The Reintroduction

Someone should preface the AIP with DIET PREREQUISITES: PATIENCE. Maybe this is the same as willpower?

It is recommended to maintain this diet for 6-8 weeks although I know some doctors prescribe it for only three weeks. Maybe it depends on your level of gastrointestinal issues? Prior to the diet, I really didn't have gastrointestinal issues, but I did and do have a bizarre neuro-inflammatory problem. Well, that's my guess. I know it originated in the back of my head at the base just above my spine so I assume it's neurological. I've been reading a lot about the brain-gut connection and I had hoped this diet would relieve the constant burning sensation that travels throughout my body.

After five weeks on the AIP diet I started testing foods that were restricted. I got impatient. Not being able to find the livers and bones was discouraging. Food reintroduction is a slow process so I decided to start early out of frustration. It's hard to DO a diet if you can't get the right ingredients and I was ready to be done with it all. The reintroduction instructions are to test one food at a time and wait from three to seven days before trying another. I admit, again, I'm just not that patient and most of the foods caused a reaction immediately so I'm not sure why I needed to wait for seven days. I waited three days on most foods or after I felt better.

The instructions also say to eat only one tablespoon of the food, wait fifteen minutes, and eat another tablespoon, wait fifteen minutes and then eat it as you would for a normal helping. I know this is to make sure you don't have a serious reaction, but again, I'm not that patient! I was this meticulous with the first few foods, but then I got tired of it and just ate. It's not like I was testing chocolate or tomatoes or other known foods of misery.

I had a variety of reactions to the food reintroductions. The problem with being chemically sensitive is it's hard to determine if a reaction is caused by the food or something else. Also, at the beginning of the diet I had more problems with digestion than before the diet so it's really hard to say if the individual foods caused a reaction or if it was the diet in general. I was also under the assumption the diet would heal my leaky gut, making all foods tolerable, but I recognize I spent the first half of the diet sans organs and bones so I failed at following the diet exactly as instructed. I've never been good at instructions. It's like I'm ADHD when it comes to following directions. Or impatient.

Here are the foods I stopped eating then reintroduced:

Almonds seemed fine during the first test. They felt good going down. I waited and tried again a week later and I felt a bit queasy, but it could have been because I was really hungry and my digestive tract wasn't used to such a dense food. It didn't last long. Third test I had no problem.

Cashews seemed fine at first followed an hour later by gas and diarrhea.

Pecans are not my friends. Immediate stomach pain and then within the hour neck pain. It didn't last long. This is surprising. I've been eating a lot of pecans in the last few years.

Eggs are not only NOT my friends, but my enemies. Immediate back itch followed by neck and spine pain for two days straight. A week later I tested only egg yolks and didn't seem to have a problem. I've eaten way too many eggs in my lifetime, more than anyone should, so it's time to give them up. However, I now know egg yolks can still be used for recipes if needed. But what will I ever make that needs eggs? Baking is out as it always involves foods that are problematic.

Coconut, coconut milk, coconut flour and coconut oil are not only on all diets but highly recommended. Since my Christmas holiday recipe bonanza, these coconut products have caused me nothing but grief. During this diet I stopped using them. Later I tried some coconut oil and immediately my stomach started hurting. I also tried some coconut milk and immediately felt queasy. I might have over did it during Christmas and my body is retaliating. Coconut products are out.

Canola oil mayonnaise was fine, which I thought strange since it's made with eggs. Mayonnaise, however, is a food one wouldn't eat more than a tablespoon at a time so I don't know if the test is truly accurate since I might not be eating enough of it to incite a reaction. I have no desire to shovel an inhuman amount of mayo down my throat for the sake of testing. I didn't really miss it during the diet so I think for an occasional recipe it's fine, but I won't be eating much of it in the future. The Paleo diet restricts processed foods so it's time to get rid of this processed food.

Plain, organic yogurt made my stomach hurt immediately. Then my back hurt. Then my head hurt. Then diarrhea continuing the next day ALL day. I didn't even eat very much. In the last year I haven't eaten any yogurt so it won't be missed.

Unsweetened carob chips...I nearly forgot how much I love carob! Of course the chips are not just carob but made with soy lecithin, whey and palm kernel oil. These are bad, bad, and bad ingredients not allowed on the Paleo-Hashimoto's diet. It's hard to say exactly which ingredient caused the gas that followed. In the past I've never had a problem with carob chips, but I know carob is naturally constipating. In fact, during the yogurt-induced day of diarrhea, I was desperately desiring carob! But if gas is just bacteria working to digest food is that bad? Or is it good I have bacteria doing their jobs causing all that gas??

