The early beginning

For more than a year I suffer from all kinds of symptoms. Every day I am faced with new ones. It's like an alien lives in my body and eats me, bit by bit. I feel sick in every tiny nerve and vessel of my body in a way you basically could call poisoned, toxic. I've been to all kinds of doctors more than twenty times the past year and had an huge amount of tests. All of them had different interpretations, different meanings and different therapies. Some talk of ME, others of Lupus, others of chronic viruses like Parvovirus and Meningitis. I also had a tick bite in an area known for borrelia infections. Classic test however wasn't positive.

In my blood several things are not right: IgG3 is too high, CD8/CD3 is too low, lymphocytes are always way too low, I have an extreme high titer for herpes simplex and some hormonal abnormalities. The list of my symptoms is almost too long to type. But I will do it anyway because it will help me remember from what I cured and what is still an ongoing problem.

SYMPTOMS
- always a flu feeling
- arthralgia (pain in knees, wrists, feet, shoulder, neck)
- burning infection in foot
- several herniated discs
- arthrosis
- severe neck pains for months
- fevers
- sudden bruises with no reason, also bleeding in joints of hand
- urticaria (or something similar, biopsy wasn't clear)
- ulcers in mouth
- extreme hair loss
- outbreaks of painful acne
- weight gain with no reason
- sometimes diaorrhea
- cognitive problems like bad memory, not finding words, saying the wrong words
- tingling, pins & needles, numbness
- dizziness
- severe migraines
- hypersensitive to chemicals, paint, perfumes etc.
- sensitive to noise and flashing lights
- bladder problems
- menstrual cycle irregular, intermittent bleeding
- rashes of all kinds, sometimes itchy
- always a runny nose and some kind of sinus infection
- jaw pain, ear pain
- lots of twitches
- fungal infections
- ...

You would think, that after all this, I must be a cripple with no life at all. But that is not true. I have a family and two energetic kids. I have a pleasant social life, a freelance job and some side activities like art academy. I sleep well and usually have lots of energy. I try to cope mentally although sometimes it's very hard and some days I really have to cry all the pain away. I survive on paracetamol and NSAID's like ibuprofen. I survive, that is the word. I focus all of my energy on the good things in life and try to get energy from people and activities I like, like being with my kids and partner, walking with my dog in beautiful surroundings, drawing and painting.

But surviving is not enough. And I get tired of all the medicines and supplements that are no real solution for the problem. I want my life back, I want my health back. And therefore: something drastical has to happen. My wonderful dietican brought me on the path of GAPS diet. I read the book right away last night and couldn't stop reading. For the chapter on vaccinations alone, this author, Natascha Campbell-Mc Bride needs to get the Nobel Prize. And then there is all the rest.

Today I'm going on a shopping round. For some days I will eat what's left in the refrigerator and cupboards, so I can make a clean start by the weekend. I'm dying for a clean start. For that I need plenty of vegetables, meat, fish and eggs. All organic, of course. I'll also need milk whey to make fermented food, some Swedish herbs to kill the ulcers in my mouth, bones and a chicken to make bone broth. My dietician also wants me to eat lots of liver as that is the real power food. I will have to hide this horror in a meat loaf, because I don't like the texture and taste.

So this is the start, of this blog, of my GAPS journey and my road to a healthier life (hopefully). The book and more info you find here, and in the future I will experiment with all kinds of recipes. After all, I'm a foodie, on a diet or not, sick or not!