what die-off feels like

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

A lot of parents have have written recently about being concerned about their

kids' die-off reactions. I'd thought I'd share my recent experience, since I've

just gone through this and am able to verbalize and write about how it feels. I

hope this helps to calm fears and understand what might be happening.

What Die-off Feels Like:

I started SCD, for myself and my family, on November 1. For two of us, the diet

is very much a necessity: I’ve been struggling with chronic fatigue syndrome,

chemical sensitivities, candida, and other health issues for 20 years, and my

son has aspergers syndrome, is very ADHD, and has learning disabilities. For the

other two, scd is a general health and diet improvement. One problem I’ve

never had is elimination issues. (Ms. Perfect Poops here. Go figure.) My son and

I have been GF for a couple of years. It made a big difference for him. I

didn’t notice any improvements for myself. He was CF for a year, then we did a

milk trial and we noticed no changes, so we are no longer CF.

I decided that we would all start on the full SCD, and " back into " the intro,

hopefully in a sneaky way, because my son is very, very resistant. And so we

did. At first, I noticed nothing. I also started taking olive leaf extracts,

just a couple of capsules a day (instructions were to increase up to 6 capsules

a day). Then, after about a week, I started feeling the die-off symptoms. I’ve

done candida treatments before, as I’ve had chronic problems for a very long

time, so I knew what to expect: headaches and a flu-like, worn-out feeling.

I’d felt it all before, and from experience knew I’d feel lousy for about 3

days, so I took it easy for about 3 days. But then, instead of getting better, I

felt worse. Suddenly, I started feeling terribly nauseous every time I looked at

food. I couldn’t stomach any of my supplements or pills. That was the end of

the olive leaf extract (and I’ve never gone back on it), and naturally I

expected my symptoms to abate. But, the only foods I could tolerate were plain

chicken soup and yogurt – so I was eating a litre or two of yogurt every day.

They were the only things that I could stomach for days. Then I started eating

one meal a day of " real food " – some ground beef, a little zucchini, or

something similar. In short, my body gave me the intro diet I needed!

But I still felt terrible. To make this long story a little shorter, I had a

constant headache for three weeks and nausea for two weeks. Throughout the

die-off, my food never tasted right and nothing tasted good, except sometimes

the yogurt and chicken soup. And I was exhausted all the time. I felt like my

chronic fatigue syndrome had suddenly had the volume cranked wayyyyyyyyyyy up. I

could hardly get out of bed some days. And some days I didn’t. My sleep

patterns are totally messed up, too. They were poor before scd, got worse during

die-off, and still aren’t back to " normal. "

This lasted for over three weeks! One of my cfs symptoms is also mild

depression. By the fourth week of die-off, I was so depressed. Sometimes I just

went to hide in the bedroom to cry. One night I just cried and cried to hubby

about how hopeless everything was, that nothing would ever get better, and

nothing he said to console me had any effect whatever. One day, instead of

depressed, I felt terribly angry at everyone. I couldn’t stand to see or talk

to anyone. I just wanted to hide in the bedroom. When I came out in the

afternoon for some food (no appetite, but hunger drove me to eat), hubby asked,

" Can we start over? " " NO! " I said, and gave everyone the silent treatment for

the rest of the day. I had an interesting thought that day, though. It occurred

to me that maybe this was what autism was like, this kind of withdrawing into

oneself (but worse, of course, than what I felt). And I thought, well, if the

reason my son is angry all the time is because this is what he’s feeling –

well, I could understand! This was awful! Later that day I flipped back to

depression and started crying again. I hated myself! I hated being that way! But

I had no control over how I was reacting.

I also had terrible brain fog. I wanted to do nothing but lie quietly and read,

but I could hardly concentrate. I could only read the easiest things. I tried

watching DVDs, but everything was so depressing, so intolerable, that in the end

I decided " nothing but doggie movies with happy endings! "

Finally, after almost a month, things changed. It was evening, and I was getting

ready for bed. After my shower, I realized I wasn’t sleepy. I went to tell

hubby that I was awake, and suddenly realized, ‘Hey – I’m awake! " I told

hubby, who’s reply was, " She’s back! " Unfortunately, I " came back " around

mid-night! But I suddenly wanted so much to go for a walk, and I did – a mile

each way! Suddenly, I wanted to eat – and everything was delicious!!! I wanted

to read, and so I read most of " Autism: Effective Biomedical Treatments " –

rather more than the fluff of the previous month! By the time I went to bed, in

the wee hours, I felt pleasantly tired and sleepy, not the kind of crappy-tired

exhaustion I was used to.

