Flare Up... again.
If you have followed this blog for a while you may remember when I was in the third trimester of my pregnancy I began to have a flare up associated with Crohn's Disease. I was able to treat the flare up with my regular medicines, but I was told that I had to be off the medicines by time I delivered because I am unable to take these meds while I'm breastfeeding. Well, I've been off the medicine for about 6 months now, and the past month or so I've been experiencing the not-so-fun symptoms of another flare up. This one is a big one. It reminds me of the original flare up I had when I was sixteen and first diagnosed with Crohn's. I've called my doctor and my next appointment is November 16th, but the way I've been feeling lately I don't know that I can wait that long.
Crohn's Disease is an autoimmune disorder, and scientists are still unsure what causes it. One interesting (but sad) fact is that my sister, Suzanne, was diagnosed with Celiac's Disease when she was pregnant with her first little girl. Celiac's Disease is also an autoimmune disorder, but a positive to this disease is that it can be treated by diet alone. Essentially, you cannot eat anything with gluten in it. Gluten is a type of protein that is found in breads, pastas, and anything else containing wheat, flour, barley, or rye. No more cookies, breads, pasta, or fast-food for Sis. I've been researching this diet, and there are numerous websites that link eating a gluten-free diet with the positive impact it has on Crohn's Disease. So, I've decided to fast today and then begin eating gluten free for the next few weeks to see if I notice any improvements. Yesterday I made biscuits and gravy for my entire family, then Ben bought apple fritter donuts at Jay-C because they're my favorite. I guess it was my last hoorah before I quit eating gluten, and boy, did I pay for it. My intestines hurt so incredibly bad last night and still this morning. We shall see if this diet helps! I want it to help so that I can control the disease mainly with diet because I am kinda anti-medication, but the other half of me doesn't want this plan to succeed so that I can have yeast rolls, chicken and noodles, and anything from Olive Garden. The list could go on forever.
I'll keep you posted. In the meanwhile I placed a huge order at http://www.glutenfree.com/ so that I can enjoy some sweets and breads while I go into shock from not eating my usual biscuits and gravy in the morning, McDonald's or Dairy Queen lunch, and donuts or cookies at night after dinner. I admit that I don't eat healthy, but I've never struggled with weight, so why would I care to cut out bad foods? Maybe eating this way will make me feel so much better that it will be all worth it.... maybe....
Oh, and on a sidenote - Ben is finally home. He returned on Friday evening. We're both so happy that he is home.
Conner was a monkey for Halloween. I'll post pics later. :)
Crohn's Disease is an autoimmune disorder, and scientists are still unsure what causes it. One interesting (but sad) fact is that my sister, Suzanne, was diagnosed with Celiac's Disease when she was pregnant with her first little girl. Celiac's Disease is also an autoimmune disorder, but a positive to this disease is that it can be treated by diet alone. Essentially, you cannot eat anything with gluten in it. Gluten is a type of protein that is found in breads, pastas, and anything else containing wheat, flour, barley, or rye. No more cookies, breads, pasta, or fast-food for Sis. I've been researching this diet, and there are numerous websites that link eating a gluten-free diet with the positive impact it has on Crohn's Disease. So, I've decided to fast today and then begin eating gluten free for the next few weeks to see if I notice any improvements. Yesterday I made biscuits and gravy for my entire family, then Ben bought apple fritter donuts at Jay-C because they're my favorite. I guess it was my last hoorah before I quit eating gluten, and boy, did I pay for it. My intestines hurt so incredibly bad last night and still this morning. We shall see if this diet helps! I want it to help so that I can control the disease mainly with diet because I am kinda anti-medication, but the other half of me doesn't want this plan to succeed so that I can have yeast rolls, chicken and noodles, and anything from Olive Garden. The list could go on forever.
I'll keep you posted. In the meanwhile I placed a huge order at http://www.glutenfree.com/ so that I can enjoy some sweets and breads while I go into shock from not eating my usual biscuits and gravy in the morning, McDonald's or Dairy Queen lunch, and donuts or cookies at night after dinner. I admit that I don't eat healthy, but I've never struggled with weight, so why would I care to cut out bad foods? Maybe eating this way will make me feel so much better that it will be all worth it.... maybe....
Oh, and on a sidenote - Ben is finally home. He returned on Friday evening. We're both so happy that he is home.
Conner was a monkey for Halloween. I'll post pics later. :)
Come visit me and I'll make you really yummy general tso's chicken and fried rice, and we'll have brownies and cookies and peanut butter pie... all gluten-free of course! You'll never know it, either! =)
ReplyDeleteYay! Just last night I was sad thinking about the fact that I can't eat Chinese, so this really made my day!
ReplyDeleteI already made one booboo. McD's fries have gluten in them. I had heard they were GF, but I read on their website that they are not. Whoops.
I have already noticed an improvement, but I'll spare you the details! :)
We should all swap our tried and true GF products and recipes. Troy has a definite love/hate relationship with being GF. He is amazed by the improvements in his guts and joint pain. But being a guy, he hasn't yet done much cooking and he is here so sporadically that I don't do a whole lot of GF cooking. His absolutely favorite thing is Chebe bread (cheese bread variety). I put in a cup of finely shredded cheese and an extra tsp. of baking powder and made bread stix and pizza crust - it's most like Papa Johns that I've found. Love you guys.
ReplyDelete