Re: Re Activity Log

[Guest guest]

Hi Jules:

A daily log is not a 100% reliable quick indicator of our reactions. It is

a tool and foremost to make us responsible and more aware of our body and

it's various reactions and needs.

I started using a daily log initially to help my clients and myself to

determine possible food allergies and food intolerances. We all know that

many factors influence our health and often our symptoms can change daily or

even sometimes more often depending upon internal and external factors and

that includes how we are able to tolerate foods and drinks. What we eat, if

we have intolerances or compromised GI system will present with symptoms, so

will leaky gut and other disorders. One question I wanted to ask you all

is if your tolerance to food changed after exposure to mold? Mine did

drastically and others I've spoken with have the same problem. I had to

drastically change my food and was restricted to only a few foods until I

began to heal. I do best on a dairy, gluten, sugar and grain free diet.

When exposed to molds, I have to eliminate fish, the sweet warming foods

such as potato, sweet potato, squash, and restrict my oil intake to minimum

using only healthy oils. Would love to have input/feedback from you all

with similar experiences and what foods you could and couldn't tolerate.

Food allergies/intolerances and well as environmental toxins and stress can

and do affect us immediately, short-term (meaning 2-4 hours) or longer such

as a few days later. And yes it is difficult to pin point exactly what we

ate, what we were exposed to or what emotions could have triggered a

symptom. That's why we need to keep very detailed accurate logs for quite

some time and also, as with foods, test each food individually to determine

intolerances. It's difficult, it is time consuming and not a quick fix or

answer but it can become one of our tools if done accurately, with patience

and with our detective hat on.

For example, I know many with autoimmune disease have intolerances to dairy

and gluten. I will have systemic joint inflammation and pain if I ingest

gluten 2 hours later. If I eat dairy I will have congested sinuses and my

head feels like NewOrleans after Hurricane Katrina; a swamp pit. Have also

noticed during extreme periods of stress or speaking with someone in my

friend or immediate family circle and they are being intolerable,

obnoxious....toxic words I would say.....my body physically will respond

negatively. So, we need to take all these factors into consideration, not

just mold exposure. Some after mold illness will develop MCS, multiple

chemical sensitivity and something simple and widespread such as fabric

softeneners can and will affect you. I had a friend who would complain she

became dizzy and sleepy whenever she had to do her laundry and her symptoms

increased to the point she was almost constantly reacting. I quizzed her

and had her change her laundry agents to totally scent and fragrant free and

all her household cleansers as well as personal toiletries. The plug-in air

fresheners went into the trash, her can of Lysol was thrown away, etc.

Her symptoms went away. She could sleep at night. She still has mild

reaction whenever she is close to someone with fragrances. We need to

examine everything in our homes, vehicles and the environment we can we have

some control and choices to make. I would never use a pesticide in my home

or garden, if I need to kill a wasp nest I will use a spray bottle with

soapy water. Why further contaminate ourselves and the environment since we

already live in a toxic world. Let's examine everything putting on our

detective hat, learn, research, experiment, eliminate and watch how these

changes affect our health and also those around us. Since we have become

ill from mold, let's focus on other potentially known toxic agents and

eliminate them in our environment.

For example, you visit a friend who has just remodeled their home. No

evidence whatsoever of mold and the home was tested; however your eyes will

burn, throat will close, you might get dizzy, have brain fog, your muscles

may feel weak, your legs unable to hold you up and immediately fear will

manifest, your endocrine system and hormones are activated, your adrenals

produce more cortisol and soon your entire body will be affected. Do you

think of mold as the causative agent or are there other causes such as

perhaps the VOCs in the new carpeting and in the new paint. Or a friend

purchases a new vehicle and asks you to take a ride. You immediately have

negative reactions in that vehicle. Is mold in there or could it be the

thousands of chemicals in that new vehicle and even the fragrances your

friend has on.

Have you done a food log and are you watching your diet? Do you know which

foods and fats are healthy for you? Having Lupus, mold illness and MCS I

have had to spend a great deal of time focusing on my diet, my bodies

ability to digest and assimilate the needed nutrients and make sure I've

feeding my body what is positive rather than negative. I know for myself

and many that if we can determine what foods and drinks are not appropriate

for our individual bodies, eliminate them completely, begin to work on

healing any leaky gut symptoms (which can cause autointoxication) I will

eliminate many of my " usual " allergy symptoms and be not as reactive to

external environmental toxins.

I understand avoidance of our environmental toxins is imperative; especially

if they are deadly to our health; however once exposed and away from the

primary toxins we need not only to assist our body to eliminate if possible

the toxins in our body but also to repair the damage caused by the toxins.

All I know from personal experience and working with others with

environmental toxins is that we have a multifaceted complexity of symptoms

and dis-stress in our bodies and all must be addressed if we wish to have

any sort of quality of life in the future and be able to function to some

degree on our planet. We need to shift the pattern from degeneration to

regeneration.

I hope Jules my " petals of thoughts " have been of some assistance to you.

If you have more questions feel free to ask online. I really don't have

much time for private emails; still working on the damage caused by

Hurricane Rita and my contractors.

Rosie

> Curious how you/your patients enter your symptoms in this log...I've

> been thinking of doing the same for myself, as I sometimes can't

> figure out what triggers a reaction, or if it's from mold/something

> other.

>

> I seem to find that my symptoms basically break down into four

> categories, ranging from sniffling/sneezing, to more allergic, to

> allergic with discomfort, to toxic (get me the hell out of here!); I

> have a list of symptoms that coincides with each level. Best I can

> do for now.

>

> Sometimes, I may have only one or two symptoms, while at others I

> will have the entire range of symptoms for that level.

>

> (Sorry, suffering from a case of brain fog from work today..hope

> this makes sense.)

>

> Jules

>