We discuss how:
– Lizette has been sick on and off since she was a child
– In the late ’90s she had to go on disability and stop working
– She kept getting sicker until October of last year, when she saw a video of the Paddison Program on Facebook
– When she started the Program on December 19 her CRP was 16.8, after three weeks it went down to 2.2
– She was taking Prednisone every day, and she’s been able to drop it completely in five weeks
– She’s back to normal life and does juicing each day
– After not being able to walk at all, she’s now doing walks and taking care of her house
– She’s also planning some travels!
Clint: Welcome back, thanks for tuning in again to another episode of the Paddison podcast. Where we talk about how to reverse inflammatory arthritis naturally. And today we have another guest who’s done a tremendous job in reducing inflammation, swelling, and getting off dreaded Prednisone. So we’re going to talk to the Lizette, good day Lizette.
Lizette: Hi!
Clint: Now, we’re not too far from each other. You’re only up in Orlando, but we haven’t met in person, and in fact this is the first time we’ve corresponded. So it’s going to be all fresh to me to hear your story and I like to do this because, I like the experience that our listeners get also and to hear the journey, and hear the improvements, and challenges, all firsthand. So that’s not pre-prepared, but I can react and respond with surprise as we go. So I’m looking forward to hearing what you’ve achieved so, you just kick off with just telling us you know imagine it was just a TV commercial you got 30 seconds to tell us what we’re about to hear in the next sort of 40 odd minutes.
Lizette: Right, I’ve been sick since I was a girl and I’ve been in and out of hospitals all my life. And I was working in the late mid to late 90’s, and I just kept getting sicker and sicker. And I had to go on disability and stop working. And of course all through that I just kept getting sicker to where, you know recently as recently as October of last year. I really couldn’t get out of the house, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t do anything for myself, I needed help from my family and friends, I couldn’t clean my own house, I couldn’t do any meals for the family. And I had been on Facebook, and I saw one of your YouTube videos and you just talking about the Paddison Program. And I talked to my husband, and I said you know there’s nothing else I can do. I’ve gone to every doctor I’ve tried everything they tell me to do and I just keep getting sicker, and they keep giving me more medication that’s making me more sick. And I think I need to try this, and just see if it helps because I can’t lose anything else.
Clint: Yeah.
Lizette: Yeah. So I went ahead and I bought the program, and I just I started it December 19. My inflammation, my CRP was at 16.8.
Clint: Oh very elevated.
Lizette: Very high, and I was in a lot of pain obviously. And then after 2 weeks, that’s when I started like noticing different things. I would wake up and I didn’t have my hands swollen, and they didn’t, they weren’t puffy they didn’t hurt, and I could walk more and freely. So I went to my doctor, and my doctor I told my doctor about the program. And I said, Can I have you know the monthly blood work?
Clint: Yeah good.
Lizette: And he ordered it for me, and three weeks later they called me back and they said you’re CRP is at 2.2.
Clint: Awesome.
Lizette: And I was like what? And they were like what?. So, we were all like shocked, because it was just the food. And I had not take, I have not gone back for my Remicade infusion, well actually they called me after the Remicade infusion. Because I went and I got the infusion into what I had already gotten the lab work. So I really I didn’t need it.
Clint: Wow!
Lizette: Yeah. But I got it by and then I had I also told my hematologist, I also told her that I was going in this program and she said let me know how it goes. So I want to know about it so when I go back I’ll tell them. But you know, I mean the drastic difference from what 16.8 to 2.2 in just three weeks I was like okay it’s definitely food. Nobody can talk me out of it. I am going to be telling everybody I mean people just don’t wanna let go of food.
Clint: It’s amazing isn’t it?
Lizette: Yes, they’re so addicted.
Clint: It’s crazy. Well so many, you’ve raised so many exciting things for us to go over. Now tell us, let’s get straight to the Prednisone. So were you taking Prednisone every day when you first started the program?
Lizette: Yes.
Clint: And by the way if people are listening to this that day today is the 24th of January, so you’ve only been, you’ve only started this like five weeks, six weeks ago. Right? So this is all super fast.
Lizette: Yeah.
Clint: And you’re still on your Remicade which makes sense right? But what we’re talking about here is just dramatic, and rapid reduction in inflammation.
Lizette: Yes.
