Hi everyone! I'm so sorry that I took FOREVER to update you all on this. I was so overwhelmed by this naturopath's regimen that I put my whole life on hold just to do it. I even quit my job (I would have eventually anyway because I was degrading so quickly.) I got a bunch of emails all at once with all of your replies to this, reminding me that I brought this up at this forum. I'm happy to update you now!
The doctor I went to is much more established and recognized than I realized. He has a lot of research published, mostly on how nutrition affects the brain. He has PhDs in naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, chiropractic care, and psychology. He has his own clinic, which is where I went, and he also evaluates and approves graduates at two acupuncture schools. If I could give his name, you could get a lot of info on him on Google. I did not do that before I saw him! So that being his background, what he's having me do might make more sense.
When I first saw him, he asked me not to tell him ANYTHING about me. He didn't read my intake form before he saw me. He needed to see for himself what was going on in my body without being influenced by what I thought I had going on. He looked into my eyes with a lens, read into my pulse, and dug around in my stomach with his hands. Through all these methods he was able to tell me some things I already knew, but more importantly things I didn't know: 1. I was beyond fatigued - I had nothing left to run on except adrenaline (and my adrenal glands were severely over worked,) 2. Several of my organs were not working very well (I think he said they were functioning at about 30%,) 3. I had a very irritable bowel and was not digesting food or water very well, and 4. My blood pressure was dangerously low (he said low pressure can be more deadly than high blood pressure.) He could tell I had food allergies and heart issues. So then he asked me what I came in for! I explained that I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, arthritis, and chronic fatigue syndrome. He didn't argue with these diagnoses (he read all the charts my hospital sent him,) but certainly did not focus on them. He said my real issues are that I have no real energy to work with, my organs aren't functioning well, and I'm malnourished because I'm not absorbing food and water.
He said lots more too, but to get to how he's treating me...
He's focusing on healing the entire body, because symptoms like fibromyalgia and arthritis (yes, they're symptoms) will go away on their own when the whole body is healed and put back together. He's absolutely right. I saw him 4 months ago for the first time, and I very rarely ever feel fibromyalgia now after sticking very closely to his regimen. I still have a lot of healing left to do - I'm still not well enough to work, but the fibromyalgia went away fairly easily. The arthritis has been significantly reduced, but I still struggle with it in my wrists at times.
He treats mostly through diet, exercise, supplements, and treatments at his clinic. As for diet, he has extensively studied the correlation between blood type and nutrition, so he created a diet for me based on my blood type. My organs are too weak to absorb any sugar or starch, so he factored that in. As a blood type O, I rely on high amounts of protein. So I must eat meat (preferably red meat) 3x a day, drink his protein shakes 2x a day, and eat certain veggies and nuts otherwise. I absolutely cannot have any fruit, sugary veggies, starchy root veggies, or sugary or starchy nuts like cashews. Now, as for the meat, it is critical that it's only grass fed, pasture raised for several reasons (everything from I'm allergic to the grains "conventional" cows eat to the fact that "conventional" meat is much more acidic than grass fed.) The greatest reason I have to exercise is because all that meat becomes toxic if I don't burn it off. He wants me doing 45 minutes of cardio a day.... which I still, despite my best efforts, simply can't do... yet (I hope I can someday.) My heart isn't strong enough. I do a lot of strength training on xbox fitness to get my heart rate up without pushing my heart too hard. As for the supplements, he's having me take a ton of his pills a day (including, but not limited to, herbs, organ tissues from animals, anti-inflammatory powdered roots, and minerals.) Also, because I can't absorb water (for years, ever time I've had water it went straight to my bladder within minutes and I've felt chronically dehydrated,) I have to add a mineral powder to everything I drink to make it thick enough for my body to absorb. As for the treatments, both times I've flown out there I've spent about 7 hours per day doing a variety of things at his clinic. Everything from acupuncture, chiropractic care, far infrared sauna, fango clay molds, vitamin IVs, foot baths, and more. Essentially, his treatments make me sweat more than I thought was humanly possible in order to get the toxins out of my body.
I'm getting stronger and better doing these things. My blood pressure is up to a healthier level, my digestion has improved, my muscles work better and are not in pain all the time, inflammation all over my body has gone down significantly, and my brain is turning on a bit more (I'm feeling more creative, whereas before I saw him I couldn't even figure out what words I was trying to say. My memory is still poor and I get confused easily, but I'm forming thoughts much better.)
My energy levels are overall better, but have a long way to go. I'm not feeling the desire to lay in bed all day. I am getting a couple chores done most days without getting exhausted from them. I can, however, overspend myself too easily. When I do that, I normally have to spend the next couple days doing nothing until I recover from spending more energy than I have.
I also know how to make my fibromyalgia come back in full force. He allows me to indulge in 80% organic dark chocolate (no soy, dairy, or anything else added, ONLY chocolate and sugar in it) every once in a while, and I've been reserving this indulgence for when I'm really craving it during the week before my periods start. The first time I indulged, I couldn't stop eating and ate 1/2 the bar. I had the worst sugar rush of my life, I felt really sick and nauseous from it and had a terrible headache. I also got the familiar severe muscle pains of fibromyalgia and they lasted for about a day and a half. The second time I indulged, I had about 1/4 of the chocolate bar. I, again, got very sugar high, but not as sick as the first time. Once again, I got fibromyalgia pains. The third time I indulged, I got fibromyalgia pains. I'm convinced sugar causes fibromyalgia. I know other things cause it too, but I know for sure sugar does.
I'm going to see him for treatments again in 2 weeks. He's been a HUGE help, and I seriously don't think I'd be functioning without his help. I might even go so far as to say he's saving my life.
I'll respond to your posts soon, but for now, this is my story! (I'm sure I'm forgetting details since he found so much going on with me, but oh well.)