blood/inflammation
   d) Nitrites- these are the by-products of bacteria (bacteria poo, really). You usually can only see this in the morning when you first urinate. 


Conclusion: If you see A and D, you have an infection for sure. If you se just B and C, then you may have an infection or a flare, and make the effort to catch your urine in the morning after it has sat a long time in the bladder so that you can see if there are any of that nitrates (d above).


Reoccurring UTIs, a Timeline:
From March - August 2015...


First UTI- It was confirmed as ecoli in the doctor's lab, and I used the urinalysis strips at home to keep an eye on the kidneys. I could NOT find a homeopathic remedy that would address my uti's.  To be precise, I tried Cantharis 200, but again, that remedy did not work as well as others. I was very stressed and bummed out, and this clouded my mind and my judgement. I should have calmed down and let myself think through it better. I was really a mess.

 I ended up using this oil of oregano (timed release) for almost 2 months to clear the infection (I think I took like 5 pills 4 times a day. YOWZA! Not good...). This  likely killed some of my gut bacteria, but it was a better alternative than antibiotics. But I knew this wasn't the right way to do that.  The reason I feel this way is because I think that the oil of oregano was suppressing the bad bacteria as well as the good bacteria.   In my opinion, the essential oil was acting as a suppressant...it wasn't boosting/educating my immune system so that my body can fight it by it self .  For that reason it is my opinion that when you ingest essential oils with the intent of killing an infection, it is not actually teaching your immune system how to fight by itself (I also feel this way about colloidal silver).  Anything that kills gut bacteria is not worth it to me, in my opinion.  But again, to reiterate, this alternative was by far much better than resorting to antibiotic's. So it was kind of a step in the right direction with a small step back. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you are not selecting the correct homeopathic remedy, then resort to this oil of oregano and/or perhaps colloidal silver (note that I've not used colloidal silver, but I hear it works great).


Second UTI: Since I felt like the oil of oregano was not the right way to go with the UTI, I studied up on homeopathy and UTI's while I was well. I already knew I would get another one due to my history. This second UTI returned rather quickly, within a month an a half of the prior one. 


I then had an epiphany:  I then realized during a special moment of prayer that the Banerji Protocol for UTI's--especially when it's an e-coli UTI--is to use Cantharis 30, not 200. I must have gotten the 200 vs 30 wrong in my notes or memory or something. But with the clear realization that I needed to use Cantharis 30, I was ready to go. (Note: The Banerji Protocols differ from classical homeopathy in many ways, and one of them is that they are extremely specific about what potency of remedy to use. The study of posology--the potency of remedies--is very interesting).   I would also like to take this moment to reemphasize the power of prayer. Having faith and trust in God and in his path for me has been an enormously powerful component to my healing journey.


So for that reason, I started the remedy Cantharis 30. The UTI was very painful, and burning. This is the Cantharis picture. I even smelled that tell-tale foul odor when urinated. It smelled kind of like corn chips...anyone else get that? ANYWAYS, because the pain was so intense, and because Cantharis 30 isn't a very strong potency, I began taking one dose every 15 minutes. By the fourth dose (so at the end of the hour), I felt a huge improvement. HUGE. I was suddenly stricken with the strong desire to take a nap. This is one of the laws of homeopathy, that when the correct remedy is selected, you may get an intense desire to fall asleep. This doesn't happen every time, but it does happen a lot when you are experiencing healing. They say sleep heals, and it sure does.


I woke up much improved. That is what is so amazing about homeopathy: That often when the correct remedy is selected you can be much improved (from an acute situation) in only an hour! Chronic issues take longer, of course. 


So for the rest of this second UTI, I continued taking the Cantharis less frequently and less frequently as the illness improved. So I probably took another dose after the nap, for I had slept 3 hours. Then again before bed, then I probably kept on it 3x a day on the second day, and then I backed off even more as I improved, probably twice a day. Once the symptoms were completely gone, I continued taking the Cantharis 30 twice a day for an additional month, even though symptoms improved. UTI's tend to come back, and according to the Banerji Protocol, you should stick to the Cantharis 30 remedy by taking it twice a day for about a month or two to prevent reoccurrence. Please note that this is ludicrous when you're doing classical homeopathy, but with the Banerji Protocol it is the way to go. Remember, the Banerji Protocol for an e-coli UTI is Cantharis 30 (not 200 or 6)! 

Third UTI: At the end of my next menstural cycle, about a month later, I got ANOTHER UTI. At this point I realized that I was experiencing Herring's law of cure, where "all healing occurs from within out, from the head down and in the reverse order in which the symptoms have appeared." So for me, I realized that since I was much improved from the IC (the most recent illness), my body was then going back to the issue that preceded IC: chronic bladder infections. 

Unfortunately, the Cantharis 30 did not address this UTI, but because it came right at the end of my period (indicating a hormonal issue), and because this was clearly a reoccurrence of a UTI, I selected Sepia 200 to address this UTI. 

Sepia helps many different issues, but when it comes to bladder infections  this is the Sepia picture: "Sepia is immensely useful for recurrent urinary tract infections, especially when there is also a history of lots of antibiotic use and thrush. The woman often loses her libido, because sex is painful and she fears cystitis may result. She is often worn out by the recurrent infections, so exhausted by the struggle to keep going that she cries when expressing herself. Genital herpes may be present." That fit my picture quite well, except for the part about genital herpes, than you very much.  Sepia is one of the first remedies to think of when you are getting reoccurring uti's back to back in a short period of time (like every month at the end of your period, for example).  So I took Sepia 200. Within the standard 3-4 doses, I again noticed a shift in symptoms. I did not experience the desire to sleep and rest as I had in the prior UTI, but I did notice a steady and marked improvement. I stuck with the Sepia until the symptoms were completely gone. 

Today, because I'm balancing out my Hormones, I have continued on Sepia (for it is the quintessential hormone remedy) due to the hormonal insomnia that I previously mentioned above (Sepia 200 twice a week). Please note that I am doing this under the direction of my homeopath.


I also realized that my vagina had some terrible, fishy odor. I realized that I had bacterial vaginosis (BV), which was always worse at the end of my cycle. For this reason, I begain working with Joette to treat BV (note: BV is often an ecoli infection). The ecoli vaginosis was obviously triggering the UTI's, so Joette started me on a protocol for Bacterial Vaginosis with e-coli, which was: Hepar sulph 200 twice a day. Because my vaginosis was accompanied by some itching, she had me mix with this Hepar, with Arsenicum album 200. 


Final UTI: At my fourth cycle, I again got a UTI, and while the bacterial vaginosis was indeed improved, the fishy odor was again present.  I continued the aforementioned BV protocol, and I again increased the dosing of Sepia.


Remember, I was already taking Sepia for the insomnia/hormone twice a week, but in this case, because I was experiencing an acute UTI, I shifted from taking Sepia twice a week to taking it every 3 hours or so. This time, the UTI was swiftly addressed in a day or two.

