Symptoms Low-Down

Headaches, nausea, constipation, acne, rosacea, asthmatic wheezing. These are the "symptoms" that have convinced me to try the Food Elimination Diet.

Constipation is the one subject I least like talking about, as it is embarrassing as all heck when explaining to someone who has never had this problem. This started a few years ago. I figured that being too busy in my job and not listening to my body's natural signals was the culprit. That was, after all what the doctors said. Finally I was recommended by my MD to down a dose of Citrucel every night before bedtime in hopes of a morning bowel movement. Sometimes this worked. Sometimes.

The headaches, which many suspected to be migraines due to their levels of severity, were pinpointed to the constipation. This does actually add up. My body's toxicity level would increase, getting high enough to trigger a reactionary headache. In extreme cases the only relief was not two Aleve, or pain killers, but something instead to induce a bowel movement.

Nausea that felt like a day long case of motion sickness, whether in the car or not was diagnosed by my MD as acid stomach. I was prescribed a pill that I was to take daily and fortunately loaded down with samples of it, for a prescription was going to cost $50 or so per month after insurance.

My back and chest started breaking out before the constipation even began. Doctors decided that hormones were to blame and put me on birth control. When one brand of pill made my hair become thinner, I was pulled off it all together. A year or so later when my hormone levels dropped significantly and my period about disappeared, I was put back on the pill, only this time to lose my libido to it. Birth control side effects are very normal, do a bit of Internet research and you will be surprised. So back off the pill, there was nothing to control my "hormonal" acne. So another doc tried antibiotics, these were useless.

Rosacea is something my brother has lived with all his life. And so when I was diagnosed a year or so ago, I was not surprised. I also was not phased by the fact that certain prescribed creams only "help" but do not eliminate the cheeky redness. I did, luckily find a natural serum which really reduces the redness,more than anything else I have tried.

I had mild asthma as a kid and have lived with allergies my whole life. After being prescribed three medications per day at once, I quit them altogether in favor of the herbal remedy of a spoon of local honey a day, to keep allergies at bay. This does help, but lately I have had awful occurrences of chest tightening and wheezing.

In short, I believe that my body is trying to tell me something: it does not like something that it is being exposed to. In December I began the Food Elimination Diet to find that my asthma, acne, constipation, nausea and headaches were gone. Plus my tummy had be come flatter than ever, and I was all around less "puffy" and bloated. I talked to my doctor about this and even quit my nightly fiber dose and daily acid medication completely.

Then around Christmas I began to slack on this food "experiment." A bit of dairy seemed okay, so then garlic, yeast, soy, etc. Eventually all "symptoms" came back. Refusing to live on pills day and night for the rest of my life--especially since I am only 28 years old, I decided to document my allergy free food intake daily to determine once an for all what foods I should be avoiding.

For the past 10 days I have made the following connections:
-When I cheated and had the better half of a bottle of red wine (after my car was broken into) I had an almost immediate reaction. My nose was running, my head clogged, I felt that night and most of the next day as though I was suffering from a bad cold. Possible allergies: yeast and oak. I am betting on yeast.
-One day I did suffer from constipation and a resulting headache. I still cannot determine which food was the culprit in this case.
-Last night I decided to try having a handful of honey roasted macadamia nuts. These contain soy lecithin, a derivative of soy that is "not supposed" to trigger soy allergies, but it is possible. Since about an hour after eating them, my chest has been tight and wheezy.
-Curious as to the connection between gluten and soy in hair and skin products in relation to food allergies, I packed away all shampoos, conditioners, face washes, soaps, moisturizers, etc. with gluten and/or soy. I have notice that the tiny breakout bumps that I usually live with behind my ears and hairline are almost completely gone and my back and chest seem to be clearer. I've yet to learn much about allergic reaction to skin products I am quit curious not. Come to think of it, I've not checked out my makeup, hmmm, could this be contributing to the rosacea?

I hope this helps for anyone wondering some of the same questions. And feel free to ask away if you have any about my experiences. Thanks!