Alongside my coQ10 Tiny Mission (which is a long one), I’ve been looking into dietary changes.
I slid, rather than dove, into my gluten free experiment.
After some recurring problems with candida, I had mostly given up bread already (which was most of my gluten battle).
I had circled the gluten free idea for ages. A naturopath suggested I give it up. Research and blogs of fibromyalgia/CFS warriors suggested the same.
Here’s a few links about non-Celiac gluten sensitivity:
Is Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity a Real Thing?
Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance
Following a Gluten Free Elimination Diet
Improving Fibromyalgia Symptoms with Food
I let a negative celiac test give gluten a stay of execution.
After reading It Starts with Food and deciding a gentler approach to elimination would be wisest, I made plans to go gluten free.
I’m a planner. I will not make a decision that could knowingly increase my pain and fatigue levels, I have a responsibility to my baby and my husband as well as to myself.
So I created a plan, worksheets to track progress and lists of food ideas. A month long trial excluding gluten, initially including oats, would begin on June 1.
As luck would have it, I ended up with a super bad virus on May 30 and experienced such severe fatigue and pain that I got a fright! But I managed to fight through it and get back on track just four days late.
I began the gluten free experiment on June 4.
Let me just say that I had no idea that withdrawal would be so bad!
It felt like I was withdrawing from a heavy addiction. From day one I was ravenous and desperately wanted gluten and sugar (not that I was avoiding sugar any more than moderation). By day three I experienced a detoxifying lot of bowel movements, this continued into day four.
The day four symptoms were probably due, in part, to being exhausted post virus plus being up with a teething baby. However I had a massive headache, sightly diminished hunger pangs and a general blah feeling. Unpicking the general fibromyalgia/CFS threads from the flare up from the viral infection from the gluten withdrawal threads would be impossible.
I was gentle with myself, allowing myself to eat what I liked (without gluten). I found a nice half vegetable, half fruit smoothie was useful in getting me through the morning. I just can’t fill up at breakfast time, so thinking of morning tea as second breakfast helped. I allowed the chocolate craving within reason with some dark chocolate. Fruit, vegetables, our usual meals with quinoa or rice, some gluten free bread, smoothies and nuts and seeds where my staples.
Day five and six were good days! I felt like my head was clearer and my energy levels had risen.
After a week, I thought I was feeling better and a little less fogged. Certainly less upset in my stomach. However, I can’t be sure as 15 days in, I realised that some wheat fillers had snuck into some of the foods I was eating! In addition, as soon as my virus cleared up, my son gave me a lovely mucus-y cold! After three weeks sick and just over two weeks gluten free, I think that it is worth it.
It may be what I am including, rather than what I am excluding that is making the difference, but I am pretty happy with the results. My husband has been amazing, twice he has done the supermarket shop and brought back a whole heap of gluten free products (I was too stingy and ended up struggling for what to eat) but he has joined me with gusto. I have been having more quinoa and millet – both have far more vitamins and minerals than rice or glutenous grains. Breakfast smoothies full of fruit and vegetables have amped up my fruit and vegetable intake. Whole foods are taking centre stage.
Here’s a couple of things I have been reading to help me continue:
The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide
Hidden Sources of Gluten
Grass Fed Girl blog
Gluten Free on a Shoe String blog
I was going to post my part two after my month and reintroduction was completed. However, I added oats back in for one meal and experienced severe stomach cramps followed by a mini version of the withdrawal process afterward. So I am going to do six months (yikes!). I will update then 🙂