paging dr. house

i haven't logged a medical update since mid-april when i attempted an elimination diet (and failed when i fell off the wagon). i thought i ought to on the off-chance a fellow runner/eczema sufferer out there is looking for answers. unfortunately i don't have any, so hopefully you're just looking for someone to commiserate with. not a lot has changed, i'm still on the cyclosporine, and i got slack at chasing down doctors to figure out what's wrong these past few months. [note: a month of cyclo at walmart was $255 with my insurance "benefit". after a few emails with gracie, i found a local pharmacy that has it for $55/month. sold.]

on friday i had a follow-up at the dermatologist. re-raised the question of "why don't i sweat like i used to". originally he thought the sweat canals (i'm sure that's the legit term) were clogged or inflamed from the eczema and that maybe the cyclo would help bring those back to normal. unfortunately i still haven't sweat normally while on the cyclo, and i think it's safe to say it's hot enough to where i should be sweating! he said he'd do some researching.

i'm starting to wean off the cyclo. i'm coming up on six-months and "they" say you shouldn't be on it too long because you could cause long-term damage to your kidneys. the doc is leaning towards going on a different immunosuppressant (one that causes long-term damage to your liver, you know, to give the kidneys a break) and i asked him why can't we do some exploring to find out what is causing the problem. i don't want to continue to treat the symptom; i need to figure out the root of the problem.

now if i could just find a doctor someone willing to go all dr. house on me...

ps: if you make the egg cupcakes, be sure to use cupcake liners. or an entire can of crisco. i soaked the pan for 5 days and still had to scrub and scrape to get the egg remnants off.

pps: though i haven't been doing my normal level of running for a year, i'm still just as hard-headed as ever. i strained my back on the 4th and have been easing back into running/bootcamp since. monday's workout involved deadlifts, 65lbs, and i forgot i shouldn't be doing that just yet. setback another week, boo.

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you are eliminated

typical breakfast

a few days ago i mentioned that i'm doing an elimination diet (/experiment) and many of you expressed an interest in hearing more about it.

so what is an elimination diet? basically you limit your diet to "safe" foods (ones you know you're not allergic or intolerant to) for a minimum of two weeks, or as long as it takes for your symptoms to subside. then you test one food - eating a little of it for breakfast, lunch and dinner on one day only. the next two days you go back to your limited diet before repeating the cycle with another test food. even if you did not have any problems or symptoms with a test food, you still have to keep it out of your diet throughout the challenge phase. it is important to keep a detailed journal each day regarding what you ate, how you felt, any symptoms you noticed, etc.

"they" say elimination diets can be helpful for autoimmune conditions, ibs, arthritis, skin rashes, and migraines, among other conditions.

disclaimer: i should mention that i did not consult a medical professional before beginning the "diet" (i don't really want to refer to it as a diet because i am not doing it with the intent of losing weight). i am also not certified at, well, anything. i googled it and sort of came up with my own procedure for doing it as there aren't any direct instructions on how to do an elimination diet. i'm sure i could have researched a few books and read up on it more, but i figured it's not rocket science.

with that said... here's how my elimination diet has been going:

my safe foods: rice (mostly brown), vegetables (no beans, tomatoes, potatoes), fruits (no citrus)

i've been eating these foods for over three weeks (with the exception of challenge days). rice or coconut milk is also allowed. so far, i've tested tomatoes, dairy and wheat/gluten. tomatoes tested ok, dairy failed (i'm heartbroken), and wheat/gluten i just tested yesterday so i still have to wait it out. i love dairy (cheese!) so i might re-test it again later, just to be sure of course.

lunch or dinner - rice, squash, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower

snack - salted plantains

another lunch - asparagus stir fry, kiwi, rice

i've felt pretty good on the limited diet. though i imagine eating so many wholesome foods and drinking more water (can't have juice unless you jiy) will do that regardless. i realized how few greens/veggies i was eating prior to the diet; i had been in denial. i do want to add in quinoa in place of rice everyday, but i keep forgetting to buy some. obviously the cyclosporine is covering up my symptoms a good bit, but i was itchy on the day i ate dairy which leads me to think dairy failed.

the amazing mac and cheese i got to eat on dairy test day (rice noodles)

breakfast - banana/strawberry smoothie with rice milk

lunch or dinner - veggie soup
(organic veg broth, carrots, rice, collards, broccoli, etc)

the 'diet' and food challenges are far from over; i'll be doing this for a few more weeks as i continue to test and try to find foods my body doesn't agree with. it's a lot more inconvenient to eat such a restricted and clean diet, but i feel good in general from eating so clean.

