such a sad story. I became ill after the birth of my 1st and only child as well so I relate to the heartbreak of your story. not feeling well during those first irreplaceable years of your child's life is devastating. I am not an expert on anything because I am still recovering myself but getting better as the days go by so I know there is hope. I found that, in my case (i have candida and hypothyroid) focusing on the health of your liver is a very important first step. by either taking herbs and or coffee enemas to release stagnant bile in live has saved my life because it has freed up the toxins my liver was dealing with to make room for eliminating toxins more efficiently and giving me some toxic relief. I know that someone else out there will have better insight for you but that is just my experience so far.

So, you have a hiatal hernia? My chiropractor can actually fix those. Mine was really severe and was making it very difficult to breathe and caused chest pain, pressure and extreme weakness. Maybe you can find a chiro that practices applied kinesiology that would be able to fix your hernia.

I also had severe burning issues at the same time, primarily in my hands, but if I didn't ice them the burning would spread up my arms to my brain. And yes, that caused me to overheat rapidly... Couldn't sweat though... Which made things much worse. Anyhow, it turns out that my neck and shoulders needed to be adjusted... My head was half off of my atlas, among other things... But the issue was nerve impingement and spinal cord pressure from disks that were out of alignment and two herniations. I also had severe muscle twitches and jerking from it. Sounds to me like maybe something is effecting your nervous system/brain/spinal cord... Toxins? Low vitamins from irritated GI track?

If you decide to try liver flushing, I suggest you head over to the Natural healing forum for input about that...

Try a bit of zinc gluconate after every meal, not exceeding 50 mg a day. Almost all of your symptoms I have been having in spades for the last year. I think the burning is an infection. The zinc helps with fighting infection. Lufenuron will help kill the yeast if the infection is yeast related. Diarrhea takes away your electrolytes which will screw up your whole system, causing the brain jolts and muscle jolts. Unfortunately I am unable to replace mine using electroylte formula since magnesium is in all the formulas and magnesium causes diarrhea in me in any form....maybe it could be the same with you. Even most supplements were giving me burning pee. Whenever that would happen, diarrhea would follow and many of the other symptoms you mentioned too.

I wouldn't even have bothered to take zinc but my doctor insists I am zinc deficient, so I have been taking it for the last week, and am cautiously suprised that I am not getting the burning from foods that would normaly cause burning pee. I normally wouldn't share this since I haven't been taking it for very long to get enough feedback from it, but I thought I'd share anyway, since your symptoms are so like mine, and it is a horrible way to live.

I read your post and felt compelled to reply. I think you're right about your liver. It does so much for the body, and it could be that its efforts have been compromised by the drugs you've taken, namely the allergic reaction that it seems you're having a hard time recovering from.

I'd like to steer you towards some excellent sites/resources -- I too suffer from some liver issues, nothing as serious as yours, and I recently got a lot from this site, which offers unique resources and chinese herbs for liver/gallbladder flushes, and a lot of great information about how the liver works in general. The woman who created this site has a background in chemistry and chinese medicine, and she embarked on her own journey to heal her liver/hormonal system using eastern and western modalities, so she speaks from educated experience.

sensiblehealth.com

I would also like to direct you to vitalityherbsandclay.com, which offers more great information as well as products that naturally chelate heavy metals and environmental toxins out of the body using very pure, silicate based clays. The Science behind this is tested. Warning: the use of these clays can thwart the efforts of prescription drugs -- they are that powerful.

This next site offers a complete program for weaning off of psychoactive drugs, and may be helpful to you:

http://www.theroadback.org


As for diarrhea and candida, the best bet there is probiotics -- but probiotics in the form of naturally fermented foods. A supplement like bio-K would be helpful, but you should also try incorporating ferments into your regular diet. The probiotics will help beat back the candida and aid in the regrowth of your flora. If you're certain of candida, taking Sugar out of your diet could bring relief. Sugar = soda, pasta, white rice, potatoes, bread, jelly, fruit, crackers, as well as, well... sugar.

Eliminating additives, processed food, and common vegetable oils like margarine, canola, safflower, soy, corn, cottonseed, may also make a huge difference if you haven't done that already; as could eating more fresh food, juicing/smoothies, and following proper food combining. Google "food combining" and you'll come across a few charts that detail proper food combinations for treating digestive disturbances. There's a tremendous amount of Science behind food combining, despite what all the pundits may say, and everyone who tries it notes a difference. The basic rules are:

1) Don't eat starches and proteins together, but either can be eaten with green leafy veggies and non-starchy veggies. That means fish + salad = good, or brown rice + salad = good. BUT NOT meat + potatoes as we so often like it.

2) ALWAYS Eat melons alone.

3) Fats and starches are good. Yay for butter/avocado on toast!

4) Acids and starches are bad -- no tomatoes and pasta.

5) Fruit should generally be eaten alone as well, and mixing acid fruits with sweet fruits is bad (no bananas and strawberries, sorry), though all fruits can be eaten with lettuce, cucumber, sprouts, celery, fennel...

6) Acids and proteins is also not super great.

There are a few other rules, but those are the big ones.

Folks who have IBS, colitis, etc... often report a cessation in their symptoms in as little as 24 hours after practicing food combining!

And if you need some great recipes for all this, check out ripestcherry.com. The current issue of their recipe book is not an anti-candida diet, but it may give you some good ideas.

Lastly, go for a walk everyday and choose life and being healthy inside your mind. Write "I AM SO HEALTHY" on a t-shirt in permanent marker, even if it feels like a joke. The words will resonate with all your cells, and you'll see it when you look in the mirror and inadvertently say it inside your head. Life with all its challenges is the best guru, and sometimes suffering is a gift because it teaches us that we can't fight suffering -- we have to accept it and move forward from there.

Good luck to you! Many blessings and much LOVE.