Also, over this next month, my bacterial vaginosis greatly improved and completely disappeared, confirming that the Banerji Protocol for BV was right for me.

Conclusions: Ever since experiencing Herrings Law of cure, my IC symptoms have completely vanished. In other words, when I experienced a return of my old symptoms (the reoccurrent UTI's that actually preceded the development of my IC), and I addressed the acutes with homeopathy, I cured the chronic issue.

When you treat an acute issue naturally and without antibiotics  you actually prevent your body from developing a chronic issue. The same goes for curing a chronic issue that has developed. When you have a chronic issue and treat any acute issue that may arise naturally (and with homeopathy in my opinion), you will over time cure the chronic issue.

Homeopathy then re-educated my body on how to fight off the bladder infections on it's own, and as a consequence, my now more educated immune system began to revive and let go of the autoimmune (confused-immune) issue of the IC.

Ladies, my IC is gone, and homeopathy did it. It did it!

I'm currently integrating grains back into my diet. I still drink copious amounts of bone broth in my soup or in my mug, but I love my diet of raw milk, eggs, whole foods, sprouted grains and seeds, and life is wonderful, just wonderful.

My Symptoms Today:

I must admit that sometimes when my hormones shift (ovulation or menses),  I sometimes may experience MILD IC symptoms.  At the most the symptoms occur for three hours once or twice a month.  But even these are becoming less frequent and less intense, and they are nothing close to a flare. In these times, I am still able to function completely normally. I'm ok with that as my body heals.

It bears repeating that the reoccurring UTIs and caring them with homeopathy is what triggered the dramatic shift in my chronic issues .

I now await as my hormones continue to balance themselves. 

Please note that I now work for Joette Calabrese. I am one of her educational specialists. I have been an online college teacher for years, and my skills help her implement and teach online classes on homeopathy. I mention this because I want to be transparent about what I do. But let me be clear: I work for her because I believe in her work with homeopathy and with the Banerji's. I do not promote homeopathy because of my employment. Indeed, life would be easier if I didn't choose to be employed for her! But I have suffered so greatly with IC that I cannot keep quiet about homeopathy. I must share, and working with Joette allows me  tohelp her do her important work better.

Hugs to you in your healing journey.

Paola

Banerji Protocol--SUCCESS! & GREAT Documentary...

I have raved and raved about homeopathy, and how I use it to treat acute issues like infections (bladder, sinus, etc) as well as for my chronic condition. In particular, I use the Banerji Protocol for my chronic condition. It has been amazing.

Banerji Protocols: http://www.pbhrfindia.org
My Homeopath, Joette Calabrese (who practices the banerji Protocols): http://joettecalabrese.com

Well, on my personal Facebook Page, I too have been very vocal about homeopathy and the Banerji Protocols.

A friend of the family reached out to me and told me and my mom that their granddaughter--19 years old--was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It didn't look good. The family made the very difficult decision to not pursue traditional medicine with this tumor. When they reached out to us, I told them about the Banerji doctors, and that they had a pretty incredible success rate at treating cancers in general, but especially BRAIN CANCER.

Well our friends contacted the Banerji Doctors, they sent these good doctors x-rays and all medical documents. Soon they were in communication and they received frequent emails about how to implement the homeopathic protocol. The granddaughter has been doing the treatment since December 2014. They called last weeks to tell us that the tumor has shrunk! Her traditional doctors are 'amazed at the miracle'.

It is a miracle. And homeopathy is miraculous!

I was so happy that my efforts in spreading the good news have benefitted someone.

I also wanted to share with you a documentary I watched and loved. It discusses the tragic health crisis we are all victims of.

Click here to rent and watch the film, 'BOUGHT' online: http://ykr.be/1sbmanbtfy (affiliate link)

Back Again!

Hi Friends,

Sorry for the delay. I'm still doing quite well, but I'd like to share my update:

Sleeplessness & Insomnia

Recently I've suddenly had a hard time sleeping. Ugh. Then all of a sudden I couldn't sleep for 2 days straight, and on the 3rd day I just got a few winks in (like a couple of hours). What was going on!? I was so concerned and saddened by this. It doesn't take any genius to recognize that sleep heals, and the lack there of is a ticking time-bomb.

Well, after I started a few remedies for my sleep (homeopathically), I also incorporated a supplement from my Divine Nature people (see prior post about live blood analysis and the supplements I take). They had me start a pretty hard core regimen on my adrenals, which involved taking 4 adrenal capsules in the AM and 4 more at Lunch. One should not take these before bed or after 1 pm because it can keep you up at night.

That very night I began sleeping again, and I am still on track. I know that most of us IC-people have adrenal problems, and I HAD been taking the adrenal supplement already, but I didn't realize that I probably should have been taking more. A few of MY adrenal fatigue symptoms are:
1) Dizzy upon standing (drink more water for this!)
2) Difficulty FALLING asleep
3) Difficulty STAYING asleep
4) Heart pounding in the chest
5) A 'jumpy' and 'jittery' feeling...like my adrenalin was always on guard to pulse through my body if anything normal but unexpected happened...like the telephone ringing.

Anyhow, due to the improvements I have already seen in 1-5 above with my Divine Nature supplements, I fully expect to fell better month by patient month. I have full faith in the Divine Nature supplements, as I carefully researched and discussed with the creator what is in them, how they're manufactured and how each ingredient is sourced. Here are the facts about my adrenal supplement:

 It's pretty good stuff.  I talked to Randy, and he explained that if one can't fly down to AZ to get your live blood analysis done, you can phone the office and have an appointment with Randy, who will give you the protocol for your diagnosis (in my case, IC). Talk it over with him. See what he thinks.

Sleeplessness & Emotions
As far as homeopathy goes for my sleep, I have been taking Ignatia. People joke that it is homeopathic Prozac. Ha. I think that Ignatia should be a premier remedy for IC people. I know that emotional stress/etc is a problem for most all of us IC people (especially women), but I also think that just having a chronic illness alone is stressful on the emotions. So Ignatia is the Banerji Protocol for sleeplessness related to emotional stress...which (as you may know) the adrenals manage stress. One goes with the others. Ignatia is also the Banerji Protocol for emotional distress in any way (not just lack of sleep). It really helped me get through my tragic miscarriage last year.

Remember, homeopathy uproots, it does not suppress. So when one takes Ignatia for emotional stuff, the remedy is helping you work through and past the feelings. It helps you get 'unstuck' in your current dissatisfying emotional place. It really is a wonderful little remedy.

Here is a great article about Ignatia and it's benefits to people who suffer from PTSD. And here is one more article about wonderful Ignatia.  While this is not my case, it is amazing how powerful (and gentle!) homeopathy is.

Food & Meals Right Now
I am still on the GAPS diet, and I'm still on the phase where I can drink Raw Milk. I struggled a tiny bit with milk when I was at my worst with sleeplessness, but all troubles that were seemingly related to milk have dissipated with the improvement of my sleep. So what I thought was milk issues was actually the lack of sleep (I get loose stool when I don't sleep well...anyone else?!)

