Steve’s SCD Healing Journal – Reaching New Health Levels

Okay so it has been some time since I last logged a Journal update.  I originally stopped because I had reached the point that I didn’t feel like my journal entries were adding much value to the readers out there.  Instead I wanted to spend my limited time developing other articles I felt might help more.

But based on some reader feedback it seems some of you are still interested in how I’m doing.  So without further ado here we go; I’m still doing SCD and I’ve gone through all the stages and basically tried all the legal foods.  I’ve even experimented with some non-legal foods (experimented sounds so much nicer than cheated right?).

But The Big Question is How Am I feeling?

If I had so sum it up I would say “Stupendous” okay so I got the thesaurus out for that one, no but really how I feel right now is so far above what I could have ever imagined its really incredible.  My productivity and energy for life is through the roof in all areas of my life.  I never really understood how much my digestion and IBS problems stole from me on a hourly basis, let alone when you add that time up over a week.

In the past month alone I’ve taken a new much more involved role at work, been working feverishly here on the blog, completed a sprint triathlon, and won 2^nd place in my softball league!  Seriously though I can’t explain to you how nice it is to spend my mental energy on my passions and not worrying about drugs, supplements, doctor’s appointments, or long term health concerns.

It truly is the most freeing transformation that I’ve ever experienced.  Getting my health handled has opened so many doors for me its truly a blessing.

So What Changed Over The Last Couple Months?

I believe several key areas finally came together for me.  I got a better handle on my Candida overgrowth, my smelling came back with a simple SCD tweak, and after several experiments (cheats) with illegal foods I had another mental break through.

With regards to my Candida that I discovered via a Genova Stool Analysis here, I tried the natural route for awhile but after more research I went back to my doctor and asked for a prescription for Nystatin.  I’m now in the middle of month two of three, within the 2^nd week of starting Nystatin I noticed cravings for fruits, sugars and alcohol decline significantly.  In order to help my battle with Candida I’ve been doing a very low sugar/fructose SCD diet.  I might eat some honey once every 2 weeks and my fruit consumption is down to a cup of berries every couple days.

I can smell!  Which turns out is really cool except when other people have digestive problems but hey I’m in no position to judge.  What happened?  When I originally started the diet I gave up cow’s dairy for awhile but my smell was no where to be found.  Then I stumbled on some research suggesting that I had a zinc deficiency which I wholeheartedly believe was the first part of solution.  But after getting my zinc levels back up the smelling just wasn’t there either, that is until a few weeks ago when I gave up cow’s dairy.

Several weeks ago I got into see an amazing allergist who tested me for environmental and food allergies using a combination of serial endpoint titration (SET) testing and sublingual immunotherapy testing (SLIT).  This is not your normal allergy skin prick testing.  The result of getting shot up with all kinds of allergens was the conclusion that I have real allergies to wheat, corn, soy, yeast, dairy and a few molds and mites.  Turns out following the SCD diet was a pretty good choice.  But like we’ve been talking about a lot lately every food in the SCD diet needs to be treated like a potential problem.  Five days after stopping dairy my smelling was back full force and has stayed around!

My Big AH HA Moment!

Now for the illegal experiments, first off there a good reason why Elaine advised us to not try illegal foods until you’ve been symptom free for at least a year.  I can attest to the fact that I’m by no means ready to eat my old western diet without serious digestive and mental side effects.  Other than a few all out weekends that reminded me why I started this journey what about a chocolate bar or some organic corn tortilla chips or dried sugar laced fruits?

What I realized is while the digestive problems tortilla chips or chocolate produced were easy to deal with (gas, loose stools), they seriously crush my productivity.  They cause me all kinds of blood sugar problems, my emotions become gloomy, and mental clarity is compromised because I’m always wondering what if…I react, it hurts, I’m okay, I eat more, I eat less and countless others.

The “Ah Ha!” moment was that while these foods might offer a quick hit of pleasure either from the sugar or because I can participate in a social gathering without my own foods they leave me feeling USED, SAD, and generally SURPRISED that they aren’t what I’ve built them up to be.  My body and mind function so much better when I don’t subject them to these antagonists that it would be disrespectful to my body to continue.

What You Can Learn From My Story

I really can’t stress enough that the way I feel now is so much different and better than my original health goal.  I never could have predicted it.  If you can learn anything from my experiences I hope it is the fact you need a health goal to focus and direct your actions, then as you heal it should be re-examined.  Each time you figure out a new piece of the puzzle take the time to reflect on how far you’ve come and where you think you could go next.

If you are unsure how to do this, or just rather overwhelmed with all this healthy talk, I want you to know that I’ve been there and I can relate.  When I started my SCD journey close to a year ago now, I never could have related to what I’m talking about now.  That is precisely why we have spent countless hours experimenting, researching and creating the mental mind-set chapter in our book.  If you haven’t checked it out yet go here to see what you will learn.

Until next time, if you have any comments or questions about my recent breakthroughs please leave them in the comments section below.