My Elimination Diet

[Swimmr]

BEGINNING OF DAY FIVE UPDATE

So far today I feel good.

I had eggs and a banana for breakfast. Hubby is going to grill my chicken for me later. I still have leftover soup too with chicken and carrots.

Bowel movement was a little more spongier than yesterday's, but most of it sank so that is good...however, had more of a metallic odor. Is that good or bad...or what? For a long time it's been lighter in color, but since starting the elim diet, it's back to being what is considered ok in color.

No dizziness, no bloating, only had mild gas before using the restroom, and other than that everything is A-ok.

I'm starting to really want other foods...really bad...I wanted to put mushrooms, onion, and cheese on my eggs, but cannot. I made hubby an omelette with bacon, onion, green pepper, mushrooms, then cheese and sour cream on top...MMmmm...so good. This is our usual saturday and sunday breakfasts. He asked me if I can have steak yet. *sigh* Regretfully I can't.

I hard-boiled some eggs to take to work tomorrow. I am stocked on carrots this time I have plenty of bananas too. By next week this time, I will have added two more foods...I'm siked.

[GFinDC]

Hmmm, do you think your symptoms have improved then? If they have that's good. If they go backwards then you may have to look at the foods you started out with and the pills also.

Have you been keeping a food/symptom log as you go Swimmrr? That might make it easier for you to see changes. Now, the idea also is if you run into a problem food, that you drop back to your safe foods list and stick with them a day or two or until you get past the symptoms of your problem food.

Sounds like your problem foods so far are nuts. Were they plain nuts with no added flavorings or preservatives? Many of the nuts in packages have various things added to them like yeast, MSG, flavors etc. If you were eating nuts with any added ingredients, you could look at those ingredients and try to eliminate them. The way to do that would be to eat plain nuts with nothing added. If the plain nuts don't bother you, then the list of other ingredients in the original problem nuts would be suspect.

Keep going, sounds like it is working for you!

[Swimmr]

Hmmm, do you think your symptoms have improved then? If they have that's good. If they go backwards then you may have to look at the foods you started out with and the pills also.

Have you been keeping a food/symptom log as you go Swimmrr? That might make it easier for you to see changes. Now, the idea also is if you run into a problem food, that you drop back to your safe foods list and stick with them a day or two or until you get past the symptoms of your problem food.

Sounds like your problem foods so far are nuts. Were they plain nuts with no added flavorings or preservatives? Many of the nuts in packages have various things added to them like yeast, MSG, flavors etc. If you were eating nuts with any added ingredients, you could look at those ingredients and try to eliminate them. The way to do that would be to eat plain nuts with nothing added. If the plain nuts don't bother you, then the list of other ingredients in the original problem nuts would be suspect.

Keep going, sounds like it is working for you!

Symptoms HAVE definitely improved!

Yes I'm keeping a daily log. The nuts were plain and came from my local gluten free/whole foods store. They were organic and plain. I ate ALOT of them, which I said already, but I certainly wouldn't eat that many again.

[Swimmr]

DAY SIX UPDATE

Today was an incredibly crazy day.

1 banana and 2 eggs for breakfast. Got to work, then had to take care of health insurance issues...my ear is feeling worse and I now prefer NOT to wait any longer. It's been doing some draining and this morning the pain is worse...soooo I had to go take care of my military insurance and get a letter of exception to possibly see if Tricare would pick it up instead of the crappy insurance through my employer since they can't seem to get my last name right and then the insurance is claiming my conditions are pre-existing. How frustrated I am defies description. So I wait in the Tricare waiting room for an hour. Getting hungry, needing my chicken and carrots. So I leave the waiting room to get a banana from my car. I get back, I get called in to talk to a representative. Good. SO then I call my doc's office to set up an appointment and they say, "how soon can you get here?" awesome, right? wrong. Husband calls and needs me to go by the house to pick up a paper to get faxed to get the electricity turned on at our new house. But the paper has to have both his signature AND the new address. After thumbing through 3 bazillion pieces of paper, I find one. I call my mother since she's close to the docs, owns her own home business and ask her if she can fax it for us. Off to the doc's I go. In the meantime I had to speak with the most rudest secretary in the world, get cut off by some idiot who thought somehow he'd get somewhere by passing me only to be behind the transfer truck that I was purposely keeping distance from. Grr. So I get there, meet mom, get seen, then find out Tricare will not pick it up until I cancel the employer insurance. Great.

