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.
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.
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