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About me

I am a Close To My Heart Independent Consultant.  I have been paper crafting for about 20 years.  I have been married to my best friend for 36+ years, we have 2 wonderful children and 4 adorable grandchildren, whom I call my Monkeys.  My Favorite color is Purple and my favorite flowers are Pansies.  I love to garden and spend time with my family.  Most days you will find me in my craft room playing with all my toys and trying new techniques.I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 1992 and struggled with pain control for years.  I had been using Vicodin, Tramadol and muscle relaxers.  I was also using 1200mg of Guaifenesin twice a day, which is a mucus thinner, I purchase it at Costco (Mucus Relief).  Click here to see the Guaifenesin protocol.  The Guaifenesin worked for a while, but I couldn't get my doctor (at the time) to talk to me about increasing it.  Last year I found a new doctor who knows about Fibromyalgia and believes in alternative medicine.  Dr Tyler suggested that I try a new approach to my pain control.  Dr Tyler explained that body fat stores inflammatories and that certain foods do too.  He had me start a Comprehensive Elimination Diet, which is also called an Allergy FREE diet.  You remove all the foods that are possible allergens, like peanuts, soy, milk and eggs.  Dr. Tyler said that for the diet to work you must follow it at least 90%.  He also suggested that I double my dose of Guaifenesin to 2400 mg's twice a day.  I started the diet November 4th 2010.  It was difficult at first trying to find food that I could eat, but then I realized that if I went back to basic cooking it would be much easier.  You have to read every label to see if the manufacturer adds sugar, soy or gluten ect. to the ingredients.  You are not looking for Carbohydrate sugars you are looking at the Ingredients list, they add them to all kinds of foods you wouldn't think would have them.  I make my own seasoning by combining spices that I like together and putting them in a small jar with a shaker lid, then I don't have to pull out all the spices and add them one at a time.  I make my own Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing which the diet has a recipe for.  Within a week and a half I was pain free, and off all my prescription pain medicines and muscle relaxers.  I am still on the diet and am able to do so much more than I have been able to in years.   I feel so much better that I don't plan on going back to eating all the foods that are not allowed.  I do miss a few things like Coffee, chocolate, cheese and Ice Cream, but not enough to go back to having all that pain. 
 Update March 1, 2013. 
I have been on the Comprehensive Elimination diet for 2 years and 4 months now.  Still pain free.  I have added some foods back into my diet and have found that some, I will never have again.  I added Dairy back into my diet and found I have more congestion than I am used to having, so I probably am lactose intolerant.  I added sugar back in and only found that it causes weight gain.  I added Sea food back and have not had a issue yet. Yeah!!!  I added Peanut butter back in and swelled up like a balloon for about 4 days.  Thank goodness it wasn't anaphylaxis.  Soy is one that plagues me weekly,  it is hidden in so many foods that I occasionally eat it and end up with tiny blisters around my mouth and nose and if I don't catch it in time and eat that food again, as in leftovers, it goes all over my face.  Not pretty to look at and a little painful to live with for a few days. Egg, Gluten and Vinegar also does this to me. Most people don't realize that some vinegar's are made from malt which has gluten and the ingredients list doesn't always say what type of vinegar was used.  It usually takes about 4 - 5 days for it to clear out of my system and that is if I only ate the item once.  

If you try out the diet please let me know how it is working for you, I would love to hear your story.

Janice

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