So I see the doc, get an RX for antibiotics that I can't pay for yet...that I had to ask hubby to pay for, but can't get until tomorrow.

Ugh.

I had only 4 banana's, 2 eggs, and a bowl of soup today. I'm in pain, ill, and just not in the mood for ANYthing.

Other than that I feel fine.

[GFinDC]

DAY SIX UPDATE

Today was an incredibly crazy day.

...

Ugh.

I had only 4 banana's, 2 eggs, and a bowl of soup today. I'm in pain, ill, and just not in the mood for ANYthing.

Other than that I feel fine.

Good to hear you feel fine Swimmrr! :

Well, an interesting day for sure. The idiots rule the highways don't they? Or seem to think they do. Sure would have been nice if the Tricare people had told you about the co-insurance issue before hand.

So what's next for your diet? Have you tried rice yet? Rice would be a good thing because you mix it with meat and veggies that are safe. And you can take it to work and nuke it for lunch too.

Hopefully if you are doing better on the diet your body can devote more of it's immune system to fighting the ear thing and less to fighting your gut. Actually doing what it's supposed to be doing for a change. I don't remember your ear problem being mentioned before. Is that a new thing?.

Get better!

Good for you making it though the gauntlet today!

[Swimmr]

Good to hear you feel fine Swimmrr! :

Well, an interesting day for sure. The idiots rule the highways don't they? Or seem to think they do. Sure would have been nice if the Tricare people had told you about the co-insurance issue before hand.

So what's next for your diet? Have you tried rice yet? Rice would be a good thing because you mix it with meat and veggies that are safe. And you can take it to work and nuke it for lunch too.

Hopefully if you are doing better on the diet your body can devote more of it's immune system to fighting the ear thing and less to fighting your gut. Actually doing what it's supposed to be doing for a change. I don't remember your ear problem being mentioned before. Is that a new thing?.

Get better!

Good for you making it though the gauntlet today!

Yes the ear thing just popped up yesterday. Well, the pain anyways. It's been draining a bit on it's own. But I used to be plagued with ear infections as a kid and came very close a few times to getting tubes put in. But miraculously each time, it cleared up before that happened. But it is definitely a pain you don't forget.

Yes I wanted to add rice. I've been staring at it for a couple days...almost caved last night and had some, but didn't want to deviate.

My stools are back being floaters They're not mucousy like before...or half/half. It started when I added in eggs to the diet. However I don't have gas, bloating, or headaches, or D, or cramps, so I'm assuming it's ok. Please tell me the floaters are ok...and not a symptom...perhaps it's because I had nothing but bananas/eggs till last night + that one small cold chicken strip that I snagged on the way to the docs from home.

I have a few DH spots, but I know what that is. I licked the spoon my husband used in his baked beans friday night...those have soy in them...

[GFinDC]

Hi ya Swimmrr,

How's the ear doing? I think I saw you were going to take some anti-biotics for it right? Seems like in our family all the kids had ear aches when young too. I think it was from our mother always yelling "what they H. E. double toothpicks are you doing? !*? Just kidding she wasn't like that at all.

Back to floaters. Sounds like a possible symptom there. Could be the eggs I suppose. Some people do have trouble with them. If it keeps up you might want to cut the eggs out for while and see what happens. Maybe if you put them back in after a week or so and see if the floaters return?

