Well, these last three weeks have been a little harder than I expected them to be. I’m still functional but I’m experiencing symptoms again. Mostly fatigue but also pain, occasional anxiety attacks and even nausea.
It all coincided with starting Pilates lessons and my current theory is that exercising three times per week has mobilized toxins that were still in my body. I thought I was done detoxing but maybe I was wrong. It seems that I’m contaminating my clothing again.
The symptoms have made it harder to keep up with everything. Even when I’m feeling stressed, I always try to listen to my body and give it what it needs to keep healing. This means that I’ve been sleeping in a lot. I’m also showering more often to try to keep the symptoms down. This week I’ve been showering two or three times per day. Not my favorite thing to do but I’m just so thankful we have such easy access to warm water.
I’m also trying a few things that have helped me in the past: lemon water, vitamin C powder, and epsom salt baths. It’s a little too soon to say but I think they’re helping. Our daily hikes in the hills behind our apartment also seem to help. The air is really clean and refreshing up there.
I’m happy to say that, so far, I’ve been able to keep up with my Pilates lessons and Brett is helping me to keep up with the chores. My symptoms mean we’re vacuuming more frequently and doing more laundry which means I have less energy and more to do.
But hey! This is nothing compared to what I’ve been through in the past. So I’m okay with it if it means my body is continuing to heal and detox. I just hope it doesn’t last too long.
By the way, Brett and I made a beautiful PDF of my favorite resources for suffering souls. I created the content and he made it look fancy with his superduper graphic design skills. It’s available for free to my email subscribers. Click here to sign up and receive 5 Resources for the Suffering Soul.
20 Comments
Aww, that’s no good! I’ll be praying for you! And I’m so thankful that you’ve gotten this far! <3
November 29, 2017 at 4:30 pmThank you so much for the prayers Lizbeth! I really appreciate it.
November 29, 2017 at 9:09 pm😓 I’m praying for you! ❤❤
November 29, 2017 at 6:52 pmThank you so so much Laura! ❤️❤️❤️
November 29, 2017 at 9:09 pm🙁 I’m not happy to hear this, Ana, but I pray and hope that it is detox and you’ll have the needed insights that you need. When I think of the pilates and the walk up behind your apartment complex I am really amazed with how much you are accomplishing! Laundry and showering, laundry and showering…it really is a lot! I know. 🙂 Well, my friend…praying for you to very
November 29, 2017 at 7:12 pmsoon have a break through and see some positive from detox.
Aww… Thank you so much Nanette! I know you understand how much work it is. You’re right that even with these struggles my recovery is quite impressive. Thank you for praying! I’m praying for you and Petra. 💕
November 29, 2017 at 9:10 pmWell this detox again is no fun, Ana!! It sounds like showers, showers, and more showers!!! But It also sounds like you’re on the right track with the things you’re doing like lemon water etc. And it’s still exciting to see the Pilates working and the hiking sounds wonderful. Our weather here in Michigan has been very strange of late, with warm then cold, then warm and cold again etc. Seasonal changes and barometric pressure changes affect me poorly so maybe your body is sensitive to that as well. I pray the Lord keeps leading and guiding your recovery, as I’m sure you’re looking forward to a Christmas feeling better than you have for a long time. Give Ramona a hug from us!!!
November 29, 2017 at 9:42 pmThank you so much Chris! I really appreciate the prayers. Perhaps you’re right that the weather changes are part of it. I’m sorry it affects you too. I hope it doesn’t last too long. 💕
December 1, 2017 at 4:11 pmThis is such a cute picture of you, Ana 😀 I’m glad you are getting to take some hikes. It’s great that you have a place you can walk without issues. Have you noticed it getting any colder there? I’m really thankful you have a place to stay this winter. Praying it continues to work for you
November 30, 2017 at 1:42 amThanks Ruth! I’m wearing a new hoodie Brett got for me. 😊 Yes, it’s definitely gotten colder but it’s up and down. We’ve had several surprisingly warm days.
December 1, 2017 at 4:15 pmSad to hear that, Ana! I was wondering-have you considered seeing a doctor familiar with the Shoemaker protocol? It might help address deep seated mold and help you heal faster. 🙂
November 30, 2017 at 8:30 amWe recently discovered that mold caused night paralysis in my sister. (5/6 of my family have chronic Lyme and co.) We live in MN but we’ve been camping in AZ for a month to try and help her. Today we’re flying back since a friend offered the use of their safe house.
