Hi,

I have been suffering with a military related illness for 7 years. The "problems" are diagnosed as Mixed Connective Tissue Disease with 33% lung function loss, 1/2 hour lag in stomach function, Raynaud's, and wide spread pains and odd sensations throughout my skin an body. I have had chest pains for over 3 years, and have heart attack like pressures and thumping in my chest, which I am now convinced is muscle spasms in deep tissue, not my heart (I went to the ER 3 times with the problem and was ok, and I would be dead by now if I've been having heart attacks for 3 years straight - the fake heart attacks happen everyday nearly).

I have been to several natural doctors, and went to a local wellness center where there are 5 Medical Doctors with over 100 years of past practice before going into alternative medicine. I can say through all the money I have spent, I should have followed my intuition from day one. Even with their experience and knowledge of healthy foods, I can't follow recommendations that include grains, rice, and any kind of dairy. I always wanted to eat like I was lost in nature, simple as that. Just water, vegetables, some fruits, and nuts, nothing else. I have eaten a considerable amount of organic chicken with a lot of vegetables. Over the years of suffering - I have never taken NSAIDS for pain on a regular basis or the near 19 medications I have been prescribed, including an array of Prednisone, Methotrexate, and Plaquenil - I have had a pretty low calorie diet with little carbohydrates. I eat very little if nothing, skip meal times iof I'm not hungry, etc. I can't eat carbohydrates on a regular basis because they cause more digestive burning and inflame the rashes on my chest and face. I am familiar with Candida albicans and have taken a test for the antibodies, results were the mildest of candida infection. On a whole other level, I have severe burning on my skin and in my guts when I eat any grains or rice. I am convinced I am sensitive, maybe allergic, to foods that cause heartburn. I do have heartburn and a burn in the same places n my ribs and throat form a reaction, I know this since water can give me heartburn after 3 days of water fasting if I drink too much at one time or drink a little too fast. I have tried all the alternatives to wheat, like amaranth, quinoa, etc. I do not have H. pylori or celiac, been tested. I have been eating a lower calorie, lower carbohydrate, higher (healthy fats - olive, coconut, and grape seed oils) for at least 5-6 years. I am told I am dying, and will be dead shortly by my VA doctors. They are surprised I'm not dead, but I am not surprised I am not dead. I follow my intuition and have steadied my course over the years. Vegetables and water will restore health, I just know these things will, beyond shadow of a doubt I know.

I have had incredible success with lower carbohydrate raw foods, or lightly sauteed foods, pretty much just eating squash, zucchini, been sprouts, beans, and raw nuts. I have also had great, deep tissue healing occur from water fasting. Water fasting has proven the only thing to relieve the deep tensions and pains in my rib cage, which is pretty much a steel plate to the point of 33% loss of lung function. I go through a series of burning in various rib cage tissue, then tearing that sounds like hairs being pulled till they are snapped, then deep, excruciating pains, then more numbness and burning in the area, followed by burning in my ribs, sternum, stomach, and intestines. After these cycles of what I think are healing, but doctors think are worsening health - of which they have no physical evidence I am getting sicker over the years, I have loose bowels that burn and even burning when I urinate. Sorry about all the details, and I could go on and on, but I need to stop.

The main question I have is about weight loss on a water fast. As I have said, I weigh around 160. When I water fast for 5 days I go from nearly 160 to 146, and I am 6 foot 2. I just look like a skeleton, and it is pretty disturbing when I look in the mirror. For the weight loss reason, I have not went past 5 days of water fasting. Recently, I completed a 3 day water fast followed by an 8 day raw juice fast. I nearly went down to 142. I suppose, out of all of this rambling of mine, the question is if weight loss is a factor that should be a reason to stop a fast. I know, for a fact, that I have wanted to fast longer because I am truly not starving, but the weight loss seems so drastic. I am also concerned because I have been on a pretty low carbohydrate diet for years and really feel kind of weak in general from not having healthy grains and rice in my diet. Just looking for any insight. Thank you and have a nice day. DS. Ohio.

14 pounds in 5 days? that, damn, something just seems off...they say more than apound or 2 a week usually means something serious is wrong, but considering everything else your going through I guess its not the worst thing you have to deal with, Im sorry but I have no idea what to tell you, but im sorry you are going through this, and i will be praying for you.

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

I, too, am sorry that you are going through this. I am also glad that you are trusting your body and consuming what is healing to you; keep doing what you are doing. As for the fasting: if your disorder is the result of chemical poisoning, you may have stored toxins in your fat that your body wants to expel, and this could account for your efficient metabolism; your body's getting the nutrients it needs now to deal with this problem on a cellular level. I've never fasted to those results, but I am thinking that the weight loss would be a problem only if it became permanent and hampered your body's ability to store fat soluble vitamins. But this is probably not the case with you. You don't say anything about whether you have a strictly diagnosed inflammation disorder(which this sounds like). If so, it is a pity that you cannot tolerate fruit, as its enzymes can be used proteolytically to quell inflammation. A supplemental enzyme therapy may be somthing to look into.

The VA docs are in a quandary--you have outlived your prognosis using a protocol that is unusual, and they cannot now predict what will happen with certainty. I look at it this way: you should be dead, but you're not. You've slowed the process considerably. It may be possible for you to slow it down even further, and at some point, that may become reversal of the trajectory. Maybe not, but at this point, who can say? I wish you all good things, and much success in whatever your health goal is now, and may be in the future. You have a fine, strong will. Rely on it. Bless you.