By: Joni Cox from Homegrown Health
Two years ago, if you would have told me I may have a brain tumor, I would have likely believed you. The pain from the frequent migraines was so intense, that I would often have no choice but to surrender to them, hoping that my head wouldn’t explode. I usually have a high pain tolerance and could work through any migraine, as long as it was only on one side of my head. But when both sides were affected and throbbing, my ability to cope, resist or do anything other than sob, was completely gone. ?Why is this happening to me?? was the only question I could ask during the ?off? times.
According to all the voices in natural health, I was doing everything I should be and then some. And the ‘then some? was down-right sacrificial, brutal and even gross at times. I would ingest nearly anything considered ?healthy and good for you? no matter how gross it sounded or how much it made me gag. I insisted on doing whatever it took to get my health back. After all, a homeschooling mother of four children with a demanding part-time job didn’t have time to get sick or be incapacitated with pesky, painful, persistent migraines.
I hit an all-time low when episodes of vertigo began plaguing me for up to six hours at a time. I couldn’t walk. I had to crawl. I feared seizures were next because of my symptoms. The cold hands, feet and tip of my nose were so bone-chilling that I had to get into a bath no cooler than 110-115 degrees! Little did I know, what I really needed was 180degrees?.health, that is. ;)
I began praying and seeking for what my body truly needed. Spiritual guidance was where my health journey began and I felt I had no other choice but to turn to an intuitive place to get the answers my body needed. Within a couple of weeks, Matt Stone articles, blog posts and people raving about him began to pop up everywhere in my life. I had previously snubbed the opportunity to meet him and hear him speak at a friend’s invite because ‘that crazy guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about! Funny how that works, isn’t it? When I couldn’t ignore the Matt-Stone-awesomeness any longer and bright flashing ?lights? seemed to ?light up the sky like a flame? (name that tune), I finally broke down and contacted him.
After a series of brain-melts and fetal positions from all the nutritional dogma Matt was able to dispel, for example,
?all carbs are the devil,” I decided to try his approach. It seemed way too easy to be true and all my friends thought I had lost it for sure. But what I did find was an unlikely solution to my most challenging and painful health issue.
After eating little to no carbs for almost a year (and very restricted years prior), I added dry foods, like pancakes and oatmeal for breakfast, instead of the ?usual? 20-30 oz raw milk, 2 raw egg yolks, cocoa, stevia milkshake I had been drinking for breakfast for nearly three years. I was also drinking three to four quarts of water daily to keep hydrated, along with several ounces of kombucha, herbal teas or coffee. Being as on’the-go as I was, I didn’t make time to eat food, I just drank it instead! Who needs to chew, anyway, right?!
I began to learn, by symptoms, to pay attention to the warning signs my body was giving that indicated I was in serious metabolic trouble. The clear urine and frequent urination (every half hour for several hours) were key signs that my body was diluted?and here I thought I was turning into one of those ?female incontinence? types who would be in Depends by the time I 
was 40! I really ramped up on those kegel exercises only to find out there was something else causing my urgent and sudden potty dances to the bathroom. Little did I know, I was ingesting too many fluids, flushing my electrolytes and causing the very problems I was trying to fix! Learning the importance of balance with salt, sugar, and fluids has been an amazing help to me.
Body temperatures were always low. I was very sick if my temperature ever reached 99.0. In my early 20s, 97.0-97.5 was my norm. I even thought it was cute I worked for an FM radio station that was also 97.5. My doctor never acted concerned over my low body temps or low blood pressure. He was, however, concerned with the 10 extra pounds I was carrying (thank you, birth control).
As I metabolically got worse and became more hormonally imbalanced, I began taking my temps again, realizing they were 95.8-96.1. At one point, I recall wondering when people die from a low body temperature when mine reached an all-time low of 94.8! I knew my thyroid was sluggish and I was also dealing with adrenal issues. Little do most people know, these symptoms are all related and it really does matter whether or not your body temp is 98.6.
