Day 371 - SCD

Day two of the SCD program.

I've suffered from chronic stomach issues since childhood. I won't go into details, but you'll just have to trust me. All I am allowed to eat (granted, as much of it as I want, and only for 5 days) is homemade chicken soup (nothing in it but chicken, it's own broth, and emulsified carrots), gelatin, steamed carrots, grape juice, eggs, honey, and beef patties. Essentially, I am eating like a sick dog.

My better half suggested this program (and has gone WAY out of her way to cook and prepare essentially everything for me) knowing that I have never been able to find an answer to my stomach issues. And believe me, I have tried. I've cut out various foods, in various combinations, too many hundreds of times to even begin to count. To no avail.

I'll spare you the descriptive element of how this works, but just say that it's basically not allowing the bad bacteria in my stomach to survive on junk sugars and junk carbs.

I've learned two things thusfar

1) My withdrawals were immediate. I don't think I got through the afternoon of day one without already craving salts and sugars. It opened my eyes even wider to the addictive element of me. And has proven just how out of wack my dopamine is. I am a creature of habit. And when you take away my ability to mindlessly snack on something throughout the course of the day? I want to fold like a cheap suit. This has truly been as difficult as the attempt to quit smoking (I'm still smoking, but have quit in the past).

2) I was told that the reaction to the death of these bacteria might be immediate and pervasive. Well, it is. I feel flu-ish. Have on and off headaches. I'm exhausted and cranky. I want to eat a plate full of nachos and chase it with some ice cream like you wouldn't fucking believe. To end the agony.

But I can't do that. I need to heal my stomach in order to heal my mind. And 41 years of this is enough.

If you're going to try this, and you're predisposed to an addictive element of yourself like I am, be prepared. This is not fun. But from what I've read, it turns a bit of a corner by the third day.

I'll try and let you know if that's true. If you don't hear from me, I'll be headfirst in a vat of nacho cheese.