The situation

So, I've had this problem with my upper back for about 9 months now (rib out of place). I was seeing a chiropractor who didn't seem to be helping me whatsoever. After about 6 months of seeing this doctor, who's advise was to do stretches and not lift anything heavy, I got a little fed up. My last visit there I remember being in pain as I sat in my car prepared to drive off and wondering, why in the world am I doing this? Three visits a week for months at a time should take care of my problem right?

Well, one of my friends at work, has this chiropractic clinic that she recommends highly. It's called Health Now (www.healthnowmedical.com). I wasn't quite sure what to think and had been considering finding out what another medical doctor would say about my condition, but my friend was so positive about her experience that I decided to try them out.

So on November 9th I had a free consultation with Dr. Rick. I explained to him what was going on with my back pain and he asked lots questions about my general state of well being. He said that he had a theory that my back pain might actually be tied to my reflux or GERD. I don't know a lot about it but, essentially, GERD is a condition where your stomach protrudes up through the hole in the diaphragm that allows food to enter your stomach. Because the diaphragm can not close fully over the stomach, some of the acid from the stomach works it's way up your esophagus and gives you heartburn. You can also wake up with a really dry throat from the acids burning away the mucous lining on your chords (SINGERS BEWARE OF THIS!).

He explained that, your diaphragm can go into spasms as a result of reflux and, since it's attached to your ribs, can affect their alignment. We'd need to treat the reflux and any intestinal and joint/ligament issues along with chiropractic adjustment, to fully address the problem.

His theory was that the reflux may have started as the result of a previous neck injury. Since the nerves to the diaphragm originate at the neck, any misalignment in that area can weaken the diaphragm, which would, over time, allow the stomach to move up and protrude through the food passage hole. . He didn't even know that I'd been rear ended about 6 years ago, and frankly, I'd forgotten about it. Only after being told all this did I remember that accident and the fact that, although I was in pain for several days after the accident, I never went to the doctor about it ( I know, I know...I was young and stupid and thought I was unbreakable). He also thought I might have some other stomach intestinal issue that was inflaming those organs and exacerbating the whole condition.

All of this speculation has led me to a path of discovery. The first thing we're working on is finding out which foods make my body unhappy. I never thought I had allergies to anything but food allergies are usually just sensitivities that can make real allergies even worse. If your body has a hard time processing the fuel you've given it, then it's not going to be very efficient processing/digesting that food or fighting off germs, bugs, and other foreign bodies (pollen, dust, etc.). Hence I'm starting an elimination diet. I didn't realize how many variations there were until I did a search on the web, but there are tons! So many people have different ideas about how to carry them out (i.e. what foods you can and can't eat, when, and for how long). Since my doctor's a nutritionist (as well as chiropractor) I'll just take his word for what he's outlined.

It's not that far off from most of the elimination diets I read about.

• poultry, lamb and freshwater fish for meats
• fruit (except for citrus and strawberries)
• all the veggies I can eat
• rice or potatoes for starches
• all nuts (except peanuts)
• all seasoning and spices (except vinegar, which isn’t' *technically* a seasoning or spice)
• Only cold or expeller pressed oils for cooking and such
• molasses, honey or stevia for sweeteners (No sugar
• No bread or pasta
• No chocolate (this is the hardest!)

I've probably missed a couple things but that's it in a nutshell. I've found out about some interesting foods on this diet. I've had to shop at Whole Foods a lot and they have this cereal called "Nutty Rice" which is a rice cereal with honey as the sweetner. No artificial preservatives or anything. Just puffed rice. I've been eating the it with Almond Milk, which really isn't that bad (although I don't crave a nice tall glass of it or anything). In a pinch, Lay's has a new line of "Natural" corn and potato chips. The doctor didn't say anything about avoiding fat and these are lower in fat than the normal chips anyway. Try them out if you get a chance, they are really good, and not so bad for you.

I'm at the re-introduction phase of this diet as I write this and have already tried a couple foods out. I thought this blog would be a good place to keep track of my reactions. I have to admit that didn't expect to react to anything. I've never been allergic to any food. Boy, has that changed.

The first food that I tried to re-introduce was eggs. Eggs should be fairly benign right? I've been eating them all my life! Well, eggs just don't agree with me right now. I tried them out on Tuesday, November 22. I had a boiled egg for breakfast which was OK and then one for lunch. About 1 hour after eating the lunch egg, I got the runs. (Before I go on, let me just say that on this diet, you don't get the runs. If you do something's wrong). I also felt really tired and out of sorts for the rest of the day. From what I understand it can take up to three days to react to a food but gastrointestinal reactions are often fairly quick.

So, there went eggs...

The next food I tried was from my forbidden citrus family. On Monday, November 28th (I didn't try anything after Thanksgiving because I, inadvertantly, ate something with brown sugar on it and found out the turkey had been basted in wine, which reminds me:

• No alcohol

On Monday, I had a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice in the morning (about 4oz or so). For lunch I ate a Tangerine. Before lunch, I'd began to notice that my nose felt a little stuffy. After eating the Tangerine, I noticed that my throat felt funny, a little dry or itchy maybe. I also had one of the coughing fits that I get caused by post nasal drip. Since I had one more tangerine, I decided to go ahead and eat it (since it was the last day I'd be able to for a while). Sure enough the symptoms got worse and my nose started to run a little.

I wasn't sure if this was a carry over from some turkey I'd had from the night before. I bought a deli baked turkey breast from Safeway which was fine except for the addition of Sodium Phosphates. I didn't think they would hurt me. I was wrong again, I'd had another case of the runs on Sunday night (11/27). Since I was going to the clinic for an adjustment that day, I asked Dr Rick what he thought might have happened. He believes that they were separate reactions to the two foods.

So there went citrus and sodium phosphates...

The doc believes that these probably aren't permanent sensitivities. He says that, as my immune system recovers from the onslaught of such stressful foods over the years, I may, one day, be able to tolerate, neigh even enjoy, them again. I'm planning to try out beef or pork on Thursday (12/1). I really want some chocolate but, after all these other reactions to healthy foods, I'm concerned it may be a little while before I can have it or ice cream again...*sigh*, Oh yeah:

• No dairy

In the midst of all this, I’ve found out (based on one of the test we did) that I have H. pylori. So I get to start antibiotics next week! Hurray! Not! Anyway, I'll keep you posted on my progress. At least I'm losing weight as a result of this minimalist diet. Gotta keep my eye on the silver lining.