• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

My journey to getting well

I keep forgetting to weigh myself in the morning. It does appear though that I've gained a pound or two. I'm guessing that is due to the fiber bloating me some. Am feeling better this morning since I've dialed back the amount of fiber eaten. My joints have been tender the last few days such that I have not exercised as much as typical. I might be able to exercise more today. It's funny how when the stomach is sore other parts of the body begin to hurt.
 
Doing well on just eating chicken, eggs or turkey for meats. I'm happy about that as I suspected I'd be more ill than I have been. Possibly in the past when only eating bird for meats I was also taking fish oil capsules with the gelatin capsules being made from pork or beef. I know I could get well to the stomach when taking the fish oil gelatin capsules but only when eating lots of cheese.

Weight is up a pound or two. I'm eating more candy than I should. I'll eventually but back on that. I'm eating lots of fiber rich food of late which I know can bring about weight gain. If i ever consistently have good energy I'll get serious about dropping the fat weight.

Appear healthy or decently healthy. Energy levels are typically on the low side though. Eyes are more greenish than blue of late. Would be nice to see the blue eyes and the good energy that is associated with that.
 
Worn down, tired today. But overall few complaints. I had a few sore areas on my feet I noticed making walking testy at times. The stomach is doing well. Imagine tomorrow will be a better day.

I continue to be surprised that I'm doing this will eating just chicken, eggs, and turkey. I'd expect to be sick by now.
 
Let legs hurts some. Scalp itches a bit. My energy levels are poor.

On the good side my finger nails looking great. I'm eating less. Here of late after I eat lunch I have not been eating snacks as I have little desire to eat more. That's a good sign I believe.
 
It's been a good day. My energy levels have been good. I'm feeling upbeat. I exercised a good amount and am not overly suffering as a result. More days like this please.
 
I have a red mark on my chest and my joints remain slightly inflamed. It can make it painful to walk. That's pretty common for me when the digestive tract is upset. There are many possible causes for the inflamed GI tract. I suspect to many nuts and fiber for being the cause now. The joint swelling has gone down of late.
 
I feel tired. I have an upset stomach this morning. Most likely this is due to exercising to much. For today I'll take an easy and relax more. The mark on my chest remains but appears smaller. Gums feel good. Finger nails look healthy.
 
Received a body fat scale. It's readings are a surprise. It says I weigh 190lbs or 10lbs more than my older scale was telling me. I tested another scale at my parents house and it also said I weighed 190lbs. It reads that I have 21% body fat. According to their body fat chart that it optimal for me. I hope to lower that to 17% or lower in the future though.

I've thought in the past that pork makes me fat. I remember when I first began to lift weights thinking that. At that time I almost never ate pork. I was also thinner then. My trainer mentioned to eat lots of food while lifting which I did, and I ate lots of pork. As usual I avoid several foods at a time so hard to say but I recall clearly thinking pork for what ever reason makes me pack on the fat pounds. To some extent I was pleased with that as I was very skinny due to my IBD condition and gaining weight was a nice change. With pork being linked to inflamed sore bleeding gums for me, I wouldn't be surprised that I have other reactions outside of upset stomach and gum issues. Will see.

I'm nearly one month with avoiding pork.
 
188lbs this morning.

My dry itchy scalp is back. It returned this week, after avoiding cheese. I ate cheese pizza a few times. I've associated the dry scalp with eating pork. I might be wrong about that. The dry scalp might happen when avoiding beef and cheese. When I eat pork it is typically after I'm avoiding beef and cheese.

Also when I quit eating pork a month ago it happened after eating gelatin. I blamed the gelatin as swelling my gums which might be but it might have been beef gelatin.

Anyway, I'll continue to avoid beef and pork, along with cheese. Outside of the itchy skin I'm feeling strong. My exercises have been good. Doing 50 pushups have been relatively easy. Last evening I appeared healthy.
 
187lbs this morning

I'm happy witht he diet of avoiding beef, pork and cheese. eating chicken, eggs and turkey has turned out well for me. I like chicken and eggs. I'm surprised that eating this diet hasn't made me sick. Something else must have effected me, such as exercise or to much fiber, to make me ill in the past when I ate mainly bird foods.
 
For the past week or so I've had dry itchy skin. I've commented on that earlier. It is similar to what happens when I eat pork. I haven't found any pork items in my diet of late though. I don't know what is going on. The itchy skin has progressed to a slight ear ache. That's similar to what happens with pork.

So I'm going to avoid soy and beans to see what happens. That's a newish food added to the diet of late. I've tried this idea in the past going so far as to avoid soy fed to animals in case the soy showed up in the meat or eggs. I won't go that far but will try avoiding soy and legumes listed on ingredient lists and see if my energy levels improve and the itchy skin goes away along with the ear ache. I also still have a red mark on my chest.
 
I'm off to a good start with avoiding beans, soy, and similar such as pea protein added to the margarine I was eating. THe skin itching it gone. The market on the chest seems to be quickly healing up.

Hope tomorrow sees similar improvements.
 
Going to make a diet change starting tomorrow.

Very interesting that similar feel between pork and avoiding soy/beans happened. Maybe the idea that if soy is fed to pigs or other animals, that food will then be a problem.

