6 weeks of gluten, 3 times a day, is a lot of gluten to ingest for anyone, let alone someone who struggles with it.
When my gastroenterologist told me that I needed to eat gluten 3 times a day for 6 weeks, I was dumb founded for a little while, before I spoke again. My body froze with anticipation of the pain it once experienced on a daily basis before I removed gluten from my system.
All I could think was, 10 months of hard work down the drain, all in the name of finding a diagnosis.
Personal experience:
Even though I had my doubts before starting my gluten challenge, I did it anyway. I was determined to make it through the six weeks in hopes that, after the endoscopy/biopsy, the doctor would say, “you have …” ( I was rooting for celiac disease). And I would say “YAY!!! I know what I have now,” and start my healing journey. I finished the gluten challenge 3 weeks ago, did my endoscopy and biopsy and have been struggling to heal ever since.
I did not clearly remember the full scope of damage gluten had done before I started healing my gut last year and had completely forgotten how long it took me to (kind of) heal my gut… 10 months… kind of, because in March before I started eating gluten again, I was still in recovery mode, eating mainly soups and slowly introducing foods back into my system. BUT… it had taken me 10 months to do very difficult, challenging, and disciplined work that was all erased by a 6 week doctor prescribed order.
Day 1 after endoscopy:
This week was extremely hard.
The first meal I had after the endoscopy torched my gut, I was in wrecked pain, an inferno in my gut, heartburn, nausea, immediate bloating, burping, light-headedness, fatigue and tears. The realization of what I had just done over the last 6 weeks hit and I completely broke down. I could no longer eat what I had been eating before the challenge, and I could not remember what I had done to heal the first time around… so what could I eat now?
Day 2:
I had to try to jog my memory back to a year ago, and figure out what I had done to heal my gut in 2017. The symptoms I had experienced then were all back. The burning sensation when trying to eat, the lack of appetite because of all the pain caused by eating, the nausea, indigestion, bloating, constipation, lightheartedness, dizziness and extreme fatigue that was associated with food made it very difficult to want to eat.
Day 3:
My stomach and esophagus, had turned into a blazing inferno and I did not know what to do about it. I was stuck, feeling very hopeless in the wake of the damage I had just finished doing to myself. I was feeling stuck, because I knew that doctors would not help me heal this, (they failed last time (I was given a boatload of prescriptions to muzzle the pain), what would make it different this time?) and I could not remember what I had done in the beginning to heal the gut in the first place. All I could remember was the last few months before the challenge.
I remembered that I ate soup and rice, plain meat and rice, organs and rice, fish and rice and was slowly introducing soft vegetables( baby bellpeppers, spinach, kale and potatoes into my diet ). All I could remember was I was doing well with that, and perhaps I should start there.
Day 4:
The diet I was on before the gluten challenge was a complete fail. All that food was causing A LOT of pain and I could not figure out what to eat.
Day 5-7:
I spent these days trying to jog my memory and remember what I had done in 2017 to heal my gut in the first place. My stomach was still a big problem, food was still very difficult to eat and the rest of my body and mind just weren’t working with me.
***
For some reason I assumed that dropping gluten would automatically make my body feel better, and I would be where I was 6 weeks before… but … noooooo. My body was in a horrible state. I was still in full inflammation mode, fatigue, pain, nausea… the whole nine yards. And eating food hurt!
Inflammation:
Paaaaiiinnn.
I was still in full body inflammation, feeling the pain and pangs in every bit of my body including my brain. (I have not written an article or done any significant blogging work in about 6 weeks – last 3 weeks of gluten challenge and the last 3 weeks trying to find a healing regimen). It has been a tough few weeks.
Depression:
Yup. Still there.
With the realization that I was in a really horrible health condition, (and I willingly did that to myself), I was finding it very hard to find meaning in much. I wanted to give up and would constantly have to re-encourage myself to find healing for myself.
Anxiety:
This was the beginning of a new era for anxiety. 2-3 anxiety attacks per day, sometimes even in my sleep. The full scope of fear and panic I used to experience before cutting out gluten was back. I was struggling and I didn’t know what to do or how to help myself, which only made me panic even more.
This didn’t change much until week three when I started a gut healing regimen that worked.
Brain fog:
Everything was a haze. Reading, writing, and simply concentrating was a torturous task and nothing seemed important enough to warrant my attention. I was simply in shambles.
Forgetfulness and Confusion:
I forgot everything! Everything! Including sometimes where I was, or what I was doing. And this brought about a whole lot of fear, confusion and panic.
Gastritis and Heartburn:
Ohhhhhh. It really hurt to eat. I basically stopped eating because of the amount of pain it caused. Even soup hurt.
Related posts:
- My Gluten Challenge Week 6: Hitting Rock Bottom
- My Battle Recovering from Gluten: Week 2 (Reconstructing Past Remedies)
