THINNING THE BLOOD

I've come to the realization I sleep better if I have had generous amounts of blueberries and acai powder late in the evening. For a while I was worrying that this was creating some sort of trouble with candida or fungus, especially as relates to my sinus infection. Why else would I have such strong cravings for 'sweet' foods? But it's not sugar or honey I crave. It's blueberries, blackberries, hibiscus, and black figs. I also feel wonderfully relaxed and sleepy after I eat them, and last night I felt a sudden clearing in my sinuses after I swallowed huge doses of acai.

 

This morning I've been thinking about thick blood. I've got all the signs that my blood has been thickening up, especially since I increased my Lyme-killing Teasel, and the last lab tests monitoring my Heparin dose showed it has become less effective over the years-- my body has built up some resistance.

 

Rather than increase my dose, which brings with it all kinds of worries and complications, today I've been wondering what else I can do to thin my blood. I just read an article on which foods can help. Yes, blueberries help. So do lots of the spices I crave. Suddenly it makes sense that I have on occasion swallowed seven teaspoons of cinnamon, compulsively, before turning in for the night. So many of the foods I cant get enough of turn out to help with blood flow. And there are others I can add in.

 

In my entirely non-medically trained ruminations, I just might be on an high enough dose of anti-Lyme meds right now. The question left is how I support all the other systems in my body--digestion, liver, bowel, blood, immune--to support those herbs and make them as effective as they can be.

 

Here is the article I was reading:

 

Foods That Thin the Blood Naturally

 

(Note that the author, Sandy Simmons, is writing from the opposite point of view: her blood tends to be too thin. Nonetheless, she seems to have done very good research on the foods and vitamins at play. The foods she wants to avoid are the ones I am going to eat more of, since I want my blood to be thinner, not thicker.)

 

THE QUESTIONS OF ANTI-YEAST, ANTI-LYME, AND PROBIOTICS

Some ten days ago I finished my 48 hours of anti-yeast diet. I did not, as far as I can tell, lose more weight, but fear of losing weight if I stayed on it kept me from continuing. The short period without fruit made it clear there is some link between even this low level of sugars going into my body and the constant congestion and feelings of infections I have have in my sinuses, especially the deep passages in my ears. (I am sorry I don't have the correct medical term for that!)

When I brought this up with Dr. Marty Ross in my appointment last week, he changed my Diflucan prescription to Ketoconazole, suspecting that the fungal infection (or should I call it imbalance?) in my body had developed some resistance to the Diflucan. I have also taken a little home-remedy initiative and started taking clove mixed with cayenne pepper in vegetable juice a few times a day.  Clove is supposed to kill microbes, especially fungi. It seems to be doing something to help with the infection. Each time I drink the concoction I feel the blood flow to my ear canals and sinuses, and a hot, tingling sensation, along with small, healing aches and the sensation of draining.

All this brings me back to the question of gut health, digestive bacteria, and other good bacteria that are symbiotic with our bodies.The yeast and the Lyme are tied in. The parasites I got and treated as I was I was coming down with Lyme and after I had full-blown Lyme might also be tied in. The uncounted array of antibiotics I've taken to treat Lyme, and also long before I had Lyme or parasites, might also be tied in.

Yes, these questions were always there, and it's been so long since I learned about probiotics and good gut bacteria that it's hard to recall my way of thinking before that point in time. Still, since my Lyme diagnosis I've mostly been thinking about overcoming Lyme unilaterally, that is by killing it. Since this TED talk I came across a few months ago, I've been thinking not only about getting the bad microbes out, but just as much about how to get good microbes into my body.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_eisen_meet_your_microbes.html

More on this subject in upcoming posts!

ANTI-YEAST DIET, ONCE AGAIN

As of yesterday at noon, I am back on the anti-yeast diet. When I did it in 2011, I lost ten pounds. Six months later I went on the Shoemaker protocol, and lost ten more pounds. Six months later I did another round of anti-yeast and lost five pounds.

At that point I wanted to hang a sign around my neck that read "I DON'T HAVE AN EATING DISORDER, I HAVE LYME DISEASE."

Recently, I have been noticing the connection between eating fruit and the congestion coming back into my sinuses. The anti-Lyme herb Teasel has been wonderful at getting at the nastiness I felt buried back in my ears and other corners of my head, but now that I'm on the full dose of Teasel, I am still struggling with that one last remnant of something that's leaving me congested. I suspected yeast, but really didn't want to stop eating fruit again. It's hard enough to maintain my weight as it is. A couple days ago I was eating a tangerine and immediately the infection in my sinuses flared.

(The painting to the right, btw, is by Lucas Cranach, c. 1530.)

So here I am back on anti-yeast. I will only do it for two or three days, because I have no extra five pounds to lose this time. I've been relying heavily on berries, apples, and grapefruit for carbohydrates (I can't eat gluten and on the Shoemaker protocol corn and potatoes have also become difficult to digest) and with the way I was craving fruit last night and even this morning when I woke up, I made the right decision.

"Dorothy Seton-- A Daughter of Eve" 1903 by James McNeill Whistler