WIth out intention I've also largely avoided most spices today. Avoiding spices has been an idea with some success in the past. The main problem with that is the lack of energy.

I think when ever I have good energy of late, in part it is due to eating brown rice and eating nuts. Avodiing cheese helps also.

So I'll continue to avoid cheese, and pork. I'll avoid beans. I'll also avoid spices. The goal is to see if that diet gives me very good livable energy. If it does I'll refine the diet further later on.
 
Flossed my teeth this morning. No bleeding what so ever seen. Was pleased about that.

Skin itches a little but not as badly before. Mark on the chest is healing and going away.

The only two foods I'm aware of that can cause bleeding are garlic and pork. Both cause me to bleed differently, one from my finger nails and the other bleeding from my gums. Then again I have been bleeding from my gums of late despite avoiding pork. I've only now avoided garlic and other spices.

Anyway, will continue to monitor energy levels. This morning I'm feeling good. My energy levels feel good, better than yesterday morning I believe. Appearance is decently healthy.

So interesting to me to realize that I have a similar allergy to pork in another food, with leading candidates being garlic/spices and beans/legumes. I don't know if there is a connection between the two or not. I wouldn't imagine that hogs would be fed garlic, onions etc but have read hogs will eat nearly anything, with some farmers feeding their pigs scraps from restaurants. I wouldn't think that typical though. Feeding hogs soy beans would seem to be common practice to me.

Lot of guess work. Need to get some improved health before anything is settled.
 
I'm going to refine the diet further. I'm going to allow beans into the diet, or more specifically pea protein.

I'll avoid spices/garlic and pork. I'm avoiding foods to stop the bleeding and stop the skin itching. That will be the main items I monitor for, gum bleeding and an itchy scalp. I'm assuming if those two items stop then the gut will eventually heal and be healthier.

No gum bleeding after flossing this morning. Weight 187lbs. There is little skin itching this morning. I feel tired and worn down.
 
HA HA - I'VE HAD good luck with avoiding spices in the past. There is one food that I used to eat though that seemed to cause me problems but the label mentioned no spices. I used to eat Apple Gate Farm turkey. I'd cook it up, eat it, and it would give me marks on my chest. There was good certainty on this.

Well, I see now on their web sight, Apple Gate Farms lists chicken broth as being added to their turkey meat. That's it. Both has garlic and other spices in it.

I'll have to be careful with some meats. It would be easy to add broth and not list it. Sticking with less processed meats will be best and keeping an eye on my chest for marks.

Had a good long swim today. Swam for 75 minutes. Normally 30 minutes is about what I do as I'm tired out by then.

Eyes are blue this afternoon. That's a good sign.
 
Feeling very good this morning. I did not expect this. I thought for sure I'll wake up worn down and fatigued due to all the exercising done yesterday. So off to a decent start with once again avoiding spices, garlic in particular. Most likely the good energy is due to also avoiding cheese, which appears to tired me out while helping the stomach.

The itching is largely gone. No more dry skin. The mark or rash on the chest is about gone. The ear ache is gone. There was some bleeding around one tooth after flossing. I'll monitor. Eyes are bluish this morning. Typically the eyes do not become blue till the evening. It's a good sign I believe I'm on a good track. Stomach doing OK. I keep thinking I'll be overly ill soon but it hasn't happened.
 
Slept in by an hour this morning. I feel good though. My energy levels are decent and livable. I'm sure the extra hour of sleep was due to all the exercising I've done in the last two days. Today I'll take an easy, be less active. So off to a good start avoiding spices, pork and cheese.

I do not itch. My gums bled some after flossing. Weight is 186lbs. Body fat is close to 19%. I'd like to get that down to 17% or lower.
 
Appear healthy this morning. My back hurts some. I likely slept poorly on my back last night. No itching felt or nothing major. Eyes are greenish. I haven't brushed my teeth yet but hoping to see little to no bleeding.
 
Very good sign. I didn't have diarrhea today. That's rare since I'm not eating cheese or taking Imodium. I am worn down from working in the garage. It still doesn't take much to tire me out, but I did good and worked longer than typical for me. I'm looking decently healthy.
 
I slept poorly. My stomach was slightly upset and it kept me awake. It is goiing to be a long day. On the good news side, my gums barely bled from flossing. I do not itch. The stomach is grumpy but I'm not all that sick.
 
I'm going to back up and begin to avoid pea protein found in the margarine I've been eating. The margarine, while good tasting, sits in my stomach feeling terrible. I've also been becoming weaker the last few days. I also have sore joints. I'll see if these complaints go away in the next day or two after avoding pea protein.

Looking for connections, it's likely that pigs are fed beans and that if allergic to beans such as pea protein, the allergy is showing up in the meat.
 
Much appreciated guys for the well wishes. I keep plugging away.

Feels as if I have regained my strength this evening. I'm tired but feeling stronger. The joints don't hurt anymore.

It appears I've eaten the same food for the last couple of days. I'll continue that, with just avoiding the margarine that has pea protein in it and see if I feel better.
 
188lbs this morning.

I feel better this morning compared to yesterday morning. My energy levels appear to be up. I'm not feeling as sore. Hope this is the case as avoiding that margarine with the pea protein makes some sense that it would give me a similar reaction as when eating pork.
 