So, it’s been a few days since I " woke up. " I’ve had a couple of dietary

mistakes, not huge ones, but suddenly I can notice symptoms that I couldn’t

notice before, because the symptoms were drowned out, or masked, by the daily

cfs symptoms: sudden intestinal gas, crankiness, full-body tension, grinding my

teeth.... I’m not suddenly " cured " of my cfs, it’s still there, but there is

improvement. I’m hoping the improvement will continue. And I’m very glad to

be past this stage.

________________________________________________________________________

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0050000000003

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

That was really great reading - very helpful. Thank you for putting

that all down so that others get a glimpse into what goes on.

Sheila, SCD Feb. 2001, UC 23yrs, PCOD 22yrs

mom of and

>

> Hello all,

>

> A lot of parents have have written recently about being concerned

about their kids' die-off reactions. I'd thought I'd share my recent

experience, since I've just gone through this and am able to

verbalize and write about how it feels. I hope this helps to calm

fears and understand what might be happening.

>

>

> What Die-off Feels Like:

>

>

>

> I started SCD, for myself and my family, on November 1. For two of

us, the diet is very much a necessity: I’ve been struggling with

chronic fatigue syndrome, chemical sensitivities, candida, and other

health issues for 20 years, and my son has aspergers syndrome, is

very ADHD, and has learning disabilities. For the other two, scd is a

general health and diet improvement. One problem I’ve never had is

elimination issues. (Ms. Perfect Poops here. Go figure.) My son and I

have been GF for a couple of years. It made a big difference for him.

I didn’t notice any improvements for myself. He was CF for a year,

then we did a milk trial and we noticed no changes, so we are no

longer CF.

>

>

>

> I decided that we would all start on the full SCD, and " back into "

the intro, hopefully in a sneaky way, because my son is very, very

resistant. And so we did. At first, I noticed nothing. I also started

taking olive leaf extracts, just a couple of capsules a day

(instructions were to increase up to 6 capsules a day). Then, after

about a week, I started feeling the die-off symptoms. I’ve done

candida treatments before, as I’ve had chronic problems for a very

long time, so I knew what to expect: headaches and a flu-like, worn-

out feeling. I’d felt it all before, and from experience knew I’d

feel lousy for about 3 days, so I took it easy for about 3 days. But

then, instead of getting better, I felt worse. Suddenly, I started

feeling terribly nauseous every time I looked at food. I couldn’t

stomach any of my supplements or pills. That was the end of the olive

leaf extract (and I’ve never gone back on it), and naturally I

expected my symptoms to abate. But, the only foods I could tolerate

were plain chicken soup and yogurt †" so I was eating a litre or two

of yogurt every day. They were the only things that I could stomach

for days. Then I started eating one meal a day of " real food " †"

some ground beef, a little zucchini, or something similar. In short,

my body gave me the intro diet I needed!

>

>

>

> But I still felt terrible. To make this long story a little

shorter, I had a constant headache for three weeks and nausea for two

weeks. Throughout the die-off, my food never tasted right and nothing

tasted good, except sometimes the yogurt and chicken soup. And I was

exhausted all the time. I felt like my chronic fatigue syndrome had

suddenly had the volume cranked wayyyyyyyyyyy up. I could hardly get

out of bed some days. And some days I didn’t. My sleep patterns are

totally messed up, too. They were poor before scd, got worse during

die-off, and still aren’t back to " normal. "

>

>

>

> This lasted for over three weeks! One of my cfs symptoms is also

mild depression. By the fourth week of die-off, I was so depressed.

