Today's Destroying Angel

Could it be? You know, the destroying angel from Doctrine and Covenants Section 89? "verse 21: And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the ^adestroying angel shall ^bpass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen."

I've been pondering much on food. It shouldn't surprise you since I currently have to prepare 2 meals for every ONE we eat... plus snacks, of course. Why? Well, I guess I haven't shared that, huh?

Okay, so here's the deal. You know those poop problems I've been having for YEARS? I've been trying to remember when they started. And, for the life of me, I just can't. I'm thinking maybe when I was... 23? So, that would be 10 years now, at least! Can you believe I'm 33? Well, I am and I have EARNED every one of the gray hairs on my head!!! :)

Anyway... I know I also told you about how my Mom suggested that I might have Celiac Disease. Well, I think that's a strong possibility. Actually, I think my whole family has Gluten Intolerance, at the very least. Since most Docs won't test for the disease unless you've been consuming gluten for at least 3 months prior to the test, we won't be able to be diagnosed even though Jessie's Health Insurance will probably start early next month (that will be about FIVE months early!!!). *sigh*

After realizing that my Mom's suggestion was probably spot on (like when she said I should marry Jess!), I took us off flour, rye (what?!), and barley (we actually DO have that one). It made a difference! It SERIOUSLY made a difference! My kiddos moods were more even... Kat is still pretty unpredictable and a little wild, but I think that's her "mama-ness" coming out. ahwell I forgot to bring a special snack for them to Story Time on Thursday and did NOT feel like fighting them away from the snacks (a Mama can fight only SO much). So, they had gluten (it's in almost EVERYthing!!). OH MY GOODNESS!!! The next day was hellacious. I'm sure it could have been an off day, but it just felt way TOO off, if you know what I mean. And I forgot about the gluten until I was reviewing the day later on and trying to figure out where I went wrong. *sigh* So, no more of that as much as I can possibly make it so, anyway.

As I was reading and researching Celiac Disease and trying to figure out what we were going to do about food, I kept coming across this SCD thing. So, I looked into it further after seeing it more than a dozen times. After reading about it, I ordered the book and decided to begin the Intro Diet. Have you heard of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet? So far it's great for my weight... but other than that, I feel like it's helping me heal. Today is the best day yet with only one small diarrhea at 6:05am and NOTHING SINCE!!!! The last time I shared that I had a solid poop, I had diarrhea after it and nothing but diarrhea for days following that. Who knows... maybe tomorrow will bring another one! I'm hoping so.

So, it's the Specific Carbohydrate Diet that creates the need for double meals. Not only am I almost always hungry, but the girls can eat way more variety than I can, so I make things for them to eat. Because I'm feeling SO strongly about the importance of our food, I've been working on lots of wholesome and tastey treats. Did I mention that the girls have been off sugar for a couple weeks now (except for Saturday night when they had some chocolate stuff I made for a missionary fireside)? They have. But they still want "dessert" items to eat. Ria has determined that an apple after a meal is dessert. I'm TOTALLY cool with that and it reminds me of Japan, which is a really good thing!

I have to tell you. This SCD is no joke! It's been REALLY difficult for me. I'm very much an omnivore with vegetarian tendencies. But the Intro Diet days (2-5) of this thing you can eat only meats and WELL cooked carrots. I couldn't eat the carrots, though, because they caused me additional crampiness! :( So, I've been eating WAY more meat than I've eaten in the last couple of months! But... since it seems to be making a difference, I'm sticking to it. I decided to give it a go of 3 to 6 months. Probably more like 6, though. And by then, hopefully, I'll be able to eat raw fruits and veggies again and the whole diet will be less difficult than it is today (and more like a celiac diet, which I believe we need to maintain).

So, why do I think my kids are gluten intolerant? Well, beyond the mood issues? Here's the run-down:
Ria has always had continents on her tongue. (check out symptoms) She's always been small (tiny when she was younger).
Kat has really rough teeth (enamel not good?). Her stools have been REALLY loose since we'd been eating more bread (homemade even).
Both girls have been complaining about being hungry ALL the time. Literally, they would eat and 15 to 30 minutes later they wanted another meal (NOT a snack)!
So far the only sign I observed in Tea that I think is related were some patches of skin irritation that I think might fit the description of the skin form of CD... no tests, again, so I'm not sure in that way. The one on her face has completely gone away and the one on her arm is almost gone now, though... seems like a sign that I'm moving in the right direction. I've been off gluten for over a week now.

