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I think I’m going to shorten the title on my daily reports to just include the letter “D” with the number of days it has been.

Can you believe it’s been almost one year! I can’t hardly believe it.

So I have been off nuts since the 1st. It seemed as if my thumbs and hands felt better within 24 hours.

This pain is no fun. It hurts to pull on my pants, pull down my pants, unbutton my jeans, open doors, hold a spatula, milk the goats, carry groceries, pick up a jar, unscrew lids on any size container. It hurts when the dogs jump up and I block them with my hand. My hands ache while at the computer.

The pain extends down my wrists and to my elbows (when carrying something heavy, like a bag of groceries, or my work case which I take home with me).

I did some reading on arthritis and it seems like nuts might be the culprit due to the phytic acid.

I ran across Jen’s RA Journey and have been reading her journey with interest. She has rheumatoid arthritis and is trying an elimination diet which seems to be working pretty well for her.

Today I listened to a podcast over at Naturally Knocked Up (no, I’m not trying to get pregnant!) called The Silent Cause to Poor Health – even Fertility!

It is celiac disease! Like the tests coming back “normal” for low thyroid, folks with celiac disease might have a problem with gluten, but the tests come back normal. It is one of those things you might have to identify on your own, meaning if you feel better off gluten, then stay off of it.

I did also learn in listening to the podcast that Dr. Tom O’Bryan has a solution called Zinc Tally which will help you figure out if you are low in zinc. Apparently if the solution tastes like water, you are low in zinc. When it begins to taste horrible as if it has gone rotten, then you are at good levels of zinc in your body.

Also, in this podcast, Dr. Tom O’Bryan shared that there is now a SALIVA TEST for gluten sensitivity/intolerance! I am going to get this test done for my son to see if he does have a problem with gluten as I suspect that he does.

If I get a test with proof, it may be easier to persuade my husband that we need to get our son off gluten products. My husband could also have gluten issues as colitis or chron’s disease is one of the diseases.

Dr. Tom said that celiac manifests in different body parts for different people. He shares the story of his godmother whose doctor always noticed that something was high on a test for her liver, and it ends up that she had celiac disease, never treated and it ruined her liver.

The podcast was simply amazing, and very informative. I hope you will listen to it and report back what you think of the information.

I bought this book Mary Bell’s Complete Dehydrator Cookbook, my husband wants us to start stocking up on food. I am also looking to buy this Excalibur 3900 Deluxe Series 9 Tray Food Dehydrator. I can’t just buy any old food from the store to stock up in the event of an emergency since I’m doing GAPS. That is the last thing I would want to do is start eating crap and get sick in the middle of a crisis situation.

Have a great night!

Actually, not a slumber party in the true sense, but it makes me think of a slumber party! I have my conference in the next week. It’s in Arizona, but about 70 miles from where I live, so my company allows me to stay at the hotel instead of having to make that daily commute. Pretty sweet.

This week has been hectic. Our tax people have been in the office all week long and on top of my own job I’ve had all kinds of extra tasks thrown my way. On top of being sick. I didn’t work on Monday, and had a difficult time sleeping Monday night. I could not get to work on time on Tuesday, instead arriving close to 9am. I worked until 5pm, which due to heavy traffic I didn’t get home until 7pm. And then I didn’t get to sleep until about 10:30, but I had to meet with the lead accountant at 6:30am so I had to get up at 4:30 no matter how tired I still was.

In talking to the lead accountant on how to solve my problem, I had to place a call to yet another professional, our consultant for our accounting program. She was able to give us an answer in less than thirty seconds, when the lead accountant and I had been pouring over solutions for at least half an hour. She’s good.

She called back and left me a message asking how things went, and also she said she’d see me next week because she’s going to the conference this year.

