STARVING

[Anonymous]

Hi! I’ve been on TED since April 8th and I’m really having a hard time sticking with it. We had a birthday party here today and I just want the food so bad. DD hasn’t let me add any new foods for over a month. So far she lets me eat: chicken, grapes, oats, olive oil, pears, potatoes, rice, squash, sunflower oil, sweat potatoes, turkey, and zucchini. So doesn’t let me eat: apples, bananas, carrots, corn, eggs, peaches and salmon. I’ve asked my pediatrician for recommendations (allergist? nutritionist?) for someone to help me pick what to eat or for advice. She consulted with an allergist, but the allergist said she couldn’t do anything to help me, DD is too little. I try to stick to the “least allergenic” food list someone here (sorry, I cut/paste it into a word file for my reference but didn’t credit who posted!), but I’ve fallen off the wagon with corn and eggs with unpleasant results. It’s taking me forever to add new things in since I wait until her symptoms resolve before adding anything new and sometimes that takes a week. Right now I’m waiting until she recovers from the shots she received last Monday (I haven’t tried anything since the Wednesday before that) before I try something new. I am so sick of this. I really want to BF her and I can’t really afford formula, plus if she’s having this many problems on BF, I don’t want to imagine giving her real food. Thanks for listening, I just needed to vent.

[Anonymous]

Hi! I’ve been on the TED for 2.5 weeks (prior to that I was off dairy, soy, eggs, wheat and nuts for many months) so I can only imagine how you might be feeling. I avoid going anywhere near restaurants (I don’t even like looking at the restaurant signs while Im driving by) and I insist that my husband eat his food when Im not around. I have a rule that food is not to be talked about (unless I bring it up). That helps a little, but wow is it hard! I was quite a foodie before all of this. My list of foods is very similar to yours except I havent tried chicken, oats or olive oil yet. I have had success with bananas, carrots and avocados though. I also try to pick things off the least allergenic list. My DS is 7 months so we’ve done some solids (rice, pears, carrots, bananas) and it’s been ok actually. I try it first and if it’s ok when he gets it through my breastmilk then I’ll give it to him in solid form.

If your DD has a negative reaction to a food, how long does it take for her symptoms to go away and be back to normal? I stupidly tried peas 3 days ago and his typical old problems started up again….and they are just as bad 3 days later. Im wondering if this is normal…

Good luck! More than anything, I just look at DS when he’s happy and symptom free and that is my motivation to keep going. Days like today when he’s not feeling well….I would starve myself if I thought it would help.

~Diana

[Anonymous]

Diana:
I think I’ve become a foodie because of this! I swear I spend half the day thinking about food and what I can eat or try. After a month of not allowing me to add anything in, she might actually be letting me eat seaweed. Not a big deal for some people, but it’s one step closer to the sushi I crave!

In regards to duration, for me it depends on the food. The longest anything bothered DD was eggs and she had symptoms for a week! Usually it’s only a few days. It probably depends on what is it them that actually bothers our little ones. I know milk and soy stay in your body for 2 weeks or so since that’s why there is the 2 week wash out period on the TED. I’m sure there are people on her who know much better about this than I.

Your husband sounds wonderful. My husband hasn’t changed at all and actually eats ice cream with m&ms in front of me! Our GI doc can’t believe him.

[Author]

Posts