Finding out I spent several years being completely counter-productive was hard for me to swallow but I’m thankful I found out when I did. For some reason, there seems to be a group of us that the miracle diets don’t work for. Like those on the ?island of misfit toys,? all fruit, no-carbs, paleo-only, low-fat, high-protein or any other fad diet of the decade, doesn’t work with our bodies and we end up ‘the rejects? among our peers, for whom these fad diets did give results. It’s still a mystery to me why some of the things I tried didn’t work. I still don’t have all the answers.
What I’ve gained from not having migraines and vertigo is priceless. I have a higher quality of life without the guilt over carb consumption. Currently, I’m eating lower on the food chain and more plant-based than in the past, but I definitely get my carbs in. I have lost 37 pounds’something I wasn’t able to accomplish in years while working out and eating organic (which I still do). My menstrual cycles are greatly improving and PMS is all but gone. It took two days for my migraines and vertigo to go away after talking with Matt?roughly a year ago?and making minor changes to my diet. My cold hands and feet also went away within days. Good riddance to both! I don’t miss them at all.
I have also gained a keener sense of what is going on with my body and have learned how I can eat to prevent and intercept symptoms early, before a headache or illness occur. ?Mom! My pee is looking clear! is not an uncommon shout-out in my household since I’ve taught my children how to pay attention to their bodies. Simple steps, a few changes in fluid consumption and what types of food I eat and when – making sure I’m “eating for heat” that is,?are all practical changes I’ve made to my diet and it has made a world of difference. Getting really in-tune with my body again has helped me in so many ways. Learning to trust the signals that are being given and intuitively responding goes far beyond food. If you let it, it can help change your life.
Pancakes to the rescue!!
Hi Kate,
I found about your website recently due to a comment you made on Matt’s Facebook page. I really liked the article you posted on FB about Marilyn Monroes eating style. I noticed you seem to be “Peat” inspired but not as restrictive as Peat. Is that a fair assesment?
Fair assessment indeed. Peat + pancakes. :)
First!
And now that I am not living with constant migraines (thank you Matt!) I can be on the ball to be first. Hurray!
Ouch, Kate’s got caught up in moderation. But she won. With pancakes.
That’s okay. Pancakes win. The “ouch” was life with constant migraines.
I never quite fell for the “drink a ton of water” hype, but I’m sure that I would have had the same problems. Instead I just had the weight gain and freezing hands and feet, and low body temp. I also have memories if looking at the thermometer and then googling “hypothermia”to see what the base temperature was! (I think mine was around 95.5). I am so grateful for the surprise pregnancy with my first that forced me to stop dieting and obsessing over weight. After she was born I had started researching enough alternative health stuff that I knew better than to fall into my old habits :) now I’m trying to get my twin sister to read eat for heat.she is at the point I was 4 years ago.
Thanks for the post. I love that you’re teaching your children to listen to their bodies! I am currently working on raising my temps, but hadn’t gotten around to teaching my kids what I’ve learned. We may have some bathroom lessons in our future…
What’s really funny is that Joni’s kids actually bust her when she tries to do something stupid. She started drinking some smoothies again and crashing, and her kids told her “Silly mom, you need pancakes for breakfast!” Or something like that. Hopefully Joni will tell the story.
I have a friend that does the same for me. It’s helpful to have a people around that never picked up the mental baggage about food and to watch how they respond. Also, helpful to be able see other people make radical health/nutrition decisions and to scratch their reasons for doing so. It’s never, “my body really has been craving a meat and vegetables three times a day every day, so I’m eating a low-carb diet” and always something like “I don’t think I’m attractive and want to lost weight” or “If I don’t control my situation I’ll get sicker and feel worse”.
After years of health and nutrition indoctrination it’s not easy to be in a place of pain and fear and not act on the thoughts that bubble up. It’s funny I still get thoughts that fasting on water could solve all my problems! Oh silly mind, I know you are just trying to help!
You’re right, Matt!! You’re dubbed “Uncle Mattcakey” and since it’s such a fun word-name to say, we use it when we make pancakes. They’ve even called me out and informed me I’m drinking too much and either need pancakes or ice cream. They love saying “well, Matt Stone says it’s good to eat ice cream!” :) Oh dear!!