I called her back, and we talked a bit about the hotel room and prices, and I told her I was staying at a suites hotel for the full kitchen. She said she had managed to get a refrigerator and microwave in her room, and before I knew it I had invited to her to stay with me at my suites hotel! See when she was in town to help us with our accounting program about eighteen months ago, I knew she was eating gluten free. So I guess somewhere along the way my brain remembered that, and thought it would be fun to bunk up with another limited foodie. She mentioned that she does have celiac disease, and I told her I don’t eat anything with gluten. Of course being that I’m on GAPS, my diet is limited quite a bit from what she can eat, and I don’t think she does organic either.

So. I never went to college, never roomed with another woman, have never shared a hotel room with anyone other than my husband or sons.

I find myself wondering how this is going to work out. We talked briefly about the foods we do eat, and I told her I’d be bringing some kind of almond flour [affiliate link] baked good.

I guess there is a part of me that wants to have everything nailed down. I never knew myself to be so regimented. But what I mean is, for example… are we going to plan our meals together? LOL. Do we just take turns cooking? We agreed to go grocery shopping the first night so we’ll have food for a couple of days, and she said she’ll buy the food.

I guess what I need to do is stick with my original plan, which is to make a menu plan and buy what I need to make it through the days I’m going to be there.

I was kind of giddy with excitement today. It does seem like we’re having a slumber party! I was thinking about making the cashew ice cream and bringing that along, and I’ll make sure to bring my Magic Bullet [affiliate link]. I can bring my Donvier ice cream maker to make the ice cream.

I was also thinking that anything I do  make, I need to be extremely careful to not contaminate with gluten of any kind. Like I need to check the ingredients in my homemade vanilla [affiliate link] (well, check to see what the alcohol is made from, don’t want to use alcohol derived from wheat!!!)

I also must find time to report on my last hotel stay with the full kitchen. That was such a great experience.

And I’m tired tonight, so I should get to bed.

Is anybody out there? Are you doing GAPS? Just thinking about it?

I should go to bed. I had planned to take  a detox bath tonight, but now it’s too late.

Today was day four of my cold. I felt better today. I didn’t feel like taking a nap. I think that’s because I stayed in bed from 9pm until 7:30am. It wasn’t easy to do, but my back let me do it.

And… our big dog crawled into bed with me and my husband so we were kind of squished.

Yesterday my asthma was affected by this cold, but only a little bit. I was just wheezing a little bit and I used my Albuterol either four or five times during the day. That’s pretty good!

But now I’m worried because my oldest son has this cold, and no telling how it will affect him. He is off his medication, too, but he isn’t doing GAPS. I wish he were, because then I would worry less. It is just stressful when he is sick because he doesn’t understand how important it is to eat raw garlic, take extra Vitamin C, and above all he hates taking a shower let alone a detox bath! I have taken no less than ten detox baths in the last few days.

I am planning to go work tomorrow, but I didn’t work today. I called in sick. I was sick. I always feel guilty about being sick because I am always so far behind on my work. I don’t know how I will ever get caught up. It’s not all my fault. I keep getting things put on me. I keep thinking, okay now I can catch up this week. But no, it’s time for this thing we have to do every year at this time.

I am sure glad that brain fog is no longer plaguing me. That at least is helpful in that I can think straight and don’t feel like I’m constantly distracted. I just need to be more organized.

Well, it’s almost 7pm. I have to get up at 3:30 to milk. My sweet husband milked this morning. I really appreciate that he did that for me. He really hates to milk. I better get to bed.

I’m so glad I’m doing better. My throat has stopped hurting. I feel as if my allergies are just acting up. I am feeling a lot better.

Well, I better run now. ‘Night.

I woke up this morning with an odd feeling sore throat. It hurts at the top of my mouth, behind my uvula. Against the recommendation of one of my friends, I have been taking the Vitamin C powder supplement and I have been working up the amount I take each day.

