Diagnosed with MS in September, I was running between horrified and mad. I’ve been through the “why me’s” and the “it’s not fair’s.” We made a conscious decision to avoid the pharmaceutical approach, and while I can’t say it was easy or without setback, going at this from an all natural approach seems to be working.
Don’t get the idea that I’m over it yet, not by a long shot. But I can safely say I am a lot better, perhaps as much as 40-50% better, which is not something most MS people can say.
MS is disease that mimics old age in many ways. Typical “male” symptoms show up earlier which has certainly been the case for me, and perhaps more frightening is the loss of motor coordination in my legs. As someone who was athletic growing up, this has been the toughest challenge for me. Well, that and peeing myself on a United flight shortly after takeoff from San Antonio to home. Hmmmm, the aroma of that cabin was something the other passengers will likely not forget.
Anyway, I started juicing back in November, I already swam a lot and kept that going, and I added taking a lot of supplements to make sure my body is getting all the nutrients it is supposed to get. Perhaps most importantly, I consume enzymes to aid in the digestion of food, something that seems to be at the root of many, if not all, adult onset diseases.
After I get back from swimming in the AM, Kathy and I have a glass of Jack La Lanne (Costco) juiced fruit every morning along with some high fiber cereal. The juice is usually a combination of whatever we have in the house out of oranges, grapes, berries (black blue, straw etc.) plums, bananas, mangos, grapefruit, nectarine, peach, etc. I have a water poached egg on whole wheat toast, no jams, butter, etc. It’s a total of about 500-600 calories, it’s high density, lots of fiber, and fills me up until 1:30 or 2. Lunch is usually baja fresh or panda express if I’m out or soup, crackers, and the like if I’m home. Dinner is whatever tasty light dish that Kathy comes up with, and there’s usually a lot of salads, shrimp, fish, etc.
I have greatly reduced or eliminated the inflammatory foods of alcohol, sugar, caffeine, dairy (except eggs) and red meat. One burger here and there, small amounts of milk on the cereal, binge on the sugar sometimes if it is in the house (usually only when we have guests), and I lose it now and again and stuff a pizza down. Overall, I’d say my diet is 90% plus different than it used to be. The sugar and caffeine is what really intensified my condition.
I drink 100-120 oz of water a day, about half of which is by noon. Not a drop of caffeine in months (except by accident, such as when I steal some of Jake’s root beer at a restaurant). I have tried to go cold turkey on the alcohol, but that is so unpractical. I have learned to drink rum and water so I get a little splash of rum and also stay hydrated. Took a little getting used to, but it is manageable. I lose it here and there and have a few beers, but always have limited it to 3 and only light beer. No yeasty darks anymore, cause they get me too.
Swimming is usually 4 times a week except when I have business meetings, school functions, or every once in awhile when I just struggle to get out of bed, which sometimes happens when there’s little setbacks or other challenges.
Again, one of the big keys I think has been the use of enzymes. My stomach feels bloated when I don’t use them and when I do, they help break down the foods and get them eliminated much quicker. That way food doesn’t rot in the gut, the blood is cleaner, and the white blood cells can spend all their effort on keeping the immune system strong.
I’m right at 6 months of doing this now. Results? Well, no scientific tests like MRI or cat scan have been done yet, so all I can offer are the things I know and feel.
1) I have not fallen once since starting this. I was falling roughly once a month and my legs were giving out fairly often. My legs still buckle a little bit here and there, but no falls, not even when my legs get tired throwing batting practice to my little league team.
2) I’m sleeping through the night most nights now (6 out of 7) and not having to get up to go to the bathroom. At my worst, I was waking up 5-6 times a night and was exhausted all the time.
3) I am able to go between 2 and 3 hours fairly regularly between bathroom visits, whereas I was down to about 30-45 minutes.
4) My bathroom emergencies have gone from 20-30 a day down to 2 or 3, and some days none. My highest duration in a long long time was just the other night when we went out to a night club. I went to the bathroom at 7:30pm, and didn’t go again until 1am. 5 ½ hours for me is like an eternity! Not many people time how long they go between going, but when it’s as much a part of your life as it is for me, believe me, you pay attention…..
5) Sorry to be graphic on this one, but about half the time I can feel when I have a poop in the chute and get rid of that naturally. When I had that test done down at the Mayo clinic last August, I literally had no sensation in there, which is why I had a bunch of accidents.
6) My eyesight has improved, and I think this is mostly because the eyes are better hydrated. I was going through a bottle of eye drops a week and had documented chronic dry eyes. As I write this I have a bottle of eye drops in front of my computer that I haven’t touched in 4 months. I just don’t need them as the eyes are hydrated and I think this is why my vision is a little crisper.
7) No other part of my body has come into play. No pain, no numbness in the arms, no twitches, no loss of anything new. Whew…..
Obviously I have to keep at this on a day to day basis. There’s no guarantees in any of this, but so far, I have avoided succumbing to the interferon medications that I didn’t want to take. I’d love to say I haven’t had ANY alcohol, ANY red meat, ANY refined sugar, etc. but the reality is staying away from it 100% is just plain silly and I think the key to making this or anything else work is not trying to be perfect. Our bodies are smart and they know how to get the nutrients they want out of food and dump the rest. My job is to make an effort at the cellular level to give the body the best chance it possibly has by feeding it the stuff it really wants.
Hopefully I can report in 6 more months that this bs disease will be gone completely.
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