I am fairly new to the diet, approx. 6 wks. I have tried to stay as compliant as possible living in an area that doesn't easily cater to good health foods compared to going to one store specifically out of town & planning on that shortly. I have suffered the last 15 yrs. with severe Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction.  I have gone from one dr. to another trying to get my life in some order. I lost control that many yrs. ago between the pain/fatigue/fog & the other debiltating symptoms that creates. I had nothing left to lose but to try this diet. I was on the one that has worked since the 70's, my old faithful, but once they incorporated the junk food allowance, it stopped working for me for a yr. I struggled thinking of how hard I worked to lose the wt. doing all I could, but still, after 41 lbs. it literally stopped working.  Their theory is to allow everyone to eat the junk food they crave, & most times using artificial products & nothing more than chemicals, yet for some, the diet works. I felt awful on it, never did feel good on it the three times I was on it.  This diet is showing me something I have never found on any diet!  For the first time since childhood, & certainly since 15 yrs. ago, I now find that I have some wonderful stamina, less pain/fog now & made a pact with my body that if this worked, it would be the miracle i was needing & looking for.I used to tell friends that if a dr. ever told me to never eat pizza or choco ever again, & I would feel like a human being, I would never let it touch my lips again!  Well, I am eating those words pretty much, & thrilled as I write this because I KNOW this is helping me more than anything else has ever done!!

My drs. either denied this existed, or if they acknowledged it, they put me on drugs that made me worse. I saw at least five internists, three endocrin.three rheumys & one gastro. I took everything ever recommended to me in desperation, & never thought a normal life would be mine!  IT IS MINE, & I deserve to have that using my own intelligence to tell me what makes me feel better & it isn't most of the drugs I was getting pushed on me!!!

I only miss tomatoes more than anything, since I always craved them or anything with them, like spaghetti, pizza, Mexican food etc.  To think I will feel so awful after eating anything I should't eat is a deterent in itself that is working for me. So far I have to say this isn' t so hard, still have much to learn, & feel like with the supplements, exercise I forced myself to start, an increase in thyroid meds, an iron pill & the diet, if I stay as I am, I have finally found my miracle & it can only get better as  I fine tune it & keep losing more wt.!!!  

I have to believe our bodies truly do talk to us. Only if & when we listen do we learn what it is trying to tell us. We may think it says chocolate, when in reality it is saying stop it!  when I think of how I knew I was eating well, & then ate the junk food just as well, it is amazing I didn't have more problems than I already had, so THANK YOU DR. D. & to all those who have embraced me with your kind help!!  You are a wonderful group!  Great health to us all!!!   Dale




So far, SO GOOD!!!!

Dale by chance if you still want to eliminate tomatoes here is a substitute you can try:
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon oregano powder
3 drops anise flavoring
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 /2 cup water
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl, than add anise flavoring and water.
Looks like spaghetti sauce, so I would say try as a spaghetti sauce

Check all ingredients to make sure their compliant for your blood type this is "O" compliant.

 Dale,
I recommend you get a hold of the arthritis book and follow the more targeted food lists there.

there might be quite a few surprises!!
some neutrals might be infrequent neutrals and thus better be avoided.

Hi Dale,
Great to see you here on the Forum!  
If you try Geminisue's pasta sauce, be sure to substitute another sweetener for the sugar, which is an avoid for us.

And yes, it is going to only get better and better for you.  You had to try all those things and now that you know that they didn't offer you health, you are free to use your own best judgement now and give this beautiful and elegant lifestyle a whole-hearted chance.  You will be so impressed and continually surprised by the little improvements that constantly are appearing.  It will take time, so give it time, and enjoy your new life.

