The Three

The Three
Bug, Mr. Chubbs and LalaBear May 2010

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Going Gluten Free

Ok so I've been having gut issues since LalaBear was born 5 1/2 years ago. I truly think that my pregnancy and birth with her is what triggered the issues i;ve been having because i can not for the life of me remember having any of these issue before then or even when i was pregnant with Bug.

Over the last 5 years I've had horrible bouts of what i think was Norwalk Virus . The first time i caught it i was 2 weeks post Partum with LalaBear. I was sick for a week. So sick in fact that i was living in the bathroom because i could not move more than 3 feet from the toilet. It happend again at 4 months pp and again i lived in the bathroom for a week. (all of this WHILE exclusively breastfeeding)  My gut settled down for a while but was never really quiet. when LalaBear was 16 months old i basically stopped eating. I was still nursing her but every time i would put a bite or two into my mouth my guts would twist it seemed and everything would hurt. I'd automatically feel over full. A friend of ours saw me one day and said, in the most frank but caring way..
"You look like death, please see your doctor"
I had noticed that i was slimmer, but death? i couldn't see it. but i felt like utter crap by then and so i made an appointment with my GP.  That's when we found out that in the 2 months since this issue had started i had lost 15 lbs. Now that wouldn't really be much of any issue to most, but then you are already 122 lbs soaking wet... losing 15 of those lbs is a HUGE deal. I  weighed 107 lbs and when i laid back on the exam table, my stomach area was concave.
My GP ordered tons of tests and even an x ray to see if my intestines had some how twisted. Everything came back clean. WE didn't know what was wrong. I was given some medication and it helped alot and for 2 years things were good again. It took me a YEAR to gain back that 15 lbs i had lost though.
REcently the issues are starting to crop up again. The days spent in the bathroom, the unability to eat very much, the tiredness and lack of focus.

 this past week I seemingly lived in the bathroom again and took imodium just to function.
I  decided that I should over haul my diet. I chose to start off by going gluten free. this isn't exactly easy as my whole house is like a gluten factory. But it's been 3 days now since i went gluten free and things are slowly turning around. I think i may have Celiac Sprue... basically a sensitivity to gluten. i have not been diagnosed with any of this though.

I will be taking pictures of what i buy and make in the posts to come. Hopefully i can help my gut out a little by doing this.