Feeling decent this morning. There was little to no bleeding from flossing. There is no significant itching. I'll keep avoiding beans and pork and hope for the best. Weight was 188lbs this morning. Would like to see that get down to 180lbs.
 
My eye sight has become better in the last couple of days it seems. At least I'm reading small print without to much difficulty. Will monitor. It might just be a fluke.

Energy levels are not all the great but I'm getting by. I exercised a great deal yesterday with weight lifting and long walks. THey were tough but I pushed through the fatigue.

No bleeding from flossing today. Rash or marks are clearing up. I'll stick with the diet of avoiding legumes and pork.
 
I feel miserable this morning. Most likely it is due to eating to much fiber, specifically eating to many blueberries. I've been tired and fatigued more so than typical at times over the last 3 days. My diet is slightly different from typical but not all the different. I'll cut out the blueberries and see what happens.

if not eating fiber rich blueberries solves this problem, I'll cut out nightshade, potatoes, red peppers, etc to see what happens. I've been eating more nightshade than typical the last few days.

my gums are bleeding some this morning. I itch a little but nothing terrible.
 
I stopped eating the blueberries today and I feel much much better. Probablyl what happened in typically when I buy frozen blueberries they are large in size. The last time I bought blueberries I bought a large packet and the berries were small. Most likely the small berries have a higher fiber content. It's the fiber that has been problematic the last few days in particular. That at least is my guess.

I have very good energy today. I'm feeling upbeat.

I'll stop eating garlic/onions along with avoiding soy, legumes and pork. Earlier I was avoiding garlic but stopped due to not feeling well and suspecting pea protein in a margarine I was eating. It might have instead have been blueberries causing me problems. I'll follow this diet for two weeks then if all goes well I'll eating a lot of cheese. If well to the stomach from the cheese eating and the diet then I'll likely have narrowed down the suspects to legumes, pork and garlic/onions. If that works out then I'll have to figure out what is safe and what isn't between the three groups.

I'm feeling a bit itchy today. I hope it isn't from the spices eaten the last two days but will find out on this diet.

I'll substitute grapes for blueberries.
 
187lbs

I'm starting over from last week. I'm going to avoid spices and nightshade family for awhile and see what my energy levels are and how I appear. I'll also keep fiber eaten low, avoid blueberries.

If this works out well for a few days to a week, I'll then add the pea protein margarine back into the diet. I might even add soy sauce.

This morning I'll off to a good start. I believe i appear healthier and my energy levels feel good.

The previous couple of days I ate little of foods with spices in them, but I did eat chicken and turkey sausage in the mornings. I tended to appear unhealthy after the sausage and energy levels were lower after breakfast, picking up after lunch.
 
I should note this - it appears when I avoid spices I'm not as tired. I've noticed this before but didn't pay all that much attention to. Will make note of it going forward.
 
This could be a big notice. I'm not tired after eating lunch. Typically after eating a spicy lunch I'll need a quick nap. I'll also walk around later trying to calm my stomach down some. Now, eating spice free I'm doing well. No walking needed. I'm not really tired. At least so far this is good. I should add I'm not overly energetic and strong but feel good enough.
 
Once again I'm not sleepy this morning after eating breakfast and avoiding spices. I'm glad I noticed this. It is something to go on.

Yesterday I never took a nap. I didn't feel I needed one. So this is something to try and see how it works, avoid spices to see how sleepy or not sleepy I feel. I'm not overly energetic in anyway. But overall am doing well on this diet.

I've tried avoiding spices many times in the past. I know that avoiding for 4 months is not long enough. I do know though that when trying the idea of eating lots of cheese to make the stomach well, avoiding spices was something I was doing, along with other ideas.

Skin looks good. No marks, no rash. That is good and can tell me if a food is mislabeled most likely. I suspect it is a spice that causes the rash.
 
Once again I do not feel sleepy after eating a meal while on this diet of avoiding spices, nightshade and pork. Guess I'm also not eating cheese but cheese is allowed if I want it.

I don't know if I've done a strict nightshade avoidance diet before. Avoiding spices will tend to have me avoiding nightshade since the two overlap so much. One doesn't tend to eating many plain tomatoes. Instead spices are added to tomato sauce. Red peppers are not eaten plain often. Instead red peppers are added as a spice. I guess the main exception is potatoes. They can be eaten plain. I stopped eating potatoes.

I also stopped eating carrots as they are related to parsley.

I weigh 186lbs this morning. I'm down a pound.

I have not been lifting weights for the last 5 days. I'll get back to that once I'm done with painting.
 
Worth noting. my knees do not hurt. I've noticed for a few days on this diet that my knees have not been hurting. Typically I lft weights on my legs to keep the knees strong and from being sore. If I don't lift after a couple days the knees will become tender and I hobble around.

Today I some painting work which had me bending and using my knees such that I should be feeling pain. Instead no pain. The knees feel fine.

Hope this pain free knees continueswhile on this diet. Think I'll put off weight lifting till next week. Should be a good test to see how strong the knees are.
 
My back hurts this morning. Not surprised about that with the house painting work I did yesterday.

My knees do not hurt. That is pleasant. The knees should be very sore since I haven't lifted weights of late.

