KonMari 2018 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

maryb

After many years with IBS, I have tested negative for coeliac antibodies and going gluten free for just over a month didn't make any difference to how I felt - EXCEPT, I have had raised liver enzymes for the better part of 40 years and they just shrug and say it's one of those things, don't worry about it. (I should add, complete abstinence from alcohol over quite a long period made b'all difference) However as it happened, I had to have a blood test round about the time I had been avoiding gluten. My liver enzyme levels were the lowest they have ever been before or since.

So why do I not avoid gluten all the time? Because I don't feel any better when I do. My IBS is pretty well controlled these days. My one remaining big trigger is travel, lord knows why. Just a three hour train journey in the UK even when I'm not stressed and actually enjoying myself sets me off. But the rest of the time I find eating sourdough and avoiding plastic wheat products is enough to make me feel really well

Pooky

I’ve always suffered from dreadful indigestion with certain foods but after a lot of stress and anxiety around Christmas I started with a huge reflux attack. That was enough to get me to change my diet. I’ve read loads about it all, I took medication to ease the attack and set about changing my whole diet. It’s worked wonderfully and I’m feeling so energetic and well. The weight loss is a bonus. DH has gone gluten free too which should help his fibromyalgia too. If the GP had their way I’d be taking daily meds that keep the pharmaceutical companies in business but don’t actually address why I was suffering the way I was. I’ll listen to my body a bit more, especially now I feel I can hear what it’s saying.

I do think that getting rid of the emotional clutter caused by household clutter has allowed me to think more about my health. It’s a funny old journey isn’t it.

firebubble

I went gf to see whether I'd feel better, as I'd just been diagnosed with other autoimmune diseases. Within a week, I noticed that I'd lost the brain fog I suffered from, meaning that after 9 hours or so of sleep I'd still wake up groggy and feel sluggish all morning. Also noticed that my glands went down, and my finger joints didn't feel so stiff. No immediate change to digestion, although that has vastly improved in the couple of years since.
I also tried dairy free but didn't notice any difference, so didn't stick with that.

I was amazed with gluten how quickly I felt better, but not where I expected!

silvasava

I don't have any tummy problems - just that gravity has set in and my weight has re-distributed itself to my middle! I'm just trying low carbohydrate as when I looked at what I ate it was very carb heavy. Only been doing it a few days but middle not quite so bloated and I've a bit more motivation and energy. I did have a very bad viral infection over Christmas so the increase in energy may just be that the virus has gone. Trying not to fool myself lol!

Fen1

MaryB: is there anything at all you do differently when travelling? Suck on barley sugar sweets? "Real" coffe from the trolley?

Neurologically, travelling could certainly upset your guts. You may not consciously feel travel-sick, but a vestibular imbalance could very much affect your innards.

GreyQueen

If I eat carb-heavy foods it's almost as if I've been coshed, I am dead on my feet. Having ME anyway, plus a v. rare metabolic disorder, seems to mean it doesn't take much to tip me over the edge into zombie territory.

I ate sourdough bread yesterday. Crashed into bed at 8 pm and slept like the dead til 3 am, glass of water and then slept til 6 am and spent the whole workday strugging with cognitive issues.

Doctors are useful people to have around but they do kill thousands of people every year through their actions and inactions, something worth remembering. One of the leading causes of death is actually the medical profession. At a conservative estimate, about a third of people are in hospital as a result of the actions of medical professionals.

For over a year, I've had crawling sensations over my legs, literally starting between one moment and another and creeping over more and more of my body. I sought GP's advice asap, bloods were taken, results came back A-OK. End of, as far as the doctors were concerned. Except I still had horrible creeping sensations 24/7/365 which were spreading over more and more of my body and wondered if they were the precusor of something ghastly.

Mentioned it to a complementary health practictioner who said, without hesitation, it sounded like a potassium deficiency, and advised me to eat avocados. I did anyway, I just ate them more frequently, as in one almost every day.

You know what? Within days, the creeping sensations retreated until they were gone, if I cut back on the avocados, back they come. Funny how my GP didn't know that.

