Considering Flush

[Em0723]

Shelley,

I'm about 3 months into the candida diet and doing pretty well, but my symptoms that seem to linger every so often are the urinary problems (frequency, urgency, having to wake up in the middle of the night) - so I figured I should work on doing some better kidney management. After reading through the FAQ I thought maybe it would be best to start with the liver though? I am considering doing the morning oil cocktail - do you think this is a good idea?

In the kidney section you said that it would be quite obvious if I had stones - so I don't really think I do, does the same go for the liver? I ask because I see one of the first steps is to take stone dissolvers. I buy a lot of my supplements, etc. at whole foods and was unable to find malic acid/gold coin grass - do you recommend I use both, if so where would be a good place to purchase these?

Thanks!

[shelley]

If you have both frequency and urgency to urinate, then best place to start is with the kidneys. Drink the Cleansing Drink 2x a day, but sweeten it with stevia or nothing at all if you can handle it. Also it's important to find either Cran-Tab supplements and take lots of those, or drink unsweetened cranberry juice, preferably organic but from concentrate will do in a pinch.

Also take 500 mg of Vitamin C 3x a day, or a packet of emergen-C once a day.

Also take at least 500 mg of magnesium (or a teaspoon of Epsom salts) for 3 days.

Your total fluids for 3 days should be at least 50 ounces a day while undergoing this protocol.

All this will cleanse the entire urinary system by changing the pH so that it can shed any toxins it needs and dissolve any uric acid or calcium crystals that are threatening to forum into stones. It will also give the bladder what it needs to relax and hold more fluids so you don't have that annoying urgency and frequency any longer.

If you are still symptomatic after 3 days, this protocol is safe to repeat two more times.

Also analyze your diet for anything diuretic. You may be bringing on the frequency yourself with your foods or teas, such as dandelion or parsley. Or not drinking enough water will bring on urgency because of higher concentration of toxins in the bladder, which can irritate it, so it wants it out faster.

[Em0723]

Thanks Shelley,

I read through your suggestions - and I'm actually doing almost all of these things already. I drink my fiber shake with unsweetened cranberry & have been drinking the cleansing drink with no sweetner (only 1x per day - I can up it to two). I also take a calmag supplement, and at least one packet of emergen-C per day. I think my fluid intake is pretty on track - I try to make sure I drink enough fluids so I can keep the fiber moving.
I was previously seeing a urologist for interstitial cystitis (diagnosed by the doctor) for the problem - but after a few times of her being rude to me, and realizing nothing she was telling me to do was helpful I stopped going. She kept trying to get me to participate in studies for new drugs, it seemed like she was more interested in finding people for the studies than she was in helping me get better.
I think the main problem and most bothersome is having to wake up at night to go to the bathroom, it happens almost every night at least once. My frequency and urgency throughout the day have lessened but still don't seem to be completely under control. I do drink a fair amount of tea (much of it green). I also drink the fiber shake at night.

Any suggestions?!

Thanks!

[shelley]

ah, stop the green tea, definitely don't drink it after noon. It's a diuretic. Heck, I'd be peeing all day and night if I had more than a small cup! LOL!

Stop drinking any fluids after about 9:00 and be sure to visit the bathroom right before bed.

Okay, if you really have interstitial cystitis, you actually need to analyze your potassium intake and see if you're getting too much. To regulate cystitis, you need a week or two of a LOW potassium diet, which means no ACV and none of the foods on the high in potassium list in the FAQ. You also need to take zinc and chromium, preferably GTF chromium, during that time.

If your family has a history of ovarian cysts this is especially important to do.

[itslaura]

[shelley]

does the left or right ovary have the cysts?

[itslaura]

I guess I'm not superparanoid enough because I didn't remember which one has the cysts.

I called my doctor's office and I have cysts on both ovaries - they compared it to an ultrasound from 2003. At that time, my right ovary had a cyst (possibly larger) - now that is gone, but there are a group of smaller cysts there - up to 2 cm in size. The left ovary now has a cyst as well, probably larger than the ones on the right. Apparently the radiologist's report mentioned both "lesions" and "cysts" and the nurse I spoke with wasn't sure what the distinction was.

