animalcule
Member
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2019
- Messages
- 361
Quick history:
I've had lifelong low energy/depression/anxiety, very low energy, and weight issues (starting at age 8 after big emotional upheaval). In the past decade I have developed joint stiffness (usually in the morning), and headaches bordering on migraines, among other things.
When I was 18, I started experimenting with diet in order to lose weight, but I soon latched onto it as a tool to help me deal with depression/mood and inflammation. I eventually started restricting foods that I knew to be causing problems, either from allergy testing or elimination diet (wheat, soy/beans, dairy, eggs, nightshades). Finally, I ended up doing carnivore, lost a bunch of weight, felt momentarily less depressed/more energized, but then it tanked my digestion (gastroporesis and acid reflux feelings whenever I ate), it was extremely difficult to stick to (tried for over a year with some slip ups), and by the end was constantly nauseous, irritable and low energy. Then I went "all in" for the past 9-10 months, ate almost whatever I want (excluded some major food intolerances/allergies), gained 40 lbs, developed worse joint pain, crippling depression, blah blah blah ... I feel like ***t.
[My diet history goes something like: Low calorie --> paleo low calorie --> low carb ad libitum --> keto ad libidum --> paleo w/more food restrictions --> whatever I could eat that wasn't causing stomach upset --> Carnivore Diet --> "All in" eating --> crash & burn. ]
Title Issue:
I cannot seem to digest starch anymore. Rice causes intense joint stiffness the next day, worse than before I started elimination diets. Corn and potatoes seem to cause daytime irritability and nighttime terrors -- I'll jerk awake in the middle of the night in a panic and cry out, trying to get out of my bed and into my slippers in a panic. This will happen with waning intensity over and over, until I awake for good, exhausted, in the morning. Waves of panic. All sorts of fears bubble up and grip me. Terrible sleep. Terrible mood in the morning. Plus, inflamed finger joints.
With all of my experimentation, I seem to have severely limited what I'm able to digest. Or maybe I've just developed some sort of gut dysbiosis. Or perhaps I had it all along and just exacerbated it with elimination/reintroduction. I don't know. I just know that I can't continue to eat nothing but meat and simple sugars.
I know that these forums are full of people searching for optimal diets, but at this point I just want to be able to eat a freaking potato or a corn chip without it making me gain 10 lbs and causing me to wake up screaming in my sleep.
I've tried 'all in,' and it was fun at first, but never solved the underlying digestive issues, leading to all sorts of mood/energy/sleep/weight/digestive issues. The standard line with the 'all in' eaters is to just keep eating everything ad libitum and everything will even out eventually. Well, it's been 10 months and I can't ignore the side effects anymore.
Has anyone experienced anything similar? Anyone ex carnivores who managed to reintroduce starch without it wrecking them? Any tips on building an iron stomach that isn't irritated by anything I put in it?
Advice very much appreciated.
I've had lifelong low energy/depression/anxiety, very low energy, and weight issues (starting at age 8 after big emotional upheaval). In the past decade I have developed joint stiffness (usually in the morning), and headaches bordering on migraines, among other things.
When I was 18, I started experimenting with diet in order to lose weight, but I soon latched onto it as a tool to help me deal with depression/mood and inflammation. I eventually started restricting foods that I knew to be causing problems, either from allergy testing or elimination diet (wheat, soy/beans, dairy, eggs, nightshades). Finally, I ended up doing carnivore, lost a bunch of weight, felt momentarily less depressed/more energized, but then it tanked my digestion (gastroporesis and acid reflux feelings whenever I ate), it was extremely difficult to stick to (tried for over a year with some slip ups), and by the end was constantly nauseous, irritable and low energy. Then I went "all in" for the past 9-10 months, ate almost whatever I want (excluded some major food intolerances/allergies), gained 40 lbs, developed worse joint pain, crippling depression, blah blah blah ... I feel like ***t.
[My diet history goes something like: Low calorie --> paleo low calorie --> low carb ad libitum --> keto ad libidum --> paleo w/more food restrictions --> whatever I could eat that wasn't causing stomach upset --> Carnivore Diet --> "All in" eating --> crash & burn. ]
Title Issue:
I cannot seem to digest starch anymore. Rice causes intense joint stiffness the next day, worse than before I started elimination diets. Corn and potatoes seem to cause daytime irritability and nighttime terrors -- I'll jerk awake in the middle of the night in a panic and cry out, trying to get out of my bed and into my slippers in a panic. This will happen with waning intensity over and over, until I awake for good, exhausted, in the morning. Waves of panic. All sorts of fears bubble up and grip me. Terrible sleep. Terrible mood in the morning. Plus, inflamed finger joints.
With all of my experimentation, I seem to have severely limited what I'm able to digest. Or maybe I've just developed some sort of gut dysbiosis. Or perhaps I had it all along and just exacerbated it with elimination/reintroduction. I don't know. I just know that I can't continue to eat nothing but meat and simple sugars.
I know that these forums are full of people searching for optimal diets, but at this point I just want to be able to eat a freaking potato or a corn chip without it making me gain 10 lbs and causing me to wake up screaming in my sleep.
I've tried 'all in,' and it was fun at first, but never solved the underlying digestive issues, leading to all sorts of mood/energy/sleep/weight/digestive issues. The standard line with the 'all in' eaters is to just keep eating everything ad libitum and everything will even out eventually. Well, it's been 10 months and I can't ignore the side effects anymore.
Has anyone experienced anything similar? Anyone ex carnivores who managed to reintroduce starch without it wrecking them? Any tips on building an iron stomach that isn't irritated by anything I put in it?
Advice very much appreciated.