OUR JOURNEY BACK TO HEALTH...
Hi, we are Leanne and Tom Felzien and this is our story...
Tom and I have 5 children, the youngest of whom just turned three. I had been having a difficult time over the two years since little Maddie's birth losing the weight that I had put on during my pregnancy. I had been able to get rid of the first 20 pounds, but the last 20 pounds was proving a formidable task. Tom and I are avid low carbers, but I found that I had reached a plateau there was no getting over. Even on less than 20 carbs a day I could not get into lipolysis and could not lose weight. In January of 2003, I thought I would "get serious" and put a lot of my energy into ridding myself of these last few pounds. Month after month went by. Tom was being very supportive and was low carbing along with me, my next door neighbor and her husband were also low carbing, and she and I walked almost every weekday. The diet was working for them. Over the next few months they gradually lost about 20 pounds each, but I was struggling. I would be true to the "plan" and lose a couple of pounds, but then I would eat some food I was intolerant to (rice for instance) or have a little more than I should have and I would bounce up 3 pounds the next day. This would then take me another week or two to get rid of. I did not see the appetite control that Dr. Atkins said would occur and constantly found myself in the pantry in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon looking for something sweet or some carb to eat. If I gave into this temptation, then I would again rebound up a few pounds. Over the year, my weight loss looked like a bouncing rubber ball, I would be down 5 pounds up 3, down 2 up 4, down 6 up 4. I was getting very frustrated and felt as if my diet was controlling my life. Everything seemed to center on what I could eat and what I couldn't eat. I was miserable.
I began to suspect I had some other problem and realized that I was retaining an incredible amount of water. I consulted Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution Book and saw the references in Chapter 13 to Candida Albicans, but thought to myself, that surely it can't be yeast, since I don't have any risk factors. I did not remember having large doses of antibiotics, and had never been on steroids or acne medications. I went to my doctor and asked about thyroid tests. Those tests came back normal. So, I continued on struggling with weight loss day after day. I did take a yeast cleanser containing caprylic acid from a health food store and that did seem to do some good. At one point, I was on a yeast cleanse and a colon cleanse, adhering to the diet very strictly, and I did manage to lose about 8 pounds and kept it off by working very hard outside on our hobby farm in 90 plus degree temperatures, dehydrating myself and not allowing myself to eat anything until after noon. Stupid, I know, but hey, I was losing weight. However, once I finished the cleanse, my weight started on an upward track once again. Around Christmas I needed to take antibiotics for an infection and I gained 10 pounds in 2 weeks. I went on another yeast cleanse, but this time it didn't work. If anything, my weight variation was worse than before. On January 1st, 2004 I realized that after an entire year of dieting, I was exactly where I had been the prior January. Now I was just plain mad! What was wrong with me?!? I was also seeing other symptoms. I was getting very tired. My usual energy was gone. I would wake up dragging in the morning wishing for a nap by about 10AM. I would take a nap in the afternoon so I could make it through the rest of the day. By the end of the day, my eyes stung so badly that I could hardly stand to have them open. It was so bad I would wake up the next morning with my eyes still burning. I attributed it to spending too much time on the computer. And I just didn't feel very well most of the time.
On January 30th I went on the web and typed "systemic yeast" into the search browser and up popped a couple of sites describing other people's battles with yeast. I began to think I was very fortunate that mine had manifested as a weight loss problem, as I read the torturous things these other folks had been through. As I read, they talked about a product called ThreeLac they had found that brought the fungal yeast in their bodies back into balance. It is distributed by a company called Global Health Trax, but ThreeLac had been developed in Japan and sold to millions of people there. I began to understand that I had a yeast issue and remembered why. I had forgotten that each time I had a baby, I had been given massive doses of antibiotics to kill off a strep virus. This antibiotic was used to protect the babies, but would kill off my intestinal flora each time it was done. This happened 4 times over 8 years and then pregnancy, I learned, allowed yeast to proliferate because your immune system is suppressed to protect the growing fetus. I had been pregnant five times in my life and it was finally catching up to me. When yeast overgrowth occurs, the yeast morphs into a fungus and develops rhizoids (rhizoids are fingerlike projections). The fungal yeast then attaches itself to your intestinal tract and perforates your bowel and intestines and starts putting toxins into your system. These toxins include ethanol, which is why some people, myself included, develop a brain fog, have short term memory problems and become lethargic and tired. ThreeLac goes on a search-and-destroy mission in your gut. Another product, called Oxygen Elements Plus, oxygenates your body and seems to control any candida that has become systemic.
I saw the saliva test described for the first time on Jan. 30th and tested my saliva the next morning. As I watched my saliva swirl to the bottom of the glass, I thought, "Finally, an answer - now I know what is wrong with me!" I ordered ThreeLac and Oxygen Elements Plus that very day and had it express delivered to me. I started my way back to health on February 2, 2004. Within seven days, many of my most uncomfortable symptoms were gone. The intestinal gas and bloating I had come to accept as normal and constant were diminishing quickly. In fact, in a week I only had occasional bouts of gas if I ate something I was sensitive to. I dropped about 4 pounds of water in the first week of being on ThreeLac and three inches off my waist! I did have some minor cleansing symptoms in the form of a slight headache and general malaise, but, for me, it was confirmation that ThreeLac was doing its job! These symptoms only lasted for about 24 hours. The burning I was experiencing in my eyes was gone after three days. I started to lose the need to urinate frequently in about the third week (now I can get throught the night without having to get up to use the bathroom) and finally, a month into my use of ThreeLac, I started losing weight. My husband also tested positive for yeast and started taking ThreeLac, as well. It has made a huge difference for him as well. The eye pain he was experiencing in the morning has cleared up along with the spots he would see occasionally in front of his eyes. His vision in general seems to be better and more clear. He says that the colors he sees are more brilliant. He does not have near the gas and bloating that he used to experience. His joint pain has cleared up and he is really enjoying the increased mental clarity he is seeing now that the "fog" has lifted. His chronic sore throat is gone and he finds it easier to swallow. His digestive system is functioning much better, too. We have all five of our children on ThreeLac now!. They are responding very well to it. We don't have the chronic coughing, upset tummies or weird rashes anymore.
In my fifth week of taking ThreeLac. I have lost 8 pounds so far, and I know that I will continue to lose at a gradual and healthy rate. I am finally seeing the appetite suppression that Dr. Atkins touts, as I am not finding myself in the pantry in the afternoon searching for carbs to eat. My stomach is flat for the first time in my life. My skin is glowing and radiant and my hair is becoming shiny and soft once again. I now have hope for a "normal" life that doesn't center around my diet. This affliction is so subtle and occurs so gradually that you learn to live with the little annoyances it causes. You actually forget what it is like to be "normal". My attitude is much more positive and my kids are able to enjoy a mom who isn't tired and cranky all of the time. To me it is worth a dollar a day to keep me yeast free for life!
I wake up each morning energized and ready to take on the challenges of the day! My mind has a crystal clear clarity that I do not recall having since my grown up years. God has answered my prayers and it came in the form of a little foil packet called ThreeLac.