Detoxing and Healing of My Liver
Donation protected
Detoxing and Healing of My Liver
Will you please help me in the detoxing and healing of my liver?
Your generous donation and best prayers are greatly appreciated during this painful season.
SUMMARY
Here is a simple summary of the many details that will follow.
I admit that I can be wordy sometimes. I want to tell the whole story. That includes the historical contexts as well as my hopeful plans for the future. All of that follows this summary.
While I want to be thorough, I also recognize that most people are not used to reading a post as long as what follows. So I offer you this brief summary.
The bottom line is that currently, I am passing through a health crisis.
There are many odd symptoms that come and go daily. I believe that this ultimately traces back to detoxing and healing of my liver.
Today I invite you and others to give generously so that I can afford the foods and nutritional supplements to make this season of transition smoother.
This fundraising goal of only 333 dollars is very modest. And what I want is 555 dollars or more to return to a more normal state before this health challenge began.
It is my hope and expectation that the 333 dollars goal will be exceeded. The additional funds will be used to continue easing this transitional process in the coming weeks. And I will be able to buy things I had put off purchasing to cope with this health crisis.
This is my first Go Fund Me campaign. If the goal is exceeded then I will take that as a sign to use this platform to fund projects related to serving the international college students this fall. Some details about that follow.
There was a process that led to how I came to understand that my health crisis is related to detoxing and healing my liver. I describe my journey into making a one hundred percent commitment to follow the guidelines by Dr. Berg for both a keto diet and intermediate fasting.
To understand more about my story and the keto diet, as well as the keto rash and keto flu, then keep reading. As I have just shared my personal story, I have been amazed at how many want to learn more about the keto diet.
Lastly what I need more than money is your prayer support. Toward the end of this message are simple prayer requests. Some relate to my current conditions and most are the best prayer guideline I have used for many years.
Please keep reading if you or others you know might be interested in the keto diet and how to use a change in diet to decrease inflammation.
Here is what happened.
My right hand, wrist, and forearm began to hurt a few months ago when I had been using the computer mouse for many hours per day.
This got steadily worse to the point that after 30 minutes I needed to stop to massage my hand and to rest.
When I massaged my right hand, wrist, and forearm I needed to dig deep into my flesh to get relief. And that did not last very long.
Gradually I developed a higher tolerance for pain and worked for shorter times.
This was becoming unacceptable.
My projects were not moving forward. The discomfort was interrupting my overall productivity. And it especially upset me when it took out of a creative flow of writing.
My online research began.
My research led me to compression gloves. I found and put compression gloves I liked best in my ‘Save for Later’ list under my Amazon cart. But I did not buy them for many weeks.
I found all kinds of pills and creams to relieve pain temporarily.
I hesitated to go down any path that would mean that I needed to lean on a crutch for the rest of my life.
I viewed many online videos about pains related to using a computer mouse.
One video about hand pain mentioned that this could be due to inflammation and it was possible to address the cause of inflammation by changing my diet.
Then I explored ways to decrease inflammation through a change of diet. There were various suggestions. Many of those mentioned the keto diet. So I shifted my online research to carefully studying the keto diet.
Lots of Youtube channels mentioned the keto diet briefly and covered other subjects too. These were morning TV talk shows that just listed what to eat and not eat. These also included the channels that were big into weight loss or cooking.
My research for a lasting solution led me to Dr. Berg https://www.youtube.com/user/drericberg123
What appealed to me was that he taught me like I am a college student. He explained what is happening in my body. He taught me how the keto diet will lead to lasting improvements. He used his whiteboard to explain the science behind both the keto diet and intermediate fasting.
What Dr. Berg was teaching me is to not only change what I eat and do not eat like the other keto diet videos but also when to eat. He says that the ideal is to eat twice a day with 4 hours between meals. Then that causes the body to not depend on sugars and carbs for energy but to switch to fats and oils. While 4 hours is the ideal he says that 8 hours between meals is good.
I downloaded the free keto diet plan from the home page of his website https://www.drberg.com/ I printed out the 6 pages. The guidelines are clear and simple. It says to eat these foods and avoid those foods.
I took the plunge.
The pain in my right hand, wrist, and forearm kept getting slightly worse.
I had invested much time and energy in seeking and finding a possible long term solution by changing my diet. So it was time to move from general online learning to my personal and practical applications.
I used the 6-page printout as a guideline. I used that list to both make a grocery list and to make some food purchases from my favorite online health food store named Vitacost http://vitacost.com There at Vitacost I bought groceries not found where I normally shop as well as some recommended nutritional supplements that Dr. Berg recommended.
The next time I went to the grocery store it was odd to pass by many of the shelves where I had been restocking my kitchen for years. The keto diet items took me to some shelves where I had never purchased before.
This was the start of an adventure. When I began the keto diet on June 25, 2019, I made a commitment to stay on it for 90 days. I will follow all the guidelines by Br. Berg until at least September 25. 2019. Then I will have completed this very personal experiment. I can then make an objective evaluation of how well the keto diet with intermediate fasting had worked for me. I will notice if I have gained the promised benefits or not.
Then and only then will I modify his guidelines to suit me long term.
My main motivation for starting this adventure was to greatly decrease the inflammation that was contributing to the pains in my right hand, wrist, and forearm. The videos of Dr. Berg listed other benefits by his patients that include more energy and greater mental clarity. Both of those are very appealing to me. I can always use energy and clarity.
I have heard that many people go on the keto diet to lose weight. That was a tiny factor for me that proved to be very important as I entered the transitional phase.
In order to remain true to the printed guidelines, I removed from my cabinets and fridge all items that the list said I am to avoid. I gave away the food in the containers that were not opened. I threw out the food contents of those that the container had been opened. This removed the presence of temptations to cheat on the diet. It was a way to signal my mind and heart that this is serious business. There was no turning back.
