Autoimmune Paleo

[C.U.B. girl]

Since I have celiac and was already gluten free/dairy free/soy free/egg free, I figured I might as well look into the Autoimmune Paleo diet, which takes Paleo a step further by eliminating eggs, nuts, and seeds, among other things. I was hoping to cut short the MC flare that's been going on for the past month, thinking it may have been triggered by too many grain products, and needed to find recipes that were egg- and nut-free.

I've been following it now for two weeks, with NO results; in fact, things seem to be deteriorating instead of improving. It's getting to where I'm afraid to eat anything! My head is fuzzy all the time; my ears are ringing; I feel weak and depleted…. It feels like I'm becoming malnourished. I've lost about 7 lbs. since I started all of this, yet wasn't overweight to begin with so I need every ounce.

The diet is already so restrictive that it's hard to conceive of having to cut out anything else. I suspect I may be intolerant to chicken, which will be a real bummer if it's true. And the overemphasis on coconut products makes me wonder if coconut may be an issue too. I have my Enterolab test (C1) ready to ship back, but can't ship it until Monday due to the Fourth of July holiday, and it'll be three weeks from then before I know anything. Meantime, I feel like I'm fading away on this diet; the D is no better; and I can't get in to see my GI doc until the 15th.

I think I could stick it out better if I didn't feel so crappy. I'm thinking about throwing in the towel on the AIP/Paleo thing and just going back to eating grains and carbs for the energy, since what I'm doing now doesn't seem to be helping. Anybody have experience with the AIP diet? How long does it take to see an improvement? And how do you keep your energy up on this diet with no sugar or carbs? ……...

[JLH]

[tex]

Hi Cindy,

I'm sorry that you're not seeing any benefits from the diet changes. I haven't tried the AIP diet, so I can't offer any personal experience on that.

But it is true that some of us are sensitive to chicken. Have you tried turkey, duck, or some other alternative to chicken?

And if you decide to add some grains back into your diet, I would try them one at a time, for 3 days each, before deciding to continue using any of them. After avoiding them for 2 weeks, it's possible that if you are sensitive to any of them, you may be able to see an uptick in your symptoms when you try to add them back into your diet. Whether or not you will be able to discern any difference will depend on how severe your symptoms may already be. Anyway, the point is, if you try them one at a time, you might be able to tell if they are a problem.

Your tinnitus is indeed almost surely due to your weight loss/malnutrition. Just losing weight very rapidly can cause tinnitus, but in your case it is probably due to either a vitamin B-12 deficiency, a magnesium deficiency, a zinc deficiency, or a combination of those.

I hope that some of this is helpful.

Tex

[lisaw]

Hi Cindy:

Can you add more carbs in? Sweet potatoes, squash, plantains-that may help stop the weight loss, if you are not already eating much of those. Also, avocadoes and bananas, if you do not think you have histamine intolerance. If you do, too much of those are not good. I was in a similar situation a month ago. I couldn't get the D to slow down, and continued to lose weight. I have since gone on Entocort, and it has significantly slowed.

Lisa

[kd025]

I was thinking the same thing about the carbs. AIP and even Paleo in general aren't intended to be super low carb -- your carbs just won't be from the same foods you might be used to eating.

[C.U.B. girl]

Thanks, y'all (and I surely did need the hug, Joan.. )

@Tex, I seem to do OK with duck and turkey, so at least there's that, although it's hard to find free-range turkey anywhere. Been able to find duck breast at Whole Foods that doesn't have any junk in it, so we're going to stock up on it. Thank you for the advice about adding the grains back in --- if I get desperate enough to do that, I'll be sure to take it slow….. As for the tinnitus, I had a feeling it was caused by a deficiency of some sort but had no idea what. I stopped taking my magnesium supplements when the D started since magnesium makes it worse. I may be able to supplement the B-12 and zinc as long as I can find some that don't have any questionable fillers and additives in them. Seems like I read somewhere on here about someone using magnesium lotion, so I will definitely check in to that!

@Lisa, I did decide to add in sweet potatoes once every four days (trying to combine AIP with my rotation diet has been super challenging!). Funny you should mention plantains --- I saw a blog that used them quite a bit on the AIP, so I bought a couple the other day, and used the first one tonight in place of eggs in a recipe. Worked really well, too! Glad to hear the Entocort has worked for you -- my GI tried to get me on it two years ago when I was diagnosed but I refused it, wanting to see if I could control it with diet. Which I did, up until a month or so ago……. thinking I will take him up on it when I see him on the 15th, if things haven't improved by then.

The only reservation I have about going on Entocort is that, if my symptoms improve on it, how will I be able to then discern the foods that are causing issues? Right now my only clue that I'm intolerant to something is an increase in the D -- if the Entocort slows that down, how will I know which foods should be red-flagged? I don't want to be one of those cases that relapses after going off the Entocort because of food intolerances that haven't been dealt with…….

[tex]

Cindy,

In a pinch, soaking in Epsom salts works (or just soaking your feet in it). Someone even dissolved Epsom salts in some warm water and used that as a spray-on.

The only reservation I have about going on Entocort is that, if my symptoms improve on it, how will I be able to then discern the foods that are causing issues?

When you get to the final stages of tapering the Entocort dose (1 capsule per day, then 1 every other day, then 1 every third day, etc., you should be able to detect all but the least significant food sensitivities.

Tex

[nerdhume]

When I was on Uceris I still had symptoms if I ate something I was sensitive to. The symptoms just weren't as severe. I would guess Entocort would react similarly.
I quit worrying so much about what I can't have and began building a list of safe foods. From there I started using combinations of the safe foods for different recipes.
I tried baking plantains once many years ago and didn't like it. Anyone have any other ways to use them? I'm sure they would be safe and nutritious.

[C.U.B. girl]

I see an Epsom salt bath in my future today….. And thank you for answering my question about the Entocort, Tex. That was an encouragement!

@Theresa, regarding plantains, the recipes I've found have been using them mostly as a replacement for eggs, where a binder is needed, rather than having the plantain as a dish by itself. When you put one in a blender with a little oil, it makes a thick, gooey paste that is great for holding things together. I'm thinking I may try it in a meat loaf and see if works; it seemed to work fine in the salmon cakes I made last night. And there was no discernable taste of plantain at all.

[nerdhume]

Cindy,
Thanks for the tip I made salmon loaf last night because the salmon cakes without eggs just fall apart
Will absolutely try using plantains next time.
I have used applesauce in several recipes as an egg replacement and it has worked great. Somehow I wasn't sure about applesauce in salmon patties.

[lisaw]

Along the same lines, I've also heard a half banana is a good replacement for an egg. Plantains can be fried in coconut oil-if you do that when they are not as ripe (more yellow than brown), they come out similar to potatoes. A recipe I got from Zizzle, was to take a ripe plantain, cut off the ends, and slice it lengthwise through the top. Micro it in peel for 2-2.5 min, mash up with a spoonful of coconut oil, and cinnamon. This makes a great breakfast. Plantains are loaded with Vit C and potassium.

As far as testing foods, Cindy, symptoms may or may not come through, depending. I am on Entocort now, and still find some are coming through. You may have to wait until you are on a lower dose to start testing.

[nerdhume]

Thanks Lisa I will try that recipe.

[nerdhume]

I bought a plantain. Ate 1/2 cooked by the recipe for breakfast. It was really good.
Added the other 1/2 to salmon cakes I made for dinner. It worked well and actually didn't alter the flavor at all.
Thanks for the tips!