On ED and tired, tired, tired.

[sarajane]

I'm on an elimination diet and very tired all the time. I don't know what the deal is. I added beans back in because I am so used to having two eggs every morning and then meat for supper. I eat chicken and turkey for lunch and supper but still am so tired. The beans seem to give my baby bad gas.

I am off of the top eight and then some. I am trying to stay gluten free and keeping my fruit and veggies very limited on variety in hopes it will be easier to figure out his allergies.

I added my vitamin back in even though it has a soy derivative hoping that would help. I continued to take my spray B-12 plus and calcium.

What can I do about being so tired all day? Anything? Do I just have to tough it out or will this hurt my milk supply?

Is there maybe a food group that will help my energy levels without hurting the baby? I really need energy with a toddler and a baby around.

[Wugmama]

Don't really have time to give a big reply now, but btdt, you definitely need to get enough calories and especially enough fat so you can maintain a wonderful supply for baby. Also, be sure there aren't the allergens you are trying to avoid in your supplements.

Re the gas, are you on a digestive enzyme? That could help with that. Are they canned beans or from dry? If from dry, are you soaking them first? I don't know a lot about that but I guess it is important for them being easy to digest.

Some believe, and it seemed to be true for me, that baby can get allergy symptoms if you are not digesting your food properly. Then the proteins in your milk aren't "comfort proteins (to quote a formula commercial )". What can help is to heal your gut so you digest correctly, avoid the foods that are causing the problems (for the time being at least) although you HAVE to eat - there are serious caveats to ED (though not as many as a TED I guess) and digestive enzymes can help here, too. Enzymedica Digest or Enzymedica Gold Digest are popular, allergen-free ones.

Hang in there, you will get a lot of support here.



Tracy

[moonlight mom]

Great advice Tracy.
I was very tired on the ED for the first week. Now, I feel great. I think your body needs an adjustment. I also think the digestive enzymes helped me tremendously. Finally, make sure you are getting enough fat too.

[kjbrown92]

If they're all intestinal symptoms, avoiding dairy, gluten, soy, and corn are the BIG ones. If legumes are bothering the baby, then leave those out as wel. You may be able to figure out the issue faster on the stricter ED/TED, but oftentimes, it just runs the mama down. And it doesn't seem like there are a lot of fish, shellfish, and nut intolerances out there, but people avoid them just because they're top 8. For the gas producing, umcomfortable, intestinal kind of stuff, it seems more likely to be those top 4, eggs, and nightshades (with legumes pretty close behind).

You sound like you're getting enough protein. Are you getting enough fat? I use the drippings from the roast chicken to make a calorie laden gravy that we use the night of the roast chicken, and usually for 1-2 meals afterwards. Then I make the chicken carcass into bone broth (simmering for 24 hours) to get all the calcium and minerals out of the bones. It's very healing as well as nutrient dense. Try to get some fermented (sauerkraut) or probiotic (coconut milk yogurt) in there.

Are you keeping a very detailed food journal?

Since soy is one of the top 4, I personally wouldn't take the vitamin. There are other vitamins that don't have soy derivatives in them. Do you think you're close to baseline or has there been no improvement?

[sarajane]

Thank you everyone so much for replying. Having help is so nice.

It has been 5 days and there has been some improvement. Baby has eczema, bad smelly gas, and poos that don't look normal. The rash has gotten a little better. The first few days is where I noticed the most improvement so far. His legs look even better today. His gas is back though so that is why I suspect the beans. They are canned organic black beans. The only ones I could find without other junk in them. Just beans, water and sea salt. I could do dried, I have some but haven't had time since both kids and DH just got over being sick.

I haven't started my journal yet because of them being sick but I will today. I remember pretty well what I ate so far though.

Have a question about gravy. I am a bit clueless on how to make it without the traditional flour and butter to start. Do you just reduce the broth? I have some broth I made the other day and anything gravy like would be wonderful!

Fat, ok. I'll work on that, too. I guess I could still take flax oil huh? I was thinking no fish oil just to be safe but I forget I have the flax. That would work.

So, can allergies run in families? I am asking because I feel like I need to avoid anything my DH is allergic to. Is it more likely for children to be allergic to the same things as the parents? That is mainly why I don't have tomatoes and citrus or avocados, all of these inflame DH's throat.

Gonna go check the label on some other vitamins I have. Thanks so much for the help!

[mamafish9]

Originally Posted by Wugmama

Don't really have time to give a big reply now, but btdt, you definitely need to get enough calories and especially enough fat so you can maintain a wonderful supply for baby.

