Hi all
I just experienced getting acute Sarkoidosis and it was absolutely ghastly.
It is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammations and some other problems in the body, primarily in the lungs and as acute and extreme arthiritis in the feet (I could hardly walk!).

I am in my 30s and not very overweight. Unfortunately I am genetically predisposed to autoimmune diseases, my family is full of them.

I had no choice but to resort to cortisone (aka steroids, prednisone) and lucky the illness retreated (at least it seems so right now, touch wood).

But this experience is what it took to make me want to be in the Zone for the rest of my life!
Bye-bye sugar, I shan't be missing you (for much longer)

Anyone has a similar experience? Tell us how you managed to make something good come out of something bad...

here are a few links I found on drsears.com. there are a number of these entrys. Please visit www.drsears.com and in the search window input Sarcoidosis

http://www.drsears.com/tabId/399/it...sease.aspx

http://www.drsears.com/tabId/399/itemId/10187/Sarcoidosis.aspx

http://www.drsears.com/tabId/399/itemId/11929/Sarcoidosis.aspx

http://www.drsears.com/tabId/399/itemId/13654/Ankylosing-spondylitis.aspx

Oh I am so happy and touched to see that there are links about this! Thank you SO much for posting them.
I'll read through them carefully to see if I can pick up anything additional that I can do.. Thanks again!

Right now it seems I have had a quite good recovery, perhaps because I immediately cut sugar and started following as much as I could recall of the anti-inflammation zone diet. (It was a couple of years since I read the book).
I like to imagine that my quick change helped to turn things around, not just the cortisone.
I'm on only 5 mg prednisone at the moment, and it's going well. I'll get off the cortisone completely in 2 weeks, so that is make or break time.

I am in Sweden at the moment, and this is not the best place for getting hold of anti-inflammatory herbs etc.
There is Omega 3 of course, ginger and Devil's claw - but some of the other anti-inflammatory herbs like Bromelain, Curcumin and Tumeric were not available. .
I've been taking the ones that I could get hold of though.

Hannah

We should contact our international sales rep Patty Tamponi @ 800-404-8171. She is here daily 7am to 2 pm EST. I would really like to see you taking Dr Seaars OmegaRX.

Thanks for the advice. Yup the fish oil I have isn't concentrated enough, based on the advice from the thread in the Fish oil forum.
I just took 5 capsules as my morning dose alone and I hope for the sake of my colleagues that I won't be stinking like a fish factory!!
At this rate I'll be through the bottle in no time.

I'll print out the list from the Fish oil associations website and take it too the best health food shop in town (Stockholm, Sweden). I
f they sell any of the 5 star brands there, I'll settle for that - else I'll call Patti Tamponi and order Dr Sears from the USA.

There is just a geographical issue, that's all. I am in Sweden.
Just not very excited about waiting weeks for delivery (always happens when you order something "organic" from outside the EU - customs get suspicious and sit on it for a while)
then the extra shipping, customs fee and import duty which, for Sweden, simply adds 25% to whatever the original price was.

I understand, I talked to Patty... She said generally 3-5 days to get to you. I would recommend getting a 6 to 12 month supply and avoid the shipping cost of multiple shipments per year. There is also a source for our product in Sweden http://www.vitaminer.nu/

I used many different brands of Fish Oil before coming to work with Dr. Sears. I can honestly say none of those other brands had the positive effect on me like OmegaRX.

Thanks, the site that you linked to seems excellent. Great news that they have your products, I think I'll get them that way.
They have a warehouse type store in the outskirts of Stockholm and take online orders too.

Happy I could help ! Happier to hear how you feel once you use our product.

That's great, Hannah! Like Tech, I tried many other fish oils before Omega Rx was available. I did not have results with any of them, but I had measurable positive results within days of starting Omega RX. My doctor was very impressed.

Hannah,
Sorry to hear about your illness, but relieved that you're giving this a try. I've been on and off the diet since '96 w/ great results when I really stick to it (no signs of asthma or chronic fatigue symptoms that arose in '82). My answer to your question revolves around my wife's experiences in the last year: We got married in August. Soon after she came down w/ severe flu symptoms that looked very much like rheumatoid arthritis and was diagnosed w/ fibromyalgia. I gave her The Zone to read and started doing all the cooking. Her depression lifted immediately and her symptoms started easing up within days. We both lost weight quickly (w/out any exercise), but--predictably--we both gained a lot of it back in a few months (look up "weight loss plateau" on this site). She also started taking about 2,400 mg of highly purified fish oil and vit. D3, w/ tangible results. She has had five relapses of her condition, but they've lasted only 7 days and we're relieved to have a good sense of control over something that is often catastrophic. A few months ago she tried Zone balanced smoothies and she gave up oatmeal for breakfast and--wow--that really made her into a believer, as her energy and well-being soared as never before. So, here's my advise: go ALL-OUT and follow the diet to the smallest detail (try following "A Week in the Zone" if necessary)... use a scale, go lightly on fruits or stick w/ only veggies for a week... do it all until you really have it 'dialed in' and get the best feeling/natural high/most energy you've ever had, etc--the feeling is very tangible. My wife hasn't had coffee since she 'saw the light,' something she thought she'd never give up. The diet/lifestyle is a lot of work, and it has its detractors, but I don't feel any of them have any credibility unless they've tried it for a week. As far as I can tell, Dr. Sears is a rarified genius; he's responsible for many wholesale changes in the way that nutrition and disease is seen. I'm not sure why he's not more famous and appreciated, as his predictions and theories all seem to bear out (and it's all backed by credible studies). I might also add that there are many brilliant people who contribute to this site (folks who seem to have a fine degree of judgement and discrimination re. both Western and Eastern medicine... these forums have been a huge factor in my overall well-being. Finally, per my wife, they wanted to put her on methotraxate, a powerful chemo. drug (and dangerous poison, I might add). She didn't take it. Likewise, she's off all analgesics and sticks to the diet, 'using food as a drug.' She's never, ever, felt more confidant and healthy and happy. Her scary symptoms turned out to be a blessing in disguise for both of us, because I've stuck to the diet w/ more dedication than ever, and I feel better than ever (and turning 49 in a month). Take heart, Hannah... the best is yet to come.

