Most of you know I have Lyme disease. It’s been an 11-year journey, some days, into the pits of hell. But what many of you don’t yet know is the GI issues I’ve been dealing with for a few years now on top of it. Some pretty significant symptoms, like almost daily nausea, bloating, some pain here and there, and even throwing up.
It seems to be diet related so my doctor is doing blood work to see what foods I’m sensitive to. I also suspect a possible ulcer, which I’ll see a local doctor for if my symptoms don’t go away with, what I assume to be, a drastic change in my diet once these blood test results come back. I’m highly suspicious of gluten and possibly dairy.
In addition to the GI upset, my fatigue has gotten worse, migraines have gotten worse, even pain and weak muscles. My body is a bit of a mystery, one that takes time to untangle.
I’m looking forward to the food sensitivity test as that will give me definitive answers as to what I shouldn’t be eating. Sure, I could just cut gluten and dairy out of my diet and see what happens, but I tend to prefer more concrete answers than let’s just guess and see what happens.
I’m already checking out gluten and dairy free cookbooks and blogs. I’m also looking into an instapot. Confession time. I hate cooking. I’ve never liked it. I do it, of course. But, it isn’t my cup of tea. All the work, the planning, the prepping, and it’s done in 15 minutes. You’re left with a huge mess. We eat more like typical Americans, with simple and quick dishes that don’t require a lot of forethought and prep-work. I know that is going to have to change, most likely.
Even if, by some miracle, I have no food allergies – if this is an ulcer, there is an ulcer diet that you should follow to keep flare ups down, too. I just think there’s no getting around it. My diet is going to have to change. I will ease my family into some of the changes and of course not everything they’ll have to change.
I’m looking forward to the changes though, even with my aversion to spending a lot of time in the kitchen or just learning a whole new way of eating. After 11 years of a disease I have NO control over, no power over, it’s empowering to think I might have some control over my GI issues by way of diet. I’ll be updating my blog with the results and hope to share my journey to eating healthier, and likely, stricter food.
