Days 21-30

If you’ve been keeping track of my progress on AIP you know I’ve had my share of ups and downs. I’ll think “oh I’m getting better” and then a bad day will hit me and I’l be bummed. I try to remind myself this problem has been years in the making so it’s going to take some time. Still I am seeing improvement in lots of areas so it keeps me positive.

I learned last week that kombucha and mineral water are not my friend. I’m guessing the carbonation with the Acid is the problem. I was getting bored with herbal tea and water but since there is a no way I can drink anything with carbonation, this week I’ll try apple juice (This brand)

I also noticed I struggled with coconut water and coconut milk. Not as bad but there is discomfort. I think it might be the brand because I hadn’t noticed it before. I’ve had no issues with coconut oil.

This week since I feel I have a good grasp on the food, I’ve decided to start exploring some supplements. I’m adding Melatonin , I’ve never tried it before but it’s good for GERD and not just sleep. I had no idea. You guys also know I need to sleep better, your body heals when’s it’s sleeping and the minimal sleep I’m getting is not enough. I know it’s something I can only take for a few months but I’m hopeful my sleep pattern will even out by then and my acid will be gone.

With that I’ll begin my daily journal.

Day 21

I woke up at 2:50am, That’s after taking a melatonin last night. I fell asleep at 9:00pm. Okay that’s 6 hours almost. It was a deep sleep too. I woke up with no grogginess. Pretty good. As for the Acid I can’t tell yet it’s too early.

Im a little frustrated because I have been constipated for a solid week and I hoped yesterday would be the day. Still nothing. It will happen I just need to relax and be patient. I haven’t taken anything for my back because I know this can exasperate this particular situation and I wanted to avoid that.

Today is meal prep day and I’m not sure how my back will hold up but I’ll go slow and take breaks and hopefully that will help.

Some information for those of you who also look at AIP for weight loss. I was wrong about my son’s weight loss, he has lost 24lbs since we started. I guess I get why he has been worried, but he had so much inflammation that I’m not surprised. He says he has noticed there is no bloating and he feels less tight. I noticed he has more energy and seems happier.

I did have to take a zofran today but I think I just got scared because we had so much to do and we had to eat which is a trigger for the nausea and it felt like it was not going well. I hate being out when I don’t feel well.

I did manage to get my decorations up in my coffee bar and kitchen but as for meal prep I only made tomorrow’s meal. An action I will be paying for no doubt the rest of the week. Overall pretty decent day.

Day 22

I promptly fell asleep at 10pm which is my desired bedtime. Thank you melatonin. Shutting my brain down is my struggle at night and this seems to help. It’s too early to tell if it’s helping with acid but I’m hopeful.

Unfortunately I still woke up at 2am. Can I really be a four hour a night person? No caffeine, good diet, melatonin. What more do you want from me body?

It’s early but I feel pretty good, we will see how the day goes. I did actually fall asleep for another hour this morning. I also know I need more calories and protein today, which I do have planned. We were so busy yesterday so I only had a salad and peach smoothie and I felt the effects.

Lunch was great. Sweet potato fries are my favorite, the stuffed mushrooms pretty good. No comparison to cream cheese ones but still tasty. Meatballs did not excite me. It surprised me because I cannot get enough red meat these days.

Unfortunately it was not a great afternoon. I handled lunch ok but at five suddenly I felt terrible. Worse than I have in a while actually. I took a Zofran and promptly passed out. Woke up at 9:00pm. I cooked lunch for tomorrow but then fell back asleep at 2:30. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my melatonin.

Day 23

I woke up 5:30am. Ugh, so not a great night’s sleep. Today will be better, today will be better. Positive affirmations. So late last night I made a Turkey breast. I cook turkey like once every three years. So I’m nervous about how it will turn out. If good awesome possible holiday meal. Turkey is just not a meat I love. It’s okay but meh. I also made a green bean casserole AIP Style. Smells good but more soupy than traditional. Probably the chef aka me. I’m still learning to cook some of the cassava flour ratios for AIP.

I feel better this morning which is a relief. They are coming to do some filming at my office today and this afternoon I’m out visiting stores. Which means no jeans and sweatshirt today. . Bummer. Something cool though. I won’t need to wear foundation because my skin is awesome. If only this plan made your eyelashes longer and your lips shiny with a nice shade of color. I would be set.

I’m hopeful it’s a good day. Three days in a row I’ve had to take Zofran so let’s make it a no medication day please.