Thanks for sharing that, Allen.
It will be an inspiration and motivation for many!

Thanks for sharing Allen !

Allen, thanks a lot for inspiring me with this beautiful story. Glad to hear that your wife has recovered.
Interesting to hear that you advise is to go "all out" with the zone, and how that helped your wife.
For me, I am personally in at a bit of a crossroads in life, moving countries and job. Getting ill was the very last thing I needed and changing my diet at the moment feels like a huge undertaking & project.
I was actually eating quite healthily by most people's standards already, apart from a bit of a chocolate addiction and having too large portions sometimes .
I've got as far as dropping the carbs from lunch and dinner, choosing fish as much as possible and lots of green leafy veggies.
Haven't got around to changing my breakfast habits yet and I am still not quite over sugar cravings even if I can manage to surpress them or still them with something that does not actually contain sugar.
So I have made some progress but I have got a bit left to go!

I originally started Zoning because I wanted to be healthy, etc. I zoned on and off. It was a long complicated journey (from my perspective)--I was lucky I had this forum and Sue and Cranberrycat to help me realize that I was VERY carb-sensitive.

I used to eat tofu and two oranges or apples (because the veggies were so large and dense in volume) and be absolutely starving, like I would get with Chinese rice. That was before I realized I was carb-sensitive.

Anyway. I got very sick with allergies--I'm going to a sleep clinic soon to see if a CPAP machine can help me breath at nighttime, since I have an unusual nasal congestion that blocks my breathing due to ... who knows what. I'm seeing an allergist and ENT, etc, as well, for the full work-up.

Anyway. So I went back to the Zone because it always was where I felt the best in February.

I got well, then got sick again three weeks ago. REALLY sick. Too long a story to tell here.

As a result, I removed all wheat and dairy products based on my naturopathic doctor's advice. I found, suddenly, I could stay on the zone diet much more easily despite being severely sleep deprived. Obviously, though, since this was fairly recent, I have to wait a full cycle to see how it really "takes" across month as my hormones change across time.

I quit diet pop, found I didn't miss it at all. Wow!

Now I'm getting the Zone fish oil tomorrow, and hoping it will help me, along with NAET treatments--I'm getting 12 sessions this week. And I have a NAET test too this week to find out what allergies I have. NAET is an "alternative" treatment.

So, basically, in summary, I returned to the zone to get my health back, because my world was shrinking rapidly with me avoiding the living room, the computer room, the basement, and wearing a mask all the time.

Sarah the carb-sensitive who used to be Alexy ... now the cat's out of the bag!! :-) I lost access to my old account, showed up as a new person because I felt kinda awkward returning, but what the hell ...

Thanks you! Now I don't have to be careful about mistakenly calling you Alexy every time I write to you as Sarah! That on top of you begin one of 2 Sarah's has been constantly keeping me on my toes! :)

Wow! Its been a long time! I was actually thinking about you just the other day, the way you write your posts, reminded me of "Alexy".

That was interesting to read Sarah!

I'd like to learn more about what it means to be carb sensitive. How does it show itself and how can you know that you have it?

For me, I wouldn't be surprised if I am protein sensitive... I just don't care for it.... there is hardly ANY protein food that I like or want. I am not a vegeterian, I just almost never want it.
I'd much rather the Zone was about eating lots of vegetables and slow carbs rather than protein!

Hi Cranberrycat,

It feels really good that you know who I am now!

I felt so awkward, falling off the zone and everything, that in returning and finding I couldn't access my account, I took the coward's way out, but it's so nice to reconnect.

Sarah/Alexy

I hadn't realized, Sue, but I can see that now. :-)

No worries Sarah! :)

Sarah/Alexy, sometimes I wish I could be someone else for a day! Sometimes we zone veterans need some good advice, and it feels awkward asking.

no problem, I totally understand!

:-) :-)

Sarah/Alexy

OK, tomorrow, I will be, er ... thinking ... Valentino ,,, sure, why not!
Really embrace my Italian roots ... OK, not with food, though!
.
Get annoyed by those RACE Questions on surveys?
I do,
I answer OTHER and if it allows me to enter, I enter Italian-American!
.
.
Anyway Alexy/Sarah (not the Navy Sarah) - we are behind you!

Thanks, John!

Cranberrycat, Sue, John: I finally got my Zone FO!!!!

Tomorrow will be the first day.

Fingers crossed that this, combined with my particular type of zone diet, will do the trick to get my allergies and other things under control!

Sarah the carb-sensitive, formerly Alexy :-)

Great! I hope it works for you.

So, do you want us to call you Sarah, or Alexy, or ??? LOL