WOW hi everyone! I know it has been a while since I posted, so much has happened! So, let’s start where we left off.

WHY I STARTED.

On December 1^st, I started the strict Autoimmune Protocol diet in hopes of improving my daily life. I have Mixed Connective Tissue Disease characterized by joint pain throughout my body, fibromyalgia, mouth sores and fatigue. Occasionally, I have flare-ups at night where it feels like my whole body is on fire, joint pain, and whatever side I’m lying down feels like a huge severe painful bruise. I have bilateral hip dysplasia where it frequently feels like my hips pop in and out with sudden changes in position. I also have severe eczema, small patches throughout, but the worst is on my face and hands. I also have a history of a large endometrioma that I had surgically removed and was told I would need hormone therapy to prevent it from happening again.  My sleep was terrible, so I was chronically exhausted.

My goal was to see if changing my diet will reduce inflammation, autoimmune flare ups, decrease joint pain, prevent reoccurring endometrioma, lose weight mainly to relieve pressure off my hips, increase energy, and sleep better.

WHAT I DID.

I began seeing an integrative health care provider who guided me through diagnosing and improving my gut dysbiosis aka leaky gut. She prescribed me supplements and helped me take the necessary steps to changing my diet. I joined many Facebook support groups for emotional support, tips for natural healing, and AIP diet.

LIMITATIONS AND MY REALITY.

Changing my diet cold turkey and taking the many supplements to heal was DIFFICULT and EXPENSIVE, especially during the holidays! I began posting the fun and yummy foods I was eating, but quickly realized I was getting exhausted trying out new recipes frequently and well, my spending went over budget. My family was very supportive and ate all the new foods I made, but I still felt the need to still make them some “normal” food at times.

AIP REINTRODUCTIONS AND RESULTS

I was able to reintroduce plenty of foods back into my diet successfully. I started with foods I particularly cared about such as brown rice, quinoa, chia seeds/flax seeds… 

The weirdest experience I had was EGG! This was one of the first foods I reintroduced because I love egg and eat it almost every day. The minimum to reintroduce any foods was 3 weeks after eliminating it. I waited over 4 weeks to reintroduce it, and it tasted like METALLIC. My family was eating the same group of eggs at the same time, and they said it tasted just fine to them. Turned out, Dr. Google says it is a form of allergy. My doctor said to give it time, the more my gut heals the more foods I’ll be able to reintroduce in the future. And sure enough, I reintroduced it again a month later and it tasted perfect again! PHEW.

In conclusion, nightshades were a trigger for rashes and joint pain. I had the reactions most with eggplants and tomatoes. I am unsure about potatoes, but I could just be in denial about that one (hehe).

**Another reality check moment was managing my LEVEL of discomfort.  For example, when cutting up eggplants and tomatoes, the juices of these foods would cause severe itching and sometimes swelling over my intact skin. And if I eat it, I get mild joint pains. A simple fix would be to wear gloves when I cut up these foods. And the joint pains are tolerable, so my mind would tell me “it’s fine, it’s worth it! It’s only a little bit.” Now that’s crazy talk, DON’T DO THIS TO YOURSELF. We don’t always FEEL inflammation in our body. Chronic low-grade inflammation is a REAL thing and is causing damage in our bodies. I sadly had to fight with myself about this one. I do agree that anything is OK in moderation, and we all must define what moderation means to us. But I eat tomatoes almost daily, and eggplant was weekly, so I had to cut that down significantly.

You’ll see why I stopped AIP further down this blog, but I did slowly reintroduce gluten and dairy as well when I realized I was out of time. Ideally, depending on severity of your condition, we should be cutting out gluten for at least 6 months because that is how long gluten lasts in our body. If I ate one serving of these occasionally, I felt fine. But if I were to eat “too much,” my rashes and energy were terrible. I have a loose guideline of how often is ok for me, but my overall goal would be to eat this very sparingly.

SYMPTOMS – RESULTS.

I FELT SO GOOD. Here is a summary of my results.  

• Autoimmune flares/fibromyalgia

I continued to have fibromyalgia/autoimmune flares periodically and was unsure exactly what that’s still caused by. I could not figure out a pattern with my foods. However, it did occur less frequently. For example, I usually get them 2-3 nights in a row consistently. During these 4 months, they were only happening 1-2 nights in a row.

• Mouth sores

I had ongoing mouth sore and white patches on my gums that were concerning to my dentists and providers. However, I changed up my toothpaste a handful of times in the past 2 years, and finally the one I used these last few months – also started on December 1^st, finally helped. I am unsure if diet had anything to do with this, but I’m just glad they’re gone and have not come back!

• Eczema

My eczema did improve, but it did not clear up as much as I had hoped. However, one of my biggest triggers is the hand sanitizer we use at work that I could not always avoid. Whatever we use makes me so darn itchy and I have red bumps all over my hands by the end of the day! So, I’m sure that’s what was preventing it from healing.

• Weight loss

I LOST 20 POUNDS! I have been trying to lose my pregnancy weight for nearly 2.5 years with yo-yo “healthy diet” and regular exercise. I gained 65 pounds in the last pregnancy and was able to lose about 40 pounds, but had a hard time getting the rest of the weight off. I got very close to my pre-pregnancy weight! If I continued another month, I’m sure I would’ve hit that goal weight.

• Hip dysplasia pain and joint pains

Losing the weight meant my hip pain and joint pain definitely improved. I was also exercising regularly and I’m sure strengthening my muscles had a lot to do with it as well. There were more days than not I felt like a normal person waking up with NO aches and pain. I complained less. I just felt GOOD.

• Sleep/fatigue

This one was a struggle and took some time. It wasn’t at least until 2 months after starting this diet I began to sleep better. I was hoping the increase in exercise and regular morning routines would make a big difference, but it took longer than I thought. But once I got there, I was RELIEVED. Not only do I have a hard time falling asleep, I wake up frequently through the night and have a hard time falling back asleep. Sometimes it’s because of pain, other times it might be habit because it’s what I’ve done for 2.5 years breastfeeding through the night, and sometimes, I just can’t turn my thinking brain off.

Side note: sleep is SO important for our bodies. It is the time for our brain and bodies to repair itself. I felt like this was my most important goal and it was so good to have had that relief even for a little while…

WHY DID I STOP?

Well, I GOT PREGNANT. I continued my AIP diet for a little bit, but then the morning sickness kicked in and I felt like my life was over (I know I’m being dramatic). But this nausea/vomiting/fatigue was insane, way worst than it was in my first pregnancy. If you’ve ever been pregnant or heard your partner complain about this – I’m telling you, the fatigue and FOOD AVERSIONS ARE REAL. I suddenly wanted nothing to do with seafood, nor veggies or anything. For several weeks, the best foods that I tolerated were fruit smoothies. Other than that, honestly all I wanted were CRISPY HASHBROWNS and BACON. There goes my AIP Pescatarian diet right? Lol. Kind of. That’s a whole other story that we can talk about in another blog. 

CONCLUSION.

Overall, I am SO glad I was able to pull it off for those 4 months and have learned so much about myself and my triggers in the process. For now, I am giving myself some grace due to pregnancy hormones, while still doing my best working towards an anti-inflammatory living.

*Did you start your AIP journey yet? Tell me how it’s going in the comments below!

*Don’t forget to follow me on IG anti.inflammatory.living and join my journey in renewing my life!

Disclaimer: Always seek consultation with your health care provider before starting any new diets or if you have questions regarding your symptoms or medical conditions. The content is not intended to replace medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The information presented is solely for your education and entertainment purposes.