Stomach doing OK. It's typical.
 
186.3lbs this morning. I'm getting close to 185lbs which is nice to see.

Yesterday I was thinking about the turkey lunch meat I'm eating. the lunch meat appears safe. I'm not seeing any marks on my chest. My health seems to be improving.

What has me somewhat concerned about lunch meat is the applegate turkey lunch meat I used to eat that likely had chicken broth added. In the past The broth was not listed on the label ingredients though. Today the broth is listed. Broth has spices and sometimes soy protein in it, depending upon the recipe.

I remember when I began eating applegate turkey lunch meat. It was around Oct 8 years ago when I began lifting weights. I recall it didn't upset my stomach but it did change my appearance. I marked the appearance change to lifting weights and the stress that puts on the body. I noticed though that I began to see red blotches, marks, rash, what ever it is, after eating the Applegate turkey.

Once time preparing for a long drive trip I began to only eat Applegate turkey as my meats. The result was my stomach became dramatically worse within a couple days. I began to experience a lot of explosive diarrhea and poor energy. I could change this by eating lots of cheese, that would help constipate me, but it certainly had me changing my mind about Applegate turkey being safe to eat for me.

Mainly I first thoughts that possibly commercial meats might have soy or some other common allergen show up in the meat, as the diet fed to animals typically has soy protein added to it. Now I'm just thinking the turkey lunch meat had spices added to it, but didn't list the prices on it's ingredient list.

So with the current turkey lunch meat being eaten, it doesn't seem to be a problem. If after a few weeks though if I don't see greater health improvements, I'll eat plainer. I'll stop the lunch meat entirely and instead only eat less prepared foods, foods even less likely to have spices added.
 
Doing well this morning. Appearance decent. No red marks seen. Stomach is alright. Yesterday I was fatigued but that was due to swimming and lifting some weights on the upper body the day before. Knees still feel great. I have no knee pain even though I have not lifted weights on my legs in about a week I'd guess. I'll wait till never week to get back into the routine of lifting a few pounds on my legs. I'll keep avoiding pork, spices and nightshade.
 
My diarrhea has changed for the better the last two days. It has gone from being largely liquid to being more chunky. Before further food testing I'm wanting to have better diarrhea in order to see how new foods are effecting me. In particular I'm wanting to test the margarine with pea protein in it. This morning I'm guessing pea protein is not a problem but will not know for sure till the stomach is better and I test.

Yesterday was a record with exercise according to my watch. Despite all the exercising done I'm feeling decent this morning. I'm a little bit fatigued but so far don't feel that worn down. Weight is 186lbs. The 186lb seems to be the most I can loose without greater effort, at least that is what happened in the past. If I continue to do well though with the diet and health it would not come as a surprise if I slowly lost more weight.
 
Nice I lost another pound. I'm down to 185lbs this morning.

It appears I have a good diet, one that if I followed for months would get my gut healed and working well enough. So as a result in my note book at home I'll list the food eaten, with as much detail as possible, listing brands and where bought. This way I'll have a diet I can fall back on that can get me well. I'll undoubtably begin experimenting with my diet adding new foods in the days ahead. That is when I tend to run into trouble.
 
I've done quite well on the diet of avoiding spices, nightshade, pork, cheese, and legumes this week. My energy levels have been decent.

I'm mainly thinking about the turkey lunch meat, APple Gate, I used to eat in the past that likely did not list chicken broth on it's ingredient's list. I remember well a few years ago preparing for a trip, decided to only eat this AppleGate turkey lunch meat as I felt it was safe, and becoming very sick to my stomach. It came as a shock. I was only eating grass fed beef, or turkey, and cheese for meats.

I'm eating turkey now, a different lunch meat brand, and I'm not having any stomach issues. It has me leaning toward the chicken broth and the spices in it as being a main problem for me. Pork is a problem for some reason. At some point I'll test the beans idea. I might test I might not test the nightshade family. The only item I'm missing is potatoes but that isn't a big deal.

I signed up for some on line basic learning. Something that is terribly frustrating for me is consistency. Due to my illness it is difficult for me to work on projects. I can be well for 2 or 3 days and then down and out, not being able to concentrate or do much work, for 2 to 3 days. It makes doing projects very difficult. So with the on line learning I'll be given an idea of how well I'm doing with consistency. If I can do some learning everyday I'll be pleased.
 
My diarrhea has changed over the last few days, for the better in many ways. It's less urgent. It's less liquid.

The problem I'm experiencing the last few days is lots of cramping and with that fatigue. My reliability has gone down the last few days as a result of the fatigue.

So good and bad with the latest change. I believe it means I'm healing but that the colon does not enjoy being used due to being tender.
 
It has been a tough week for the gut. It's often irritated and crampy. It often times hurts to sit down. It hurts to cough. Anything that puts pressure on the gut area hurts at the moment. My energy levels are poor. I'll be happy once this passes.

Appear healthy in the evenings which is good. I'm likely digesting food OK.
 
I ate a bunch of cheese yesterday and that stopped the cramping. It has been nice to not be in pain today.

I'm likely not going to eat cheese though unless needed. It does make me feel run down and overall awful. I'm guessing the cramping will go away within a month or two.
 
