Sunmountain's Log

[sunmountain]

Hi Dean, the lactose content tables I looked at show that concentrated milk products have extremely high lactose content. I don't understand how you can tolerate milk powder when you can't tolerate milk -- but I'm no scientist. Perhaps someone else can explain that.

I'd love to be able to down milk powder, but cannot afford to experiment just now when I've just gotten rid of the intolerance symptoms.

Also the farmer's cheese I make is more the solid kind, almost dry, and not like ricotta or cottage. I looked up various ricotta, cottage, and farmer in crono, and the cal:phos is all over the place. In general, though, it seems cottage tends to have high or higher phos to calc, while ricotta and farmer (solid kind) has lower phos to calc, but not always so. Again, I hope someone more knowledgeable will weigh in, especially as I am having a lot of farmer cheese every day!

Blossom, thanks, it's a relief to have figured this out. Now the challenge is what's left: the bloated stomach, some fatigue, some joint pain, and more recently some waterlogging. Is there a connection between SIBO and lactose intolerance, I wonder?

Jennifer, not to worry about your doc getting back, and thanks so much for checking. I'll do the test anyway.

When the Mexican doctor examined me, he said my ascending colon felt swollen, but everything else felt fine. If that is still true (might or might not), would it mean bacteria in the colon instead of small intestine? Or some other problem in colon?

 

[Dean]

Yeah, I don't know why milk powder agrees with me whereas no fresh, liquid milk does. That cheese you're making agreed with me ok too, I'm virtually positive a lot of the calcium is lost in the drained off liquid though. But, if that is what is working for you and you aren't eating meat or grains, you are probably fine on the calcium:phosphorus front. I've heard Peat say 0.5:1 can be ok.

 

[sunmountain]

I've always heard that paneer (my version of farmer cheese) is high in calcium. Would be great if anyone else comments who knows calc:phos in paneer!

I am eating a small portion of chicken about two nights a week in soup, and some grain one or two nights. I found out I can't tolerate green can gelatin, so have not been supplementing gelatin, though do supplement glycine daily, and have been lazy to supplement calcium. I guess I could supplement calcium at least when I eat meat or grain?

Thanks for the alert, Dean!

 

[Jennifer]

Jennifer, not to worry about your doc getting back, and thanks so much for checking. I'll do the test anyway.

When the Mexican doctor examined me, he said my ascending colon felt swollen, but everything else felt fine. If that is still true (might or might not), would it mean bacteria in the colon instead of small intestine? Or some other problem in colon?

You're welcome, sunmountain! :) When I did the hydrogen breath test, they found I digested lactose just fine and didn't have SIBO, but I did have a lot of trapped gas in my colon that they couldn't explain. One thing I remember since the time I did 80/10/10 was I always had this huge lump in my lower right abdomen I could feel while lying in bed at night. I realize now it was my cecum. Ray mentioned to me back in February that "flowers of sulfur (200 mg/day for 3 days) will usually eliminate yeast, and the slight acidifying effect can cause a favorable shift in bacteria in the colon." Since the doctor in Mexico said your ascending colon felt swollen, have you ever tried some flowers of sulphur?

And Dean's experience with the powdered milk and cheese is actually quite common. I've noticed many people say they have issues with all the fluids from the milk and OJ so it makes sense, at least to me, that some do better with cheese and highly concentrated milk, like evaporated and condensed milk.

 

[sunmountain]

Thanks, Jennifer. I will definitely try the FOS, and will order it today.

Since yesterday, the debilitating fatigue came back. It took me a day to recognize it this time. It could be I am reacting to the heavy whipping cream -- a T of it in coffee.

Can anyone recommend a nondairy creamer that is least toxic?

Thanks

 

[Jennifer]

You're welcome, sunmountain! :)

There's coconut cream if you tolerate it? I use to use the AROY-D brand. It's only ingredient is coconut cream.

 

[sunmountain]

Thanks again, Jen. I couldn't find Aroy-D anywhere at health or asian foods stores...and I called a few! I guess I'll have to get it from Amazon.

In the meantime, I discovered the following recipe for coconut milk creamer on some website online. I made it this morning for coffee, and it kicks a**:

1 can coconut milk (or the equivalent Aroy-d)
1 egg
2 T CO
Blend or whip the heck out of it. Stays in fridge for a week, per website.

I made it using Native Forest (yeah, guar gum, but had to have something to tide me till Aroy gets here). I put 3 or 4 T in coffee...YUMMY!!!!

 

[Jennifer]

Oh great! I'm glad you found a good creamer substitute. It sounds a little like egg nog so it must be really yummy! :)

 

[tara]

Can anyone recommend a nondairy creamer that is least toxic?

