In this entry I am going to talk about how the Paleo diet has affected my Crohns symptoms from an all-encompassing perspective from stomach pain, intestinal blockage and stoma output just to name a few. Just wanted to throw that out there. In my next post I’ll put some more food recipes but didn’t want to mix the two.
Before starting the Paleo diet the symptoms from Crohns that I experienced where fatigue, cramping in my abdomen, the occasional intestinal blockage and uncontrollable stoma output at times which led to a high probability of me being easily irritated. I’m absolutely sure there are more symptoms that are escaping me right now but those are the ones that affected me the most. Gena might think otherwise… I’ll attack the symptoms one by one in efforts to shed light on how the Paleo diet has affected each one.
Fatigue – I touched on this one in a previous post. I was a pretty sedentary person even before winter and haven’t done much in the way of exercise except golfing and walking. I couldn’t mow our whole yard in one day without feeling woefully tired and needing a nap. Not just a cat nap but a big boy nap. Three weeks into the Paleo diet and I had the energy to not only mow the lawn, trim the ornamental grass ( we have 5 big clumps) and rose bush and go to a birthday party at Monkey Bizness. I had no problem chasing Lydia up and down the inflatables and through mesh mazes. I was completely surprised and a little sore the next day. If you would have asked me that morning if I could have done all those things consecutively in one day I would have thought you were crazy.
Cramping – Abdomen cramping has stopped completely. I don’t know what to attribute this too but know it isn’t a reflection of my hydration level because I still occasionally get cramps in my legs and toes at night because of lack of hydration. I’ve been trying to counteract them by drinking coconut water and rubbing magnesium gel on my legs when they happen. Maybe the Paleo diet has helped increase my nutrient levels or maybe the cramping was due to a sensitivity to gluten. Questions to be asked when I am up in Mayo.
Intestinal blockages (YAY?) – Out of all the symptoms this one is the one that I am most happy about that I haven’t experienced in a month. The doubling over in pain because something won’t pass through your intestine is probably one of the most horrific things someone can experience. In my case it sends me spiraling out of control, confined to my bed for two sometimes three days and missing work, significant weight loss of 10-15 and everything even the simplest thing is physically and emotionally exhausting. Since doing Paleo for a month I have tried a couple things out of bravery that I knew use to cause blockage and clogging but I was able to let out a huge sigh of relief when they gave me no problems. I completely attribute this to the diet because nothing else has changed in my life. The only variable has been what I consume. I still have a list of no-no’s that I wouldn’t even attempt but am glad the list isn’t as vast as it once was due to the Paleo diet.
Stoma output – If you don’t like to talk about pooh you should probably stop reading now! My stoma output has greatly reduced and gained more consistency since the Paleo diet. The trips to the bathroom have been reduced by almost in half and I’m digesting my food better (when you have a stoma you can see everything). It’s amazing how your diet directly effects your output, if I slip up and eat like I was two months ago the first place I notice it is in my stoma output.
Hope this reaches someone so they can see how the Paleo diet has impacted my Crohns disease.
Stay blessed,
Alex
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