Gluten Free

Going Gluten Free

   Two years, two near deaths, two near misses with surgery, and several hospital stays I decided enough was enough. I could no longer live my life from the couch. I could no longer live my life in pain. I could no longer live my life in depression and misery. I was to the point of suicide. Living with a Disease that takes everything out of you mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually is exhausting. I was done. I wanted out. I didn't have any where to turn. I didn't have anyone to go to. I was scared. Finally I went to bed one night and thought about children. My four beautiful children and I sobbed. I realized I couldn't let this beat me. I couldn't let this take away my life. I had to get up and keep going. I couldn't leave my beautiful kids and wonderful husband behind. I had to much to live for. I have always been a fighter and have always pulled some strength out of the darkness to keep going. 

     I had never taken the time to research the link between diet and my disease. I was told by every GI Doctor and Physician that there was no link. At this point in my journey through unschooling my kids I had not gotten to the place where I was learning about holistic approaches or nutrition. I was just eating whatever I wanted and same with my kids. We ate the Standard American Diet. Lots of pasta, bread, pizza, cereal, and baked good. We did eat a lot of fruits and veggies too but I was still very very sick and miserable. At this point my 8 year old started showing the same symptoms as me. And I knew something needed to be done. So I contacted my mother in laws Holistic Doctor and we went in to see him. He did some Kinesthectic testing on both my daughter and I and through that he found that we need to avoid all gluten, wheat, dairy, and mold. He also found that my daughter has a low functioning liver and that I have an Auto Immune Disease.

He sent us home with some all natural, herbs and we took them and at the same time I began my journey to going gluten and dairy free. It was the hardest thing I had ever done. The cravings were insane. Everyone else was still eating gluten but me. I didn't know what to cook, how to cook, where to start, nor did I have the energy to start. At this point I was completely depleted and the mere thought of standing in the kitchen and cooking was exhausting. I struggled really hard and felt jipped. I felt like my freedom of choice was taken from me. I felt my body had betrayed me. But I kept going. I started making a lot of salads and eating whole fruit and I started to feel tons better. I then started a juice fast and raw food diet. Then I got sick again. I couldn't figure out why. I wasn't eating gluten and I was very careful not to cross contaminate. This time it was bad and I lost a lot of weight and I began to binge on gluten and I got sicker. I ended being admitted into the ER and at this point I realized I needed to do more. I needed to learn more, I needed to become more aware of what I was putting in, on, and breathing through my body. At this point I was done. Not with life but with being sick. I realized at that moment that Doctors aren't being truthful when it comes to food causing diseases and illnesses. Oh did I wake up. I ended being admitted into the hospital and at this point I ready to get better. They did blood work and I was deficient in everything. They started getting my levels back up as well as putting me on Steroids. I didn't want to be on Steroids but I knew I had to get my colon healthy again and sometimes we must use conventional medicine when our health has gotten so bad. It was a temporary fix and I was going to overhaul my diet. I was in the hospital for a week and on day three I was sent to see a wonder GI Doctor that has the same disease and has had a lot of the same struggles. He was more of a Holistic GI Doc it was awesome. He gave me a colonoscopy and gave me the diagnosis of UC. Which I already knew. He then told me don't you give up, you will make it through. Man did that feel good. He then asked me are you taking any meds and I said yes Zoloft. He became wide eyed and said throw it out. Stop taking it. I started taking it because I was having a lot of anxiety attacks and I was told it would be okay. Ha! Wrong! Then I made the connected to when I was first diagnosed with Colitis in 2009, and year after that when I had started taking Zoloft. So I threw it out. I continued on the steroids and while taking them I began to overhaul my diet. I started only whole foods. So while the Steroids were healing my gut from it's current messy state I was already starting a new way of eating. I started juicing, making smoothies, eating only plant based foods. And I felt amazing.

Then some life events happened. We moved some friends in and I could no longer afford my Organic plant based diet. We started eating pasta, cereals, baked goods, canned good and of course I still only ate gluten and dairy free items but with those changes and the stress from the negative chaos from this family moving in I began to get sick again. My hubby ended up loosing his job a few months after that so we went to live off grid with my dad and well that was not the best experience. Now we have moved to another state and I am now ready to start over. I am ready overhaul my diet and never look back this time. I have to admit I feel awful, I hurt, I itch, my Psoriasis is back, my brain is foggy, I'm irritable and bitchy. I know it's what I'm eating, putting on my body and breathing in. Because I have played around with food and paid attention to how I felt. So I do believe that food plays a big role in our emotional, mental, physical health. It's the same with our children and find it so important to share this information with them. It's time for a change and I am so excited and have learned so much and am ready to learn more and be the best healthiest me I can be.

