IbuActin - Sweet Sleep and Pain Free (Month 2, Day 46)

This will be my third day taking IbuActin.  I gotta tell ya...I LOVE THIS STUFF!  If I take it right before bed (after my INH pill) I sleep through the night so well, wake up rested and my hands are mostly pain-free! My little pinkies are still crampy/achey, but I'm pretty happy with the results.  'Course, I don't want to be taking this for the entire time I'm on INH.  Sigh...I probably wouldn't mind except it costs like 20 bucks a bottle.

The Cycle: For Ladies Only
This month was pretty horrible for me on my cycle.  For my diet being as clean as it is, my breasts were incredibly sore, and I had some of the worst cramps I've had in years. I actually went home 3 hours early the other day because I couldn't sit down...could only pace and was incredibly nauseous from the pain. I did take some Ibruprofin, about 400 mg (2 200's) and it helped some.  I put a super duper hot heating pad on my belly and veged in front of the TV.   Later that night I took IbuActin and the next day felt back to 100%.  I think that it must have only men publishing the symptoms list for INH because I bet I'm not the only one realizing that menstruation and INH don't really mix!

The histamine diet - still on it.

Today:
B-Manna bread with cashew butter. 32 oz water. 2 IbuActin
S- 3 carrots and goddess dressing
L-Black Beans, Artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, sweet potatoes with a brown rice tortilla
S-Goji Berries and lots of tea, chips and apples salsa
D-Mashed Sweet potatoes and Salad with homemade goddess dressing
Shave and an INH, white pill
2 IbuActin

No Vitamins but Tingling Fingers (Month 2, Day 42)

I have decided to drop my dear six-a-day vitamin for a week or so.  In fact, I've decided to drop practically everything I'm taking and start from scratch.  My last day taking vitamins was Friday (albeit not consciously)...today's Monday.  And can I tell you something - I think my hands might be feeling a tad better!  I figure, I started with my multi around the same time as INH - eliminate the possibilities.  Who knows, maybe something in my multi is adversely affecting me, or interacting with INH, OR creating a massive amount of histamines, OR just plain funky.

I am getting some tingling of the fingers...but I know how to solve that - just add back in the B6.  It's not really an intense tingling.  What really happens is a kind of electric shock that occurs right on the end of my soft pad on maybe one or two fingers.  It lasts less than a minute and while it doesn't hurt, it is uncomfortable, and a new sensation.  Imagine sticking your tongue on the end of a 9Volt battery - now transfer that feeling to your finger...

I'm not sure when I want to start back on them or on the B6.  I think for now I want to just see what happens then slowly start adding things back in.

Course, last night I also took a pain reliever for cramps (started my cycle) so I could try to sleep through the night.  Seemed to work marvelously and it's possible that what I'm experiencing is a remnant of that.  I took a sample of something I got from Sunflower Market -IbuActin by Solaray.  Ingredients include: White Willow (Similar to Aspirin but doesn't irritate the stomach lining) and turmeric.

Was slightly worried because I hadn't read anything about Aspirin, just Tylenol and Ibuprofin.  After scouring the web for at least 15 minutes, I finally found this: "Salicylate has previously been shown to reduce the susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to several drugs in vitro. In this study, aspirin, a salicylate anti-inflammatory, antagonized isoniazid treatment of murine pulmonary tuberculosis, whereas the nonsalicylate ibuprofen did not."

Of course, I didn't actually take aspirin, I took the natural form of Willow Bark.  Since there is a distinct lack of evidence on this, I see no reason to NOT take it...Not like I'll be taking it every day for 9 months or something...

Diet:
Water
1 slice manna, bowl of granola with almond milk
Apple
Rice and Cauliflower Dal (leftovers)
Gojiberries snack
Chips and apples salsa
Cabbage Salad (Toasted hazelnuts, shredded cabbage, dressing)
Figs
INH pill
1 ibuprofin

Picture: Aspirin

Insomnisoniazid (Month 2, Day 41)

Why insomnia with Isoniazid?  I don't really have too many problems with this but every once in a while will simply NOT be able to sleep.  I don't think it's the anxiety of actually taking INH, thank you very much.  With me, it could simply be that I've had a particularly stressful day, I'm listening to my son snore, or possibly that I need to change the sheets.  Nevertheless, one of the real side effects of INH is, in fact, insomnia.