I'm also reintroducing fermented vegetables into my diet. Naturally fermented vegetables are a probiotic rich way of getting soil-based probiotics into your diet. The main problem with fermented vegetables is that it creates natural vinegar and yeast (beneficial yeast). Many of us IC people have an intolerance to yeast (bad or good). So you need to be careful when you add this into your diet.

But adding good food to your diet is like a snowball effect: Once I added raw milk to my diet, the pace of my healing dramatically jumped forward. I imagine the same will occur with fermented vegetables. But you can't start these things until you feel like your body is healed enough and ready. For me this simply means the improvement of IC symptoms. When my symptoms were less dramatic in both level of pain and duration, I added raw milk. Now that I only get the tiniest twinges right before my period (and I subsequently take Cantharis 3o or 200 at that point), the twinge lasts for less than 30 minutes! For that reason, I feel ready to add in fermented vegetables.

Fermented Vegetables and War

Wars in general, and particularly World War II actually did a lot of terrible stuff to our food.  Post-WWII was when governments needed to 'find jobs' for the biochemistry engineers who were developing neurotoxins as weapons...these people became the produces of pesticides after WWII.   Damn Hitler. But I digress. Back to Fermented Veggies and War. In war times, food was scarce and often army's died of starvation and not just battle. After the invention of canned food, death by starvation became a significantly smaller problem. Before canning food (heat processing jars or cans to preserve food for years), people would ferment their vegetables.

Fermenting vegetables, like traditional sauerkraut, kimchi, and even salsa, is where you create a brine with salt and water, add the vegetables to the brine, add perhaps a bit of natural whey (or a bit of extra salt if you don't have any whey), and you let the veggies sit on the counter for a specific amount of time...the length of time depends on what food you're fermenting.

For example, yummy, crunchy, delicious sauerkraut involves:
a) slicing up cabbage using the slice feature on your food processor,
b) adding salt to the cabbage
c) squeezing the water out of the cabbage
d) packing the cabbage tightly into jars (push/beat/smush the cabbage down so that it rests below the water line.  When the cabbage is submerged in it's own brine, it won't mold. Even if a bit of mold develops on the surface, skimming off the mold from the top is not a big deal. Everything in the water is safe)
e) Let the kraut rest on your counter for about a month, and out of direct sunlight. In the end, you're left with crunch yummy sauerkraut!
f) Your health food store likely sells this in the refrigerated section. Look for Bubbies brand Sauerkraut:

We here at my house got sick of eating so much Sauerkraut. :( It's yummy...but a year later they were pooped. So since it's tomato season around here, we ended up making Fermented Salsa! We used the recipe found in the Nourishing Traditions cook book by Sally Fallon.

It was easy, delicious, and fermented foods will last about 10 months in a cool place like a basement or fridge!

This is me and my gal-pal Rach. She loves eating real food and is game anytime I have a big food-project. I buy the food, and as a 'trade' for her help, she takes home a couple of jars of whatever we made together :). You're the best girlie!

Come visit this blog again soon. I already have a post written and scheduled for later this week.

Yours in love and health,

Paola

Some of the [@!#%&] I did to my body that brought on this awful disease...

When I was diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis, I was very confused why me--a pretty healthy gal who didn't even drink soda pop--would get sick from this awful disease.

I ate sweets in moderation.

         I went out to eat but 2 or 3 times a month.

                                                    I made most dinners at home.

                                                                                 I exercised & even completed 3 triathlons.

My doctors and I really thought I WAS a picture of health.

But I wasn't, and I didn't even know that I was @!#%&-ing my body up. I've thought about what brought me to the place of IC long and hard. I put together  a list of things that I did that brought this autoimmune disease on. It took me 4 years to put this list together. But I write to you today having had 60 days with ZERO interstitial cystitis pain and flares. If I have experienced any discomfort, it has been minimal at best. Dare I say it has been what a person with a normal bladder feels? I don't know. I can't remember. But I have felt pretty damn good. 

Shiz I Did To My Body to Bring On IC: 

1a. Vaccines. Sorry to go there right away, but chronologically, it was one of the first things I did to my body that stressed it out. I know, I know. Vaccines do prevent diseases, and I hate hearing stories about people who became sick from serious diseases that are known as 'preventable' due to vaccines. I get it. Vaccines help with stuff. But it doesn't change the fact that my immune system is screwed up, and that vaccines tinker with that same immune system. Perhaps this overloaded my system and made it so that my body couldn't tolerate the rest of the crap I did to my body later on in life (see #2-#8 for further details). In the future, when I have more babies (yes, I still hope to have more!), I will do homeopathic prophylaxis to them. It has the same idea as vaccinating, but without using tracable disease tissue that has been incubated in monkey liver or aborted fetal tissue, and without the heavy  metals and toxins as preservatives. The second someone mentions not-vaccinating, everybody gets emotional and angry. "Herd immunity and making others sick" are words that are being thrown around. Again, I get it. I know why people get emotional and angry. But guess what? IC makes me emotional and angry too. So now, I seek out non-toxic solutions to problems (like vaccinations) in order to preserve my long-term health. Don't trade in short term health for long term health problems, like I did. It seems that the deeper I dig, the non-toxic solutions always have 2 key elements: a) they don't cost a lot of money--and they don't MAKE organizations like BigPharma money, and b) they are non-toxic and safe to me. It's a win-win in my book.

1b. Messing around with my hormones. Just as it is not good to screw around with the immune system, one should not mess around with the endocrine system.  Eating a lot of modern soy (which is in virtually all oils and processed foods), and taking stuff like birth control is a bad idea. I did both! Bah! 

2. GMO's & Pesticides. Holy cow, these suckers are bad. And in the USA it is in everything. How do I know this? Because here, CORN=GMO's. The corn in the States are subsidized by the government making it cheaper to grow. So corn starch and high fructose corn syrup are used in literally every non-organic product sold here. And now, virtually all of the corn made here is of the Monsanto GMO variety (Monsanto is the chemical company-turned-seed-company that makes GMO seeds). Did you know that your gut has assigned specific gut bacteria to 'manage' toxins found in nature? For example, I've discussed how the Oxalabacter Formegenis is a gut bacteria that is specifically created to eat a natural toxin God put in our food, Oxalates {yes, the stuff of which most kidney stones are made---if you're getting these stones, you probably don't have the Oxabact Formeg. bacteria...you've probably killed it off with antibiotics. Join the club of chronic health issues...}. But what about man-made toxins like pesticides and GMO's? God didn't make a gut bacteria that can digest Monsanto's GMO's. So, that wrecked toxic havoc on my body. And that just added to the toxic pie.