Then came the bumpy road.
In hindsight, it would have been better to have taken a week to gradually phase into the keto diet. That is because during the first few days by body experienced all kinds of strange reactions. These would come and go within minutes. Yet my body was clearly signaling me that this was the right direction for the long term.
After a few days, the symptoms of the keto rash and the keto flu began to manifest.
Thankfully Dr. Berg has been helping thousands of patients for many years to transition to the keto diet. He has more than 2500 videos on Youtube and those are offered in playlists https://www.youtube.com/user/drericberg123/playlists
So when I searched his videos related to my symptoms I learned that these are commonly called the keto rash and the keto flu. He explained on the whiteboard that this is normal during the transitional phase. He illustrated what was happening in my body. He mentioned the foods to optimize and nutritional supplements that will ease this phase.
The bottom line is that the ways my body operates have shifted radically. I have stopped presenting lots of sugar and carbs. I have instead been presenting vegetables, fish, cheese, oils, and recommended nutritional powders in my daily smoothie. I have been fasting for 16 hours a day and eating my 2 meals within 8 hours. What has amazed me is that I have not felt the least bit hungry all this time. I have not craved sweets.
My body has needed to seek, find, and use my fat cells for energy during the intermittent fast. Those fat cells are being gradually eliminated. And while that is happening the toxins in those fat cells are released to cause trouble in my body.
I will describe how the keto rash manifested for me. But first, let me be clear that I am just telling my personal story. The body of every person is unique. The presence or absence of toxins will vary.
When I would sit to watch a movie in the evening then small patches on my arms and legs would suddenly appear with an intense itch. The areas this appeared varied from night to night. It did not appear when I sat for hours at my desk all day. This did not happen before I began the keto diet. I used lotion, tea tree oil, and apple cider vinegar. Each of those gave very short term relief. I used a little 91 percent isopropyl alcohol and the relief was longer but still temporary.
Then I searched the videos about keto rash by Dr. Berg. I bought bentonite clay as he recommended. I keep a 32 oz bottle of it by Great Plains in my kitchen. Then I take a small sip all day and all night. Thankfully the rash rarely surfaces. When it does happen then I go take a big sip and the symptoms are gone after a few minutes and do not return.
Healing my fatty liver.
While researching the keto flu I learned from Dr. Berg that when my body goes into ketosis during my intermittent fasting it no only addresses my belly fat but it also cleanses my liver if I have what he calls a fatty liver.
Dr. Berg says that one of the signs that a person has a fatty liver is a pain in the right shoulder and neck. And I have had such chronic pain on the right side and not on my left side for years. I have massaged that area for short term relief. I have used all kinds of exercises recommended by online physical therapists like Brad and Bob https://www.youtube.com/user/physicaltherapyvideo I have had much benefit from the exercises they recommend for my calves and back. But the shoulder and neck pains remained the same.
The liver is a large and vital organ that is located on the right side of the body. Dr.Berg says it performs 40 functions. He has lots of videos about the causes and ways to naturally treat a fatty liver.
I feel grateful that my online research led me to make these changes in my lifestyle. They will not only address inflammation but also lead to healing my liver. A healthy liver will aid me for years to come.
How the keto flu has manifested for me.
Again what I am describing here is my personal story. Every other person will have other adjustments when transitioning to the keto diet. It is possible that many people will have zero or very few unpleasant symptoms. A friend informed me that all he needed to do was drink more water to deal with his keto flu.
Here is a list of symptoms that suddenly came and went in less than an hour.
headache
earache
dry mouth
cough
weakness all over
brain fog
need to hold the walls while walking inside
cramps in my calves
cold toes
I had a few cold sores. Then I took L-lysine amino acid supplement helped that go away just like many times before.
Before the keto diet, I used eye drops less than one time per month to get a foreign thing out of one eye. But since then I use them at least 5 times a day in both eyes. There is gunk that gets in my eyelashes while going about my normal activities indoors.
I have had mild post nasal drip all my adult life. But since going on the keto diet the amount of mucus greatly increased. I woke up a few times in the middle of the night almost choking on my own mucus.
Previously when there was a little flare-up I could use my saline mist that had worked well for decades. My next level of self-care was to drink some water with lemon. And the next level was to take a vitamin C capsule. All those helped a little with this keto flu but they did not restore me to normal breathing.
Before the keto diet, I would often massage my neck from behind my earlobe down to my shoulder. That is where some discomfort was the worst. I think that helped to drain my lymph. Since going on the keto diet that area has not been uncomfortable.
I want the funds both immediately and later.
Let me be open and honest with you.
I want the additional money right away. I have enough money to squeak by, so I can make it if there are zero dollars raised.
Living in a homeless shelter for 3 years taught me how to do without all my wants and many of my needs.
At the same time, there are many items waiting in my online carts to be bought right away.
Then maybe you came on this long after it was initially published. Your gift will be used to help stock the pantry with keto diet-related items. Then I will have high-quality fuel for my body on hand as I seek to serve the international college students this fall.
My current situation is only semi-urgent.
Let me be clear. God has made a way for me to get this far. He has been faithful to meet all my most basic needs not only during the past few weeks but also while at the homeless shelter and at critical moments of transformation for the past decades.
If this campaign raises no money then I will barely make it financially while enduring all kinds of minor pains and doing without some purchases not related to the keto diet.
I am committed to remaining on the keto diet for 90 days and that commitment ends on September 25, 2019.
I trust the lessons of Dr. Berg. I believe the success stories of his patients that he shares https://www.drberg.com/success-stories.
