If you want to get better, do this...

So everyone knows my story. Been sick since 2013 w/ various lyme/autoimmune symptoms, but there were signs as a child something was wrong. 2019 i get stomach sick in costa rica and develop severe autoimmune neuropathy. Have done antibiotics (doxy, bicillin, plaquenil, azithromycin) + buhner herbs, no change. Have done neurofeedback, meditation, light therapy, acupunture, cranio-sacral, etc. Have worked w/ two other naturopaths. Did IVIG, helped a bit but got serum sickness in february. By this summer i was so bad I couldnt walk, pain a 10/10 every day. Cried myself to sleep every night for 6m. By september of this year I had planned on starting Rituxan. Showed up to the NYU infusion center, was in the chair ready for the infusion reading the side effects, and decided that I couldnt do this to my body, and left, even though it took months to get it approved cuz it costs $70k/year.

Finally I texted my friend who I had met on an autoimmune blog about a year ago. She was in my position. Severe neuropathy, fatigue, joint pain, insomnia, dysautonomia, etc. She had tried everything. about 6m ago she met a naturopath and started working w/ her and was convinced this woman was the chosen one. I didnt think much of it. After leaving NYU infusion labs on Sep 18th 2020, I texted her. She was like, " you absolutely need to contact Mary, i'm 95% healed".

So i booked an appointment w/ Mary Ruddick, but she was booked 2m in advance. In the mean time, i started her high-fat, low-lectin ketogenic, soup-only diet meant at calming the immune system that my friend filled me in on. I am now 6 weeks in and I can say I'm probably 75% healed. My acne is gone. My back spasm is gone. My sleep is perfect. My neuropathy, which is the main thing that matters for me, is improving by the day.

I finally had my appointment with her today, and she blew me away. The level of insights were absolutely amazing. Anyone who knows me knows that I have believe that there is something wrong w/ all of us, some feedback loop that is broken and creates a destruction of homeostasis. She was the first one to actually break this down for me and explain where she thinks mine are coming from. The insights and things she knew w/o me telling her were impressive, and the actionable tips that she has given me were extremely impressive, and they go far beyond a simple ketogenic diet.

I cannot recommend this woman highly enough. For the first time in my life I believe that I will beat this disease. My friend told me that this woman was brilliant, and that I should stop researching and just put myself in her hands, and I now believe it.

Best $500 I ever spent. Cant wait to start her program when she sends me the full recommendation on supplements, lifestyle and food intake. I had consulted w/ alternative medicine pracitioners and naturopaths before, and they talk a big game but you leave feeling like it sounds to good to be true, and you know it wont work. This is NOT that.

I can go into some of the specifics in another post of what she thinks are my problems, but I'd like to have a few more appointments and understand the science better until I can do them justice.

Here is a link to her story. She had a mycoplasma infection set off the chain of events that lead her to autoimmunity and small fiber neuropathy.

https://palmerkippola.com/healing-stories/twelve-years-dozen-diseases-one-sweet-victory/

https://www.enableyourhealing.com/

Post Edited (dcd2103) : 11/18/2020 9:14:38 AM (GMT-7)

I'm so glad for you, dcd. You sound so inspired and optimistic! What a great feeling.

I'm very curious to hear more, especially about the dietary recommendations. I also wonder how similar her Neural Retraining Bootcamp is to DNRS.

Does she focus on antimicrobial treatment at all?

Always exciting to hear of a promising approach.

Whoa dcd so glad you've found the right path! Interested in hearing more as you learn more...

After reading some of the recent posts from you and Garzie, I think I'll be trying a keto diet soon.

potsnpans said...
Whoa dcd so glad you've found the right path! Interested in hearing more as you learn more...

After reading some of the recent posts from you and Garzie, I think I'll be trying a keto diet soon.

Def worth it POTS!!!!

These were the soups I did for a month, before adding back in meat, eggs and some allowed vegetables past 2 weeks. You can cook your own but i'm not organized enough to do that. Also 3 of them is 1125 calories, so gotta supplement w/ other healthy fats (like coconut and olive oil) on top to get to 2000 calories (unless you wanna lose weight).

https://captainsoup.com/pages/ingredients

The first time i tried keto i couldnt do it, had no idea what to eat, so you end up cheating non-stop to get calories. The soup for a month made it easy, and then i could add stuff back in and learn as i went.