Hi. I have recently been diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I am on a cocktail of steroids, cortisone and antibiolotics. I am also on a very controlled diet. My biggest worry is weight loss and fatigue. I have now lost 10kg and just want to sleep. Is there any supplement I can take to help put on weight and give me just a little bit of energy.
I'm not sure of any supplements to take for gaining weight, but I wonder if adding healthy fats would be helpful and tolerated for you.

Have you tried making a smoothie with avocado and coconut milk? If you blend them up with a banana and whatever fruits/veggies/oats/seeds/nuts you can tolerate, then that might be a good bump in calories to help heal your gut and help you gain weight. It would also give you some energy. If you do try a smoothie, be careful about adding too much, keep it simple so you can have a better idea of what works and what doesn't, that sort of think usually requires a bit of trial and error.

If you are taking antibiotics, you should be taking some sort of probiotic too so that your guy has a chance at healing.

As for the sleeping, certain herbal teas could possibly be helpful if you drink them in the evening. Try chamomile and/or lemon balm, they are both calming and typically good for guy health too.
 
This afternoon is turning out to be another good energy day. The morning began slow. After lunch though my energy levels greatly picked up and I'm feeling good.
 
186lbs this morning.

My weight has bottomed out. To loose the next 5lbs or 10lbs imagine I'll need to make from changes with either my diet or to exercise more. If I continue to improve with my energy levels then maybe moving around more frequently will be possible.

Yesterday I exercises to much. Last night I was up for half the night feeling fatigued/ in pain. This morning though I'm not overly tired. I'm pleased about that.
 
I've been tired and worn out today. It could be because I stopped eating cheese. For the last week though I have noticed that I'm going to the bathroom less. Typically I'm sick after I eat. Now here of late I've only been sick after eating breakfast typically. THe less I go to the bathroom and more energy I tend to have.

Heard good news. My nephew's latest grades were excellent. He's back to his top grade earning ways. I've been worried for awhile, years, that someone else in the family would develop what I have with one of the main symptoms I first developed was poor concentration, before the stomach issues became a huge problem. Guessing my nephew went and had some fun his first year in college. He's likely taking school more serious now.
 
I think there is a decent chance I've figured out what foods cause great fatigue for me. I'm quite pleased about that.

This morning I'll go to the store and open up my diet some.

I'm hoping to get back to learning today. I can push through exercise fatigue though it hurts. I'm not able to push through learning. I'm either with it or not.

Details written in my note book.
 
Good and bad news. This morning I have inflammation in part of my left lip I believe. At least when I brush my teeth I feel no pain in my gums. I'm not sure what it is, have had somewhat similar in the past, but this is the worst it has happened. Hard to say what is going on but hopefully it will go away in a day or two. The pain for this began 2 days ago.

Good news, I have good energy this morning. Makes sense that if cheese tires and fatigues me that beef would do similar. So I'm avoiding beef, cheese and pork. I was doing this diet or similar to this diet a month ago. What caused me to stop was I began to experience pain similar to what happens when I eat pork. My skin began to itch, was dry, ear aches were occurring, and my face left puffy. So either there is another food that I react to similar to pork or a food I was eating had pork added to it without labeling. I was eating chicken and turkey sausage at the time. It makes me wonder if one of the chicken or turkey sausage companies was adding pork.

Regardless I've kept my diet plain. I only kicked beef out of the diet and added potatoes to it.
 
Pretty good energy today. I'm guessing that is due to avoiding beef and cheese. I'll of course forget this, how I felt run down in the past when eating beef. I have it pretty set in my mind though that cheese wares me down. I have a different theory than allergy for the cause of that, but it's not much of a jump to assume beef makes me feel fatigued also.

My upper lip remains inflamed/ swollen. There are all kinds of ideas on why this happens. Food allergies is one idea I read about. I've only added a few foods of late to my diet, potatoes, synthetic butter/margarine. Tomorrow I'll avoid both and hope the swollen lip goes away. The lip looks bad but hasn't become worse than it was yesterday. The gums do not appear to hurt as I can brush them without any pain issues. Lift up the gums and I feel that. I'll also avoid nuts for good measure.
 
To update, the swelling has gone down some. Strangely the area seems to have moved. It has gone from the upper portion of my lip area to my nose to now being near almost onto the lip. I can now move my nose and smile without to much difficulty since the area has moved. I can feel some pain doing this but not to bad. The inflamed area near the lips is not red. It's just a square area that is raised.

I can't help but think this is related to what happens when I avoid beef and dairy and then add pork. The problems with pork seem to be quantity. A little bit of pork is not as issue it seems. Eat pork for every meal and I'll feel as if I develop an infection in the ears and along the side of the face. Then last month I avoided pork, along with beef and dairy, but had a similar experience. It took time but certainly caught me by surprise. Hard to say what is going on, there are several possibilities.

So long as I have OK energy levels I'll plan on believing I'm on the right track. When I eat beef and cheese I loose energy and lose the ability to exercise/ weight lift. So long as I can do push ups I'll consider I'm doing well.
 
The facial swelling has gone down considerably. I no longer feel any significant pain. THe face remains slightly swollen, around the lips in particular, but it is much better than yesterday.