Yep on the rice. Rice or quinoa would be nice staple for your diet. There are so many things you can make with them!

[Swimmr]

Hi ya Swimmrr,

How's the ear doing? I think I saw you were going to take some anti-biotics for it right? Seems like in our family all the kids had ear aches when young too. I think it was from our mother always yelling "what they H. E. double toothpicks are you doing? !*? Just kidding she wasn't like that at all.

Back to floaters. Sounds like a possible symptom there. Could be the eggs I suppose. Some people do have trouble with them. If it keeps up you might want to cut the eggs out for while and see what happens. Maybe if you put them back in after a week or so and see if the floaters return?

Yep on the rice. Rice or quinoa would be nice staple for your diet. There are so many things you can make with them!

Ear is feeling a bit better, still kinda warm and bubbly feeling.

I DON'T WANT TO BE SYMPTOMATIC TO EGGS! I don't have gas or cramps or anything...I think it was because the only solid food I had that day was that ONE small grilled chicken tender. Everything else was just bananas and the hard boiled eggs. I think it's safe to say eggs are ok...I'll continue on them for a bit and see what happens.

I haven't been able to update. Just been a crazy past few days.

Yes I am taking antibiotics, cefdinir...which is generic for omnicef. I have no clue if it's safe. I looked it up and couldn't find anything solid and started a thread, but haven't seen a follow-up yet. I should know soon enough though.

Days 7 and 8 update

Day 7 I added rice to my diet. My A.M. bowel movement was pretty much some sinkers. A few were floaters.

I had 3 hard boiled eggs for breakfast and one banana.

Lunch was Chicken with jasmine rice, a few cooked carrots.

Snacked on banana

Then munched on carrots for A WHILE! lol...over half the bag!

Dinner I had the same as lunch

Day 8 I had only one egg. A.M. bowel movement was sinkers and was ORANGE from all the carrots I ate. It was gross.

Snack I had a banana

Split up my lunch, 1/2 at 10:30 and the rest at 11:45 and was grilled chicken, jasmine rice, and a few carrots.

No snack

Dinner had broiled chicken and rice, no carrots.

[GFinDC]

I hear you on the eggs Swimmrr. Maybe they will work out. If you keep having symptoms you could always put them on the maybe list and try them again later. I don't know how the anti-biotics will affect your elim diet. Seems like they could confuse the results some. Even if they are gluten-free anti-biotics, they may affect your gut flora negatively and cause symptoms.

It's good the ear is doing better though. You know how Van Gogh handled the problem right? OK, no, he had a bad idea there! Don't do that!

[Swimmr]

I hear you on the eggs Swimmrr. Maybe they will work out. If you keep having symptoms you could always put them on the maybe list and try them again later. I don't know how the anti-biotics will affect your elim diet. Seems like they could confuse the results some. Even if they are gluten-free anti-biotics, they may affect your gut flora negatively and cause symptoms.

It's good the ear is doing better though. You know how Van Gogh handled the problem right? OK, no, he had a bad idea there! Don't do that!

ROFL yeah, I could always cut off my ear...

Well, had sinkers this morning, which is good...however greenish in tint...havn't eaten anything green though. I do know the antibiotic capsules are blue, but don't know the color of the contents. I may open one up later to see. I think they're also causing me not to have much of an appetite. I thought it was because I added rice and rice is a good filler for me, but today purposely left out the rice and I'm still having issues with appetite. I finally ate a breakfast about 30 minutes ago (3 hard boiled eggs) and now feel gross. I hate making myself eat. I'm drinking alot of water though.

Monday I plan to start back lifting weights/cardio. Been out since a week before starting the elimination diet. Wanted to wait until I was eating food that would sustain my energy levels.

So far so good.

I saw last night at my gluten free store that they have the Boom Choco Boom dark chocolate bars...MMmmm...I bought one to save. It's motivation. It's allergen free!

