Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; Me and my NSD

Hello again,
I reported back in March of my sucess with the low starch diet and thought it was time for an update.
I've had some ups and downs, some which can be explained and some baffle me. I have gone completely no starch, and am still mostly pain free, but paying for it when I stray. I am convinced the antibiotics I was on in February for Pneumonia is what made me feel a giddy 20 years younger, but the klebs seem to have crept back and now I feel as if I'm in daily combat with them.
I have found the diet relatively easy to stay on, still enjoying mostly meat-and-salad meals. I also rely heavily on fruit and never venture from home without a bottle of gorp to chug throughout the day (it's easiest to eat from a wide mouth plastic bottle, no spilling).
I've just toasted some mixed nuts in the oven with butter, salt and worchester sauce for that salty-crunchy thang. Aprox. recipe: 2Tbs butter, 2 tsp worchester s., 1 cup each almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, dash salt. Toast in 275 oven for 18 minutes, tossing every 9 or so. Better than nothing. Might be good with a we dram as a late night snack.
My goal now is to find some natural anti-biotics. I've read that juniper, uva ursi, goldenseal, eucalyptus are all effective against klebs, but havent tried them yet. I am a few days into the enteric-coated garlic pills, we'll see...
There is a book I'm going to purchase: 'Herbal Antibiotics, natural alternatives for treating drug-resistant bacteria' by Stephen Harrod Buhner.
A breakfast mainstay for me is a fruit smoothie: Half a banana, 1.5 cup frozen blueberries, raspb. etc, 1 tbs almond butter, 2-3 tbs yoghurt, water to help mix. Savage briefly in a blender. That and a couple of sausages hold me pretty well.
Here's to the good fight,
Paul

Dear Paul:

Glad to have your encouraging results and I will post your recipe for crunchy--we all miss that sensation.

Which antibiotics were you on? Just curious as there are some that do not work for me at all and others that might be losing their effectiveness after 3 years. I had so much damage from my long history with NSAIDs that the NSD alone does not keep me out of flare. I need the odd course of antibiotics, fasting, and Cayce Apple Diet.

You might try the enteric-coated sulfasalazine (Azulfidine--EN here in US).

Some natural antibiotics that I have been experimenting with include the raw macerated garlic (I'm married, so it does not matter...), colloidal silver, tea tree oil, citricidal (enteric-coated grapefruit seed extract), and enteric coated oregano extract. Jury is not totally in on any particular one of these, yet.

Please let us know how you do with other compounds.

I would iodine test the sausages, just to be safe..

Best to You,
John

John,
The antibiotic was cephalexin.
As to the enteric-coated sulfasalazine, I find the idea of being solely responsible for my AS maintenence strongly appealing, (and convienient - not to mention cheaper...) so I'm hoping to remain independent in my self-treatment. I prefer a natural approach anyway, and the thought of trying to convince a line of rhummies about the NSD depresses me.
Your deduction of not having to concern yourself about garlic because you are married I find hasty and specious. You may want to review the subject with your better half.
Do you drink the tea tree oil?
Paul

Paul what is gorp?
laura

Hi Paul,

THanks for the update. I was on antibiotics when the dietary controls finnally took effect after three months of NSD. I too have found avoiding starches to be much easier now, after one and one-half years, than when I started with this regimen. It was so difficult when i did not know how to get enough energy from my food. I had tried to go NSD without adding substantial protien. instead I added in sugary foods or none at all and really started a fiasco. Now that it is working, i see that it was all worth it.

MY way to treat AS is much the same as yours. The Rhuemy just had prescriptions of NSAIDs in my defense. I attempted to interest her in a "managed NSD" but she insisted that, since this method had not been proven and approved, it was another examplle of "Internet quackery". I also have had times when the diet alone has been less than perfect. I'm not talking about debilitating flares, but rather "niggling" pains. I fast or use the three day apple diet when this happens and that gets me back on track. The only side effect these fasts have caused is a strange accompanying mental clarity that seems to refocus me. Now fasts will be a part of life for me regardless of My AS.

The book on natural antibiotics sound very intersting. Please post a review. Garlic in particular has been especially effective for one of the members here. I eat this as much as convenient, but have not tried it as treatment as it makes me quite fragrant. This can cause anxiety for me in social situations and does not appeal to my better half. If you are wanting to try inexpensive pharmacuetical antibiotics, the pet suppliers will provide for you if a doctor will not. http://www.lambriarvet.com/

One small note that you may not want to hear and that i tried to deny to myself for a long time: Beer causes me pain. (sorry, i know that might have hurt to read) I personally have to stap at one or two at the most and stay quite occassional in its consumption. (as in twice a month at most)

With Empathy,
ike

Paul's GORP

Mix some or all together:
almonds, walnuts, pecans, dates, figs, prunes, candied ginger, dried papaya, dried pineapple, dried apples, dried banana; chopped.
Raisins, currents, coconut, dried cranberries.

This stuff is a lifesaver for me, a couple of handfuls of this and I'm not reaching for the candy.
Paul

Tell me it ain't so...
I have had my suspicions about alcohol for a while, I love hard cider, which I thought was a clever switch away from grain based booze, but I think a trial period of abstention might be enlightening, though possibly more difficult than the NSD itself.
I've had some interest in fasting but I'm so skinny already...
Thanks for the reply.
Paul

Paul,

I just completed my first 3 day apple fast with similar results as Ike explained. Mental clarity, very pain free.... also revitalized in regards to energy.

I too am rather skinny..... 6'4" and about 205lbs. Maybe have 5-10 extra pounds of fat at most. Dropped about 2 during the fast.

I plan another in Sept/Oct. timeframe since the results of this fast were so good. My NSD keeps pain in check, mine is more to clean out liver and improve my energy.

Take care,

Tim

RE. alcohol - I have found that beer and wine cause me probs although low strength beer less so. Good news is that spirits especially white sprits seem to be fine and even make me feel a little better fancy that. Although if I mix them with coke this makes them in the same category as beer/wine for me. Diet coke seems to be OK. It might all be a sugar related thing. Beer, coke etc. flare me but spirits/diet coke don't.

Bottoms up!

Don't think you can - KNOW YOU CAN

i had posted earlier about an herbal treatment called tanalbit. it is used to treat klebsiella if found in a great smokies stool test. i have not tried it. if one thinks they are suffering with an overgrowth of kleb, it may be worthwhile to look into it. do a search for it on the web. bugs supposedly cannot develop resistance to it, or so the manufacturer claims.

-ken