I go back on May 10th for another ultrasound, then on the 24th, I'll see a gynecologist who will explain all this better than my doctor's nurse has. (I'll make sure!)

[shelley]

Hmm... well, find out for sure if you can.

Here are the nutritional reasons for cysts. Could be your genetic makeup includes a tendency to mismanage certain nutrients, which in addition to estrogen dominance leads to ovarian cysts.

Right-sided ovarian cysts that aren't dermoid cysts (which can be called polyps so check) are usually due to elevated potassium levels. If you're of the type that gets irritated skin easily from a lot of fruit acids, this might be one of your issues. Left-side cysts indicate too much zinc.

Low levels of iron and mangenese will cause menstrual disorders, usually infrequent menstruation, I forget which is right and which is left, but we're usually deficient in both so therapeutic doses will help. Mangenese can be taken at 15 mg up to as much as 200 mg, go for the higher ones if you take therapeutic doses of Vitamin C.

Taking synthetic B vitamin complexes for a long period of time can mess with mineral absorption, causing elevated stores of both potassium and zinc, and thus cause big time problems for women with estrogen issues.

[Em0723]

Thanks Shelley,

I will try cutting those foods out for at least a week and see if I notice the change. I'll also supplement the zinc and chromium. Do I need to take them just because without those foods I won't be getting enough? If this ends up regulating everything, will it be ok to add these foods back in (just not as much as before) - There were only a few on the list that I eat on a regular basis - but those that I have frequently, I have almost every day, so hopefully I'll notice a change. I'll cut out the green tea too.

Thanks Again!

[shelley]

No, you take them because they are the regulators of potassium. Potassium has a pair with zinc. If you have elevated potassium, you have next to no zinc. Having next to no zinc is pretty much equivelent to having no thyroid, because zinc is the mineral that is necessary for thyroid hormones to activate things. Everything in nature is in pairs, health is one huge balancing act!

[Em0723]

thanks shelley,

Makes sense about the Zinc. What about the Chromium??

[shelley]

chromium helps zinc absorption.

[Em0723]

Shelley,

Hope you had a great weekend

I have eliminated the high potassium foods for the last few days and have been supplementing the zinc and also taking the chromium. I haven't really been doing anything differently besides that - and I haven't been feeling so great. My stomach has been bothering me and I've been feeling slightly nauseous since I started doing this. It seems my body is telling me to stop, so I was going to stop after today unless you think that this might just be my body balancing out & that the sick feeling will go away soon.

I have stopped drinking so much green tea - if any one cup before noon, but not every day and my problems haven't been terrible, so I figured I'd just monitor the symptoms for now - unless you have any good suggestions besides the monitoring the potassium.

I thought also - maybe it would be good to consume more of the natural anti-inflammatory foods in the FAQ to keep the cystitis a bit more in check. (it has been much much better since I've been on the candida diet, but certain times I seem to get out of whack) - and I also try to control it through exercise/streching.

Lastly - since I've been on the diet for a few months now I figured I should get to some liver management (probably should have been doing this all along I'm guessing - but better late then never?) I was planning on the liv.52 at least.

Any suggestions? Comments? - I'm especially interested in your comments about the potassium/zinc issue.

Thanks!!

[shelley]

Hmm... nauseated can mean so many different things, and usually only having to do with digestion, not with whether or not you're taking the wrong minerals or vitamins, but rather taking them in the wrong way. For isntance, if you don't take vits/mins on an empty stomach or with lots of water and then lie down, you WILL get nauseated. You'll get backflow, a lot of imbalance of having nutrients that need other things in order for them to digest (bile) and they're not there so they just sit, inert.
So be sure to take them with meals, preferably in the middle of the meal.

And to know for sure whether you need them, try kinesiology. SEveral people are managing the stand-in-place with supplement bottle held near their belly button. If they feel themselves leaning backwards, that's a negative, it isn't needed.

Anti-inflammatory foods would be fantastic, as would Skin Foods. Vitamin E and A do tremendous things for the urinary system. I've seen some nice improvements with my own issues now that I"m drinking my Ultimate Tonic about 3x a week.

Liver management is essential. If the liver isn't doing it's job, the kidneys are having to do 10x more work than they should and that's what gets them irritated.

Good luck!