My History... need help

[Guest guest]

Hello, this is my first post. I apolgize if it's long winded but my

past health and events leading up to this point seem relevant.

I've been getting the email posts from this group for about 2

weeks and 's re-starting of the post " I Loathe my

symptoms " on excercise issues really struck a cord.

In 1991 I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and lived with the

disease for years until I decided to have colon removal surgery in

1997. It was a great decision and aside from the daily frequency

of (voluntary) stool movements it restored my life to near normal.

The " J-Pouch " surgery involves creating a sack with a section of

small intestine to store stool. The only other option is a

colostomy bag so you can imagine I'm very protective of this

procedure.

Life was great for a few years, then in 2001 I was playing tennis

in extreme heat and humidity and became disoriented, at the

emergenc room I suffered a major panic attack which took me

months to recover from as I had more of them which subsided

over time. That new years eve I was at a party and indulged in

excessive physical activity, chocolate, soda and alcohol and was

hit again with panic. I was prescribed zoloft which after 3 days

sent me into a multi day depression unlike anything you could

imagine. I stopped taking it immediately and came back to reality

but anxiety plaqued me every day though I refused any more of

that type of meds recommended by my doctor and psycologist.

I began to develop social anxiety and fear of it as I was hit more

in those situations. It didn't make sense, I'm self employed,

making good money, low stress work, happy family life etc.

Playing tennis as I did most summer days always made me feel

better though if I lifted weights I became dizzy and needed to rest.

My anxiety just didn't seem psycological and I felt it stemmed

from damamge to my brain from my heat stress incident. I was

however begenning to notice that eating often triggered anxiety

and I even recall before this all started instances where one

drink of tequila would make my arm go numb. I had also been

noticing the past few years my head and neck muscles would

get tense causing my head to bob as layed in bed. But again, I

still began to improve over time. Until this summer.

Now my diet all my life has been bread and pasta. Particularly

after the surgery because I would take metamucil to bulk up my

stools and bread aided in that process. I was definately a carbs

addict. I did stop taking metamucil this year because it could

bloat a little. This summer I started getting flu like symptoms but

wasn't sick. It would come and go. Eventually I was having

increased anxiety and my muscles would ache. I use to be able

to atleast wake up in the morning feeling well but now I woke up

feeling ill and improved after I showered. My tolerance for heat

and humidity was gone and I seemed to get allergies. Well, I had

all the medical tests done as most of you have and nothing

except my blood allergy tests came back positive on about 80%

of both food and airborne. Finally this fall the waves of illness

were becoming unbarable. I finally realized that though I felt great

after excercise I would get seriously ill the next few days. Even

my sanctuary of excercise was now taken from me. Other minor

candida symptoms have also occured. I had been aware of

candida for a few months but made sure all my medical tests

were negative. Now after joining this group. I know it's either

candida or Gluten intollerance. Two weeks ago I began a gluten

and yeast free diet and am finding it interesting. My anxiety as a

sole symptom stopped, meaning now it has since mildly

lingered as a reaction to my ill health. I felt great the first week

then this past week got very ill again but it felt different, more

male nourished, maybe my body is adjusting or this die-off is

happening. I'm still dragging but I do feel better though in no way

do I dare excercise. This leads me to a few questions and I

again apologize for all this but I found it helpful when I read the

extended histories of some of the members.

1. Can die-off occur with the diet only or is this a nutritional

adjustment issue.

2. There is much discussion of colon cleanses but mine was

removed. Does the candida affect the small intestine different

than the large intestine. My J-pouch was scoped and biopsied

with just minor bacteria counts and no noted yeast.

3. Did stopping the Metamucil (actually the cheaper Equate

version) increase the onset of Candida

4. Finally, I would appreciate to hear the prognosis of anyone

who has become ill from excercise and how they are dealing

with this.

Enjoy

Tom