So either what ever caused this has run it's course or I was experiencing a food reaction. Of the food items I'm now avoiding the most likely cause for the facial swelling is a vegan margarine I began eating recently. The margarine is dairy free which is what I was looking for. I've gone ahead and tossed it out. Figure whether it is the cause or not, it's probably not all that healthy for me anyway.

If the swelling is gone by tomorrow I'll then began adding the other foods slowly back into my diet, such as nuts, etc.

Weight 184lbs. I'm down another pound. I think the weight loss is due to some new socks I began to wear. The new socks are good for walking in, better than cotton socks. THey chill my feet though which with cold feet has me using the bathroom more frequently.
 
My swollen face is about gone. I can still see some areas that are swollen slightly and if I press on the areas will feel it. Overall though the swollen problem is nearly gone.

My energy levels remain good since avoiding milk and beef. I've not enormously energetic but from what I recall feel much more energetic than when I was eating beef.

I ate nuts today. Nut do not appear to play a roll in the swollen face. I'm guessing the problem was caused by the vegan margarine. I reacted to something in it. I ended up tossing the margarine thinking I'll just eat plain for a long while and see what happens on this diet.
 
The swollen face is slightly back this morning. I might have been wrong about the vegan margarine being the cause.

I'll avoid nuts once again to see if the swelling goes away.

The swelling might not be diet related at all, but with the way it responded the other day I suspect the swelling is an allergic reaction to something I'm eating.

I have problems with seeds and nuts. Pumpkin seeds are for sure problem. They make me violently sick and hour or two after eating. I'm now afraid to eat cashews. I'm fairly certain they cause diarrhea. Possibly other nuts such as macadamia and others are a problem.
 
The swelling has once again gone down, this time after avoiding nuts. Hope the swelling is gone once I wake up in the morning.

It occurred to me, the finger nail pitting that happened a number of months ago, might have been caused by eating nuts. It was a leading possibility. I had bought a can of mixed nuts and not long after that the finger nail pitting showed up.
 
No swelling this morning seen or felt on my face. It appears that nuts and seeds are the likely cause of the swelling. I've certainly had trouble with some nuts and seeds in the past. Pumpkin seeds make me violently sick. Cashews most likely give me diarrhea. Well, there is no most likely, they give me diarrhea. For awhile though I assumed that problem was caused by the high magnesium content of cashews.

I would not be the only one in the family that had trouble with nuts. My father has experienced swelling when eating nuts. Almonds are the worst for him.

My stomach problem would have been solved many years ago if only nuts and seeds were my problem. There are other foods that cause issues. Pork is a known food that causes swelling, in it's case swelling of my gums.
 
Thinking about it, my sister when we were younger always avoided nuts. We would need to buy or cook foods nut free for her. She felt nuts made her sick.

The swollen face is pretty much gone. I guess there still remains a little of the problem but nothing much of significance.

Energy levels are good. Stomach is doing well.
 
Swelling remains gone. I'll keep on avoiding nuts and seeds.

My energy levels feel good this morning. Weight was around 185lbs.
 
It has been an awesome day. I have lots of energy, I don't hurt, it's great. With lunch I ate some of that vegan margarine. I'll of course monitor to see if the swelling returns. I doubt it will with the way I'm feeling but good to test.

About the only negative I can think of is the stomach remains sour.

I'll stick with the diet of mainly avoiding beef, milk, dairy, pork, nuts, seeds and spices. Very bland but for the day it has me doing very well.
 
Feeling mixed this morning. I'm tired but it feels it is from working out to much. I'll take an easy today. Eyes are bluish this morning. Maybe the machinery is being turned on. I hope so. Stomach is so so. Appear healthy.
 
I was sick to my stomach. That wasn't surprising though. With some stomach moving exercising done that was expected. I hoped to avoid it though but the stomach remains tender.

Energy levels were good for the day. Looked decently healthy. I felt upbeat. Overall it was a decent day.
 
Slept upstairs. Slept OK in the new bed. I'm feeling sore and tired this morning though due to to much exercise. The stomach feels decent. On the upstairs scale I met my weight goal of 180lbs. I still have somewhat of a gut so need to loose another 5 to 10lbs I'd guess.
 
Doing decently well this morning. Energy levels are OK. I did some light weight lifting without problems.

I'm going to add a Chinese dish to my diet. It has several spices in it along with soy sauce. It is Honey Chicken. Imagine I'll do find eating it, but of course plan to monitor.
 
I have a few things to write on and complain about.

Energy doing OK. I'm always on the quest for more energy. I hoped in the past that eating nuts would greatly increase my energy levels. And possibly a time or two that happened. I suspect though that nuts didn't increase energy much, and that instead it has been avoiding cheese that has helped my energy levels the most.

I ate the Chinese spicy food yesterday. I also began taking a garlic supplement again. Hopfully it will not make me ill. I notice this mornign on my chest are some red marks/rash, what ever it is. I'm guessing that was caused by some imodium I took and not the new food. Imodium seems to often times give me a mild rash. Will monitor.

The inflammation on my face continues to decrease since avoiding all nuts. I'm pleased about that.

Eyes have been blueish the last couple of days. They are not bright blue but good to see the blue color as that gives me hope I'm on the right track.