You’re welcome and I’m grateful to Matt for posting my writing. My children are all “homegrown”, hence part of the reason my radio show on NaturalNewsRadio.com is called Homegrown Health! They were born naturally and at home, breastfed, raised on gardening, home-schooled for most of their lives, etc..so our approach to health had everything to do with symptoms, if and when any occurred. I am still working on getting my temps consistent but can’t begin to tell you how much better I feel overall. I’d like to encourage you to take your children’s temperature. You’ll be surprised. Notice their behavior too, especially in the summer when schools and caregivers push so much water! Matt and I did a show on that last summer. Keep up the great work, Elizabeth!
This is so true, and if i knew then what I know now, I would have seen that my then-1-year-old son’s freezing cold hands, feet and nose, and bluish mouth, and his incessent thirst and constant peeing and horrible digestion were related.
I was anti-white carb then (3 years ago), which no doubt had everything to do with it. Of course, all I could think was Shit, I need to do GAPS, he must need GAPS.
We did do GAPS for the better part of a year, and maybe it did help? But I also ended up so fed up that everything went back on the menu, white rice, potatoes, sugar, all of it, and now, with the exception of some lingering eczema, he’s a toasty, pink, pooping-normally, normal thirst, no tantrum 4-yr-old boy.
Great post and great story! Thank you Joni! Any small tips you found really helped you get the temps and body heat up? Also, did the 37 pounds drop as you drank less water and payed attention to your salt, sugar and fluid intake, or were there other factos in play for the loss? Thanks again for sharing with us!
You’re welcome! Thank you for reading! Yes, eat breakfast, don’t drink it!! Hahaha! I still struggle with this because I’m very, very busy but my children are always there to keep me in check. I make sure they eat and then they say “Mom, you have to too!” It’s more of a cute joke between us than anything but they know when Mom starts getting a little more snarky than usual and the ol stink eye comes out, that I’m likely having low blood sugar and need to eat. ;) I believe that following Matt’s suggestions and insights, as so simply laid out in Eat for Heat, my metabolism began healing enough to actually start working again! I’ve modified a few other things in my diet, like adding more greens and fermented foods, but that all falls within my own goals for health and healing and really eating what my body is craving (as referenced in the article about becoming more intuitive). For me, sweeter things work better in the morning (dates and maple syrup in my oatmeal) and saltier things in the afternoon and towards bedtime. I drink when I’m thirsty, which is completely different than the programming I convinced myself to get into. I used to drink because I thought I “had” to verses actually paying attention to my body. Each person is so very different. What works for me, may not be the same “pieces” to another person’s individual health “puzzle”. Pay attention to your symptoms and keep a journal if you have to. You’ll likely see a pattern and then you can alter as you go. Good Luck, Carmen! I wish you all the best!
Thank you Joni for your reply! I appreciate you sharing your experience! I’m glad you found out what worked for you, and I seem to be similar, I usually prefer crabs over fat in the morning, so oatmeal with sugar is a great mix! Your kids seem to be so sweet, and funny! Lookin’ out for their mom like that! I hear you for intuitive eating, that’s something we seem to easily get out of touch when we start all sort of diet frenzies. Your story is an inspiration! If I understood well, your metabolism eventually ‘healed’ and the weight came off naturally? Did you modify your physical exertion or amount of food consumed at all? That’s about what I need to lose to be at a healthy weight :).
Thanks for sharing! I have had headaches for 10 years, since the pregnancy with my third child. They have seemed related to my cycle, but I have been experimenting with drinking less and it seems to help, though I still haven’t perfected it. My morning temp is 97.6 and in that range or lower in the day. No cold hands or feet, but gained 30 pounds in last 5 years. I will keep adjusting. How concentrated should the pee look? Would a refractometer help me? If so, which one? Thanks!
I don’t think a refractometer is necessary. Just keep it yellow and consistent, meaning no episodes of frequent urination or clear urination.
This is a wonderful post! Thank you so much Joni!
The other day, I was on a FB page, telling other fibro sufferers how I am helping my brain fog to not be so bad (someone asked, so I tried to be helpful)…by limiting my liquids, only drinking when I’m thirsty and eating more carby, dense breakfasts.
