Miserable day

[cludwig]

It's been 28 days gluten free, but the big truck that used to hit me every day returned. I've felt like I have the flu symptoms again. My D wasn't that bad and I'm just feeling so discouraged. I'm positive I havn't let any gluten or my triggers in. I'm wondering if i'm acidentally getting some somewhere or if this is just part of it . some good days and some bad.

Cristi

[Mars]

Awe Cristi, I'm sorry you've had a bad day. Sometimes things go from good to bad and back again. Hang in there, it WILL get better!

Is it possible you ingested one of your other intolerances?

Sending good vibes your way!
Mars

[cludwig]

I don' think so...but I don't know. I usually eat the same thing everyday. I did try a tiny bite of steak two days ago. It didn't affect my bowel movements , but I got all achey and bloated. It just feels like I keep going back and forth. A couple of decent days then a couple of yucky days. I simply can't seem to tie it to anything specific. Is that how it goes sometimes or does a remission just happen one day and you're better?

Thanks for the good vibes,

Cristi

[tex]

Hi Cristi,

Sorry that you had a bad day, hopefully tomorrow will be better.

It took me about another year, after I adopted the GF diet, before I found the rest of my intolerances, and a few more months after that, before I stopped having a good week or two, followed by a bad week. After my gut finally healed, though, I only had a reaction if I slipped up and misread a label, or if I accepted someone else's word about a food item being safe, and then later discovered that they were just guessing, they really don't know what they were talking about, and I should have known better.

For many of us, it takes a while for the gut to heal. It will heal, though, if you continue to do your part, and some day soon, you will suddenly realize that you're feeling better than you've felt in years.

Tex

P S Concerning steak--I haven't eaten any beef in probably close to a year, but the reason I stopped was because a few hours after eating beef, I would develop some bloating, and approximately 8 hours after eating it, I would always get a mild to moderate headache. At about 16 to 20 hours, I would have general upper body pain, (pain in my shoulders and upper back, a stiff neck, etc.), which lasted for roughly a day. Like you, it never caused me to have any D reaction. I have no idea why this happened. I guess I need to try some again one of these days to see if it still affects me the same way. Pork never bothered me, and I eat it virtually every day.

P P S When I was reacting, I used to describe my situation exactly the same way that you mentioned--when I got out of bed in the morning, I felt like I had been hit by a truck.

[cludwig]

man, that's good to hear. I'm heading to bed and i'll keep repeating that to myself.

thanks for the support,
Cristi

[Polly]

Cheer up, Cristi!

Your course is perfectly normal. It took me almost 9 months of GF/DF before the diarrhea left. Your gut has been sick for a long time and needs an equally long time to get better. Try to be patient. And the roller coaster effect is par for the course.

Often some gluten or another trigger has been iggested and you just don't know it. Did you eat out? Eat something with "natural or artificial flavors" listed on the label? If it would help, you can post everything you ate in the last few days and we could try to help you identify a potential problem. Several heads are better than one, IMHO. Like Wayne says, it WILL get better. We promise.

Love,

Polly

[cludwig]

You are right about the several heads. Mine is certainly not at its best right now.

I went back and looked at everything I put into my mouth. (I haven't eaten out in months) So here is what I found: Single Grain Rice Cereal for Baby. The ingredients are: rice flour, soy oil-lecithin, tri-anddicalcium phosphate, tocopherols(vitamin E), electrolytic iron, zinc sulfate, niacinamide(A B vitamin) riboflavin(vitamin B-2), pyridoxine, hydrochloride (vitemin B6) Thiamin (vitamin B1) folic acid ( A B vitamin) and vitamin B 12 (cyanocobalamin.



So this violates what you all told me not eating anything with more than four ingredients. Also ( from Dr. Fines test I shouldn't have soy) I see that it contains soy oil lecithin. I have no idea if this has gluten in it, but it's going into the trash.

So what do you all think of these ingredients?

Thanks for challenging me to re-examine everything.

Cristi

[celia]

Dear Cristi,

I just wanted to tell you how inspired I am by your earnestness! Your diligence is uncovering new links and possibilities which may be incredibly useful to you in solving the puzzle of your illness. It's only natural to be concerned and trying to sort this out, so please don't be hard on yourself for "dwelling" on your health, but please do also catch some moments of joyfullness when you feel well!!!!

Being on a gluten free diet improved my health considerably, but it wasn't the solution to all my health challenges. It's not unusual to have poor adrenal functioning when you have food allergies, especially if they were already low to begin with. I had adrenal fatigue (my dhea is normal but the the line representing my adrenal activity (after cortisol saliva test) was almost flat! There are four stages of adrenal fatigue, and I don't recall where your combination of cortisol and dhea falls, but you could look at these websites---

http://www.drlam.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_f ... atigue.cfm

www.adrenalfatigue.org

Dr. Lam's overivew is excellent. Dr. Wilson is considered THE expert on adrenal fatigue by by integrative medicine doctor. I loved his book, called Adrenal Fatigue, the 21st Century Stress Syndrome. It's chock full of advice on how to overcome adrenal fatigue. Salt is recommended if you have low blood pressure and experience dizziness upon standing, but not regular table salt but rather celtic sea salt which has not been processed and retails important minerals.