Hey Running Wild. I actually lost some weight the first few weeks, and i got some monster headaches too. Apparently the switch to ketosis can sometimes cause headaches at first as the "hardware" needed for ketosis wakes up. But also I just wasnt eating enough calories and my blood sugar went to low, and I did not want to lose weight....most people see this as an added benefit, i did not. So we upped my calorie intake using a lot of healthy fats, and i have since stabilized and starting to gain slowly. We did this through email since I hadnt had my official telehealth consultation yet, so we just did quick and dirty spoonfuls of coconut oil and extra olive oil. You can also do things like a hamburger patty with chopped onions on top to supplement if you need more calories. She's going to send me recipes for fat bombs. Should be about 70% of your calorie intake as fat. How have you been feeling yourself, are you still doing well post biologix?

I've gone deep down the rabbit hole on nutrition the past few weeks. What I'm realizing is that the studies on proper nutrition are just plain wrong. In the 1950s some cardiologist noticed that his patients with high LDL cholesterol had a lot of heart issues. So the theory quickly became high saturated fat/animal protein -> high LDL -> cardiovascular disease. So we were pushed into cutting saturated fat and upping the intake of grains and vegetable oils to make up for the calories, even though study after study continues to show that there is a negative correlation between heart disease and increased saturated fat intake. It turns out that dietary saturated fat and cholesterol are not the problem. It is sugar, vegetable oils hydrogenated oils and trans fats. So basically margarine is the killer, but you can have as much butter as you want...its literally the opposite of everything they told us. My buddy is a super smart dude and has been doing paleo for 7y. He told me his LDL was off the charts and he was pre-diabetic, and decided to go paleo. His GP told him that he was throwing gasoline on a fire w/ all that animal meat. His dietary intake of cholesterol and saturated fat probably doubled, and much to his GPs's amazement what do you think happened to his LDL....dropped like a stone.

Post Edited (dcd2103) : 11/18/2020 4:13:05 PM (GMT-7)

The Dude Abides said...
FYI: I posted some links about Mary Ruddick in the following thread:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=4223296

Oh I missed that dude, thank you for pointing it out I will check out those you tube videos!

One odd thing about "Captain Soup" is their web page mentions nothing about Gluten free or not that I could find. Thats kind of a bog deal for some chronic illness patients.

Thanks dude, ......I must need new glasses.haha

running wild said...
dcd - It makes sense about the change causing headaches. Body adapting with Lyme included makes it tough.

There are so many things I COULD to if it weren't for the kidneys issue, such as hamburger, avocado, too many nuts, etc... I believe it is what keeps me from getting better or limits options too much. Also, I did not know about the saturated fat not being a problem. Right now I am trying to raise all on lipid panel,. except LDL. Rest are too low.

And I remember weight loss being a problem for you. Just know I'm pulling for your continued improvement.

If your lipid panel is low, increasing sat fat would be great for you. Egg yolks, ghee, coconut oil/milk, duck fat, bone marrow...

Maybe try working w Mary, RunningWild? She is a brilliant nutritionist, if anyone can guide you it’s her.

Just made her “weight gain smoothie”, delish and healthy. Tomorrow might try making her keto ice cream.

Hey sdarrah,

I did make some minor improvements initially, and felt I was on the road to healing myself, but unfortunately it didn’t last.

I went deep down the rabbit hole on healthy eating, positive thinking, meditation all that stuff. Thing is you feel better initially and start to believe you’re on the right path and making a lasting diffence, but eventually the honeymoon phase ends and it’s back to reality.

I believe there are certain inflammatory conditions where healthy lifestyle may be enough to swing the pendulum towards good health, but not what I have.

This whole experience kind of pushed me back in the other direction towards evidence-based western medicine.

As for Mary Ruddick, she’s a charlatan. Very charismatic and tells a good story, but eventually the more you listen to her you start to realize she’s just making stuff up. I’m embarrassed to say I fell for her charade, but when you have someone that confidently promise you everything will turn around very quickly if you do X or Y, you WANT believe it.

How are you doing?

Post Edited (dcd2103) : 5/13/2023 3:49:27 AM (GMT-8)

Never Give Up Sdarrah

its hard work at times - especially when you get knocked down by the onslaught of new symptoms and challenges - but we are more resilient than we know.

things can always change and there is always hope

hang in there !

when things get tough - it can help to not think too far ahead

just deal with today - and take one day at a time.

do what you can to get through the day - and perhaps some small thing you can to make your lot just a little better.

then deal with tomorrow as it comes