Cravings

[Vanny]

Cravings are not normal. If you are eating a balanced diet and eating
regularly and obtaining enough calories to match your lifestyle, then
you should not have any cravings. However, the caveat is that medication
can cause selective malabsorption of nutrients.

Exactly what nutrients you are deficient in will depend on the
individual medication (see previous posts including my references to
Suzy Cohen's 2011 book "Drug Muggers: Which Medications Are Robbing Your
Body of Essential Nutrients--and Natural Ways to Restore Them"). You do
not need to buy the book - you can look for free on Amazon and there is
plenty of information provided on YouTube.

A friend of mine said to me recently that she had uncontrollable urges
to eat chocolate, immediately I told her she was magnesium deficient.
She takes 40 mg Omeprazole a day and some months ago I had informed her
that she would be magnesium deficient in addition to calcium and vitamin
B12 deficient due to the PPI. When I visited I actually took her a
packet of OTC (over the counter) magnesium tablets. She took them, but
did not renew them because she didn't think that she needed them any
more. Then she started to notice her increased and uncontrollable
craving for chocolate.

These articles will help you to elucidate the origins of your individual
cravings.

Table of cravings and their cure here (should be on every fridge door):
http://www.naturopathyworks.com/pages/cravings.php

http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-the-Temptation-to-Eat-Unhealthy-Foods

More on the Internet.


Vanny

[Rufus]

I have a very strange relationship with chocolate...I'm back to just
keeping it around, and not eating any of it. Not lots of it, but just
enough to know I have some. I ate my last chocolate/almond cluster last
night and I'm not really in a hurry to go get more. But a friend
brought me three Branche bars back from a recent trip to Switzerland and
I'm *hoarding* those puppies like gold -

http://www.cailler.ch/en/Assortment/Branches.aspx

...can't get those here.

My big "problem" these days is that since increasing my Humira dosage I
have a notable appetite for the first time in over 20 years. For the
past few decades I haven't been able to tell pain-pain from hunger...now
I feel hungry all the time, and I have to manage my portions or I'll
just feel the worse for over-eating. I haven't really had a craving in
a long time...I just feel like eating!

--
- Rufus

[Vanny]

> ....can't get those here.

>
> My big "problem" these days is that since increasing my Humira dosage I
> have a notable appetite for the first time in over 20 years. For the
> past few decades I haven't been able to tell pain-pain from hunger...now
> I feel hungry all the time, and I have to manage my portions or I'll
> just feel the worse for over-eating. I haven't really had a craving in a
> long time...I just feel like eating!
>

My cravings over the past months have included fish, cheese, and milk.
Since I upped my magnesium and selenium supplements, I haven't had any
craving for chocolate and sweets. I can only manage a very small amount
of dark chocolate without it increasing my GERD.

Pleased to hear that Humira is working for you. Mind you if I was there
I would make you take sublingual B12 and a vitamin B complex and zinc on
a daily basis. Mind you, as you have been on the PPIs for such a long
time you will most likely require B12 jabs.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1197979/Heartburn-pills-wrecked-life-How-antacids-effects.html

Fight the good fight!

Vanny

[Rufus]

I get chocolate and let it sit on the shelf like wine...I only actually
eat it every now and then. I have no idea why I do that - I drink the
wine I buy. I eat a lot of Swiss and cheddar cheeses, but I can't
tolerate actual milk. I do what I consider "healthy dinner" at our
local Japanese restaurant once a week - rice/cucumber and tempura
rice/salmon sushi. About the only place I can trust here in the desert
for eating fish.

I seem to be wanting salts and not sweets these days...probably because
of summer coming on here in the high desert. It's heading for 100 F today.

> Pleased to hear that Humira is working for you. Mind you if I was there
> I would make you take sublingual B12 and a vitamin B complex and zinc on
> a daily basis. Mind you, as you have been on the PPIs for such a long
> time you will most likely require B12 jabs.
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1197979/Heartburn-pills-wrecked-life-How-antacids-effects.html
>

I seem to have finally gotten my vitamin D overdose sorted - I had all
the symptoms except vomiting on 1000 mg daily. 1000 mg twice a week
vice daily seems to be working for me. I'll do that until my current
supply is gone then I'll adjust to more/smaller doses, I think.

