Hi--I just want to introduce myself since I am new to the list.  My name is
Valerie, and I have interstitial cystitis (painful bladder w/o infection).
I have also had a recurring strep infection for almost a year.  Doctors
can't figure me out and keep prescribing antibiotics for the strep, which
help in the short term and hurt as they help.  An infectious disease
specialist told me to stop treating with antibiotics because the strep was
just "hanging out", but i can't just sit and suffer, either.

Treatment for the interstitial cystitis involves avoiding eating anything
acid at all (almost all fruits, tomatoes, vinegar), avoiding msg and
processed foods, avoiding all aged cheese, avoiding sugar and avoiding
grains, which the doctor says acidify your system.   The IC books say that
most people with IC do well on meat and potatoes and veggies.  I haven't
been able to follow this diet and have been eating very unhealthily.

I read the "Eat Right for Your Type" book and learned that because I'm an
O, the author thinks I should be avoiding most of these things anyway.  He
also wrote that some O's with bladder problems reported improving when they
followed that diet.

I heard about the paleo diet from a list about animal diets and was curious
if there is a place on the web that describes what to eat, general
proportions, etc.  Any change I make will have to be very, very
gradual--like one thing every couple of weeks.  It may take me a long time
to switch over.  If I deprive myself of something I want to eat, I tend to
go back and eat lots of it later, so I have to be careful.

Has anyone on this list had similar health problems to mine?  For a couple
of years I have wanted to cut out grain and dairy and see what happens, but
that would leave me only meat and veggies to eat.  Not sure what to do at
this point, but I have to do something or I'll be like this at 80 (if I
make it to 80).

VAL
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Valerie Goldstein
Department of Sociology
512/232-6302
512/471-1748 (fax)