I had to review my last update post which was WEEK 4 of the diet, when we were still in intro diet stage 2. Let me see if I can summarize what we've experienced since then:
WEEKS 5-8: In these weeks my husband experienced a moderate flare of his ulcerative colitis with recurring loose stools, abdominal pain, and rectal bleeding. In addition, he also continued to struggle severely with constant hunger and cravings. He was not always in the best mood (understandably), and felt like... crap. He lost weight, and at six foot and 145lbs, he did not have any to lose. He looked pitiful and I was super worried about him. I couldn't figure out what we were doing wrong. I made him go back to stage 1 for a couple days, then kept him on stage 2 for as long as I could, but his symptoms weren't subsiding no matter what I took away or added, and he was starving... I was a little confused, and couldn't find any good advice from someone who had been in his shoes. As far as I could tell, we were doing everything right. But it got to the point where he could no longer tolerate a strictly chicken soup diet, and I felt that the benefit of progressing him to stage 3 outweighed the risk of weight loss. With nutrients flying through him so quickly, he needed something more substantial. So we moved on, tentatively and slowly. He worked up to taking 250 billion of VSL#3 daily during this time. As for me, I was progressing smoothly, and still feeling progressively better. I started working (part-time) again for the first time in almost a year, which was huge progress!
WEEKS 9-13: During this time, we continued progressing slowly and cautiously through intro diet stages 3-6. My husband's flare died down, and he started experiencing significant improvements. His stools became fluffy to normal and he only had bowel movements 1-2 times per day. His extreme hunger and cravings continued. He ate like a beast! Of course, all this time we were continuing to drink broth daily with at least 1-2 meals. We also ate sauerkraut, drank kombucha, and took our probiotic supplements, fermented cod liver oil (Green Pasture), and omega 3-6-9 oil (recommend Udo's Oil). I noticed significant improvement in my skin after starting the cod liver and omega oils. My hands lost their dry, cracked look and became supple. My face took on a bit of a glow. Wounds to my extremities started to heal faster.
WEEKS 14-18: Continued improvement. We were now on the full diet, minus a few foods. I was slow about adding fruits, and had to remove a couple that I tried to add because of loose stools. We did vegetable juicing (in our Vitamix), and then started adding a little pineapple to our juice. I started making some fresh juice popsicles with carrot/pineapple juice for a refreshing dessert - yum! Started experiencing some improved symptoms that indicate an increase in my female hormone production. Yay! Also was sleeping better more consistently. Was feeling generally "well," with only occasional bouts of fatigue. My husband's extreme hunger and cravings began to subside. Again, Yay! His energy and mood improved. He started gaining back some weight that he had lost. Another Yay! He had a recurrence of some loose stools after gradually increasing his probiotic dose to 900 billion with help from the NORD VSL#3 Patient Assistance Program (for patients with ulcerative colitis or pouchitis only). However, still only having 1-2 stools per day, and NO bleeding (a good sign!).
WEEK 19: So here we are! Plugging along. Definitely SOLD on the GAPS protocol. We know we still have a long way to go, but we have seen such significant improvement in the past 3-4 months, that we are confident this is the way forward.
Example of a GAPS breakfast: Squash pancakes, scrambled eggs, boiled "sausage" patties, guacamole, kombucha, and broth.
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