Angry, Frustrated, And Depressed About My Food Allergies

[freedomseek00]

Hello everyone,

I'm 23 years old and I was diagnosed with celiac, adrenal fatigue, anemia, and an intestinal parasite back in September. I also found out that I have allergies to soy/legumes, dairy, eggs, corn and am very sensitive to sugar. I've been attempting to eat strict Paleo (except for the egg part as I'm allergic) as often as I can since those foods really do make me feel a little bit better or at least I don't react to them. My problem is that I can't stick with my allergen-free diet. I've seen a lot of posts on similar topics but I was hoping to get some input on my personal situation, or at least some support. Until last night I was 48 days gluten free, 48 days egg free, 13 days dairy free, 20 days soy free, 2 days corn free and 2 days sugar free. But last night I just cracked! I ate all the foods I'm not allowed to eat. I feel so deprived. I've tried substitutions but I end up reacting to those as well. When it really gets down to it I know I'm addicted to food. I've used food as an emotional crutch ever since my parents got divorced when I was 7 years old. Every since finding out about my food allergies in September, I've been crying every single day. My boyfriend doesn't know how to help me and I just cry whenever we are together. I honestly don't feel like I can live the rest of my life with these food allergies. Every day is a huge struggle and most days life doesn't seem worth living. I don't know what to do to anymore. There's practically nothing I can eat and as we all know a lot of social activities revolve around food, especially at this time of year with all the holiday parties. I'm so frustrated and tired (in addition to the chronic fatigue) with having to cook all of my meals and sit back and watch other people eat the foods I can no longer safely eat at dinner parties and such. My boyfriend is a blessing. He won't eat anything that I'm allergic to in front of me because he knows how much it hurts (and he also doesn't want to have to brush his teeth every five minutes just so he can kiss me ). But it's still not enough. I'm in so much emotional turmoil. How can I get the motivation to want to take care of myself no matter what situation I'm in? I know things are eventually supposed to get better and I know I was not free from my allergens for any significant amount of time, but I hadn't seen any improvement in my aches and pains, fatigue, sleep, or emotional issues, which really makes it hard to stick with the diet. I feel very left out and isolated. I just want to be normal again. Thank you in advance for reading and responding. I appreciate any and all help I can get.

[shadowicewolf]

I think a good idea would be for you to find a local support group.

We tend to go through withdrawls with gluten (i was an emotional mess then), but i don't doubt it with the others.

One day at a time dear, it does get better.

Can't never could do anything. YOU can do this.

[bartfull]

If you can stick with it long enough, you might well get a lot of these foods back. I got corn starch back and potatoes too. I bet there are other things I lost at first that I could safely eat again. I haven't tried them all yet.

If you think, "I'll never be able to eat these things again" it will tear you up. If you think of it as only temporary, you might find it easier. Even if you never get these foods back, if you can stick with it long enough you will start feeling better and that in itself will make it easier for you. And you get used to it, really you do. The reason there are so many foods I haven't tried yet is because I have gotten so used to my limited diet I honestly don't mind it anymore.

A couple of months ago I was in a wedding. They had such an incredible spread of food! I brought my own food and enjoyed it. I saw people eating pasta and fried chicken and cake and I thought, "Ew! How can you put that in your mouth!?" After a while of eating healthy, I swear, even if I suddenly discovered I WASN'T caliac, I would NEVER go back to eating that stuff. As a matter of fact, when I got potatoes back I went out and bought myself some potato chips which used to be my number one favortie snack. I opened the bag and they smelled bad to me. I ate a couple and they tasted bad to me. There was nothing wrong with them, I just discovered I don't like potato chips anymore.

Give it some more time. Think of it (except the gluten) as temporary. You can do this. And if you need to cry, it's OK. Believe me, we all did at first. Come here and rant as much as you need to. We have big shoulders.

[GFinDC]

Hi FreedomS

You may indeed find your bad foods will be ok later. I had bad hafever before gluten-free, but don't have much of a problem since being gluten-free. When you are eating gluten your gut is damaged and many foods can cause a reaction. Affter 6 months or so it would be ok to try some of the suspect foods in small quantities. One at a time, and don't add another until 3 days later. Some reactions take time to build up.

Take a loko through some of the melaide athreads for possible things to et. There are lots of options if you change a few ingredients here and there.

Started out making large batches of rice on the weekends. Every weekend I amde a different version and stored small portions in the freezer. Then I could pull out a small portion and microwave it very quickly. Having different versions made it more interesting. And since you only need to cook on the weekend it doesn't take a lot of time every day.