I couldn't find much info on why INH would cause insomnia.  I can make a very hazy guess though...INH causes Niacin deficiency which can cause insomnia, loss of appetite, weight and strength loss, soreness of the tongue and mouth, indigestion, abdominal pain, burning sensations in various parts of the body, vertigo, headaches, numbness, nervousness, poor concentration, apprehension, confusion and forgetfulness. Of course, not necessarily in that order...

All in all, it doesn't look like this has been an area with great studies done.

Cheated on my Histamine diet today:
1.  Made almond milk and added cocoa powder...yum.
Ate papusas with both cheese and some tomatoes in them from our local Tune-up cafe (YUM).
2. Made cashew butter in the vitamix and decided to make a chocolate peanut butter shake with the remnants left in the bottom.  It was delicious.

For dinner: Leftovers of various sorts...some hash browns, some sweet potatoes, asparagus, salad.   Some broken almond meal cookies for dessert.

Plus, I haven't taken a single vitamin except Vitamin Sun (D) in 2 days.  Not sure if my hands are feeling better or worse, although I have experienced some tingling sensations in addition to the aches.  Could be that I need to start up the B6 again.  I'm worried that somehow, my multivitamins are not helping me, but may be hurting me somehow in combination with INH.

Will be interesting to see tomorrow:
 - How the cheat with histamine foods/triggers affects me.
 - How the massive bike ride and gardening I did today affects me.  It always seems like I get super musclesore even with slight activity - Today I jammed, baby.

My Diet Yesterday:
Took my pill that I forgot last night...woops!
No Water!  Woops!
1/2 cup smoothie (cherries, soy yogurt, banana, goji berries, date sugar)
Manna bread (2 slices with earth balance)
Wild Oats for lunch: Cabbage with toasted almonds, superfood salad (kale, blueberries, gojis, purple cabbage...yum) and carrot/sweet potato salad.
4 spears asparagus
Roasted red pepper soup (vitamix of course) - 4 roasted red peppers, 1/2 cup coconut creamer, spike.

Made apple salsa, goddess dressing and tahini in the morning...my god I love food!

Image from Positive Provocations

So Long, Cocoa, My Old Friend (Month 2, Day 39)

Have you seen the movie Labyrinth? The part where the girl realizes that the Goblin King (David Bowie) can't actually control her anymore and she says "You have no power over me!" and the whole world collapses.

I can now look squarely at a bar of chocolate and say "you have no power over me."  What a great feeling!  Of course it doesn't mean that I don't get the occasional twinge for a hit of chocolate truffle.  But it's not overwhelming...it doesn't interfere with my reality - not a support beam.

Why isn't chocolate in my diet?  Well, I looked on my handy-dandy foods with histamine list and it was on there, by golly!  With a little digging I found this cryptic blurb:

Food allergy to cocoa appears to be rare although occupational allergy in workers exposed to cocoa dust has been reported (Zuskin et al. 1998 [806]; Perfetti et al. 1997 [808]). However, self-reported allergy to cocoa appears to be common (Brugman et al. 1998 [809]). Because of this cocoa has been included in studies of the prevalence of food allergy (Young et al. 1994 [810]) and DBPCFC has been used. 

It has been suggested that intolerance to cocao involves biogenic amines. However, Jansen et al. (2003) [805] found no evidence for this. Moller et al. (1984) [575] in a study of of penicillin allergy in occupationally exposed individuals showed cocoa to produce non-allergic histamine release in basophil mediator release test. Becker et al. (1981) [21] extracted a species of 20 -40 kDa (centred on 26 kDa) which activates the factor XII-dependent pathways. However, the inflamatory activity may involve polyphenols binding to complement and does not necessarily involve IgE.

So, chocolate basically can stimulate a histamine release, but it's questionable as to the extent of that release.  So, still not on my diet. Sigh...

Of course, many times people are allergic to all the OTHER stuff that goes into those delectable dark bars, but I'm talking really basic, good cocoa here.  See one of my first posts on my fave, really super duper quick and healthy chocolate recipe.  Unfortunately, there are many benefits to chocolate too.  I don't want to talk about those.

Today's Diet:

Water
1/4 c Smoothie/Manna with Earth Balance
Mint Tea
Rice with Cauliflower Dal, apple with cashew butter
Corn Nuts and 1/2 c leftover smoothie
Out to dinner: Garden salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and french fries...
Totally forgot my pill!


