Side Effects

When doing anything that's actually effective, there will side effects. Similar to antibiotics, the single most common side effect of most things seems to be diarrhea.

The good news is that diarrhea from supplements and dietary changes is typically not as miserable as diarrhea from being sick or from taking antibiotics. I am usually not in pain. It's just a nuisance to urgently run off to the bathroom repeatedly.

When treating brain issues, there is sometimes sinus drainage, eye issues and/or scalp issues. The brain kind of sticks out into the sinuses and the eyes plug pretty directly into the brain.

Regular black tea is an astringent and it can help dry things up. It's what I drink when I am having a LOT of clear fluid running from my eyes and nose.

Another way I manage side effects is with pacing. Basically cutting back on how much I'm doing at one time so I can get results with less drama and fewer side effects.

Sometimes several smaller doses will help the body absorb it with fewer side effects just because it's a slower pace, spread out over the course of the day, instead of all at once.

The 48-Hour Rule: Two days after doing something significant I typically feel like hell.

I talked once to someone online who was a runner or something who was like "Oh, yeah. Everyone knows that the day after a hard run is not that bad. It's the day after that which is just killer." So it's not just me.

This likely has something to do with moving lymph -- which involves waste removal from the tissues -- and blood processes. Some blood processes take two days.

When circulation improves, I have had pain and other weird issues with hands, feet, ears and/or nose and sinuses. Those are the areas that get shorted first on nutrients and oxygen if there are any circulatory or blood issues.

I have had very sensitive fingertips in the morning sometimes where it hurt to touch anything until I got breakfast into me. I have had pus come out from beneath my cuticles. I have had weirdly colored spots and weird shapes in my fingernails.

Joints are slow to heal because cartilage has no direct blood supply. But after improving everything else, eventually my joints also began improving and this led to strep die-off in my shoulders which led to improved circulation in my arms and hands. Strep likes to settle in the joints and in the heart so I always have to rest a lot when I am experiencing strep die-off.

During the 48-hour rule or other significant fallout, I generally have a policy of "bread and circus." In other words, keep myself fed and entertained (distracted from my misery) and try to not be too annoying or otherwise create new problems while I know I'm dysfunctional.

There is also a phenomenon known as die-off rashes which can be pretty uncomfortable. Washing them with soap and water several times a day helps me reduce discomfort and speeds up the process so it resolves faster.

An uncommon side effect I have had when dealing with brain stuff is violent and/or disturbing imagery in my mind. I concluded this was likely due to infection dying in the visual cortex. Fortunately, it was fairly short-lived and didn't happen too often because it is one of the more upsetting side effects I have had.

I have had auditory hallucinations where I was able to determine that the things I was hearing absolutely were not real. The first time I had auditory hallucinations was in reaction to taking way too much decongestant to try to avoid ending up in the ER for a brewing sinus infection. I ended up in the ER anyway and the doctor was like "Yeah, don't do that again."

I am sometimes really, seriously not rational due to my health issues and I often know it when that happens. At such times I let my sons know "I'm not right" and I just try to keep myself safe.

As I've grown healthier, my side effects have generally become less concerning and I'm generally more functional and all that. It's not what I wanted to go through but I know what the road not taken looks like because I know what the normal prognosis for my condition is and whatever I have endured is definitely the lesser evil over the drugs, surgeries and other torments that are supposed to be my fate.

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