Tummy Wars
Been having stomach problems of varying degrees for over a week now, not really sure what to do. No, actually, I have some ideas. I just wish it wasn't all so trial-and-error.
I was diagnosed with IBS and lactose intolerance when I was 19, and tested negative for celiac, so tummy aches and the like are pretty standard for me. But once college ended, and then I quit the overly-stressful larp scene, it wasn't a *constant* problem anymore.
Quitting all caffeine but chocolate (in January 2005, yikes) also helped a great deal, tho on a practical level it is much harder to cut caffeine from one's diet than alcohol. I still ate dairy and lactase pills seemed to work for me, but high-fat dairy was best to be avoided.
In 2008 when I couldn't drink due to a few months on anxiety meds, and when I started paying more attention to how my body processes stress, I realized that the stomach problems are also a weird way that my body expresses an anxiety attack. So on a related note, alcohol makes my anxiety and stomach problems worse, so I quit that too.
I don't remember stage combat making my stomach problems worse, and I'm pretty sure I was fine for improv, despite the fact that obligations sometimes stress me out and make me anxious and stomach achey.
At the beginning of 2011 my IBS seemed at a normal level, coming up every once in a while to make me miserable, but not super frequently even when I was overwhelmed with improv scheduling. But in late August I having bad-days very regularly. Missing at least one or two days of work a month due to OMGTUMMYARGH. All this coincided with recovering from mono, which my doctor didn't test for until late December, when it was already technically over.
In late November I was still feeling lethargic and stomach-ick and decided after Thanksgiving to try an elimination diet. Initially it was just going to be a no-sugar diet, but I found guidelines for something more severe to alleviate more food sensitivities, including dairy. I also read somewhere that cutting back on wheat and dairy is good for people who have lots of sinus problems, like me.
For the first week my digestive system was a little uncomfortable as I switched many starches and processed foods for gluten-free whole grains, nuts, cooked and raw vegetables, and raw fruits. And then much worse for the weeks following. And even worse than that when I tried eating some bad goat cheese. *headdesk* Bad bodega!! And I kept track of my 8+ glasses of water a day, I wasn't dehydrated.
Xmas weekend I gave up sticking to my diet and ate lots of things I hadn't had in weeks. Cheeses, some crackers but mostly stuck to rice cakes, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, etc. The only thing my tummy seemed to have a problem with was red meat, and yet not in a painful way.
Went to my cousin's house for Xmas dinner itself, her pets gave me a sinus infection, I spent most of Winter Break home sick. Was the sinus problem made worse by wheat and dairy? Don't know. But still not many stomach problems until after NYE when I started to get back on the elimination diet and eat nuts again.
However, I had soooooo much more energy for the first 1.5 weeks back from winter break, even with the increasing stomach problems. So maybe the elimination jump started my energy levels again as it messed up my digestive system? Or that last week off was what I needed to get over the mono-blues? My head is still clearer than it was then, but the longer my stomach is upset the more steam I lose, and the more the brain fog is coming back :-/
It could also be an anxiety thing, but I don't really have anything to be anxious about. No projects or obligations aside from my dayjob, no friends or liaisons to stress me out. Sure, work is annoying due to the renovation, but now I have my office area back. And I do actually *like* my job.
I stopped eating nuts because I thought it was maybe the high fat content getting to me, but I'm still full of owch.
Today I researched soluble/insoluble fibers and some other things, and insoluble fiber can *also* exacerbate IBS. Make food run faster through the system, prevent nutrients from getting absorbed properly, cause general ickiness. Aha!
So... duh, I'ma start eating starchier things again and stop making my system work so hard on these insoluble fibers all the time. Bye bye elimination diet, for the most part.
Coming back in are potatoes, *maybe* corn. Will try to stay off wheat and dairy for a bit longer, and definitely still avoiding refined sugars. I don't think I'm sensitive to trace amounts of soy (although I've heard horrible things about soy lately), tho large amounts of soy have messed me up before. Will probably still have grains in the morning (I noticed feeling more energetic when I started having amaranth for breakfast ZOMG), but not also for lunch. And my rice cakes can stay.
I miss making pot roast, but I may just stick to chicken for a bit longer, though without the skin. Nuts ... dunno. Maybe they're just too much fat and fiber for me? I don't think the frozen berries have to go, they are at least a better snack than ice cream.
I am still wondering about reactive hyperglycemia, which sounded like how I felt when I was recovering from mono, but that may actually be hypochondria on my part :-P Potatoes can't be as bad as sugar, right?
Can I just stop eating food? Then I wouldn't have to worry about any of this...
Hoping this doesn't screw me up for the weekend, which I hoped to fill with geekiness. Maybe I'll start Saturday night after Recess/NerdNYC, and then I have two days to work it out with the holiday on Monday.
