Re: BED-Extremely Exhausted

Hi Wendy,
I was really interested to read about your situation. It sounds tough indeed, and I can relate. I've been on the BED diet for about a year. I too am totally intolerant of gluten, and have had some pretty extreme reactions when I've accidentally had something with even a minute amount of gluten in it. And what started me on the diet was learning I had a underactive thyroid as a result of eating too much soy over the years, so soy was definitely out. But I want to write to encourage you to stick to it, because I believe you will feel better, as I do now. This is my situation:
I think I am coming through a very extreme case of candida, that my body has been harboring candida very deep in my tissues and organs. I have had numerous visits to the ER in the past two years, many times due to what I call severe 'electrolyte imbalances'. Never were the doctors truly able to make a diagnosis, and what really brought me through was putting my knowledge of Potassium/Sodium/Magnesium/Calcium to work. I know what you mean about the feeling like your liver is going through candida die-off. I have been through that and I think I'm at the other end of that tunnel now. The symptoms I had due to poor liver function were constipation and tiredness/weakness, a swollen puffy face, water retention, dry skin and yellowish whites of eyes. I could almost feel that my liver needed help in a big way. It was awful. I did daily colonics and made cultured veggies, and that helped more than anything. I also think that my taking milk thistle had something to do with it.

After the liver cleansing, my adrenal glands were the next big task to conquer. I had for months, 'extreme exhaustion' to the point of collapse. Sometimes I would lie down to sleep and my body felt too weak to even breath. It was quite scary.
It took me a while to come to that conclusion, but several factors led me to believe it was my adrenals. One example helped me to figure it out: I have always liked Sugar free dark chocolate. When I developed a very bad case of candida, I became alot more sensitive to the caffeine and other energy substance in the chocolate. Before I began the diet, I used to eat it to pick me up out of a slump, and I would get a tremendous adrenal rush from it. After I started the diet however, I would still have a very small piece of dark chocolate every now and then(sugar-free of course)(that's still a no-no). Well, one time I may have eaten too much chocolate and the next day, I was very weak. Every time I ate even a tiny piece of that Sugar free chocolate after that, even if I stuck to the diet, I felt as though my body was shutting down. It took me awhile to figure it out, because the chocolate would start me off with an energy high. But the crash was usually the next day.
The exhaustion was many times a result of just purely weak adrenals, I believe, that had dying candida in them. Many times, regardless of following the diet I had it. At times I thought I would never be able to take even a simple walk again. I bought Donna's Adrenal Fatigue audio CD and learned that there are so many factors that affect the adrenals, since the body is a network. I for one have a tendency towards a low thyroid, and when that gland is weak, it affects the adrenal function. And Donna also says that when the ovaries aren't working properly (like my missing periods), the adrenal glands are weakened. What I learned from the info I applied, and it has really made a difference. The best thing to do is to stick to the diet wholeheartedly now that you know about it. It will be your saviour. Two herbs that helped me are ashwaganda and some astragalus, useful in those emergency fatigue situations. I have worked through some of the most deep-seated candida I believe, and I am feeling alot better now. I don't have the extreme exhaustion near as frequently or near the same intensity now, and I can have BED grains in flour form once in a while without suffering too bad for it.

Another thing that has helped when I have possibly gotten a hold of something bad, (like rotten cultured vegetable that didn't culture properly---very scary situation health wise!) is eating RAW garlic. It really doesn't taste good, and I have found it best to drink some aloe juice along with it to ease the "burn" of the potent garlic juice, but it is a great antifungal, antimicrobial agent. And it assists in alleviating alot of my candida symptoms if ever I eat too much food.

As far as all the intolerences and food allergies , be of good cheer, you should be able to eat corn, rice, and kefir again one day. I became corn 'intolerent' while actually ON the BED, because I was eating corn chips almost every day with my salad or with whatever for a few months. My body finally said "enough!" and I had to deal
with extreme fatigue and a headache, runny nose, etc for a couple days afterwards. (I should have learned my lesson before it got to that point, because I think there's a point where your body actually subliminally communicates with your brain that you should lay off of a certain food for a while to allow for recovery...I didn't listen.) To make a long story about the corn short(er), I stayed off the corn for a few months and now, can tolerate small amounts here and there, provided I eat cultured veggies along with the corn.

I hope that my rambling has helped in some way, and I will be thinking of you. You aren't alone, but do as much research to find things to get you through this very difficult time, because your body is in cleansing state if you are on the BED. Good luck and God bless your efforts.
~Teresa Tweet