I have struggled for years with chronic pain from a stomach condition that started about 14 years ago when my husband was deployed. I starting suffering with really bad stomach aches from time to time. It felt to me as an ulcer; burning, bloating, pain in my abdomen. An ulcer to me seemed right because I figured I worried so much while my husband was deployed that I probably gave my self one. Then we evacuated for hurricane Katrina (that wasn’t stressful, at all) and the symptoms never went away. They continued to get worse and I was suffering everyday with it. Since I didn’t really know what was causing it or hadn’t seen a doctor yet (since we were living in a hotel because New Orleans was under water) and I never really changed the way I was eating (because we were living in a hotel) for weeks and the stress of everything going on like the hurricane (and living in a hotel) and having a husband in Iraq, didn’t help. Did I mention living in a hotel? I’m sure the coffee, fast food, and stress was a huge factor. Once my husband got home from his deployment and we were settled back to our somewhat normal lives after the hurricane, I saw a gastroenterologist and had an endoscopy done that revealed I had a very inflamed small intestine. After taking an acid reducer aciphex, I felt so much better and it never really bothered me until my second child was born years later. Living away from family, with a traveling husband and two small kids…. I began to suffer almost EVERY SINGLE DAY! It was awful. I had tons of tests run… cat scans, blood work, endoscopy and colonoscopy. The pain was indescribable, I was pretty sure I had pancreatitis or some horrible stomach cancer. I was told I had gastritis. Seemed simple.. nothing too bad right? But the pain was awful and was worse than the years before. The medicine I had taken years before now had terrible side effect like kidney problems, dementia, and many more. I quickly weaned my self off of it, especially since it really wasn’t working this time. There was a time where I only ate yogurt and bananas, it literally was the only thing that would not hurt my stomach. Nothing seemed to help, and I began to fear eating because pretty much anything and everything would bother my stomach and stress really set it off. The problem with a disorder like gastritis is you don’t look sick.. so for me, I think most people just figured I was over exaggerating. I mean, how could I be in that much pain, I looked normal beside the extremely pregnant looking belly. For a while I just tolerated it and figured it was just my norm to be bloated and have horrible stomach pain. Most of my worse flares were after flights. My doctor said it was because of the pressure on the plane that could be causing it or the stress of travel. Either way… it was awful. I tried all the things the doctor said to do, which mainly was control my stress (haha) and cut out acidic foods such as coffee, alcohol, salsa and such( you know, all the things that bring me joy in life). I tried all that and it didn’t seem to really work. So about 2 months ago I had enough. I knew I could no longer live that way anymore. Something had to be done. I was open to trying ANYTHING! I decided to try grain free because when my son was diagnosed with severe food allergies I had bought a cook book Against all Grain, by Danielle Walker who had healed her ulcerative colitis thru going grain free. She had a very inspiring story about how changing the things she ate truly saved her life. I began to see more and more stories of people who did the same thru paleo and whole 30. These were my options. I knew I tolerated dairy fine so I decide definitely to go grain free. I also incorporated low sugar and only did small amounts of dairy in the beginning. I stopped drinking coffee and alcohol also. I literally felt like a new person the first day… I kid you not! It was crazy! Here I am 55 days later and I have not suffered one day with my stomach. It’s crazy! People ask me all the time if it’s hard… well no…. be in pain everyday is hard. Has it been challenging…yes! Eating at home is easy, it’s going out to eat and travel that is challenging. I always bring snacks such as plantains, grain free chips, almonds, and travel size almond butter. I now choose green tea with honey and lemon instead of coffee except when I was in Nola… I caved and got my fav coffee from Café du Monde a couple of time. I mean if I couldn’t have the beignet then I was going to have the coffee, but it didn’t seem to bother my stomach.
These are somethings I also do that I feel has helped.
I add two capfuls of apple cider vinegar to about 8 ounces of water before every meal, and take a digestive enzyme with the meal. I take a probiotic everyday and a supplement called L-glutamate every night for gut health.
I forgot what it was like to actually feel normal. Living in constant pain can really do a number on you so I’m so glad I found something that helps! I has truly been life changing for me!
Blogs that helped me:
Against all Grain
Living loving Paleo
Wheat Belly
Whole 30
Disclaimer: Of course I am not a doctor, these are just things that have helped me, please consult your doctor for any advice regarding your health.
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