Progress!

I've been on a wheat-free/dairy-free diet for the month of February so far (at least, mostly wheat-free/dairy-free). I have noticed significant differences in my health. I am no longer hyper-allergic to things. I still sneeze now and then, but I haven't had one of my major allergy attacks at all this month. Not even when Aaron and I were cleaning the house last weekend in preparations for his parents to come visit us. Awesome!

Another change I've noticed is that I am not so bloated in the mid-section as I was before.

I have found additional bread that I can eat. The local baker makes a lovely sourdough spelt bread with sunflower seeds on it... Yummy! I foresee myself making more trips downtown to his shop to get a loaf...

I have also learned what I can and cannot eat at most of the restaurants in Juneau. There is a lot of variety out there for me!

Off-Track

So, life has smacked me upside the head and my health has taken a back seat. I started feeling like crap and feeling extremely fatigued. Like, I felt the constant need to rest my head on my desk at work... Not really good for a productive work day... I was also having frequent migraines, several times a week... Not fun...

I decided that I needed to take a little break from school so that I could get to the bottom of my fatigue, especially since the overwhelming fatigue usually made it difficult to keep up with my school work. I still want to work towards my degree, so I just took a leave of absence for about a month.

I made an appointment with my doctor to get to the bottom of things... Where she promptly smacked me upside the head for overlooking my health due to the increasing stress in my life... Initially, she discussed the winter blues (SAD) and recommended that I get a SAD light (kind of expensive, though, so it might be a little while before I get one). She also put me on a medication to help combat my fibromyalgia and fatigue... It has also helped with my insomnia. I was told to reduce stress as much as possible and rest as much as possible (which means I need to go to bed at a decent hour and aim for 8-10 hours of sleep at night).

I saw my doctor today for a follow up to see how the meds are treating me. In addition to increasing my dosage, she wants me on a wheat-free/dairy-free diet for at least a month... She feels that my diet of pretty much nothing but carbs is making my allergies to other things (dust, mold, dogs, etc) worse than they should be. She also feels that the migraines are exacerbated by my diet (or lack thereof of a "healthy" diet).

So, armed with my new directions, I will be eating no wheat, dairy, or eggs (already a known allergen). She recommended that I follow the "Eating Right for your (Blood) Type" and stick to the foods listed for my blood type (and avoid the bad foods like the plague). Amazon has a Kindle version of the book, which has been purchased and loaded on my reading device. I'm ready to learn and prepared to focus on myself as much as possible this month... We'll see how it goes!

The reasons behind getting healthy...

I have always considered myself to be rather health-conscious. I stay away from McDonald's as much as possible, I gave up drinking Diet Coke, and I have a V-8 instead of a candy bar in the afternoon... But with all of my denial about "it's OK if I have "this" because I haven't had "this" for a while (not remembering that I just had "this" in my denial-induced binge of 2 days ago), I still wasn't fully prepared for the diagnosis that I received recently...

• As a child, I was (as my mom put it) "Disgustingly Healthy." I didn't have any allergies. I didn't have any major illnesses. Outside of a few trips to the emergency room for my broken arm and stitches needed from time to time, I didn't start having problems until my mid teens. When I was 17, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. After trying several medications with no positive results, I chose to treat with ibuprofen as needed and modify my diet.

• Later in life, I found that I was hypoglycemic. I tend to get shaky when I don't eat. When I tried diets that restrict carbs, it was worse. I decided that oatmeal for breakfast was a good thing.

• After I got married, I gradually gained 50 pounds over 10 years. I convinced myself that the weight gain was genetic and that I couldn't really do anything about it.

• I have been told by my doctor that my gall bladder doesn't work the way it should and that I'm not producing enough bile to break down the fats in my diet. I naturally stay away from anything too fatty to compensate for this, but that isn't good for my RA, which is helped by adding Omega-3 fatty acids (and all the other Omega- fats) to my diet. My cholesterol is higher than normal because I'm not digesting the fats properly. There is a suppliment that I get from my doctor to help my gall bladder along, but I am not very consistent with taking it.

• Throughout the years, I have developed several allergies. We had to get rid of our cats and I have a sensitivity to my dogs. I sneeze explosively when exposed to dust, mold, or fragrances.

• This past winter, I was exposed to mold in my kitchen cabinets. That exposure caused bronchitis and asthma. Through my treatment for the bronchitis and asthma, my doctor decided to do blood work to determine what I am allergic to.

• The test results came in... I am allergic to eggs... Research done thus far leads me to believe that I have a mild egg allergy that affects my resperatory system. My doctor believes that my sensitivity to my dogs, dust, and fragrance are a result of the egg allergy leaving my system compromised (basically, my body reacts to everything because it was left susceptible from the egg allergy).

So, now that I've gone through the background, it is time for me to get off my butt and change my lifestyle. I need to come up with a diet plan that takes all of my issues into consideration. I believe that diet can control illnesses when done properly.

So, join me as I try to figure this out. As I try new things, I'll post product reviews and recipes. I'll also catalog a daily diet/activity diary, but this is primarily for my records, to help me keep track of everything. If it is helpful to you, my reader, than great!