[dbuhl79]

What specifically is the SCD Diet?

[cynicaltomorrow]

I'm also on the SCD. Technically I've been on it for 4 months... but I've had to start over a couple times. I'm really getting irritated with it actually. But, hopefully I am healing.

[cynicaltomorrow]

I started in the beginning of January, but I decided to skip the Intro since I wasn't feeling sick (I'm just interested in the healing aspect of the diet). About 3 weeks into it, I got sick. So, I started over again and did the Intro for 2 days. Again, I went for like 3-4 weeks, but I went too fast towards the end and got sick. So, I did the Intro for like a week (I was much worse off then than when I started), and I've been on this run of the diet for 4-5 weeks. Currently, I've only progressed to eating well-cooked apples, pears, zucchini, squash, and carrots. I'll probably try some peanut butter tomorrow. Also, I seem to have either recently developed or recently become aware of a sensitivity to eggs. I'm still not positive, but it appears that way. So, at this point, I couldn't quit the diet even if I seriously wanted to because I still wouldn't be able to go back to a normal gluten-free diet. I definitely feel worse now than when I started, but hopefully it's a sign that I'm healing (?).. I feel bloated quite often... not real bad... but enough to be annoying. I'm also feeling pretty weak. I hope things get better real fast.

[cynicaltomorrow]

Oh, yeah! By no means did I mean that that was all I was eating. I eat at least 1 hamburger a day, haha. I mix up the ground beef with some cooked carrots... they're pretty good that way. I also eat legal canned tuna. I'm not sure whether or not I'm sensitive to eggs... but lately it seems that way, so I'm just going to stay away. I just consumed some almond butter, so hopefully that'll go well. I'm ready to start baking!

[shimma]

I'm going to start the diet this weekend. I know it will be hard, but I've been through so many allergy elimination diets, and of course the gluten-free diet itself is hard to get used to. I know the main thing that I'll need to be careful about is to always have food around - because when I get hungry, the urge to cheat is unbearable.

I was reading through Break the Vicious Cycle last night, and the chapter on Celiac disease contained some really interesting information. I don't have the book with me, so I can't quote it, but the paragraph about how people with chronic diarrhea inevitably have small intestine damage struck me especially. My initial blood test for Celiac was at the high-end of normal, so I had a biopsy done as well. The biopsy showed extensive damage, so I was diagnosed with celiac disease. A year later, having been on a strict gluten-free diet, my blood work was the same. I asked my doctor if it was possible that the biopsy showed damage from something else - he said yes, and named some things like bacterial overgrowth, but said I seemed to be a classic Celiac case - thin, etc. I guess you could say that I'm still not convinced that I have celiac disease! I don't know of anyone in my family who has it (although they could be undiagnosed).

Hopefully following SCD will make me healthy again....I haven't gained back a pound in the two years I've been gluten-free.

[shimma]

My mother-in-law had a yogurt maker leftover from the 70's, so I've been using that. It makes five 6-oz cups. I tried making yogurt in the oven before, but it didn't turn out well - I don't think my oven can be set to a low enough temperature.

I started the diet on Monday after a weekend of food prep. I did the intro diet only for a day, which I'm starting to think was a mistake. Monday and Tuesday I felt good, but yesterday and today I've been sick in the morning. Or maybe this is normal - my body cleaning itself out? I'm not sure if I should go back to the intro diet for a few days and see. It's just that I had something like five eggs on Monday, and by the time Tuesday morning came around, I couldn't stand the thought of having eggs for breakfast, so I tried some of the muffins I had baked.

Any thoughts? I don't know what to expect on this diet....

[cynicaltomorrow]

What did you make the muffins out of? I just discovered a few weeks ago, after being on the SCD for several weeks that I'm sensitive to eggs. I don't know if it's something that developed (since I was eating so many eggs on the diet) or if it just became more apparent. I make yogurt ever 1 1/2-2 weeks. I just add a little liquid Sweet N Low and some SCD-legal vanilla... it's good stuff!

[shimma]

The muffins were straight out of Breaking the Vicious Cycle. Very simple, just ground almonds, eggs, melted butter, honey, baking soda, and salt. They're surprisingly good (although a little chunky, as I didn't grind my almonds enough!)

I felt better today than yesterday, so I'm keeping my hopes up. I hope I'm not egg-sensitive, because it's one of the few things that appeals to my appetite right now (jello got old really fast!)

[cynicaltomorrow]

Woah. You're moving WAY too fast. You should slowly reintroduce well-cooked, deseeded, peeled fruits and veggies. Then, nut butters. Then, nut flours. Then, raw peeled fruits and veggies. Then, raw fruits and veggies. This is the general guideline. If you go to www.pecanbread.com and click on Food Preparation... there is a table you can kind of work with. This is like week 7 for me and I'm still not on nut flour yet. You have to take it slow (the purpose of the diet is to allow time to heal) and really pay attention to how you react. Try keeping a food journal.