Sharing My Testimony

[Guest guest]

Hello,

I just want to encourage all of you by sharing my " testimony " so to

speak! I have been a part of this group for a couple of weeks, but

felt it on my heart to help and encourage you with my past

experiences. So, here goes...

I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in

1994 at age 21. I was a wild child, so to speak, and did much damage

to my body during high school and college, which did not help

anything. I was very ill, and they put me on Prednisone and then

Pentasa. I shutter to remember nights lying in my apartment, awaking

violently to vomit or have crampy diarrhea, thinking all the while

this was the last night of my life. I thought I was literally dying,

which I believe I was.

I was so sick, yet slowly began to get better with the

medication. The Crohn's went into remission of symptoms, yet I

still had IBS, because I had both at the same time. Horrible!

Anyway, in 1999 or so, the IBS got very bad, almost incapacitating,

sending me to the ER

many times for such painful C. I was still having panic attacks, or

seizure-like attacks at night. This went on for a while, on and off

medications, nothing helping. In 2000, after becoming a born-again

believer, I was praying in desperation one night for the Lord to help

me and heal me, because I was so scared, newly married etc. I was in

such pain and did not want to eat a thing. That night, I remembered

a book I had stumbled across on the internet called Breaking The

Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall. I had purchased this book a

couple of years before, but as a single person, just never tried the

diet, because I hated to cook at the time!

Well, that book came to my mind, and I didn't even know if I still

owned the book. We had just moved from TN to MT, and in all the riff

raff, would it still be there? Indeed, sitting on the shelf, there

it was! I knew without a doubt, I had to try it. The next day, I

began the diet. Within a few days, I felt better than I had in

years!! I followed the diet through my whole pregnancy and into 5

months of nursing my child. Then I started to snitch! The diet had

worked! I had and still to this day have no trouble with IBS!

But the story doesn't stop there...About 7 to 8 months after stopping

the diet, not completely but snitching lots, I began to get very

fatigued and washed out. My back began to kill me when I would wake

in the mornings, and I began to have lots of trouble sleeping. A few

months later, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a very painful

illness. I took meds, anti-depressants, pain killers, etc. Was

better for a while, then had to up the pills again. I continued to

ask God for his healing. In the meantime, my son was developing some

problems with his bowels, and his behavior. I was praying lots, and

was lead to food allergies, glutens, dairy, etc. All coming full

circle, was lead back to the SCD.

Now, my whole family is on SCD. My son is doing so well, just 3

weeks into the diet. His stool test had come back indicating some form

of inflammatory bowel process going on, so without hesitation, we

have started, and he is OH so much better!

I also want to report, I am

completely healed of fibromyalgia! I don't have to take any

medications to help me sleep at all! I sleep more soundly than ever

in my life! I am slightly stiff when I eat

too much honey or too much fruit (or when it is rainy and overcast),

but for the most part, I feel

wonderful. The " brain fog " associated with fibromyalgia lifted when

I got off of dairy alone! It was amazing.

Yes, now we do the SCD dairy free, and I miss it some. But that may

not be forever, we shall see how we do when we try to introduce the

yogurt later. For now, we are on our way to complete and total

healing with my son. So, I want to encourage each of you. Pray and

seek the Lord for all things, and He will show you the wisdom He has

for you. He is our Healer, and He led me to this diet. It is a

divinely inspired concept, and I am so thankful for it.

I hope this helps each of you to know the worth of our diets in our

lives. I don't plan on ever going back to sugar or starchy foods.

Who knows? I may be SCD for the rest of my life. But that would be

fine. Our health is worth it.

Just a note: I have been on NO medication for Crohn's since 1996 or

97, can't remember, and I just praise God for that. Just hang in

there. This diet is truly a Godsend, not only for the children, but

if you have any type of degenerative form of disease, IBS, or

fibromyalgia, this diet I feel confident will be a great benefit to

you as well. Abundant life and blessings,

Tina previous CD, IBS, Fibromyalgia

Mom to Abraham 3 and Micah 8 months