I appreciate that all the videos are summarized in his book The Healthy Keto Diet https://shop.drberg.com/drbergs-new-body-type-guide
So I expect that by the end of September my body will have made many valuable changes including starting to detox my fatty liver and I will lose all of my belly fat.
Dr. Berg indicates that having a fatty liver means that it has become damaged and weakened.
Thankfully the liver is able to repair itself over time. That could take many months or years to fully repair.
When I buy and use the supplements he recommends then that healing process will be accelerated.
Dr. Berg lists on some of his 2500 videos on Youtube the many functions that the liver has in the overall operation of the body. So I want to do all I can to support my liver so that it can better support me. I have always bought the best supplements I could afford. With a successful campaign here that will give me a big boost in the detoxing and healing of my liver.
Here is a summary of my background.
There is a context to consider when seeking to understand any matter. In this case, the context relates to when and how all those toxins got into my body.
It is my best guess that my symptoms for the keto flu and the keto rash are because the fat that is being used these days was added to my body when I lived in the homeless shelter for 3 years. If I had gained the weight in the suburbs where I was not walking next to congested traffic daily for 36 months there would not be as many toxins to be removed. Or if I had been downtown and not eaten the cheap shelter food, then I would not have gained all this weight.
During those days I was walking 3 to 5 miles a day on the sidewalk next to those exhaust pipes of cars, buses, and trucks. I was walking to and from the shelter as I went to spend the day online at the downtown library or community college.
I noticed that from my teen years until the shelter years I had never gained or lost any weight. I wore the same pants for all those years. But then I needed to get pants with larger waistlines when I lived at the homeless shelter. I gained a little bulge at my belly that did not trouble me.
In my opinion, the gradual loss of those 25 pounds and detoxing of my fatty liver are the cause of my discomfort.
I visited my doctor recently. There I learned that I had lost eleven pounds in the first 3 weeks on the keto diet.
While I lived in the homeless shelter the chronic pain in my right shoulder and neck began. So I think that is when I developed a fatty liver.
I was taking much Ibuprofen daily to cope with the stress of that season of my life.
I was able to move out of the homeless shelter 2 years ago and into this peaceful apartment. That is because I began to receive my social security retirement income as well as housing subsidies, Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps.
As my body has been aging there are subtle shifts that I have become aware of and this motivates me to optimize my diet.
I had been leaning too much on Ibuprofen to dull the general pains that I think comes from inflammation. And leaning on that has been hard on my liver.
If the promises of the keto diet prove true than in a few weeks I will have more energy and greater clarity without using caffeine or leaning on Ibuprofen.
I am 66 years old. My father died last year at 94 years old. And he was healthy up to his last year. Both my grandfathers lived into their 80s. So I expect to live many more years.
I want to have a healthy, strong, and pain-free body until my last day.
My mind, habits, and my body has adjusted. It is just those toxins that must go.
I tell myself that this too will pass. There is a beginning, middle, and end of this as well as every transitional phase.
The great good news is that after those toxins exit my body those particular toxins will not return into my body.
This current process is like deep cleaning at a cellular level.
Dr. Berg says that the liver can rebuild itself. So after the fat and toxins are gone from my liver it will gradually get better. That may take months or years. But I am committed to doing what is best for my body as well as I can afford it until my last day.
Here is a peek into my background and future plans.
For many years I have invested the majority of my waking hours (when not at a job) online to research, plan, and prepare to minister in the name of Jesus Christ.
Since I have been retired that allowed me to invest much more time online.
I have made attempts to launch an innovative educational enterprise. But none of those got off the ground.
After each fumble, I got over my depression and then I went back to study more about internet marketing, storytelling, time management, productivity, video marketing, membership sites, creating online courses, and more.
Currently, my plan is to launch and lead an online enterprise to serve international college students this fall. When I work on staff at a seminary for 12 years I was at the help desk of the student computer lab. There I found repeatedly that it was the international students that I resonated with the most.
What I have been preparing to offer includes guidelines to adjust to the American ways of communicating and navigating the ways to get practical needs met. I want to help them with improving spoken and written English. There will be lots of vetted links to the best resources for study skills, time management, productivity, creativity, vocational guidance, and more.
I will not set myself up as the central guru. Instead, I will link to the best books and teachers online. I will create an interactive online community where they can encourage and support one another. I will also offer my teachings based on insights from my complex journey but that will not be the centerpiece.
There have been many detours, distractions, and obstacles. For example one of my websites where I have received thousands of dollars in donations over the years is not letting me view the donate page, even as a visitor. That drove me to set up this Go Fund Me.
AMAZON WISHLIST
I have made an Amazon Wish List with items that can help me during this detoxing season.
Those items include the following.
Bed wedge so that my head is elevated and the mucus will flow down instead of stuffing up my sinuses. This kind of item is also used for those with acid reflux in case you know others with that challenge.
Special nasal mister because the standard one I have been using for decades is not helping as much.
Vertical ergonomic mouse to take the strain off my wrist. If you have some hand or wrist pains then this could help you too.
A long mouse pad that will attach to the arm of my desk chair. Then there will be less strain on my arm and I will not lean forward as much.
Eye drops that an eye doctor highly recommended.
The total of all these items is about 150 dollars.
My shipping address is embedded in the Wish List in case you choose to sponsor 1 or more of those items.
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3H7G9454ZEHE2/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_2?_encoding=UTF8
Dr. Beg recommends several nutritional supplements to aid the body during this transition and to digest the fat. I have some of the ones he most highly recommended in my shopping cart at Vitacost www.vitacost.com and the total is 114 dollars.
I bought foods that are on the diet. I am learning to cook them but mostly I put them in my smoothie. My smoothies are getting more complex and more filling.