Some people make meals in crock pots over night. That is also an option and is not hard to do.

What's For Breakfast Today?

What Did You Have For Lunch Today?

What Are You Cooking Tonight?

Dessert thread

Easy yummy bread in minutes

[ScottR13]

Hello everyone,

I'm 23 years old and I was diagnosed with celiac, adrenal fatigue, anemia, and an intestinal parasite back in September. I also found out that I have allergies to soy/legumes, dairy, eggs, corn and am very sensitive to sugar. I've been attempting to eat strict Paleo (except for the egg part as I'm allergic) as often as I can since those foods really do make me feel a little bit better or at least I don't react to them. My problem is that I can't stick with my allergen-free diet. I've seen a lot of posts on similar topics but I was hoping to get some input on my personal situation, or at least some support. Until last night I was 48 days gluten free, 48 days egg free, 13 days dairy free, 20 days soy free, 2 days corn free and 2 days sugar free. But last night I just cracked! I ate all the foods I'm not allowed to eat. I feel so deprived. I've tried substitutions but I end up reacting to those as well. When it really gets down to it I know I'm addicted to food. I've used food as an emotional crutch ever since my parents got divorced when I was 7 years old. Every since finding out about my food allergies in September, I've been crying every single day. My boyfriend doesn't know how to help me and I just cry whenever we are together. I honestly don't feel like I can live the rest of my life with these food allergies. Every day is a huge struggle and most days life doesn't seem worth living. I don't know what to do to anymore. There's practically nothing I can eat and as we all know a lot of social activities revolve around food, especially at this time of year with all the holiday parties. I'm so frustrated and tired (in addition to the chronic fatigue) with having to cook all of my meals and sit back and watch other people eat the foods I can no longer safely eat at dinner parties and such. My boyfriend is a blessing. He won't eat anything that I'm allergic to in front of me because he knows how much it hurts (and he also doesn't want to have to brush his teeth every five minutes just so he can kiss me ). But it's still not enough. I'm in so much emotional turmoil. How can I get the motivation to want to take care of myself no matter what situation I'm in? I know things are eventually supposed to get better and I know I was not free from my allergens for any significant amount of time, but I hadn't seen any improvement in my aches and pains, fatigue, sleep, or emotional issues, which really makes it hard to stick with the diet. I feel very left out and isolated. I just want to be normal again. Thank you in advance for reading and responding. I appreciate any and all help I can get.

That, to me, suggests you have not found all your allergies ( and assuming the 1's you have now are accurate. Testing can be a liitle suspect). Do you still consume Milk?

[1desperateladysaved]

I motivate myself to stay on the diet in order so that I can help my body heal.

[Takala]

If you are celiac, then you have to stick to the gluten free diet. That is your first priority, because not doing so will otherwise give you food cravings. Gluten is addictive. If you fall off the wagon or cheat, you start the cycle all over again of having an auto immune reaction, damage, and malnutrition/poor absorbing of nutrients. The second priority is avoiding any allergen which can cause a violent reaction and possibly kill you with it - egg allergies are nothing to mess around with. As for the other stuff, I have no idea how badly you react to it, or what happens if you are accidentally, slightly cross contaminated, so you may want to give yourself a mental pass on being completely perfect with those, as long as you avoid the gluten and eggs completely, which is perfectly do-able.

If you are not taking a multivitamin, a B complex, and calcium/magnesium/D supplements (gluten free) start doing so, as they also help with cravings. The other thing is to eat more of whatever form of good FATS you can tolerate, and learn to use this slow acting fuel. If you have sugar cravings, eat fruit or some form of dried fruit, besides learning to use stevia or some other form of artificial sweetener in beverages. (beware of Splenda, can be nasty stuff.) You can try agave syrup or honey. I would suggest also you get some canned coconut milk and really be generous with it in your coffee or tea.

If you are craving carbs and cannot stick to the paleo, I would also suggest you test out your reactions to buckwheat, (a gluten free seed) potato starch, amaranth (a high protein seed) and tapioca flours, as various combinations of these can be made without eggs (use chia seed soaked in room temperature water as an egg "gel" sub for egg) and made into pancakes, flatbreads, and bun in a cup breads in the microwave. The standard mixture is to use 3 flours and make a 1/3 mixture of each, such as buckwheat, tapioca, and amaranth. People who can use legumes would use 1/3 each buckwheat, garbanzobean, and potato starch. Microwave baking is extremely fast and relatively easy. I'm assuming you've already tried the nut flours, such as almond. You can grind nuts in a blender. I buy Pocono buckwheat cereal and grind it in a coffee grinder to make bw flour, as I cannot take the oat cross contamination in the ready- made brands. These flours I mentioned are more naturally sticky than regular rice flour and higher protein, and they work well in eggless recipes with some tweeking. Once you figure out what you can eat, you just learn to make your foods out of that - and to cook in large batches for the week.

