(no subject)

[kitchen_kink]

I must admit, I'm beginning to wonder about this elimination diet thing. I just finished the second week of the elimination phase - getting rid of common allergens in my diet like corn, soy, wheat, dairy, eggs, and yeast. So far, the good: my digestive issues are gone, I have energy to carry me through the day, I can concentrate on my work for the most part, I'm happy and not going through inexplicable mood swings. The bad: My year-round allergies don't seem to be helped much at all - from one day to the next it's unpredictable whether I'll wake up with a stuffy nose, itchy ears, dry puffy eyes and a headache, or not. I've been faithfully taking the desensitization drops, noticing little difference. My doctor and everyone dealing with me has spoken of a "rain barrel effect," to wit, your body's resistance against allergens is like a rain barrel - it can take a certain amount before it starts to overflow. Ostensibly, ridding my body of some of the built-up food allergy problems should contribute to making my year-round inhalible allergies better. It doesn't seem to have.

The corollary to this is my still fucked-up sleep schedule. With my new-found energy, I now want to stay up until 2 a.m. doing work or having fun! Then I get up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, a little before 10 - a nice, round, eight hours of sleep.

If I am a good girl and go to bed before midnight, I still can't get out of bed until 10, and feel groggy, grumpy and guilty doing it.

Oh, the body, she is a complex place.

Here's the thing: what if I'm not allergic to any foods? What if, in fact, I've just spent two weeks ingesting no caffeine, alcohol, or refined sugars, and my body's just really happy about that?

Comments

[sol3.livejournal.com]

and my body's just really happy about that?

That is entirely possible. I know that my body has seemed to be much happier with me since i stopped drinking coke regulaly (and i've instead replaced it with drinking some combination of water, milk, and apple juice most of the time.

That, combined with a somewhat regular biking schedule, and things are generally speaking, better.

I like it, personally.

[goat.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, won't you find out the answer to that question once you start adding foods back into your diet?

Also, about the allergies, perhaps it takes more than 2 weeks for your body to get rid of the excess allergens? Not sure how that works...

It's good to hear that you're feeling so energetic though. :)

[regyt.livejournal.com]

Interesting. My mood improved overall once I gave up soda, too. I still drink tea and coffee from time to time, but now that my default drink is juice or unsweetened ice tea, I don't have as many real mood swings as I used to. Nor do I sleep much, but that's more because I can always think of something more interesting to do.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

I actually think, with some of the effects you've been listing (my digestive issues are gone, I have energy to carry me through the day, I can concentrate on my work for the most part, I'm happy and not going through inexplicable mood swings), you ARE at least sensitive to something, and I think you'll figure out what once you start reintroducing foods. Why? Because I think you'll have happen to you what happened to me - you will introduce food X, and suddenly feel about 18 kinds of shitty, and say, "Oh, so THAT was the problem!"

For the year-round allergies: Not sure, really. For me, the change was pretty dramatic. I've gone from being - well, you saw how sick I was the entire time we were in Maine, or maybe you didn't, but I could tell you in great detail, and that was with all the allergy meds I could pump into my body - to having mild pet allergies and just about no environmental allergies. I've taken allergy meds maybe twice since April (and I'm saying I must have taken them because I lived on them from the age of four on and it's inconceivable to me that I haven't taken any).

So, I've got two theories, neither of which is entirely a happy one.
1. There's something non-food that is in your enviroment that is triggering your allergies, and it's too pervasive to escape.
2. One of the foods you haven't eliminated is making your rain barrel overflow. Honey (who I think you know) didn't get any results at all from her elimination diet until she eliminated rice; it turned out that was the biggest culprit. I also know a lot of people who have problems with nightshades (paprika, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes), which the Marino Center doesn't have you eliminate.

However, IANAD, just someone who's had huge allergy trouble over the years.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

Actually, I can say that for me it only took a couple of days. Then again, the food problem I was having was pretty over the top and severe.

[ectropy.livejournal.com]

I also know a lot of people who have problems with nightshades (paprika, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes), which the Marino Center doesn't have you eliminate.

and don't forget tobacco in cigarettes.

[bluepapercup]

1. There's something non-food that is in your enviroment that is triggering your allergies, and it's too pervasive to escape

This is a major problem for me. I am very chemically sensitive, and know that there are things other than foods that set me off. Anything from the toilet cleaner in a public restroom to someone's cheap shampoo can set me down the "I feel vaguely like crap" path.

I haven't yet figured out a solution.