Clint: And you’ve you know. Yeah. I mean only been changing the food so many more upsides and we can talk about that on this episode. So tell us about the Prednisone, what’s up, what’s changed with that?
Lizette: Well I just I got off of it, because I noticed that I didn’t need it anymore. And I’m never on a lot, because I’m Epileptic and if I go on too much Prednisone, I start having seizures. So that was really hard for me to just control that.
Clint: Wow. Yup.
Lizette: Just getting off of it completely, I’m just like, it’s just such a relief. And I know that makes, Predinisone just makes you sicker anyway so I just not want to be on it.
Clint: Yeah. Well that’s tremendous, so the benefits not just from you know avoiding all of those side effects that Prednisone presents. And we’re talking about the obvious ones, not just not the subtle ones like osteoporosis, sort of accentuation, and also the leaky gut aggravation. But we’re talking about just the negative ones that you feel the emotional swings, and for you with the epilepsy I mean that’s that’s life changing to get off a drug that interferes with that.
Lizette: Yes.
Clint: Yeah, that’s fantastic. Okay so how’s your weight been? Have you noticed that you’ve been able to shed some extra weight that you don’t want?
Lizette: I have lost like 7 pounds. My doctors kept telling me lose weight, lose weight. However I went to a Endocrinologist, we I found out that my insulin levels were like 12 times higher than they should be.
Clint: Right.
Clint: Not my glucose, not my A1C, that was all fine. It was just the insulin. So he said well that’s happening, you’re not going to lose weight. So he put me on more medication of course, more! And then that wasn’t working quick enough for him so he wanted to put me on another one, and then when he put me on that other one Trulicity I think, I ended up in the hospital because I have very severe allergies. And then he was going to switch me again and I was like oh you know I started this program.
Clint: Yeah. Yeah.
Lizette: So I’m gonna wait till the next appointment and see how my insulin is going.
Clint: Exciting stuff.
Lizette: I don’t want any more medication, I want to get off all my medication. So I’ve just held off at that so far and I’m not going on anymore. Whatever medications they give you for that stuff I am just waiting, and see how the diet goes, and what I need to I just in diet
Clint: Yes very exciting stuff. Obviously not my expertise or what I’ve worked on work with myself and my challenges personally, but for members of our support group we notice that pre-diabetes tends to alleviate itself and things like you know high blood sugar reading levels also tend to normalize amongst a whole raft of other you know health conditions. And let’s just see, you know as long as you’re monitored with that elevated insulin level. As long as it’s not you know left uncontrolled and no one’s keeping an eye on it, then I do expect that when we speak again that you’re going to be able to say that things are normalizing. I think that this is the tip of the iceberg for you. This is just the beginning. Tell us about your improvements in symptoms, you mentioned before that your hand wasn’t having those fist problems in the morning. Give us a rundown of how things look today compared to how they looked before.
Lizette: Right well before you know all that stiffeners that you have and I know that that’s gone, I don’t have stiffness which I’m quite shocked, and I can I go outside. I actually tore up my yard, and just went at it and my husband’s like stop, stop you’re gonna hurt yourself. And I’m like, but I have energy I can do this. So I kind a went crazy on that and hurt my ribs. That’s okay, I was like, it’s a good kind of pain you know I just exercised which I hadn’t been able to do. So I’m just amazed that I’ve been cleaning my house, I’d been cooking for the other people in the house you know. Well when I have company on my husband but, it’s just amazing that I can do all these other things that I couldn’t do before. I just feel like new, before I used to feel like a 90 year old person. And now I feel like I’m back to normal like, back to feeling my own age. And it’s just incredible how much energy I have now. I’m like, where did that come from? It’s like one day I woke up and I’m like, whoah! Let’s just go!
Clint: Yeah, what it is is that the body’s just so busy in eliminating these circulating immune complexes that are in the blood. And so in the average person it doesn’t have the inflammation is not trying to fight an autoimmune disease, but you know there’s these antibodies are being created to take care of the antigens in the blood here and there. You know there’s a few here, a few there. Blah blah blah blah blah.
But in a case of rheumatoid or other inflammatory arthritis the stuff’s entering the blood like the tap is on full blast, and that blood is just full of this stuff that it’s trying to eliminate, and it is working overtime. And so all of your body’s resources is just constantly eliminating these particles in the bloodstream, and so your’e exhausted. And once you are able to reduce all that, then the body’s energy which is always there but it’s being consumed right. And so now it’s just there to be used for normal things that other people are using it for. And that’s where it all suddenly comes back because you’re not having half your energy dissipated into things that is inflammation related.