Let me hope for the best.
The best-case scenario is that some friends and strangers soon give very generously to help me during this unpleasant season.
Then I will buy the items in the shopping carts right away.
I chose the goal of 333 dollars because 333 is a pretty number to me.
I would rather pick a small number and go way over then pick a big number and fall short. That would sting me emotionally.
If I was experienced at using this platform and I had more confidence then I would have set the goal at 555 dollars.
What writing this there were moments when my faith was strong and my expectations were high. It is possible that God could bless me with 777 dollars and more.
Let me share with you how I would use funds when it is more than the low hurdle of 333 dollars.
I would restore my small emergency savings buffer in my checking account.
I would buy the items Dr. Berg recommends to replace the groceries that I gave away or threw away. That this includes olive oil, olives, cheese, turkey jerky, canned fish, frozen vegetables, hummus, and bone broth.
I would buy the kinds of nutritional supplements and powers for my smoothies that Dr. Berg recommends.
I would buy some of my needs and wants that I have been postponing like batteries, books, clothes, and replace broken Bluetooth headphones.
Consider these prayer requests for me, others, and yourself.
As a senior citizen, I have learned the hard way over the decades that it is always best to request prayers. Then as God answers those prayers life unfolds smoother.
First, let me share with you those prayer requests that have worked best for me over the decades. You are invited to pray these for me. You can adapt them to pray for your family members and friends. And please remember to pray these for yourself.
This will also give you a peek into how I intend to serve international college students this fall. I will both invite the students to pray prayers like these for themselves and for them to pray for one another.
WISDOM
When a person asks if they can pray for me, and there is no pressing need, then I say that I want wisdom.
Then if they seem to pause and want more, then I say I want wisdom from God as well as understanding and insights. A careful reading of the book of Proverbs in the Bible teaches me that gaining wisdom, understanding, and insights are to be sought more than any other objective.
I have often prayed for God to grant me wisdom and like it says in the first chapter of the book of James chapter one verse 5. And like the verse promises, God grants wisdom easily.
BIG 3
In some settings, I ask an intercessor or prayer group for these super simple requests. I want these for the rest of my days. As I have the answers to these then I believe that other matters will fall into line.
And I pray for these for myself.
Do not underestimate how useful these few words are.
Please pray for me to:
think clearly
choose wisely
be grateful.
IMPROVE STEWARDSHIP
I have lived a very complicated and difficult life. There were many times when things got all shook up and I needed to reorient the overall direction for my life during a major and confusing transition. From these trials I came to conclude that the most useful and universal way to aim my life is to consider the following. And I believe this general guideline also can work for many others including college students, seekers, housewives, business owners, teens, and others.
This is a super simple sentence. Yet it has served me like the North Star for navigating in a sailboat without instruments.
Please pray for me to consistently improve the stewardship of my time, talents, and treasures. (In this context treasure refers to things and money.)
Here are just 12 words that stuck with me.
While I lived at the homeless shelter I had a cot in a huge room with more than 100 other men. That was a converted warehouse.
Shortly before lights out there was an option to go to the front and join an ad hoc prayer circle. It was led by anyone present.
One time a very godly man led our group. He ended with the following 12 words that he had us say together. And out of the millions of words I had heard before or since these stuck with me. Maybe they will stick with you too.
Later God opened the door for me to preach at a small church for dozens of weeks. I used these 12 words as a way to end many of my messages. I asked those in attendance to say the first 4 words loudly and then the next 4 words at a normal volume while ending with the last 4 words in a whisper.
MUCH PRAYER - MUCH POWER
Little Prayer - Little Power
no prayer - no power
THIS GO FUND ME CAMPAIGN
Please pray your best prayers now and later so that the fundraising goal of 333 dollars will be met soon and that there will be much more given also.
Pray for me to learn how to effectively use this God Fund Me platform in order to leverage it well in the coming months.
Pray for researching, planning and preparing to serve the international college students will keep moving forward gracefully.
I greatly appreciate your reading this as well as your financial and prayer support.
If you have read this far then I feel deeply honored by your investing time to read this long message.
I would like to award you with a large gold star just for reading all this.
It took me more than 9 hours to write all this. There were times I felt that it was far too long. But there are so many parts and levels that interrelate I did not know how to make it shorter.
I know from raising thousands of dollars over the decades that most people want a simple summary. Yet there are a few that want all the details.
I know that when I tell the backstory and sketch the current conditions then the best intercessors pray the best prayers.
I need a readership for my writings. I have hundreds of blog posts and dozens of online articles. Your reading this far is an encouragement to my heart.
I need funds to move ahead smoothers and faster.
I need prayers to move ahead most gracefully.
At the end of the day, I admit that I am powerless to make any money come to me. But what I can do is speak my truth, be as vulnerable as possible, and request financial as well as prayer support. Then all I can do is wait while trusting God to meet my needs right on time.
I have enjoyed giving money to those in real need and I think you will enjoy giving to me now.
While I have never been financially prosperous yet I have often enjoyed giving to help individuals, organizations, and churches. But for me to know what the need was and how my money will help I needed to be informed. That is why I have put myself out here like this. I believe there are many others that do not have an abundance of money but they want their charitable giving to be used effectively. There is a special internal reward for the giver. I did not want my friends and strangers to be unaware of how an input of money will greatly help me currently.
During the past decades, I have raised thousands of dollars by just using emails and a Paypal link. I know that there are some to give modest amounts like 10 or 20 dollars. Others give more like 50 and 100 dollars. Then there are the few that have given a few hundred dollars. All of those amounts are important and appreciated. Together they combine to reach the goal.
While financial support is wonderful during this season I also request your best prayers both now and as your remember to pray for me.