3. Sugar. Lots of it. So I ate sweets every week. I don't fear sugar today, but in the way I was eating it before, sugar was toxic. Hold on. I wasn't some crazy candy-bar-eating woman. Before IC, I didn't pig-out on sugar, but I wouldn't hesitate to suck on a Starburst or gobble up a large slice of cheese cake if I ever came across one. Then, when you consider the amount of grains I was eating---which is basically like sugar because it is a carbohydrate and carbohydrates are a hop-and-a-skip away from becoming sugar--I was stressing my system with sugar. This can cause systemic candida. Whether or not your doctor can officially diagnose this in you matters not. If you're on the Standard American Diet, you probably have candida overgrowth. I had lots of yeast infections. Sugar feeds stuff {yeast, et. al.} that weakens your gut flora.  And my gut was not happy. Boo to bad gut. Today, sugar in 'moderation' means that I rarely eat it. No candy and cake. When Laura Ingalls Wilder of the Little House on the Prairie books would suck-and-save a little peppermint stick candy for a month, I realized that I was having too much sugar. Just because sugar today is cheap and easily accessible, it doesn't mean that my wonderful and beautiful body was meant to eat so much of it every day. So today we add a bit of raw honey to stuff. But not much. And I'm happy with that. I don't even crave sugar any more. Go me!

4. Drugs. Drugs. And Antibiotics. If I had a headache, I would NOT take aspirin/Tylenol/etc. I wasn't really a 'pill popper'...BUT I would take Benadryl for any seasonal allergies. And if I had a bladder infection, you bet that I would go to the doctor and get my antibiotics. I should have tried treating it naturally. There are so many cures for bladder infections which are NOT antibiotic related. Google Apple Cider Vinegar and Bladder infections. It seems to work like a charm for people. Then there is the Uva Ursi (herbal) cure. Or a whole host of other things. Unfortunately, by the time I had had so many rounds of antibiotics for those repeated bladder infections (which lead to IC), my body no longer had the immune ability to fight it off via natural remedies. My body was so screwed up that apple cider vinegar wouldn't touch me. Homeopathy IS powerful enough to turn things around, which is why I'm so glad to have this powerful healer in my life, but until homeopathy, I was too far gone for the more conventional natural cures for my bladder infections. Same thing for the seasonal allergies. I should have sought out an alternative to treat the seasonal allergies. But I didn't. There are natural cures, but I never even tried to seek these out. 

5. Not getting my bladder infections CONFIRMED before taking the antibiotics. That was REALLY stupid. Why was I damaging my gut for things that weren't even really bladder infections!? But then I shouldn't have been going to antibiotics in the first place. Refer to #4 above.

6. Not sleeping. I guess this one was partially my fault and partially the fault of little children who have a special knack for waking up at night. But really, why did I stay up until 3 am ALL OF THE TIME doing little crafty projects? Go to bed, girl. Sleep heals. Now I guard my bedtime with a vengeance. And my healthy happy husband is the 'night time' man :)...he gets up and deals with the kiddies. Go hubbie.

7a. Allergy shots. This relates to #1 and #4 above. But I was stupid. I didn't want to take drugs every day for my seasonal allergies, so I thought that a 'natural' route would be to get low-doses of allergens injected into my body once a week. I even did this stupid 'rush treatment' that basically lasted 8 hours of getting injections every 15 minutes. The prep-work for the 'rush treatment' involved lots of antihistamines and steroidal anti histamines. THAT RIGHT THERE should have tipped me off that this was not a good alternative to treating my seasonal allergies. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I can't believe I did this. Dumb girl. I really think this was the trigger that set off my IC. Alas, if I only knew. If I only listened to that little voice in my head that said 'don't do this...it's a little cray-cray'...but dumb me didn't listen to that voice. Smart little voice.

7b. **UPDATE***I forgot to mention this one... Not listening to my body! I really was a pretty darn healthy girl all through high school. Running cross country, eating homemade school lunches (you'd never catch me eating a basket of fries for lunch), and not limiting my food but eating enough was something I always enjoyed. But suddenly things started to slip just a bit. I started to notice the following in my early twenties:
     a) A plantar wart on the bottom of my foot that would NOT go away,
     b) A sudden onset of seasonal allergies, which worsened each year,
     c) A sudden intolerance to dairy products and chocolate
If I had been drinking the amazing and healthful raw milk (I choose A2 milk which is often Goats milk as it is easily digestible), I probably would never have dealt with the milk intolerance, and perhaps it would have kept the other 2 things at bay, for raw milk has a recorded history of minimizing seasonal allergies, asthma, and it has a recorded history of boosting your immunity. But I digress. Notice how all 3 issues above involves the immune system and gut: My body couldn't see and heal the plantar wart, my immune system was suddenly not managing histamines like before, and my food intolerance is a direct link to my immune system attacking milk proteins. Each of these indicate a weak gut flora. And guess what? Your immune system IS YOUR GUT. If I had dealt with these littler things via natural medicine...to UPROOT AND HEAL and not suppress and ignore (as my allopathic doctors had helped me do),  I know I would not have developed my genetically predisposed autoimmune disease, IC. I wonder what your genetically predisposed to developing if you keep ignoring your body? We all have sleeping giants in our genes, people...you just don't want to wake it up and find out what yours is.

8. Gluten. Gluten is a toxic protein naturally found in nature that is really really crappy for your body. It literally causes leaky gut. Our ancestors rarely had gluten in their diet. They would make real wheat bread but it would be basically gluten free. Don't believe me? Well, let me just prove it to you then:

        a) Original wheat, before it had been hybridized in the 1940's, had a naturally low gluten count in each wheat berry. But they hybridized the wheat to make the wheat stalks shorter and easier to harvest by machine. When they hybridized the wheat, the gluten content went UP. Way UP.

        b) They would sprout their wheat back in the day. Before 1940's, when wheat became a highly industrialized process, farmers would allow their wheat to sprout in the fields. This took time, but they had the time because harvesting by hand took...time! Did you know that sprouted wheat breaks down the gluten so it is no longer there? Sprouted wheat = pretty much no gluten. Cool, right?

        c) They would soak and dehydrate their grains. I'm cheating here because this technically doesn't relate to GLUTEN per-se, but when you soak and dehydrate grains, you remove the phytic acid, an anti nutrient which literally flushes your vitamins out of your body when you digest the wheat. Not good. 

        d) Then, when they would make their bread, they wouldn't use that grainy store bought yeast that one uses when they make "homemade bread"...instead they'd use naturally fermented yeast. This yeast makes home made bread grow a lot slower...it takes about 24 hours for a loaf to rise properly. But this natural yeast (also known as sourdough yeast) is also really good at breaking down....[drum roll please] the gluten! Cool beans...I mean cool yeast, right?!

In short, gluten is a bad toxin that causes leaky gut and literally opens the door to autoimmune diseases. Gluten = bad. But someday you bet that I will be eating the wheat bread described in A-D above. Can't wait to blog about that someday!