You are all such a wonderful group!  Thanks for the encouragement, recipe, suggestions & ideas, & will have to get that arthritis bk. to compare it to the fatigue one, sounds like a winning combo!!!  The tomatoes & other night shade veg. make me hurt more, but I sure do miss the tomatoes. The cravings are gone though finally for the most part.  Here's a toast to all of you in good health! Thanks again!  Dale

Dale-yes...what a great testimonial.  Glad to see you are finally coming out on the board.  It is the best place to be for help with our health and it has saved me many times.  Don't stop asking here or privately.  Those of us who are not as healthy as others are all taking baby steps to better health.

Debra

 Thanks Debra!  I'm getting brave now that I am finding my way around a bit more!  Will have to start a new link soon, then I will know I really know what I'm doing!    lol.

I'm eating so much garlic, the only friends I have now are those, online!!   , probably coming through my pores anyway!!!        Dale

 Question for my fellow FMS/CFIDS buddies:  Do any of you take the flu shot?  I was told by the dr. who diagnosed me 12 yrs. ago not to.  The last two yrs. as I got worse, thought I should, & came down with the flu.  Couldn't be coincidental twice as people told me I must have had the flu to begin with, & had nothing to do with the shot.

I eventually found a drs. site saying some people DO get sick from the shot, but if it is a dead virus, I can't figure out why. I KNOW I had the flu, was awful & was "fine" both times I took the shot, didn't have a cold. (I am not allergic to eggs).

I'm curious how many of you have had bad reactions as I did to that shot?  Anyone else, feel free to tell me what you think as well, would appreciate it!  No doubt the immune system is affected by my condition, & need to take my chances, so I keep eating tons of garlic, lol!  Thanks!  Dale

Yes, great testimonial  Dale! I was suffering from adrenal fatigue, and no one could figure out what it was. Thro my life into total disarray, but now with 2 weeks of BTD & suppliments, I feel so much better. I follow the guidelines on the following link http://www.drlam.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_format/adrenal_fatigue.cfm, given to us by italybound.

Best wishes and hope to hear more and more of your progress!

accidental chef

Dale,

Thank you very much for your testimonial.

I had ordered two fatigue books to give them to two friends; one with fibro the other with polimialgia. I was holding on to the books as I was not sure I wanted to endure their private or perhaps even voiced thoughts of me.

Now, with your testimony, I am giving them the books regardless of what they think of me.

I am glad you are on your way to recovery and I look forward to reading more good news from you.

best wishes,

Thank you accidental chef, & appreciate the link!  I am so glad you are doing better in such a short time!!  Keep up your wonderful work.  It is impossible to describe what cortisol problems create to people not affected, I wish you continued success!

Sam Dan, WOW,  , how WONDERFUL that I CAN inspire someone so quickly, thank you!  You can certainly arm them with the literature in hopes they realize it is for their benefit if they would read the book.  They should truly appreciate you for caring so much, so I wish you good luck in sharing your gems, & wish them a healthier life thanks to your concern!  

You're all so great with the compliments & help, & so much appreciated!  Friends,  Dale

So glad you posted this on the testimonial forum Dale.

Keep going forward.  You're doing great!

Hello again, Dale,
You mentioned starting a new thread.  One way to do that would be a thread on the deciding whether or not to get the flu shot.  That way, everyone who is interested in the that topic will be sure to see it, and have a chance to respnd.  We talk about all sorts of things in all the threads, but if something is important to you and you don't want the subject to get 'lost' in a non-related thread, you can start a new one.
If you go to the member center and click on board settings, you can arrange to automatically be notified if someone responds to a thread which you start.

 BTW Betsy, Victoria did it, I can't take the credit for that one, but thanks anyway, lol!  She suggested moving it & did, thanks Victoria!   Dale

Hi Dale and welcome to our BTD community.

Thank you for sharing your testimony.  I wish you much more health as you continue this way of life.

Alia

I have split the thread so that those who would like to continue discussing the Psychomatic Connection to Illness can take as much time as you like in your own thread.  

Thanks Victoria

Keep posting on how you're doing Dale, and once again, congratulations on your progress.

 Thanks Alia & Brighid 45 for the welcome & good wishes.  I really like that tee shirt idea about the lectins, terrific!  

