Diet related symptoms? Suggestions welcome - Diet & Nutrition Message Board

dreamkatcha · 09-18-2008, 01:20 PM

Hi everyone,

I'm really at the end of my tether with obsessing over the endless possibilities which may help to explain my symptoms and was wondering if any of you have experienced the same thing and have any solutions.

I used to have daily bouts of migraine aura, but the worst symptoms ceased when I gave up diet drinks containing artificial sweeteners. While grateful for this not so small mercy, I now 'just' suffer from alternating phases of feeling dopey, slow, confused, lethargic, and unable to focus for more than a few seconds, and the precise opposite - energised, alert, clear-headed and quick-witted.

Could it all be E numbers? Salicylate intolerance? Or something completely different?

JohnR41 · 09-29-2008, 10:41 AM

It sounds like you might have a blood-sugar problem where your blood-sugar goes from being too high to too low. Whenever you get to feeling "dopey, slow, confused, lethargic, and unable to focus," try eating some protein and see if that works. If it does, then you have a blood-sugar problem and need to be on a special diet.

dreamkatcha · 09-29-2008, 12:48 PM

That does sound pretty logical because I do have a low sugar diet, especially where breakfast and lunch is concerned and I don't eat at all between meals. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a go.

As the symptoms seem to be worse after eating certain types of food I'm currently investigating the possibility that it's a wheat/gluten intolerance. The tension in my forehead doesn't seem to occur if I stick to non-wheat based cereal for instance. I still generally feel dazed and washed out, but maybe I need to maintain the gluten-free diet for longer to give it a chance to kick in properly.

Shannatoo · 09-29-2008, 07:15 PM

I highly recommend trying a wheat/gluten free diet for a minimum if six weeks.... I cannot tell you how much my life improved after eliminating gluten. Before discovering my gluten issue, I has similiar episodes of feeling lethargic, "dopey" and had trouble focusing (among killer migraines, severe sinus pressure, etc)....

I recommend eliminating all wheat/gluten for six weeks and keep track of all of your symptoms on a calender. After the six weeks is up SLOWLY put gluten back into your diet (on the first day of introduction, eat about 1/2 cup of something glutenous twice throughout the day, if no symptoms do the same thing the next day, if symptoms arise, you've found the culprit!)

Good Luck!

Shanna

dreamkatcha · 09-30-2008, 01:28 PM

Great to hear it worked for you. It must have been such a relief to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

I'll definitely keep it up and see what happens because I think I may be onto a winner here. Anyone who says they don't eat much wheat/gluten and so that's unlikely to be the cause of any symptoms they may be experiencing likely isn't aware of its prolific use in the food manufacturing process. It's in practically everything whether it's naturally a main ingredient or added for texture or flavouring. So irritating when you're trying to avoid it. You think you're playing safe by buying rice based products until you look at the ingredients list and discover that many of them contain barley malt flavouring.

What I'd like to see is a list of non-specialist processed stuff that is safe for coeliacs (one that you don't need to become a member to see I should add). Buying everything from supermarket 'Free From' ranges is idiot-proof, but it's not easy to justify spending two or three times the price of the ordinary glutenous brands.