elimination diets aren't for everyone, but i do think they could help some people and some symptoms because i believe that a number of health issues stem from all the crap that is in our food today. i hope i will find some results from this experiment without too much interference from the cyclosporine.

if you have any questions, leave them below and i will be happy to answer them!

just an fyi, some of the links i read about elimination diets:
the elimination and detoxification diet
whole life nutrition: elimination diet
elimination diet to detect and relieve hidden food allergies and to reduce stress on the immune system
allergy avoidance diet

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good and bad

as i mentioned in my last post, i'm medicated.

the biopsy that the dermatologist took confirmed that i do have eczema (atopic dermatitis), which is good in that it's not anything life-threatening, but bad in that eczema cannot be cured. i've been told my whole life that i have it, but this dermatologist was the first to suggest a biopsy. i've spent thousands of dollars over the past few years at various doctors trying to find something that is triggering the eczema with no luck so far. typically, most people find that eczema is triggered by an allergy to something - food, detergent, pollens, etc. while i do have a number of allergies, avoiding them has not made a difference. i am still currently thinking that i could have something else going wrong internally (hormone levels, adrenal function) and because something is out of whack, it is irritating my skin.

horse pills

the dermatologist said i was a severe case (go figure) and recommended i go on cyclosporine. the good news is, it's working. things aren't perfect, but they are noticeably better. prior to starting the medicine, i was never comfortable, i was always itchy, and i was usually in pain (from the itching mostly). i couldn't concentrate at work, i haven't slept through the night in over two years, and i was very irritable.   i spent the weekends sitting on the couch because i was so uncomfortable. now, my skin is almost totally clear, the itching has subsided (but isn't fully gone), and i'm a more productive employee. i'm still not quite sleeping great yet, and josh would quickly admit that i am still irritable, but at least i'm comfortable. 

the bad news is, it's working. cyclosporine is an immunosuppressant. obviously, suppressing your immune system is not exactly a good thing. it was originally used in kidney transplant patients so that their body wouldn't reject the new organ, but has been adapted for use in other conditions such as eczema. unfortunately, it's not going to solve the problem - it will only provide temporary relief while i am on the drug, and i can only be on it for 6 months to a year. any longer than that will lead to very bad long-term side effects like liver failure. cyclosporine can affect your electrolytes and triglycerides, so i have to go in every two weeks for blood testing to make sure my levels are still normal. 

while i'm glad it's working, i can barely stomach the expense. one month of medicine costs $254. let's hope i don't have to be on it very long! part of this is because i am on the hsa plan which (i thought) doesn't include prescription coverage. i tried using a 75%-off any prescription coupon (found online) but the walmart employee told me that my insurance discount was greater than the coupon (making the starting price of this medicine $1000?!?!?). i tried to explain that my plan does not have prescription coverage and then remembered i was talking to a walmart employee, so i just gave up. (i am hoping my pharm friend gracie can help explain??) i had this filled at walmart because i figured it'd be cheaper there than other pharmacies, but i may call around to the walgreen's and cvs's to see if they'll tell me how much it would cost me there.

so, no real progress has been made just yet, but i am comfortable and hopefully can find a doctor who will do some more tests soon. in the meantime, at least i can workout a little - when the soreness from tuesday's run goes away.

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february 2012

miles run: 0.0

miles walked: 0.0

other workouts: do potato chip arm curls count?

days off: 29

netflix obsessions: toddlers and tiaras, the secret life of the american teenager

netflix fail: the winning season (it was just super cheesy and predictable, but then again aren't all movies predictable?)

artistic/creative outlet: finishing up nicki minaj on ms paint. didn't do well in this realm.


new food i tried: kiwi. alright, i've had it before so it wasn't totally new. but this was the first time i had to pick it out and peel/cut it. produce selection and preparation scares me.

i just wish they yielded more slices!

and yes i had my kiwi with a side of rice

book(s) read:
the brief wondrous life of oscar wao (junot diaz) - i read about 80 pages of this one. i tried, but i just couldn't get into it.

the passage (justin cronin) - checked this one out after a preview by andrea @agegroupsrock. it was interesting, then started getting weird, but i stuck with it. read all 700-800 pages in 3 days.

number of blog visitors: 771 (not sure what attracted you since i posted a whopping 3 times, but i will continue to say thanks for sticking by me!) i will be back in action one day... hopefully sooner rather than later.

number of doctor visits: 11 (includes 2 trips to chiropractor)

i had a thermal scan done of my spine.