You wouldn’t believe the backlash I got! One lady yelled at me in her comment and said that she drinks at least a gallon of water a day and 2 gallons in the summer (good luck to her). Then the same lady just about accused me of telling people to so something super dangerous. There was a lot of apathy in that thread, but there can be quite a bit of apathy on fibro FB pages in general…unless someone has “been Paleo for 6 months, is losing weight and feeling great.” There ARE other people with fibro who are working hard to help their bodies heal and that’s wonderful. :)
I almost believe that some fibro sufferers want to stay sick? Or maybe they think that simple solutions aren’t worth trying? Or maybe they’ve been brainwashed to believe if they’re not drinking tons of water, they’ll perish with dehydration? I don’t know, but it was very disheartening to see the response to what I suggested.
Remember that drinking way too much tends to make people “pissy.” Being “pissed” is a symbol for a bad mood, and it’s not a coincidence.
LOL! :)
Interesting- how about ‘salty’ as an adjective? That also means ‘upset’ or ‘pisded’ or ‘coarse or racy’ according to some dictionaries.
I wonder if that has metaphorical/physiological roots…
Is that actually true? That’d be a cool bit of cultural knowledge if it is.
LOL! Just remember Matt, its better to be pissed off than pissed on….unless you’re into “golden showers” eewww!
I definitely trashed my body during my low-carb/orthorexic days. I’m still not back where things used to be. I have sympathy now for people that complain of fibro or CFS, although I don’t think my symptoms are the same. I can’t imagine wanting my conditions to continue. As for people wanting to stay sick, I can say sometimes it’s like you almost give up when you’ve had a condition for so long and you’re not really sure how to heal it. Why should they have any special reason to listen to you?
Yes, I agree. I think when people have been chronically ill, they tend to become hopeless and not want to put more effort into “one more fibro cure”.
Fibro “cures” are getting more popular now too! But I think many of them will end up leading the fibro and cfs patients to feel worse, unfortunately, since weight loss and detoxing are often included in these “cures”. Chiropractors and doctors are jumping onto the “restrict-macronutrients-drink-green-smoothies-do-paleo-eat-low-carb-and-take-lots-of-supplements” bandwagon. Oh yes, and no gluten or dairy too! And no sugar or starchy veggies.
My Dad has had fibro for years. He’s had many health problems and taken lots of drugs and supplements. None of those things have had a huge impact on his health for the better, though. Yes, lots of people with fibro probably just want to do away with all the “cures” and just enjoy life as well as they can…or be depressed with fatigue and pain (because I know it can be super difficult to be motivated to do anything when I’m having a “flare”).
I have a lot of theories about my own “fibro” and am feeling much, much better with my own personalized version of Matt’s protocol.
I wanted to add that some people really DO feel better off of some foods like gluten. In my experience, I got carried away with it when I shouldn’t have. Eating food that makes you feel your best IS the best.
My aunt has had a list of health ailments for years and years, as in most of her life. When I was initially talking about this with my mom, it sounded just like any of the other cases here in the comments. Multiple non-specific complaints. Tried a number of things. Never really got beyond it all.
People are very attached to their medical dogmas, especially when a doctor has told them to do it. Not drinking enough water (even if you were to become mildly dehydrated, and then a mechanism called thirst kicks in) probably would be less harmful than a lot of things people are willing to do.
I agree with you about people being attached to medical dogma. :( My Grandma (who also has fibro) has been attached to medical dogma for years and it’s sad to see it. She won’t try anything unless her doctor (who absolutely loves PUFAs) tells her she can.
She’s now attached to dieting dogma and slowly starving herself. She probably eats only 800-1000 calories a day when she’s by herself. We like to take/meet her to/at McDonald’s when we visit her, because once she’s at McDonald’s she eat a good hearty 1000 calorie meal.
Dogma can suck.
You’re most welcome, Beth! You are a brave woman entering other sites and telling them about carbs!! Those pissy piranhas will eat you alive for mentioning the dreaded “C” word! hahaha Just keep walking on your path and doing what works for you. Those who are willing to hear you, will and if they don’t, they may come back around once they remember what you said. Remember, I was “too good” once for my friend, Matt, until what I was reading began lining up with my own symptoms and I had to double back, peer in here at 180degreehealth.com once again and say “ok Joni, be willing to hear what he has to say”. :)
Thanks for sharing your story. Been down that road myself. It’s amazing how we all need to de-program ourselves from the nonsense that passes for nutritional wisdom in the mainstream these days…
Exactly, Sean C. and you’re welcome! Thank you for reading! The de-programming was the most intense part. Matt was a good sport with all the “buts” and “I thoughts” he got from me when we first began. I literally could hear my brain sizzle with all the good points he was making. LOL! Thank goodness he has experimented on himself so much with these diets because I knew he truly understood where I was coming from and if he wasn’t so darn loveable, I’d have to hate his guts (a year ago) for popping my food-dogma balloon!
