What happens when you don't eat?

[dogmom327]

Cross posted this in Health and Healing

What happens (physically) when you don't eat?

DD (9 mo) has horrible sleep issues (waking constantly throughout the night) which have existed for almost her whole life. We've been working with our ND to try to figure out food sensitivities, etc. to find a cause but so far it's not working. Three weeks ago I had the flu and didn't eat for 36 hours (couldn't keep anything down but sips of water). That night DD slept soundly for 7 straight hours.

My first thought was that surely it must be something I'm eating but I'm running out of things to try (she has a ton of food sensitivities so I already eat a very limited diet). But then it dawned on me that maybe it's not an undiscovered food sensitivity--maybe it's something else. The only thing I can come up with is that I was likely in a state of ketosis. Not sure how that would effect BF but I'm feeling kind of desperate.

I'm not suggesting I want to stop eating! I'm just hoping for some ideas of physical reactions that maybe I could duplicate in a more healthy way. It's normal at this point for me to get less than 3 hours of sleep a night and it's constantly interrupted. I've been barely surviving but I'm feeling like I need to figure this out for the sake of my sanity!

I'd appreciate any thoughts.

[dogmom327]

More info I posted on the other thread

So I eat a primal-style diet at this point: meat, fish, nuts, fruits and veggies. No dairy, no beans, no grains. The only sweeteners are stevia, honey and maple syrup.

In addition to the above limitations, I currently don't eat tomatoes, potatoes, chicken, almonds, walnuts, pecans, veal, oysters and eggs.

Some of that stuff is to address DD's known sensitivities and some is recent (the last eight things mentioned above) are because I just tested as sensitive to them. My poor ND is trying everything he can think of and the idea of DD reacting to my reaction just came up. I could technically eat a bit cleaner if I had to. For example, my only cheat is a bit of extremely dark (85% cocoa) organic chocolate. I could cut that.

I've been off things like grains, beans, refined sugars and dairy for 9 months now. I lost potatoes, soy (I was only doing some tamari occasionally) and tomatoes back around Christmas and then the things I have issues with was a bit less than a week ago.

Anyway, I appreciate any advice. I'm just starting to feel like a crazy person and although I really feel like I've toughed this out for awhile now, I also am starting to really feel like I'm really running out of stuff to eat. I'd made peace with my diet but losing things like eggs, chicken, almonds, walnuts, etc. has be going almost nuts since many of those things were staples for me.

Ultimately though I'll do what I need to do. I will BF DD at least until she's two and I'm okay with nursing her at night. It's just the lack of sleep and nursing every 15-90 minutes all night long that's slowly killing me.

[LauraLoo]

I know there are mamas here who can help!

[mamafish9]

She could be reacting to your reactions - but I'd think it's more likely she's reacting directly to something you're eating. I know no sleep is crazy-making - but it's also classic food reaction.

Can you list the foods you are eating? That might make it easier to help.

Is sleep awful every night, or does it vary? (If it's every night, the culprit is likely something you eat daily). If sleep swings around, then it might be something you eat less regularly, or a food chemical like salicylates where the amount you consume each day varies.

Also, how are you for nutrients? Poor sleep can also be magnesium related.

High protein diets can also create imbalances for certain people - too much taurine, ammonia, etc. I'm one of those people - but my DS thrives on protein.

[dannic]

I agree with Mamafish in that it sounds like he's reacting to something you're eating. Have you kept a food journal? (I'm really bad at this )

Are you doing any supps? could he be reacting to something in those? (I htink supps are important to a mom on a limited diet if you can find a safe one--you don't want to get or worsen any deficiencies.)

It's tough trying to figure all this out, for sure.

[Koalamom]

My baby is 8 months old and sure sounds like alot of the stuff we are going through. He sleeps better now, but not as great as I would like, waking up a few times to nurse still.

Just some thought are you have cut out beans and beans are important for they have lots of molybdenum and that helps with Sals reactions which could be disrupting sleep. And Epsom salt baths are a must for us too.

I did start taking brewers yeast and that has been amazing at helping my baby to be so content and satisfied with my milk.

And homeopathic Chamomilla has been my best friend these days for when baby is teething and/or colicky.

Sorry to say that chocolate could be an issue.

We can work through this. Try journaling. What am I to say that for as I never do well at it.