Life before and after the GAPS diet

Okay, so I keep alluding (on Facebook and previous blog posts) to the fact that I am working on a post about my mental breakdowns that I had postpartum.  Mental breakdowns that basically made me into a crazy, rageful, out of control monster for about 5 minutes when ever I would happen to have one.

I’ve been working on the post for six months now.  I have to admit it’s been difficult for me to get it written so that I can actually share it.

Part of it is that these experiences still feel very close at hand and they’re not easy to talk about.  Most people who know me don’t know I’ve had these experiences over the past couple of years.  Even now, when I am out of the woods and no longer experiencing these crazy episodes where I thought I was going to lose my mind – even now, it is still hard to get it all written down.

Another part is that there is so much to it.  My life has completely changed from being on GAPS.  Not only am not having anxiety attacks and mental breakdowns, I am just a completely happier and at peace person now.  I really can’t believe how much has changed, really.

So I thought I would start with the basics and just write down all the points in my life that have changed after going on the GAPS diet.  Then I can talk more about the more juicier aspects of visiting the crazy side of life in a future post.

If you don’t know about GAPS, it is a grain, starch and sugar free diet that can help people with all sorts of mental problems such as depression, which I experienced for years since being a teen.

You can read more about the diet here.

As far as the chart below goes, many of the symptoms listed are things I have dealt with my entire life.  The only thing that only happened postpartum were the mental breakdowns, etc.  However, now that I say that, I did have some mental breakdowns during pregnancy and even before that.  But they weren’t as pronounced and I didn’t find myself beating the daylights out of inanimate objects.  They were more like crying fits and feeling utterly depressed.

And everything on the list became more pronounced after giving birth.  The whole experience of pregnancy, birth, exclusive breastfeeding and motherhood basically shined the light on a part of myself that was already in need of healing and made it imperative that something had to change in order for me to live as a normal person.

And when I say “gone”, I would say it took at least 2-3 months of being on GAPS, taking the supplements and coconut oil to feel like the symptom was no longer present.  And some symptoms took longer to go away.

During the first few months of being on GAPS, I would have symptoms reoccur around my period.  I have read that candida overgrowth can get more pronounced around the time of ones’ cycle so I believe this was a contributing factor.  Now, nine months being on the diet, I no longer have these symptoms around my cycle.

All I am saying is – it didn’t happen over night.  This diet is not a quick fix.  People are recommended to stay on it for two years or more.  For me, I believe it will be longer than two years.

Mental/Emotional problems:

• Anxiety attacks, Mental breakdowns, Rageful episodes, Lack of control over my body
  • Gone, except for when I accidentally ate a spoonful of goat milk after being on GAPS for a month or so.
  • This is the main thing I am going to talk about when I go more into detail about my postpartum experiences. It is the hardest thing to talk about because I felt so crazy at the time but am grateful beyond words that my diet change has cured me of these episodes that I used to have postpartum.

• Inappropriate anger and frustration
  • Pretty much gone.  This comes up if I am detoxing or reacting to something I ate.  We have been testing some GAPS cheeses and they haven’t all worked for us so I know I am reacting when I start to get edgy.
  • I DO still get frustrated and angry but it is within normal range and for a reason, like when Elijah breaks something.  But it doesn’t’ last and doesn’t push me into a mental roller coaster.
• Emotional ups and downs
  • I am happily “driving a car” instead of being “on a roller coaster ride.”  Before, life was full of ups and downs.  I can’t believe how even-minded I am most of the time now.
• Inability to focus and concentrate
  • Things are awesome in this department unless I have been sick or detoxing.

• Lack of self-confidence/doubting myself and life
  • Again, this has changed so much.  I didn’t realize how much I struggled with this until it went away.  I had no idea how I felt about myself was related to my gut.
• Depression
  • Gone.  The only times I have been depressed are when I have eaten something I shouldn’t have or when I am actually sad about something for a real reason (but it doesn’t last like depression.)
  • I have actually come to realize that the sinking feeling in my chest is a sign that I ate something that didn’t agree with me.  I lived my whole life trying to get happy. Now I just am happy.  Yay!

• Blaming and nagging my husband
  • Gone – a byproduct of being happy and content and no longer obsessive about messes around the house.  This has obviously helped our relationship and we are closer than we ever have been.
• General unhappiness
  • Instead, general happiness, contentment, hope, joy and feeling of peace on a daily basis.  I used to think I had to work for this.
• “Life sucks” and “I hate my life”
  • Definitely don’t feel this anymore.  Quite the opposite – I am so grateful for everything, even the hard stuff.
• Memory problems
  • My memory is so much better.  I still sometimes can’t remember the word I am trying to say or I forget the shopping list.  But overall it feels more normal now.