9. Having a closer connection to God. This may be your 'higher power' or whatever it is that you feel most comfortable with. For me, my faith involves a real, loving, living God who knows me. I know, this one may seem a little out there to many of my readers. I will open up more about my spirituality in another post, but let me say this: If I had more carefully maintained a stronger relationship with God--as I had enjoyed in the past--I think I would have been more 'in-tune' and better able to HEAR that little voice in my head. **Sigh. ** But I guess I wasn't all that far away. Because when the doctors offered me crazy bladder interventions like Botox and AntiDepressants, that little voice wasn't so little any more, and it screamed. "DON'T FREAKING DO IT!"  I am sooooooo glad I listened.

One second. Before I finish this blog post I need to run and pee...I'll tell you how it went...

(wait)

I'm back. That was awesome. I voided a few cups of liquid and I feel pretty darn good (I let my bladder get pretty full because I was writing this post. You're welcome.) I'm picky and want to get even healthier, so I still have a little ways to go, but I'm getting there.

My menstrual cycle is coming up soon, and that is typically when things go a little awry, but I recently started a new homeopathic remedy--yes in addition to the other stuff--(it's Sepia 6C mixed together with Conium 3C...it is a Banerji Protocol for hormonal issues). It should hopefully help balance out my hormones more, particularly my adrenal glands.

But don't forget, I did say that I had 60 days pain free. That means that I had one menstural cycle there in the middle that was amazing and I had absolutely no pain! It's a huge step forward, and I'm fully hopeful to be 100% in remission one year from now. That is when I will try to introduce my bread (see #8 above). 

Eat real food. Food heals. I hope my thoughts are helping you. Please post and say hello. A quick hi makes me feel like I'm helping someone out there and that my blog posts aren't a waste of time.

Hugs and health friends,

Paola

Divine Nature & Live Blood Analysis...

I love homeopathy. I feel like it has been the primary source of healing for me ever since I changed my diet. I thank God for homeopathy every day.

But homeopathy is most effective when your body has the proper nutrition it needs. Good food fuels homeopathic healing.

Having said that, and already having talked extensively about diet, I wanted to share with you the supplements I take. 

I have waited a long time to share this with you because I wanted to make sure it was really benefiting me in the way that I hoped.

So here we go...

Paola's Facts about Supplements:
Fact #1: I know that synthetic supplements are dangerous and scary, especially when you have gut-problems and immune issues
Fact #2: Supplements, when ill chosen, have caused my bladder to flare and have pain. Not ok with that.
Fact #3: Selecting supplements is like a big guessing game. Muscle testing can help you know whether or not a specific supplement will agree with your body or not (i.e. it will/won't cause me to flare), but it doesn't tell you which ones you SHOULD be taking.
Fact #4: Supplements are expensive. That's the long and the short of that one.
Fact #5: People with compromised guts and immune system problems have a hard time actually absorbing & assimilating the very vitamins/supplements they are taking. It can even get into your blood stream, but you can't utilize them if your body is unable to break it down and activate the supplement into a usable form. 

So when a cousin in law of mine basically put me in a car and drove me to see Randy Grant of Divine Nature in Mesa, AZ, I was pretty skeptical because I knew the consult would end in supplements.

I was in Arizona over Christmas with my husband and kids to see family, and I had already spent several weeks at the Mayo Clinic, trying to find answers [to no avail]. My cousin had health issues of her own, and you know, there is always some Jack, Dick, or Jane trying to get you to 'try this new thing that worked for them.' I resisted, and she finally got me to go.

I'm very glad I did.

Randy Grant took me into his office, pricked my finger, and started a Live Blood Analysis.

What is Live Blood analysis?

Basically, when your blood is drawn at a regular doctor's lab, it is alive for a short while. But then when the phblebotamist spins your blood and sends it down to the lab, the blood literally dies. When it is alive, it is moving and it actually has specific behavior. But when it's dead, that is what it is...a bunch of dead cells and platelets. Who knew?

What Randy does is he takes a single little drop of one's blood and puts it under the microscope to see how it's behaving. He even projects what he sees on a large TV screen for you to see with him.

Your blood should look like this...

Nice fat, round lovely lumps of blood cells.

 My great frustration with taking supplements is that it was very hit and miss. Somethings seemed to help, others did not, and others just made me feel worse. So, I stopped taking supplements all together because I was sick of wasting my money. I would only take good probiotics. After doing my live blood analysis, however, I realized that there was finally a road map (better than muscle testing, if you ask me) that identified what I needed.

Instead of seeing all that lovely, plump, red blood cells (pictured above), Randy saw lots of crazy things in my blood.  Here are some of the problems we saw in my personal live blood analysis:

Fungal forms... (possibly candida!)

Protien linkage...a sign of not properly digesting food (and basically of leaky gut!)

Rouleaux...a sign of not digesting food proteins (no surprise there!)

Spicules (a sign of toxicity in the liver!)

Based on what Randy saw, he prescribed to me 3 supplements

1. A liver cleanse. Once I finished the bottle, my liver would be clean

2. Digestive enzymes, and

3. Using an adrenal support (this was not diagnosed with live blood analysis, but instead we did a laying blood pressure read and then I stood up and took a second blood pressure read...since the difference between the top numbers were greater than 3, we determined that I have fatigued adrenals).

I took these supplements for 6 months, and I returned to AZ for a family reunion just this last May. We did an update on my blood analysis. This time, we saw lots of beautiful red blood cells, some Rouleaux, and some fungal forms. He prescribed me a couple of things and I'm continuing with his protocol.

The level of improvement we have seen in my blood is congruent with the level of improvement I have experienced with my IC symptoms.

But what about the quality of supplements?
Because Mr. Grant has created all of his supplements, and because they come from food (and are not synthetic!), I trust his supplements. He has sourced each dang ingredient in the supplement, down to the grower and the manufacturer that processes each ingredient. I like this a lot because I know how crappy and even dangerous synthetic supplements can be. He's a kind man, but my goodness, he is pretty Type-A when it comes to healing the body with REAL NUTRITION and REAL FOOD.

One other special thing about his supplements:
People with immune/gut problems actually have a hard time absorbing and ASSIMILATING vitamins/nutrients. Let me give you an example that you smarties out there are already aware of. Vitamin D!

You go outside, and the sun rays give your body vitamin D. But then your body needs to transform the vitamin from D, to D1, D2, and D3. Then, and only then, when it is D3, can your body assimilate and USE it.

Another good example is the B vitamin(s). A lot of times people will get blood work done, and they will see that they are high in Vitamin B. So they think "great," but then, they are still having symptoms of vitamin B deficiency (like fatigue). Well that is a great possible example of how they may be eating/taking vitamin B, but they are not able to break it down and utilize it.