Image: Slice of MIT

99 Bottles of Beer and INH (Month 2, Day 39)

Here - I altered the song so it's even more cheesy...

"INH bottles and beer on the wall
INH bottles and beer,
Take the INH down
Pass it around
Leave the bottles of beer on the wall"

OK, not a great do, what can I say...

Staff meeting at work today and beer.  The cart was piled high with some of my faves and I practically had to slam the door in my face to stop from pulling out a bottle of Fat Tire, stroking the label, running my fingers over the sensual curves and popping the lid.

Not that I feel like I "need" a drink.  I think on some level it's the pure taste.  Yum... And on some sick, demented level, it's the sheer denial of it all.  It's kind of like dieting for weight loss.  I must deny myself that chocolate so when I get home at night, I'll eat an entire bag of Hershey's kisses.

Not to mention the social qualities...  Who wants to hang with a bunch of people who all are eating bratwursts, sauerkraut and beer?  And who are all having FUN??  Well, I have to leave early to pick up my boy from school, so problem solved!

Besides, I remain firm in my commitment to abstain for alcohol as I can. (See my post on Alcohol and INH) That doesn't mean that every once in a while I won't partake in a drink.  But unless I feel that it would be extremely rude to abstain in a situation (The President invites me to the White House to share a rare bottle of Pinot), the desire gets the best of me (Dying of thirst in the desert and all that I can find is a cold, frosty beer), or I'm taking a medicine with alcohol (Suddenly feel a cough coming on), I think I'll keep my hands to myself!

My Diet Today:
Breakfast: Breakfast Burritos (Blue potatoes, fennel, cilantro and apple salsa in a brown rice tortilla) and Smoothie (Canteloupe, goji berries, frozen peaches, orange juice, apricots)
Lunch: Rice with Cauliflower Dal
Vitamins
Snack: Gojis and Tea
Dinner: Quinoa, peppers, cilantro, ginger, apple salsa and blacberries
99 bottles of beer and a pill

Corn Nut Addiction (Month 2, Day 38)

Today I woke up and reminded myself that getting up is a privilege.  I worked my hands for a bit, clenching and opening to get the blood flowing.  My two pinky fingers, spreading into my ring fingers on both hands are stiff and achey.  As I understand it, this is typical of Rheumatoid Arthritis, although I've had no diagnosis.

I'm concerned that these symptoms are progressing, not getting better.  Typical of INH-induced Rheumatoid Arthritis, the 2 month marker seems to be about when most symptoms appear.  Since I seem to have an early onset of symptoms, does that mean symptoms will continue to grow?  What if INH has just spurred an already latent disease in me and even when I stop INH, I'll still have the arthritis?

Hmmm...Not fun thoughts.

I'm also giving some thoughts to how my symptoms might play into INH-induced Lupus. Some of these symptoms include joint pain.  However, my symptoms seem to mimic the Rheumatoid side more, I think - Symmetrical pain in both hands, stiff and sore more in the morning.  No swelling or redness, though, thank goodness.

In a later post I'll explore Lupus so I can better understand it and the INH relationship.

My Diet today:
32 oz Water
Breakfast: Hash Browns (carrots, potatoes and oregano) and canteloupe (I used the Vitamix to "shred" the potatoes and carrots in about 3 seconds and then set it to cook - so easy!  I'd just come back every so often to stir it and by the time I was ready, so was it!  And I'd never had carrots in hash browns before, but I wanted some color so thought I'd try - delicious! See my picture even though it doesn't look that good!)
Lunch: Broccoli Soup, Brown Rice, Corn nuts (Broccoli Soup from last night)
Vitamins
Dinner: Cauliflower Dal (Recipe here) without tomatoes
Pre-bed: An arthritis inducing white thing

Possible histamine triggers:
I suppose I should double check corn, my new, crunchy snack friend.  I love CORN NUTS!!!
Also, one thing about histamines - leftovers grow 'em...I haven't been counting my leftovers, but suppose I should...sigh...

Business as Usual (Month 2, Day 36)

Nothing much to report today - business as usual. 

Diet:
32 oz water
Breakfast: 2 slices manna bread with cashew butter
Vitamins
Snack: Tea and corn (roasted and salted)
Lunch: Salad with goddess dressing
Snack: Rice cakes
Vitamins
Dinner: Broccoli soup and Mochi
Pre-bed: My magic pill

Possible histamine triggers:
Goddess dressing