Talking of de-programming, I made my first ice cream with actual sugar today. Instead of treacle, I used the pure white devil stuff. Still not quite over what seems to have been hardwired into my head.
P.S. It is delicious
I got migraines every time I cut the salt out of my diet. Whenever I would get one, I’d just drink 4oz of heavily salted OJ with some pretzels and I was fine.
Also, I had vertigo all the time due to low blood sugars. My best day-sustaining breakfast is bread with jam and a *little* butter. I could go all morning on that!
Gone are the days of veggie omelets for breakfast.
After 5 years of battling the sandwich demon, I’ve found I need carbs, SPECIFICALLY gluten. My poop is BRILLIANT on bread, for whatever reason. Not rice, not beans, not potatoes, not bananas. BREAD.
A sister of one of my friends gets migraines. My friend told me her sister keeps fast food restaurant salt packets in her car. When she gets a migraine, she eats some salt and it helps it to go away.
I had a recent scare with vertigo following acute intestinal infection which caused severe diarrhea and vomiting. A week after I was recovering from the infection I stated getting vertigo while rolling over in bed and while bending down.Scared me so much that I ended up going to a doctor and of course was prescribed vertigo suppressing medication.
Matt, do you think it was caused by over-hydration or dehydration?
It took me a month to recover from that episode, i have been eating everything and no more vertigo. But do want to make sure it never happens again.
I still haven’t lost the weight yet though. I also found out I was vit D, vit B12 and Iron deficient
:-(
I have really been working on getting rid of my cold hands and feet but I just can’t seem to get there and I’ve been reading this blog for 2 years. I did go off and do RBTI for 9 months and had great results with sleeping, digestion and low libido but I was still cold. But after a few months of dropping most of RBTI, I started to get insomnia and my chronic constipation back. I’ve been pounding the cookies, ice cream, bugles, potatoes and more for about 3 months without any results except for not fitting into any of my pants. All the weight is in my muffin top with a little going to my breasts which were hardly there before so that is kind of exciting. Can it really take that long to get hot? I don’t drink much liquid, my sugars on refractometer are usually between 6 and 8. Is that too high? Am I over doing not drinking? I can feel myself crashing if my sugars go below a 5. I know sometimes they are too high and I can warm my feet and hands with a little water. I can get a bit confused whether I need water or food without the refractometer. Am I that messed up? I wear 2 sweaters almost everyday (I live in Montana so it is cold but still…). I do have a pretty active lifestyle but haven’t “exercised” in awhile. Although when I am up and moving is the only time I am warm.
Thankfully since I have been pigging out, I haven’t had many headaches which can be common. I am also a much, much happier person and have my “pissy” freakouts which completely coincided with running to the bathroom to piss. But I just want to be warm. I would also like to fit into my pants but I can be patient (these pants I want to fit into are my bigger pants – I got rid of all my 4’s and 6’s last winter that I grew out of with RBTI).
I am not sure how many more cookies I can eat.
Kelly, I can only share lessons learned from my own dreadful experiment with RBTI. It totally messed me up, and I think it is because I was restricting salt as they advise you to do. All the sugar in the world could not have made up for the salt. My blood sugar felt like it was on some horrible roller coaster. Once I started eating lots of salt again and listening to my body (like not worrying if I ate a big dinner with meat if I wanted that), I got much better. The good thing was, I finally realized how important salt was, and that hyponatremia mimics the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Make sure you are getting enough salt, not to mention enough rest, etc.
It’s hard to top the REAL Amy, but I’ll just add:
Often, it’s NOT about pounding tons of food, but just making sure that you’re eating enough calories AND not drinking too many fluids.