<3 Chrysilla
Crossposted from Dreamwidth, http://chrysilla.dreamwidth.org/
I was diagnosed with IBS and lactose intolerance when I was 19, and tested negative for celiac, so tummy aches and the like are pretty standard for me. But once college ended, and then I quit the overly-stressful larp scene, it wasn't a *constant* problem anymore.
Quitting all caffeine but chocolate (in January 2005, yikes) also helped a great deal, tho on a practical level it is much harder to cut caffeine from one's diet than alcohol. I still ate dairy and lactase pills seemed to work for me, but high-fat dairy was best to be avoided.
In 2008 when I couldn't drink due to a few months on anxiety meds, and when I started paying more attention to how my body processes stress, I realized that the stomach problems are also a weird way that my body expresses an anxiety attack. So on a related note, alcohol makes my anxiety and stomach problems worse, so I quit that too.
I don't remember stage combat making my stomach problems worse, and I'm pretty sure I was fine for improv, despite the fact that obligations sometimes stress me out and make me anxious and stomach achey.
At the beginning of 2011 my IBS seemed at a normal level, coming up every once in a while to make me miserable, but not super frequently even when I was overwhelmed with improv scheduling. But in late August I having bad-days very regularly. Missing at least one or two days of work a month due to OMGTUMMYARGH. All this coincided with recovering from mono, which my doctor didn't test for until late December, when it was already technically over.
In late November I was still feeling lethargic and stomach-ick and decided after Thanksgiving to try an elimination diet. Initially it was just going to be a no-sugar diet, but I found guidelines for something more severe to alleviate more food sensitivities, including dairy. I also read somewhere that cutting back on wheat and dairy is good for people who have lots of sinus problems, like me.
For the first week my digestive system was a little uncomfortable as I switched many starches and processed foods for gluten-free whole grains, nuts, cooked and raw vegetables, and raw fruits. And then much worse for the weeks following. And even worse than that when I tried eating some bad goat cheese. *headdesk* Bad bodega!! And I kept track of my 8+ glasses of water a day, I wasn't dehydrated.
Xmas weekend I gave up sticking to my diet and ate lots of things I hadn't had in weeks. Cheeses, some crackers but mostly stuck to rice cakes, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, etc. The only thing my tummy seemed to have a problem with was red meat, and yet not in a painful way.
Went to my cousin's house for Xmas dinner itself, her pets gave me a sinus infection, I spent most of Winter Break home sick. Was the sinus problem made worse by wheat and dairy? Don't know. But still not many stomach problems until after NYE when I started to get back on the elimination diet and eat nuts again.
However, I had soooooo much more energy for the first 1.5 weeks back from winter break, even with the increasing stomach problems. So maybe the elimination jump started my energy levels again as it messed up my digestive system? Or that last week off was what I needed to get over the mono-blues? My head is still clearer than it was then, but the longer my stomach is upset the more steam I lose, and the more the brain fog is coming back :-/
It could also be an anxiety thing, but I don't really have anything to be anxious about. No projects or obligations aside from my dayjob, no friends or liaisons to stress me out. Sure, work is annoying due to the renovation, but now I have my office area back. And I do actually *like* my job.
I stopped eating nuts because I thought it was maybe the high fat content getting to me, but I'm still full of owch.
Today I researched soluble/insoluble fibers and some other things, and insoluble fiber can *also* exacerbate IBS. Make food run faster through the system, prevent nutrients from getting absorbed properly, cause general ickiness. Aha!
So... duh, I'ma start eating starchier things again and stop making my system work so hard on these insoluble fibers all the time. Bye bye elimination diet, for the most part.
Coming back in are potatoes, *maybe* corn. Will try to stay off wheat and dairy for a bit longer, and definitely still avoiding refined sugars. I don't think I'm sensitive to trace amounts of soy (although I've heard horrible things about soy lately), tho large amounts of soy have messed me up before. Will probably still have grains in the morning (I noticed feeling more energetic when I started having amaranth for breakfast ZOMG), but not also for lunch. And my rice cakes can stay.
I miss making pot roast, but I may just stick to chicken for a bit longer, though without the skin. Nuts ... dunno. Maybe they're just too much fat and fiber for me? I don't think the frozen berries have to go, they are at least a better snack than ice cream.
I am still wondering about reactive hyperglycemia, which sounded like how I felt when I was recovering from mono, but that may actually be hypochondria on my part :-P Potatoes can't be as bad as sugar, right?
Can I just stop eating food? Then I wouldn't have to worry about any of this...
Hoping this doesn't screw me up for the weekend, which I hoped to fill with geekiness. Maybe I'll start Saturday night after Recess/NerdNYC, and then I have two days to work it out with the holiday on Monday.
<3 Chrysilla
Crossposted from Dreamwidth, http://chrysilla.dreamwidth.org/