I find this really interesting since I normally eat carob chips with nuts, like a healthy Hershey's Bar, but all this time carob chips are constipating and nuts give me diarrhea...so it all evened out! Who would have known?

Rice. Oddly enough while on this diet I didn't have any rice for six weeks. I didn't even miss it! Amazing. I remember when I would crave it so badly I'd start pacing. I didn't test it. I've never really liked rice and only used it as a filler food. It is restricted on the Hashimoto's diet as it's a cross-reactor to gluten. White rice is a food that is forbidden on most diets due to its lack of nutrients. I can do without. If anything this diet has weaned me off of some not-so-good foods.

Sweet red bell peppers are fabulous. I didn't realize how much I had missed them. They sure add an enormous amount of flavor to a dish. I had no problem with them before and didn't on reintroduction.

Hot peppers. I had absolutely no problem with habaneros. Hooray! Ditto jalapenos. Hooray!

Butter is another food one wouldn't eat much of at a serving and not a food I have reason to eat often especially if I don't plan to be eating eggs in the future. I didn't have a problem with it before nor after the diet.

Potatoes tasted great! An hour after I ate them I feel really energetic probably from all those extra carbohydrates. A few hours later my legs hurt so badly I could hardly walk. Pain is what also happens with tomatoes another problematic nightshade. Hmmm.... However, it was near bedtime so I wasn't sure if it was the potatoes or just over working those muscles while feeling energetic. I get this incredible urge to dance when feeling energetic and since I'm not used to so much movement it's difficult to determine the origins of random pain. I waited a week and tried potatoes again. Didn't get the energy boost nor the dancing frenzy this time so all that could have been a reaction to something else. Everything was fine for the second testing. Needed a tie-breaker, the third test also no problem.

The very last test wasn't a test, it was a cheat. Cranberry-Almond Gluten-Free Cookie with all kinds of gluten-free garbage in it...no problem whatsoever. Hallelujah!

That's it! So in conclusion: pecans, cashews, eggs, coconut products, and yogurt are out. Butter, mayo and potatoes seem fine although are forbidden on the Hashimoto's diet so I'll continue to avoid those. All peppers are wonderful, almonds are in, Cranberry-Almond Gluten-Free Cookies are my reward, and carob chips in small quantities if I'm feeling particularly masochistic and just don't give a shit. (Or don't want to give a shit....)

I'm still drinking bone broth daily and trying to work up the courage to eat more liver. I haven't given up if on this diet and I haven't really discontinued it aside from the testing. I wonder if I stick with it long enough if my gut would totally heal and all foods would be tolerated? Or is that just wishful thinking and this AIP stuff is just bogus?

A friend of mine told me one of the reasons bones are hard to find is our local football team is drinking bone broth. It's bad enough football players get paid way more than any human should, but because they are treated like royalty in the USA, they are allowed to hoard the bones leaving us peasants nothing. Damn Hoarders.

Listen to Your Body!

I've always believed our bodies tell us what we need and what we shouldn't eat and this is clearly communicated through our food choices, what we like and don't like. I've had experiences trying a new food where after the sampling even if I thought it tasted badly or had a strange texture, I find I'm craving it only to discover that particular food is good for a specific ailment of mine. I am repulsed by other foods. I've always hated oatmeal. It's only second to cream of wheat in terms of the worst food ever. Oh, what a minute, maybe it's the third worst food on the planet? The first is tapioca pudding. Just recently I found out tapioca is a cross-reactor to gluten so it all makes sense.

Now, I know my theory isn't fool-proof. Food allergies often result in cravings. As do food addictions. Sugar is a good example. Chocolate, the most wicked of all foods, is another example. And alcohol. Well, is alcohol really a food? Whatever...you know what I mean.

Then there are foods I've never eaten in my life. I don't know if it's because they have never been appealing or available or if indeed I did eat them as a child my body knows not to go there. I don't care about them so I just don't bother.

Some foods are considered so healthy and fashionable, that I've felt guilt-tripped into eating them. Kale was one of those foods. I tried forcing it down my throat a few times. Then I read kale is a goitrogen which suppresses thyroid. I was so delighted to have a valid reason not to eat kale!

Broccoli and tomatoes I have also eaten not because they taste good, but only because I thought they provided valuable nutrients so again I did some force-feeding in the name of nutrition. Then I found out tomatoes make my whole body writhe in pain and broccoli is a goitrogen. I still eat broccoli on occasion mixed with other foods, but I never overindulge and I rotate when I eat it.

