Food sensitivities

[jon1]

10 hours ago, LexAnger said:

gluten sensitivity happened to me post Valium wd, not after the prior Lexapro wd.

 

I did a extreme gluten free diet for 2.5 yrs and it was resolved. 

 

Then I got multiple covid, it came back along with histamine sensitivity.

 

Thanks, well at least it gives me some hope it may resolve at some point in the future. I’ve been GF for a year now.

[Ariel]

On 7/20/2024 at 8:56 PM, jon1 said:

Gluten (or possibly something gluten adjacent) has become my nemesis since quitting Escitalopram.

 

I saw a gastroenterologist, who performed an endoscopy. All was fine, but my stomach was inflamed.

 

He diagnosed gluten sensitivity, that could have been triggered by withdrawal - he said many things can start it, even common viruses.

 

Around 1 hour after I consume some, my heart rate shoots up, I feel light headed and dizzy, and get really, really irritable. It’s very unpleasant.

 

Hi @jon1

Sorry you're dealing with this, it can be so unpleasant. 

 

For what it's worth, I believe it's very common in WD. It happened to me, too. 

I eliminated gluten years ago and haven't really missed it, to be honest. The silver lining of discovering food sensitivities is that they're fairly straightforward to remedy via elimination, which usually brings considerable relief in a relatively short amount of time. Compared to so many other complex WD issues, many dietary interventions can be pretty straightforward. 

 

Good news is that it seems to have gotten much better over the years. I still avoid gluten, though I can now tolerate small quantities of organic sourdough bread. I believe this is due to a combination of my gut healing and the fact that proper sourdough is fermented, which means that all those good bacteria have pre-digested many of the problematic gluten components for us (e.g. breaking down/reducing phytic acid, starches, and sugars -- not sure about the proteins). In addition, properly fermented sourdough bread can function as a useful prebiotic to help feed our gut bacteria (raw sourdough starter has plenty of probiotics, which are killed when baked at high temperatures, and some say they still have beneficial properties on our microbiomes even though not actively technically "alive"). Just to emphasize that true, traditionally cultured sourdough bread containing gluten has a  very different effect than for example regular pasta or other non-fermented gluten-rich foodstuffs. 

 

All this to say I trust this will get much better for you eventually! And you're doing the right thing by avoiding gluten for now.

You probably already know that gluten is among the most common food-sensitivity inflammation culprits, incl. for otherwise healthy non-WD sufferers. Same goes for refined sugar, dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, seed oils, highly processed foods, etc. In line with the principle of compound stress, the inflammatory consequences of food on a sensitive system are cumulative. It can be highly beneficial to approach it as decreasing the overall load, just as we do with stress. I don't know where you're at with nutrition in general, have you tried a systematic elimination diet? It's possible that even if gluten is indeed the key factor for you, if you're still consuming other foods that may in and of themselves not be as problematic, the relatively mild provocations of these other foodstuffs are adding up to contribute to a worse state and exacerbating the gluten issue. 

 

I know many of us here have experienced what a difference it can make to figure out how best to support ourselves nutritionally through WD/PAWS. The details are highly individual and can vary widely from person to person, a lot of it is trial and error. For me it's been one of those things where physically, once I locked into a way of eating that felt more compatible with my system, it was a real gift. I can't claim it necessarily fixed anything (at least not immediately) or made things a lot better; it's more like finding something that doesn't actively make things worse. And as I'm sure you can relate to, in our condition that's a major win! It's not so much about cures/treatments as it is about -- whenever, wherever -- facilitating favorable conditions for healing, setting our systems up for success so our brilliant bodies can do their miraculous, mysterious work of healing, without us getting in our own way. I will also add that, as with anything else in this process, dietary needs can change and evolve along the way, and nothing is dogma, it's all about trying to tune in and adjust as we go. 

 

How are things for you lately since you gave up gluten (if you did indeed eliminate it)?

 

Healing vibes,

Ariel

[jon1]

19 minutes ago, Ariel said:

 

Hi @jon1

Sorry you're dealing with this, it can be so unpleasant. 

 

For what it's worth, I believe it's very common in WD. It happened to me, too. 

I eliminated gluten years ago and haven't really missed it, to be honest. The silver lining of discovering food sensitivities is that they're fairly straightforward to remedy via elimination, which usually brings considerable relief in a relatively short amount of time. Compared to so many other complex WD issues, many dietary interventions can be pretty straightforward. 

 

Good news is that it seems to have gotten much better over the years. I still avoid gluten, though I can now tolerate small quantities of organic sourdough bread. I believe this is due to a combination of my gut healing and the fact that proper sourdough is fermented, which means that all those good bacteria have pre-digested many of the problematic gluten components for us (e.g. breaking down/reducing phytic acid, starches, and sugars -- not sure about the proteins). In addition, properly fermented sourdough bread can function as a useful prebiotic to help feed our gut bacteria (raw sourdough starter has plenty of probiotics, which are killed when baked at high temperatures, and some say they still have beneficial properties on our microbiomes even though not actively technically "alive"). Just to emphasize that true, traditionally cultured sourdough bread containing gluten has a  very different effect than for example regular pasta or other non-fermented gluten-rich foodstuffs. 