[chiroptera]

I don't know is anyone has suggested this book and I don't have time to read through all the posters right now, but I love it and it has great elimination diets in it all step by step and laid out and what to expect, etc.

Food Allergies and Food Intolerances

I believe it by Dr. Branoff

can't check right now but try to have a look at it; it should be very very helpful

Good Luck to you!

[chiroptera]

Hey there just wanted to mention a quick thing: as explained in the book I mentioned, sometimes you may feel not better but that may not mean your new diet isn't working! Very impt to know and is in the book. I never knew that either but with an elimination diet there are various timelines for feeling better, worse, or the same.

HTH

[Swimmr]

I definitely think the antibiotics are hurting my appetite. I couldn't even eat lunch. All I've had is those three hard boiled eggs. I'm heating up some broth I made from chicken the other night with some carrots in it. Hubby is going to grill some chicken. Hopefully the soup will kick up my appetite a bit.

Shoot I have some b12, maybe I should start supplementing while on the antibiotics. It always makes me hungrier.

My caloric intake is the same, nothing different except the medicine. I was supposed to add another food today. How does potatoes sound? Sweet or white? Or does it matter? I will add it in the morning. I'd really like to have onion and mushroom in my omelette *sigh* maybe next weekend. Also anyone know if there is such a thing as bacon that is NOT cured with salt? Isn't that what makes bacon, bacon? Or is it a particular part of the pig?

[Swimmr]

Ok today I have not been able to "go" ie #2. I am backed up and I keep feeling like I may have to soon, but can't. Twice I've tried and gotten out nothing but a pearl size "rock" and it's got mucous surrounding it. It was darker than brown too, not black, but in between.

The ONLY thing different about my diet is the antibiotics. I think I will hold off adding any new foods until I am done with the antibiotics. I don't want to make this more difficult.

I had some magnesium citrate in the fridge, but there is a warning to throw away unused contents after 24 hrs. Crap. No pun intended, however it would be nice to be able to right now!

Still no appetite either...ate three scrambled eggs for breakfast around 9am. It's now 1:23pm.

I'm drinking about a cup (a measuring cup) of black coffee...I know it acts as a good diuretic sometimes for me. I know I shouldn't, but I don't want to put saline in my system, I'll retain a lot of water.

I looked up the side effects of cefdinir (omniceph):

SIDE EFFECTS: Cefdinir generally is well tolerated. The most common side effects are diarrhea or loose stools, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, rash and headache. Rare side effects include abnormal liver tests and allergic reactions. Cefdinir may cause false test results with some tests for sugar in the urine. Like most antibiotics cefdinir may cause a condition called pseudomembranous colitis, a potentially serious bacterial infection of the colon.

Side effects that usually do not require medical attention (report to your prescriber or health care professional if they continue or are bothersome):

[GFinDC]

Sounds like some Phillip's Milk of Magnesia might help. A bunch of sauerkraut might help also. Darn anti-biotics are a messing with ya Swimmrr!

[Swimmr]

Feeling better this morning. Hubby went out and got me some magnesium citrate last night.

I had to wake up while sleeping to "go"

I've been "going" all morning and I feel so much better! It's tinted red though, guessing it's because the mag cit was red.

Not adding anything new yet. Not till I'm done with the antibiotics.

[Swimmr]

Still so far so good...still on chicken, banana, rice, and carrots. I did add sweet potato on monday. That seems to be well tolerated. I only ate half a potato though.

I still have no appetite (due to meds) and it's getting even more so annoying. I'm irritated all the time and very on-edge. Of course that is a symptom of "dieting" anyways. So I knew that would happen.

I just hope by Thanksgiving I can enjoy a piece of my moms (gluten-free) pumpkin pie. I will be heartbroken if I can't. I will be finished with antibiotics in a few days.

I donno WHAT I'm supposed to do at Christmas in Missouri with my husbands family...starve most likely. If she does cook something gluten free, it will probably be cc'd. There is a Whole Foods in Overland Park, Kansas, the closest possible place...guess I'll fend for myself, lol.