I started the AIP diet at the beginning of the new year and immediately my neck and back started to burn and hurt for no apparent reason. This is normally a chemical exposure symptom, but I couldn't figure out where or what or who exposed me. Maybe I'm detoxing? I doubt it. I just wrote a post on doctors who lie about detoxing symptoms.

 

Then I started crashing. Total exhaustion. My whole body felt exhausted right down to the bone. I could hardly move. It felt like a really horrible autoimmune attack and I hadn't experienced this kind of exhaustion since I started the Paleo-Hashimoto's diet nearly four years ago.

I felt frustrated, confused, and afraid. What is it? This AIP diet is supposed to be really good and I haven't cheated at all. What gives? Suppose I can't figure this one out? I can't function with this fatigue and that places my income and well-being in jeopardy. So I started brainstorming reasons for these apparent side effects of...something.

The AIP diet is mostly about eliminating certain foods rather than adding new possibly problematic ones. The instructions say one must eat bone broth and organ meat. Eeeww... Although I'm a bit resistant because I know I don't like these things (for a reason?), I have tried to find them at the co-op. Maybe I'm crashing because I'm missing key nutrients required by the diet? Could that be it?

Maybe my body needs the minerals in nuts or eggs that are restricted on this diet? Eggs are high in zinc. Could that be it?

To compensate for the removal of foods, I've tried to add more vegetables. Like Brussels sprouts.
Yum! Brussels sprouts are goitrogens known for suppressing thyroid. Could that be it?

Parsnips are one of those foods I've never eaten. No desire. No opportunity. I have never hated the taste, I just never cared. Then I discovered a recipe for Parsnip Fries and thought I had found my answer to French-fried potatoes. Yum! I can always use more vegetables in my diet. Could that be it?

I've eaten grapefruit pretty much all my life with no problem, but my recent gene mutation results told me this is a food I shouldn't eat. Grapefruits are in season and I bought a few. How can grapefruit be anything but healthy? Could that be it?

I noticed the moon was full and it's been a full moon for the last few days. I've also had problems in the past with water chemical treatments and I often eliminated baths because I know those chemicals can be an issue for me. I'm grasping here, but for a successful elimination test one must brainstorms ALL possibilities.

I stopped bathing and stopped eating Brussels sprouts, grapefruit, and parsnips. There's nothing I can do about the moon and I'm still looking for cow bones to boil (yuck). I'll wait a week, see if the fatigue disappears, then add each item back separately at least I'll be able to narrow it down.

The exhaustion was gone by the end of the first day with just minor fatigue remaining so that's telling. The back and neck pain was replaced with itching which is still inconvenient and uncomfortable, but much better than pain and tension. Eventually that went away, too. Return to bathing was fine although now it might be beyond the water treatment schedule. Grapefruit had no negative effect.

Then I made myself a big batch of parsnip fries. I'd been looking forward to this, but the smell of them made me feel ill. I felt repulsed. I didn't want to eat them. I remember I thought the smell was weird before, too. I ate three and it felt like too many. Within about fifteen minutes my stomach hurt, my back itched, and my head hurt and felt light and dizzy. This is not good.

 

I researched a little online. Parsnips are a cross-reaction for people who are allergic to birch. Well, that's me! There were a few people with parsnip allergies who shared photos of facial rashes, eyes swollen shut, or experiences of being rushed to the hospital because they couldn't breath. That's after never in their lives eating parsnips and trying them for the first time as adults. I hate to learn from someone else's misery, but I think for those of us who are sensitive to foods in any way, we need to be cautious with new foods and try them in small quantities.

This is a lesson in listening to one's body. There's a reason I have never eaten parsnips!

The Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) Diet

This New Year's Day was the start of "new beginnings". I'm not clear why, but a friend of mine did something with the date and year and it comes out to "1" and she says it's all about new beginnings. OK.

 

I have newly begun the AIP diet which supposedly reduces intestinal inflammation and helps put all your autoimmune misery in remission. It's very much like the GAPS diet and works by eliminating foods that are difficult to digest to ease your digestive system. After gorging on Paleo desserts for the last week, I'm actually really happy to have a reason to NOT eat more baked goods since most of them destroyed my digestive system. I also recently read if supplements make you ill, which they do, that is sign of a leaky gut. It's been four years since I did the GAPS diet, so it might be time to try something like that again.

I got the information of the website AIP Lifestyle which explains the details.

 

Here's what I have to avoid eating for six to eight weeks:

Grains
Legumes (except green beans and snow peas)
Alternative sweeteners
Dried fruits
Dairy
Processed foods (this would include sugars)
Alcohol
Chocolate
Vegetable oils (except olive, coconut, lard, cultured ghee)
Tapioca (which is a gluten cross-reactor)

Tapioca is the grossest food on the planet so I'm happy not to eat it.