Back to Randy's supplements: His supplements are CHELATED, which means they are pre-digested. This means that instead of being vitamin D, it is D3. But he does this for all of his [applicable] ingredients/ vitamins/ minerals/ etc.. So for once, you can actually absorb and assimilate what you buy. No expensive pee. :)

Conclusion: 
Well, after learning all of this, I thought, "I can stand behind that"...and so I went forward with it. His appointment didn't break the bank either. It was very affordable. So that was a bonus. You can learn more about Live Blood analysis from his website:

http://www.divinenature.com

Go to his website, and take the time to read all the pages, all the posts, and learn everything you can. You may find that this could be a component used to heal your IC.

Finally, here is a video I found on YouTube of Randy Grant actually performing the live blood analysis for someone. Again, it's just a drop of blood put under a microscope and projected onto a TV screen.

In conclusion...

I was impressed to learn that after doing the analysis and taking the food-based chelated supplements, all of his clients who have chrome's disease have 'magically' reversed their diseases. Obviously it would be illegal to say that Mr. Grant cured those diseases with live blood analysis, since he's not a Chrone's doctor...so we won't say that, but that's a pretty good coincidental track record, wouldn't you say? *Wink*Wink* :).

One more thought...There are various live blood analysis practitioners around the United States. I went to one near to me in the East Coast. I filmed the analysis and sent it to Randy. It wasn't done properly, but he was kind and willing to fly down and teach his methods to my local practitioner. That is something that is still in the works. But my point is, I really think that Randy's approach is unique, both because of how he reads the blood and the supplements he provides. I receive no compensation for writing about Randy and his supplements. I just hope that my ideas can help someone who is trying to heal. It's what I'm doing. And I'm doing so well.

Blessings. You can beat this. You can heal. Find your journey.

Paola

Some Differing Perspectives...

I got a comment on the IC Network Forum from someone who didn't agree with what I was doing to heal my body. I find the IC network to be my 'Frenemy', so to speak. I feel like much of my thoughts and views are censored greatly there (as many of my posts have been edited or outright deleted by the moderators there). They have all kinds of legal rules that they are bound to, and I do try to adhere to those rules since I see myself as a guest in someone else's house. Honestly, it is the ONLY reason why I started this blog...to be able to speak more freely about all my 'crazy' ideas including RAW milk (gasp!) and grain free eating (AHHH!) :).

But I keep going back to the IC network because I feel like that is where you can find the most desperate people who are suffering the most from IC. I myself spent countless hours there when I was first diagnosed. My userID there is minharopaola and later minharopaola+ (some kind of computer glitch happened to my first user ID). Look me up. You will see how I started very naive and clueless about what my healing journey would entail. I was naive enough to thing that by just going Gluten Free, I would get better. HA! :)

Anyhow, back to the comment that differed from my experience. Here is what was written:

"This thread is about a year old, but I came upon it and wanted to pipe in...Im with you! 

When I first had IC symptoms in 206-2007, after some frustrating visits with doctors etc. I tried the alternative route ..I too bought the many supplements, I travelled to Phila. PA for 2 weeks to have dally acupuncture, and tried the various anti-inflammatory diets.Im the LAST person who should be doing those diets, as Ive been underweight my entire life, having to eat lots of food from every food group just to maintain a normal weight of about 112 to 115 at the most.This is my genetics. 

These diets scared me, but my symptoms were so bad, that like you I'd do anything to rid myself of that constant urge to urinate...Well several dollars and months later,

(after eating a diet of veggies, meats, fish and the allowed fruits...and giving up gluten and many carbs-(something my skinny body needs) I found myself 20 lbs skinnier, yes only about 95 lbs at 5' 6' tall!, with no improvement in IC symptoms whatsover.

All I had now was lots of confusion about what was "safe" to eat and a brand new case of anxiety! I lost my hips, my butt and all my natural padding.. and cushioning around the pelvis.

Soon after I developed pain with sitting (in sit bones).. diagnosed as Pudendal Neuralgia .we tried everything imaginable to get me better,but nothing worked and my anxiety (which is a genetic factor for me) was sky-high and still is. I blame it partly on all this contradictory diet stuff espoused on these sites.

such as if we don't follow the Paleo type diets we are bound to develop other" inflammatory conditions.".. Since I now I have PN I wonder if its all true! so confusing . Since Im still so sick it haunts me. I eat much more variety these days but haven't been able to gain back much weight due to worry.

In reality Im an intelligent woman, I had agreat corporate career with IBM -- in my pre-mommy days, and now my hubby and I are raising 3 great loving and successful kids,so I should know better than to let this diet stuff traumatize me.

I now have a pain pump (which has not worked yet ) and seems to make it harder for me to urinate. 

I know you have one too and Im so glad its helping you.

In my case, the surgeon placed the darn thing right over my poor bladder as Im very tiny, It seems to get in my way when I pee, aggravating my original problem.

We are giving it a bit more time and then we'll see.

Long story short --Stress management is something I need the most-- to get well!

I wish there was an "alternative" somewhere in between western and alternative medicine. I was taught growing up' by my dad, "everything in moderation" So true!

Its hard for me to believe that in order to get well I'd have to go on a diet that extreme. The majority of Americans are overweight these days, hence all the fad diets.

But its just not an option for me.. and rest the of the skinny folks out there. We would be in the hospital with malnutrition or worse.

Hearing such dietary info makes me think I'll never get well, but there's got to be a better way for me.

Again thanks for being the voice of reason in this long thread!

Good luck!

Kathy"

Thx for posting your opinion..It was the voice of reason amongst everyone esle...

My response:

Hi Megad,

Thank you so much for stopping by and thank you so much for your comments. I'm so sorry you have struggled so much and that now you're on a pain pump that doesn't work. It's an awful awful disease.

Donna is always a helpful 'devil's advocate'  to the different comments I've posted. I've always welcomed her and anyone's input that differ's from my experience because the whole point of my posts is to share experiences and knowledge. Clearly going grain free isn't right for everyone.

But to speak from personal experience, I have never been obese, and I did loose just a little bit of weight going grain free, but nothing like getting down to 95 lbs. That's very low. Hugs girl. I don't think anyone would begrudge the incredible relief from pain that going grain free has brought me. I was even off of milk and eggs for a long time because those would cause immense bladder pain within 30 minutes after consuming.

But your comment actually prompts an important point...I 100% think that grains are essential, and as the Bible says 'the staff of life'...going on the grain free diet (at first it was the autoimmune protocol diet, and now I've transitioned into the full GAPS diet) has allowed me to slowly heal my gut and it's beneficial bacteria. Today, I'm drinking raw goats milk (I selected this milk because it's easier digested...goat's milk digests in 30 minutes and cows milk takes 3 hours! Wow, right?) and I'm back to eating pasture-raised eggs. I hope to once again eat properly prepared grains in the future. True Paleo people never hope to eat grains again because I think being Paleo is a life-style (much like vegans are life-long vegans). But my goal is to heal my gut and eat according to the principles of the Weston A Price foundation.

When I first started this post way back when [it's actually longer than a year because my "Part I" posts is even older  ], I was in horrible pain, Seriously horrible pain. You all know what I'm talking about.

