Dear Heidi I sent an email a couple of weeks ago, don't know how long to wait for a reply, I am beginning to think that it didn’t reach you. So I’ll start again giving a bit more accuracy and detail this time.

I am a female aged 52 blood type O positive. Height 5 ft 6 in., weight 150lbs. (I have been following the diet for non-secretor status though not sure why I decided to do this, as I have not had the test.

Anyway to start from the beginning, for reasons I cannot be sure of, in 1987 I had a sudden onset of very severe symptoms. These included severe vaginal thrush (I didn’t realise at the time I also had a serious candida infection of my digestive system), nausea, vertigo and a horrible feeling of malaise. My brain became completely “spaced out”, I felt very floaty and my vision became fuzzy (I had the sensation of not being able to see the edges of objects, they seemed to merge into the background and each other) I was extremely sensitive to light and noise chemicals, paint, petrol and human contact. Concentration was zero so consequently I had to abandon my studies completely. I spent the next year lying dreamily on the couch gazing out the window or gazing into the stream.

My doctor, very helpfully told me there was nothing wrong with me but the experience was so extreme that I began to think I must be having some kind of religious experience! Seeing as there was nothing wrong with me physically!!!!! Anyway I began to slowly try to unravel the mystery through my own research and discovered that I probably had candida but I didn’t master the diet and remedies for several more years.

Other symptoms developed meanwhile, including chronic fatigue, aches and pains, lower backache, stiff wrists etc, sluggish digestion, constipation and tendency to gain weight very easily. I suspect the candida developed into leaky gut condition because I became very ill (toxic?) with the smallest amounts of sugar alcohol junk food etc or even simply when slightly stressed.

Six years later (1993) I began to notice a swelling on my thyroid gland), this is now quite large and just a little uncomfortable at night. This is my main concern. I have had needle biopsies, ultrasound and blood tests, the results were: - benign thyroid disease, thyroid chemistry “within the normal range” (though on the low side). I was urged to have surgery (1995 / 96) but I was very reluctant because I felt too ill and weak for surgery, I was worried about the trauma of surgery and the inevitable lifelong dependence on thyroid drugs. My lump was no bother at that time, so the cure seemed worse than the disease.

I saw an alternative doctor in around 2001 she diagnosed chronic fatigue, candida and pretty well agreed with my own assessment. She did suggest all kinds of tests for auto immune profile, chemical and heavy metal toxicity, gut dysbiosis, allergies etc but sadly as I hadn’t worked for years could not afford any of them and my GP was not sympathetic.

My biggest breakthrough was at the end of 2001. I discovered firstly the Atkins then the X factor diets, these helped to some extent to keep symptoms of candida at bay and began to clear my aches and pains. Then finally in September 2003 I came across Dr. Dadamo’s 4 your type and have been following the diet faithfully ever since and am delighted. If only I had found this gold dust years ago things might not have got so bad.

I eat mostly organic beef, oily fish (tinned sild), chicken, some eggs, nuts (walnuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, linseeds & sesame seeds) plenty of olive oil, a little butter, fresh ginger, spinach, broccoli, kale, chard, tomatoes, red peppers, celery, cayenne pepper, herbs, onions garlic and lots of seaweed.

I regularly take psyllium, slippery elm and antioxidant and colloidal mineral supplements, 4 your type Polyflora, lectin blockers and herbs for menopause, though I cannot always afford them. I always drink green tea, dandelion coffee and do the water thing (salt and lemon style) and take herbs for liver cleansing.

I have no dairy products and no starchy vegetables or pulses/beans and hardly any grains and strictly no sugar alcohol coffee tea or junk or processed food of any kind. This strict regime has kept my weight at a reasonable 150 lbs and keeps symptoms of stiffness, nausea and dizziness etc at bay, but I still have a very sluggish digestion (having to resort to laxatives at times) and a feeling of something missing from my diet.

So I introduced a few grains (rye, amaranth and quinoha) and some fruit (raspberries), and juice (black cherry & pomegranate) and glycerine Something among these ingredients have cause me to very quickly collect fat around my middle and to aggravate some symptoms such as stiffness in my body fuzziness in my brain but thankfully not the full blown nausea and vertigo that I dread. But I’m not certain if these small amounts of fruits or grains or glycerine are causing this or not. I seem to want to eat these items together so haven’t been able to isolate the effects yet. What is your opinion on this?

On the whole, though I am better than I have been for years. My energy is much better, my brain and vision is clearer aches and pains all but gone. Candida (nausea and vertigo) is kept at bay but could still return alarmingly quickly with very little encouragement. However, I am still a long way from being well enough to go back to work but I hope I will one day.

Oh, I am two-thirds of the way through having all the amalgam removed from my heavily filled teeth, by an excellent fully trained and equipped alternative dentist. (Do you think mercury poisoning could have caused my symptoms?)

But my main questions are concerning firstly my thyroid lump. Any advice on diet or supplements that would help reduce it? Is seaweed a good or bad idea? Surgery still seems too drastic a solution – although what if it keeps getting bigger ……….! And secondly, what is your advice on the fruit and grain situation. How much, if any, should I have with this apparent leaky gut situation? Finally and no less important, is cocoa powder OK. I have invented a pretty plausable facsimile of a chocolate pudding. Looking forward to your reply and many, many thanks to all at dadamo.com for the truly excellent guidance, you have helped to give me back my life. I have been recommending you to everyone. Kind regards Chrissie

A very warm welcome to you, Chrissie!

There is something very surprising about Candida, which is: they clean up mercury in the system. Very often, an overload of mercury will trigger Candida overgrowth. Of course, the effects of the imbalance are very unpleasant, yet it appears it is part of Nature's clean-up plan. When you are finished with your amalgam removal and the detox process is complete, it will be time to confront the Candida problem head-on.

The renewed stiffness, brain fog and fat gain are most likely due to the addition of the grains -- most particularly, the rye. Rye has abundant gluten. There are a number of ways you can proceed, but I suggest removing the rye and substituting rice. Alternately, experiment with eliminating the grain entirely, and see if the fruit alone gives you trouble. Vegetable glycerine would not account for the symptoms you experienced. And cocoa powder is absolutely fine for you! (It makes a great pudding with veg gly and rice protein powder! :-))

For the thyroid, start with
Second, ask your supplement shop for a good mixed glandular with B vitamins, and take it daily.

Finally, do the "iodine test." Purchase a bottle of regular iodine (make sure it does not contain mercurochrome). Paint a little filled circle, about the size of a two-shilling piece, on your inner thigh. If that circle disappears within 24 hours, you are iodine deficient. You can continue to do so until the circle remains for 24 hours -- it's both a diagnostic and a homemade treatment.

Get started on these ideas, and keep in touch! One question for you: have you started menopause? If you have any questions, and definitely when your amalgam removal process is complete, please write again! I have high hopes that surgery won't be necessary, and I'll do my best to help. :-D