Feed me! -- a story about eating and amino acids.

Eating has always been a big thing for me. If you want to win my heart don’t bring me flowers or jewelry. Bring me Salmon or Pomegranates. I love food!

Sadly for me even though I love to eat I’ve been struggling to get the nutrients I need. Each person with CFIDS is different and there is no one “key” to wellness for this disease. For me it began with eating and it seems to be an ongoing battle I work on daily.

This summer it was discovered I have a magnesium deficiency, and I'm also not getting the correct necessary amino acids to function. I’ve been learning a lot about amino acids lately. And I feel great! But it hasn't been easy trying to figure out this stuff.

It was this discovery that even with eating the right diet, using all the proper food combinations, and adding supplements, I was still not getting the nutrients I needed. Even with all the good stuff I ate, my body couldn’t put it to use. Man, talk about frustrating. How could this be?

It had gotten so bad that I was in a constant battle with my weight. For one thing my stomach juices were too alkaline and not acidic enough. Okay, so I took digestive enzymes to aid me. Things still didn't change and I developed food allergies. My struggle continued.

These allergies caused me to have severe pressure on my chest, a tight knot in my throat making hard to swallow and even labored breathing. It was like being on the roller coaster from hell. Hungry enough to eat a horse, or no appetite at all, eating constantly to try to boost my energy but still losing weight on top of it! And yes people, there were other problems that attributed to this like parasites, and yeast. But still after addressing those concerns my digestive problems continued.

I went on a medical food diet to build up my gut and keep me going. It was the only way readily for me to digest the proper balance of nutrients. And yet I wasn't absorbing enough of the right stuff to really turn things around for me. This has been a long battle. How could my most favorite thing in life turn against me? This was so unfair!

It was not until I found a doctor who chose to utilize both Allopathic and Naturopathic medicine in his practice that I got all the answers I needed. And believe me, I needed help from all angles!

If you aren’t familiar with the terms Allopathic and Naturopathic, this section right here might help you.

Allopathic Health care is the diagnosis of germs or viruses, preventions in the form of vaccinations, drug treatments and surgical procedures; all associated with the American medical care system. These doctors run their practices closely with guidelines set-up by health insurance companies. An allopathic doctor will have the title of MD (medical doctor) after their name.

Naturopathic Medicine is science based on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention found in the form of diet, nutrition, and lifestyle changes. An emphasis is placed on the importance for patients to manage their own long-term health. These doctors are not restricted by health insurance companies and can run many tests beyond the scope of the dictates of the insurance companies. A naturopathic doctor will have the title of ND (naturopathic doctor) after their name. Chiropractors hold the middle ground with being able to accept insurance claims and still practice natural healthcare. The title after their names is DC. (doctor of chiropractic)

Since most people are less familiar with Naturopathic doctors, I’ll give you a little more information on them. In Canada, naturopathic medicine is regulated in BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario and there are four accredited naturopathic colleges in North America. Licensed NDs complete internationally standardized board exams and are self-regulated in the same way MDs are.

Wow, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way let’s go back to diet and nutrition. It was just crazy trying to piece together what would help me with this problem. I discovered that if I just focused on amino acids alone that wasn’t enough to give me the boost I needed to get back to wellness.

Neither was just focusing on my magnesium deficiency the whole answer. I needed both.

I was so magnesium deficient, that I had to learn to give myself injections. These are extremely painful and sometimes even cause muscle spasms. With the injections I was finding relief in a general sense. My breathing wasn’t as labored and I had an overall feeling of wellness. BUT I still lacked energy. That's where the amino acids came into play.

At first I tried taking different amino acid supplements. One was tyrosine. And although tyrosine was helpful, giving me spurts of energy, I suffered from lower lows. I’d be up doing stuff and then collapse in bed until time to take more tyrosine, starting the cycle all over again. It was just craziness.

That wasn't working. So I took a specific test for which types I was lacking.Using information from a complete amino acid test, a special formulated batch of aminos was made up for me. Talk about putting the pep in my step! I was giddy. I no longer ached as much or struggled with feelings of sadness. Even my appetite came up. And happy day, giving myself shots now were suddenly less painful. This was a big deal – I’m telling you! The amino acids were doing their job to create the chemistry in my brain to handle pain. It just had to be the exact right combination to do the trick.

But silly me, being who I am, I decided to wean myself off the magnesium injections entirely. (I hate being a human pin cushion) So I took a supplement instead. Soon my butt began to drag and I was laid up in bed once more. Ah, I couldn't think what my problem was. (Duh!?!) Back to the magnesium shots I went. By the way, for people with CFIDS this is a common problem to have. (To learn more about this deficiency and whether you may have it go to: http://www.hair-and-water-testing.com/magnesiumimportance.htm)

My world is a delicate balancing act and I have to remind myself I walk a thin line. Over time I have every confidence that as my body becomes more strong it will start generating and creating the amino acids and absorb magnesium more naturally though my foods. Until then I need to help myself out all I can.

Amino acids are a huge subject all on it’s own. A while back I read a book called “The Diet Cure” by Julia Ross, M.A. and was blown away. Who knew that all my misery with CFIDS (both emotionally and physically) could be lifted from me by using my new learned knowledge of amino acids!

I learned about how these amino acids affect brain chemistry and our emotions. How it relieves physical problems like hypoglycemia or diabetes.

Since I was not properly digesting my food I had actually been going through some severe malnutrition (following this blog I’ll attach a letter a colleague wrote on my behalf to Social Security about this problem) and my brain couldn’t even function but now I had the tools to fight back and finding the right amino acids for my body was a big step in the right direction. And happy day to find it was as simple as taking a blood test to know what I was lacking, go figure!