No diarrhea this morning due most likely to taking the Imodium.
 
Rash on the chest looks worse. I'm going to now avoid spices/garlic and see if the rash goes away. I ate some spices this morning with breakfast but for lunch and going forward will eat plain. I don't believe I've had a time where I was well to the stomach and had the chest rash.

I was thinking about it the other night, I don't believe I had a well day to the stomach while I was eating nuts. There were some days were my energy levels were higher. The stomach never did well though with eating nuts.

Swelling is gone overall.
 
Forgot to note but believe it important. Since eating spices and nightshade again I've noticed that my skin itches. It isn't as bad as what happens when I eat pork but similar. So I'll be avoiding spices and nightshade. I imagine the dry itchy skin problem will go away along with the rash.
 
Since avoiding spices for lunch along with nightshade, the rash has decreased and I feel more with it. This could be big. At least I hope so. It would be nice to know what causes the chest rash or marks, what ever they are.

Once the rash is gone completely in a few days I'll try eating some potatoes to see what happens. I'll also take some Imodium to test that also.
 
Rash looks better this morning. It won't be gone by tomorrow but imagine if this trend continues it will be mostly gone.

Tomorrow I'll plan on eating potatoes. There is also a sweat and sour sauce that I'll have. The sweet and sour sauce has red peppers listed on the ingredients but no mention of spices/garlic being added. That will be a good test. I might also look to buy tomato sauce and make a plain pizza or something just to test.
 
Went a little earlier with eating tomato paste. I made homemade pizza without adding any spices. It brought back memories. It reminded me of the pizza served when I was in school. It was awful!

But the rash is nearly gone! I'll be eating potatoes and the sweet and sour sauce tomorrow. It gives me good confidence not seeing the rash. I know having a hard time communicating and the rash seem to go together. With that said, I hate eating this diet of avoiding spices and tend to not last long on it, but I should be able to go a long time if I can for sure say garlic/spices cause the rash.
 
Rash is gone! Tomato doesn't cause the rash.

Ate or had a bunch of Imodium. Will see if that causes the rash.

I'll plan on eating potatoes today with lunch. I might also have the sweet and sour sauce.
 
Ate a potato yesterday. The rash remains gone. I'm pleased to see that. Most likely what ever causes the rash brings about stomach problems, is my guess.

I also took Imodium yesterday. I've believed that Imodium causes the rash. Apparently not.

Energy levels are good. The stomach could be better.
 
Still no rash despite eating more tomato sauce today. I'm beginning to think there is a smidgen of hope that I have an answer with avoiding garlic/ spices /pork/and nuts/seeds. So I'll keep on the course and avoid these foods, keeping an eye out for the rash. My energy levels are poor this evening but I believe that to be due to much exercise. Stomach could be better. If I have the right combination with foods to avoid I likely have a long time to go for the stomach to behave better.
 
This is important to note. I've noticed in the past that eating lots and lots of garlic salt will cause the skin around finger nails to pull back and bleed.

Eating foods that have garlic added though doesn't tend to cause this finger nail bleeding issue.

I do notice though that since avoiding spices/ garlic that the skin around one finger seems to be healing and making the finger nail look smaller. It has only been a few days since avoiding but my finger nails do appear healthier.

No rash seen on the chest still since avoiding garlic.
 
Today is notable. I have good energy levels, which seems to be improving as the day progresses. Very good sign.

The stomach the last few days has been average. I've had a few sour moments but nothing terrible to note.

Fingers look great. No rash to report.
 
I have an upset stomach this afternoon. I don't know what has gone wrong. The good news, I have good energy still. My energy levels are quite good.

I'll try cutting back on eating honey. Instead I'll use sweat and sour to flavor chicken eaten for tomorrow. I'll also cut back on exercise to see if that helps. I'll also stop eating the margarine I have.

I'd guess most likely it is the oily margarine that is the problem maker for today. It is likely hard to digest.
 
So today has been a mixed day but in the opposite from what is typical. I've had good energy all day. I feel pretty good overall. The bad, I've been running to the bathroom for most of the afternoon. I'm very pleased about the good energy levels. It's rare when it happens.

I'm only a little over a week on this latest diet of avoiding pork, garlic, and nuts. Hopefully the gut will improve in the coming week or two. I ate a lot of cheese today. It hasn't helped.
 
Still had a slight upset stomach today. I ate honey instead of avoiding it. It might be the honey. It might also be the potato or nightshade I've been eating. Nightshades are used as spices with peppers. I'll avoid the potato tomorrow and see what happens. I'll eat honey once again. Energy has been OK today.
 
Doing well this morning. Energy levels are good. Despite being sick more often than typical I've had good energy of late. It isn't great energy levels but better than typical.

Today I'll test avoiding potatoes/ nightshade family. Fingers crossed it is the potato I've been eating with lunch that has been the problem maker of late.
 
So far I'm doing very well since avoiding potatoes. The particular type of diarrhea I was having has not shown up, so far. My energy levels are great.

I suspect the increased energy levels is due to the honey I've been eating. I'm glad that at least so far it does not appear that honey is a problem.

Today I ate some of the margarine I suspect in previous days. No problems with it.
 