Also, remember Matt’s S’s: Salt, Sugar, Starch, Saturated fats. Along with rest, DE-stressing wherever possible, getting “enough” protein (for you), and some enjoyable (for you) moderate exertion body movement. (When in doubt, just go for a walk)
Thanks Cameron and REAL Army, I will consider my salt intake. Although that was one rule I didn’t follow in RBTI. I always salt to taste. I do have a hunch I don’t rest enough but am going on vacation here soon and will do my best to rest. Today, when my hands and feet were freezing by sugars on refractometer were 8. Am over restricting my liquid? I am pretty cold most of the time but especially mid-morning and early afternoon. I am warm around 6-8pm then start to go cold again. Usually freezing by bedtime. My sugars seems to either be too high and I am freezing or too low and I am freezing. I can’t keep a stable 5 where my feet feel kind of warm. I have been cold my whole life and have really been working on it but I just can’t get it to shift.
I’m in a similar situation to Kelly and I’d really like to know why for some people most improvements take over a year, nearly two, still waiting, rather than months or weeks. Not that I am impatient, or ungrateful for the improvements I’ve had (last migraine was in September) and also not unrealistic, if I’m meant to be big then so be it, but I fear that maybe I am the exception who is just not going to get better. Any l-o-o-o-ng success stories out there? Please, there’s at least one person who needs the encouragement because as you won’t be surprised to hear, everyone I know thinks I’m crazy to have voluntarily turned into a blimp and I can’t even begin to tell them about the more important things, like the tiredness and aches and weakness and nocturia and blood sugar still mostly over 100. Maybe it’s because I’m 49?
I know talk about “misfit”. It feels pretty odd to be busting out of my pants but yet ordering a breve and croissant when I go to coffee with friends who look at me with confusion. I can hear them think though when I explain the the extra 15-20 pounds has done wonders for my sex life. I would also like some encouragement. Maybe it has something to do with age. I am 43.
So Matt, what do you tell the person who doesn’t drink except when she is thirsty, eats whatever she feels like eating and she still has a low thyroid and can’t lose weight?
I would make sure there is no stress besides what is unavoidable.
If that doesn’t help, then I would look at activity levels and types. She might need to move around more, move around less, increase/decrease intensity or duration.
Around here word has it that sometimes a person can be healthy and fat too, and the body doesn’t really care that it’s fat and why should it change it’s comfortable and homeostatic? So we have to “coax” it into losing FAT.
That can be eating a little less processed foods perhaps, avoiding pufas a little more strict sometimes, larger meals (which also means periods of fasting, but not fasting like you’re hungry fasting!) sprinting here and there, resistance training etc…
Maybe sugar/fat ratios are way too high, like you’d want to favor one over the other more I think =P
Maybe her appetite needs to be stimulated and she needs more carbs/sugar, or to get up and take a walk, you never know!
A lot of people eat whenever they feel like it and still eat too little. If your metabolism is low a lot of times your digestion is poor and your body doesn’t ask for food like it should. Log what you eat and figure it up. Then check out health-calc.com TDEE calculator and see f you are eating near what you should. If not, increase calories, either all at once or little by little. Little by little (like 50 cals a week) should reduce the weight you gain but is more difficult.
Joni,
Thank you for the post. You are so right about “misfits.” I had walked this
lonely road for over 20 years. Matt saved me too. :)
Matt,
Some really exciting news to share. This past week I suffered the dreaded
stomach flu. (That isn’t the exciting news)
The exciting part, I sailed through the stomach flu without ANY neurological
symptoms of hypoglycemia!!!! I did not know my body had healed enough
to go more than 3-4 hours without food. (Not to mention being stripped of every
nutrient in my GI tract) Thank you! :)
Hi Betty! You’re welcome! Oh there is still much to learn for me but one of the observations have been that “misfit” thing. I found a pretty cool gang to hang around in these parts, so I can’t complain now that I’m “in” ;) So glad Matt has been able to help so many! Thanks always, Matt!
Great story!