That's pretty much the diet I'm on anyway, but these foods are also restricted:

Nuts and nut oils
Seeds
Eggs
Nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant, paprika, mustard seeds, all chili’s including spices)
Culinary herbs from seeds (mustard, cumin, coriander, fennel, cardamom, fenugreek, caraway, nutmeg, dill seed)

I just recently stopped eating cumin due to advice based on my gene mutations. I do normally eat nuts for protein. Eggs...well, I eat a lot of eggs. Too many for any human to eat. I love eggs. And mayonnaise which is made with eggs.

What I can eat is:

Vegetables (except nightshades)
Fruits (limited to 20 grams per day)
Green beans
Snow peas
Bone broth
Coconut products
Olive oil
Avocados
Bacon fat
Cultured ghee
Fermented foods
Meats (grass-fed, no steroids)
Poultry (free-range, no steroids)
Seafood (wild-caught, even shellfish!)
Vinegars
Honey
Maple Syrup
Herbs from leaves or non-seeds
Gelatin
Arrowroot starch (unless you have adrenal issues)

The notes say some people are sensitive to onions, coconut, and nectarines. I've recently realized coconut might be problematic for me and I don't like nectarines. I may restrict onions, but I've not had a problem with them in the past and they add flavor to things I don't like (like vegetables...meats).

 

After the six to eight weeks, you should add foods back and see if they give you misery. Like I said, the GAPS diet was just like this and I didn't have a problem with eggs, nuts, seeds, or nightshades. We'll see. I'm just going to stay on my Hashimoto's diet so I still plan to avoid ALL sweeteners and I really hate fermented foods so that's not going to happen. I might cheat some with pork (bacon) which is restricted on the Hashimoto's diet, but not on this one. I won't eat much of it as it tastes like pig sweat to me and I can smell it on my skin after I eat it. (That's a clue!)

I just love a good experiment so I'll start 2015 with one for new beginnings.

Salt

When I was a young, immortal, junk-food junkie, I ate plenty of salt as my diet consisted of 99% processed food with an occasional apple here and there for good measure. I really believed "an apple a day kept the doctor away" regardless of whatever else I consumed. My blood pressure was amazingly low considering the damage my diet was doing to my body.

While in college I went to work at a health food store and with the indoctrination that comes with being around healthy-minded people, I had some basic health-food-store principles beaten into me. One was salt was bad. Salt would kill you. Is that why it makes me blow up like a balloon with water retention? I knew it made me feel fat. I gave it all up. I stopped eating potato chips, canned soups, frozen dinners, processed popcorn, pizza, and beef jerky: the staples of my diet. I banned table salt from my salt shaker. My blood pressure remained low, but I was convinced all that self-denial was doing some good.

 

Many years later when chemical sensitivity was rearing its ugly head, my environmental medicine specialist suggested I eat sea salt. With my indoctrination still intact I was horrified, Oh no, salt is BAD! He disagreed. SEA SALT hasn't been bleached and processed, nor has it been soaked with chemicals and enhancing additives, therefore, it still retains its natural ratios of nutrients, especially trace minerals. He explained we need minerals, especially trace minerals, to keep our bodies in balance which helps in the detoxification of poisons. My chemical sensitivity was based on my inability to detoxify. He suggested my lack of natural salt might have contributed to my chemical sensitivity. It's pretty shocking to hear all that self-denial I thought was helping my state of health might have been doing more harm than good. I tried sea salt and had no side effects. My body didn't swell with water retention and my blood pressure remained low. And OH! It tasted so good!

 

 

I rarely eat processed or canned foods now so my salt intake is probably lower than an average American. My consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables also adds potassium to my diet which is the great equalizer to sodium. I do, however, use a salt shaker full of sea salt and sprinkle it on beef, chicken, rice, squash, and eggs. Yum. And it makes vegetables edible. Bonus. I've grown to love salt! Lately I switched from Celtic sea salt to Himalayan pink salt. This pink salt is still considered sea salt although found in the mountains that were once under water. Hmmm...sounds like fancy sales mythology, but it still makes food taste good and I still have no reaction to it.

Throughout the years I've heard about how salt causes high blood pressure, or what is known as hypertension. There is some debate on whether sea salt is better than regular iodized table salt. Conventional medical doctors say it isn't and the only difference is sea salt tastes better. Some say it's the sodium levels and the chloride ratios that cause the problem regardless of the source.  In other references I've read some people are predisposed to being "salt sensitive." African Americans, in particular, tend to accumulate excesses of sodium and it is highly advised they limit their salt consumption to avoid associated health issues. Even salt sensitive people can have low blood pressure.

