Through the course of history and even still today people practice fasting - the giving up of, traditionally food. There are religious reasons to fast and there are health reasons to fast and, I'm sure, there are several other reasons.
David and I fasted on Sunday 07.11.2010 for his health. He'd been sick from the effects of corn for several weeks in a row and we decided that giving his digestive system a break would be very beneficial. We ate nothing from when we got up Sunday morning until we woke, and broke the fast on Monday morning. We drank lots of water, a little organic chicken broth and a little 100% organic, clear fruit juice.
The following Monday morning David felt significantly better and had very little heartburn (which is the first symptom that he experiences from his corn allergy). He was feeling great until yesterday when he experienced heartburn all day. David's symptoms start with light heartburn, build up to chronic heart burn, shortness of breath and skin ailments (eczema, acne, rashes), digestive problems (constipation) and psychological effects (depression, anxiety, irrational thoughts). If we can end the allergic reaction at the first sign of heartburn he typically avoids the other symptoms which typically build within just a few days and not always in an "order" but usually after the heartburn the other symptoms hit together at the same time, or in very short succession.
So we are back to the drawing board on his allergy. He's experiencing more than heartburn right now and it was a quick build. He couldn't think of anything special about yesterday that would cause the problem.
Becca "Did you lick any envelops?"
David "No"
Becca "Did you have any meetings?" (They sit in the old "print" room)
David "No"
Becca "Did you eat anything from a co-worker?"
David "No"
Becca "What did you eat for breakfast?"
David "That new organic cereal" (I read the label 12 times - it shouldn't cause a reaction and wouldn't cause one all day if there were minute levels of corn - not on the label. He'd be sick for an hour or so right after breakfast.)
Becca "Did you handle a lot of paper?"
David "No more than usual"
And on and on and on until David falls asleep and quits responding. It's really aggravating for me to be unable to determine what is making him sick. We keep a corn free house including the bulk of our cleaning products and other household items. I'm careful about cleaning with questionable products in the early mornings so that when he gets home the fumes have dissipated (he's gone about 11-12 hours a work day). I wash all the fruits and veggies we purchase even the occasional "pre-washed lettuce" I purchase. We buy mostly organic because the labels are easier to decipher and 100% organic means that salts can't have "pouring agents." Speaking of salt we have only 100% sea salt that we have to grind ourselves....
(Keep in mind corn can be organic so organic DOES NOT mean corn free it just means it should have clearer labels and no hidden ingredients or miscellaneous "spices" listed.)
Needless to say the grocery bill is OUTRAGEOUS for 2 adults.
Showing posts with label symptoms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label symptoms. Show all posts
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Friday, July 10, 2009
David's body reacts
David has been following an ever increasingly corn free, soy free, peanut free diet for 10 days. In the first few days David thought that he was thinking more clearly and already felt as though he had more energy. After 4 days of carefully reading labels and being cautious our neighbor woke us up early and said "We are going to breakfast, I am buying." What to do other than go? We ended up at IHOP. David picked a meal that was mostly meat and eggs. Some eggs mixes may have corn in them but we can't read the ingredient labels in a restaurant. Without thinking, he followed suit on the iced coffee orders. Right. So any pre-mixed iced coffee WILL have corn syrup of some sort and probably soy lechtin. Needless to say he didn't feel fabulous after that meal but it wasn't terrible because the iced coffee carries trace amounts. Another 6 full days of eating carefully and he's feeling even better. More energy, more even keeled, rational emotions (I'm getting my husband back!!), fewer crazy BM's, less bloated...
We were invited by a friend to join them for dinner last night. Tricky situation when one has such allergies as corn and soy. Especially when our friends have a son who is kept to a pretty strict gluten free diet (think corn and soy food alternatives). Nice. We talked about bringing David his own meal, prepared here but decided he would have a snack before we went and see how things went. Our neighbor also gave him digestive enzymes to take when he was going to be in such a situation. He took one and off we went. Thankfully our friend prepared fajitas. David was able to eat the meat and most of the sides. We sat down, huge bowl of chips in the middle. David dug in. Yea. CORN chips. Also he ate the cheese dip from a jar (corn and soy) and the pre-shredded cheese (corn starch and other products are used to prevent clumping). While he could have easily avoided these items, our friend had everything in separate bowls, I didn't have the heart to say "you can't eat that" and David didn't think much about it.
Needless to say David felt the effects almost immediately. We ate about 7:45pm. David was feeling pretty terrible by 8:50. The bloating, the BM's, the grumpiness.... And David says "I'm a believer!!!" LOL. I think he was some how hoping he wasn't really allergic or possibly attempting to ignore the situation and hope it went away.... poor guy. He didn't eat a ton of any of the items either. But CORN chips were probably the kicker.