[GFinDC]

Hi Swimmr,

I think the official elimination diet rule is that they aren't followed on Thanksgiving. I believe that was in the Pilgrim's Handbook 101 or something? I can't find my copy right now to confirm but it sure sounds right!

Seems like I have seen recipes for sweet potatoe pie around here. But then again, Thanksgiving only comes once a year so maybe a pumpkin pie won't be a bad idea eh? You can always resume the elim diet right after the leftovers are gone too.

With the antibiotics wreaking their havoc it seems like your elim diet symptoms are compromised anyway at the moment. Pie on!

[Swimmr]

Hi Swimmr,

I think the official elimination diet rule is that they aren't followed on Thanksgiving. I believe that was in the Pilgrim's Handbook 101 or something? I can't find my copy right now to confirm but it sure sounds right!

Seems like I have seen recipes for sweet potatoe pie around here. But then again, Thanksgiving only comes once a year so maybe a pumpkin pie won't be a bad idea eh? You can always resume the elim diet right after the leftovers are gone too.

With the antibiotics wreaking their havoc it seems like your elim diet symptoms are compromised anyway at the moment. Pie on!

Oh thank heavens.

Lets see, I'm doing an elimination diet, ended up with an ear infection...

Guess what now?

A possibly pinched nerve in my neck *sigh* Need to go see a chiro, asap! I woke up this morning and called work in excrutiating pain and in tears to tell them I can't drive until the pain subsides enough to raise my arms up to wash and stuff. For Christ's sake, I couldn't smell my own armpits without crying. I hope some humor can be found in that statement, not pity, even though it is the truth.

I'm still holding steady until I'm done with meds. I switched out carrots for broccoli though. It got to the point I couldn't eat the carrots without gagging. I love carrots...but...I cannot eat anymore. I swear if carrots really made your eyesight better, I'd be seeing things like a hawk by now.

[GFinDC]

Oh thank heavens.

Lets see, I'm doing an elimination diet, ended up with an ear infection...

Guess what now?

A possibly pinched nerve in my neck *sigh* Need to go see a chiro, asap! I woke up this morning and called work in excrutiating pain and in tears to tell them I can't drive until the pain subsides enough to raise my arms up to wash and stuff. For Christ's sake, I couldn't smell my own armpits without crying. I hope some humor can be found in that statement, not pity, even though it is the truth.

I'm still holding steady until I'm done with meds. I switched out carrots for broccoli though. It got to the point I couldn't eat the carrots without gagging. I love carrots...but...I cannot eat anymore. I swear if carrots really made your eyesight better, I'd be seeing things like a hawk by now.

Gotta laugh about the armpits problem Swimmr. I wouldn't worry about that too much unless hubby starts crying when he smells them. Just kidding! That's no fun at all. The neck I mean. I am getting over some back strain myself that has been bothering me a while. This stuff makes life interesting doesn't it?

I don't do carrots anymore either. I used to eat them by dipping in peanut butter but got to where they made me have GI symptoms and stopped. Surpised me that they would do that but I guess any food can be a problem. At least the peanut butter is still ok but I don't do it much anymore. Vitamin K is one of the malabsorption issues celiacs can get. I wonder if that makes us want carrots somehow?

Lets see, if you could just eliminate the ear infection and the neck strain and the smelly armpits and the antibiotics as easily as the carrots life would be good eh?

I hope you feel better soon Swimmr. I also hope someone has a good sweet potato pie recipe they can share. I thought I saw one on the forum but haven't found it yet.

[Swimmr]

I caved a little today, I admit.

I went to Ruby Tuesday to have a salad. My salad consisted of ONLY mixed greens, tomato, mushroom and cucumber. Their italian dressing is on the gluten free list they have, so opted for that, but then the person in front of me tipped their plate a little and off rolled a pumpernickel crouton...into the italian dressing So balsamic vinegar and oil it was.

