Our New "Diet"

We're trying a new "diet" in our household...Well, sorta.

And it's not a "diet" to lose weight, but rather, to get my body back on track.

For two weeks now, we've eaten gluten/wheat and lactose free and I've felt amazing!

When I was first out of college, I started experiencing some significant digestive issues.  I was already suffering from terrible migraines, so when the stomach issues started, I headed to my doctor's office because I wasn't about ready to have every inch of my body in pain.  We ran a variety of tests and after about 8 months, we discovered I had a severe intestinal infection.  NOT FUN!  lol...anyhow, I took a long-term round of antibiotics and couldn't wait to have the digestive issues behind me.

Well--that never happened.  The digestive problems continued but the migraines subsided some--they become more or less "regular" headaches but with severe sinus pressure and a runny nose.

Fast forward several years later and the stomach problems were still present--I was frustrated and about ready to throw the towel in.  My doctor was very concerned about the possibility of Celiac Disease because so many of my symptoms were spot-on and there was also a family history of it.  The test was ran and luckily, the results came back negative--but it still didn't explain what was causing all my GI and headache issues.

Hit the fast forward button again, and after visiting my regular doctor and 5 other specialists, we thought we finally had a diagnosis for some other stuff that was going on--GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease).  I started my proton-pump inhibitors and I did feel better, but my stomach problems still weren't gone.  In fact, just several months ago, my symptoms had started to worsen and become more frequent.  There was one day I was driving in morning rush-hour traffic in Kansas City and suddenly, I just couldn't take any air in.  This usually only happened if I was laying down--not while upright--but I did what I knew to do: stay calm and blow cool air on myself until the lump in my throat went away and I could catch my breath again.

Very much unlike me, I set my stubbornness aside and scheduled an appointment with my Ear-Nose-Throat doctor.  It was one thing to suffer from the once-again recent onset of migraines, digestive issues and chronic sinus infections, but my little breathing episodes were getting old.

After some poking, prodding and CT scans, my ENT had determined that it wasn't even really GERD at this point.  My stomach issues had definitely progressed into LPR (larypharyngeal Reflux), which meant my throat was now being affected and as a result, my vocal chords weren't functioning properly.  Without being too graphic, when my stomach "stuff" back-flowed into my throat, my vocal chords would close (making it extremely difficult to take air in) and at night, the stuff was going into my sinus cavities.  Just more proof that I'm never a cut-and-dry medical study!

Anywho, I left the doctor's office with a new medication regimen and a referral for Speech Therapy (to relax my vocal chords)...thankfully, I know some Speech Paths so I hit them up for some exercises and basically, what I was already doing, was about as much as I could do. 

Honestly, I was just a little bit discouraged.  If anything, after two years of taking medicine, my stomach issues should have improved.  But instead, I was doubling my meds...it just didn't make sense.

Later that day, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I made a list of all the known triggers for MY stomach--without taking into consideration the "forbidden" foods for GERD/LPR.  The first trigger was easy to identify--stress.  Secondly, milk products and I do not get along.  Finally, last year I had tried a wheat-elimination diet and guess what--my stomach drastically improved, my migraines disappeared and I didn't develop rashes after eating certain foods.

It was obvious what I had to do--but, I didn't want to do it!  Wheat and lactose is in so much flippin' stuff--and stuff I like.  Such as, chocolate chip cookies! And mashed potatoes with gravy!  The stress, well--that's not going away anytime soon but I knew I needed to control what I COULD control.

That said, two weeks ago I decided to buckle-down and become more disciplined about avoiding foods that my body obviously doesn't like.  Our meals have been wheat and lactose free and any leftovers are eaten for lunch.  I have found some pretty good snacks that are wheat-free and we're finding great substitutes for everyday items like pasta, pancakes, coffee creamer, cheese sauce, etc.  At this rate, I think we can make this work and not have a bunch of super weird stuff in our pantry!

And that's a good thing.  In the past two weeks, my stomach has only been "funny" twice--and that was after eating something with a "normal cheese" sauce!  That's a huge improvement from my stomach being torn up all day, every day.  I haven't had any migraines or serious headaches.  The rash in the bend of my elbow that used to flare up after eating wheat has disappeared.  In fact, my GERD/LPR is much better--I haven't had any "episodes" so I've started to reduce my stomach meds a bit.  I really do hope that eventually, I can eventually stop taking them all together.  Yeah, yeah, yeah--that might be asking a lot but I think it's do-able!

In wrapping things up, I think this will be an interesting "diet" for our kitchen and pantry!  Thankfully, I like to cook and that's good because so many mixes and prepared foods contain wheat or lactose--or, both!  I've also had fun discovering "mainstream" recipes that can easily be adjusted so that they're wheat/lactose-free.  Or finding recipes that are naturally wheat-free and low in lactose...hello, MONSTER COOKIES!   Luckily enough, it's been much easier to avoid the problematic foods than I thought it would be and I think I'll be able to get my body back on track :-)