Hey guys!! I’ve missed you this last week. I saw my doctor last week with the results of my blood tests and I needed a few days to process my new diagnosis. I’ve been a little overwhelmed. I actually thought my brain might swell up and explode like a cartoon, leaving brain splattered all over my room but luckily this is REAL life! ;-)
I walked into the doctors office and he handed me a personalized Nutrition plan in a folder and I knew I was in for it…
So……. here’s the deal. I’m food sensitive. There are two types of reactions people have to foods. One is an allergic reaction, which is an immediate reaction (usually life threatening) to something eaten within a few minutes to 6 hours. Then there are sensitivity reactions, which is a milder reaction that will occur from 6 hours to 72 hours after ingesting the food.
The most common side effects of people with food sensitivities are…
(I have so many of these it isn’t funny and some of them for almost my entire life. I can’t believe my headaches I’ve had since first grade are probably a reaction to apricots or something)
According to my blood tests I’m off the charts food sensitive. A score higher than 650 is high and I’m 720, which says that my GI tract is extremely damaged.
A sensitivity reaction means that complex proteins being digested in the intestines are leaked out into the blood stream through damaged or weakened areas of the intestine lining.
It’s almost like celiac’s disease for those familiar to gluten free diets.
So why was this information so difficult to process…….. because I’m food sensitive to over 100 different foods.
According to the nutrition plan I was given I’m supposed to avoid everything on this list for 12 weeks. Which leaves me eating no form of carb, no dairy, and no dairy replacers. So needless to say I felt really defeated and confused for a few days.
The doctor said I needed to modify the plan so that I could get the most benefits while still still eating enough food. So I did a lot of reading and decided that I’m going to go dairy and gluten free. Then I will also avoid all high/moderate foods on the list, which include peanuts, potatoes, and yogurt!!!!!! Ahh, it’s all my favorites. I also need to not eat soy or rice products which leaves me with lots and lots of almond milk….
I’ll also be taking a series of medicines to help my intestines heal faster. They are coming sometime this week. I’ll be taking them for 6 weeks and the cocktail changes ever few days.
I’ll be following this new nutrition plan for 12 weeks, the first 6 I’ll be taking the medication to help speed everything up and get my symptoms under control. Hopefully I’ll be back to working out ASAP! Then I get to add 1 food back into my diet every 3-5 days. If I don’t have any type of reaction to it then it get’s to stay in my diet. It’s going to be a very long road. But I’ve felt really bad and I haven’t been able to do the things I want to do so in the end it will be so worth it.
After the 12 weeks are up, I take another blood test to see if my Intestinal Barrier Assessment has changed at all from the 720 I got this time. If I do the plan right it should go down.
Some of these foods I’ll have to avoid for the rest of my life, probably the dairy and some of the other moderate foods but my doctor believes that most of my low sensitivities are a result of my intestines being so inflamed. Which is really good news. I think I can do just about anything for a measly 12 weeks, if I had to…..
I’m happy to have some serious answers but I wasn’t expecting the answers I got. I figured my blood tests would be negative for celiac’s disease and I figured I’d be mildly allergic to something random but I wasn’t expecting this. It’s such a balancing act because I really really want results. I don’t know if my symptoms will get better by just eliminating the moderate and high things.
It’s 1 day at a time from now to February… Just 1 day at a time.
Good news is if I start feeling better, that’s CRAZY GOOD motivation.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Glad you are back! Wow…that is a lot to process, but God knows how much you can handle. He totally made you after all. :) He knew this was going to happen, so I know that He can give you the strength and mental strength to handle this. I truly believe that He has different roads and paths for everyone. They aren’t always what we expect, but the outcome is always for the good. Just think, someone out here in the blogging world is probably going through the exact same thing….You get to show them how it’s done! :) I will be praying for you….:) You can do this!
Have a great day!
This is such great advice. I hadn’t even thought about everything from a god standpoint yet. You’re so good!!! Thanks Brandi. Your comments are always so awesome! :-D
I’m sorry my friend! I kind of know what you’re going through. I’ve suffered from head aches since about 2006/2007. Doctors really didn’t know how to help me except to prescribed antidepressants and over weird drugs that gave me worse side effects. I saw a natural doctor and he order a food sensitivity test for me. I have sensitivities to cheese (like MAJOR & cheese is my FAVORITE) and other dairy products. Also some random things like certain nuts and cantaloup. There were others but I’ve been really bad at following it. I mainly try not to eat much cheese and dairy and that has helped loads in reducing the number of headaches I get.
One interesting thing I learned from it is that most people have food sensitivities and they don’t even know it.
I can’t imagine not eating so many foods. Good luck!
Oh so cool that you have them too! I’m not alone in the universe. Cheese is so hard to go without!! Do you feel better not eating the things your sensitive to??
I definitely notice a different if I cut cheese out of my diet BUT sometimes it’s so hard for me and I just take the chance of getting a headache…not good. Like tonight, I’m making macaroni and cheese bc it’s it’s my Halloween tradition. Fingers crossed it doesn’t bite me in the butt!
Unfortunately, it sounds like your reactions to certain foods are worse than my headaches. :(
You’ll get through it though! :)
Cool. I’m glad to hear that you can actually feel a difference when you don’t eat the contraband foods. I’m hoping it’s the case for me.
Maren, I’m so sorry to hear of all your food sensitivities, but at least you now know why you were feeling so sick for so long. I would be so sad if I had to give up dairy, but then again feeling great outweighs my food desires. I wish you the best of luck over the next 12 weeks and hope you next round of tests lower your number. I think I would have taken a few days to process the information as well. But you just need to stay positive and focus on the end result: feeling good! It looks like we are now both counting down the days until February.
Yeah, I totally agree. Health is so much more important than food desires. I guess my love affair with peanut butter isn’t too important………. ;-)
Wow, Maren – so sorry to hear about this! I hope this new diet will help you feel better, because that’s what really matters :) AND it’s an opportunity to get creative in the kitchen :) Stay positive, friend!
I’m really sorry to hear this – but maybe it feels good to have some answers? Now, at least, you can make decisions about how to proceed!
When you’re feeling up to it, I passed on the “10 Things” Blog (on Friday) to you!
Oh so fun! I’m definitely going to do it!! Thanks for passing it on to me.
awwww…i know that what you are dealing with is completely difficult…but at least you are on the path to feeling better, and thats really what matters. It wouldve been much worse continuing to feel crappy and not entirely sure what the issue is. Think of it as a way to get incredibly creative with your eating :)
aww thanks for the kind words. I’m loving them right now!
I’m so sorry to read about your food sensitivities! On the bright side, maybe you can eliminate some unnecessary symptoms??
Fortunately nowadays there are so many gluten free, dairy free products! Soy yogurt isn’t too bad.