Aaaaaaaand...

Here I am many months later and finally a second post.

March was crap... My car was hit and totaled, and little one was with me. She is fine, but my shoulder has been off ever since, and it was never an issue before. It is mostly better as long as I don't over use it. I'll take it easy until I think it's good. I'm thinking it was a small sprain or something. Moving on, a friend died, an uncle and a kind of aunt died, I got that flu cold thing that was going around, and so did the little one. It was a rough month, but overall I think things are better than even before all of that.

Now we have allergy season. Actually even though it's still annoying, my allergies aren't as bad as they used to be. Changes I've made with my health over the years has drastically reduced them.

I have started a few new things since my one post. I eat avocado at least 3 days a week, and I've started including fermented foods in my diet. My main reason for starting avocado was to help balance my hormones, because they are fairly unbalanced. At this point, I'm not sure if my ovarian cyst is causing it, or it is happening on it's own. I know them being unbalanced to begin with is what started it, but I feel like I get functional cysts on my left side sometimes too. Or I have painful ovulation sometimes. One of them lol... So I started the avocado 3+ times a week around 6 months ago. Maybe even more. On top of having less cyst pain on my right side, my hair gotten thicker. Noticeably. I lose less when I wash it and when I brush it. A lot less. I wasn't expecting this, but I am liking it.

So... fermented foods. So far I am only eating store bought, and I have still noticed a difference in things. I have been getting Wallaby Kefir from Whole Foods, because no place else seems to carry that brand and it tastes way better than the Lifeway which is everywhere, and I started out with Bubbies Dill Pickle Relish. I have had kefir off and on for years, knowing it was better than yogurt. I used it during pregnancy to help with some issues, and it worked. But I stopped. I have had migraines since I was 18. About a year after starting birth control pills. I never put it together until I had the little one and didn't go back on it. My migraines lessened once pregnancy and nursing hormones subsided. I still got them enough to be effected for 2-4 days the week before my period every month. So about a month and a half ago, I was starting to get one. I had, just earlier that day, bought my first jar of Bubbies Dill Pickle Relish. I thought to myself, I'll try it, and at the very worst, nothing will happen. So I tried it, and within 15 minutes my migraine was gone. It started again a little that morning and once again I had more relish, and it went away. It never came back. Ever. I never even got a headache at all this past month. So two migraines I should have had, I didn't. The only thing that changed is eating those foods. Also, a lot less cyst pain. Needless to say, I am hooked.

I have done a lot of reading about probiotics, the micrbiome, and how much they effect our bodies since a little before trying all of this. I have to admit, I didn't actually expect it to get rid of my migraines, or my cyst pain, but I was still hopeful because nothing else really worked. My cyst pain was never really bad, but sometimes it was annoying. Now I hardly ever notice it. That combined with no migraines, I'd say it's helping my hormones balance out. PMS this month wasn't as bad as usual. Still bad, but baby steps are still steps in the right direction. Now I want to start making y own kefir, and I started seeds to grow my own pickling cucumbers so I can make my own fermented foods and get even more benefits since homemade significantly increases the types and amounts of beneficial bacteria. I am a little excited.