Back to SCD. It's good for lots of bowel issues. If you do even a little reading around you'll find lists like this: Crohn's disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Diverticulitis, Celiac Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Chronic Diarrhea, and Autism. One of my favorite web sites in my efforts in this thing is one created to help parents of Autistic children do this diet for their kids. I'm following the steps they have outlined on one of the pages. The whole site is very informative, though.

So, do you know someone that might benefit from this sort of diet? I do. I told one of the two who came to mind, but the other doesn't want me to write to her. I've argued with myself that maybe I should send her an email in hopes that this information might be helpful. But after much internal back-and-forth, I decided that I won't do what she doesn't want me to do: write to her. So, I just hope she reads this and knows I'm thinking about her and hoping she might find some relief from the Destroying Angel.

Well, at least that's what I'm coming to believe food can be! If we eat the Standard American Diet (and we Gollihughs certainly did!), then we're likely going to be what we eat: SAD. But if we eat to heal and then eat to live (rather than live to eat as I totally did!), we will be marking our door with a spotless first lamb's blood, as it were. I've also thought that healing through food may be the way that we become a people no longer in need of Doctors! Wouldn't that be lovely!?? It totally IS possible. So, food could be two sides of a "coin": both deliverance and death... at least, that's what I think.

Could It Be?

My Mom called last night and left a voice mail. In it she shared the idea that, perhaps, my issues of the gut could be celiac disease. Last night I looked it up as well as a few of the other big gut issues (read: Crohn's Disease, Colitis, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBD, etc.). Of all of them, it seemed most likely, based on the symptoms lists, that I might have IBS. Without the money for a diagnosis, I figured, "What the hay! I'll see if Mom's on to something anyway!"

Perhaps I should give a little back info now. I've been experiencing some MAJOR anxiety these last couple weeks. I was worried that I was entering PPD (it can start immediately after a baby's birth, all the way through 6 months post-partum). I was feeling SUPER depressed and having ALL kinds of death-thoughs. I mean, seriously depressing thoughts! I felt sure that the red spots that have been increasingly numurous, all over my body!, were cancer eating away at me, unbeknownst to me and that I would die and leave my family without a Mama. And that's just the easiest stuff to write out! I've been having a rough time, to say the least.

Now, it is possible, I suppose, that today could just be a blip. A sort of cosmic joke, "Oh, you think you have it all figured out, DO YA? Well, here's one on YOU!" That's entirely possible, though I pray that is NOT the case.

But today I haven't had any anxiety. I've felt my normal... no BETTER than MY normal!!! The only difference between yesterday and today is that I did NOT have honey nut cereal for breakfast. Instead, I made oatmeal with apples. I did NOT have a sandwhich for lunch. I had some potatoes (actually it was leftover warm potato salad Jess made on his last day off: YUM!). And then for dinner I had a rice stir fry instead of something else with wheat/gluten in it. I feel more awake, less belly-achey, and MUCH less depressed/anxiety ridden than I've felt in a LONG time!!!! And the coup de gras... the only poop I've pooped was solid!!! Okay, so you may think that's a bit much, but if you're someone like I've been, poop is a pretty big issue! It's a JOY to have a solid movement! And to be able to FART!!!! YIPPEEE!!! ^_^ No, SERIOUSLY! I haven't had to run to the toilet just to fart!!! Okay, so when I'm preggie I can usually pass the stinky gas without a bathroom visit, but it's been such a long time since I've done it without concern otherwise!

If this is it, it makes SO much sense why I was having SUCH physical problems after Kat was born. We were almost exclusively living off our food storage... grinding our wheat to make bread and everything else! And I had SUCH problems. Oh, I hope this is it!!!

Needless to say, I'm going to continue this experiment. And along with it comes a new list of blogs I'm gathering. If this really is a thing for me to deal with, I have to make quite a few changes. I'll need to add on more non-wheat items to our Food Storage, learn how to bake without wheat, and figure out if I am SUPER sensitive or just a bit (some people can't eat oats that have been processed around gluten)... so much to do. Of course, I'm just going to continue on with the experiment at first, but there's no harm in learning more... especially since I think Kat and Tea might have gluten sensitivities, too!

THANK YOU MOM!!! You are an awesome Mom with a true Mother's heart: endlessly concerned with her children's welfare. I hope to emulate your awesome example!