Evening Update: Well day 4 of zofran it’s disappointing but what can you do. It probably didn’t help that I didn’t care for my lunch. I’m just not a turkey person. However my green bean casserole was delicious. Also loved the mashed sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce. I should mention I’m getting close to my period which always seems to exasperate my symptoms. So if I compare it to my panic ridden, crying every night because the nausea is so bad normal pms, I’m doing great.

Day 24

Man, I have been in the worst “let’s just give up on the diet stage”. I feel like I’ve read this is normal during this time. Don’t worry I will do at minimum 30 days. I have to it’s on the list. Yes I’m that person.

Well I woke up at 3am this morning which is not bad considering I fell asleep at 8pm-ish. About 7 hours and I feel rested. That’s a wonderful feeling. I did forget my melatonin again. To be fair I planned on taking it at 9:30 and I just didn’t stay up that late.

I also didn’t cook last night. So today I’m going to make balsamic strawberry chicken. Hoping it’s good since so far this week everything I’ve made has been subpar.

Afternoon Update: The chicken was actually delicious. I really enjoyed lunch and so far it’s been a good day. But my bad time seems to be 5pm lately.

Evening Update: Well it’s 9pm and no Zofran today. It’s been a great day and I even had cinnamon chips which I love and probably went overboard on.

Day 25

So close to the 30 day mark, not that anything will change necessarily but hitting that number will be an accomplishment. Five more days and I will reach the first milestone.That’s the happy news, the unhappy news too many cinnamon chips. Why must I love them so much. I eat too many and then my stomach is unhappy. I’ve got to stop buying them.

I’m now down 7.5lbs and too close to my too thin weight. I ate a lot for me yesterday too. Dairy although probably killing me made it much easier to hang on to the weight.

My fatigue seems good, with the exception of at night I tell myself I need to get this and this done. And every night I come home and I just lay in bed. I need more night time energy. I wake up so early that I guess I’ve exerted all my energy. Still I managed to stay up until 9:30 last night and woke up at 3:45 this morning. I’m so happy I remembered my melatonin. Finally. Which is why I’m guessing I got 6 hours of sleep.

I’m trying to remember the last time we did Paleo how long it took me to feel better. I remember my son and husband felt better way faster than I did. The last week they felt amazing, I know It was after 30 days for me. Maybe it was 6 weeks but that was 10 years ago. One week at a time. It will happen.

I’m feeling pretty rough this morning. Cinnamon chips probably. Days like this I wish I could curl up in a ball and sleep until I felt better.

Evening update: It was a rough day. The exhaustion was real, my symptoms were bad today all of them. I always get a flare up right before my period and even though it seems a few days early that seems to be what is happening.

On the upside lunch was amazing, who knew chicken schnitzel would be so good, The broccoli salad was great too.

Day 26

Good morning. I feel much better today but I do have a little acid but I hope it stays at bay. I spent the morning cooking. I made chicken Marsala minus Marsala wine so we will see how it turns out. I feel less fatigued today maybe a hormone spike/drop because I felt emotional.

Evening Update: I started out pretty great but my mid afternoon my back and nausea was hell.

I ate a lot for lunch today. It was amazing by the way. But my body was so full I felt sick. I could barely sit in my chair. I had so much pain but since I gave my speech about how there will be no vacation time until after Christmas I couldn’t very well go home. Lead by example right? Man I wanted to be irresponsible.

I toughed it out and then had to go a new pharmacy to pick up my prescription. 1 hour later I finally had my medicine. Came home didn’t even take my shoes off and fell asleep. Pain is exhausting. I’m sure you already know.

This has been a rough week with only 1 good day which is disappointing but I know it takes time. I’m also under 110 which is not great but apparently eating more is tough on my body. Maybe if I snack through out the day I can get more calories in me.

Day 27

We are getting close now, my son is moving to paleo on day 31. It’s fair, he has been a trooper. He misses ghee, eggs and nuts. I get it I miss ghee too.

I told him I’m not where I need to be yet health wise, so all the meals I cook will be AIP but his snacks and his own meals he can do whatever makes him happy just no gluten or dairy in the house. He had no problem with that. We never have gluten in the house because of my celiac and he is lactose intolerant. So it works out.

I feel like we have been pretty good about keeping the meals interesting with a good variety. I’ve only repeated a few meals and that’s because they were so good. Somethings we will never go back to. Diet Coke. That was killing me. I very rarely have cravings for it now except when I’m very stressed but overall I feel better not drinking it. Now eventually I may have a natural gingerale but fake sugars No.