THANKS
Will you please help me in the detoxing and healing of my liver?
Your generous donation and best prayers are greatly appreciated during this painful season.
SUMMARY
Here is a simple summary of the many details that will follow.
I admit that I can be wordy sometimes. I want to tell the whole story. That includes the historical contexts as well as my hopeful plans for the future. All of that follows this summary.
While I want to be thorough, I also recognize that most people are not used to reading a post as long as what follows. So I offer you this brief summary.
The bottom line is that currently, I am passing through a health crisis.
There are many odd symptoms that come and go daily. I believe that this ultimately traces back to detoxing and healing of my liver.
Today I invite you and others to give generously so that I can afford the foods and nutritional supplements to make this season of transition smoother.
This fundraising goal of only 333 dollars is very modest. And what I want is 555 dollars or more to return to a more normal state before this health challenge began.
It is my hope and expectation that the 333 dollars goal will be exceeded. The additional funds will be used to continue easing this transitional process in the coming weeks. And I will be able to buy things I had put off purchasing to cope with this health crisis.
This is my first Go Fund Me campaign. If the goal is exceeded then I will take that as a sign to use this platform to fund projects related to serving the international college students this fall. Some details about that follow.
There was a process that led to how I came to understand that my health crisis is related to detoxing and healing my liver. I describe my journey into making a one hundred percent commitment to follow the guidelines by Dr. Berg for both a keto diet and intermediate fasting.
To understand more about my story and the keto diet, as well as the keto rash and keto flu, then keep reading. As I have just shared my personal story, I have been amazed at how many want to learn more about the keto diet.
Lastly what I need more than money is your prayer support. Toward the end of this message are simple prayer requests. Some relate to my current conditions and most are the best prayer guideline I have used for many years.
Please keep reading if you or others you know might be interested in the keto diet and how to use a change in diet to decrease inflammation.
Here is what happened.
My right hand, wrist, and forearm began to hurt a few months ago when I had been using the computer mouse for many hours per day.
This got steadily worse to the point that after 30 minutes I needed to stop to massage my hand and to rest.
When I massaged my right hand, wrist, and forearm I needed to dig deep into my flesh to get relief. And that did not last very long.
Gradually I developed a higher tolerance for pain and worked for shorter times.
This was becoming unacceptable.
My projects were not moving forward. The discomfort was interrupting my overall productivity. And it especially upset me when it took out of a creative flow of writing.
My online research began.
My research led me to compression gloves. I found and put compression gloves I liked best in my ‘Save for Later’ list under my Amazon cart. But I did not buy them for many weeks.
I found all kinds of pills and creams to relieve pain temporarily.
I hesitated to go down any path that would mean that I needed to lean on a crutch for the rest of my life.
I viewed many online videos about pains related to using a computer mouse.
One video about hand pain mentioned that this could be due to inflammation and it was possible to address the cause of inflammation by changing my diet.
Then I explored ways to decrease inflammation through a change of diet. There were various suggestions. Many of those mentioned the keto diet. So I shifted my online research to carefully studying the keto diet.
Lots of Youtube channels mentioned the keto diet briefly and covered other subjects too. These were morning TV talk shows that just listed what to eat and not eat. These also included the channels that were big into weight loss or cooking.
My research for a lasting solution led me to Dr. Berg https://www.youtube.com/user/drericberg123
What appealed to me was that he taught me like I am a college student. He explained what is happening in my body. He taught me how the keto diet will lead to lasting improvements. He used his whiteboard to explain the science behind both the keto diet and intermediate fasting.
What Dr. Berg was teaching me is to not only change what I eat and do not eat like the other keto diet videos but also when to eat. He says that the ideal is to eat twice a day with 4 hours between meals. Then that causes the body to not depend on sugars and carbs for energy but to switch to fats and oils. While 4 hours is the ideal he says that 8 hours between meals is good.
I downloaded the free keto diet plan from the home page of his website https://www.drberg.com/ I printed out the 6 pages. The guidelines are clear and simple. It says to eat these foods and avoid those foods.
I took the plunge.
The pain in my right hand, wrist, and forearm kept getting slightly worse.
I had invested much time and energy in seeking and finding a possible long term solution by changing my diet. So it was time to move from general online learning to my personal and practical applications.
I used the 6-page printout as a guideline. I used that list to both make a grocery list and to make some food purchases from my favorite online health food store named Vitacost http://vitacost.com There at Vitacost I bought groceries not found where I normally shop as well as some recommended nutritional supplements that Dr. Berg recommended.
The next time I went to the grocery store it was odd to pass by many of the shelves where I had been restocking my kitchen for years. The keto diet items took me to some shelves where I had never purchased before.
This was the start of an adventure. When I began the keto diet on June 25, 2019, I made a commitment to stay on it for 90 days. I will follow all the guidelines by Br. Berg until at least September 25. 2019. Then I will have completed this very personal experiment. I can then make an objective evaluation of how well the keto diet with intermediate fasting had worked for me. I will notice if I have gained the promised benefits or not.
Then and only then will I modify his guidelines to suit me long term.
My main motivation for starting this adventure was to greatly decrease the inflammation that was contributing to the pains in my right hand, wrist, and forearm. The videos of Dr. Berg listed other benefits by his patients that include more energy and greater mental clarity. Both of those are very appealing to me. I can always use energy and clarity.
I have heard that many people go on the keto diet to lose weight. That was a tiny factor for me that proved to be very important as I entered the transitional phase.
In order to remain true to the printed guidelines, I removed from my cabinets and fridge all items that the list said I am to avoid. I gave away the food in the containers that were not opened. I threw out the food contents of those that the container had been opened. This removed the presence of temptations to cheat on the diet. It was a way to signal my mind and heart that this is serious business. There was no turning back.
