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From:	Stephen (58.96.49.93)
Subject:	In need of guidance. My story of pain, hospital, B12, fasting. Long post.
Date:	November 18, 2012 at 9:40 pm PST

This is a long post. I have given it a fair amount of detail
as to better my chances of receiving helpful replies. I
would love Doug to read this all the way, though understand
if he, nor anyone else, has the time. The (unfinished) story
centres around one of the lowest points in my life - which I
aim to turn into a MASSIVE learning experience with the help
of others, including the people on this board. As I state at
the end, I am currently 4 days into a fast with seemingly
positive results. Thank you for your time. I truly
appreciate anything anyone has to say. At all.

I discovered natural hygiene in late 2008. I have read
80/10/10 and as a result changed my diet to three fruit
mono-meals a day and a leafy green dallas at night (usually
after a citrus fruit meal). I live in australia and am a
student (20 years old in january). About 8 months ago I had
some family conflicts and moved in temporarily with my
friends family. I'm quite an empathic person and understood
when this family was slightly struggling with having my
boxes of mangoes and bananas all around the place (but at
the same time really impressed and very keen to give it a go
every now and then). Seeing as I was living on my own (
financially) and studying law in Australia (fruit ain't
cheap here) I was beginning to feel a bit tight. I
regularly watch Harley Johnson (Durianrider) on youtube who
praises cooked starches as a pretty good second place. After
some sincere thought (I'd been raw for 2.5 years, not
organic) I decided to start eating rice and potatoes and
pasta (still keeping sodium as low as I could) to keep up my
carb intake and keep my fat intake low. I didn't feel as
good as when I are enough fruit, but better than when I
didn't eat enough fruit.

I have since moved back home and kept the potato thing
going. Slowly, due partially to having braces and some
family related issues my evening salad started to slip away
to a fortnightly thing (if that). I also started drinking
bottles of reconstituted fruit juice which only had added
vit C. I stopped my regular physical activity and became
rather sedentary outside of uni. My bedtimes got later and
later (1am from my previous 9:30pm). Early september I felt
a tingling sensation in my toes, all 10, that kept me from
sleeping. I tried jumping up and down, I tried tying cloth
tightly around them to try and stop it. The pain got worse
and felt like a burning sensation: buckets of warm water,
cold water, towels drenched and placed over my feet . In
fact it made it worse because my feet would feel cold from
the moisture and burningly hot from this mystery pain (when
I say feet I mean the toe region). The pain was worse at
night but eventually decided to go to a GP.

I told the GP that I had been sedentary for months after
injuring my knee running a 5k and started to feel disgusted
that I hadn't gotten back into it after recovering so I
grabbed some weights, got in the sun and did some exercises.
I told him that the next day I got typical symptoms of
rushing into exercise with too high an intensity: sore
thighs, sore arms etc. A few days later I first experienced
that tingling sensation. He said because it was both feet
the pain was not related to physical activity (sounded
stupid to me) and signed me up for a blood test. All came
back great though my red blood cells were slightly big - 99
I believe, where 100 was the upper threshold of normal. He
prescribed some anti inflams (which I did not take) and
maybe to bandage them up (which I tried but caused the
burning sensation to rise almost immediately) he also said
some crutches would be good. This is when I first got
crutches and when, after a week or so, the pain left and I
could walk comfortably again. Two weeks (maybe less) later I
joined my friends at the beach and swam, threw the frisbee,
and even had a 5 minute jog on the sand (my first time
running since the pain left). Within a day or two the
symptoms returned, only worse.

I could not sleep or walk comfortably due to the intense
burning pain, I was often reduced to tears. After a week I
decided to start a fast. A day into it I told my friend who
works as a surgeons assistant that I would not be able to
perform at her engagement party which was coming up in a
week. I told her my troubles and she said to go to hospital
immediately, a suggestion I had not taken from my parents
after my experience with the GP. I took her advice and
within an hour was being diagnosed by one of the emergency
doctors. He noticed he could induce tremors in my knees and
that there was something peculiar going on without a doubt.
I also had hypereflexia in my knees (the knee jerk test)
which he said was impressive in a bad way. He called in a
neurologist and an endocrinologist to take me as their
patient. As I being assessed by the emergency specialist my
mum mentioned I was vegan and the doctor frowned with
interest and said that there could be potential for a b12
deficiency. I was somewhat educated about b12 (that it is
only synthesised by bacteria etc) but didn't feel like
challenging the doctor who said it was more common in
vegans. Moving on, before he left me to the care of the
nurses to do some blood tests he asked me if I would like
something for the pain (which I said was 8/10) I said I'd be
ok, but mum jumped in and said I don't like taking things.
The doctor said, "Well Stephen, remember that we are happy
to help relieve your symptoms as well as pursue our primary
objective of completing a diagnosis". Then he left and I
gave urine and blood samples. Within an hour the pain made
me cave and I was given two panadol and one endone - my
first drug taking in nearly 4 years. It did nothing for the
pain. The nurse then suggested 5mg of morphine injected into
the stomach which also barely accomplished anything.