So, today we are back to corn free and I'm thinking it'll be a while before David casually eats something without reading a label if it didn't come from my kitchen.
We were invited by a friend to join them for dinner last night. Tricky situation when one has such allergies as corn and soy. Especially when our friends have a son who is kept to a pretty strict gluten free diet (think corn and soy food alternatives). Nice. We talked about bringing David his own meal, prepared here but decided he would have a snack before we went and see how things went. Our neighbor also gave him digestive enzymes to take when he was going to be in such a situation. He took one and off we went. Thankfully our friend prepared fajitas. David was able to eat the meat and most of the sides. We sat down, huge bowl of chips in the middle. David dug in. Yea. CORN chips. Also he ate the cheese dip from a jar (corn and soy) and the pre-shredded cheese (corn starch and other products are used to prevent clumping). While he could have easily avoided these items, our friend had everything in separate bowls, I didn't have the heart to say "you can't eat that" and David didn't think much about it.
Needless to say David felt the effects almost immediately. We ate about 7:45pm. David was feeling pretty terrible by 8:50. The bloating, the BM's, the grumpiness.... And David says "I'm a believer!!!" LOL. I think he was some how hoping he wasn't really allergic or possibly attempting to ignore the situation and hope it went away.... poor guy. He didn't eat a ton of any of the items either. But CORN chips were probably the kicker.
So, today we are back to corn free and I'm thinking it'll be a while before David casually eats something without reading a label if it didn't come from my kitchen.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
In the beginning
We just found out yesterday that David, my husband, has a food allergy to corn, soy and peanuts. David started going to a GI specialist for the better part of 2009 trying to figure out the cause of his problems. We met in 1999. David had a few of the symptoms even then, just not nearly as noticeable. This blog is to collect all our resources in one location and provide a bit of information for other people that may also be looking for answers to their GI problems or need resources for a newly discovered corn, soy or peanut allergy.
Symptoms:
When we were first married the primary symptom was "personal noises". He had some affection for Tums but only occasionally.
After moving around together for Hubs' job, for a few years we bought a house and settled. David traveled nearly every week, for a couple of days for his job. His Tums popping habit got significantly worse. And the BM's were, let's just say, odd. We attributed it to his poor diet while on the road and excessive use of Tums (taking too many Tums to alleviate heartburn can cause irregular BM's). He often ate take out or pizza or fast food. The heartburn, the bloating and the BM's were all bothersome but were easily overlooked in light of his on the road diet. Foods we rarely eat at home. When David came home from several lengthy business trips late November he didn't take another trip for several months. We couldn't blame a poor diet any more.
Over about a year David's breath had turned sour. Even after having just brushed his teeth his breath would smell rotten, unfortunately, literally. I often would ask if he was dehydrated and we attributed the bad breath to dehydration. We live in TX after all. But there were times when we would attempt to blame it on dehydration but his urine would be clear. A sure sign of good hydration.
I finally asked David to see someone about what was going on. He was miserable and the personal noises and breath were out of control. We went to a general practitioner who referred us to a specialist (waste of time and a co-pay by the way - we don't need a referral to see a specialist, so cut the general practitioner out if you can). David went to see a GI specialist. She diagnosed him with GERD, put him on Nexium and started running tests. I mentioned it could be a food allergy but David decided to go with the GI specialist.
Several months of Nexium and we realized a side effect that is rare but unpleasant. The GI specialist had mentioned to David that a few months on Nexium may clear up his problem entirely so David stopped taking Nexium. The symptoms came roaring back full force. And he wasn't taking Tums so the BM's and bloating couldn't be explained by anything. Another drug, more testing.
At the same time a dear friend of mine was seeking answers to similar GI problems. She was also dealing with a severe rash as well. She was going through laundry detergents attempting to clear up what she had been told was an allergic reaction to detergent. She went through extensive food allergy testing about 2 months or so ago. She discovered allergies to wheat, strawberries, walnuts, specific fishes, cayenne pepper and a few other equally random allergies. She adjusted her diet and now she looks amazing. She has more energy, her rash is completely gone and her GI problems are dramatically reduced.
I mentioned again that allergy testing would be a $35 co-pay and an hour or so and may provide answers. David endured one more procedure with no results or answers and booked an appointment with an allergist.