Good idea about splitting the thread Victoria, thank you.  Dale

Quoted from Dale_TK

  It is impossible to describe what cortisol problems create to people not affected, I wish you continued success!

Dale, wishing you a warm welcome to BTD and the forum!
Yes, what a treat to finally find something that actually helps, huh?
Have the Dr's or NP's determined that part of your 'prob' is cortisol? If so, would be interested to discuss this some more, as I'm waiting for test results on mine. We are suspicious that mine are upside down as I'm always dead tired in the morning and 'resist' going to bed at night, among alot of other things.  My issues are more hormone related (think HRT here) than anything else.
Glad you are seeing good results so soon and yes, things only do get better.  

Hi Italybound, thank you for the warm welcome!

Like you, I am dead in the morning & don't come awake until late at night. I used to work pm's, but don't believe that is the reason why I am still a night person. I am working towards "the graveyard shift of life" so to speak, as my hrs. are getting later & later at night.  The only way it was easy to hold a job was to stay on the pm shift, so I did that for around 15 yrs.

The dr. refused to put me on steroids saying it would only create more problems for my wt. & entire health problem. My A.M. cortisol was low the first time, then a repeat was low normal, & my ACTH test was low.  The only thing the endo. would do was to increase my thyroid since that also was low normal.  I had a pituitary growth diagnosed around '80, so I do believe a lot of this is, as you said, hormone related.

I wish you the best, & SO glad you are having great success with this diet.  I hope the same for me.   Dale

hi Dale,

I too had CFS, etc.... then I found out, after about 20 years of suffering, that I have Epstein-Barr.
I am getting successful treatment from a Naturopath after MD's were unable to determine what was going on. One of my doctors said "well!... what do you think is going on?!"   Luckily none of them ever told me it was in my head -- I was clearly too ill.

Several friends had much the same health and found out they have Lyme disease, and are getting better w/ specific treatment for that.

Here is something that might be of interest to all who are immuno-compromised -- Research shows  that getting the Pneumococcus shot improves the entire immune system -- specifically, T and Killer K cells.  I paid attention once I found this out, and realized that my illness maintained a sort of roller coaster -- every five years I would be very ill for a few years.  Interesting that I got the Pneumo shot five years before I became ill again, then began to get much better after taking the shot again this summer.

pneumovax (pneumococcus vaccine) shot at your next checkup. It is wonderful for boosting immunity to the A-like cancers.

http://www.dadamo.com/bloggers/ask/archives/00000294.htm

Quoted from geminisue

Dale by chance if you still want to eliminate tomatoes here is a substitute you can try:
2 teaspoon sugar
.

I'd have thought sugar would be the last thing somebody with CFS/Fibromyalgia should consume!!

I'm amazed at how sugar is deemed ok for many people on the BTD.  Sugar is sooooooooo bad for you!

Lola, from your link:

Quoted Text

Unfortunately, the element in the Pneumovax that induced anti-A antibodies turned out to be an 'impurity' and further refining of the vaccine was performed to eliminate it.

So now it is typhoid vaccination.


Sugar can be used in small amounts as a condiment by secretors.  Sugar is a neutral for secretors, definitely not beneficial.  People with health concerns are suggested to get most of their food from beneficials (and super beneficials).  Blackstrap molasses is a beneficial for B's and AB's and can easily substitute for sugar.  

Quoted from Vicki

Lola, from your link:



So now it is typhoid vaccination.


Sugar can be used in small amounts as a condiment by secretors.  Sugar is a neutral for secretors, definitely not beneficial.  People with health concerns are suggested to get most of their food from beneficials (and super beneficials).  Blackstrap molasses is a beneficial for B's and AB's and can easily substitute for sugar.  

CFS and Fibromyalgia have been strongly linked to Candida overgrowth.  Sugar is just about the number one worst thing possible for Candida problems.  Even in small amounts.  You want to avoid it like the plague.