So, turns out that there is this gene that makes some people deathly allergic to mold, much like people with celiac are deathly allergic to gluten. UGH! I think I am one of them.
If you’ve been following me, you have seen the posts lately on detoxing. I have more going on than just fibromyalgia. I say JUST fibromyalgia, because there is a treatment that reverses the symptoms of fibro (Guaifenesin Protocol). There’s other symptoms many of us have though. We still have to treat those.
I know I’m allergic to mold. I did the scratch test about 20 years ago when I was so sick they thought it was mono, turned out it was the little cabin by the lake I was living in at the time. It had so much black mold in it that the more time I spent out of my house, the better I felt :O The scratch test, they had to do twice because the reaction to the mold square was so severe, it puffed up all the squares around it too.
In the business of life and living and NOT being in a moldy house, I totally forgot about that time. Well, here I am with those same symptoms only much worse. I don’t need the blood test to confirm what we know. Mold is a toxin for someone like me. So detoxing is super important, as well as a rediculously clean house. THAT is something I am working on lol! Check out my post on Cleaning the House with CFS.
Here’s what I have found that helps with detoxing while still on the Guaifenesin Protocol and staying salicylate-free. (Click the red highlighted name for a sal-free option.) I am very sick right now, so am doing all these, if you are not experiencing a toxic over-load in your system, don’t feel you have to do all these. Any one or two of them will help you! <3
**Please note I am NOT a doctor and cannot diagnose or prescribe anything to you, please see your doctor before trying any detox program.**
1.Help your gut: drink warm water with lemon juice every day before meals if possible, or just drink it all day long like me 😀 I heat up water and fill a big thermos a few times a day and it keeps me hydrated. You would be surprised how many symptoms will improve with just this simple thing. Being dehydrated is SO common today! If you FEEL thirsty, you are past just dehydrated and need tons of water asap. Drink water even when you don’t feel thirsty to keep hydrated. Check out how I do my hot lemon water here!
2.Take Probiotics with every meal and before bed. They don’t have the be the most expensive ones out there, I buy middle of the line in price. If I wasn’t this sick I’d prob buy the cheap ones and only do one a day or something lol! Our bodies are just so bogged down with toxins from our food and environment that our gut bacteria gets all out of balance. We need probiotics to put things back in order.
3. Take digestive enzymes with every meal too. Make sure they are salicylate free! Once your gut gets healthy and you eat healthy raw foods, you probably won’t need these forever. It’s sure a good idea to take them from time to time even if you aren’t sick. ESPECIALLY when you eat out or eat packaged foods.
3. Psyllium Husk, Bentonite Clay or Activated Charcoal taken daily with lots of water. What these do is attract toxins, and hang onto them as they go through your system and get eliminated. They are called Binders. I take 2 Psyllium Husk pills a day. And 1 cup of water with a tsp of Bentonite clay that I put into a jar and set on the counter all day, don’t use metal spoons, I just swirl it in there. This makes the Bentonite clay work better, something about a positive charge lol. There’s tons of sites out there that explain Bentonite clay if you want to read up on it more, click here.
I noticed when I first started the Bentonite Clay that I was feeling a bit bloated and clogged up. But it went away after about a week and I have loved using it since.
Activated charcoal is not something to take for long periods of time. I believe in changing up my health routine, so I do the charcoal for a few days every other week or so.
I’ve been asked about when to take this. Good question! Since these absorb stuff in your gut, you gotta watch when you take them. I take them around 4pm, a couple hours before and after I take anything else. And I do try to take them separately. So, Bentonite clay at 4 and psyllium husk at 5ish. We don’t eat till 6:30 usually, so this makes me feel a little full before supper, which is a good thing! 🙂
4. L-Glutamine. This is something I take according to the directions on the bottle and just a little less. It’s supposed to help with our gut wall. Rebuild the lining, help with the natural muscles and moving things along in there. For more info, check out Dr Axe.
If you are trying to detox, it is so important to get things moving well so you can eliminate the toxins that you are filtering out. If your gut is not working properly, those toxins will just filter right back through your system, into your blood stream and through your poor liver again. L-Glutamine helps that along. I noticed a difference within a few days of taking this stuff. I feel lighter and less clogged up, you know what I mean 😉
5. If you have a Candida problem (any of us will mold issues totally do) then you need something that will kill that bacteria. Here are the two that I use. You need to switch them every 10days to 2 weeks since your body builds a tolerance to them after 2 weeks. That horrible bacteria is smart! Colloidal Silver and Caprylic Acid.
I have used Colloidal silver for a long time now, it’s so great for healing stuff! The Caprylic acid (Brain Octane) is new to me, been using it for only a few days now, and am taking 1/4 tsp! It actually gives me energy even at that tiny dose! I bought a big bottle so it’s gonna last me a LONG time! lol! Thankfully it has a very long shelf-life, being an acid and all 🙂
**If you are going to take #5 detox stuff then you NEED to take #4 stuff too. You will need something that will bind with those dead and toxic bacteria you just killed, and eliminate them!
6. Magnesium! Take epsom salt baths with baking soda everyday. This draws out toxins and balances the ph. And totally helps you sleep! I also take Magnesium Citrate every night before bed. When I started to do all these detox things I found I needed a little more magnesium than before. On the upside, I stopped needing Benadryl to sleep at night! YAY! It took me about 2 weeks to get used to sleeping without it, it was pretty miserable for a while there, but I sleep SO much better now without the Benadryl!
7. The HG diet TOTALLY helps with detoxing, btw. Cutting out sugar is essential, and cutting out simple carbs like rice, potatoes, pasta, breads and don’t use flour to thicken stuff! These things turn into toxins in our bodies because of the high content of sugar. There is alot of info out there on cutting out sugar. Check out Dr St Amand’s book on “What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Fibromyalgia.” to get more detail.
As a side note, if you are a painter or hair dresser or someone who works with other toxins on a daily basis, these detox steps are going to be a big help to you in keeping those toxins for making you ill long term.
For the rest of us, there are toxins in the air, in the water (please filter your water, chlorine is a horrible toxin!), and in our soaps, shampoos, lotions, deodorants, etc. There are healthier alternatives to these things, and you’d be surprised how little of these products we actually NEED to keep from stinking lol! 😀 Check out my previous posts on Detoxing for the first steps before doing the things in this post. If you jump in too fast, it can make you sick detoxing too quickly. <3
Well, there you have it! After months of studying on toxins and different ways to detox, I am so thankful to find stuff I can do and still do the Guaifenesin Protocol! I hope it helps you! Leave a comment with what you do to stay detoxed and how it works for you! <3