Hi Chey! Thank you :)
Joni,
Thanks TONS for this great article! Just recently I was consulting with a young girl who has suffered for years (and she is only 19 years old now) from mental illness, primarily schizophrenia (or however you spell it!). She was on tons of meds and desperately wanted to lose weight (about a hundred pounds). When I asked how much water she was drinking, she told me she drinks water all day, approximately 32 cups per day, by her estimation, which she had been doing for a very long time! I told her she had to stop and I explained why, and I could tell she was really surprised by this and did not want to stop …. her doctors never told her to stop drinking all that water. Can’t help but wonder/think that somehow, some way, all that water is connected to her mental illness. Can too much water make a person “crazy”??? Can it make them hear voices, do strange things???? I would venture to say YES but can’t prove it. Thanks again! Great job!
I definitely think dieting and having kids etc…Can cause mental illness. In fact I’m positive. A lot of “ghost” stories in my family has come from mental illness as far as I understand. The house I’m in right now used to have “poltergheist” and what not.
Hi Alana-dear!!! What an interesting story! Well, why wouldn’t it be possible?!! I still am baffled why it is my cells don’t “hold on” to the delicate balance of salt/sugar. I can’t explain it. Doctors so often dissect, bisect and look at the body as fragmented that they almost seem to not remember that it’s a continuous, flowing, functioning organism that is in constant communication with itself and ALL of it’s functions. Life and death begin on a cellular level and if that very basic understanding isn’t recognized or honored, how can anything else be? Just my thoughts. When you look up “hyponatremia”:
Common symptoms include:
*Abnormal mental status
*Confusion
*Decreased consciousness
*Hallucinations
These are COMMON symptoms…not the rarity. I hope that girl will decide to do some research for her own health and empowerment! Great story, Alana! Thanks for sharing.
Well, those meds also cause weight gain like no tomorrow, and if she was on psychiatric meds (like antidepressents, antianxiety, sleeping, bipolar meds, etc.) before becoming schizophrenic, she should know that they can cause schizophrenic symptoms as side effects, thus leading to new diagnoses and new drugs. It’s all a slippery slope. So, yes, drugs can make people hear voices and do strange things. So can huge amounts of stress, either acute or chronic. Please tell the girl to read Robert Whitaker or Peter Breggin’s work. There are a lot of other options that, while not working for all, will work for many.
Hey all! Thank you for your comments and interaction! Feel free to head on over to Facebook and LIKE my radio show page: http://www.facebook.com/HomegrownHealth! I would thrilled to have you interact with me there too and tune into the show weekdays at 3pm EST on http://www.NaturalNewsRadio.com I have a new show each Wednesday :) I am also in the middle of fundraiser for the show and hope to make it to Long Beach, CA for the Health Freedom Expo! I hope Matt can join us one of these days to speak at one or both of the Expos about what he’s learned about so many different things!
I think I found the 19th century Matt Stone. After reading Eat to Heat I got curious about salt and came across the great book “Common Salt” by C. Godfrey G?mpel, published in 1898. (You can search for it in Google Books and read the whole thing for free). The book describes the numerous ways salt benefits our health. On top of that the author writes that salt intake can be counteracted by “an injudicious imbibing of abnormal quantities of plain water”. Other than his message, another thing that reminded me of Matt is that he was not a doctor or medical professional (I believe he was an engineer). In fact, he’s quite disdainful of doctors. Anyway, the book is fascinating and I highly recommend it. :-)
I am aware that my question doesn’ t really fit here but I do not know where else to post it: In one of your manuals (eithet “Eat for Heat” or “Diet Repair) you state that, even if no strength training is performed, 25% of weight gained is muscle. Does this number apply to anyone regardless of age or gender (twenty-something guy and post-menopausal lady alike)?
Thank you!
I’m sure there will be some person-to-person differences there. But 25% is the average lean tissue gain with gained weight.
Wow, this really clears up the frighteningly excruciating head pain (migraine?- was never fully diagnosed) that put me in the hospital for a week with strong IV painkillers before it went away. I was in the middle of my first complete water fast. I also happen to be completely worried about my morning temps, which are usually 95ish and lately occasionally under 95! I’m glad to see that you eventually got yours up, I will continue working on it. You say that your diet is more plant based now- what kinds of things are you eating that aren’t too watery?
I dislike asking questions not relevant to the article but I’d really like some help from anyone!