I still have low-ish blood pressure, although not as low as when I was younger. However, I was rather athletic in my youth which I'm sure contributed to my readings. Not so much now. I have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis which is an autoimmune condition that affects the thyroid and with diet I have been able to control it. I am told iodine can trigger autoimmune attacks in people with Hashimoto's. So I wonder...if sea salt has natural levels of minerals, it probably has its share of natural iodine. Would it make a difference if I stopped using it? Since giving up dried fruits, I haven't been tired, but I could use a little more energy. It's time for another elimination test!

I started my experiment three weeks ago by going to the nearest hospital to have my blood pressure checked. It read 118/75 which is considered normal, although getting suspiciously close to prehypertension. Then I gave up my salt shaker and went salt-free!

Observations:

Rice is only edible with salt.

Eggs taste better with salt.

Second day: My whole body is in pain. At first I thought it was from crawling around under my house, but the first time I did the crawl I had no pain. Then I thought maybe it was from the very minor exercising I do, but I've never been in pain before from simple stretching or walking. Every muscle in my body hurts.

Third day: Muscle pain, thirst, nausea, sweating, and headaches. Although I'm still skeptical that this is all from eliminating salt from my diet, it's too coincidental. I've increased my water intake. I don't know if that will help or make it worse as I have read about ramifications of the lack of salt, or hyponatremia. For instance, marathon runners or anyone who exercises vigorously shouldn't consume enormous amounts of water as it will flush the salt from their blood creating problems such as confusion, nausea, seizures, coma and even death. I'm only in pain and experiencing slight nausea at this point. If I get confused or start feeling dead I might eat some salt just to see if it makes a difference. I'm guessing my body is adjusting and it'll take  couple days or it's something totally unrelated causing all this discomfort.

I'M A SALT ADDICT!

 

I searched online and found out I'm going through salt withdrawals! Ha! Who would have thought? Symptoms may include headache, nausea, loss of appetite, depression, and anxiety, to name a few. Food will taste disgustingly bland, but eventually will start tasting good so I look forward to that. Most people intensely crave salt during withdrawals. I'm not craving salt. Well, not yet. The headaches can last 3-5 days or longer because my aldosterone (hormone) levels are adjusting to compensate for the lack of sodium in my body. The remedy is drinking sea salt water because it's assumed the addict is giving up regular, processed table salt and sea salt has minerals to counteract the withdrawals. So I did the next best thing: I took a scalding hot bath with Epsom Salts. I figured that should help with the muscle pain. It did for about fifteen minutes.

 

Fifth day: Headaches and nausea have gone away. Muscle recovery is still slow. Any exercise, even minor, makes my whole body hurt as if I've exercised vigorously for a full eight hours. I know athletes who exercise a lot must replenish their bodies with salt which is how Gatorade and other sports drinks have become so popular. Maybe it's a type of dehydration? Maybe the sea salt stored in my system keeps my muscles hydrated? I am more thirsty.

Seventh day: Severe leg cramps and legs are freezing cold from the knees down and I can't seem to warm them up no matter what I do. Leg cramps are another symptom of hyponatremia, which is low blood sodium. This kind of worries me. I'd like to think it's just coincidental or maybe I exercised too much yesterday, but I didn't do so much it should cause pain. I also read conditions associated with hyponatremia include hypothyroidism, which is a symptom associated with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Now that is weirdly coincidental. Maybe that doctor was right in more ways than one: salt is not only good for detoxing and chemical sensitivity, but will also keep my autoimmune condition in check? Maybe I NEED sea salt in my diet? Everything I'm reading says too little salt is as bad as too much and this constant discomfort is rather worrisome. I'm still not craving salt. Not sure if I should stop this test, or keep going and see if the symptoms all go away.

I stuck my fingertip in water and then in salt and ate that much one night. Didn't make a difference with the leg cramps and I'm not willing to stop the diet just yet.

Week Two:  I'm still getting leg cramps, but no headaches, thirst, or muscle pain. I'm feeling a little down, apathetic, and lethargic. I don't normally feel this way so maybe it's a by-product from lack of salt? It always amazes me how people don't trust their own body's clues. Most people would think they are just feeling down ignoring it could be a symptom of something else entirely. These days depression is erroneously considered a disease instead of a symptom and treated with drugs without questioning the cause.