the left is normal, the right is my severely not-normal.

i went to the worst-ever rheumatologist who basically told me i don't have arthritis. pretty sure i already knew that, thanks. i was referred to a rheumatologist because they cover auto-immune conditions in addition to arthritis. i would like to see a endocrinologist (still working on that) but it was suggested that a rheumatologist would be more thorough. perhaps some endocrinologists are thorough / actually consider the auto-immune side of their practice, but the particular one i saw was moronic and narrow-mindedly focused on arthritis. i was upset and irritated after that appointment and really wanted to treat myself to something delicious like a milkshake, but i resisted. instead i went shopping at old time pottery and got two wire baskets for the pantry, an hour glass with hot pink sand for my desk, and a ceramic horse head for the living room.

if you are ever needing a rheumatologist in the south carolina area please contact me and i will tell you which one to not go to.

in good-doctor news, i think i've found a worthwhile dermatologist. he claimed he was going to do some outside research / thinking / checking for atypical explanations. i had to fight to keep my jaw up off the floor. a doctor who isn't narrow-minded to their specialty? who realizes that the body has many functions that all interact and one thing could be causing another? i've been keeping a timeline/list of everything that has happened to me health-wise since 2004-ish and giving a copy to every doctor i see. he was the first one who actually read it (well, that i know of, but based on interactions with all the others i'm positive they didn't bother to read over it). he has renewed my hope that i might, in fact, get better one day.

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walk this way

my grand return to running experienced a quick hiccup. after two successful (exhilarating) 1/2-mile runs, i missed the next 3 scheduled runs and 1 walk due to my skin acting up (even) more.

saturday though, was an amazing day. i had no pain, no irritations, and could actually move normally (instead of like a stiff robot) so i took advantage of finally having a good day by going for a walk with kathrin.

a 2.5 hour, 8.5 mile walk.

it was a gorgeous, sunny day in the low 60's. i am thankful this winter has been so mild. i could feel some areas starting to ache - feet, left shin, hip flexors - about an hour and a half into the walk, but that was to be expected. afterall, i probably haven't done 8 miles in a month (let alone a day) since october. pretty pathetic.

even more pathetic? my sore back on sunday.

unfortunately my skin (/whatever the underlying issue is that is causing my skin to be pissed off) went right back to the business of irritation and discomfort on sunday. not fun.

a quick(-ish) review of what's going on: for the past 4 years, my skin had been progressively getting worse. i went to an allergist, 2 dermatologists, my general practitioner -- all with no luck of finding the cause or a solution. i'm currently seeing a different allergist (better 'bedside manner', willing to think outside the box) and a nutritional response doctor. recently, i started to think that it's not my skin that is the problem and there is something going wrong internally and the symptom of it is coming out through my skin. i am hoping to see an endocrinologist soon (waiting on a referral) and am also getting on a long waiting list to see an immuno-dermatologist (she is booked for six-months).

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m&m's: missing in action

many of you have left comments regarding m&m's and their status in my life.

m&m's given to me the week of my bday (september)

(for those of you who don't know, and i'm not sure how you could have missed the boat, i have had? a slight addiction to m&m's. they even have their own category here on the blog.)

so where has all the m&m talk gone?

back in sept, i started seeing a nutritional response doctor for the various skin/health issues going on, and she didn't waste anytime cleaning up my diet. for two weeks, i did not eat wheat/gluten, corn, eggs, sugar, or american cheese. after two weeks, i was allowed to slowly start working things back in my diet except for eggs and sugar (i can have agave and honey though).

yes, you read that correctly. i haven't had sugar since 9/14/11 (58 days!)

so no, i did not hoard the halloween candy. it's worked out though, keeping me from blimping up while i'm not running, and i haven't had bad cravings (surprisingly). at my initial visit, doc said typically people go 3 months without sugar to let their body cleanse itself (or something like that). i immediately calculated this out to just before christmas, and she laughed when i said it was manageable because i would still get to have christmas cookies. now i am actually thinking/hoping to stay sugar-free. unsweetened applesauce is now delicious and i have to water down juice because it tastes so sweet!

josh found this gluten-free, sugar-free, egg-free cookie recipe and he's made them for me a few times. they're good, obviously not as satisfying as a real chocolate chip cookie, but i still have no problem plowing down the whole batch in a couple days. by myself.

ingredients:
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 cup uncooked quick-cooking gluten-free oats (not quaker)
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup carob chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

note: carob chips look just as delicious as chocolate chips, but have no flavor.

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