8. Drastic change of diet

Using Twitter I had come to know a woman by accident, something with Vitamin B12. Don't ask.

Along the way we shared things about our daily life, so of course one of the subjects had become my MS once in a while.

January 2012 she contacted me telling me about somebody with MS who had managed to get out of her wheelchair, just by changing her diet. My first response was a septic one, but then again, why not? According to my own findings, food had everything to do with how I was feeling! So, I went to have a look at the YouTube link my newly made friend had sent me: http://youtu.be/KLjgBLwH3Wc.

It didn't take much effort to come to the conclusion that this woman, Dr. Terry Wahls, confirmed I was on the right track eliminating bad additives, and she went way beyond that. She made sure that she, whatever she ate, was beneficial to her brain health.

Bingo. That I needed to know more of.

I did not expect to be able to keep on doing the work in the kitchen what was going to need to be done, at that time I couldn't even come up with the energy to cook a proper meal on daily basis. But, It was going to be worth a try. I started with just one proper meal a day, the Wahls way.

Around that time I was using an ankle brace when walking my dog, to deal with my drop foot like symptom and I was actually considering getting a mobility scooter because I was getting sick of the effort I had to put in walking. Within a few day though, even with just one proper meal a day, I started leaving the bandage for what it was. That was roughly two years ago, I haven't touched it since. Not to lay an ankle brace at least.

One of Dr. Wahls her things is pointing out allergens. Like gluten. My beloved bread... :(

With new years just behind us I was still in the mood of baking oliebollen, it just so happened that the day before I decided to eliminate gluten for a few weeks, I baked a good load of oliebollen. I was looking forward to eating them on a nice sunny summer day, I love those things. Preferably dipped and drowned in powdered sugar.

So, having put all oliebollen in the freezer, I was going to give eliminating gluten from my diet a try, for a minimum of four weeks.

Since I had started eating the Wahls way anyway, I didn't look for gluten free bread replacements. Where there was bread to be found in my diet previously, there were vegetables and fruits now. Since I had started eating that way, prior to eliminating gluten, I just ate my bread as a snack anyway. Home made French bread, dipped in maple sirup...

The first days didn't do much. But after three weeks I all of a sudden got a major energy boost. Expecting it to be a symptom of 'one of those good days'. I didn't expect much of it, until it became apparent this was a lasting thing!

It lasted until I started eating gluten again, after having been gluten free for roughly 5.5 weeks.

The first day of being back on gluten I ate my oliebollen, with powdered sugar, the second day I was having pancakes for diner. 'Just' after the oliebollen I didn't notice much. But the second day, while having beloved pancakes I nearly collapsed. I fed one to my dog, nothing wrong there, he loved it. The next day I gave the pancakes away to my mum who had come over. Also, no problem there. I warned her about the possibility of something being wrong wit the pancakes, but no, she and her husband had no problems eating them and also the aftermath was without any problem. Since then, not taking rare exceptions in account, I'm gluten free. I had research done in the hospital, but I seem not to suffer from Coeliac disease. I could have extended the research, but I'd have to eat gluten again for a minimum of six weeks. I didn't and still don't want to go voluntarily through that hell. Coeliac disease or not, from there on I was going permanently gluten free. Google if you like.

My latest fall of the wagon was a few weeks prior to new years from 2013 to 2014. I had one(!) punch roll. After all. the specialist I had seen in the hospital because of my gluten issue, had said I most likely would be able to eat gluten again after some time. It was awesome, I loved the punch roll, it was worth the try. But I nearly instantly had an attack of being fatigued. I was able to loose the fatigue by attempting to chill on the couch. But my hope, I hoped to be able to eat some 'normal' oliebollen again, was shot to pieces. Luckily those can be made free of gluten as well, but unfortunately they're just not as good.

Back to the Wahls diet. So, the diet is asking for nine cups of healthy stuff a day. Three cups a meal. Three meals a day.

This is where I go wrong already. In normal circumstances I only eat twice a day (#cheat). You'd have to hospitalize me to have me get up early enough to have my breakfast that early that I can fit in two more meals. But the hospitals I've been at, they don't serve me the Wahls diet. Of course I still eat healthy as possible, no non-organic meat and no gluten. Unless the hospital has organic meat on the menu, they get to know me as a gluten free vegetarian.

Depending on what I feel like having, my brunch consists of a smoothy mainly made with every day fruits (#cheat), or a meal consisting of organic meat and when possible two different colors of vegetables. What I do pretty well I think.

I had a very fast recovery starting the moment I started the diet. I thought never to be able to make the trip by train to Malmö again, but the summer of 2012 I went there (#milestone), visiting my friend. When I arrived I even had energy left. I didn't, but I had plenty of energy left to return home the very next day. Opposed to what I expected, I had expected to have to recover for at least two weeks.

I had full access to my friend her kitchen and the grocery store, so keeping up the diet as I was used to, while I was in Malmö, was not going to be a problem at all. The first two days though, not knowing Swedish well enough to know what meat was organic, I had a vegetarian life. What I noticed in my energy level. Thinking at first it was the trip kicking in anyway, I didn't think much of it. I didn't mind not having meat, I didn't bother asking either in the store. But after my friend showed me when we went shopping with the two of us, I nearly instantly had an energy boost when I had my first meat-prepared meal in Malmö.

I stayed in Malmö for a few weeks, no problems encountered. I went back home. Again, no problems.

Once home, I carefully started to pickup slow jogging (#milestone). Until a sinew in the left groin started to throb and become seriously painful. An inflammation, my general practitioner, a temp, said. Leave it be, give it some rest, after a week or two you should be fine again. So, two weeks later I was there for another visit. Leave it be, give it some rest, after three weeks you should be fine again, another temp. So, after three weeks I went back with an unchanged condition. My very own general practitioner was back in business. I got a painkiller. Leave it be, give it the rest needed, wait till you feel OK again.

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