Is SCD right for my husband??

[Guest guest]

Hi! My husband is about ready to give up SCD completely because he has

lost so much weight on the diet (he is 6 4 and weighs 135 pounds.) We

are both worried that the diet isnt really the best for him. At least

not beginning on the first level and slowly introducing foods. He has

never had visible bowel problems and seems to digest everything

perfectly. Has anyone started with the intro diet and gone to level 5

within a couple of weeks?

He began SCD in april... on level 5... eating all SCD legal things.

Because I wasnt progressing well, I began to eat level 1-2 foods in June

and have continued now to August... not getting passed level 1-2. He

just eats what I cook, so he has only been getting level 1-2. He cant

take vitamins because he has reactions to bioflavanoids... so basically,

he has been getting very little nutrition in the past two months. We

both feel exhausted ALL the time. I cant increase my food variation

because i get diarrhea when I try.

I think it is better for him to jump to level 5 and eat everything SCD

legal than to begin eating gluten-free bread and rice again. Do you

agree??

The thing that I dont understand is that he gets the reaction that

Elaine described in the book... the D-lactic reaction when he eats

sugar. So I think there is still some sort of bacteria overgrowth...

though I am not sure if his small intestines are actually damaged.

Perhaps a leaky gut test and candida test would tell us if his gut is

damaged?

Is it possible to have the d-lactic reaction without having a damaged

gut?? He knows he cant continue to eat sugar, but he wants to go back to

having more energy... and in Scandinavia, the healthiest food in life is

bread.

I have been so frightened and worried these past two months because he

never has energy. Just so completely exhausted after very little

exertion. 7 people in his family have severe CFS... 3 are completely

bed-ridden, in their 20s. We worry that if he doesnt get a grip on his

diet and begin to get enough good nutrition, he might spiral down into

CFS like the others did.

Any advice would be so very appreciated! At the beginning of our phone

conversation now, he said he was wanting to just go back to regular

peoples food (because he had more weight on that). His friends are

starting to get worried that he has lost so much weight. I explained

that bread doesnt really have that much nutrition. Fruits and vegetables

have more. I encouraged him to give the diet a few more days... but

eating everything SCD legal. He agreed. I saw the difference SCD made on

his behaviour within two weeks of starting it back in April... is it

possible that it was just the limited level 1-2 that made him so

exhuasted and losing weight in these last two months??

Dont you think he could still see gut healing eating all SCD legal foods

and taking probiotics and scd yogurt in addition?

Thank you for any advice!! I really dont want to give up on the diet

because i believe in it, and I saw that it helped in May.

-

since april 2007

[Guest guest]

Hi, ,

You probably have to cook differently for your husband than for

yourself; it sounds like he may be ready to go faster than you are.

Yes, it would certainly be better to jump to stage 5 foods than to stop

SCD. But our usual " tricks " for weight gain are to add lots of healthy

fats like avocado and healthy oils. Is he eating whole-milk yogurt?

You could make " ice cream " from it. You could add it to a soup. You

could put avocado or oils in smoothies. You could incorporate more

cheese and bananas into his diet.

What is CFS?

mom to -12

SCD 4/23/04

[Guest guest]

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - my dear hubby has it too - to the disability stage

also. At least that is what we call it here.

What is CFS?

mom to -12

SCD 4/23/04

.

[Guest guest]

Because of the CFS history, you might want to look at zinc intake. For

me anyways, CFS was related to a major copper overload. Many foods on

the lower phases are pretty high in copper, so getting enough zinc in

the diet or taking zinc supplements is critical if copper overload is

an issue. You can find out more about copper overload in the book, Why

Am I Always so Tired, by Anne Louise Gittleman.

I also agree about adding healthy fats to the diet to make sure you

are getting enough calories. But if you think copper might be a

problem I would only do avocado once a week or so, as it is really

high in copper.

