Gluten free, man. Went that way during Lent. My one-week reprieve to celebrate turned into three. Mystery dermatitis got worse, poops got weirder. Finally got back on the horse about six weeks ago, and my gut has finally returned to pre-Lent conditions. My body clearly takes a while to adjust and heal.
As a side note, one of the things that has stuck with me the most from Sarah Wilson’s guide to living with an autoimmune disease was a brief comment about not making harsh or abrupt changes, because it stresses the body that’s already stressed. I’ve tried abrupt changes before, and I can keep them up for a while, but always eventually fail. See nearly every previous post in this blog for examples. Changes that may take a healthy person days to notice will take me weeks.
My long-term goal is to live sugar- and gluten-free, minimizing other sources of carbohydrates (perhaps down to the SCD level), but I’ve realized that I have to go down that road slowly, to internalize and make peace with each change, because I can’t rely on willpower alone. There will be days when habit will be the only thing that will get me through.
During these six weeks, I’ve once adjusted to life without wheat. The first week was utter hell, when I had to outsmart my own brain every step of the way. Doing the wheat detox twice in 10 weeks was almost more than I could bear–I never want to subject myself to that again. I still miss bread and cake every once in a while (and donuts!), but those cravings are not part of my everyday life. I have adjusted adequately, I think, and my thoughts have turned to excising sugar.
Farther up and farther in.
The only way to go.