Complicated Water Filters

Last week, we went about ordering and installing a reverse osmosis water filtration system under the kitchen sink. The goal of this is that I will be allowed to drink the tap water that has been filtered, rather than having to purchase spring water by the gallon and lug it everywhere.

We had a friend install the hardware for us: 4 filters, lots of tubing and hoses, plumbing insertions, and tank. In order to access the drinking fountain, we had to remove our sprayer from the kitchen faucet and use the hole in the countertop for the drinking faucet.

I'm pretty spoiled, so I talked the hubby into letting me get a new faucet that has one of the pull down sprayers. We got one so it could all be installed by the 'expert' (more expert than us). It was great! It had one of those magnetic clips that pulled the sprayer head back up easily, and the sprayer had lots of options.

Unfortunately, the handle kept hitting our window sill. I love having the large windows with wide window sills, but they can cause problems sometimes. There is a clearance of 9 inches from the top of the counter to the widow ledge, with a 2 inch depth. There are very few faucets that fit that, especially one with a pull-down sprayer. We returned the first one, and I spent about 45 minutes looking at walls of faucets in Home Depot with a very nice salesman who was interested in trying to help me find something that would fit. I finally settled on a Delta faucet, and just prayed that it would fit in the space.

It has one of those on-the-side handles, so that wouldn't be a problem, and it had the magnetic clip-in for the sprayer (big bonus!). I was actually able to install it myself, it wasn't nearly as difficult as I was expecting. The friend who was working on the plumbing was pretty sure that would be the case, but I wasn't sure. It was a little validating to be able to do mechanical stuff. :-)

Anyway, the whole purpose of this was that after the filter was installed, I put in the 4 actual filters that clean the water.

And nothing happened.

We tried half a dozen things that I found as possible troubleshooting processes. Three days later, I gave up and called the tech support line. The guy on the line asked me various questions, and said that I probably had just not gotten the filters installed all the way. Apparently it's very common. I told him I turned them (they screw in as part of an easy exchange system) all the way I could. To myself, I thought, I know that I screwed those in all the way.

He was definitely correct. I turned the first filter and heard a whoosh of water running into the filter. Each of the four were finally turned all the way, and the RO system was working! It's very nice.

Now I no longer have to worry about drinking water from the tap and I can cook with good water too! It's very exciting. And I still have no pain! :)

Post Whole30

We Made It!!

For the last 30 calendar days, the hubby and I have been following the Whole30 Diet. It's been an adventure of good food, bad food, sugar-withdrawals, and self-control. If you read on their website, the program is designed not as a weight-loss tool, but as a new way of seeing food and what you put into your body. Often, you will lose weight, but you gain so much more than that.

On Whole30, you are following strict paleo for 30 days. That means no

• grains
• diary
• added sugar/honey
• legumes (yes, peanut butter too)
• potatoes
• soy (it's in EVERYTHING)
• MSG/sulfites/other nasty things

Pretty much, you're left with fruits, vegetables, spices, and meat. It's really not as bad as it sounds, once you start getting into it. The first week was by far the hardest.

Learning what you were able to eat and what to avoid made grocery shopping take forever. I had to read every label to make sure there was no added sugar. We had to avoid things that I normally take for granted: ketchup, apple sauce, spaghetti sauce, dried cranberries, etc. We also had to avoid things cooked in peanut oil, or other mechanically expressed oils. (There's a lot more specific instructions on their site.) Once we figured out some basics, it was a lot easier.

We managed to only cheat on accident a few times during the whole month. We learned self-control enough to not cheat on purpose at all. I won't go into additional details, but now that we're finished, I'll tell you what we have from this experience:

1. Above all, self-control
2. Clean digestion and absorption
3. Release from sugar cravings
4. Weight loss (almost 11 lbs for me, and 10 for the hubby)
5. A greater understanding of what is in our food

After some discussion, we plan on maintaining a large part of the style of Whole30 spirit. Eat more fruits and veggies instead of snacking on processed foods, and have more fun with spices!

We missed the reintroduction part, but that's okay. We're planning on taking it pretty slow to start with, so we should be okay. Apparently you can get some nasty side effects if you go straight back into all the processed foods. I guess that says something about those foods. Anyway, it was an interesting experience, and I would definitely suggest anyone who is having health trouble or dietary issues to try it!

Healthy for the win!

As listed in my previous post, life over the last month has been a blur of pain, tests, X-Rays, and unanswered questions.

I got the most recent round of test results back on Friday afternoon, but they were all normal, so there were no answered offered. The most frustrating part of the whole process is that nothing like RA or PA can be ruled out by testing. It's a wait-and-see game that has to be played while everything else is ruled out in the mean time.

Since all the results were normal, I decided to try something else. My mom is sensitive to the fluoride that is added to tap water. When I looked up the symptoms, it seemed to fit almost exactly. I would post the website, but I can't seem to find it again...

Anyway, I stopped drinking the fluoridated tap water on Monday evening, and by the next morning, my hands weren't stiff any more. I didn't have any trouble brushing my teeth, buttoning pants, or holding my coffee cup. There was still a small amount of pain, but it was mostly just an uncomfortable soreness rather than actual pain. So I continued drinking spring water (instead of tap).

