Gluten-Free Girl

I came across the blog Gluten Free Girl. The recipes look good. She's also written a book which I need to check out. Anyone have it already?

Kicking Out Dairy

A reader shared the following story:

I just "happened" upon your blog tonight, and I am really glad to read it! I started with migraines in high school, and began missing a lot of school. The Dr.'s were prescribing medications that concerned me as we got into stronger and stronger ones. I had a teacher take me aside, whom I knew to also be a migraine sufferer, and she shared with me her personal triggers (dairy- mostly) and suggested I consider looking for my own triggers. Her advice was God-sent, as my migraines were easily triggered by dairy. Over time I learned how to eliminate it from my diet. I now can measure the time between migraines in years, rather than days. I appreciate this forum that allows people to share their stories and their trust in Yahweh.

Anyone else out there that has found dairy to be a problem?

New Doctor and Good Results

Hi, I'm the guy who runs this blog. I started it on a whim and didn't expect many people to ever read it. And I was right. Very few people have read it. But I've been pleasantly surprised by the fact that anyone has found it and that some have been encouraged by it. To all who have commented and shared their stories: Thank you!

My Recent Journey
I haven't wanted to focus too much on my own experience because what I've learned is that everyone is different and the same treatments don't work for everyone. But in the past few months I went to a new doctor and I honestly feel like God is using him to make me healthier. Not only am I experiencing fewer headaches, but I'm correcting some bad diet and lifestyle habits shaped by my headaches.

I can't get into all the details in this post, but I want to share a little and then, depending on the feedback, I'll try to share more about my treatment. In a nutshell, my new doctor at Roselle Alternative Care Center did a saliva test that revealed that my adrenal glands were running on fumes (stress and other factors were contributing to this). He also discovered that I have gluten intolerance. So he's been changing my diet, doing weekly chiropractic adjustments, giving me different supplements and trying to help me limit stress in my life.

Here are some of practical things I'm doing:

1. To keep my blood sugar from fluctuating too much I'm eating every 2.5 hours. I used to go long stretches without eating because I was trying to avoid food triggers. But this was causing more problems!

2. I'm drinking a lot more water. My Doctor says to drink half my weight in ounces each day. For me that's 70 ounces. I never used to drink anywhere near this much in the past! (I'm also going to the bathroom constantly. Oh, well!)

3. I'm on a gluten-free diet. Goodbye, bread! Hello, brown rice.

4. I'm taking B-12. And some nasty tasting supplement that's supposed to boost my adrenal glands. They taste horrible but they're better than a migraine.

5. I've started branching out by eating fruits and vegetables that I used to think were triggers. When I first learned about headaches I probably read too many "trigger lists" and cut out more from my diet than I needed to. Now that a gluten-free diet is healing my intestines, I also think I'm better able to process healthy foods. So though I can't eat bread, I'm munching apples and bananas again which is great.

6. I'm going in for weekly chiropractic adjustments. I'm not sure how long this will last.

I've been on this new regimen for a couple months. I feel better than I have in a long while. I haven't had a headache for four weeks and for the first time I feel like I'm doing more than just medicating my symptoms.

I'd love to hear if anyone has tried any of this or if it matches up with anything you've learned.

Please Pray When You Visit This Site

A young lady shared the following:

hi. i just came across your blog about a month ago. i have had migraines in the past but nothing compared to what i've experienced for the past 5 weeks - one constant migraine truck parked on my head that came completely out of the blue and has not left since. I never in a million years would have asked for this - my very busy life has completely stopped. i go to work on medicine daily so that I can somewhat function, do what I can while I'm there (thankfully they are understanding) and spend the rest of the 14 - 15 hours a day in bed. but what I've learned is that God is good. no matter how I feel - nothing can change that fact. Because of the cross, I know that God is bigger than this and any other trial I will experience. What hope that gives to my weary soul. I have repeatedly been comforted by the verse "my strength is made perfect in weakness." I am very aware that I am limited, and how grateful I am that His power is not. I have not been able to read consistently over the past 5 weeks due to the pain, but that has brought about sweet meditation on verses and passages that I've memorized and has also brought sweet times of communion with my Jesus. I'm praying God heals me. But I'm grateful for this opportunity to offer to Him a sacrifice of praise. He has shown me mercy when what I deserved is hell. That's something that can't be taken away when the pain and auras come on and for that I'm grateful. I'm glad my God is bigger than my migraines. --E.S.

I'm not sure why I haven't stressed this before, but reading this letter made me realize the opportunity we have to pray for each other. I don't know E.S., personally, but I want to ask God to heal her. And I'd like to ask all who visit this site to pray for her along with all the people who have shared about their struggles in other posts.

So often when I have a migraine I'm tempted to be self-focused, to only think about my pain. I want to grow in seizing those moments to pray for others who are facing similar trials. So please make your visits here a time of intercession.

E.S., I am praying that God will relieve your migraine and continue to meet you during times of communion with him. Thank you for your example of faith.

Talking to God

We received this comment and wanted to make sure everyone got to see it:

Thanks for having this blogspot. I have suffered from clusters and now migraines for years. My uncle sent me a link to this site. The strangest thing happened the other night though. I had a horrible, and I mean horrible migraine, vomiting, etc... As I called out to the Lord to remove the pain, he didn't, but for the first time I didn't just ask for relief, I started talking to him. I was actually thankful for the migraine as it brought me to him and allowed me to have a quiet time with him when I had been allowing life too much of my time and not giving enough to him. I know that sounds strange, but maybe not to you from what I read in your last blog. Blessings!

So often my only prayers during a migraine are for relief. I'm inspired by this example of seeking God even in the midst of pain.