Activia Yogurt

I love Christmas, I love the food, the decorations, the presents, did I mention the food!

Of course all this good living and having fun means that my very boring diet undergoes a bit of a change. Instead of yogurt for desert I enjoy ice cream and brownies and chocolate, so much glorious chocolate.

It will come as no surprise that after a while i started to feel bloated, and had a weird feeling in my stomach. A bit like a minor stomach cramp. It took me a while to realise that the only real continued change in my diet was that I wasnt eating yogurt for desert anymore. So i started eating Activia again, and in a few days  my stomach settle down and the weird niggling cramp was gone.

Given that I already take 2 dairy free inner health plus a day, you wouldn't think I would need anymore probiotics, but it demonstrates how much our body needs a variety of things to flourish.. not that i am flourishing. But i am getting there, one tiny change at a time!

Bring your own food

I have been on the FODMAP diet for many years now... and I will be honest, it has taken me a long time to finally realise that if I go to someones house... especially a relatives... for dinner I MUST bring my own food.

Just one example if you will, i recently went to my mother in laws... she makes zucchini slice, I ask her the ingredients, she tells me a few things, nothing to worry about.. and then I eat it. Is there onion in here. Well yes there is! And the salad is full of Mango, the other salad is broccoli, raw broccoli.. thank goodness for the day old croissant and ham.. otherwise I would have had to rely solely on the frittata I had thought to bring along :)

SO save yourself from the frustration and possible illness and bring something along. Something to share, which will look generous and not like you are making a pointed remark. People don't really change, so do yourself a favour and take care of yourself.

I also find catching up hard... but breakfast food.. bacon, eggs and toast, always work for me. So maybe do brunch, its fun and hopefully you can enjoy the rest of your day pain free :)

Water

As a breastfeeding mother i hear about the importance of water. I drink as much as i can and if i dont get enough i have a crabby baby and a desire to sleep for a week.

When i do get that much needed water in I feel so much better, in that i dont feel the need to cram in an entire packet of chips in the 20 mins that my little one is down. Just half a bag!

And when i am drinking lots of water, and not ravenous hungry, i find that my FODMAP tum is happier. Now i am not sure if it is the water itself, or if its me not shoving all that processed food in my face, but it helps.

I also found that porridge and a glass of water means i feel full and not in that i have an entire bottle of clag glue in my stomach way.

So maybe give it a go. Water at least 2.5 litres throughout the day, no substitution and see where it gets you :)

Mental health and gut health

When my stomach starts to bloat, and my back begins to smart at such a wearying burden, my tongue shoots sharp and insensitive barbs at those around me. The self loathing starts and then the chocolate biscuit binge ensues.

Ah the trials and tribulations of a dodgy gut!

Its so hard to keep it together when you feel so uncomfortable.

I am uncomfortable most of the time, back, shoulders, neck, knee  and my stomach varies. But on those days when they collide i am such a crappy person.

Its not easy to eat fodmap friendly when you have so little control and so little time.

But today is a new day and a new opportunity to eat lowfodmap and keep the insanity away.

Intestaclear - Second Round

After 6 months with my child in daycare I had endured gastro 6 times. It left me exhausted, sore and uncomfortable. After I had weaned my child, and given my past success, I thought I would try intestaclear again. I was able to source it without a nutritionist sign off.

But in hindsight, I probably should have seen someone.

Each time I took it, I had stomach cramps and shooting pain. It was not intense, but it was uncomfortable.

My body did not react the same. I did not feel the cleanse that I had last time. I don't know if they changed the ingredients, but it did not feel the same. I tried every few weeks, but instead of seeing an improvement, my symptoms worsened and my stomach became even more sensitive. I could no longer drink coffee and beer gave me cramps.

I became increasingly sensitive to heavy breads ect.

My experience was totally different, and I felt only negative side effects.

I don't know if they have changed the recipe or if my body is just very different, but its been illuminating.

Mum and my tum

I love being a mum. I love being my daughters mum. I love it.

But that doesn't mean that a mum hasn't had an impact on my diet and therefor my FOMAP symptoms. I go for the easiest options... and that's sugar filled processed biscuits, chocolate and well that's it. My husband cooks meat and veg for dinner... pretty much every night so i am spoilt. But with very little fruit, a diet full of flour and sugar i find myself exhausted, uncomfortable and putting on  allot of weight.

I should be totally honest and explain that i was doing ok, until i returned to work and got hit with regular bouts of gastro, the flu, colds and returned to uni. With my health deteriorating i relied on caffeine and chocolate to gets me through the 3 1/2 months of insanity that was university, work and my childs first year in childcare (going to two childcares to boot).

Overtime i found myself having bouts of nausea brought on by chocolate and overeating. My stomach is so sensitive that almost anything sets it off.

I thought for so long that i would just fix my stomach and it would be done.. but its not. Its a life time of ups and downs, its just up to me to stop pretending that it will be all ok while i scoff my third tim tam for the day.

As i drag myself out of the deep whole of frustration that is my sore and abused stomach I have returned to my old faithfuls, two inner health plus a day, activia yogurt, some more nuts and a new recipe book. The Happy Kitchen. As i learn more about the link between the gut and mood, I grow increasingly concerned that my exhaustion isn't from the illness', the constant waking at night (my baby sleeps but i have a sore back and live in a busy area), but the food that gives me those little highs and joys throughout the day. The ones i turn to for comfort to get me through. Could they be the ones responsible for this... well yes my dear... just because they are FODMAP friendly doesnt mean they are good for you.

For those of you caught in the "safe" food trap like me.... its time to take the plunge and see how much i can tolerate and see what it brings!

labyrinthitis many years later

I have had many recurrent bouts of labyrinthitis over the years. I got used to so I put it at the back of my mind and pretended like it didn't bother me. This worked... well not very well, but for some reason I thought I had to just put up with it. I didn't want to go to doctors or go on any more medication (which had made things worse!). So I lived with it for years, even during my pregnancy. But it was when I was holding my little baby in my arms and I felt my body teetering about that reality set in. It was no longer just me I had to worry about, I had a little one to take care of now.

I saw my kinesiologist who gave me some Gaze stabilisation exercises... they were ok.. but they weren't enough.

SO I went to google and I found the following exercises

http://www.brainandspine.org.uk/vestibular-rehabilitation-exercises

I tried them all, they didn't all work but I got there in the end.

I found that by building on the gaze stabilisation exercises by quickly bending over then standing, at first a little alarming, really got me there. I don't know why, but it helped.

But if I am honest they worked well with the combination of not cleaning my ear so much! I have always been a bit nuts about it, but I left it a little to see if it would help.. and I really think it did.

I have been fine for months now.. just exhaustion sets my eyes to fussy these days but that's to be expected.

I hope this helps someone out there looking for a little hope. Its a truly awful experience and a little maddening. Your not alone!