Hubby talked me into getting a chicken dinner. So I did. I asked the waiter for a gluten free menu...he said, "What's that?" I said, "nevermind...I'm just getting the salad bar"

He came back a minute later with a complete allergen-free list...one's for every allergy you can think of. The thing that is funny is they listed wheat/gluten as an allergy The waiter asked what it was and so I simply stated that my body and digestive system cannot process any wheat or gluten...things that have bread or gravies. I told him I have horrible reactions to ANY amount. He raised his eyebrows and said, "oh ok...thanks for schooling me" I said, "I'd love to have a plain chicken breast with NOTHING on it...with some of the portabello mushrooms as a side." He said, "ok, no problem." I asked if he could inform the cook that I'd like it kept separate from other things so that it doesn't get contaminated by other sauces and such. He nodded and walked off. The food came. It looked SO good...even though I think they gave me the smallest chicken breast in history. I take a bite...tastes like pepper...and...and...something. Then I see a slight glazy juice on it. I figured it was just juices from the chicken. Then I taste it...it had a kick to it. I asked hubby to taste (he used to be a cook) and he said, "That definitely isn't just pepper." I just repeated the word "great" about 8 times. The waiter came over and asked how things were. I politely asked if he could find out what was on the chicken. He came back and said, "All I can tell you is that it's Ruby's Seasoning" I said, "Um, I kinda need to know what it's made of, since I asked for a plain chicken breast. I've eaten a few bites already. He comes back with the manager (great...I caused a scene) and she said (get ready), "It's basically just salt...." I said, "Um, m'am, I have an extreme intolerance to some things and it's imperative that I know what I've just eaten on my chicken. I asked for it to be plain and kept away from other stuff on the grill."

I was very nice, smiled, and wasn't angry. Just completely disappointed the waiter didn't pay attention to my request.

So far no reactions. It was (my guess) pepper, salt, paprika, and black pepper. I'm just worried about the iodine in the salt. I have a feeling it was ok, but the fact that noone could tell me what was in it was my worry. I mean, even taking into consideration a customer has an "allergy" and could possibly react to a seasoning (since the customer asked for plain), the recipe is that secret? Scary.

[emcmaster]

Hi there,

I did a complete elimination diet a couple years ago. I used basically the same thing you posted on the first page, but I also left out dairy (which I knew about at the time) and gluten, of course.

The main thing to consider, and I still do this, is to only add something questionable when you keep everything else the same so that if you have a reaction, you know what it is.

Good luck!

[Swimmr]

Hi there,

I did a complete elimination diet a couple years ago. I used basically the same thing you posted on the first page, but I also left out dairy (which I knew about at the time) and gluten, of course.

The main thing to consider, and I still do this, is to only add something questionable when you keep everything else the same so that if you have a reaction, you know what it is.

Good luck!

That is essentially what I'm doing...my first post actually was NOTHING like what I actually did. If you read further I started with only chicken, carrots, and bananas. Since I am not SURE as to what I might be reacting to, and taking into consideration that it could be anything, I was advised to add whole foods first, and if all ok, then I can add things like mushroom, onion, celery. I'm saving the things I potentially could react to for last...corn, soy, dairy, nightshades...etc.

I'm still stuck at chicken, carrots, bananas, rice. I've switched out carrots for broccoli. I had that meal at Ruby's yesterday, which I'm waiting to see if I react today...but plan to keep steady until I finish the antibiotics. Then I will resume adding things every few days.

I have two days left on the meds...so I'll resume my food diary then...

[emcmaster]

I actually react to broccoli. Are you feeling OK thus far?

[Swimmr]

I actually react to broccoli. Are you feeling OK thus far?

Yep, I am feeling great.

Yesterday I did have some gas and C that I know came from Ruby's...but this morning all is back to normal.

Thanks for asking!