Then came the bumpy road.
In hindsight, it would have been better to have taken a week to gradually phase into the keto diet. That is because during the first few days by body experienced all kinds of strange reactions. These would come and go within minutes. Yet my body was clearly signaling me that this was the right direction for the long term.
After a few days, the symptoms of the keto rash and the keto flu began to manifest.
Thankfully Dr. Berg has been helping thousands of patients for many years to transition to the keto diet. He has more than 2500 videos on Youtube and those are offered in playlists https://www.youtube.com/user/drericberg123/playlists
So when I searched his videos related to my symptoms I learned that these are commonly called the keto rash and the keto flu. He explained on the whiteboard that this is normal during the transitional phase. He illustrated what was happening in my body. He mentioned the foods to optimize and nutritional supplements that will ease this phase.
The bottom line is that the ways my body operates have shifted radically. I have stopped presenting lots of sugar and carbs. I have instead been presenting vegetables, fish, cheese, oils, and recommended nutritional powders in my daily smoothie. I have been fasting for 16 hours a day and eating my 2 meals within 8 hours. What has amazed me is that I have not felt the least bit hungry all this time. I have not craved sweets.
My body has needed to seek, find, and use my fat cells for energy during the intermittent fast. Those fat cells are being gradually eliminated. And while that is happening the toxins in those fat cells are released to cause trouble in my body.
I will describe how the keto rash manifested for me. But first, let me be clear that I am just telling my personal story. The body of every person is unique. The presence or absence of toxins will vary.
When I would sit to watch a movie in the evening then small patches on my arms and legs would suddenly appear with an intense itch. The areas this appeared varied from night to night. It did not appear when I sat for hours at my desk all day. This did not happen before I began the keto diet. I used lotion, tea tree oil, and apple cider vinegar. Each of those gave very short term relief. I used a little 91 percent isopropyl alcohol and the relief was longer but still temporary.
Then I searched the videos about keto rash by Dr. Berg. I bought bentonite clay as he recommended. I keep a 32 oz bottle of it by Great Plains in my kitchen. Then I take a small sip all day and all night. Thankfully the rash rarely surfaces. When it does happen then I go take a big sip and the symptoms are gone after a few minutes and do not return.
Healing my fatty liver.
While researching the keto flu I learned from Dr. Berg that when my body goes into ketosis during my intermittent fasting it no only addresses my belly fat but it also cleanses my liver if I have what he calls a fatty liver.
Dr. Berg says that one of the signs that a person has a fatty liver is a pain in the right shoulder and neck. And I have had such chronic pain on the right side and not on my left side for years. I have massaged that area for short term relief. I have used all kinds of exercises recommended by online physical therapists like Brad and Bob https://www.youtube.com/user/physicaltherapyvideo I have had much benefit from the exercises they recommend for my calves and back. But the shoulder and neck pains remained the same.
The liver is a large and vital organ that is located on the right side of the body. Dr.Berg says it performs 40 functions. He has lots of videos about the causes and ways to naturally treat a fatty liver.
I feel grateful that my online research led me to make these changes in my lifestyle. They will not only address inflammation but also lead to healing my liver. A healthy liver will aid me for years to come.
How the keto flu has manifested for me.
Again what I am describing here is my personal story. Every other person will have other adjustments when transitioning to the keto diet. It is possible that many people will have zero or very few unpleasant symptoms. A friend informed me that all he needed to do was drink more water to deal with his keto flu.
Here is a list of symptoms that suddenly came and went in less than an hour.
headache
earache
dry mouth
cough
weakness all over
brain fog
need to hold the walls while walking inside
cramps in my calves
cold toes
I had a few cold sores. Then I took L-lysine amino acid supplement helped that go away just like many times before.
Before the keto diet, I used eye drops less than one time per month to get a foreign thing out of one eye. But since then I use them at least 5 times a day in both eyes. There is gunk that gets in my eyelashes while going about my normal activities indoors.
I have had mild post nasal drip all my adult life. But since going on the keto diet the amount of mucus greatly increased. I woke up a few times in the middle of the night almost choking on my own mucus.
Previously when there was a little flare-up I could use my saline mist that had worked well for decades. My next level of self-care was to drink some water with lemon. And the next level was to take a vitamin C capsule. All those helped a little with this keto flu but they did not restore me to normal breathing.
Before the keto diet, I would often massage my neck from behind my earlobe down to my shoulder. That is where some discomfort was the worst. I think that helped to drain my lymph. Since going on the keto diet that area has not been uncomfortable.
I want the funds both immediately and later.
Let me be open and honest with you.
I want the additional money right away. I have enough money to squeak by, so I can make it if there are zero dollars raised.
Living in a homeless shelter for 3 years taught me how to do without all my wants and many of my needs.
At the same time, there are many items waiting in my online carts to be bought right away.
Then maybe you came on this long after it was initially published. Your gift will be used to help stock the pantry with keto diet-related items. Then I will have high-quality fuel for my body on hand as I seek to serve the international college students this fall.
My current situation is only semi-urgent.
Let me be clear. God has made a way for me to get this far. He has been faithful to meet all my most basic needs not only during the past few weeks but also while at the homeless shelter and at critical moments of transformation for the past decades.
If this campaign raises no money then I will barely make it financially while enduring all kinds of minor pains and doing without some purchases not related to the keto diet.
I am committed to remaining on the keto diet for 90 days and that commitment ends on September 25, 2019.
I trust the lessons of Dr. Berg. I believe the success stories of his patients that he shares https://www.drberg.com/success-stories.