 

All this to say I trust this will get much better for you eventually! And you're doing the right thing by avoiding gluten for now.

You probably already know that gluten is among the most common food-sensitivity inflammation culprits, incl. for otherwise healthy non-WD sufferers. Same goes for refined sugar, dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, seed oils, highly processed foods, etc. In line with the principle of compound stress, the inflammatory consequences of food on a sensitive system are cumulative. It can be highly beneficial to approach it as decreasing the overall load, just as we do with stress. I don't know where you're at with nutrition in general, have you tried a systematic elimination diet? It's possible that even if gluten is indeed the key factor for you, if you're still consuming other foods that may in and of themselves not be as problematic, the relatively mild provocations of these other foodstuffs are adding up to contribute to a worse state and exacerbating the gluten issue. 

 

I know many of us here have experienced what a difference it can make to figure out how best to support ourselves nutritionally through WD/PAWS. The details are highly individual and can vary widely from person to person, a lot of it is trial and error. For me it's been one of those things where physically, once I locked into a way of eating that felt more compatible with my system, it was a real gift. I can't claim it necessarily fixed anything (at least not immediately) or made things a lot better; it's more like finding something that doesn't actively make things worse. And as I'm sure you can relate to, in our condition that's a major win! It's not so much about cures/treatments as it is about -- whenever, wherever -- facilitating favorable conditions for healing, setting our systems up for success so our brilliant bodies can do their miraculous, mysterious work of healing, without us getting in our own way. I will also add that, as with anything else in this process, dietary needs can change and evolve along the way, and nothing is dogma, it's all about trying to tune in and adjust as we go. 

 

How are things for you lately since you gave up gluten (if you did indeed eliminate it)?

 

Healing vibes,

Ariel

 

Hello again!

 

Yes, I did completely eliminate gluten, just over a year ago now.

 

I can't say I notice much difference in how I'm feeling off gluten, but I definitely notice it if I accidentally have some or throw caution to the wind and cheat. So I'm content enough off it for now; it's certainly an extra stress my body doesn't need while it's still healing.

 

I think my biggest struggle at times has been my lack of comfort foods and drinks. Over the course of the last couple of years, I've quit alcohol completely, quit caffeine, and quit gluten. While all of those things are positive for my health overall, I do miss being able to reach for comfort foods once in a while, and a nice coffee in the morning when I'm feeling low.

 

Not seeing any benefits from needing to give up things I enjoyed hasn't helped. Hopefully, that's something that will improve with time.

 

Saying that, I have noticed some changes since quitting caffeine. I sleep much, much better than I have in years, and my baseline anxiety levels appear to have fallen. I did have around 2-3 months of absolute hell after stopping, though. That took some willpower!

 

I am holding out hope that at some stage in the future, I'll be able to treat myself again. Though I've no doubt that if I'm able to eat what I want again, I probably won't be as bothered anymore!

[Ariel]

4 minutes ago, jon1 said:

I can't say I notice much difference in how I'm feeling off gluten, but I definitely notice it if I accidentally have some or throw caution to the wind and cheat. So I'm content enough off it for now; it's certainly an extra stress my body doesn't need while it's still healing.

 

Yes exactly, it helps insomuch as it doesn't actively make things worse (which may seem underwhelming, but is a benefit not to be scoffed at). 

I also find that implementing such dietary interventions can be helpful in lending us a sense of agency, which is highly valuable when faced with this chronic circumstance/process over which we have little to no control. Psychologically, finding any sense of agency is a big deal! 

[Tom2020]

On 2/15/2023 at 4:47 AM, Estman said:

The stool was still very light and parts of undigested food could be seen.

Pale stool is caused by a lack of bile and can be a sign of many diseases.

How are you these days?

[Wania]

On 7/19/2024 at 7:29 PM, StDymphna said:

I have been off Lexapro for 3 months and a few weeks ago developed sudden a histamine intolerance, or at least that's what I believe it to be... Is this even possible that it is related to withdrawal? I didn't think Lexapro was a potent antihistamine SSRI like some other ones. Also, it didn't happen after I got off of it or when I was doing a little tapering, it just hit me all at once three months off. Is this even related to withdrawal??

Hi, I wanted to ask did Your reactions to food improved?

[StDymphna]

On 8/30/2024 at 6:44 AM, Wania said:

Hi, I wanted to ask did Your reactions to food improved?

No not yet. Still having issues, not even sure why at this point and if it directly related to my WD.