• Unproductive
  • Quite the opposite now.  I feel more productive than ever, while I also give myself time to rest too.
• Unexplained nervousness and anxiety
  • Gone.  I had no idea why I felt this at times when there was nothing to be nervous about.
• Lack of inspiration
  • Inspired!
• Obsessive compulsive
  • Never got “diagnosed” for this but when I am in a full-on reaction, my brain starts going crazy if there is stuff all over the house or there are a lot of dishes.  I start cleaning obsessively and can’t stop.  This is gone too now that I’ve been on GAPS for a while.

• Sensitive to sounds, sights and too much commotion.  I have always been a sensitive person – so much so that going to the mall was usually an exhausting experience for me.
  • I now find that things are getting better in this department. I don’t get so overwhelmed but still do sometimes, especially when Elijah is going a mile a minute.

Physical issues:

Digestive issues:

• General digestive problems throughout my life
  • Overall, much better but I feel I still have healing to do.
• Constipation
  • This has improved a lot but do find I am still prone to constipation when I am under a lot of stress – like the week we moved, etc.  I also find that eating plenty of veggies keeps things regular.
• Stomach aches
  • These are very infrequent but still do have some stomach aches now and then.  Not like when I was a teen though, when I had stomach aches that lasted a long time.
• heartburn during pregnancy
  • This went away after the birth

Skin issues:

• eczema  and mystery rashes on several different places on my body during different times in my life
  • I had a rash on my hand last summer and it eventually went away after being on GAPS a few months and taking coconut oil.  See this post.
• pimples
  • My skin is very clear now but do have a pimple every now and then.
• Sick with colds and flu very often
  • Elijah and I were hardly sick over the winter since being on GAPS.  We were constantly sick last year when he was a year old.  Since we moved, I’ve had a sinus infection and Elijah has been sick twice.  My feeling is this is due to the stress of the move and the extra toxins floating around with new paint, carpeting, concrete dust from remodeling, and mold in the air conditioning (have since had our ducts cleaned).  Needles to say we’re still sensitive.
• Lack of breast milk production
  • I am not sure if this has improved since being on GAPS because Elijah is pretty much weaned except for a quick nurse in the morning.
• Weight fluctuations throughout my life – 30 lbs over weight at some points and at least 5 lbs underweight while nursing my son
  • I have gained 5 pounds since being on GAPS and feel I am actually at a good weight now.  I felt like I was super skinny when Elijah was about 10 months old and had a hard time gaining any weight until we went on GAPS.
• Sleep issues and night-wakings – both Elijah and I had sleep problems before we went on GAPS
  • Once we went on GAPS, Elijah started sleeping through the night consistently for the first time since he was born.  For me my sleep had already improved before I went on GAPS.
• Tiredness and general low energy
  • I have so much more energy now.  I think part of this is mental because my mood would slow me down and make me feel tired, or like I wanted to go to bed when it was the middle of the day because I felt so lousy.

Elijah:

• Slow weight-gain for Elijah on breastmilk
  • He started gaining weight normally once I started feeding him solids when he was 5 ½ months old.
• Colic as an infant
  • This went away after I eliminated dairy, eggs, soy and other foods from my diet when I was nursing.  He is still allergic to most dairy and other foods except homemade yogurt and butter.
• Wound up like a rubber band, hitting, biting, yelling, crying spells, etc.
  • I think part of this is being two years.  The other part is definitely influenced by what he eats.  I have noticed these kinds of issues get more pronounced when he eats something he is reacting to like GAPS approved cheeses.  For the most part, these issues have improved dramatically since being on GAPS than before.
• Occasional constipation
  • For the most part he is very regular.  I have recently found that eggs constipate him.

So, that is  a pretty good run down I think.  The next post I write about my healing journey will definitely be about what happened during my mental breakdowns.

If you have questions about the diet, feel free to give me a shout.

Or, if you are still looking for a GAPS menu planner or an Egg-free GAPS menu planner, I now have both of them complete.  You can read about them here:

GAPS, Paleo and Elimination diet menu planner (dairy free too)

Egg-free GAPS, Paleo, and Elimination diet menu planner (dairy free too)

Have  a blessed day!