Day Twenty Six of New Elimination Diet
August 8th, 2007NIGHT: After posting yesterday I tried to get right to sleep as it was already so late but I had a bad coughing attack and it turned into having a lot of trouble breathing. It was really bad – I tried to just calm myself down and wait and see if it went away but it just kept getting worse. Eventually I took two dye-free Benadryl because I didn’t know what else to do and it was 2:30am already and just wanted to sleep. About 30 minutes after taking them the breathing got better and I was eventually able to fall asleep.
12:20pm – woke up – felt pretty good (probably just from the Benadryl) – nose was clear, didn’t have hives, etc.
12:48pm – started sneezing and nose started to bother me
1:21pm – had a teaspoon of zinc sulfate
1:23pm – took temp and it was 95.5 degrees Fahrenheit
1:25pm – ate a bowl of pinto beans (cold and plain)
1:33pm – felt dizzy – lost some peripheral vision when stood up – nose was still a little stuffy but was getting better – still kind of running a little though
1:38pm – drank a glass of filtered water
1:50pm – drank another glass of filtered water
2:20pm – legs felt achy and sort of restless
2:28pm – took temp and it was 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit
2:30pm – noticed nose was cleared up
2:51pm – drank another glass of water
3:18pm – felt really hot and tired
3:28pm – took temp and it was 98.3 degrees Fahrenheit
3:29pm – felt achy and antsy – was having a lot of difficulty focusing on work and sitting still – got up – felt really dizzy, lost peripheral vision
3:36pm – felt really tingly and achy and weird all over – sort of the same feeling I get when someone talks about blood too much or when I give blood – like my blood pressure is dropping or something – I don’t know – I don’t feel good
3:39pm – ate some Romaine lettuce (plain) and drank a glass of filtered water
4:44pm – felt really down and discouraged – almost quit and just started eating whatever
5:02pm – drank another glass of filtered water
5:27pm – put potatoes in the oven – started the dishwasher (used different dish soap this time)
5:30pm – took a B12 vitamin and a multivitamin and drank a glass of filtered water
6:18pm – took temp and it was 97.0 degrees Fahrenheit
6:19pm – ate some potato (baked and plain) and drank another glass of filtered water
6:41pm – drank another glass of water
6:42pm – had slight pain in the joint of the pinky on my right hand
7:39pm – felt really hot in side – noticed it was raining and breezy outside so opened the windows to cool the place off – felt really nice
7:40pm – too temp and it was 97.3 degrees Fahrenheit
7:42pm – throat hurt a little – felt sort of scratchy
8:24pm – husband showered and washed his hair
9:41pm – lips felt really chapped and were cracking and bleeding a little
9:57pm – toes felt numb – put on some socks and a sweat shirt
10:00pm – ate kidney beans (also called red beans sometimes) with just a little salt and butter (yes, I know I shouldn’t have butter, but really I haven’t noticed that much of a difference since stopping eating dairy and wheat and I’m tired and hungry and sick of eating things plain…yeah, it’s been a long day) and a little salt. Also had some green peas and drank two glasses of filtered water — husband ate broccoli and spinach
12:04am – took a teaspoon of zinc sulfate and then brushed my teeth with baking soda
12:11am – took 200mg of magnesium citrate in hot filtered water (yes, I know there was some discussion as to whether or not magnesium citrate was ok but I haven’t been able to get anything else and I didn’t notice any change or improvement when I stopped taking it and I know how important magnesium is for people with chemical sensitivities so I felt like it was worth taking it again and seeing how it goes)
Alright, so today was really hard…not physically really but emotionally and mentally – I mean I felt pretty good today – I had a little bit of a stuffy nose in the morning but it didn’t really last that long and I didn’t have hives at all (although this could have been because I took a Benadryl last night), so my main complaints were pretty mild today. I did feel pretty weak all day and felt dizzy off and on and had a weird achy feeling in the afternoon, but again it wasn’t that bad. But, I just felt incredibly down and depressed all day today – even worse than yesterday. I had MASIVE cravings for meat, dairy, wheat, fruit, chocolate, really anything I can’t have. Mostly I think I just feel like I keep trying things without really finding answers and after 26 days of that I’m feeling pretty discouraged. Today I looked back over the last 26 days…here is an overall arial view of the foods I’ve eaten in the last 26 days and how I felt…