I'm still not craving salt either, but I'm feeling inclined to eat butter! Years ago when I was salt-free I craved butter and although I bought unsalted butter, butter is naturally salty. The Hashimoto's diet doesn't allow dairy so butter isn't even on my radar (nor in my refrigerator), but I'm still thinking about it.

I don't know if food tastes better in general, but I know rice and eggs still aren't tasting as good as they did with salt. In fact, no matter how I prepare rice, it's just not good without salt. I've never liked rice.

Week Three: Leg cramps have nearly gone away. No longer feel horrible, but I don't feel better either which I had hoped might come from less iodine. No surprising amounts of energy or stamina. Still lethargic.

At the end of week three I went back to the hospital to get my blood pressure checked. No one was at the emergency reception desk. I waited. Again, as I have many times in the past, I exclaimed in the privacy of my head I am so glad I've never had a medical emergency while living in Rathole!  I was warned early when I first came to the edge of civilization, if something goes wrong, start driving in any direction out of town. It takes an hour to get to the next hospital and hopefully I won't die along the way. There is more than one reason I have no desire to stay and retire in Rathole.

I finally found a nurse at the nurse station at the far end of the hospital. She was sitting around with four other nurses gossiping. She took my blood pressure. 144/61.  REALLY? The diastolic went down slightly, but the systolic went up? I've never had such a high reading. I had read giving up salt can raise your blood pressure. Well, OK. I guess I'll just accept that I NEED salt and it'll probably make me feel better, too.

Then I went toilet paper shopping and on the way to squeeze the Charmin I passed one of those automatic blood pressure machines just outside their pharmacy. Hmmm...I went back. I've always been told these machines are notoriously inaccurate and are rarely calibrated, but what the hell? Not that I had any confidence in a hospital (known as a "temple of doom" by some) let alone the whole medical system, but if you can't get an accurate reading at a hospital, what is left? I don't have anything to lose. The reading at the grocery store was 113/53. The diastolic seems a little low, but that could be what is causing the lethargy.

Forget the readings. I'll trust myself and my symptoms before I'll trust a machine. I don't like feeling lethargic. Pardon me while I go eat some salt.

 

I feel so much better!

The Elimination Experiment, or Fatigue Testing

After five doctors and no answers, I'm determined to figure out why I'm always tired so I'm attempting some elimination tests.

The Paleo-Hashimoto's diet I been on has been very successful. I have not had any episodes of exhaustion. The "exhaustion" is when I am so tired I can barely move, lifting my arm takes enormous effort, and the only thing I am capable of doing is lying in bed. I'm not tired or sleepy and I can't sleep, I just can't seem to move. It's very frightening. It's the memory of those exhaustion episodes that helps me maintain my will power and keeps me from eating gluten and chocolate. I believe it's the gluten that provoke the autoimmune attacks on my thyroid.

The underlying fatigue started when I moved into this house eight years ago, maybe even a few years prior although it wasn't very apparent. I don't feel like exercising. I can often work through the fatigue with walking, gardening or projects, but no bike riding or stretching/exercising and even sitting still and reading feels like great effort. I experience the fatigue more in the spring and summer, and most often in the afternoon. I feel so tired I just want to nap, usually around 2pm to about 5pm.


Fatigue Theories:

Hay fever allergies are known for symptoms of fatigue and it's a little coincidental that most of my fatigue takes place in the spring and summer. As a child I lived in the country, dealt with hay fever, and as soon as I came of age I headed to the city where all my hay fever issues went away. I've now moved back to the country to get out of the pollution. There isn't much I can do about hay fever other than take drugs like Benadryl. Benadryl will clear up the respiratory symptoms like runny nose, sneezing, and sinus congestion, but it also causes fatigue. If all this fatigue is caused by hay fever allergies, my only alternative would be to move back to the city where I don't have allergies, but then I would have to suffer chemical exposures which are worse.

Air-borne chemicals  During the spring and summer the city sprays the streets, sidewalks and parks with herbicides and my neighbors spray their lawns. I do notice during the spring and summer there are days when if I go for a walk my lungs start feeling heavy and hurt. In addition, when my neighbor does laundry, it stinks to high heaven and pollutes the whole neighborhood. Incredibly toxic. Is it causing the fatigue?  Other than staying inside all summer, there isn't much I can do about air-borne chemicals other than to continue to do what I can to avoid exposure.

Mold  In the dirt? In the air? Spring and summer is when the ground and air warms. Does it activate mold growth? Every now and then if I dig in the garden, I become very tired. Might be a correlation or the correlation is the exercise? I don't know. I'll not dig in the dirt and use it as a test.

