Still Living In Fear

[jasonD2]

I've taken all the necessary steps to change my diet & lifestyle but I still fear that all of my digestion issues & food sensitivities will lead to an autoimmune disease or something worse. Just to recap:

- Contracted Giardia in 02; was on a 5 month course of antibiotics prior

- Developed severe/permanent lactose/dairy intolerance

- Tested neg for celiac in 02 (blood)

- Developed IBS and food sensitivities (02-present)

- Tested slightly positive for stool anti-gliadin in 07, and tested positive for 1 of 2 celiac genes

- Gut was slightly leaky in 07 & had mild overgrowth, mild candida and colonic inflammation

- Tested severely allergic to eggs, dairy, soy, mustard, ginger

- cut out all allergic foods and avoid gluten & dairy & soy & eggs

- take probiotics, anti candida formula and Biogest enzymes

Im really not sure what else I can do. im sure im still eating foods that im sensitive to, but I refuse to have a bland boring diet. if i cut out anything else i will loose a great deal of weight...im already underweight as it is. however, as i said im also very worried about developing an autoimmune disease. id appreciate feedback

[Mother of Jibril]

Hi Jason,

Celiac disease is the only autoimmune disorder where the cause is KNOWN. Pretty crazy, huh? In fact, there are lots of disorders that are only labeled as being "autoimmune" because they go into remission when you take steroids. Food might play a role... some people (like Dr. Fasano) think celiac disease is the root cause of autoimmune disorders in general. BUT... that still doesn't tell you why two people can eat exactly the same thing, yet one person starts making auto-antibodies in response to gluten and the other person does not. Avoid the foods that make you feel bad, but IMO... and I know this is easier said than done... you have to let the rest go. Researchers have lots of ideas about how autoimmune disorders get started... food, viruses, bacteria, leaky gut, microchimerism... but they're still just ideas. Doctors are only just beginning to understand how to prevent, diagnose, and treat autoimmune disorders.

Chronic illness sucks... but it CAN get easier to live with. I know how hard it is to feel like you have no control over your own body Have you tried things to cope like counseling or writing in a journal?

[jasonD2]

Thanks for the kind words. Haven't tried counseling...for me the best therapy is to just live my life, work hard and do the things i enjoy and not think about all that other crap