Doctors are great at broken bones and wounds. They are very very ill-educated about nutrition, as in only having a few hours' worth of tuition on the subject in a whole medical degree.

Since you can eat yourself into a premature grave, it doesn't seem too far-fetched that you can improve your health by avoiding things which personally disagree with you.

My blacklist includes coconut and camomile tea. The taste of the former makes me vomit, the mere odour of the other starts me retching, I have never managed to taste the stuff, the mere smell is impossible._pale_

VJsmum

maryb wrote: »

After many years with IBS, I have tested negative for coeliac antibodies and going gluten free for just over a month didn't make any difference to how I felt - EXCEPT, I have had raised liver enzymes for the better part of 40 years and they just shrug and say it's one of those things, don't worry about it. (I should add, complete abstinence from alcohol over quite a long period made b'all difference) However as it happened, I had to have a blood test round about the time I had been avoiding gluten. My liver enzyme levels were the lowest they have ever been before or since.

So why do I not avoid gluten all the time? Because I don't feel any better when I do. My IBS is pretty well controlled these days. My one remaining big trigger is travel, lord knows why. Just a three hour train journey in the UK even when I'm not stressed and actually enjoying myself sets me off. But the rest of the time I find eating sourdough and avoiding plastic wheat products is enough to make me feel really well

I am not coeliac but I do avoid gluten - i eat some sourdough that I make.

Pooky wrote: »

I’ve always suffered from dreadful indigestion with certain foods but after a lot of stress and anxiety around Christmas I started with a huge reflux attack. That was enough to get me to change my diet. I’ve read loads about it all, I took medication to ease the attack and set about changing my whole diet. It’s worked wonderfully and I’m feeling so energetic and well. The weight loss is a bonus. DH has gone gluten free too which should help his fibromyalgia too. If the GP had their way I’d be taking daily meds that keep the pharmaceutical companies in business but don’t actually address why I was suffering the way I was. I’ll listen to my body a bit more, especially now I feel I can hear what it’s saying.

I do think that getting rid of the emotional clutter caused by household clutter has allowed me to think more about my health. It’s a funny old journey isn’t it.

I also had a lot of acid reflux around christmas - my father died which probably didn't help, though I was (am) sad, not anxious. I think alcohol doesn't help combined with the rich foods

GreyQueen wrote: »

Doctors are great at broken bones and wounds. They are very very ill-educated about nutrition, as in only having a few hours' worth of tuition on the subject in a whole medical degree.

Since you can eat yourself into a premature grave, it doesn't seem too far-fetched that you can improve your health by avoiding things which personally disagree with you.

Totally agree

wort

Ploppy - I was told I had ibs, years before I was tested for coeliac, it didn't affect my weight, I only tested when my sister was constantly anaemic and losing weight it's been in my family for 40 years diagnosed. But only when my sister read up on it dud we find out that if a family member has it it's a 1 in 10 chance you have rather than the 1 in 100.
Since then I've another 4 family members diagnosed.
The Dr said my daughters although tested negative to go back at any time if they think they have symptoms. It can come on at any time, usually triggered after illness or stress.
Also some people don't have any symptoms.

I think coeliac uk has a short questionnaire to see if you could be?

wort

If it was a long time since blood test ask to be retested b4 going glutenfree.
To anyone trying to cut out gluten, it's in many things ,not just bread and cereals.
It can be in chocolates, crisp, meringues,pop, soup,beans. Even packs of seeds etc can have traces.
I even have to tell the church not to give me the normal"bread" with the wine at communion, they do a special gfree one.

System

This gluten discussion is very interesting. I am a great believer in holistic approaches and only go to the gp when I really really have to. I think a lot of disease and illness is ,brought on by stress and I agree that the medical profession don't want to know if it's something that isn't easily diagnosed or responds to drugs first time. I was diagnosed with osteoporosis and gp just handed me a prescription for drugs, which I read up about and decided not to take due to all the negative stuff I read. I told Dr I was taking the natural approach ( found a brilliant FB support group) and have learnt so much more than gp's actually know. Don't think Dr was pleased I didn't want the tablets though.