I started out taking 1000mg (1/4 teaspoon) morning and night on the first day. The next day I took 1/2 teaspoon morning and night. The next day I took 1 teaspoon in the morning and 1/2 teaspoon at night. Then it was a work day and I stayed at that dose for the days I work. Yesterday I was at 1 teaspoon morning and night. This morning I woke up with a sore throat and decided to take 2 teaspoons in the morning and one in the evening.

I drink the Vitamin C in plain water and it is very sour. So sour in fact that it tastes like bile. I’m a little worried about my teeth being exposed to this strong acid. One teaspoon in 2 cups of water is pretty sour, and that’s what I had before I went to bed last night.

When I woke up with the sore throat, the first thing I thought about was that maybe some of the tiny grains of Vitamin C got up behind my uvula and burned it during the night. But number one, wouldn’t it burn while it was sitting there? I told my husband I had a sore throat and he said his throat was a little scratchy, too. Then later in the day I told him I was feeling awful and had been in bed for some of the day and he said his throat hadn’t bothered him since morning.

After he left I tried to go back to sleep but I soon realized I was hungry so I got up because I knew there was leftover chicken soup in the fridge. Only my husband had already bagged the broth and put it into the freezer. Just before he left, in fact. I rescued one of the bags and put a couple of cups into a pan to heat up. I then sauteed 1/3 of a head of cabbage until it was done and added it to the hot broth with a fresh minced clove of garlic.

I gargled with warm salt water with a bit of raw apple cider vinegar and ouch, it burned!! I took more of the Vitamin C, I decided since I was feeling sick to up it to 2 teaspoons. Man, did that ever burn the back of my throat!

I ended up taking one tablespoon of cod liver oil and echinachea a bit later in the day. I was trying to do everything I know to not get really sick. At least so far it hasn’t affected my breathing, that’s always something I fear. Especially now that I’m off my asthma medication, I am not sure what will happen when I get sick. Will the asthma kick up again? Will I end up having to go back on medication? I sure hope not.

One of my favorite comfort foods when I’m sick is buttered egg noodles. Sigh. I sure do miss them sometimes. 🙁  Even better, I used to have warm milk with butter and egg noodles. Oh boy. So yummy and comforting. But not anymore.

I also took a detox bath today, hoping that would help.

I don’t feel too horrible physically, although my sinuses do seem to be affected in that they are clogged and it’s hard to breathe through my nose.

So… to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time I’ve been sick with a something like a cold on GAPS. My husband said maybe I’m having die off.

I don’t know. I just know my throat hurts. Oh, and I ordered a big bag of gelatin [affiliate link] capsules and a capsule filler “machine”. I ordered the OO capsules, and apparently it takes FIVE of them to hold one teaspoon. Sheesh. That’s means I’ll be taking like a dozen of them filled with Vitamin C. I just can’t continue to drink that stuff. The adrenal fatigue book says you can’t just abruptly stop taking Vitamin C, you have to taper down, just like you taper up.

I took 8000mg this morning… no problems with bowel tolerance at that amount. Gosh, how much will I need to take? I took another 4000mg tonight. It burned my throat going down again.

It sure is weird how colds are different. I guess this bacteria affects the uvula. I am gargling with strong salt water often. I hope no one else gets this. I hate getting sick. Oh, and I think I’m beginning to have hot flashes again. They are very mild so far.

My thumbs continue to feel okay. Actually today they were bothering me a bit more than they have been. I’m still taking the glucosamine chondrotin. I’ve ordered a new kind from our food coop. And I’m getting some organic cashews from coop this month. Three pounds for $19.44. I’m looking forward to trying this… hmmm… I thought I ran across a recipe for hot cashew milk as a substitute for cocoa. I really love having something warm and creamy in the morning.

And that’s all I have to report today. I need to get myself to bed. The Lights Out book says we should be sleeping 9 1/2 hours a night. I can’t do that. There is just no way because I work. I could try real hard to do it on the weekends though. I don’t know if I can manage it. I don’t seem to be able to sleep much longer than 8 hours, even though my back now allows me to sleep much longer.

‘Night.