In 2000, I had my first knee surgery. Before graduating high school I would have 3 more. Eventually, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
In 2005, I graduated, and left for college. Later that year, I started have severe intestinal problems. in 2006, I was told it was Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and that there wasn't much I could do other than to avoid trigger foods.
November 2011, I was having horrible pains again. I had an allergy blood test done, that came back negative. I was then sent to a gastroenterologist. After going over my history, he told me that 90% of his IBS patients are lactose intolerant, and to go off all dairy for a month and see if that helps.
It seemed like I was cured. After the month we tried lactose free cheese. Only to have an immediate reaction. At my follow-up I was told, that I had a milk protein allergy. Later, I was talking to my doctor about this new diagnoses. Her response was, to watch for more symptoms, this could be Celiac disease. But she did not want to subject me to an endoscopy that at this point, she felt would be negative.
Things were fine until after Mr. Z was born, and I started to have more problems. I was diagnosed with postpartum depression and was seeing a Naturopath, per recommendation of my primary care doctor.
Naturopaths are great, because they look at the whole body and mind, not just what is the current aliment. The Naturopath recommended an elimination diet to see if there were more food allergies. After 8 weeks, we found that I react badly to gluten, corn, and dairy.
Now, almost a year later, and never being perfect on avoiding trigger foods, I am having extreme discomfort. After counseling with my doctor, we have chosen to do a combination of the FODMAP diet and Paleo. And it see if that helps. If after 6 MONTHS on a strict Paleo diet, we will see if my symptoms have resolved or get tested for Celiac Disease, Crohn's Disease, and Hashimoto's Disease.
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