I was wheeled into a hospital room that I would occupy for
the next 8 days as I went through a bunch of tests. I spoke
with the neurologist and the endocrinologist who signed me
up for MRIs and constant bladder scans and some extended
blood tests which would take a week or so to process (b12
was one of these). I was still given 2 panadol and 1 endone
which surprisingly took a little pain away and let me get
some much needed sleep. The MRI showed nothing more than a
slightly out of place lower disc. But the bloodtests showed
something my doctors had never seen before. My b12 was
undetectable (<5). According to my doctors research they
concluded that my myelin sheaths (your natural nerve
insulation) was severely damaged. I was not deficient in
Iron or Folate, which they said usually couples b12
deficiencies. They could not explain the two weeks of relief
I experienced. My neurologist said it couldn't be my diet
(even after hearing about my embarrassing supermarket juice
program) because then he's always have vegans coming in with
burning feet. Nevertheless I was given immediate b12
injections. Once every 24 hours for three days. No
difference, but an immediate change wasn't expected. I was
told I could leave the hospital if I wanted to (which I did,
the vegan meals were a little too extravagant for my liking
and internet cost $15 a day!). When I was to be picked up
from the hospital I walked probably 200m (after being
bedridden for over a week) to exit the hospital - because I
wasn't assertive enough to ask to be wheeled out. That
night, I experienced the pain worse than I ever had before
(12/10 pain factor) I was a wreck and begging for some
endone to help me - which mum couldn't get till the next
morning. The next day mum took me to her GP for another b12
injection, as per the endocrinologists orders. She
recommended Lyrica for my nerve pain when I told her that
the drugs I had been taking did little but make me drowsy.
The lyrica did the job quickly, and I was advised to take
two daily. I spent my days sitting at a computer until we
noticed my feet were incredibly swollen and red. Mum became
VERY concerned as it was one of Lyrica's rare side-effects.
But we later learnt that my feet swell whenever they are
not horizontal as the damage to my nerves prevent proper
blood flow regulation (blood goes in, but doesn't come back
out - of my feet - without gravities help).

In an appointment with my neurologist a week after being
discharged, he recommended En Dep (an anti-depressant - the
goal being to suppress my nervous system) as he said it's
much cheaper and not at all addictive like Lyrica and Endone
can be. He also ran some electrical impulses through my legs
and said I have mild nerve damage. I asked him how long do
the symptoms need to remain before he starts to scratch his
head and he said around christmas (which did not bring me
joy)! He also said he would like me to have another MRI at a
different hospital as it has a stronger magnet and is
worried slightly that the MRI I had may have missed
something.

I took the En Dep and it made me feel disgustingly terrible
the next day. Extremely tired but unable to sleep along with
strange painless headaches (I know it's a confusing
description). I stopped En Dep and went back to lyrica and
endone for 2 days, mum pushed for En Dep again as she didn't
like what she was reading about the potential addiction I
could be creating with my current pain relief. I tried En
Dep again and got the same result.

I was fed up. I told my parents I was ceasing drugs and
food. I felt I needed to try a fast. Mum was happy to read
up and supervise me (and I have done short 7 day days in the
past). Within 24 hours of fasting my feet felt minimal pain
(2/10). Within 3 days hunger was gone and I felt minimal
pain although still a mild tingling sensation. My feet would
still go reddish purple upon standing, and I wasn't up to
walking without support. On the 4th day I had to make a trip
to the GP again for a b12 injection and in preparation
decided to have a small amount of banana smoothie. After the
injection my mum took me to the grocery store to buy some
fruits after telling her I would stop my just begun fast and
return to a diet of raw fruits and veges with no pain
relief. I should not have walked around the grocery store,
that night the pain rose to a 4/10 and I did not sleep. I
immediately decided to return to fasting, although I was
disappointed I had eaten after 4 days as from what I learnt
from Dr. Doug Graham and his wonderful wife, Rozi, is that
that is about the time it takes for the body to "switch
over", and eating at that time only to fast again isn't
ideal.

Nevertheless, here I am, 4 days into my "second" fast, with
minimal pain but still the tingling sensation. I am drinking
distilled water, I am comfortable, I am supervised, and
aside from writing this lengthy post have done nothing but
rest.

I still would like to hear as many thoughts as possible
(especially Doug, who is one of my favorite people in the
world whom I admire with all my heart) on anything that I
have said. Advice, criticism, further questions, sympathy,
disgust, or relevant stories are super-welcome. My plan is
to fast until I feel renewed.

Doug, if you advise I consult with you during my fast I will
definitely do so.

Thank you to anyone who has made it this far, I appreciate
your time more than you know.

Stephen.

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