Tracy’s Raw Food Journal

The last few days I have been feeling really horrible. Not like the stomach flu kind of horrible. But anxious. And when I say anxious, I don’t just mean nervous. I mean…a constant state of self-doubt. Rapid heart rate, fear so intense that it’s nearly immobilizing. Irregular sleep patterns…as in, only sleeping for 3 hours a night and being physically and emotionally exhausted. In addition to this, it has taken a huge amount of self control to keep from lashing out at others, because I feel so irritable and short tempered. I want to cry or vomit or purge myself of this feeling somehow so that I can feel better. I simply haven’t felt myself.

Then I realized it’s “that time of the month” and my hormones seem to be all out of whack. A primary contributor, I am sure, is the fact that I have been eating things the past couple of weeks that I NEVER eat anymore; homemade mashed potatoes with hamburger gravy (talk about a real wild canon for someone who has eaten practically no dairy or meat for months and very limited cooked foods!), store-bought, microwaved chicken taquitos and cheap chocolate, homemade meatloaf with pork sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, rum cake and ice cream with lots of wine. I mean, what have I been thinking? Of course I am going to feel like CRAP! But, even more so considering that I am 45 and have been experiencing symptoms of perimenopause for a while now.

But the funny thing is, I was feeling GREAT when I was on 95% raw foods just a couple of months ago. So, I did some research last night, after spending several days and nights experiencing the above symptoms, in addition to some others not mentioned and here is what I found…the following are all symptoms typical of perimenopause. My own symptoms are marked with an X: (from http://www.project-aware.org/Experience/symptoms.shtml )

1. Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling – X
2. Irregular heart beat – X
3. Irritability – X
4. Mood swings, sudden tears – X
5. Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats) _ X
6. Irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, flooding; phantom periods, shorter cycles, longer cycles – X
7. Loss of libido
8. Dry vagina
9. Crashing fatigue -X
10. Anxiety, feeling ill at ease – X
11. Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom – X
12. Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion – X
13. Disturbing memory lapses
14. Incontinence, especially upon sneezing, laughing; urge incontinence
15. Itchy, crawly skin
16. Aching, sore joints, muscles and tendons – X
17. Increased tension in muscles – X
18. Breast tenderness
19. Headache change: increase or decrease
20. Gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence, gas pain, nausea – X
21. Sudden bouts of bloat
22. Depression
23. Exacerbation of existing conditions
24. Increase in allergies – X
25. Weight gain
26. Hair loss or thinning, head, pubic, or whole body; increase in facial hair
27. Dizziness, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance
28. Changes in body odor
29. Electric shock sensation under the skin and in the head
30. Tingling in the extremities
31. Gum problems, increased bleeding
32. Burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, change in breath odor
33. Osteoporosis (after several years)
34. Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier
35. Tinnitus: ringing in ears, bells, ‘whooshing,’ buzzing etc.

The interesting thing is…I wasn’t experiencing most of these symptoms while sustaining a primarily raw foods lifestyle. The exception would be the sporadic/irregular periods or spotting between periods. But most of the other symptoms…the general lack of a sense of well being, confusion and fear issues were all pretty much non-existent while on raw foods.

So, my theory is this – I believe these symptoms can be managed or eliminated all together simply by ridding my system of all processed foods and beverages and consuming primarily raw foods. I have had difficulty re-comitting to the 95% raw foods lifestyle…mostly at night. I do quite well most days, but generally give in at night. However, the experiences I have had the past few days have really showed me that I can’t afford to consume foods that are clearly toxic to my system. The pain FAR out weighs the pleasure! So, I will post my results here. I will be most interested to see how I am feeling one month from now, during the week prior-to and week of my period.

If you have had any of the same symptoms and you are even in your late 20’s on, I would highly recommend trying the same thing to see if you get better results with raw foods.

Stay tuned!