There are various non dairy cheese substitutes, some people use cashews and make "cashew cheese." Once you have a flour mixture, you can make pizza crusts and then pizza with this.

If you can tolerate rice pasta you can make spaghetti with homemade sauce, pasta salads with oil and vinegar dressings, etc.

If you cannot bear the thought of more vegetables, put them in a blender or magic bullet with a piece of fruit and some ice and a bit of water, and make a smoothie to drink.

This is really not all that difficult, most people in the 50's and '60s did much of their cooking from scratch, it is only modern life which has led to this notion that food should come out of a package and be prepared by someone else.

[shadowicewolf]

can't applesauce be used to replace eggs in some recipies?

[Takala]

Yup. There are as many ways to work around eggs as you can imagine. Just add some other sort of fruit, seed, or vegetable matter with the ability to firm up to add structure when it's cooked, plus a little fat and maybe a little bit of lift from a leavening ingredient such as baking soda and an acid such as vinegar, and it works. I have played with soaked flax to experiment, but I have to give it away when it's finished. I'm okay with chia seeds, some people use psyllium husk, but you have to soak it first. I don't like how xathan gum tastes that much, which can also be used, but I don't know if other people can taste it. And then there are the commercial gluten free egg substitutes, which are mostly just potato starch with a baking powder added.

I didn't really address the motivation, before. I set small goals of what I want to accomplish which requires me to be able to physically function, and I then reward myself with that activity after eating what I am supposed to.

[freedomseek00]

Thank you everyone for responding.

Shadowicewolf,

I just signed up for a local support group in my area and I'm waiting to hear back from them.

ScottR13,

My tests only came back positive for gluten and egg, but whenever I eat or touch anything soy/legumes, dairy, corn, and/or sugar I get crazy itchy, watery eyes, mucuos pouring out of my nose and I have trouble breathing and can't stop coughing. I also get very severe psychological reactions such as panic attacks and depression. It's not pretty. And I've tried eating these foods mutiple times and the reaction keeps getting worse (which I've read can happen). So I stopped eating them on my own volition despite my stupid doctor telling me that the tests showed there was "no way" I could be sensitive to them. I just really hope there aren't more things that bother me. The one I really hope doesn't happen is nightshades. I loooooooove peppers and onions and garlic.

Takala,

Thanks for your suggestions. I've tried a lot of recipes for breads and snacks using different grains and they make me so constipated. Come to think of it, I almost feel just as bad when I eat gluten-free grains as I do when I eat gluten. Is there such a thing as grain intolerance? All of it makes me feel crappy

I'm also going back to another one of my doctors to get some more blood tests. Despite being celiac and having all these food issues I wasn't deficient in Vitamin B12, Calcium, or Vitamin D. She didn't test for all the other vitamins and minerals out there so I am going back in a week to get as big of a blood panel as possible. What sort of things are the most important to get tested?

Right now I'm taking some Vitamin C to help with my adrenals, a probiotic (for the parasite) and Glutamine to heal my leaky gut.

[shadowicewolf]

to my knowledge onions and garlic are not nightshades.

Peppers however, are.

I generally avoid them due to tomatos.

[frieze]

to my knowledge onions and garlic are not nightshades.

Peppers however, are.

I generally avoid them due to tomatos.

I think the poster meant cooked together, ie as a vegetable side dish?

[GFinDC]

Right Wolfie, nighshades are peppers, tomatoes, white potatoes (not sweet taters) and eggplant. Onions and garlic are not a problem if it is nightshades she is worried about.

[1desperateladysaved]

Accidentally, pulled up this hotbutton topic, so I wanted to tell what has helped me.  The book "The Wildetarian Diet" by Teri Cochrane (nutritionist) has put some food on my table that nourishes and satisfies.  Also, I lose my edema while on it.  I discovered I have problems with sulfur, protein, my own hormones, and fats.  I am therefore on the most stringent diet Teri recommends.  I would encourage people not to quit eating more and more foods, but find foods that nourish you.  She has a quiz online to help you discover the diet right for you.

I get the social part is difficult.  Sometimes for me, I am just grateful that I feel better.  Sometimes I am devastated because eating together is such a social event.  Sometimes I bring my own and other times I stay away. One has to keep working in order to try to keep them and their friends happy.

Is there any updates on this?