Well, as of Saturday morning I completed three weeks of the DHwRF basic elimination diet. It's continuing to be easier to maintain the diet, and my cravings for other foods continue to lessen. Mid-week I decided to add bananas into my diet. The reasons for this are: 1) when I reintroduced them the last time I did the diet, the reintroduction went fine and 2) I need something cheap and quick to eat, preferably with a little sugar in it. Bananas fit the bill perfectly, and the reintroduction has gone well as long as I eat them in moderation.
Otherwise I continue to eat as I have been. I was visiting a friend this week at her parents' house and I got sick with stabbing pains and bloating two days in a row. I was a bit perplexed about what was going on, but then she and I figured out that I was probably getting sick from gluten cross-contamination due to my highly sensitive celiac disease. So I switched to using my own sponge and my own towel and began rewashing all dishes and utensils before using them, and sure enough I stopped experiencing the pains I'd been having.
Nevertheless, I have yet to experience five days in a row without symptoms, so I'm not reintroducing any potentially problematic foods quite yet.
Here's an update on my symptoms:
Digestive symptoms: Bloating still happens almost daily, but it's less and less severe. I'm still pretty sure it's just the raspberries, which I'm eating to get a some sweetness in my diet and because I've been using them to fight a potential h. pylori infection. I may have to give them up completely to get five days in a row symptom-free.
Reflux symptoms: I still occasionally feel some reflux, but nothing like what I experienced during the first week. I haven't been able to pinpoint a particular trigger.
Autoimmune symptoms: Still so much better! I have the energy of a normal human being now and can actually get by with a few nights in a row of only 7 hours of sleep. I'm able to find energy to play with my kids and clean my house and do yard work. It's SO wonderful. I do still get leg aches despite all other body pains being gone, so I'm curious as to what could be causing them. I can't tell how dry my eyes are; they don't bother me during the day, but I also haven't tried wearing my contacts lately. My mouth actually felt a little dry a couple times this week, which was interesting. Hair loss seems to be approaching normalcy, yay! Brain fog is still there but very slowly getting better. My word recall is improving at a snail's pace, but it's improving. Once I stop struggling to find my words, I'll know that my brain fog has cleared and I'm ready to reintroduce some foods that may cause autoimmune symptoms.
Cravings: My cravings are really totally manageable - EXCEPT when I feel stressed. When I feel stressed, all bets are off, and my cravings for snacks, chewy foods, and chocolate go through the roof. So I try hard to keep myself calm so I don't end up in that situation. Also, we've been working on potty training our youngest son the last few days, and I keep giving him jelly beans as encouragement and rewards. Looking into and smelling that darn bag of jelly beans a million times a day is starting to get to me. Seriously, I want to dump the entire bag into my mouth. But I haven't. I haven't.
So overall, not a super exciting week, but healing continues. :)
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