Tuesday, July 5, 2011

This is working.

I haven't been taking the time to write lately. During intro, it seemed like there were new things to say every day. By now, we've just kind of settled into this way of eating and it seems more or less normal.

But here's the thing: it's working!

Last night I made spaghetti by slicing zucchini with a mandolin. Ground beef. And We Had Tomato Sauce. And though Audrey woke up crying once during the night (we had been out late watching fireworks and it easily could have been related to that) and Hannah said her stomach hurt (she still says that regularly), there were no potty accidents, there was no uncontrollable crying, there was no tearing itchy skin open...

I am SO glad we've done this. Let me say that again: I AM SO GLAD WE DECIDED TO DO GAPS.

My only wish is that we would have started a year ago, when I first heard about it. We would be so much further along in our healing!

I hit 12 weeks in my pregnancy today (yay!) and my energy levels are coming back to my new normal. My new normal has not actually been normal since over a year ago. Even prior to getting pregnant, I found it difficult to pick up toys around the house, vacuum, or do other simple tasks like that. I just had no energy. Now, I'm finding myself with the urge to exercise (WHAT?!).

Things aren't perfect. I'm still dealing with a lot of constipation. I'm sorry, but I cannot bring myself to do enemas. Not gonna happen. I've been taking aloe vera gel every 3-4 days, as needed, (bleh) which has been a very gentle help for me, since magnesium seems to mess things up when use it. It's not technically on the diet, but it works for me. (Incidentally, don't let yourself get caught up in doing the diet "perfectly." I'm not convinced there's any way to do that. You're not a failure if you have to make compromises here and there. We are following GAPS 98% of the time, and I refuse to worry about the 2%.) Also, Hannah is burping a LOT with meals. I have been dragging my feet, but I'm going to start using HCL with her, to see if I can clear up the stomach aches. She's just not digesting well yet. I still require HCL with meals too.

Overall though, our symptoms have become so much better. Nick is thrilled. We are almost 6 months in, and there's no question that it's working!

6 comments:

  1. Hello! I was reading your blog and noticed you haven't written much in awhile regarding GAPS. We did GAPS about 18 months ago and I am thinking of restarting. We really didn't do it right the first time (but we did see good progress). We stopped for a variety of reasons, but we are thinking about doing it again with the help of a GAPS nutritionalist. How is it going for you?

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  2. Hi!
    I've been toying with the idea of doing intro again for myself, but we had to stop the diet for budget reasons. For better or for worse, grains are cheap! We still do all GF grains, and actually mostly just buckwheat, amaranth and quinoa which are on the diet after a year, but we've been doing starches like arrowroot and potato, and brought maple syrup back.

    Audrey's eczema continues to be a struggle, and at this point I've been attacking it with anti-fungal supplements with the help of a naturopath. It's one of those worse-before-it-gets-better things, but I can tell it's changing things.

    My oldest seems to have healed pretty well while on GAPS. The accidents stopped, and the only time I notice behavioral issues with her is when she gets ahold of gluten or food colorings.

    I just haven't felt as well since coming off the diet though. At first I did fine, but gradually I've slipped back to having a lot of stomach issues. If it was just me I was cooking for, I think I'd stay on GAPS indefinitely, because it most certainly worked for me. But I'm not sure how to care for four children and make two types of meals, plus the stuff I keep in the house for everybody else is just awfully tempting. I think one reason we were successful with following the diet, is we all did it together and gave away any food that wasn't on the diet.

    I do not digest carbs, and specifically veggies, well at all, so even while I was on the diet I wasn't eating very many veggies. I wound up living on meat and broth and almond butter, which isn't much fun. And if I start the diet again, I have the low carb issues to deal with while my body tries to switch over to burning fat rather than sugar. But once I got there, I felt amazing before...so...yeah. :)

    I think working with a nutritionist would make the whole process much, much easier. Our naturopath, while not GAPS certified, was very supportive and helped me fix things that came up during the diet. He is basically our primary care Dr at this point.

    Does that help? :)

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  3. Thank you for your reply! I completely understand the money and time issues. I have two kids that are very different in their needs and it does seem overwhelming at times to find the right balance for both of them. I think healing can come about in many ways. I have learned not to get too attached to one modality. The GAPS nutritionist that I contacted told me about something called the Healing Codes. She said that their is a spiritual component to these issues that need to be resolved in order for the diet to really work. Just thought I would pass it along...she seemed very convinced that the Healing Codes (it's a book) would be essential to the healing on the diet. I will let you know how we proceed...take care and best wishes on continued healing.

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  4. I absolutely agree on the spiritual component. I am reading another book on healing right now! Best wishes to you as well!

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  5. Hi Sara,
    thankyou for sharing.
    Have you looked into faecal transplant, helminth therapy or soil bacteria?

    google the human biome, old friends, hygiene hypothesis...

    We are so used to wanting to be clean from 'parasites' we forget that some of these organisms exist only in harmony with humans. This is where I get annoyed with naturopaths doing their kill kill kill mantra.

    Our intestinal tract needs hundreds of bacterial, fungal, viral, protozoa and helminth species. many people may be walking around with less than 100 species of organisms in their gut, instead of up to 1500 different species living on and in us, in balance, providing a healthy existance.

    There are facebook groups:

    for faecal transplant
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/thepowerofpoop/

    hookworm and whipworm inoculation
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/htsupport/
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/HelminthicTherapy/

    the human biome, soil organisms, probiotics
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/bacteriotherapy/

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  6. also orthomolecular (functional medicine, environmental and nutritional medicine) approach. ie. Hoffer and Pfeiffer.

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