Today, I am literally 90% better. But please be mindful, I'm absolutely not making any recommendations for you or for anyone else. I just know how helpful it is to share my experience and to be responsible with my follow up so that others can track one girl's POSITIVE healing experience with IC. I actually feel 98% better as far as symptoms go, but I will consider myself 100% cured when I can eat a variety of properly selected/prepared foods, including grains.

My healing trifeca has involved...
1. Diet...some sort of grain free eating (again, at first it was the AutoImmune Paleo diet, now it's the full gaps diet, and soon I will start hopefully reintroducing grains)
2. Homeopathy for my chronic and acute problems (so I'm on homeopathic remedies for my IC and dermographia --itching skin, and whenever I get sick with something like a bladder infection or strep throat--ALL OF WHICH I HAD! I will go to the doctor, get the diagnosis/culture, then I fill the antibiotic prescription, and then I work with my homeopath on treating the illness completely free of antibiotics. So far my family and I have an ever growing pile of unused antibiotics. I also make sure to go back to my doctor for another culture to make sure the infection has cleared, and it always has. To me and my IC, I have learned that antibiotics load the gun, and my genetics pull the trigger. The Mayo Clinic told me point blank that my dermographia--all over body itching autoimmune disease--was caused by antibiotics!)
3. Live blood analysis where the doctor/practicioner looks at my blood live under a microspcoe, and based on how my blood is behaving he has prescribed me specific supplements to help me continue healing. I'm taking a total of 2 supplements right now (digestive enzymes and adrenal support), and the rest of my nourishing comes directly from the high-quality food I eat. I agree with you, Megad, that too many supplements is a waste for me and my IC. The live blood analysis doctor I see is in Arizona and people can find him if they type in 'Grant Divine Nature' [I will be making a post about this topic in a week or so...more to come]

Anyhow, thank you so much for stopping by, Megad. I hope you can find relief to your pudendal neuralgia. I don't know much about that so, I don't have any ideas for you. But I hope you can find healing. Please don't give up! I know our bodies can heal themselves if we prod them in the right direction...but the 'right direction' can mean so many different things for different people that it is very hard to figure out. I know. 

I send you my sincere best and good wishes,
MP (Paola)

This is a long blog post, I understand that, but I think it's important to bring in 'the other side' of the argument. Healing is so different from everyone. If you look at my 'checklist' page on this blog, you will see that I list pudendal nerve issues as a possible root cause for my IC, which I explored with an excellent chiropractor for over a year. When I finally concluded that my PN was fine, I moved on to more gut-healing strategies. It's so hard and slow to figure out what the root cause is, but if you go grain free and you experience ABSOLUTELY NO RELEIF, I think you may be barking up the wrong tree? But what do I know!? I'm just a girl who has IC who is 90% better and who is sharing my journey with others.

You are the master of your body. You know it better than anyone or any doctor. And if you don't, you should.

I truly believe that we can completely heal from IC, if you can just find the right place to point yourself. Maybe it would be through doing the vegan-based detox that my friends on the IC Facebook group are doing (more info here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HealedIC/), or maybe it would be to find a great chiropractor to help release your PN? Or maybe it would be to heal your gut?

Hopefully my story is helping you sort things out.

But I do have one bold statement to make. How many times have you heard of allopathic (traditional) medicine curing a chronic disease like IC? Never. Literally never. But how many times have you heard of natural medicine healing these? The stories are out there. They are there. Stick with it. Natural healing is the way to go if you want to reverse your problems. 

Hugs everyone. We really can heal this.

Great questions from an IC friend...

The other day, a fellow IC friend of mine emailed me a lot of great questions. I spent considerable time answering his questions, and I thought I would share these with you...

In a nutshell:
For me, the most important thing that I must do is protect my gut bacteria and regrow it. I must do this at all costs. In the past, I have done BIG detoxes (mainly I went on a Juice fast,  a Candida cleanse and 3 colonic sessions). But now that I did the BIG CLEANSE, I focus on maintenance cleansing by gently cleansing my body. I take Bentonite clay each night before bed, and I take REGULAR detox baths, alternating between an epsom salt bath, an apple cider vinegar bath, a kelp bath, and a baking soda bath...I do each individually, not all at once. Currently I'm in the process of saving up to buy a at-home Infrared Sauna (that has low EMF's) so that I can do sauna detox 3-4 times a week from home. 

But moving forward, now. I do believe in detoxing, but I do not think it is the magic bullet or the one solution to my IC. Many people do find huge success in eating a all-raw vegetable diet. More power to them. I think it's wonderful that it can help their IC, but I don't think it is how I can fully heal my IC. After reading Vasey's book on an Acid Alkaline diet, I went on a grain-free vegan diet for extended months in the past, and I decided to stop the diet to move forward in my own healing).

So I believe in healing the gut. Each morning, I drink bone broth. The homemade bone broth that I make is cooked in a pressure cooker for 8 hours (I add a 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the bones to help it cook, and I add water to the broth throughout the 8 hours). I love pressure cooking all things meat...it's a great "git-r-dun" pot. I drink a big cup of this broth each morning. It is the fatty, gelatinous quality of the broth that helps HEAL and SEAL the leaky gut, which is the root  cause of any autoimmune condition.

I also do eat grass fed meats, organ meats (like liver) and poultry. I eat lots of eggs and raw milk. All of these have special gut-healing nutrients. The raw milk in particular helps reculture the gut with good bacteria, which is essential. We do NOT eat grains. Grains are highly acidic, stress out the gut due to their anti-nutrients, and can cause leaky gut if they contain gluten. Grains include wheat (and the gluten in the wheat), barley, rice, quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat, and more. I eat 0 grains. This helps our body stay more alkaline (but again, I eat meat--which is acidic--, so I'm not obsessed with alkalinity). Because we don't eat grains, we eat A LOT of vegetables. I will often juice carrots, leafy greens, cucumber, celery and more into a liquid drink to accompany dinner. In the summer time, we participate in a farmer's coop and we receive 4 LARGE bags of organic vegetables each week. We eat ALL OF IT each week. So we eat a lot of vegetables.

I believe that this part anti-inflammatory diet, part alkaline diet, and a mostly gut-healing diet is key to reversing and curing my IC.

