healing

Rachel's troubles started again in September.  At first it was just a couple of days one weekend when she had a few tummy issues, then things were good again.  But as October, November, and December wore on, the days between bouts shortened and the symptoms increased.  Her IBS was back.

This is one of the many times I have been thankful we can homeschool to work around health issues.  However, it is hard not to be concerned when I see Rachel not wanting to eat and complaining of cramping and diarrhea on an almost daily basis.  We kept food logs, dropped gluten (dairy was already out), grew more careful about fatty meat, onion, and garlic, but it didn't seem like much we did made a difference.  Finally I looked into the FODMAPS diet for IBS and implemented it.  I added in digestive enzymes and probiotics for good measure. That did help some but the trouble continued. 

In January a friend from church mentioned the name of a holistic chiropractor so we made the appointment.  He told us to try cutting out refined sugar and had a few new suggestions about enzymes and probiotics that her body could better tolerate.  We added zinc and more recently magnesium.  Slowly but steadily Rachel began to get better! 

We're not there yet, but things are really on the upswing.  She still has to watch her fruit intake, because if things get out of hand, the intestinal cramping comes back.  Onion, garlic, and all meat are back on the menu.

So how does someone cut out refined sugar?  This is an area where I have to applaud Rachel for being willing to make some hard sacrifices, but she knows she feels so much better when she does!  Meijer sells coconut sugar that we use in place of regular sugar, and we also use Stevia in oatmeal and hot chocolate.  Actually, she has gotten to the point that she eats oatmeal with no sweeteners.  There is so little sugar in things like chocolate chips that she does well with those, even straight out of the bag.   Larabars are the new granola bar.  Homemade are not difficult at all. We're hopeful that eventually she will be able to tolerate a bit of sugar again one day.  Meanwhile, the rate at which popcorn disappears at our house continues to escalate. =D

Another day, another adjustment.  The cooking adventure continues!