K in Dayton, Ohio

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Fibro, CFS, yeast/candida, copper overload,

adrenal fatigue(mostly healed!!!)

Kids: son Rhowan 5 yrs old, chronic diarrhea/loose stools,

yeast/candida, ADHD, salicylate intolerance; daughter Willow 6.5 yrs

old, mild GI issues, salicylate intolerance

Started SCD June 2006, went slightly off for awhile in Nov 2006, back

on strict SCD starting May 2007. (Redid intro the last week of June

2007 and recently discovered that most carbs have to be thoroughly

pureed in order for my son to tolerate them). Right now the carbs we

can tolerate are: butternut squash, carrot, tomato juice, pomgranate

juice, spinach, zucchini, and ripe banana.

>

> Hi, ,

> You probably have to cook differently for your husband than for

> yourself; it sounds like he may be ready to go faster than you are.

> Yes, it would certainly be better to jump to stage 5 foods than to stop

> SCD. But our usual " tricks " for weight gain are to add lots of healthy

> fats like avocado and healthy oils. Is he eating whole-milk yogurt?

> You could make " ice cream " from it. You could add it to a soup. You

> could put avocado or oils in smoothies. You could incorporate more

> cheese and bananas into his diet.

> What is CFS?

>

>

> mom to -12

> SCD 4/23/04

>

[Guest guest]

At 02:36 AM 8/14/2007, you wrote:

>I think it is better for him to jump to level 5

>and eat everything SCD legal than to begin

>eating gluten-free bread and rice again. Do you agree??

Well, what I would do is give him some level 3

and 4 foods for a few weeks -- just to get some

more food into him! -- and see how he does. Not

jump from stages 1 & 2 right to 5!

Is he getting large enough quantities of the

foods he is eating? One of the things I found

when starting was that I was making standard 6 oz

burgers, for instance -- that we used to have

with a bun, and all kinds of stuff that added

another three or four hundred calories. We had to go to ten ounce burgers.

My husband is non-SCD, but has CFS. He eats SCD

at home, and whatever he wants when we eat out --

often fried seafood with large slabs of wheat

bread. He's usually very tired, and very cranky

that evening. He IS aware that eating it can be a

problem as he's given up toast in the morning and

now eats sliced cheese and pecan halves. But

since he doesn't have any gut issues that he's

aware of, he hasn't yet resigned himself to

giving up his N'Awlins style seafood.

— Marilyn

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund

[Guest guest]

He had reached his absolute low on tuesday... so extremely exhausted.

He took a melatonin (yes, i know its illegal, but he has been CRAVING

a good nights rest). He woke up wednesday energized and finally went

a WHOLE day at work with loads of energy and came home and still had

loads of energy until around 8 pm!!! He ate stage 3 things on

Wednesday at work and at home. Seems to be feeling loads better! He

is really pleased that he can work well again... he has been almost

unable to do his job these past few weeks.

To answer the questions... I thought that he had been eating enough

at each meal time. We have tried to eat 1.1 pound of meat at every

meal.... 4 meals a day. Now we are decreasing the meat and increasing

the cooked veggies and healthy oils.

Copper overload: He had some tests done in march that showed he was

severely deficient in copper. He has been taking 4 mg of copper every

day since march. It might just be that he has enough now. He started

taking a zinc about a week ago. We have stopped the copper and will

increase the zinc now... see if that helps!

Thank you all SOOO much for your help!! it was SO good to get the

advice on fattening him up. He has started drinking oils in the

morning and at night. I have made home made nut butter, which he

loves! hoping that he can advance to nut flour in a few weeks.

not exactly fair that he is advancing so quickly. hehe. I am just

hoping that my body has tolerated the green beans, few cooked beats

and cooked fruit i ate yesterday! Our goal is to be able to visit

my family in America and be able to eat pealed raw fruit and veggies.

If i am still on stage 2 in december, it will just make it that much

harder to eat when I am traveling and visiting family.

Thanks again!

-kelly

since april 2007