My anxiety has seriously improved. As well, as my fatigue. Ironic right. So far I feel pretty good this morning. I have an errand and chores intense day and I’ve also have to get to work on my meal plan for next week.

Afternoon Update: I have no idea what to make this week except bacon wrapped dates and smoothies. I think it goes without saying that’s just not going to cut it.

My melatonin experiment has been going well. This week I’m adding Zinc and B12.

I’m deficient in B12 and Zinc so a supplement is necessary.

I’m testing a theory. Maybe I have low acid. I have a lot of the symptoms and it’s common with my autoimmune diseases. I’m not sure but it seems safe to try. I’ll keep you posted on this. In fact I’ll probably write another post.

Day 28

Yesterday was rough and I spent most of the day in bed. I’m probably the only woman in the world who wishes her period would just start already. The suffering is real during this time, Why I don’t suffer from bad periods like so many women do, every autoimmune disease symptom I have ramps up.

It’s a little harder because overall I have been feeling better, so when it’s like this it hits me hard.

Saying that, so far so good today. I have company coming and I did nothing to prepare. So this very early morning I will be sweeping and mopping and doing a quick pick up. Fortunately my son did some cleaning yesterday so it’s not too bad.

Afternoon Update: Its been a rough day, which is no surprise. This morning lovely, but the afternoon not so much. Today I made banana bread, not too bad especially considering the limited ingredients we can use. It made me feel like I was normal. We had a fruit salad with coconut cream with just a touch of cinnamon and maple syrup. That was awesome. As well as bacon and turkey sausage.

Tonight is meal prep day, so that’s what I’ll be doing this evening.

Day 29

I hate to admit it but I did not meal prep last night. After company, making brunch, heading to Costco with my BFF. After I was done my back was killing me. I laid down and just was worthless the rest of the day. At least I did the laundry.

Bottom line I will be making lunches every morning this week, which will be no fun.

Although I’ve done it so much it seems like a part of my morning routine at this point.

Did I ever come up with a meal plan. The answer is no. So I’m winging it and that is dangerous. Still I’ve made a lot of meals AIP now so it shouldn’t be too bad. I guess we will find out.

So far, I’m fine minus stiffness and a little grogginess. My eyes were normal this morning which is nice. They tend to be the worst in the morning.

This is how a normal day used to be for me. Waking up feeling like something was in my eye, nerve pain in my extremities or numbness. Making it to 10:30 or 11:00 when the GERD hit hard, even on PPI’s. Then by lunch..the debilitating nausea. That persisted all day. By the time I got home I was beyond exhausted partially because I had to deal with it all day. At night my eye discomfort would begin again. I’m definitely doing better these days. All these things still happen but less often and last less time.

Not to mention the terrible anxiety that was turning me into a hermit, which seems to be almost gone.

Evening Update: A pretty good day actually. I didn’t expect that but no Zofran and only 20mg of Protonix instead of 40mg. I’m excited Tomorrow is day 30!

Day 30

It’s finally here. We made it the full 30 days! It doesn’t change much for a while but I’m happy to hit the milestone. Some of my symptoms are much better and some are halfway better and some are only marginally better. The most important thing is it’s better. We could technically start reintroducing food starting tomorrow and my son will, he is adding ghee. I on the other hand will continue for the next four weeks on AIP.

The Recap

It’s been a journey and writing everyday has been so helpful for me. Because our foods have been so limited, I have learned so much. There were even foods I learned my body didn’t like that were AIP.

Fennel, pineapple, broccoli sprouts, mineral water, coconut, kombucha.

This should be obvious but I learned excess of even good foods can overtax my body. So what’s next?

I will continue my AIP diet for at least another 4 weeks, my son will add foods until he’s full paleo. We both noticed what a great day we had yesterday and how we were both so productive. I told him the timing seems right. We pondered that for a while and overall we were happy and grateful we did this. My son lost over 25 pounds. Which is more than we expected. He is happier and has so much energy it’s amazing and he’s even back at the gym again. The bottom line: Yes, It’s worth it. Overall I feel so much better. My anxiety and fatigue are so much better, my nausea and GERD so much more under control. I’ve only had two flare ups in my eyes and my nerve pain is almost non-existent. I haven’t had a bad headache for two weeks. Don’t get me wrong I still have bad days but I’m so grateful for the improvement.

Next month I plan on continuing AIP for another 30 days and diving deeper into my GERD.

I suspect that if I can get that under control I will feel a 1000 times better. Read my next post to see how my next 30 day experiment goes with battling acid head on.

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