So that’s wonderful Yeah. So tell us what’s your diet looking like? I want to help, people I’ve heard lots of stories, wonderful stories like your own. And I just want to make sure we also add some. What else can we teach people? What would you like to share with people who are sitting on the fence wondering about if they should make changes? Or if they’ve started to make changes but they haven’t been as dramatic as yours. What have you found most effective and what would you say to people?
Lizette: Patience, patience. I, you know I was really apprehensive about even doing like all the greens, and the raw foods because my gastroenterologist said I couldn’t eat that way. Because I have gastroparesis, and I don’t digest. So I said you know, she put me on this diet that I’m like, you’re gonna kill me. Who eats that way? You know, and I went, no there has to be a way and when I read your program, I said you know even if I take it slow, I’m going to do it If I can’t actually digest the greens at first, I’m just going to juice them.
Clint: Right. Right.
Lizette: So I juiced, and I started juicing and the more I juice then I could. Every time I had the salads I would do a little more, and a little more. And I just kept increasing until my body kind of got used to it and started tolerating, and now I can eat it. I can eat the salad I just put my quinoa and buckwheat on top of it. An eat that that way. So, I can do it and I’m doing fine and it fills me up. I don’t feel bloated, and I said I knew there had to be a way. Where do these doctors go to school? Of course none of them study nutrition. So, It’s incredible.
Clint: Amazing. Okay, so your Gastroenterologist said do not eat anything that’s leafy and green, and you have worked out that just by juicing to begin with you’ve trained your body to accept it and now you’re eating it. And now I feel better than you have in what years.
Lizette: I think the juicing started healing the inside, and that’s why I could then eat the raw food.
Clint: Okay. Are you still doing the juicing each day?
Lizette: Yes.
Clint: Great. How many green juices would you do a day?
Lizette: Probably around three.
Clint: That’s good. Yeah, really really great.
Yeah. Okay. And what about in the past, what do you think led to this mess this health mess that you are now reversing? What do you think would you do not mean to specifically. Did you ever take antibiotics when you were young or you did not? Tell me, tell me what happened do you think.
Lizette: Well when I was little like I said I was always sick, and I remember being in and out of the hospital even as a kid. And I was always on antibiotics always. I, You know for whatever.
Clint: What do you think led to these health conditions? What do you think sort of what was it?
Lizette: All that, it was probably not eating healthy you know because we had a lot of meat, and a lot of pork.
Clint: Right.
Lizette: What do we consider a lot pork. And you know now I’m like I look at the pork now I know I’m like. I ate that, I don’t want to eat it. And it’s only been a short time, but I’m feeling that way about it already.
Clint: Yes.
Lizette: You know like, why would I eat that?. It’s just not good for me.
Clint: Right.
Lizette: And actually my sister tested allergic to all these meats and things and she had to eat raw.
Clint: Wow.
Lizette: Yeah, coz she like broke out in hives everywhere just by eating all that. And when I went to get tested but I didn’t test like I was allergic, but when I read your program and you talked about sensitivities to it.
Clint: Yeah.
Lizette: I went oh, oh maybe that’s what it is. I may not be testing you’re allergic, but maybe I’m just really sensitive. As soon as I started doing all that then I just got better.
Clint: Yes. Okay fantastic. I definitely discourage the use of you know food sensitivity testing and food allergy testing, not because I don’t think we should be trying to work it out but just disbelieve the results that come back. And this is across the board with things like for me personally like the Alcat Test which I took and came back that everything was fine, that I could eat whatever I want and that I had a little bit I should avoid a moderate avoidance of anything with any sulfates in it. Now that was quite, it was crazy because it only meant that there was like a couple of foods in the whole food spectrum that I couldn’t eat. And yet in reality I was reacting to everything, and so I just thought what kind of test result is that? And then I was seeing people, who were emailing me and say my food sensitivity panel from this test, and that test, and this test, and everyone’s coming back with all these weird and wonderful combinations of foods. And I’m like Well, okay well perhaps at first I used to say we’ll leave those foods out and do the program without those foods if sometimes there was a weird thing in there like carrots, or maybe onions or something okay. But then after a while I’m just getting the same results. Hey everything’s improving, I’m doing great. And so in the end I’ve just been saying that people, ignore the test just do the program exactly as it is and what you’re going to find is that you’re gonna do a great.