I appreciate that all the videos are summarized in his book The Healthy Keto Diet https://shop.drberg.com/drbergs-new-body-type-guide
So I expect that by the end of September my body will have made many valuable changes including starting to detox my fatty liver and I will lose all of my belly fat.
Dr. Berg indicates that having a fatty liver means that it has become damaged and weakened.
Thankfully the liver is able to repair itself over time. That could take many months or years to fully repair.
When I buy and use the supplements he recommends then that healing process will be accelerated.
Dr. Berg lists on some of his 2500 videos on Youtube the many functions that the liver has in the overall operation of the body. So I want to do all I can to support my liver so that it can better support me. I have always bought the best supplements I could afford. With a successful campaign here that will give me a big boost in the detoxing and healing of my liver.
Here is a summary of my background.
There is a context to consider when seeking to understand any matter. In this case, the context relates to when and how all those toxins got into my body.
It is my best guess that my symptoms for the keto flu and the keto rash are because the fat that is being used these days was added to my body when I lived in the homeless shelter for 3 years. If I had gained the weight in the suburbs where I was not walking next to congested traffic daily for 36 months there would not be as many toxins to be removed. Or if I had been downtown and not eaten the cheap shelter food, then I would not have gained all this weight.
During those days I was walking 3 to 5 miles a day on the sidewalk next to those exhaust pipes of cars, buses, and trucks. I was walking to and from the shelter as I went to spend the day online at the downtown library or community college.
I noticed that from my teen years until the shelter years I had never gained or lost any weight. I wore the same pants for all those years. But then I needed to get pants with larger waistlines when I lived at the homeless shelter. I gained a little bulge at my belly that did not trouble me.
In my opinion, the gradual loss of those 25 pounds and detoxing of my fatty liver are the cause of my discomfort.
I visited my doctor recently. There I learned that I had lost eleven pounds in the first 3 weeks on the keto diet.
While I lived in the homeless shelter the chronic pain in my right shoulder and neck began. So I think that is when I developed a fatty liver.
I was taking much Ibuprofen daily to cope with the stress of that season of my life.
I was able to move out of the homeless shelter 2 years ago and into this peaceful apartment. That is because I began to receive my social security retirement income as well as housing subsidies, Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps.
As my body has been aging there are subtle shifts that I have become aware of and this motivates me to optimize my diet.
I had been leaning too much on Ibuprofen to dull the general pains that I think comes from inflammation. And leaning on that has been hard on my liver.
If the promises of the keto diet prove true than in a few weeks I will have more energy and greater clarity without using caffeine or leaning on Ibuprofen.
I am 66 years old. My father died last year at 94 years old. And he was healthy up to his last year. Both my grandfathers lived into their 80s. So I expect to live many more years.
I want to have a healthy, strong, and pain-free body until my last day.
My mind, habits, and my body has adjusted. It is just those toxins that must go.
I tell myself that this too will pass. There is a beginning, middle, and end of this as well as every transitional phase.
The great good news is that after those toxins exit my body those particular toxins will not return into my body.
This current process is like deep cleaning at a cellular level.
Dr. Berg says that the liver can rebuild itself. So after the fat and toxins are gone from my liver it will gradually get better. That may take months or years. But I am committed to doing what is best for my body as well as I can afford it until my last day.
Here is a peek into my background and future plans.
For many years I have invested the majority of my waking hours (when not at a job) online to research, plan, and prepare to minister in the name of Jesus Christ.
Since I have been retired that allowed me to invest much more time online.
I have made attempts to launch an innovative educational enterprise. But none of those got off the ground.
After each fumble, I got over my depression and then I went back to study more about internet marketing, storytelling, time management, productivity, video marketing, membership sites, creating online courses, and more.
Currently, my plan is to launch and lead an online enterprise to serve international college students this fall. When I work on staff at a seminary for 12 years I was at the help desk of the student computer lab. There I found repeatedly that it was the international students that I resonated with the most.
What I have been preparing to offer includes guidelines to adjust to the American ways of communicating and navigating the ways to get practical needs met. I want to help them with improving spoken and written English. There will be lots of vetted links to the best resources for study skills, time management, productivity, creativity, vocational guidance, and more.
I will not set myself up as the central guru. Instead, I will link to the best books and teachers online. I will create an interactive online community where they can encourage and support one another. I will also offer my teachings based on insights from my complex journey but that will not be the centerpiece.
There have been many detours, distractions, and obstacles. For example one of my websites where I have received thousands of dollars in donations over the years is not letting me view the donate page, even as a visitor. That drove me to set up this Go Fund Me.
AMAZON WISHLIST
I have made an Amazon Wish List with items that can help me during this detoxing season.
Those items include the following.
Bed wedge so that my head is elevated and the mucus will flow down instead of stuffing up my sinuses. This kind of item is also used for those with acid reflux in case you know others with that challenge.
Special nasal mister because the standard one I have been using for decades is not helping as much.
Vertical ergonomic mouse to take the strain off my wrist. If you have some hand or wrist pains then this could help you too.
A long mouse pad that will attach to the arm of my desk chair. Then there will be less strain on my arm and I will not lean forward as much.
Eye drops that an eye doctor highly recommended.
The total of all these items is about 150 dollars.
My shipping address is embedded in the Wish List in case you choose to sponsor 1 or more of those items.
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3H7G9454ZEHE2/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_2?_encoding=UTF8
Dr. Beg recommends several nutritional supplements to aid the body during this transition and to digest the fat. I have some of the ones he most highly recommended in my shopping cart at Vitacost www.vitacost.com and the total is 114 dollars.
I bought foods that are on the diet. I am learning to cook them but mostly I put them in my smoothie. My smoothies are getting more complex and more filling.
Let me hope for the best.