As far as supplements go, I take the following:
1- Grassfed Gelatin/Collagen (in powder form, mixed in water)...this helps add to the bone broth I drink regularly
2- I drink 2 tablespoons of RESISTANT STARCH in the morning.  Resistant starch is a type of starch that only gets digested by the large intestine. The large intestine is where most all of the GOOD GUT BACTERIA resides. There is much research on resistant starch, and let me suffice it to say that it is a great way to help regrow the good bacteria you currently have in your gut. Note: I use plantain flour (from the bananas) as my form of resistant starch. Other people use potato starch. DO NOT USE  just any starch like corn starch or arrowroot starch. You must find a resistant starch that you like and use that. I stir 2 TBSP of my plantain flour into cold water and drink it fast (because it does not taste good). It must be prepared in cold water. If you warm up the starch (i.e. to use in your cooking), it no longer is resistant starch because cooking it breaks it down and makes it easier to digest...and you don't want that. You want it to make it to your large intestine.
3- Bentonite Clay- A few Tablespoons in water in the morning.
4- Fermented Cod Liver Oil (FCLO). It has many good immune building qualities. You can spend a day researching this supplement alone. It has lots of Vitamin D3, which all of us ICers are deficient in. Don't even bother getting your blood work done. You're are for sure diffident in it (ok, maybe do get it checked, but I'm still right!) Actually, almost everyone in the world is deficient in D3, but especially people with autoimmune conditions. When I take my FCLO, it burns the back of my throat a bit, but this is normal. I just chase it down with a nice tall glass of raw milk.
5- Vitamin K Butter- This is butter made from cows that eat rapidly growing grass. It is REALLY good for you, and again, you can spend a whole day researching this alone. But in a nutshell, trust me. Good for you.
6- I eat a high fat diet, full of lard (like bacon fat, not the synthetic Franken-Crisco or Canola oil that people buy), coconut oil, butter, and more. I know this sounds scary and that I would be giving myself a heart attack, but to their astonishment, my doctors at the Mayo Clinic said that my good Cholesterol is SO HIGH that they think I'm the last person on earth to ever have a heart attack. Imagine their surprise when I told them I ate a high-fat diet full of butter, real cream, and lard! A great place to learn more about this and break up lies about 'low fat diets' is to watch the following video on YouTube: The Oiling of America.

It blew me away. Low Fat Diet = Chemical Crap Fest
7- Because I have a histamine-based autoimmune disorder, I don't do well with any YEAST products (yes, the yeast in bread, but there are lots of other things that have yeast in it like vinegar, ketchup, and any naturally fermented vegetables like Sauerkraut). For this reason I DO NOT eat many fermented vegetables yet, but hopefully I can tolerate this someday soon. I do take little bites here and there without any bladder repercussions, but I'm not ready to take risks. I hope to eat naturally fermented vegetables so that this food-which is rich in good beneficial soil-based bacteria-can help regrow my gut bacteria.
8-So since I can't have naturally fermented vegetables, I take a probiotics called Bio-Kult. It has a VARIETY of probiotic strands and this is good.
9- I also take a probiotic manufactured by Divine Nature in Mesa, AZ. This probiotic in particular is encapsulated in an ENTERO CAPSULE. Entero capsules are better than the traditional gelatin pill capsules because they survive the acidity of the stomach and will end up dissolving in the large intestine, which is EXACTLY where you want your probiotics to go.
10-I take adrenal remedies because my adrenals are WEAK. This is typical with most ALL IC people. I bet you money that if you have IC your adrenals are weak. This supplement is made from food-based ingredients that are organic and pure. Best supplement quality supplement I've ever seen so far.
11- I take time to bathe each evening, meditate, pray, and relax. Relaxation should be considered a 'supplement' :)
12- Homeopathy has been incredible for my IC. Meddorhinum in particular is a Banerji Protocol for Interstitial Cystitis. I have improved greatly with this remedy. I have also used a few other remedies like Bovista to heal food intolerances, Nat Sulph to help with the dermographia (itching skin) that I currently deal with [but is much improved!], and cantharis when I'm having a flare (which is rare, but now only occurs when my menstrual cycle is peaking-ovulation/menses).
13- I believe it is CRUCIAL for IC people to understand how to treat a bladder infection without antibiotics, otherwise you are only taking 1 step forward and then 100 steps back when you get another infection--which is inevitable to happen as our bladders are compromised. So I believe learning homeopathy for cystitis is crucial. I do the Banerji Protocol or bladder infections, and it has worked magically for me. I will post this protocol on my blog soon. I also think it would be more than prudent to learn homeopathy for other conditions where antibiotics may be necessary, like strep throat. I had this myself a few months ago, and I was so grateful to have homeopathy in that situation. Avoiding antibiotics is HALF THE BATTLE.

Look at this list above. How many non-food items are there on this? Technically 3: Homeopathy, Probiotics and Adrenal supplement. That's not that many. Food is healing. I repeat, food is healing. Better yet, the RIGHT food is healing.

To answer some more of your other questions:

How are you doing Paola? I've never been so well bladder wise. I'm now eating a lot more food with almost 0 bladder pain. Currently, my bladder gets worse right after I ovulate and just before/during my period. This ends up being half of each of my menstrual cycles. But the other half of the cycle, where my hormones are more steady, I have never felt better. I have many days--during that 1st half of the month--where I feel almost completely normal.

How long have you had IC now? For 4 years, since 2009

How much are you improved with all the dieet and supplements and stress management?  I would say I'm 80% better. If my entire month was what the first half of my cycle feels  like, I would say I'm 98% better. But I'm now working on getting my last half of my menstrual cycle better.

Do you feel like your bladder lining is better healed? Yes. Absolutely. I had a surgery to repair a hernia in the abdomen, and my urologist looked in my bladder at that time. There were MINIMAL signs of IC. I'm much better, as proven by the cystoscopy!

What did the most for you? Homeopathy and diet.

Stress management? Yes this helps a lot, but I have 3 young children so my life tends to be stressful. I do take time to relax in a hot bath, meditate, and pray each night.

Exercise? What are your toughts on excercise? Great question. Exercising helps alkalize your body (if it is not too intense--otherwise I believe it can make your body more acidic due to stress) and detox it (through the sweating). I chose to exercise mildly (walking/chasing the kids/gardening)  in order to stay healthy, but I no longer do rigorous exercise like I have in the past. In the past, I was a real athlete, and competed in 3 triathlons (I swam one mile in the ocean!), I've done 1 half marathon, and dozens of races. But today, I want to focus on healing and not excessing. So I keep this to a gentle minimum. I think it's important to keep anything I do to my body on a gentle level to promote healing and rest.

What about Omega 3 Fish oil? I do eat fish every week, so I benefit form it's wonderful anti-inflammatory Omega-3's. But my Cod Liver Oil gives so much already that I don't stress about consuming lots of wild-caught fish. My weekly fish-dinner is plenty!

Do you eat bread? I do not eat bread, not even paleo bread [grain free bread]. I occasionally make muffins out of coconut flour and eggs, mixed with honey and some fruit like bananas. But this is a treat, not a common thing.

Do you eat eggs? I used to be VERY intolerant to milk and eggs, so be careful with these if you have IC and if you have not healed the gut very much. I did not eat these for years, but recently with the use of the homeopathy and perhaps with the bone broth, I have been able to safely reintroduce these into my diet. It is wonderful too because RAW MILK and pasture-raised eggs are so healthy and helpful to repair your body!

I know there is a lot of food involved in my daily life. But literally, Food Is Medicine, and it SHOULD take up a large part of my day.

Xoxo,
Paola