Maybe It's Gluten?

APRIL 2018 // It's been a roller coaster of seeing different doctors off and on over four years now. I'm disheartened that that it took this long to even consider food as factor. And for full disclosure, I am still newly "diagnosed" but the changes have been so dramatic that there's no doubt in my mind there is a food-gut connection, so I'm sharing my story early in the hopes it helps you, or someone you love because, honestly, I got lucky that I sort of stumbled into this discovery. Gluten, specifically, was certainly never a go-to possibility for any doctor that I saw, at least not directly. And, frankly, I feel like that needs to change! Ok, so as I mentioned, I've been dealing with strange issues for a solid four years now. At first they ebbed and flowed with no rhyme or reason and in 2015 they even seemed to get better for a bit. But, a few months after having my third child, things came back and then my symptoms flared in the spring of 2016 at a tim...

March 2019 // I wanted to give an update since I created this site about a year ago. I am THRILLED to report that my health has done nothing but continue to improve as it relates to the symptoms above. I have stuck to being gluten-free entirely and never have *cheat* days. If I ever ingest gluten it's because I did so accidentally. I have people ask me all the time how I'm able to be so disciplined. It's honestly because I remember how crappy my life was before and just how bad I felt. It really was life-altering and I never want to go back to that place. I just can't. It is no way to live. I was having a hard time caring for myself, let alone my three kids and running by business and taking care of the house.  Back then I was starting to believe I was going to have to change my life so drastically in order to just stay afloat - like quit my job, hire help... anything, because on some days just showering would take it all out of me and I would have to dry off and lie on...

MAY 2019 //  No huge changes to what I've originally written about, however, I did want to share that I am currently doing a low FODMAP challenge. Unfortunately, I dealt with a bad case of food poisoning last year in October of 2018. I ate some raw ahi tuna that was tainted and I dealt with two days of a fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Overshare! :) But, I think it's important to make a note of this because first of all - how stupid of me. Here I was dealing with an obviously tender/susceptible gut-related issue already (gluten sensitivity likely due to an underlying leaky gut problem) and I'm sure that made my body more likely to not be able to withstand harmful bacteria. But, it happened. Lesson learned. So, now I think I'm dealing with a slight bout of post-infectious IBS. Over the past 3-4 months I've noticed (as has my husband - ha) that I burp WAY more than before. Excessive. At times I lie down at night and do nothing but burp for 15 minutes. I was also noticin...