The best-case scenario is that some friends and strangers soon give very generously to help me during this unpleasant season.
Then I will buy the items in the shopping carts right away.
I chose the goal of 333 dollars because 333 is a pretty number to me.
I would rather pick a small number and go way over then pick a big number and fall short. That would sting me emotionally.
If I was experienced at using this platform and I had more confidence then I would have set the goal at 555 dollars.
What writing this there were moments when my faith was strong and my expectations were high. It is possible that God could bless me with 777 dollars and more.
Let me share with you how I would use funds when it is more than the low hurdle of 333 dollars.
I would restore my small emergency savings buffer in my checking account.
I would buy the items Dr. Berg recommends to replace the groceries that I gave away or threw away. That this includes olive oil, olives, cheese, turkey jerky, canned fish, frozen vegetables, hummus, and bone broth.
I would buy the kinds of nutritional supplements and powers for my smoothies that Dr. Berg recommends.
I would buy some of my needs and wants that I have been postponing like batteries, books, clothes, and replace broken Bluetooth headphones.
Consider these prayer requests for me, others, and yourself.
As a senior citizen, I have learned the hard way over the decades that it is always best to request prayers. Then as God answers those prayers life unfolds smoother.
First, let me share with you those prayer requests that have worked best for me over the decades. You are invited to pray these for me. You can adapt them to pray for your family members and friends. And please remember to pray these for yourself.
This will also give you a peek into how I intend to serve international college students this fall. I will both invite the students to pray prayers like these for themselves and for them to pray for one another.
WISDOM
When a person asks if they can pray for me, and there is no pressing need, then I say that I want wisdom.
Then if they seem to pause and want more, then I say I want wisdom from God as well as understanding and insights. A careful reading of the book of Proverbs in the Bible teaches me that gaining wisdom, understanding, and insights are to be sought more than any other objective.
I have often prayed for God to grant me wisdom and like it says in the first chapter of the book of James chapter one verse 5. And like the verse promises, God grants wisdom easily.
BIG 3
In some settings, I ask an intercessor or prayer group for these super simple requests. I want these for the rest of my days. As I have the answers to these then I believe that other matters will fall into line.
And I pray for these for myself.
Do not underestimate how useful these few words are.
Please pray for me to:
think clearly
choose wisely
be grateful.
IMPROVE STEWARDSHIP
I have lived a very complicated and difficult life. There were many times when things got all shook up and I needed to reorient the overall direction for my life during a major and confusing transition. From these trials I came to conclude that the most useful and universal way to aim my life is to consider the following. And I believe this general guideline also can work for many others including college students, seekers, housewives, business owners, teens, and others.
This is a super simple sentence. Yet it has served me like the North Star for navigating in a sailboat without instruments.
Please pray for me to consistently improve the stewardship of my time, talents, and treasures. (In this context treasure refers to things and money.)
Here are just 12 words that stuck with me.
While I lived at the homeless shelter I had a cot in a huge room with more than 100 other men. That was a converted warehouse.
Shortly before lights out there was an option to go to the front and join an ad hoc prayer circle. It was led by anyone present.
One time a very godly man led our group. He ended with the following 12 words that he had us say together. And out of the millions of words I had heard before or since these stuck with me. Maybe they will stick with you too.
Later God opened the door for me to preach at a small church for dozens of weeks. I used these 12 words as a way to end many of my messages. I asked those in attendance to say the first 4 words loudly and then the next 4 words at a normal volume while ending with the last 4 words in a whisper.
MUCH PRAYER - MUCH POWER
Little Prayer - Little Power
no prayer - no power
THIS GO FUND ME CAMPAIGN
Please pray your best prayers now and later so that the fundraising goal of 333 dollars will be met soon and that there will be much more given also.
Pray for me to learn how to effectively use this God Fund Me platform in order to leverage it well in the coming months.
Pray for researching, planning and preparing to serve the international college students will keep moving forward gracefully.
I greatly appreciate your reading this as well as your financial and prayer support.
If you have read this far then I feel deeply honored by your investing time to read this long message.
I would like to award you with a large gold star just for reading all this.
It took me more than 9 hours to write all this. There were times I felt that it was far too long. But there are so many parts and levels that interrelate I did not know how to make it shorter.
I know from raising thousands of dollars over the decades that most people want a simple summary. Yet there are a few that want all the details.
I know that when I tell the backstory and sketch the current conditions then the best intercessors pray the best prayers.
I need a readership for my writings. I have hundreds of blog posts and dozens of online articles. Your reading this far is an encouragement to my heart.
I need funds to move ahead smoothers and faster.
I need prayers to move ahead most gracefully.
At the end of the day, I admit that I am powerless to make any money come to me. But what I can do is speak my truth, be as vulnerable as possible, and request financial as well as prayer support. Then all I can do is wait while trusting God to meet my needs right on time.
I have enjoyed giving money to those in real need and I think you will enjoy giving to me now.
While I have never been financially prosperous yet I have often enjoyed giving to help individuals, organizations, and churches. But for me to know what the need was and how my money will help I needed to be informed. That is why I have put myself out here like this. I believe there are many others that do not have an abundance of money but they want their charitable giving to be used effectively. There is a special internal reward for the giver. I did not want my friends and strangers to be unaware of how an input of money will greatly help me currently.
During the past decades, I have raised thousands of dollars by just using emails and a Paypal link. I know that there are some to give modest amounts like 10 or 20 dollars. Others give more like 50 and 100 dollars. Then there are the few that have given a few hundred dollars. All of those amounts are important and appreciated. Together they combine to reach the goal.
While financial support is wonderful during this season I also request your best prayers both now and as your remember to pray for me.
THANKS
Organizer
John S Oliver
Organizer
Ennis, TX