The allergist was skeptical about David having food allergies because he didn't think that his symptoms fit a food allergy. We had done research on the internet and I had spent a lot of time discussing things with my friend (who had been looking for answers for at least 2 YEARS). David was tested for the 9 most common food allergies. Corn, egg white, fish mix, milk, peanut, pecan, shellfish mix, soy and wheat. Coming up positive for three. Corn, soy and peanut. David said that the nurse walked in to check his back and said, "Now this is interesting." She was skeptical as well when David went in. The doctor told David he had seen one other patient with similar symptoms. That patient had also had a corn allergy.
While we aren't certain that eliminating these foods from David's diet will solve his GI problems we are quite hopeful. David is going to remain on his current medication for another 4 weeks or so while we eliminate all food items and allow his body to flush the corn, soy and peanuts from his system. When we go off the meds, we shall see if his problems were indeed food allergies. We haven't found any other answers through testing ordered by his GI specialist so this is our best bet as of now.
Symptoms:
- Eczema
- "Personal noises" - my term for David's little hiccups, burps and other throaty noises. He didn't think that anyone else could hear them because they feel as though they are in his chest/throat and rarely actually arrive as a full blown belch.
- Heart burn - excessive. In the past two years has been getting much worse. Poor Hubs pops Tums like a kid eating Smarties candies.
- Bloating
- Irregular BM's (sorry Love, it's a symptom and this is for medical purposes)
- Breath that smelled rotten (literally)
- GERD - this diagnosis was received and medicated with Nexium about 3 months or so ago. While the Nexium worked really well, it had unpleasant side effects and David didn't like the prospect of being medicated for life.
When we were first married the primary symptom was "personal noises". He had some affection for Tums but only occasionally.
After moving around together for Hubs' job, for a few years we bought a house and settled. David traveled nearly every week, for a couple of days for his job. His Tums popping habit got significantly worse. And the BM's were, let's just say, odd. We attributed it to his poor diet while on the road and excessive use of Tums (taking too many Tums to alleviate heartburn can cause irregular BM's). He often ate take out or pizza or fast food. The heartburn, the bloating and the BM's were all bothersome but were easily overlooked in light of his on the road diet. Foods we rarely eat at home. When David came home from several lengthy business trips late November he didn't take another trip for several months. We couldn't blame a poor diet any more.
Over about a year David's breath had turned sour. Even after having just brushed his teeth his breath would smell rotten, unfortunately, literally. I often would ask if he was dehydrated and we attributed the bad breath to dehydration. We live in TX after all. But there were times when we would attempt to blame it on dehydration but his urine would be clear. A sure sign of good hydration.
I finally asked David to see someone about what was going on. He was miserable and the personal noises and breath were out of control. We went to a general practitioner who referred us to a specialist (waste of time and a co-pay by the way - we don't need a referral to see a specialist, so cut the general practitioner out if you can). David went to see a GI specialist. She diagnosed him with GERD, put him on Nexium and started running tests. I mentioned it could be a food allergy but David decided to go with the GI specialist.
Several months of Nexium and we realized a side effect that is rare but unpleasant. The GI specialist had mentioned to David that a few months on Nexium may clear up his problem entirely so David stopped taking Nexium. The symptoms came roaring back full force. And he wasn't taking Tums so the BM's and bloating couldn't be explained by anything. Another drug, more testing.
At the same time a dear friend of mine was seeking answers to similar GI problems. She was also dealing with a severe rash as well. She was going through laundry detergents attempting to clear up what she had been told was an allergic reaction to detergent. She went through extensive food allergy testing about 2 months or so ago. She discovered allergies to wheat, strawberries, walnuts, specific fishes, cayenne pepper and a few other equally random allergies. She adjusted her diet and now she looks amazing. She has more energy, her rash is completely gone and her GI problems are dramatically reduced.
I mentioned again that allergy testing would be a $35 co-pay and an hour or so and may provide answers. David endured one more procedure with no results or answers and booked an appointment with an allergist.
The allergist was skeptical about David having food allergies because he didn't think that his symptoms fit a food allergy. We had done research on the internet and I had spent a lot of time discussing things with my friend (who had been looking for answers for at least 2 YEARS). David was tested for the 9 most common food allergies. Corn, egg white, fish mix, milk, peanut, pecan, shellfish mix, soy and wheat. Coming up positive for three. Corn, soy and peanut. David said that the nurse walked in to check his back and said, "Now this is interesting." She was skeptical as well when David went in. The doctor told David he had seen one other patient with similar symptoms. That patient had also had a corn allergy.
While we aren't certain that eliminating these foods from David's diet will solve his GI problems we are quite hopeful. David is going to remain on his current medication for another 4 weeks or so while we eliminate all food items and allow his body to flush the corn, soy and peanuts from his system. When we go off the meds, we shall see if his problems were indeed food allergies. We haven't found any other answers through testing ordered by his GI specialist so this is our best bet as of now.
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