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Re: First night of methadone

Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2017 7:12 pm
by ViewsAskew
I bought my yogurt starter from Cultures for Health in Minnesota. They have a LOT of resources for all this type of stuff. Not sure what my mom did...but Beth would likely share what she did.

And, I can imagine how frustrating it is for things to work...then fail.

Re: First night of methadone

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 8:02 am
by badnights
I just shredded cabbage and used my hands in a big bowl to mash it over and over with salt. The salt makes it exude its own juices after a while, also after you pack it into a big glass jar and press down on it, it keeps on exuding. (The jar has to be clean and well-rinsed, because soap will kill the good bugs.) But if it doesn't exude enough to keep it everthing underwater, you add a bit of salt water, made with water that sat out for 24 hours to get rid of the chlorine, and to be at room temperature.

Then you weight it down. I use a plastic ziplock freezer bag with water in it as a weight, to keep everything below water. I would prefer non-plastic but haven't found anything else that works. Then cover the top loosely - with a clean cloth, or a glass lid if it's that kind of jar, but there needs to be a way for gas to escape so nothing tight-fitting.

Then leave it for 4 weeks. Not totally - you check it every day at first and then every few days, to make sure everything is underwater, and pick out any parts that rise to the surface (and eat them if you like) otherwise they can get moldy then the whole batch is bad. Taste every now and then but be sure to rinse the baggie well and dry it and replace it leaving nothing above water. It gets tangier as time goes by, and after 3 or 4 weeks is delicious. If it doesn't taste good, it probably got mold or something nasty into it.

I had one batch go moldy = just a bit of mold on top and I hated to waste all that effort and time, so I let it go longer after I removed the mold, but it never tasted right and I ended up throwing it out. The mold happened probably because I used a rock as weight - it was not touching the water, in fact it was in a cup that was on a block of wood (cut from a cutting board - so maybe the glue holding the cutting board together was another problem). I had rinsed the rock, and it had been on a shelf in my house for years so it wasn't full of dirt or anythning, but you're supposed to scrub them well in soap and hot water if you use rocks, and I didn't.

You can add shredded carrotts or other veggies too.

Re: First night of methadone

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 4:33 pm
by yawny
Thanks for sharing the fermented process Beth...I buy a local product that has shredded carrots with ginger and it's absolutely delicious. The other combo that's really good is cabbage with caraway seeds. I spoke to the owner and she passed on this wisdom...never double dip into the product because bad germs from your mouth will contaminate the entire product. She also suggested starting out with just a spoonful of product per day so your body can acclimate to it. Too much too fast can cause it's own digestive problems. Then you can increase to your desired amount. She also suggested that after you feel better then you only need a spoonful a day to maintain balance. Problem is, the stuff is delicious and you won't want to stop at one spoonful. Full disclosure...I could drink pickle juice and love all things sour. Unfortunately, I stopped eating all things vinegar including fermented foods because I'm pretty sure they cause more aggressive PLMD. I'll have to retest that at some point but right now I'm doing another experiment. Sometimes I feel like a lab rat.

Ann, have you considered getting tested and treated for SIBO? From what little I know, it's the likely cause of IBS. I did it and it wasn't so bad, just restrictive for about a month. And my digestion improved a lot. Plus, there's the added advantage of possibly being one of the lucky ones who get the magical golden ticket of no RLS (that's my best Willy Wonka reference).

Leggo, hope you're feeling better soon.

Re: First night of methadone

Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 6:40 pm
by ViewsAskew
Yawny - his diagnosis was at the beginning of my journey. After years of all kinds of diets, restrictions and eliminations, including treating SIBO, I determined the following. To start, I had chronic appendicitis in the late 90s - not very common - and by the time they figured it out, the appendix had perforated and I had infection all throughout my gut. I lost the secum and several feet of my ascending colon. This makes transit times faster and likely makes the other issues worse. I am intolerant of corn - I can eat popcorn, corn tortillas, fresh corn and the like about once every 10 days at most. I avoid it in the winter and eat a bit of fresh corn in the summer. More and I get gastric distress that lasts for 5-10 days and this is the most offending item to me. I cannot eat dairy at all - 20 minutes after dairy and a bathroom better be close - unless I am taking opioids. Beets are a no-no (though I still indulge a couple times a year as their effect is fast and fleeting).

When I follow that, all is fine. None of the many things I tried ever influenced my RLS or PLMS, sadly. But, I have had PLMS since I was a toddler and RLS since a young teen. I was not raised on a typical Western diet - my parents and grandparents organic gardened, raised their own chickens, bought meat that was grass fed from a local farm, and so on. Since the symptoms started so young and long before I ate crappy food (that I learned about in college and later, lol) it seems logical that diet wouldn't be involved for me. Wish it were!

Re: First night of methadone

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 9:26 am
by badnights
yawny - all her advice is bang on. And I too love sour food! And bitter food.