And so, you know I find we can get you know a little bit off track and actually just go on wild goose chases trying to avoid certain foods when ultimately, we’re really just trying to heal gut bacteria. If you heal gut bacteria, gut bacteria heals leaky gut, and restores your energy level, and everything. So let’s just feed the guys what we know we need to feed them, and forget all these tests just get the job done you know. Yeah
So talk about exercise. Have you started to besides cleaning the garden out the back, of your back yard. Have you been starting to incorporate some exercise with your renewed energy levels?
Lizette: I’m doing some more walking now, coz I couldn’t walk at all. So now that that’s my thing, just like walking a little bit because I just couldn’t do it before. And I have some issues with just degenerative disease so there’s stuff that’s been damaged that you know. That’s just not gonna get better. So Because it out and a little bit more limited but I’m still doing more, than I used to ever do before.
Clint: Yeah.
Lizette: I get out now, and I go walking like in the mall or so and and I couldn’t do that before either, so I enjoy that. I enjoy going out and just you know when my daughter’s here I tell her let’s go, let’s go, to this store let’s go, just look around, go window shopping and she’s like Okay mom and let’s go and we’ll go and we’ll do that I could never do it before.
Clint: Wow. So we just take it for granted just being able to go to the mall right?
Lizette: Yes.
Clint: And to just walk around the house. But when you can’t do it, and then you can it’s it’s just like being born again isn’t it?
Lizette: Yes it is! Yes it is! Totally yes, I feel like, like I said I used to feel like a 90 year old now I feel more my age. I feel even younger than my age, I’m 55 by the way. I thank you, but I just want to get out and do stuff that I could never do. And now that my daughter, my youngest daughter she’s a flight attendant. I’m like I’m going to take you up on the free tickets, and go travel coz I couldn’t do it before.
Clint: Wow! God, see that feels good to hear you say that.
Lizette: Yes it does.
Clint: You know that just feels so good Because being stuck in pain, and just been going through the cycles of medications where you try, you know use one until it stops working then you get on the next one until it stops working, and then the cycle never ends.
Lizette: Yes.
Clint: So yeah this is a this is such a positive report, and you know couldn’t be happier hearing this. Let’s talk about where the future lies for you.
So you know, you’ve only been out this for five weeks. You’ve got off the use of Prednisone, you’re feeling awesome. So the next step now what you want to do is we need to widen your food base so that you’re able to eat more and more enjoyable foods so that going forward you’re always expanding your diet ever so slowly so you notice if a food starts to give you some issues and you can back off that food. And the other thing we want to do is also hit your monthly blood test mark is perfect. So you mentioned before that it was a little over 2 you’re C reactive proteins. So the goal is to each month, maintain that really really good low inflammation levels. And if you do that for enough months in a row, then you can entertain the conversation about reduction or an increase in spacing of the Remicade.
Lizette: Okay.
Clint: Yeah. So you know we’re in no hurry to get off the Remicade. The aim, oh you might be, you might be think but believe me this process is a delicate one and a long term one. You’ve hit a home run in the first week, you’ve knocked the ball, you know out off out the field, and your swinging hard, and your feeling and on top of the world. So the next step is just to just get into a longer term stage now, to do the things that I just said, and to start to look towards the long term future of how this is now part of your life. And how you can really develop great satisfaction and joy from the expanding diet that you will have, and to increase exercise so that exercise becomes a daily part of your life. And you’re building up some insurance, so that when you do begin if you do begin to lower the Remicade. Your body is a machine, It’s an efficient, pain elimination machine that can handle a reduction of that kind of scale. So we want to make sure that you become fit and healthy, that your lymphatic system is very effective at eliminating these circulating immune complexes that build up in the body. And that your diet is broad, so that if you start to get a little pain as you increase the spacing between the Remicade infusions. If it starts to creep up a bit, you’ve got this broad spectrum of foods that you can narrow down again to lower the inflammation, to hit the blood test each month correctly, and continue the lowering process if that’s what you want. And if that’s acceptable to your doctor based on all the data based on your blood tests and your physical exam and so on. So that’s the future and that might take a year. You know that might be a year. But it’s going to be a great year. It’s going to be the best year you may have had for a very long time.