Computers and electromagnetic field exposures  I can keep track of the time I spend on the computer, but other than that it is another uncontrollable variable as I have to work.

Water-borne chemicals  I tend to feel tired once a month consistently and this leads me to believe there might be a connection to the city's water treatments and the fatigue I experience. I love soaking in the bathtub. I can take very short showers and see if that makes a difference and during the time period in question, avoid bathing all together and use it as a test.

Adrenal fatigue  Any number of things can contribute to adrenal fatigue, but stress is the number one factor.  I tend to be very reactive to emotions and sensitive to stress, but I don't have much on a daily basis. Bathing in hot water affects body temperature and puts a lot of stress on one's adrenals which could also affect energy levels. I have done some experimentation with adrenal support and nothing has made a difference. I'm at a loss for what else to try. No bathing might make a difference.

Diet  I've done well to reduce my intake of bad foods, but I still have my guilty pleasures and most of them are NOT on my Paleo-Hashimoto's diet. Although I don't eat a lot of the forbidden foods, every now and then I do treat myself.  Dried fruits are high in carbohydrates and affect blood sugar, and I'm addicted to raisins and dates as snacks. Yogurt (dairy) is known for inflammation, and unfortunately, when I get bored with the same old foods I treat myself with high fat, no sugar, plain yogurt. Potatoes are also high in carbohydrates (sugars) even though I eat them rarely, I haven't stopped completely. Grains are not on the diet either and I rarely eat gluten-free grain products with rice flour, potato flour or other substitutes, but every now and then for something different, I do. Rice is a carbohydrate and even though I don't eat it nearly as much as I did prior to starting this diet, I start feeling discombobulated if I go without it for up to two weeks. I also eat a lot of eggs, more than any human should consume. Are they causing fatigue? Let's find out. Can I give up these foods for three weeks? I'll need to add some recipes to my diet that will keep me full and satisfied like more beef and lamb.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome  One doctor suggested chronic fatigue, but I don't seem to have the other symptoms that accompany this condition. If so, there is nothing I can do about it.

Menopause and Hormonal Changes  Maybe. Not much I can do about this, either. Old people feel tired and nap a lot. I'm in that in between stage - I'm not old enough to retire, but I'm old enough to start feeling like I should. Damn.


Elimination Plan:

For three weeks I am not to soak in hot baths. Brief showers only except between the 19th and 25th when I sponge bathe in distilled water. No eating problematic foods (eggs, yogurt, dried fruit, potatoes or rice, gluten-free flours) for three weeks. I can't avoid the outside which would be ideal, but I can't stop what little exercise I'm getting and it's summer. I need sunshine for vitamin D. I'll keep track of everything I'm eating as well as anything unusual that I do or that happened during the day, for instance, air pollution encounters, labor-intensive projects, when I take a shower, and how often I'm on the computer.

Notes and Highlights:

The first day: NO FATIGUE. The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth days: NO FATIGUE.  Even after strenuous work, walking, or computer time, I didn't feel the normal afternoon fatigue. There were a few days when I felt a little tired around 6pm, but nothing that stopped me from functioning. I had high hopes that I was doing something right until the evening of the ninth day.

Day eight I was exposed to long grass and my hay fever symptoms went crazy. Later that night, I wanted to eat eggs. I couldn't stop thinking about them. It's the only thing I wanted to eat, but I didn't. Sinuses were painfully raw and respiratory tract was uncomfortably congested. The next day allergy symptoms were still bothering me, but not as bad. Later that night I started pacing around the kitchen like a caged animal. I'm hungry, but nothing looks good. I didn't eat rice although I know it would have stopped me from pacing. Tenth day woke up tired and stayed that way all day crashing around two in the afternoon and sleeping for two hours. Allergies?? Or maybe coming down off of allergies?

Around day five I started feeling like I want to exercise! Nothing strenuous, just stretching and movement, but normally I don't even feel like I'm capable of any kind of exertion.

After a week of no raisins or dates, I didn't even care. I really thought I'd have problems giving up the sugary stuff.

Air-borne chemical encounters clearly gave me headaches and migraines usually within a few minutes and the intensity depended on the encounter. Getting one whiff of that sickly-sweet laundry detergent wafting over from my neighbor's house nearly killed me one morning. I ran back into the house and stayed there for a few hours with the windows closed until I thought their laundry was done. Didn't seem to have any correlation to fatigue, though.

Around day seventeen I was COLD. My whole body cold. And hungry. I wanted to take a bath just to warm up, but instead crawled into bed for about an hour. Didn't sleep because I wasn't tired. Hungry all day, but nothing sounded satisfying. Later in the day I wanted to eat eggs. I didn't. I ate rice...I couldn't wait any longer.