Our Lyme doctor is following Dr. Richard Shoemaker’s protocol. He has done boatloads of research on mold and Lyme. Apparently mold can colonize in soft tissue like your nose (or something like that.) We’re starting a nasal spray to help with that, trying to live in clean air, and doing LOTS of detox. (Charcoal, chorella, clay, herbs like watercress, binding agents.)
Anyway, I thought I wouldn’t mention it in case it’s something you’d like to consider. I know how irritating it is for people to try and diagnose you online though so no pressure and feel free to ignore this. 🙂
Hey Bethany,
Do you know what nasal spray your doctor recommends? That sounds really interesting.
December 1, 2017 at 1:59 pmActually, not off the top of my head. 😕 We’re supposed to get it soon. It was being shipped to AZ, and now we’re back in MN, so we don’t know when. I’ll try and remember to let you know when we do have it!
December 2, 2017 at 8:50 amYes-your progress has been SO amazing, Ana! 😄 I’m glad you’ve heard of him before. 😉
It’s called BEG spray. I’m using it too — it’s for a bacterial (I think) colonization called MARCONS. It must be mentioned on Dr. Shoemaker’s website survivingmold.com.
December 2, 2017 at 12:06 pmThanks for sharing this Bethany. I have seen a Shoemaker doctor but I never followed through because I was making so much progress with just camping and avoiding mold. If it continues to get worse I would definitely consider seeing a doctor again to at least get some binders. I pray your sister and your entire family will find complete healing soon.
December 1, 2017 at 4:18 pmAna,
December 1, 2017 at 1:57 pmSo sorry you are experiencing more detoxing. I hope it’s just a short bump in the road. Love you!
Thanks Kimi! That’s my hope too. 💕
December 1, 2017 at 4:18 pmDear Ana,
December 12, 2017 at 7:47 amI’ve been praying for you. I hope that you are continuing to just get better each day. We are about a year ahead of you on this journey and everything that has happened healthwise for you is very similar to what has happened for my 16 year old daughter. She was doing hugely better in our mold avoidance lifestyle and starting to do increasingly more physical activities of hiking and exercising too when she started experiencing nausea, increased joint pain, increased and intense anxiety/irrationalness, and sudden inability to hold up her body, etc. Suddenly we were at crisis point again and confused because we had been out of mold for 9 months and she’d been doing amazingly better going from bedridden to hiking at elevation. For those 9 months we had been detoxing with clay, chlorella, daily epsom salt baths, supplements, etc. The amazing doctor who has put her back together since we reached crisis point again after 9 months mold free has worked on rebuilding her body intensely as in addition to the mold and Lyme stealing her body’s nutrients everything we were doing to detox even so carefully away from mealtime was also stealing her nutrients. When she started doing more activity she didn’t have enough remaining to support everything. So the last 6 months have been spent intensely rebuilding her body and organs with high quality supplements (half of the brands we were using prior that we thought were quality actually were either making us more toxic because they were made using mold or were just actually poor quality). In addition to rebuilding, the doctor has also worked on flushing out the liver and other organs that were hugely overburdened by the detoxing which was creating an increase in inflammation in her whole body. And through this process she is very gently killing mold/etc but the rebuild process has shown to be hugely important. Symptoms that we thought were just from mold and Lyme go away for her with the proper nutrients. Anxiety-extremely high levels of folate and the necessary cofactors, Nausea-milk thistle among others for cleaning up the liver/etc much more intensely to include the doctor flushing it regularly, Muscle weakness-magnesium for muscle weakness and a whole host of other things it effects. Sensory overstimulation-trace minerals and essential fatty acids. There are many other nutrients necessary in this rebuild but those are just the main points to consider. If you aren’t able to find a local doctor with knowledge of nutrients and rebuilding I am happy to send you the contact information for ours in AZ. She does do phone consultations with patients or other doctors on a regular basis. Will keep praying for your health and for peace and joy at the Harris home 🙂
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your daughter’s story Heather. I really appreciate that. It’s really reassuring to know that I’m not the only one who has been through this. That’s so interesting that her symptoms were a result of nutritional deficiencies. I will definitely keep that in mind. I’m so glad she’s doing so much better now. This is such a complicated and mysterious illness sometimes. 💕
December 13, 2017 at 1:58 pmIt sure is! 🙂
December 14, 2017 at 8:57 am