Any ideas why nails turning blue, arms mildly tingly and easy bruising??

[CalypsoKris]

Hi,

I have been on a raw diet for exactly 26 days. I have noticed twice since being raw that my fingernails have turned a light bluish colour. At the same time my arms and hands get slightly tingly and I do occasionally feel dizzy.

A bit about me: I have been struggling with chron's disease for 5yrs and it is the reason I turned to raw foods. My chron's was getting worse and so were the medications. I started eating raw in the middle of a flare up because nothing else was working and, my already shaky faith in traditional western medicine was totally gone.

Since being raw there have been some improvements. I am not in constant pain, or, actually, any pain. (TMI ALERT) my bowel movements are normal-ish, meaning I don't have diarrhea. Food is no longer running straight through me.

I have heard that it can take a year to incur a vitamin B deficiency because your body stores large amounts. I don't know if maybe this is my problem even though I have been raw a short time? I realize that with the chron's there's a good chance I wasn't really absorbing much of anything I ate.

Any foods, supplements or ideas on what this is/how to deal with it would be amazing!

I will go to a doctor if this starts to be a regular occurrence... but I REALLY can't stand them and have little trust because I've been in and out of their offices for years with the result being me getting progressively sicker.

Any advice or help much welcomed and appreciated. Thank you!

[CalypsoKris]

Also just to add - this never happened before I went raw and I was eating a full SAD diet. I'm not blaming raw, I just think that maybe because I'm no longer being bombarded with fortified foods etc. that all the problems are starting to show... I'd like to stay raw and fix them, just not sure how.

[dlaffoon]

Skin turning blue means that those areas are not receiving enough oxygen. This could be due to a range of problems, poor circulation, poor absorption through the lungs. Google is your friend.

You haven't given enough information about what you've been eating yet but I'll try to help.

Red blood cells use hemoglobin in order to carry oxygen. A key component of hemoglobin is iron. If you're anemic from low iron then you're blood will be a poor carrier of oxygen (causing the blue skin symptom).

Iron in non-vegetarian diet comes mainly from animal tissues (meat: beef, poultry, fish etc.). In a rawfood diet the best source of iron is dark leafy greens (kale, spinach, collard greens, etc.) Lucky for you vitamin C (which is in all living plants/fruits) increases iron absorption, so for the best absorption of iron these foods should be consumed raw (heat destroys vitamin c). If you are iron anemic you must consume lots of leafy greens in order to correct this problem.

You may consider the delicious green smoothie. Theres lots of recipes online but the basic recipe is simple (leafy greens plus fresh fruit and a little water in a blender).

Or you can make a salad with lots of green lettuce or spinach.

[EscapeArtist]

B 12!! B 12 definitely B12!

I have always read tingling/nerve shock in hands as a B12 symptom, but I thought "Wow I've never heard of THAT before!" Also blue nails, anemic related, B12 is an important part of creating red blood cells. Dizziness is common as well with this deficiency, esp upon standing. Crohn's disease tells me that you would have had a lot of trouble absorbing B12 in the So yes you are probably right that you were absorbing hardly any of the B12 you ate.

Try a sublingual B12 supplement, this way you don't have to absorb it through your intestine. Or B12 shot

[Raw Angel Mom]

Beside the great advice you had, please consider also to do foot bath or even a colon therapy to keep your system clean and give a chance to your body to remove the heavy metal and toxin. Please check your b-12 level.

You must have been on medication, it could be also detox. How is your digestion now, beside those strange side effect. Are you doing much better since doing raw food.

Chlorella is rich in B12 that is good for you.

I hope you figure out what works for you

[CalypsoKris]

DIAFFOON:

What I have been eating is as follows; in the morning I have a banana smoothie usually blended with one or two other fruits a 1/4C of coconut milk and as much water as I need to make it liquify.
In the evenings usually I eat a mango/cucumber salad, or a salad with other easy to digest veggies. Sometimes, if I feel my tummy can handle it I add romaine lettuce.
I have definitely come up with a roadblock with other veggies (kale/celery/collards etc) because my colon cannot handle them raw yet. When I started the diet it was severely inflamed etc. I just bought a juicer and I think when it arrives it will help me with this problem... also... I just can't stand blended vegetables. I tried it and I couldn't get them down... but I love vegetable juices. You are definitely right about the greens though - I worry I'm missing a lot of minerals and things as a result of not including certain veggies in my diet...


