Day 16

Food Report and Check-In

Oh what a day . . . .

Breakfast: bacon, zucchini, carrots, slices banana and peach

Lunch: soup made with left over chicken sausage, green onions, grated carrots and zucchini and chicken broth.

Dinner: nothing

Today started out as a very good day.  I was up and making breakfast for the family.  After breakfast I washed up some lettuce and spun it in the salad spinner.  It filled a gallon size zip lock bag.  I made some garlic-ginger salad dressing made with coconut milk and olive oil.  Then, I made some bacon coco-roos with smoky salt.  They turned out really good.  I was feeling pretty productive.

The rest of the morning I worked on my new website and at around 1:30 I decided to get some lunch. My throat was a little sore from yelling so much at the baseball game on Saturday, so I decided to make some soup. I used the left over chicken sausage, some broth, and veggies.  While it was cooking I tested my first brew of kombucha and realized it was ready.  I was very excited. I poured it into single serving bottles and put it in the fridge. I tasted it and it was good. It was really bubbly, so I new it had fermented really well.  I was pleased that it had turned out so good.  I served up my soup and took a bottle of kombucha to drink with my lunch. 

After lunch I went back to work on the computer.  Within just a few minutes I started feeling very tired.  I decided to lay down on my bed for a short rest.  I could feel my face getting hot and it felt like it was burning.  I got up and went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror and my face was bright red, really bright red!  I began to feel worse and worse.  My throat began to hurt more and felt like it was closing up, my body started to ache - my legs and arms especially.  I knew immediately I was having a reaction to something I ate or drank.  Could it be the kombucha?  I grabbed my laptop and started searching "kombucha red face" and found several hits.  After a few minutes of investigating I realized

that I was having a histamine reaction.  When I looked at the list of food that cause it I realized that I had several today and then the kombucha, which must have been way stronger then the kind I normally drink from the store. My face felt like it was burning and my throat hurt so bad.  It had come on in a matter of minutes and I couldn't really believe it was happening.  And it only got worse. I got a fever (102.6), I felt like I was burning up, yet I was very cold, even shivering. I took a hot shower and got into bed and tried to get warm.  Then the diarrhea started.  Then a pounding headache.  Then aching in my legs, arms and lower back.  I was freaking out.  How could this be happening to me! I have a bad reaction to anti-histamines so I know I couldn't take those. I wasn't sure what to do.

When Elisha came home from work she suggested we go to Urgent Care.  I didn't want to do that.  I can't take anti-histamines, and I didn't want to take antibiotics. We tried Tylenol and it seemed to help a little.  The redness in my face started to subside, but the fever stayed.  Along with the stomach churning, diarrhea and my entire body ached from head to toe.  It was just crazy.  I tried to go to sleep and woke up off and on to go to the bathroom and at 2 am I took another hot shower to try and get warm.  I had a room heater in by bedroom, an extra blanket and I was still freezing. It was a long night.

This morning I woke up feeling pretty awful, still feverish and freezing.  After another hot shower, more Tylenol and a coconut milk/peach smoothly that Elisha made me, I started to feel a bit better.  I went back to sleep and slept to early afternoon.  I'm up, showered (again) and dressed now and writing this post.  I am beginning to feel better, but definitely not back to normal.  My throat is still sore, my body still aches, but the fever is gone.  My digestion is still wonky.  That was the most bizarre thing I have ever experienced. 

Now I have to look into the whole histamine issue.  From what I have read so far I think that it has been a life long issue.  I've had reactions to some foods - especially fermented foods my entire life.  I just thought everyone did.  Now I know differently.  I also have to re-think the kombucha, which makes me really sad.  All this time I have been thinking it's been helping me, and maybe not.  I'll have to investigate further.

The one blessing from this horrible experience is the awareness.  There was no way I could ignore my body. It was sending me a very loud message.  That is something that could only be made possible from doing this elimination program.  Eating clean and then having a reaction is teaching me about my body in ways I never experienced before.  I know it sounds strange, but I am glad this happened.  It will help me fine tune my healing.  I've been suffering with an autoimmune disease for nearly 30 years and I'm not going to ignore it any longer.  This is recovery.  

On into day 17 . . .