I've just finished my first week of ED, and the fat content was a biggie. Finding a steady carb source was also a biggie for me - I think my body works best on complex carbohydrates and non-animal protein, and the ED was a big shock to that. I'm doing better now with "replacing" my usual grains with others, and that is helping.

Originally Posted by moonlight mom

I was very tired on the ED for the first week. Now, I feel great. I think your body needs an adjustment.

Again, true for me, although the first four days were the hardest. Eating small amounts way more often is also helping.

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

If they're all intestinal symptoms, avoiding dairy, gluten, soy, and corn are the BIG ones.

Kathy, this is interesting to me. We have intestinal symptoms, so all those are gone, but also a stuffy nose (not runny, just stuffy), which seems to be his "first" reactor to many foods that bug him, then we get the intestinal stuff. Does "stuffy" tend to correlate with any food intolerances in particular?

[FireWithin]

I wouldn't do flax oil. Partially because it can be allergenic, and you need to be consuming quite a lot. I think extra virgin olive oil is popular.

[sarajane]

Oh, I'm feeling frustrated today. I just feel so awful. I don't get it. I thought it would be better than the first day but it is worse.

I am overweight, would that make this harder for me physically? I didn't have the greatest diet since we lost our 1st DD. Maybe this is a system shock for me. I thought maybe I would feel a lot better on this diet but it is the complete opposite.

I've been putting olive oil on my veggies. Hrm. Maybe I was just used to a lot more. I was taking fish oil capsules three times a day before I started this.

I also had a question about grains. Is there maybe a list somewhere of all the gluten free grains? I'm new to this gluten free thing so I'm unsure about a lot of them. Or should I just mainly worry about being wheat free for now?

[mamafish9]

Originally Posted by sarajane

I also had a question about grains. Is there maybe a list somewhere of all the gluten free grains? I'm new to this gluten free thing so I'm unsure about a lot of them. Or should I just mainly worry about being wheat free for now?

I personally would do gluten free - you're doing 95% of the hard work, so you might as well go all the way.

I've found this list very useful in understanding what grains and flours have gluten and which don't...

My ED grains at the moment are buckwheat (cream of buckwheat cereal is yummy), rice (Tinkyada brown rice pasta, as well as whole grain rice), and millet, although I admit to not being very fond of millet!! I was surviving on that, but my DS wasn't (he doesn't do rice or pasta, texture issues), so I just tried the Bob's Red Mill gluten free baking flour (it has some bean flours and stuff mixed), and used it to make egg free, gluten free pizza crust. It's amazingly good, and topped with olive oil and salt, it made my day. I'm having it tonight as the bread in a ground lamb and avocado sandwich.

I've been upping my grains for the past 2 days, and I feel sooooo much better - too much meat was dragging me down to the ground. I'm just not a carnivore. The mamas here have been very quick to tell me to listen to my body. I hope you find something that will help your energy - it is hard enough to do this without feeling exhausted too!

[kjbrown92]

I would avoid all gluten for now. Then later, once you get to complete baseline, you could try barley or something and see if it's just wheat.

Dairy and gluten are the most likely candidates for stuffy noses I think (am I right, ladies?)

If you are overweight, it might be a drastic calorie cut for you, which is bad, because wasn't someone talking about that you then detox more into breast milk? What's the recommended calories for breastfeeding? 2500?

Gravy: I use the drippings from the chicken (or roast beef). Then I add an equal amount of sweet potato starch (or rice flour). Stir and let bubble. Then add broth in small amounts, stirring in between, until you have the thickness you want (Alton Brown's method with alternative flour). I love gravy on vegetables, rice, sweet potatoes, etc.

[sarajane]

Thanks so much ladies for all the advice.

Sadly I will have to wait a few days or more before I can get some more allergen free options like rice flour and whatnot. The closest health food store is over and hour drive from here. I sure wish they would build one closer. They took a poll for opinions about it awhile back and I have a feeling not too many people around here were worried about being healthy at the time because that was the last we heard of it.

I think I have gotten everything that the local store has for me. I searched and asked and read tons of labels. Can't wait to get to Whole Foods! Then I can make some gravy, woo!

I checked his rash again and it does look better today. That keeps me going. He still scratches though, have to keep him covered or put socks on his hands all the time and tons of cream for the dry skin.

I'm gonna go check out that list. Thanks!

[mamafish9]

amazon.com carries most of the bob's red mill products - they have a bunch of gluten free flours and things. And if you sign up for a free trial of amazon prime, you can get free two day shipping . The Bob's Red Mill site has lots of recipes that are helpful for newbies like you and I, and so does Kathy's blog!