Feeling good this morning. My energy levels are up which is somewhat surprising since I exercised more than typical yesterday. Typically I should be sore and fatigued this morning. Since avoiding potatoes I've not had diarrhea. I'll then stick with avoiding nightshade family group of foods, along with avoiding pork and nuts/seeds.
 
I've been quite pleased with how I'm feeling today. The stomach has been doing well. I tried an experiemtn with eating "pizza". A couple weeks ago I made homemade pizza. I just took tomato paste, pizza bread and cheese. That didn't cause a rash but it did give me lots of diarrhea.

Today pizza of just bread and cheese has gone down without issues. The stomach is doing well. Energy levels are decent. About my only gripe is I didn't care for the taste.

I'll cut out the cheese going forward unless it is needed. I suspect though I might have a winner with avoiding pork, nightshade and nuts and seeds.
 
Today was a good day. Since avoiding eating a potato with lunch the liquid diarrhea has stopped. I'm not well when going to the bathroom but much better than before. My energy levels remain higher than typical. I'm not overly energetic but I have enough energy to be able to do just about anything at anytime. I spent some time learning today and found the learning tasks easy. It was nice to able to concentrate. So I'll stick with avoiding nightshade family, pork and nuts/seeds. Oh, the rash remains gone. If anything my chest looks even better, clearer than before. Weight is up a bit at 188lbs.
 
I'm quite pleased this morning. I have good energy. This is after working out hard yesterday, with pushups and swimming. Typically I'd be worn down the next day after a hard workout.

Stomach is decent this morning. No rash can be seen.
 
I've had a slight upset stomach today. It has likely been caused by me not eating cheese. I've been eating some cheese of late. It isn't a lot. It isn't as much I would eat when I was looking to stop the diarrhea. So maybe nightshade isn't a problem but a lack of cheese, and spices are. Exercise is problematic. Anyway, feeling good overall. Energy levels are elevated. I'll cut back once again on the honey. I'll keep exercise levels down or swimming basically down. It is swimming that seems to cause the most problems for my stomach. Spices is what appear to causes the skin rash so stay away from spices/garlic.
 
It's been a good day. No liquid diarrhea. My energy levels are higher than typical. I feel good I really do. I'll keep avoiding nightshade family, spices, pork and nuts/seeds.
 
I was tired today. Two things might have caused that, a visit to the dentist in the morning stressed me out. Dental visits always do. And I took a lot of Imodium which I suspect, as cheese does, believe Imodium fatigued me. Overall though it wasn't a bad day. I'm communicating well. I'll keep avoiding spices, nightshade/potatoes/tomatoes, and pork along with nuts. The rash gone.
 
I forgot to note, but probably important to do so. Ever since i stopped eating potatoes, red peppers, tomatoes, the nightshade family, I've been having very vivid dreams. I've been sleeping very well.
 
No rash. That will be my main focus on this dietary idea. I'll lose focus in the weeks ahead but if I can keep the rash away I'll consider that I'm on track and that eventually the GI system will heal.

Weight was 186lbs this morning. I suspect I lose weight as I become healthier. Just a guess with that but suspect the weight loss is retained water.
 
According to my watch yesterday was a record breaking exercise day. I had lots of energy. This morning, as is typical, I'm slow to get around, but can feel my energy levels will be good later in the day. Avoiding Imodium seemed to help improve my energy levels. No rash seen.
 
Today has been a very good day. I have good energy. I'm feeling good. I guess good is the key word for todays description. Yesterday I was tired out. Most likely that was due to exercising to much. I've recovered well and quickly for me. No rash. My diet is pretty much the same from day to day with some small variation. It's bland generally but I'm getting used to it.
 
189lbs. I'm up a few pounds from earlier in the week. I'm going to try an experiment. There has been little variation in my diet of late. The main variation has been between eating chicken or beef for lunch/dinner. I defrost either beef or chicken and then eat it over the next 3 to 4 days. I've noticed something. When eating chicken I tend to have better energy and I lose weight. When I eat beef I tend to gain weight and can have days of poor energy. I also seems to lose the blue eyes when I eat beef.

So starting today I'll just eat chicken for the next week, monitor my weight and energy levels.
 
I did lose a couple pounds after avoiding beef yesterday. I am down to 187lbs this morning. I had better energy yesterday also. This morning though I'm feeling beat up and tired but overall feel decent and upbeat. Appearance is healthy.

I don't recall a rash developing in the past whiel avoiding beef and dairy products. I could be wrong about that. At some point though I'll likely test that, avoid beef and dairy and eat a bunch of spices to see what happens. It might be a two step process to create the rash.
 
Forgot to mention but important as it will likely keep me on the diet of avoiding beef and dairy products. I've known for awhile that dairy will cause a wasting muscle type condition on me. It appears that beef does similar. The only thing that keeps me eating cheese in the past was the constipating effect it can have. The down side being that I waste away some, don't recover, & feel tired and fatigued.
 
Nice day, was pretty much well to the stomach. That's rare and shock. I'm avoiding enough foods I'd say with staying away from nuts, seeds, beef, dairy, pork and spices. That's not going to last long. I know myself. I'll plan on adding spices back into the diet sometime next week if I continue to do well and have energy. Maybe I'll get luck with avoiding everything else.
 
Top