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Hi all, I just wanted to post about my recent improvements. I started the diet in Feb 2011 and have recently seen some huge improvements to my health and well-being so much so I have a job after 4 years out of work!!!!!!!!!!! It's part-time but I hope it won't be long before I'm able to work full time - slowly, slowly..
Right the facts:- My IC was compounded and no doubt caused by my insomnia which I've had my whole adult life (I'm 36) but through this process of eliminating the toxins from my body, I'm beating it. I've started to feel calmer, less anxious and thus sleep easier. My stomach no longer bloats after food!!! I rarely feel numbness in my extremeties, I no longer itch, my night sweats have gone, my menstural cycle comes without too much fuss and has extended from 27 to 30 days between. My skin looks so much better, vitality and bounce is returning, my eyes are whiter and wider and aren't half as dry and painful as they used to be. My hair which had gotten wiry and dry is growing rapidly and wildly (as it always used to) My tongue looks healthier and pinker which is a much nicer shade than the coated purple one reflected in the mirror every morning for the past few years. My tinnitis and vertigo are improving and so is my brain fog. I can concentrate for longer and am able to function for a whole day whereas before day after day would be spent on the sofa and any tasks would be facilitated by frequent rests in between. I'm starting to live a normal life! And it feels good. My ill health has made me humble, I appreciate the small things, I'm grateful for what I've learnt, and to the help I've received here on this forum. I've a way to go until full health returns and my bladder strangely has been the least improved but it may be that the balance in my body needed to be restored first and foremost. My problem has always been urgency and frequency and only mild burning when the fluid is concentrated and the usual problems with painful intercourse but I'm hopeful these areas will improve before long.
I hope this helps those who need a bit of reassurance that they're on the right track with this regime. I've managed this without Dr B's help but for those that have seen my vitiligo posts know that self-supplementing is not without risks and I wouldn't advise it but the diet is a god-send!!
GREAT!!!!!
GREAT!!!!!
great improvements
:)
So nice to see such a
So nice to see such a positive post about healing. It sounds like you've made lots of progress, mentally and spiritually as well as physically. I like what you said about being humble and grateful. I feel like that is a really large piece of this for me, the humility and gratitude for everyday experiences that I think I lacked before.
I was reading through some other posts on here this morning and felt like I needed to chime in about positive improvements as well. I am in my 8th month of working with Matia and am starting so see some really big physical improvements after feeling discouraged a couple of months back. My frequency has really decreased to a very manageable level, burning is very limited at this point, my energy feels much more steady. I just feel more resilient, like when I hit a bad spell, I know that I will be able to bounce back much faster. The dizzyness, forgetfulness, swollen tongue, exhaustion and other die-off symptoms that I had when I first started with Matia are totally gone. This is not to say that I don't have a ways to go, but I've noticed that I don't think about IC EVERY moment of the day anymore (maybe only 80% of the time, HA!) I still have a strong awareness of my bladder, and my skin, MY GOD, my skin. My scalp is like the north pole (always snowing). Honestly, though, the skin is so minor compared to feeling like I don't have to pee every 30 minutes.
I truly feel like the biggest and most challenging piece of this is coming to a place of acceptance of myself in terms of where I am at the moment, and how I can treat myself with as much kindness as possible. We all know how much IC affects our quality of life and our ability to function "normally" on a daily basis. While it would seem like such a gift to function the way my friends take for granted, there are many moments that I feel grateful to have a different appreciation for my experience of the everyday that I certainly didn't have before. Aside from grappling with chronic pain, I think that I am a much kinder, happier person than I was before getting sick. I have a level of compassion for others that wasn't there before, and I don't compare myself to others the way I used to. My priorities have really shifted away from being goal-oriented to being present with my current circumstances, as humbling as they may be, and not beating myself up for being what I think I should be. Letting go of ideas about what I thought my life would be at this point has been really challenging, but this work toward acceptance of the current moment is something that I think is maybe the most valuable piece of the healing. I think this frame of mind is something that many people who have gone through a crisis learn and experience, and I think I would rather be at the place I am now than the place I was before I got sick.
This is a little trite, but I was reading this book last year that had a line that stuck with me. I thought of it kind of as a joke, because it's so easier said than done: Everything will be OK as soon as you are OK with everything. It helps me laugh at myself from time to time, because so much of this is about how we meet our experiences.
What a great post at an
What a great post at an opportune moment! A little while I posted a question and both you and Denise responded with such positive reassurances and stories. It filled me with such hope and I read it on days that are difficult.
I healed once from IC before. It took quite awhile...around four years, but it was without the help of a knowledgeable guide. The healing came in pieces. Windows of being pain lessened, then pain-free, sleeping became deeper and then the windows became longer... before I knew it, I was living a life without the constant interruption of IC. But, because I healed without understanding contributing factors to getting IC, it came back when I stumbled back into contributing IC habits.
Ceb...I completely agree with you that the lasting piece of IC is that is changes your perspective on life. The little things. For example.... I watch some of my friends warring with their children, husbands and/or jobs over issues that do not even register on my radar. My days are more in moments of appreciate for a great, healthy meal, a smile from my daughter or an intimate moments with my husband.... I cherish those and no longer take them for granted.
In that sense... what a gift IC has been. AND, if I healed the first time without Matia, think how well I will do WITH her!
Thinking of all of you and looking forward to a wonderful 2012!
Katie
Nyree, I am glad you are
Nyree, I am glad you are doing better. Best wishes for the New Year!
Thanks everyone
Thanks everyone