EscapeArtist:
Thank you! I'm looking into B12 - I'm not familiar with any supplements, do you have any suggestions for brands? Although I am happy to sit and do tons of research.


Raw Angel Mom:
A foot bath? Such as warm water and epsom salts?
I was on medication - Pentasa 500mg (anti-inflammatory) on and off for years. I hate taking medication so I would stop taking it regularly... The doctor kept trying to put me on steroids but I just couldn't handle the idea of something so serious.
My digestion is SO much better. It's amazing. But maybe I'm going through detox, even after 26days, because I still sometimes get fevers/stomach aches/exhaustion in the evenings...
I have been doing some reading on chlorella... Is that something you would use even while you took a B12 supplement? Or should I figure out one or the other?

Thank you so much to everyone for taking the time to answer my questions. I really, really appreciate it! I've been researching my bum off but sometimes things happen and extra input is so helpful.

Thank you!!! :hug to all!

[Raw Angel Mom]

aw Angel Mom:
A foot bath? Such as warm water and epsom salts?
I was on medication - Pentasa 500mg (anti-inflammatory) on and off for years. I hate taking medication so I would stop taking it regularly... The doctor kept trying to put me on steroids but I just couldn't handle the idea of something so serious.
My digestion is SO much better. It's amazing. But maybe I'm going through detox, even after 26days, because I still sometimes get fevers/stomach aches/exhaustion in the evenings...
I have been doing some reading on chlorella... Is that something you would use even while you took a B12 supplement? Or should I figure out one or the other?

Thank you so much to everyone for taking the time to answer my questions. I really, really appreciate it! I've been researching my bum off but sometimes things happen and extra input is so helpful.

Thank you!!! to all!

It is an ionic foot bath. You have thousands of gland under your foot and it is one location that the body will store the heavy metal to protect you as much as possible. This bath, will somehow clear the gland under your feet and get the heavy metal out. It is a safe way to detox. You can google and research. The center that i go, charge $75 but i do feel so much better after each session.

I supplement now with B12 because i didn't eat enough food with the good B-12 and i nursed for 4 years which drop my reserve dramatically. When i take chlorella, i don't supplement but at time, i do anyway. The stress decrease your B12 level too. If i could grow my own garden, i wouldn't wash my greens and get my B-12 this way (it is a bacteria that generate a chemical that your body absorb and transform it into B12. You need to heal all leak from your gut and mucus if any to be able to absorb it. One reason i didn't supplement, is because a few people seem to do good without but i wasn't this lucky one. I am hoping that i won't have anymore but for now i do. I use vitamin Code. Google B12 Japan research and you will find the best kind of B12. Mushroom has the b12 as per the Australian study, nutritional yeast, kumbucha, bee pollen if you have no allergie. The best way to get tested for B12 is urine. The b12 methylcobalamin is the best for your body. If you have an absorbtion problem. B12 cyanocobalamin, is utilize by the body, sadly this has been used and it is the type they fortify food with etc...

If you absorption problem, the B12 hydroxocobalamin has been research and will trespass the colon and get in our system. Dr. Cousens sell a great one that worked good for me in the pass, it is called nano stress -bcomplex i believed.

Congratulations with your raw journey, you are doing wonderful and please don't let your mind trick you and go back to cook food. You will figure what works for you.

All the best

[DawnD]

I stumbled across this site last week.

http://www.colitis-crohns.com/

David Klein, phd has a natural way to heal from colitis and chrons disease. It is definately worth a look. He had to heal himself years ago and has a book you can order. He is mostly raw but the book may encourage some cooked to help the healing process.