The Challenges:

I added a "forbidden" for one day and stop for four days to see what happens.

RICE: no negative effects, felt better, no hunger and no fatigue

GLUTEN-FREE CUPCAKE WITH SUGAR: YUM! I couldn't help myself. I was awake later than usual (lots of energy), I seem to have more hot flashes, and slightly tired about four hours later with slight headache, but no crashing type of fatigue.

EGGS: The cravings indicated eggs might be an issue, maybe associated with hay fever? Eggs are really high in zinc which assists detoxification. As soon as I ate them I kept having to clear my throat. Then I ate them again and again all day. I felt a little tired at the bewitching hour (2:00pm), but not much and no crashing. I ate them again and had no reaction at all.

YOGURT: The yogurt was heavenly, I slept good after, and awoke with lots of energy the next morning. It's not yogurt!

POTATOES: Yum! I baked them as French Fries in olive oil. No fatigue. I do wonder if I ate them a lot or repeatedly for days if they would also produce fatigue. So several weeks later I tried that and experienced no fatigue.

GLUTEN-FREE PANCAKES: These are made with rice flour and some other stuff. I eat them so infrequently, maybe once every two or three months so it's been a while since I've had them. I went picking blueberries and thought this would be a good opportunity to make blueberry pancakes and test the reaction. I ate one pancake and felt really awful. About an hour later the headaches started and then I crashed and slept for two hours. All before noon! Fatigue and headaches the rest of the day.

BATH: I was getting a strange rash on my calves before I started this experiment which only got worse every time I took a bath. It nearly all went away during the bathing elimination phase.  I took a fast dip in a cool bath thinking a hot bath was causing the rash, and my calves started burning anyway. I had planned to take hot baths the whole day to test the fatigue, but if one short cool dip would cause the burning, I decided to wait to add hot baths later. I took that cool dip when the chemicals in the water are at their worst.

About a week later, I just wanted a bath and it was time to do a bath challenge. To soak in hot water. It was wonderful. Two hours later I did it again. I felt tired immediately after and crashed, sleeping for two hours. Took another bath and the headaches and nausea started. I jump in the shower with a gallon of heated distilled water and tried to rinse the water off. Even so, I woke up the next morning with nausea, pain in my lower back, a headache and fatigue and later that afternoon, crashed and slept for one hour. It took two days to recover and the whole time I felt groggy and tired. Is it the chemicals in the water? I've had problems with them in the past. Or is it the heat stressing my adrenals? I have no idea. Maybe both. But the rash didn't come back with the second bath. I think maybe the rash and nausea are from the chemicals and the fatigue is from the heat.

DRIED FRUIT: Oh, raisins and dates...my addiction. I was surprised it was so easy to give them up. For me, dried fruit might as well be straight sugar. I had a bad feeling and almost considered not using them as a test, but I needed to confirm. I bought a small bag of dates and immediately felt sick after eating some. Ate a few more of the dates the next day and around 2pm crashed for nearly FOUR hours. Good to know.

DIGGING IN THE DIRT/MOLD THEORY:  This was the last test. I cut all my lettuce and gave it to the food bank then the next morning I dug out all the roots. I dug deep and got my nose down in the dirt to make sure the exposure was good. No fatigue at all.


Conclusion:

Besides the normal dietary restrictions of gluten, sweeteners, dairy, tomatoes, mushrooms, pork, shellfish, high glycemic fruits, juices, junk food and processed foods:

*Stay away from hot baths.
*Stay away from bath during city treatment periods.
*Stay away from flours or grains (other than rice).
*Stay away from dried fruits.

*Limit egg intake.

*Continue limiting rice intake no more than once every ten days.

*Avoid potatoes and yogurt because they aren't on the Paleo-Hashimoto's diet, but if I treat myself, I know these items not causing the fatigue.

*Hay fever reeks havoc on my body. Oh well.

*Stay away from chemicals. Knew that.

The closer I get to following Dr. Kharrazian's Hashimoto's diet, the better I feel. The rice is still a cheat but I don't have a clue why it makes me insane not to eat it. I'll avoid potatoes and yogurt, also cheats, even though they don't affect me. That random fatigue episode after the hay fever reaction is puzzling, but I feel closer to an answer. Non-scientific tests done at home without laboratory control are really inconclusive at best. I have no idea if combinations of things create the fatigue or other variables, but this is the best I could do.

The plan and challenges took about two months total. I'm so tired of eating pot roast...