By Tuesday, the pain had dropped by 90%. Still no soreness, and I had more energy during the day. Each day, my joint pain lessens and my energy bounces back to where it should be. It's Saturday now, and I'm working on full detox mode. I'm trying to avoid high fluoride foods and drinks, fluoridated toothpaste, and definitely tap water.

Apparently, the county in which we live has a relatively high tolerance for fluoride in the municipal water system. I looked it up and did some calculations based on the fluoride content, the amount of water I was drinking, and my body weight. The final figure was that I was getting about 4 times the amount of fluoride that is normally considered toxic for someone who is sensitive.

While I am not back to 100%, I really have no complaints. Coming off fluoride seems to be a significant leap forward for me. I pray that this will be the answer that will keep me healthy for a long period of time. I'm even off the prednisone that I was prescribed. 

Beginning the Journey toward Diagnosis

Until very recently, I have always considered myself a rather healthy person. Overall, I eat fairly well, I get exercise, I'm conscious about choices that surround my physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

I say until recently, because on April 5, I was unable to twist the lid off the dishwasher detergent. And I kept dropping things. All. The. Time.

One morning a few days later, I woke up and my fingers were so stiff it was difficult to turn off my alarm on my phone. A warm shower helped, but I still had difficulty typing at work, and turning doorknobs was almost out the of the question. Then my fingers began to ache when I used them (and you don't think about how much you use your hands until it hurts to do anything). Then it was downright painful to do everything from buttoning my jeans to squeezing the shampoo bottle.  Probably about a 6-7 on the scale.

Each morning, I would wake up praying that the pain would be gone, and each night I would go to sleep doing the same. I thought: I take care of myself, why is my body broken? When my knees started hurting so bad I could not physically walk up stairs, I decided I should call the doctor.

Made an appointment, but the next one wasn't for over a week, and I had to get time off (sometimes having a full-time job makes things more difficult).And then I made the mistake of using a symptom checker to get an idea of what it could be - BAD IDEA. I decided that I either had Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), or some other life-long, incurable, disfiguring disease.

With that in mind, I muddled through until the appointment, learning to avoid certain actions and modify others (ibuprofen didn't really help at all). My doctor was satisfyingly concerned, which made me feel justified in making an appointment. She poked and prodded my hands and knees and other joints, ordered X-Rays of my hands, and I think I had half a gallon of blood drawn for tests. Until the results came back, she prescribed a stronger anti-inflammatory to see if that would help.

Took those for 5 days, they didn't really help. What did help was completely changing my diet. The hubby and I started a program called Whole30: a month of strict paleo, and then some. Until May 14, we cannot have any grains, dairy, sugar, legumes, alcohol, or soy (it's a legume, but it's in everything so they specify). You can read more about Whole30 here. After a few days of this radical change, my joint pain seemed to cut in half.

Probably at a 3-4. It was a nice change. My joints still hurt, and they still have some stiffness, but at least I can move them now. I'm able to get through the day without a huge amount of pain, but I still have some, so it's still pretty worrying.

When the test results finally came in -- it seemed like they took forever -- everything was within normal range except my TSH numbers and the X-Rays. I was asked to return as soon as possible to repeat the thyroid test, and she submitted a referral for me to see a rheumatologist.

*in a melodramatic voice* It's the R-word, it has to be RA! *end melodrama*

I went back and was a pin cushion again about a week after the first draw and scheduled an appointment for the following week with the rheumatologist. Unfortunately, I had to drive all the way to South Baltimore for this appointment, which was kind of yucky. I don't like going up there because of the traffic.

The appointment day came, and I went. Surprisingly, my blood pressure was rather low considering how many jerks almost hit me on the way to the appointment. (Just kidding, it's always low.) This second doctor seemed just as concerned and spent a solid 45 mins in the exam room with me, discussing various symptoms and going through my history. It's wonderful to have doctors that will listen to you. He was also wearing this tie. It says Jesus Loves You and that makes me happy.

He finally boiled it down to 4 things that he thought were most likely: a viral infection (that would be great!!), psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or ankylosing spondylitis. That last one is a mouth full. Obviously, a viral infection would be wonderful and relatively easily fixed. A dose of tapered steroids will help me heal if it is, and it will give him information concerning the others if not. I don't have psoriasis, at least not yet, so psoriatic arthritis is less likely. RA is still in, but the symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) actually fit better to what I'm experiencing.

To help narrow it down, he ordered further tests: more X-Rays, more blood work, and the steroids.

Good thing I'm not playing sports. I'm also really glad that I didn't pass out because I have had blood drawn 3 times in the last 3 weeks. It's not fun and I would not suggest anyone do that. I do have a lovely bruise though.

As I said in the beginning, I consider myself a fairly healthy human being. I with my body would catch up to that thought as I await the 3rd round of test results and whether or not I need to medicate for round 2. It's been a strange and eventful month.

On a happier note, my mom did come visit me and we were able to see the cherry blossoms in DC!

Oh, and a panda. That was fun. :)