Ok, so actually, today is #382. My one year anniversary was the 16th of November, but as I was in the thick of things.... the post was put off. But I wanted to commemorate the occasion and share what has been going on during this last whirlwind of a year.
First of all, I still keep a VERY detailed food and symptom diary. Let me show you...
I also take the 10-day average of my symptoms. Can you tell when vet school started???
My BMs and gas improved early on, with the occasional days here and there that I can't contribute to anything (and other days where I can point to the almond-flour based Irish soda bread or something). I do have a couple of food/symptom diaries from senior year when I was strict low FODMAP/vegetarian, but I was using a different scale. I know it doesn't look like it was that bad on a day-to-day basis, but that's just because I didn't include what was going on before. Thinking back to high school when I was having seven or eight loose stools before I left the house in the morning or sophomore year of college when I would have such awful gas that I would have to close my door and turn the fan on and spray perfume obsessively or junior year when the stress of finals and having no idea what to do with my diet caused my stomach to make indescribably loud noises at the worst of times or senior year when the gas pressure built up so much in my lower GI tract that I would think I would just pass some gas but actually passed some other stuff into pants (TMI? no such thing in Paleo-land...), this is a HUGE improvement and more than enough fuel to give me a reason to throw myself into this lifestyle 100% and never, ever, go back to anything else.
But honestly, I didn't start to see consistent improvements in reflux until the end of this summer, which is why it's such a bummer that the stress of vet school has undone a lot of that. But it gives me hope for next summer, which is when I'm due for my next endoscopy. I try not to get my hopes up too much by wondering if I've reversed any of the seemingly permanent atrophy and remind myself that to halt the progression of my disease would be impressive, but sometimes it's hard. I'm getting better about accepting the fact that I may have to put myself in the category of people who cannot be "fixed" by a paleo lifestyle – my stomach lining may always be atrophied and I may always need to take HCl at the very least.
Here are other aspects of a well-rounded Paleo lifestyle I've been working on over this past year, along with interesting tidbits and changes I've noticed along the way...
First of all, I still keep a VERY detailed food and symptom diary. Let me show you...
I kept track of quantity for about the first month or so, but then I stopped bothering. But every day, I include: the date, day number, estimated hours of sleep, whether or not I'm menstruating, every bit of food/drink that goes into my mouth (with the exception of non-dairy fats/oils or water), every supplement, and my symptoms. I record instances of reflux and gas on a half hour basis on a scale of 1 to 3. BMs are recorded using the Bristol scale. Anything out of the ordinary (sinus issues, stomach pains, etc.) is recorded off to the side. Any reflux or gas that's a level 3, more than 2 consecutive hours of either symptoms, a BM of 6 or 7, or more than 3 BMs in a day gets noted with a "!". If I eat an off-limits-for-now food, like a nightshade, or just anything I haven't officially introduced yet (basically any broad-spectrum primal food), it gets highlighted in orange. If it's a total no-no (like on day 62 or something where I snuck back into the kitchen after everyone had gone to sleep and stuffed four of my mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies in my mouth), it gets highlighted in red (and has only happened a couple of times). I usually reserve the orange highlight for when I go out to eat, too, and I know something was cooked in vegetable oils or I can tell there is some unnamed nightshade spice on it.
I also keep track of when I introduced any kind of food or supplement, and take note of how it affected me and whether I took it back out or reintroduced it. I keep lists of potentially problematic foods and have a (now very short) list of food that I still want to add.
You think that's anal (pun intended)? Just wait...
I add up all my symptoms from the day and record them in a separate graph for each symptom.
And add all the symptoms together and put them in another graph. Each graph has a line of best fit. I'm happy to say that the slopes have always been negative, though they're starting to even out now. Most of that is probably due to those spikes in the beginning, which are almost exclusively caused by nut consumption over the holidays.
And if that weren't enough...