Sometimes I just went to hide in the bedroom to cry. One night I just

cried and cried to hubby about how hopeless everything was, that

nothing would ever get better, and nothing he said to console me had

any effect whatever. One day, instead of depressed, I felt terribly

angry at everyone. I couldn’t stand to see or talk to anyone. I

just wanted to hide in the bedroom. When I came out in the afternoon

for some food (no appetite, but hunger drove me to eat), hubby

asked, " Can we start over? " " NO! " I said, and gave everyone the

silent treatment for the rest of the day. I had an interesting

thought that day, though. It occurred to me that maybe this was what

autism was like, this kind of withdrawing into oneself (but worse, of

course, than what I felt). And I thought, well, if the reason my son

is angry all the time is because this is what he’s feeling †"

well, I could understand! This was awful! Later that day I flipped

back to depression and started crying again. I hated myself! I hated

being that way! But I had no control over how I was reacting.

>

>

>

> I also had terrible brain fog. I wanted to do nothing but lie

quietly and read, but I could hardly concentrate. I could only read

the easiest things. I tried watching DVDs, but everything was so

depressing, so intolerable, that in the end I decided " nothing but

doggie movies with happy endings! "

>

>

>

> Finally, after almost a month, things changed. It was evening, and

I was getting ready for bed. After my shower, I realized I wasn’t

sleepy. I went to tell hubby that I was awake, and suddenly realized,

‘Hey †" I’m awake! " I told hubby, who’s reply was, " She’s

back! " Unfortunately, I " came back " around mid-night! But I suddenly

wanted so much to go for a walk, and I did †" a mile each way!

Suddenly, I wanted to eat †" and everything was delicious!!! I

wanted to read, and so I read most of " Autism: Effective Biomedical

Treatments " †" rather more than the fluff of the previous month! By

the time I went to bed, in the wee hours, I felt pleasantly tired and

sleepy, not the kind of crappy-tired exhaustion I was used to.

>

>

>

> So, it’s been a few days since I " woke up. " I’ve had a couple

of dietary mistakes, not huge ones, but suddenly I can notice

symptoms that I couldn’t notice before, because the symptoms were

drowned out, or masked, by the daily cfs symptoms: sudden intestinal

gas, crankiness, full-body tension, grinding my teeth.... I’m not

suddenly " cured " of my cfs, it’s still there, but there is

improvement. I’m hoping the improvement will continue. And I’m

very glad to be past this stage.

>

>

______________________________________________________________________

__

> More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! -

http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/text.htm?

ncid=aolcmp00050000000003

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi

yes--I wrote before, but thank you.

your insight was and is very helpful

Re: what die-off feels like

Hi ,

That was really great reading - very helpful. Thank you for putting

that all down so that others get a glimpse into what goes on.

Sheila, SCD Feb. 2001, UC 23yrs, PCOD 22yrs

mom of and

>

> Hello all,

>

> A lot of parents have have written recently about being concerned

about their kids' die-off reactions. I'd thought I'd share my recent

experience, since I've just gone through this and am able to

verbalize and write about how it feels. I hope this helps to calm

fears and understand what might be happening.

>

>

> What Die-off Feels Like:

>

>

>

> I started SCD, for myself and my family, on November 1. For two of

us, the diet is very much a necessity: Iâ?Tve been struggling with

chronic fatigue syndrome, chemical sensitivities, candida, and other

health issues for 20 years, and my son has aspergers syndrome, is

very ADHD, and has learning disabilities. For the other two, scd is a

general health and diet improvement. One problem Iâ?Tve never had is

elimination issues. (Ms. Perfect Poops here. Go figure.) My son and I

have been GF for a couple of years. It made a big difference for him.

I didnâ?Tt notice any improvements for myself. He was CF for a year,

then we did a milk trial and we noticed no changes, so we are no

longer CF.

