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4th of July! Boom!

Below are a set of questions posed by Rebecca regarding my digestion issues, and my replies (in bold)--

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Of course I am wondering how you are now and trust you have been making careful observations and notes. You are your own science fair project! Truly, your careful observations help you to help yourself, help me to help you, and could very well provide some important info that helps others as well.

The "clear" state lasted about a day and a half--then the PD symptoms returned along with being tired and needing to sleep a lot...

I have read your emails a few times and am a bit confused. In the first email you wrote about the awful experience you went through of impaction that you finally cleared both manually and with the help of the smooth move tea. What do you think contributed to the impaction in the first place? That is what is confusing me. Maybe you are puzzled by it too.

Am definitely puzzled... My digestion had evened out as I switched to taking aloe vera juice... I thought I had finally found the key to the digestion problems... The last food that I ate before my system impacted was the two salads from Staff of Life (mixed cabbage salad and a ginger/brown rice asian-style salad).

How did you do while you were on the Clearvite program? Did you have any constipation then? Were you using Aloe Vera juice daily throughout that time? How much and how often?
During the 19 days I was on the program, I had constant problems with easy eliminations... Initially, I used triphala to help things along and switched to aloe vera juice (1 ounce concentrated juice three times a day)... both seemed to be working, but eliminations were still not easy... Definitely had problems when I tried to eat animal protein (salmon), but was having trouble with everything...

What foods did you eliminate from your diet during the clearvite program?

All of the foods on the "avoid" list (including dairy)and animal protein from the OK-to-eat list... I was eating mostly grains, beans, veggies, and light amounts of fruit...

Did you stay 100% away from the foods we discovered you are making antibodies to?

Yes! Had no soy products or eggs...

If you were doing okay on the Clearvite program, when you came off that program what did you add to your diet, and was that the culprit causing the severe constipation?

As noted above, the last foods I ate were the two salads from Staff of Life... The impaction occurred the next day (I had bowel movements, easy ones, the day I ate those items)... Could have been something in one of the salads, but they were not different from things I had been eating... My digestion/elimination throughout was not easy--it was like my system just hit a wall in terms of its processing abilities...

In your most recent email you write of an almost complete elimination of rebellious qi symptoms once your digestive tract was empty. That is such very interesting information! I am very anxious to hear more about that and how you are eating now and what your experience is.

Yes, when I was finally "empty," I had the experience of feeling my body being that way--completely empty of any residual food items--and the PD symptoms stopped. They were gone for about 1.5 days and came back as I began to eat. After 2 days, they were back pretty much as they were before the impaction--but slightly less since I was eating lightly, eating small amounts, and my digestive track isn't plugged up... I've stuck to eating just fruit and dairy up until now and have restarted making a smoothie with protein powder in the mornings (may start doing two a day to make sure I'm getting enough protein)... Have restarted taking supplements, but fewer numbers to start with to see how they affect my system (the pill pile is larger than the food portions that I'm eating)...

Eating small amounts frequently is actually a very healthy way to eat. Most of us just don't have schedules that allow for that kind of life style. It is known to be a wonderful way to help heal the adrenal glands! And, we know you need to do that. So you are definitely on the right track with that regimen!

I hope your energy is continuing to be up and that you are respecting it and NOT pushing yourself. Remember, you are recovering from an illness you had for a long time. You must conserve your energy so your cells have all the energy they need for the healing process. It is so easy, when energy comes up after a long time without it, to go out and spend it all at once. Resist that temptation.

Was easy to resist... only lasted 36 hours or so... since then, I've been back to my previous state (do something, rest, do something, rest)... :(

How are you doing with the supplements now. You had stopped them. Were they causing you problems?

Have restarted them but not full amounts--phasing them in to make sure they're not doing anything to my system... Far as I know, they weren't causing problems, but they may have been contributing in some way--I don't know...

It makes sense to listen to what your body seems to want related to the protein powder, using those last few servings of Clearvite, etc. What is happening with you and the protein issue now? Can you handle it? If it is causing you problems, it may mean you need more tablets of HCL-Prozyme when you eat protein. You may be having problems due to an insufficiency of hydrochloric acid.

I've restarted making a protein powder smoothie in the mornings and may extend to afternoons/evenings to see if I can get my energy levels up... I'm also eating dairy (yogurt, cheese, kefir, cottage cheese) for protein, but otherwise I've not had any animal protein or veggies for the past week... Frankly, if the only way I can eat and digest animal protein is with massive amounts of HCL-Prozyme, I'd rather not eat animal protein... I feel the same about veggie protein, but may have to accommodate for them if I can't live on fruit and dairy alone... (I met a monk once who supposedly lived on a piece of fruit and a small glass of milk each day--and prana!)

At some point in one of your emails you said something about the possibility of a dairy allergy. You have been eating dairy as part of the regimen you designed for yourself. Does dairy seem okay for you at this time?
I was hypothesizing about touching the dairy cartons and that being enough to cause the impaction... But, I'm supposedly OK with dairy products--and I've lived on them for the past week without any apparent problems--long term is perhaps another issue. The dairy I've been ingesting tastes great (I added ice cream to my larder--Yumm!) and seems to agree with me and my digestive track...

Have you been able to do yoga? qi gong? dancing? daily walks? other.....?
Do some yoga at home, do Qigong every day (morning for sure, sometimes before bed), walk daily (no problems with legs/movements--just get tired sometimes)... Had to stop dance classes and dancing--too much energy required--hope to start back in the Fall...

Do you do visualization and meditation? How often?
Every day in some form or another... When I lay down to rest/nap, I often do so by doing some visualization (seeing myself healthy, being symptom free, being fully energetic, etc.)... I also might meditate at those times using chants or mantras (Om Mani Padme Hung Sarva Shanting Kuruve Soha--Tibetan mantra asking the Buddha of Compassion/Wisdom to remove any illness)...

Any good inspirational reading to tell me about?
Just read Lance Armstrong's Every Second Counts book... Lots of good stuff in it... Such as ..."pain/discomfort is temporary; quitting is forever!" Also reading an interesting book about being "called" titled Do You Hear What I Hear? It's written by a non-religious woman who's trying to figure out why her father, late in life, wants to become a priest.