My Diagnosis

My Diagnosis

     I had never had any major medical issues growing up. Except when I was in the 6th grade I got Sceriosis which turns out to be an auto immune disease. It was horrible. My hair fell out, my scalp, eyebrows, ears and nose hurt so bad. They were full of pusey sores. My parents took to a dermatologist who put me on very expensive tar shampoos and lotions to help but they didn't it made it worse and made it hurt and made my hair fall out. It was the most awful experience. I even tried home remedies like Vaseline, and white vinegar which none of them worked. Going into the 8th grade with this was the hardest thing in the world at that age. I got made fun of a lot and was called scales or pussy. People put gum in my hair, spit in it, and would say things like whats that smell it smell rotten. The summer between my 8th and 9th grade I decided I was dropping out of school. But my parents would not let me home school. They insisted on sending me to public school. I was terrified. I didn't want to be laughed at anymore. Then I saw a commercial for Denorex so I thought I would give it a try and it WORKED! I was so happy I couldn't believe it. My Sceriosis was gone with in days. I was now excited about life again. 

     I spent my high school life liked and the nick names had disappeared. We never figured out what triggered my Sceriosis and at that age I didn't care all I cared about was that it was gone and the bullying would be gone with it. 

     As the years went by my sceriosis came and gone but I was able to manage it with denorex. I had no other issues sense the time I graduated to the time I pregnant with my third daughter in 2006. I had come down with a really bad kidney infection and they put me on an antibiotic. At this point I was oblivious to holistic medicine and the effects of prescription drugs on my system. I had continued to take the medication as prescribed and my kidney infection cleared up. Which I was so grateful for because those hurt like hell. Shortly after that my stool began to look and smell different and there was a lot of mucous and some blood. I had chocked it up to being pregnant. And possibly hemorrhoids. As time went on these symptoms began to increase and I began to have a lot of tummy aches but I ignored it. I then began to have sever anxiety and depression which was not normal for me. I went to my doctor and was put on Zoloft. I was still experiencing the same symptoms with my stool except now I was feeling pain while having a bowel movement again I chocked it up to hemorrhoids. After having my daughter in September I continued on the Zoloft and my symptoms began to subside. I was having normal bowel movements again. So I just went on like nothing happened. in February of 2007 I got an IUD by Mirena. I didn't want to have anymore kids at this point and it was removable if I ever did decide to have more kids. Never had an issue with the Mirena and I stopped having issues with my bowel movements. Then in 2009 I started having severe cramps, blood in my stool a lot of blood, and a lot of mucous and frequent running to the bathroom without passing anything. It hurt and I was scared. I went to the ER and they told me I probably ate something bad and gave me Flagyl. I went home and took at as prescribed and I got much worse. So I stopped taking it and went to the ER in next city. Come to find out. I had no signs of bacteria in my stool and so I did not need Flagyl. I was still taking Zoloft at this point. When I went in I had asked them to check my IUD and they could not find it. So they sent me in for xrays. And there it was it had perforated through my uterus and wrapped around the ogmenton which then wrapped tightly around my large colon. I was taken in for a cat scan and ultrasound. And I came back two days later for a colonoscopy. After the colonoscopy they decided how to proceed with removing the IUD. I went in two days later for laproscopic surgery to have it removed by this point the IUD have navigated up toward my rib cage close to my heart, they also removed my appendix because it looked diseased. When I woke from anesthesia I felt so sick and pucked all night. I then went in to see the GI Doctor that did the colonoscopy and he told me that I have colitis. But more testing needed to be done to see which type of colitis it was. Sense then I have almost died four times, more hospital stays then I could count on both hands, and have had to take more meds then I would like. In 2012 I went in and had another colonoscopy done because I had almost died that October and they found that I have Ulcerative Colitis. It has been a long hard journey. I stopped taking the Zoloft when I learned that is exacerbates the UC symptoms. I was told that I have always had UC but it was dormant and the meds I took for my kidneys then the IUD perforating woke it up. It has been a long hard road sense 2009. But I see it as a blessing in disguise. Because without that experience I would have had my beautiful baby boy who is now 3. I wouldn't have found a whole way to live and be with my kids or my husband. I wouldn't be who I am today for I am grateful to be where I am today.