I've Been Sick, But I'm Getting Better...

Part Two - The Healing Begins

It's been about 10 weeks now since I've had to come to terms with what was making me sick. Let me be honest and tell you, it hasn't been easy!

Prior to changing my diet, in addition to all the symptoms I mentioned in the previous blog, I had chronic diarrhea, upset stomach, acid reflux, cramps, bloating, gas and everything I ate made me feel sick and nauseated. By the time I received the results, I had already resigned to the fact that my suspicions about celiac disease would be confirmed by the food sensitivity blood test.

What the results indicate is that my gut and small intestines have been badly damaged by the wheat and dairy I've been eating. Add to that a bad diet high in sugar and carbs, pile on the stress and you have the perfect breeding ground for the bad gut bacteria, candida albicans.

​Candida albicans can wreak havoc if not kept in check and can cause or mimic all sorts of autoimmune diseases. They are fascinating little creatures and really deserve their own blog post (coming soon).

​To start the healing process (which I was warned would likely take 6-18 months) I immediately started a multi-faceted holistic approach to restore my digestive system.

• Obvious diet restrictions - no wheat, no dairy, no sugar and nothing on the sensitive list for 3-6 months. Now remember that 30 foods are on that list, mostly my daily staples.
• Berber once a day to restore my gut flora
• Digestive enzyme before every meal
• To kill off the Candida, the plan was to both starve it and send in the good bacteria soldiers.
• To starve it - no sugar. Like none. Whatsoever. No white sugar, no brown sugar, no honey, no fructose, no maple syrup, no fruit, none.
• To outnumber it - massive dosages of the good bacteria via probiotics (and not the cheap ones either!)

For the past 10 weeks, I have had a very restricted diet. No wheat, no dairy, no sugar, no processed food, no fruit, no juice, no red meat, no nuts, no citrus, no shellfish, no alcohol. I have been living off chicken, tuna, pork, eggs and about 10 different vegetables. Everything cooked, nothing raw and nothing boiled. And since most of the cooking oils; olive, coconut, almond, avocado and butter are on the list, I've been cooking everything with peanut oil and ghee.

One exception. I did manage to salvage my one sacred life-sustaining cup of coffee in the morning with a wee 1/2 tsp of sugar. I broke the rules, but I held my ground. I need that precious single cup of coffee every day. It has literally become the only comfort food I'm allowed.

I didn't see my best friend for about 10 days after I started the new diet and probiotics/enzyme regime. When she saw me, she couldn't believe her eyes! I had lost most of the inflammation in my upper body, my eyes were clear and she told me I didn't look like I was dying anymore. (We're best friends, she's allowed to say stuff like that...)

I felt amazing! Within ten days my brain had cleared and I could think again.
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Within a month, about 10-15 of the 61 symptoms on my list were either starting to subside or were already gone. I started to have more energy, my digestive system settled down, the runs had stopped running, and I wasn't nauseated every day. 

At the 8 week mark, I went through the list item by item and I was shocked to count that out of 61 symptoms I had been suffering from for months or even years, 30 of them were significantly improved or gone away completely. Things such as the severe pain in my joints, chronic headaches, and a persistent smoker's cough (although I'm a non-smoker) all went away. Open sores and wounds suddenly healed.

My emotions stabilized. I stopped crying every day. The depression lifted. Like, completely lifted, gone. I don't need anti-depressants and I've lowered my dosage of ADHD medication.

My perimenopause symptoms all disappeared including the mood swings, hot flashes and night sweats. Right before the diet change, I had 3 periods in 5 weeks, and now they have returned to their normal schedule like clockwork every 28 days.

I've also lost 26 lbs, which is ironic because this was never about weight. As soon as you say "diet" people immediately ask about weight. They ask me how much I am trying to lose or have already lost. I think it's definitely an added bonus, but this has never been about the weight.

This has been and continues to be a very interesting experience for me. I do a lot of work around identity, both in corporate training and in my writing. This experience has shed new light on how I view my own identity. Huge changes in lifestyle, health, relationships and work shake us to the core of our own identities. When all the excess conditions, titles, and habits are shaken off, you find out who you really are and what really matters. 

That's what this blog is really all about. Identity. Who we are, who I am, and how we figure it all out.