(There are lots of products on these websites but you can just ignore that and go for the material.)

The fact that you say your coping skills are thin also points to adrenal fatigue. But this is something that can be overcome, so please not to worry!

Hypoglycemia almost always goes along with poor adrenal functioning, but again, this is something that can be managed. I had a long period of feeling hypoglycemic, but now that I am vigilant about eating regularly, and eating enough it's no longer a problem for me.

I'm thinking of you too, and I know you are going to feel very different as time moves on.

Don't lose heart!

Hugs, Celia

[cludwig]

Hi Celia,

Your message hit home. I do have some days that are good when my symptoms are not that bad...but I just can't seem to relax and enjoy them. I think you.re right on that my adrenal fatigue is now playing a part in how I'm feeling. The dizziness, low blood pressure , low body temterature, plus my test results all confirm this too. I didn't know about the connection to food allergies....thats really interesting.

Thanks for the websites. I.m going to do some more research.....then try to relax and have faith that this will eventually improve.

Thanks for the hand holding Celia,

Cristi

[Momster]

Hi Cristi:

I admire your perserverance(sp?). You are definitely on the right track. I know it can be discouraging when you have setbacks, but like Polly said, it took a long time for your gut to get that way and will take time to heal.

Just rest and ride this one out.

It will get better (Cristi).

Love - Momster

[Tessa]

Hi Cristi:

Do not feel down. I know it is difficult when you are not feeling well, but I can assure you that you will have better days. Just give it the time needed.

When we start the GF diet, we do not feel better in a day, a week or a month... Some have to wait more than others, but do not forget the time you have been eating and drinking things you did not know were damaging you. Give your body the time now to recover and you will be astonished when everything´s over and you feel as if you were in heaven.

Of course, you will have bad days, but also good days. And suddenly, one day, maybe even unnoticed, you will feel much better. And the following day too, and so on.

It is extremely important to know all your triggers and to follow a strict diet, but being on the right path, it will be positive for your overal health.

Keep up the good work, remain positive.
Remember, there is always sun after a storm.

Love,
Tessa

[tex]

Cristi,

Based on your test results, I would say that any soy derivative could be a problem. Theoretically, the proteins have been removed from oils, so that oils shouldn't present a risk, but many of us have found that the oils sometimes bother us anyway, when we are particularly vulnerable.

Judging by all the vitamins in that rice cereal, it's an "enriched" cereal, and sometimes gluten is used in the "enriching" process, accoreding to what I have read, though I have never tried to actually track this down.

If rice flakes would work for you, I like Arrowhead Mills Organic Sweetened Rice Flakes. It is one of the few pre-sweetened natural cereals that I have found, that is actually sweet enough that I'm not tempted to add any sugar. I buy it at a local health food store.

Here are the ingredients:

organic whole grain brown rice grits
orgainc evaporated cane juice
orgainc whole grain brown rice flour
organic maple syrup
sea salt
organc honey
ascorbic acid, (vitamin C)
natural vitamin E

This is obviously over four ingredients, but at least they're natureal ingredients. The only suspect ingredient in this list is the ascorbic acid, which may be derived from corn. I don't recall if you are corn intolerant or not.

Tex

[cludwig]

Thanks , I have no idea if I've become corn intolerent. Quessing I should wait to try that...it does sound yummy tho. I think when I'm feeling better I'll try some pork as I'm getting really sick of cod and chicken.

So far this morning is going better than yesterday. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Everyone here is so supportive....You have no idea how much this means to me.

Thanks everyone

Cristi

[cludwig]

Well I just moved the dog food prep to a different part of the kitchen. I have to break up a dog cookie to give one of my dogs his thyroid medication. Nervous that somehow the crumbs will end up on my plate.

I also noticed that the toaster oven hangs directly over the silverware drawer. Going to have to fix that.

Just watching family members eat a sandwich or rip into a piece of bread(with crumbs dropping onto the table) makes me nervous.

Feeling a little nuttty. If I'm this nervous about my own home , I can't imagine trusting a total stranger at a restaurant . Sounds like you guys occasionally do , so I suppose someday I'll get to that point. I think I'm turning into a control freak so I feel like I have some power over this stuff.


Need to relax, haha

Cristi

[annie oakley]

Christi....I hope you feel better soo....we all know how you feel. There is light at the end of the tunnel that is NOT a frieght train. Hang in there. We're all here for you. Love Oma