>

>

>

> I decided that we would all start on the full SCD, and " back into "

the intro, hopefully in a sneaky way, because my son is very, very

resistant. And so we did. At first, I noticed nothing. I also started

taking olive leaf extracts, just a couple of capsules a day

(instructions were to increase up to 6 capsules a day). Then, after

about a week, I started feeling the die-off symptoms. Iâ?Tve done

candida treatments before, as Iâ?Tve had chronic problems for a very

long time, so I knew what to expect: headaches and a flu-like, worn-

out feeling. Iâ?Td felt it all before, and from experience knew Iâ?Td

feel lousy for about 3 days, so I took it easy for about 3 days. But

then, instead of getting better, I felt worse. Suddenly, I started

feeling terribly nauseous every time I looked at food. I couldnâ?Tt

stomach any of my supplements or pills. That was the end of the olive

leaf extract (and Iâ?Tve never gone back on it), and naturally I

expected my symptoms to abate. But, the only foods I could tolerate

were plain chicken soup and yogurt â? " so I was eating a litre or two

of yogurt every day. They were the only things that I could stomach

for days. Then I started eating one meal a day of " real food " â? "

some ground beef, a little zucchini, or something similar. In short,

my body gave me the intro diet I needed!

>

>

>

> But I still felt terrible. To make this long story a little

shorter, I had a constant headache for three weeks and nausea for two

weeks. Throughout the die-off, my food never tasted right and nothing

tasted good, except sometimes the yogurt and chicken soup. And I was

exhausted all the time. I felt like my chronic fatigue syndrome had

suddenly had the volume cranked wayyyyyyyyyyy up. I could hardly get

out of bed some days. And some days I didnâ?Tt. My sleep patterns are

totally messed up, too. They were poor before scd, got worse during

die-off, and still arenâ?Tt back to " normal. "

>

>

>

> This lasted for over three weeks! One of my cfs symptoms is also

mild depression. By the fourth week of die-off, I was so depressed.

Sometimes I just went to hide in the bedroom to cry. One night I just

cried and cried to hubby about how hopeless everything was, that

nothing would ever get better, and nothing he said to console me had

any effect whatever. One day, instead of depressed, I felt terribly

angry at everyone. I couldnâ?Tt stand to see or talk to anyone. I

just wanted to hide in the bedroom. When I came out in the afternoon

for some food (no appetite, but hunger drove me to eat), hubby

asked, " Can we start over? " " NO! " I said, and gave everyone the

silent treatment for the rest of the day. I had an interesting

thought that day, though. It occurred to me that maybe this was what

autism was like, this kind of withdrawing into oneself (but worse, of

course, than what I felt). And I thought, well, if the reason my son

is angry all the time is because this is what heâ?Ts feeling â? "

well, I could understand! This was awful! Later that day I flipped

back to depression and started crying again. I hated myself! I hated

being that way! But I had no control over how I was reacting.

>

>

>

> I also had terrible brain fog. I wanted to do nothing but lie

quietly and read, but I could hardly concentrate. I could only read

the easiest things. I tried watching DVDs, but everything was so

depressing, so intolerable, that in the end I decided " nothing but

doggie movies with happy endings! "

>

>

>

> Finally, after almost a month, things changed. It was evening, and

I was getting ready for bed. After my shower, I realized I wasnâ?Tt

sleepy. I went to tell hubby that I was awake, and suddenly realized,

â?~Hey â? " Iâ?Tm awake! " I told hubby, whoâ?Ts reply was, " Sheâ?Ts

back! " Unfortunately, I " came back " around mid-night! But I suddenly

wanted so much to go for a walk, and I did â? " a mile each way!

Suddenly, I wanted to eat â? " and everything was delicious!!! I

wanted to read, and so I read most of " Autism: Effective Biomedical

Treatments " â? " rather more than the fluff of the previous month! By

the time I went to bed, in the wee hours, I felt pleasantly tired and

sleepy, not the kind of crappy-tired exhaustion I was used to.

>

>

>

> So, itâ?Ts been a few days since I " woke up. " Iâ?Tve had a couple

of dietary mistakes, not huge ones, but suddenly I can notice

symptoms that I couldnâ?Tt notice before, because the symptoms were

drowned out, or masked, by the daily cfs symptoms: sudden intestinal

gas, crankiness, full-body tension, grinding my teeth.... Iâ?Tm not

suddenly " cured " of my cfs, itâ?Ts still there, but there is

improvement. Iâ?Tm hoping the improvement will continue. And Iâ?Tm

very glad to be past this stage.

>

>

__________________________________________________________

__

> More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! -

http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/text.htm?

ncid=aolcmp00050000000003

>

>

>