Days 1-3 – Had rice, chicken, a little butter - magnesium and probiotics (the probiotics on the first two days) – overall feeling was REALLY bad – had hives often, and was very congested – had difficulty breathing
Days 4-8 – had just rice, red meat (beef or lamb), a little butter – took magnesium – overall feeling was bad, but not quite as bad as days 1-3 – had hives, some difficulty breathing, and stuffy nose, felt tired and weak off and on, and dizzy off and on, and some muscle pain
Days 9-12 – had lettuce, lemon, cashews, sunflower oil, flour, sugar, milk, yogurt, yeast, preservative free cereal, cottage cheese (just other last day), couscous and magnesium - overall feeling was better not great but pretty good – hives improved but still had them, had some blood sugar problems (felt weak, tired, etc.), nose and ears bothered me, had some numbness in extremities
Day 13-15 had lettuce, lemon, cashews, sunflower oil, flour, sugar, milk, yogurt, yeast, preservative free cereal, and couscous and B12 and Coral Calcium – overall feeling was pretty bad (really bad day 13 and slightly better each day after that) – nose and ear problems, hives, headache, etc
Day 16-19 - had lettuce, lemon, cashews, sunflower oil, flour, sugar, milk, yogurt, yeast, preservative free cereal, and couscous and B12 and Coral Calcium, vodka – overall feeling was not bad, but still not perfect – had slight hives, had slight nose problems, but not bad, some blood sugar problems, etc – nothing was that bad (except one day of bad hives) but nothing was really great either and I wasn’t seeing the improvement I wanted to see so I was feeling really discouraged
Day 20-23 – had lettuce (iceberg and romaine), cashews, pinto beans, lentils, green peas, green beans and potatoes and rice (once on day 23), zinc sulfate, B12 and a multivitamin (occasionally) – overall feeling was not bad but still not perfect – still had stuffy nose off and on (though not that often), still had hives off and on (though not that often), had lots of blood sugar problems,
Day 23-26 - had lettuce (iceberg and romaine), cashews, pinto beans, lentils, green peas, green beans, and potatoes, zinc sulfate, B12 and a multivitamin (occasionally) – overall feeling was VERY bad (really bad day 23 and better and better each day after that) – nose and ears where bad, had hives, felt achy, had blood sugar issues, etc.
After looking at that…well, to me it seems that for the most part there hasn’t been much of a difference between days 16-19 and days 20-23 even though my diet changed drastically between those two times. I did notice though that after having cottage cheese I felt bad for about 2-3 days, and after having rice I felt bad for 2 days afterwards – clearly rice and cottage cheese are issues for me. Also, it is clear that I felt really bad the week when I was eating meat and rice a lot and things clearly got A LOT better as soon as I stopped that – so it seems to me to be clear that I react to rice and it seems like meat may or may not be a problem – it might be worth trying meat out again and seeing how things go. Anyway, those aren’t as many answers as I would like, and I don’t feel like I am making as much progress as I would like but I did feel a little better after looking back over that and realizing that I know two things for sure – my body doesn’t like the cottage cheese I tried and it doesn’t seem to like rice either. And I know one thing as a maybe…it might not like meat. So, I am getting some answers, I guess…right??
Oh, also I tried a different dish washer detergent today and didn’t seem to have the reaction I had with the other one so I think we may have found one that will work ok. So, that’s another answer I guess.
Well, I guess I’m doing ok…maybe I won’t be able to get more than a few small answers and won’t be able to see more than moderate progress until I go off the birth control…??? Maybe I should just eat whatever seems to be ok or at least not cause major problems for now until I go off the birth control…?? I don’t know… I think I might try meat again tomorrow – maybe a slow cooked chicken or something and see how it goes…I am sure I could use the protein. So, that was Day 26, I think I’ll change something ofr Day 27.
Health to you and yours -
Beth
PS – I am still bleeding today (because of missing a birth control pill and having to take two in one day to make up for it) – it wasn’t all day but it has been semi heavy off and on during the day