Lizette: Well I already said 2018 is going to be good.
Clint: And so set some goals just like you said with your daughter the flight attendant, think of a place that you’ve really wanted to go. You know might be the Grand Canyon, or it might be seeing be seeing like Niagara Falls up north you know.
Lizette: We did talk about the Grand Canyon already.
Clint: Really. Awesome yeah. And you know, just put like a hero adventure at the end of this as a as a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And dream on it, picture it, picture yourself like going to the Grand Canyon and uploading those pictures online and say look what I’ve been able to do. And you know I think that when you’ve got something to look forward to in life like that. That is only possible by continuing to improve your physical state, then you kind of pull yourself towards it you know it draws you in it and you’re supporting your health discipline, and action each day because you’re pulled towards that goal that requires you to be healthier version of yourself. And we do this stuff all the time.
You know I always want to be doing something bigger and better. Yeah for me now I want to be able to do 10 chin ups now that’s off the charts. Given that how my elbows used to be, 10 chin ups and I, I can do 4. Right and I’ve worked up from one now to four and I’m working towards 10 chin ups, and then I’m going to do a video on doing 10 chin ups compared to lying in bed where I couldn’t even pull them earplug out of my ear because that Elbow’s was so bad.
Lizette: Yes.
Clint: Yeah. So. You know this stuff it’s exciting Yeah.
Lizette: Yes.
Clint: Yeah. So I’ve got a friend called Neil Murray, who’s also a Puertorican and lives in Orlando. You wouldn’t happen to know Neil Murray would you?
Lizette: No.
Clint: She’s my sister in law. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Yeah.
But I just thought I’d throw it out there because I know you can meet the community strong, the community is strong and often there are you know you know social groups and community groups and a lot of people get to know each other. And she’s big into the social scene in Orlando. So I thought you know I thought I’d check with you.
So this has been fun. Is there any questions you have for me before we wrap up?
Lizette: No I think you answered a lot of things that I would have asked.
Clint: Okay.
Lizette: So I’m good.
Clint: Yeah. Yeah great. Yeah. You know just from here it’s about doing more of what works. There’s nothing better than just doing more of what works it’s amazing how simple that sort of piece of advice is but how powerful it is.
Lizette: Yes.
Clint: We don’t need to rush off of the foods that you’re currently on. We need to just slowly build upon them and you’ll continue to use them as as the base as they are the baseline foods right? We need to build upon the little bit of exercise you’ve done you’ve said you’ve got a little bit of pain limitation, but pain because of some previous you know the long history of health challenges. So we build upon that. We look for ways to continue to build our exercise without negatively impacting damaged areas.
Lizette: Yes.
Clint: And we set goals for our self, we treat it like a project you know not a problem. Now it’s a project that you can enjoy.
Lizette: Yes. Now I have too many projects to do.
Clint: That’s right, it’s a Good problem right? You want to do more things then. Yeah. And you start documenting a little bit, start getting a few little videos, and get your daughter to take some pictures because you’re before and after can be very inspiring to people you know. You can inspire so many people when you make the sorts of improvements that you have already done and where this can go. so see yourself as someone who is going to be providing hope and encouragement to other people. Even more and above than what we’ve already done in this recording which has already been you know wonderful but I, you know you’ve got that glint in your eye and like this is this isn’t going to change any time soon. You know you’re on a mission.
Lizette: Yes. Definitely.
Clint: Yes. It’s exciting. Well thank you so much for sharing your story with me. And with our audience I know that there’s going to be people who are just on the edge of deciding if they should get started or they’ve just started and would be thrilled to hear about what you’ve achieved so early on.
Lizette: Alright, well thank you so much for the time.
Clint: Oh thank you Lizette, this is the most favorite part of what I do is hearing people do well and having so much happiness returned by feeling better, feeling healthier.
Lizette: Yes.
Clint: So thank you very much for jumping on as a guest and I look forward to getting another update from you in the future, and potentially we’ll have you back on again down the track and get another update.
Lizette: Alright!
Clint: Awesome Lizette! Thanks so much.
Lizette: Okay.
Clint: Okay. Bye for now.
Lizette: Bye bye.