Lemon Water, Oxygen, Body Waste

For the past few days I have been drinking a 17oz bottle of water that I put heavy lemon in first thing when I get up.  About 30 minutes later I drink my shot of Kombucha and ginger.  An hour later I eat breakfast and only drink water.  I have been feeling so much better lately by not drinking anything with sugar in it.  I relate well with others and get along with everyone.  I actually enjoy doing things with others lately.  Around 2 pm I drink a shot of Kombucha, and again at 5 and 9 pm.  I have noticed if I don't drink the Kombucha that I get cramps in my stomach and side.

I have started growing wheatgrass in trays in my bedroom.  I'm sleeping really well at night and I think that not only cutting out the sugar has helped but the wheatgrass is producing oxygen in my room.  I sleep with the door shut so the oxygen builds up in my room.  I also think the wheatgrass benefits from my CO2. 

I have noticed that my urine is staying clear and my dung is lighter in color since going to only water.  Poop is not building up into large pieces before coming out.   

Big Awareness (Kombucha and Ginger)

Today I took a 2 oz shot of kombucha with ginger in it 30 minutes before breakfast.  I had instant oatmeal (maple and brown sugar) with a sprinkle of bee pollen and honey.  And toast with honey.  And 2 glasses of orange juice.  I went off and had a chicken salad croissant for lunch with water (1pm).  Shortly after this I began feeling pressure in my stomach and had to go to the rest room where I had soft bowl movements.  By 5 pm the pressure was getting worse in the stomach but I was hungry so I decided to eat.  I had lemon/water to drink and dry rubbed ribs with sweet potato fries.  The pressure was still getting worse in my stomach.  My mom then wanted to ride around downtown Savannah and look at Christmas lights.  All the bouncing roads made the pain even worse.  By the time I got home at 9 pm I couldn't stand the pain any more.  I came in and had a 2 oz shot of kombucha with ginger and within 10 minutes my problems were solved.  I had no more pain after the kombucha.  So it appears that the kombucha with the ginger is defiantly making a difference in controlling my reflux and stomach upset from the psych meds.  I usually drink my Kombucha/ginger 30 minutes before eating.

Living Food Lifestyle

Today I was researching about the benefits of the Wheatgrass I raise to sell and found something called The Living Food Lifestyle.  After reading through it I can say I agree with it.  I think I will start this lifestyle change just as soon as I have the wheatgrass to juice. 

Pictures

Here are some pics of my left thumbnail.  Notice the lines/grains in it.  I have always had smooth nails till more recently.  I have read that this is caused by the liver not working properly.  So here are pics taken on 12/18/14 as before pics.  I understand that my med Seroquel does damage to the liver and thus increases cholesterol.  I want to see as I heal if my nails become smooth again.  I will not be polishing them as I want to see true signs of better health. 

 

My right middle finger was the first to show these deep lines in the nail as it was damaged by a wolf bite where the fingernail bed had to be re-established.  I had to work to make the nail grow back but this nail is thicker than the others and takes toe nail trimmers to cut it.

 

Weigh In

I finally found a scale to weigh on.  232 lbs on 12/17/14 @7pm

For my 6'-0" self I should be 170 lbs - 180 lbs.  I'm going to shoot for 185 lbs.  So a lose of 47 lbs. 

First Step

My first step has been to remove artificial sugars and caffeine from my drink intake.  On December 2, 2014 I stopped cold and went to water only.  Just before this I started drinking 1.5 oz of Kombucha with a high level of ginger in it twice a day to control reflux that the meds cause.  I now have stopped taking the Omeprazole (Prilosec) entirely.  I have noticed if I am having reflux that I am usually hungry.  Once I eat the reflux stops.  Stopping the sugar in drinks was hard.  I went from sugary soft drinks to water and found I wanted all kinds of other sugary treats.  I think the first 4 days were the toughest.  Now I’m on day 15 and it is easier but I still want sugar.  I am doing this to help my Bipolar where I go daily from depression to mania.  I am trying to cut down on the highs/mania and the jitters I had all day with my body shaking. Then at nights I could not get to sleep without more and more meds. So I cold turkey stopped the sugar and caffeine. My dose of Seroquel is now down to 150mg from 250mg. I don't have the shakes anymore and I'm able to get to sleep, stay asleep and dream great dreams. I'm also not taking Wellbutrin 150mg in the morning to bring me out of the fog that all the extra meds to put me to sleep caused. I'm more involved in life and with others and have a lot better coping abilities. All of these benefits from cutting out the sugars. Now if something has natural sugar like orange juice then I'm not counting that. It seems to me that the GMO corn they use to make the "sugar" (fructose corn syrup) for many things is what was affecting me. So in just 15 days I'm seeing that cutting out GMO "sugar" products is decreasing my Bipolar issues.  I'm wondering now if the mental disorder is directly related to GMO products.  I'll keep my daily notes going.  But my theory for now is the GMO products are causing me issues.  Since the Seroquel med I'm taking causes my body to go way out of whack (it causes high cholesterol, acid reflux, messes up the triglycerides and the thyroid) I'm considering cutting out meat products next (animal products are the only source of cholesterol).  I may become a vegetarian yet.  I want to take this in steps though rather than having a drastic change to my diet.  I also have low testosterone which can mimic the symptoms of Bipolar.  So for now I'm on a journey to change my diet

Starting The Journey

All my life I have disliked taking “chemical” meds for anything.  Not even aspirin for a headache.  About 4 years ago I was diagnosed with Bi-polar I.  It has been a journey of trying different meds to help get this under control.  15 days ago when I started this journey I was on the following medicines.  In the evening I would take Cymbalta 60mg, Lamictal 100mg, Seroquel XR 200mg and Doxepin 50mg.  In the mornings I would take Wellbutrin XR 150mg to clear the fog of the night’s meds.  Additionally, I had to take other meds because the psych meds caused so many issues.  I have Omeprazole (for reflux), Lipitor (for high cholesterol), Fenofibrate 145mg (for triglycerides), and Levothyroxine 50mcg (for thyroid issues). I did not have any of these latter issues before taking the psych meds.  With all these meds I had a high heart rate even when at rest.  I have always been an endurance athlete so even when I was pushing my heart rate would only be in the 90s (this was confirmed on a stress test a heart doc did while at the same time watching my heart with an ultrasound.  They were also testing my heart for prolapsing mitral valve which the test showed I did not have and in fact I have a large heart of an athlete).  After starting to take psych meds I once had a resting heartrate of 140 bpm.  I am going to try to keep up with as many numbers as I can on this journey so I will know for sure I'm not guessing at something.