I've also started a round of physical therapy, mainly because my rhuemos
are out of ideas about my lower body myalgia - just had one session so
far (I'll be going thee times per week for a bit) and they did ice and
electro-stim on my lower back and all I can say is WOW!

Just one treatment and my back pain level has been reduced by about 2/3
over what it's been since I began Humira, and Humira had reduced it
drastically before. I'm a really, really poor judge of pain...I just
tolerate it and don't know how much pain I'm in until it goes away,
really. The relief wasn't immediate after the electro-stim, but got
better and better as I moved and walked through the day. Because I'm
not as tensed up with pain I feel a bit "weak" now, though.

Only caution is that laying down to sleep produces a bit of aggravation
by morning, *but* - because I'm feeling less pain I've slept far better
over the last few nights since the treatment...that in and of itself is
a God-send! I can't wait for another treatment...maybe between this and
my Humira things will really work for my back.

Other than that my PT has me doing some stretching - she's worried about
just how much my tendons can take in light of my condition, though. I
think once I get discharged from PT I'm going to have to find some
activity to do that will keep me moving though ranges of motion in order
to maintain myself...not sure just what I'll do about that at present.

>
> Fight the good fight!
>
> Vanny
>

Always - continue to do the same yourself!

--
- Rufus

[Vanny]

I bought myself a 7-zone latex mattress last year and it really does
help my back problems. I am not so bent over like an old lady in the
morning as I was. The rest of the problem is lack of movement. The more
I try and move, the greater the peristalsis, the greater the
malabsorption - the sicker I get. If I move, I must make sure that I lie
down and eat at least every 2 hours - possibly continuously would be
better.

My consultant said earlier this year that he didn't want to parenterally
feed me. I replied that I didn't want that either - I can maintain my
weight (55 kg) with a struggle, but I can't keep properly hydrated and
my micronutrients are all over the place depending on the time of day. I
split the vitamin and mineral doses but it is not easy.

[Rufus]

It's so hard to get people to understand that - healthy people just keep
telling me how "exercise makes me feel good"...to which I can only
answer that exercise makes me feel terrible. I understand what you're
saying. For you that has to hold to an even greater extent, I would
imagine.

My back felt really good and I over-did over the weekend - I felt good
standing for the first time in a long time, and I spent too much time on
my feet. After today's PT session (10 min on the treadmill, stretching,
and stim for my back) I still have some great pain relief, but I feel
really tired...I wish I could just lay around and try to sleep. In the
absence/lessening of pain I can tell just how tired and weak I really
am...not drastically weak, but more so than I've been aware of.

> My consultant said earlier this year that he didn't want to parenterally
> feed me. I replied that I didn't want that either - I can maintain my
> weight (55 kg) with a struggle, but I can't keep properly hydrated and
> my micronutrients are all over the place depending on the time of day. I
> split the vitamin and mineral doses but it is not easy.
>
>

Today is a vitamin D dose day for me and I've got a lingering headache.

I'm rather surprised that I've not gained a lot of weight now that I
have an appetite. I'm still pretty sedentary...compared to my
pre-diagnosis lifestyle. And I feel like I've been eating more than
usual even though I've been trying to check that - I just finished a big
lunch and I still feel "hungry". I'm pretty much maintaining the target
weight I've set for myself too.

I would agree with you in that as long as you're maintaining weight -
and more importantly, muscle mass - that you're doing ok. I can
understand why you'd have issues with hydration and nutrients - I myself
could do better with staying hydrated. I used to habitually drink a lot
of water through the day, now it seems I have to force myself. I think
that has to do with me autonomously cutting back my intake as the water
supply here became less pure...I still get arsenic level notices from
our local water board, and I drink bottled water now exclusively.

--
- Rufus