Week 4 1/2 Summary

Having followed the allergy elimination diet faithfully for 4 weeks with absolutely no change in how I felt (except for no longer being oversensitive to the smell of dill), I called my doctor to ask what to do. She said that we can probably rule out allergies as the cause of my symptoms (which is what I pretty much expected from the beginning) and that I can skip the formal testing stage, but that I should only add one food back to my diet a day to make sure that I don't have any adverse reactions and that we have a chance to find any food allergies I might have.

So far, I've added back garlic, onion, butter, sugar, and wheat (I'm focusing on the foods that are often in seasonings and sauces because that's what I've missed the most.) I did notice that when I went to the produce market after adding back the first four that I was again oversensitive to the smell of dill. I can live with that, particularly since that's been a stable symptom ever since I was in third or fourth grade. Other than that, I've had no reactions. A few more foods and I should be able to start cautiously eating out again.

I'm still debating whether or not to add coffee back into my diet. I love the flavor of coffee and the ritual of having a cup, but I hate when I get addicted to it and can't function without it (or get a headache if I don't have it.) And personally, I don't think it's worth drinking decaf. Even the quality decaf coffees don't taste as good to me, I'd rather go without.

Week 3 Summary

So, it's been 3 weeks and I don't feel any different. Some of that may be that I seem to have a cold or something coming on, but none the less, I can't start testing foods yet. I have reset that counter to add another week, as the instruction sheet I have from my doctor says if you don't feel better to wait until 4 weeks and then call them.

I gained two pounds this week. I was a little worried that would happen because last week's loss seemed too good to be true! I did however drop 1% in body fat - it hadn't changed previously. (This is per my Tanita Scale.)

I'm still struggling with not having coffee - it's my biggest craving. I actually poured myself a cup the other day just so I could hold it and sniff it. It's really not as much the effect of the coffee, as the enjoyment of the taste and smell. Then again, I might not miss it if I could have a greater selection of tasty foods. It is really hard for me to have to avoid onion, garlic, citrus, sugar, soy and sesame - it seems like most flavorful foods have at least one of those ingredients! Even my sweetie, the chef, has trouble coming up with interesting ideas. (Of course, it doesn't help that I'm a vegetarian - after all, you can always flavor things with bacon grease...)