www.IHateMyGallbladder.com

That pretty much sums it up. I have had trouble with it since I was pregnant with my little Boy Blue. I have had a few attacks since, my last being in December when we were staying on post for Handsome's army Christmas party. Gallbladder attacks have happened mostly in the middle of the night and are excruciating. Severe pain in my upper right quadrant, sometimes it starts under my shoulderblade and radiates forward. I get sweaty and am so uncomfortable, no position helps. And no matter how tired I am, I can't sleep through it. I can sometimes nap between the surges, but that's about it.

In between I have flares. It's a dull ache under my right shoulder blade and sometimes my right ribcage. It takes awhile for me to recognize it as my gallbladder sometimes, I'll think it's my back misaligned or some other digestive trouble. Taking a tablespoon of flaxseed oil and lemon juice tends to help, as well as that digestive enzyme I talked about yesterday.

This morning I drank my smoothie and sure enough... a flare started shortly after. I didn't take the digestive enzyme today because I wanted to see the severity of it. It's making me cranky but isn't getting bad. In fact I often notice I'm having a flare when I realize I'm getting cranky from being uncomfortable.

I have read some things that are supposed to help - apples, lemon, flaxseed oil and tea (I may go make some of that), and most recently peppermint oil and turmeric. Beet root and ox bile are the two other things I've read but I can't find them locally. I'm placing a bulk order for coconut oil from Wilderness Family Naturals and they carry some herbs. I'm ordering beet root and some herbs that are supposed to stimulate bile production - dandelion and marshmallow roots - and milk thistle for inflammation.

I'm hoping to work these things into my diet and get my gallbladder operating properly. I emailed with one woman who saw a naturopath for her gallbladder years ago and hasn't had any problems since. She has no flares and doesn't have to avoid trigger foods. I should call the naturopath and see what her fees are. Sure would be nice to be done with this!

Anecdotal Analysis of Milk Kefir

I've been terrible about blogging. Fact. I keep promising I'll do better and I don't. Fact. So no promises this time. I'm just going to blog.

A couple weeks ago I got ahold of some milk kefir grains. I can't tolerate the taste of kefir plain or texture of it chunky so I've been making smoothies of some sort. Today's was banana raspberry chocolate. And it was delicious. Quickly, the recipe. My blender broke so I've been smoothieless for a few days so this morning I made it with a stick blender. My measurements are approximate as I don't have gradient lines on my plastic mixing bowl.

1-1/2 c kefir
1 c raspberries
1 banana sliced (so my stick blender could attack it)
1 heaping Tbsp dark cocoa

Usually I put in a Tbsp of flaxseed oil but forgot today, and will do coconut oil once I get some more. It was so delicious, and made a little more than a tall glass (I have a picture but Blogger wants to turn it sideways).
I have looked online to see the benefits of kefir and want to share what I've noticed the last 2 weeks. This is all circumstantial and I'm only guessing that the kefir is responsible. I could be wrong.

Firstly, for the first week or so I felt like a little while after I would drink my smoothie I would start to stink. More than normal anyway, har har. I noticed a strong ammonia smell when I used the bathroom and my BO was overall worse. Oh, and stinky farts. I kinda feel like this was my body beginning some detoxing. This made me cautious as I'm nursing a newborn, but I also feel like it's pretty gentle and I can't wait until I'm done nursing altogether to do any kind of detoxing. I'll just feed him some once he's on solids. Or something.
During the "stinky" phase I also noticed more vaginal discharge. More detox? I also read kefir can increase mucous production, not sure if that kind of mucous is included...

I also have noticed an increase in minor gallbladder flares. I'm assuming this is temporary or coincidental since kefir is supposed to help with digestion. I've been taking a supplement called Digestive Enzyme Complex when I feel a flare beginning and before I eat eggs or pork. I've just started taking this so I don't know if the supplement is why the flares are minor or if the kefir is involved.

The second thing I've noticed is that I don't have as many cravings. Typically I'm a total sugar fanatic. I love chocolate and ice cream but lately I haven't craved sweets so much. Could be because I get some sweet via the smoothie, or that I know I've eaten something healthy so I don't want to "ruin" it. Or could be that the kefir itself is curbing my cravings, maybe some vitamin deficiency or the probiotics are helping.

Lastly, I've been very sluggish lately. I've been unmotivated and really tired. The last 2 weeks I have really been on the ball. Handsome and I have made 3 batches of fruit leathers which I have successfully even packaged up so we can eat it later. I have been keeping up on the dishes, cooking more of our meals from scratch, and generally feeling good about life. I started up my kombucha again after I arranged to get the kefir grains. I feel like that was a turning point. Is it because I'm 10 weeks post partum now and finally able to put this spring's stress behind me? Or have I been lacking minerals and the kefir is providing them or helping me to digest and absorb foods? I can't say. But my blender broke Saturday morning. No kefir smoothie after that until today. Monday I was tired and napped on the couch after breakfast while the kids watched Netflix. And yesterday I had an emotional breakdown and just didn't cope well with a stressful situation. That's what made me think about this. I had been feeling so great, why the sudden change? My kefir smoothie was the only thing different.

It might be a big leap to conclude that kefir its responsible for a sounder state of mind and emotional balance, but anecdotally it fits. I'll continue to test my theory and see if I bottom out again. In the meantime, bottom's up!