THE AGONY OF HEALTH
Have you ever felt that the achievement of “good health” is actually quite a difficult thing? If your friends and family say you’re dramatic (like mine do), then maybe the word agonizing has crossed your mind too.
If you’ve spent time using Western or Modern medicine you’ve probably recognized that it can be tedious and often leads to the use of Band-Aids for chronic ailments rather than finding the true cure. Western medicine can feel like a continuous quest for treasure with an empty treasure chest at the end of the rainbow.
By the opposite token, holistic health can be full of extensive dietary, vitamin and detox regimens that sometimes even your iCalendar cannot keep straight. In many ways the holistic approach can feel tortuous indeed.
If you’ve spent time seeking out help for a chronic symptom using Western or Modern medicine (as most of us have at one time or another) you may relate to some of the following experiences. In my pursuit of help for my chronic muscle spasms and pain using today’s medical system, I had the following routine just to get through my daily life:
-I spent 2-3 days per week at a physical therapist.
-Additionally, I went and got a monthly massage which helped for about 3-4 days, each of which I experienced severe fatigue in lieu of pain.
-In addition to PT and massage I did a combination of stretching, foam rolling, strengthening, heat, ice and a self-massage each and every day for 1-2 hours.
-I also carried around 2-3 different pain creams, Ibuprofen and a few strips of KT tape to everywhere from church to the bars just in case I experienced a flare (which was all too common).
Meanwhile, I sought out as many specialists as I could find to try to help find the root cause of the pain (orthopedists, chiropractors, physical therapists, acupuncturists…you name it, I probably paid at least one a visit).
At 25, it was recommended by an orthopedist that I go to a pain clinic to get injections in my pelvis. I was told that this would be something that I would have to potentially have done every few months for the rest of my life. Being in the waiting room of the clinic was mind-boggling. Everyone there was 30+ years older than me and a regular… meaning they came on a scheduled basis for injections to manage their pain.
I went through with the injections but they only helped for a few days. For me, it had been 3 years of treatments and 3 years of continued chronic pain still without a known root cause. I was more determined than ever to do whatever it took to find the root of my pain and fix it. I could not become a regular at a pain clinic at the age of 25. There had to be another answer. This never ending search was becoming pure agony.
After a lot more time spent in doctors’ offices I finally found a huge lead into one of the key root causes of the chronic pain I had been experiencing. At the age of 28, I found myself in a Naturopathic Doctor’s office taking the Carroll Food Intolerance test. Following a special diet based on these food intolerances was a requirement of the Doctor, what he called his baseline for treatment or the first step in his healing protocol. I had not taken a Food Intolerance or allergy test in the past, although I had spent time avoiding Gluten and Dairy and also following a Paleo Diet. Other diets had never had an impact on the pain I was experiencing and I assumed this one would be no different.
My Mom had taken the test prior to me and her results came back as Potato and the combination of Fruit and Sugar. Supposedly, there is a strong genetic link when it comes to food intolerances and sure enough my results were the same. I was to eliminate Potato and not eat Fruit within 4 hours of consuming Sugar. Potato free sounded way easier than Gluten and Dairy Free and it couldn’t be that difficult to not eat Fruit with Sugar, right?
Well, as it turns out, no Potato means no Iodized salt… Thus, literally everything you eat that you have not prepared for yourself begs the question of what kind of salt was used and more than likely you are not on speaking terms with the guy that made it.
Every place you go to that prepares food that you plan to eat means asking “ What kind of salt do you use in your kitchen?” or alternatively “Can I please have that unseasoned?” and being met with looks that you didn’t even know existed until you asked that oh so heinous question.
You can only have Whole Milk as a random ingredient called Vitamin A palmitate that they put into low fat milks can be derived from potato. Yeast too can be derived from potato. This means no bread or alcoholic beverages that you don’t know the yeast origin. B vitamins (think enriched flour and rice) are also often derived from potato.
Odds are that the only thing you will be able to eat at an average restaurant is a $17+ unseasoned burger patty with a piece of lettuce and a slice of tomato. No mustard or ketchup because the ones on the table are probably made with iodized salt. You might get a salad if you are lucky but you’ll probably have to eat it plain, because the only dressing without sugar or salt is vinegar and oil which many places don’t have.
No fruit with sugar is another ball game. The easiest thing to do is to avoid cane sugar, essentially meaning no sauces or dressings at a restaurant as most every sauce has sugar and most every processed food has fruit. So… that vinegar and oil that I was elated to get on my salad at the restaurant means no beer for 4 hours (even though Stella is one of the few alcoholic beverages that I can enjoy without potato and with a reasonable alcohol percentage). Long story short this new diet is …well not to beat a dead horse but, agonizing.
On the positive side, after about a week of following the diet I stopped having muscle spasms. And unlike other therapies I’ve tried, they stopped permanently. After 4 weeks on the diet I had a sip of a beverage containing potato. Crazy enough I got a small muscle spasm and a headache within just 2 minutes of consuming that miniscule sip. My mind was completely blown. The more potato consumed the greater the reaction, explaining the more recent chronic muscle spasms and also the random muscle pain I got as a young kid (I used to ask my Mom to rub my sore legs with Bengay often at least once a week starting at the age of 5). I finally had a huge piece of the answer to my puzzle and it truly felt amazing.
I once read a quote that said something like, “a sick person’s only wish is to be well while those that are well think nothing about being sick.” Although maintaining the diet is challenging I am committed as I would never trade this key answer to the pain I experienced for so long for anything. I spent most of my 20s in Chronic Pain but I do not plan to bring it into my 30s.
I’ve gotten used to the diet with time but the torture remains in social stigma. Most friends and family members are not only not supportive of my choice but, they also are very critical and find the way I eat to be annoying. It’s very confusing because they are not eating in this way, I am.
Meeting anyone new when it involves food is awkward to say the least. In general I would say 90% of people look at you like you are an alien when you have a food intolerance, especially something as crazy as potato. And about 30% even look at you with total disgust as though you are a piece of gum on the bottom of their shoe (dramatic I know, but you get my point). You can’t really avoid this, because food and drink are a part of life and a central part of living in society. And therein lies the agony. A strong word I know. But, I feel that it really explains the strange predicament that I have found myself in with this journey.
Being in poor health can be agonizing but, in an entirely different way maintaining good health can be too. Our society is not set-up with any kind of a foundation for good health and most don’t even know it. When you find your wellness in a way that goes against the grain you can guarantee opposition.
I am not a health nut, I just didn’t want to be hurting all the time. Why is that so hard to understand?