I’m off of my restrictions and I’ve been refeeding and resting for about a month now. Things have been going generally great with a few random regressions which are apparently to be expected. A recent development which makes me unsure if I’m doing something wrong or if it’s normal is confusing me. I seem to be prone to hypoglycemia. I’ll eat a large meal and then a little while later feel shaky and strange. It also kills my appetite a little bit. If I eat, I feel a bit more normal, but lately i’ve been eating huge meals and then not really feeling any of these hypoglycemic episodes.
I’ve been sweating again, and my hair is starting to fall out (which is good because it means that it is going to start growing back again) and my nails are growing and my body generally feels a lot warmer. Warmer hands and feet and they can stay warm even after drinking fluids a lot of times. I’ve been sleeping a lot better, one night I didn’t even wake up.
My theory is that my body is not used to running at this higher efficiency and is shooting up the insulin to compensate for all the food…which is causing the hypoglycemia.
Any help would be great.
For people who use the metric system is it possible to also refer to temperatures in celsius and weight in kgs – it gets frustrating to keep having to convert.
The problem is we “Americans” don’t even know how to convert. Sad times, I know :(
Easy. C= (F-32) * 5/9. Take the Fahrenheit temp and subtract 32 from it. Multiply that number by 5. then divide that number by nine. So, if you’re temperature is 98F, you would do this:
1)98 – 32 = 66
2) 66 * 5 = 330
3) 330/9 = 36.6
If you can’t be bothered with elementary math, there are plenty of online conversion calculators.
how do you guys measure your temp . cause ive read that auxillary temp reading isnt acurate and u need to add some amount of degrees
This post is very interesting to me. I’ve suffered with migraines since I was 8 yrs old(I’m 35). I didnt get them as often as a child as a do as an adult. I used to be an over hydrator. I thought I had to drink a lot of water in addition to all the other fluids I drink( tea! Coffee)
Then I read a book about healing migraines and I cut out coffee tea and some other foods that were potential triggers. I have less migraines now( still get occasional headaches). I know my water intake didn’t cause my migraines, but it sure was a trigger. I used to drink tons of water when I felt one coming on! I have always craved lots of salt, and put an excessive amount in soups. Maybe I was trying to balance the extra fluid. Any way, I’ve read EFH, and it was quite enlightening. Being aware of my water/fluid intake and eliminating triggers has taken me from a 2+ a week migraineur to a once every couple of month and occasional headache sufferer.
Drinking a lot of water will stop a migraine in its tracks for me, and I find dehydration is the surest migraine trigger. I guess it can vary for different people, though. Caffeinated drinks are also really helpful for me. So is salt, though. The best is salty snack and water, or coffee. I rarely ever get migraines, now, but I’ve never been able to finger excess fluids.
Both dehydration and overhydration can cause cell swelling and intracranial pressure that leads to migraine. Many with overhydration migraines have dramatic relief and then a month or two later start developing dehydration headaches from taking that “don’t drink so much” recommendation too far. That’s why I made sure to point out symptoms of overdoing it in Eat for Heat, with headaches being one of the first signs. The only way I can seem to give myself a headache is not drinking enough. Usually catches up with me by 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
I had a little debate with one of the girls in my class today. She was talking about how she is trying to drink 2 gallons of water a day or something crazy like that. When me and some class mates asked her why, she said because the more water you drink the better for you, and everyone is supposed to drink 6 big cups a day. I asked her one simple question, “Do you get really cold a lot?” She responded emphatically without hesitation, “Yes I am freezing all of the time!” and I just kind of smiled. I don’t really argue with people about their nutritional beliefs because most people are super crazy about them and I don’t have any memorized “studies” to point out that I am right. But instead of arguing or pointing out studies all I have to say is, “I just drink whenever I feel thirsty. My ancestors did it for hundreds of thousands of years and they made it alive long enough to make me.” And that usually ends most of the debate lol. Love simple philosophy. Thanks Matt and others :)
A week of hard overeating and i am in a place i’ve never been before.
I dont like to eat. It turns me of. I cant fucking believe it.
Two weeks of hard eating here.
I am looking in cookbooks to find something to make to tempt my appetite!
It is hard to believe..
But a good interesting experience- after years of earnestly trying to restrain calories and appetite!