Remember my distraught post about drinking/peeing too much yesterday? Apparently I have been poisoning myself with oxalates. The extreme thirst and constant urination were just my body's way of trying to deal with the toxic overload. You see, when I started low-carbing, I got in the habit of eating salads. Pretty much breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was a great way to get my roughage, and the doc who put me on Healthy For Life (the version of low carb I use) said veggies at every meal, so I complied. My problem? I HATE iceberg lettuce, and romaine is only a hair more appetizing to me. So what did almost all of my salads consist of? Spinach, of course!

Now before you think me a total idiot, you should realize that I suspected too much of a good thing could be bad. I had even heard of oxalate and oxalic acid occasionally causing toxicity, with regards to sorrel and rhubarb. So I had googled and googled, but could find no reference to people who had trouble consuming 6 ounces (or more) of spinach per day. In fact I found one woman who said she had no trouble and had been consuming a POUND of spinach a day. So I didn't give it much more thought until things got out of control the last few days. Needless to say, I started googling again.

All I could find at first were reports of animals who had been poisoned by grazing in areas of high oxalate-content greens. Which got me to thinking...humans ARE animals, like it or not...surely we must be affected by this as well? So I started googling oxalate plus my symptom names...diarrhea, thirst, bladder pain, asthma...until I hit something. A few things actually.

Here was one of my tip-offs: http://www.pelvicpain.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=383

and here's another: http://www.lowoxalate.info/research.html


Needless to say, I'm reducing my oxalate intake now! The sad thing is, there are SO MANY high-oxalate foods that are good for you...carrots, broccoli, brussels sprouts...almost anything green, leafy, cruciferous or healthy...including nuts and seeds! Still, I don't think I'll have too much trouble making the transition, as a low-oxalate diet is almost by definition low carb (most grains contain oxalates too; only meat, eggs & dairy seem to be safe zones).

Do I think this is going to be a cure-all? Heck no! In fact, from what I've been reading over at the Trying Low Oxalates yahoo group (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/grou..._Low_Oxalates/), the detox process can be worse than the process of getting poisoned, especially if you start detoxing too quickly by lowering your oxalate intake too severely. So while yesterday I was immediately trying to avoid all oxalates, I have changed my game plan. I'll be cutting out spinach and broccoli for sure, but keeping things like sweet potatoes and blueberries, at least for a week or two.

Apparently the ability to properly deal with oxalates is part genetic, and part a function of your intestinal flora, which can be massively upset by use of Antibiotics . Also, you can't ever completely avoid oxalates...they are actually made by our bodies...but you can definitely decrease your exposure via diet.

So anyhoo, I wanted to make sure I updated y'all, since almost everyone here seems bent on handling these symptoms with foods and other of nature's remedies. I know that's the approach I've been taking, given the horrible effects that putting too much man-made crap (like Mirena!) in my body have had. I also wanted to apologize for being so incoherent yesterday...when I went back and read my post, I could barely understand MYSELF! Thanks for listening, and I hope this helps someone else. :)