My BMs and gas improved early on, with the occasional days here and there that I can't contribute to anything (and other days where I can point to the almond-flour based Irish soda bread or something). I do have a couple of food/symptom diaries from senior year when I was strict low FODMAP/vegetarian, but I was using a different scale. I know it doesn't look like it was that bad on a day-to-day basis, but that's just because I didn't include what was going on before. Thinking back to high school when I was having seven or eight loose stools before I left the house in the morning or sophomore year of college when I would have such awful gas that I would have to close my door and turn the fan on and spray perfume obsessively or junior year when the stress of finals and having no idea what to do with my diet caused my stomach to make indescribably loud noises at the worst of times or senior year when the gas pressure built up so much in my lower GI tract that I would think I would just pass some gas but actually passed some other stuff into pants (TMI? no such thing in Paleo-land...), this is a HUGE improvement and more than enough fuel to give me a reason to throw myself into this lifestyle 100% and never, ever, go back to anything else.
But honestly, I didn't start to see consistent improvements in reflux until the end of this summer, which is why it's such a bummer that the stress of vet school has undone a lot of that. But it gives me hope for next summer, which is when I'm due for my next endoscopy. I try not to get my hopes up too much by wondering if I've reversed any of the seemingly permanent atrophy and remind myself that to halt the progression of my disease would be impressive, but sometimes it's hard. I'm getting better about accepting the fact that I may have to put myself in the category of people who cannot be "fixed" by a paleo lifestyle – my stomach lining may always be atrophied and I may always need to take HCl at the very least.
Here are other aspects of a well-rounded Paleo lifestyle I've been working on over this past year, along with interesting tidbits and changes I've noticed along the way...
- Barefoot and minimalist shoes (I wish I'd realized this before buying $600 custom orthotics!)
- I squat
- I switched to these hair products and make my own deodorant
- I no longer find perfumes appealing and have no desire to wear them anymore (not sure what to do with the 20 bottles collecting dust in my bathroom)
- I never experienced a carb flu or anything, but I did have this detox period, or something, where I had this extreme internal itching in my extremities and joints
- I prioritize sleep (I think I would blow my classmates' minds if I told them I have yet to be in bed for less than 7.5h this year)
- I prioritize walking and sun exposure (even more than I used to)
- I try very hard to eat mindfully and slowly
- I'm faster to pick up on stressful moments that may have gone by unnoticed before (like driving in traffic, eating when I'm actively worried about something or rushing somewhere)
- I see a chiropractor on a regular basis
- I dealt with adrenal fatigue twice and SIBO once (but for a second time overall, the first was about a year and a half ago now)
- I use f.lux and these glasses
- I'm better about sleeping in a totally dark room and no longer watch TV on my (far away) laptop anymore before going to bed
- My tolerance for sun increased
- I'm losing the desire to drive, use screens, be in cities, etc. I used to think I wanted to be an equine vet because I loved driving from barn to barn, but now I sort of resent it. I was never really a technologically-inclined person, but now I have no desire to mindlessly surf the internet (usually) or play games on my phone. And I never thought I would want to live in a city, at least not for more than a year, but now I don't even really like to visit. Maybe that's just me growing up and realizing what I want more, but who knows.
- I feel like I'm more sensitive to sound. Early on in this journey, I realized I had to consistently turn down the volume in my car by several notches.
- I basically never, EVER wash my face anymore (if I had makeup on, which seems to have gone the same way as my perfumes, then I oil-cleanse)
- My periods have been ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE.
- I said no to some vaccines
These are things I'd like to work on or see change in the next year...
- Just because I've corrected the adrenal fatigue and SIBO doesn't mean I've noticed any changes yet...
- I'd like to manage my reflux better during the school year
- I'd like to work on strength-training (tomorrow I'm going to trial a local crossfit class!)
- I'd like to see my trichotillomania go away
- I'd like to see my dandruff go away
- I'd like my nails and nail beds to be healthy
- I'd like to have less dry skin
- I'd really, really, really like my allergies to go away
- I'd like my joints to stop hurting and prioritize true barefoot walking more this summer
- I'd like to normalize my menstruation cycle
- Yoga and meditation.... we'll see
- I'd like my memory to improve and revert back to my high school days
- I'd like to know what life is like without brain fog
- I'm going to start replacing my everyday underwire bras with these (because of this), because I'm already pretty good at going bra-less at home. I'll keep some fancy ones around for fancy occasions.
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