I've used coconut butter that didn't ave any other additives in it. I think it's basically similar to coconut cream except that there is no water in it. If you want to make coconut cream out of it, you mix it with water. Or just add it to coffee as is. Doesn't take much to give a flavour.

 

[sunmountain]

With the egg nog I created, the color whitens a little bit, which is nice as it fakes adding milk. And there is the froth. Would the coconut butter change the color at all? I have a little of the TT coconut butter lying around.

 

[tara]

With the egg nog I created, the color whitens a little bit, which is nice as it fakes adding milk. And there is the froth. Would the coconut butter change the color at all? I have a little of the TT coconut butter lying around.

Slight change of colour, depends on how much you add. If you've got some, you could give it a go.

 

[sunmountain]

Might do that.

I thought I saw FOS listed on Dan's site, but it's no longer listed. Anyone recommend a source for FOS?

thanks

 

[sunmountain]

I'm stumped. I've eliminated milk/yogurt/cottage cheese completely, and am down to eating farmer and mozzarella cheese for dairy.

This evening I bent down and weeded 10 minutes in garden, and still shaky from doing that. Feeling low blood sugar, eating, bloated, shaky.

I took 4 biotin today instead of the usual 1, after reading Haidut's post on biotin. Took 2 at breakfast and 2 at a late lunch around 3 or 4pm. Could the lunch biotin cause low sugar around 8 or 9pm?

The intense achiness is better after eliminating cream, but knees still hurting and fatigue.

Am I becoming intolerant to farmer cheese now? I grew up eating farmer cheese, though not in the amounts I'm eating now and not daily.

I'm intensely bloated right now and hungry...it's awful.

I haven't been feeling hungry lately. Forcing myself to eat.

 

[sunmountain]

I'm thinking it might be flash edema.

Acupuncture helped a few days ago with waterlogging.

Is there anything I can do for relief until I can get to the acupuncturist?

 

[sunmountain]

Ok, so it wasn't life threatening, though it felt like that at the time. Some of it was panic at not knowing what was going on. The hard part of taking charge of my own health is not knowing enough about basic physiology and functions, not to mention medical terminology, no matter how much I read up. It felt like flash edema because it came on so suddenly and more acute than ever before. But I did not end up in the hospital, and after an uncomfortable night I was mostly ok by morning.

So I'm feeling very thirsty since last night, and trying not to overdo liquids while keeping hydrated. Will have massage this evening, so hopefully that should help. I had stopped both (community) acupuncture and massage since a while because the waterlogging had mostly gone away (or overshadowed by the milk intolerance symptoms). Both massage and acupuncture have helped me a lot with water retention so far, so hopefully this will continue once I do them regularly again.

Will be reading up Gwyneth some more.

 

[sunmountain]

Just skimmed Gwenyth on edema. She says not to take diuretics as they interfere with repair. She does say to get massage as it can alleviate symptoms without impacting repair! So that's good...I'm headed there this evening.

I do wonder what she thinks of acupuncture. I've had very good success with it especially for waterlogging.

 

[sunmountain]

Yesterday and today, I ate nice sized piece of homemade farmer cheese cheesecake for breakfast and coffee. Then felt extreme thirst today and sipped coke all day. Not hungry all day. Had second cup coffee (with sugar, fructose, taurine, glycine, lysine) on way home from work. Then got suddenly hungry around 6 and first ate several dates, and then quickly wolfed down slice of homemade quiche (farmer cheese) on way out to massage. All the time feeling excessive thirst. Trying not to down glassful as it might bloat, so sipping all day.

Clearly not eating enough again. And why not feeling hungry all day, and then almost blood sugar drop by 5pm, then scarfing down etc.?

Plan to sleep early tonight. I haven't felt panicky like last night for a long time. Maybe I'll try rescue remedy if it happens again.

 

[sunmountain]

Much better today after massage yesterday. All elimination systems online. Bloating better. Hunger restored -- yaaay!!

Fatigue and joint pain still there, but feel much better anyway.

 

[sunmountain]

Biotin. For me, it seems to be very powerful.

I had been taking just one capsule a day and not feeling any difference. Then yesterday I took 4 (2 at breakfast, and 2 at late lunch), causing blood sugar drop in the midst of edema episode. Today I took just 2 (one at breakfast, and one at lunch). Today's dosage has worked well for me and may be behind restoring hunger.

I didn't realize it was so powerful...much more so than Thiamine. For me at least. I take one cap of Allithiamine 3 times a day with meals, no problem. But I can tolerate only 2 biotin so far.

Ate good today, probably 2000 kcal or more.

 

[sunmountain]

About to order some CO from Trop Trad free shipping today only.

Then remembered fully hydrogenated CO discussion.

Anyone here getting fully hydrogenated CO?