13/09/2013
GAPS Diet - A Family Testimony
Dear Friends!
I receive many letters from people all over the world. This one came in recently. I would like to thank the family for willing to share their personal story with the world!
Dear Doctor,
I cannot begin to thank you for your research and your book. You and your diet has changed our lives.
We tried everything to help our little two year old girl. I had a caesarean that became infected and had a lot of IV antibiotics.
I noticed straight away that my little one was affected despite being reassured by doctors that it would not affect the breast milk.
By three weeks her she had a herniated navel from screaming. She was clearly in agony. None could help us.
We struggled on, sleep deprived, we vaccinated because we were too afraid not too. I remember her reacting - a one month old baby - the doctor took her out of my arms to comfort her - we were both so distressed.
At six months we started solid foods. The usual starting food of rice made my little girl so constipated that she screamed the house down. A litany of bad nutritional advice followed and I took it all on. Desperate and frightened and sleep deprived.
We went through three paediatricians and every alternative healing modality imaginable.
At 11 months old she was diagnosed anaphylactic to egg, nut and sesame.
By the time she was 14 months she had become oppositional, aggressive - would be awake for hours in the night. The so called night terrors escalated. We gave Paracetamol and ibuprofen almost every night.
We had no idea how to help our little girl.
A few months later and her tantrums became longer and more frequent.
We found the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital diet and were able to manage her amines, glutamates - food chemicals. We saw a dramatic change in behaviour. We knew it was related but we thought we were healing her.
After months of her being on rice milk, our little girl deteriorated in the most frightening way. She would lie rigid on the floor screaming and kicking her legs, pulling at her lips, no eye contact, could not speak to us. She smashed her little head on the ground.
This would happen three or four times a night and many times in the day.
My partner had to leave his job. I just could not do it on my own. I dreaded the days. I was frightened at night. It was truly the most horrible experience I have ever known in my life.
She was starving all the time and could never get enough food. She would eat to bursting point. Her stomach looked malnourished, she was thin and eyes dark.
We had nothing to lose and despite her being seriously allergic to eggs and nuts we went on intro and took gelatine. Every single step was tiny, painstaking in fact, but she began to improve.
Then she really began to improve.
We started GAPS three months ago and we have a very different little girl I am overjoyed to tell you. She sleeps very well at night. Still wakes once or twice but no screaming or upset. Her appetite has normalised and she loves her meals. She poos every day and has put on a kilo. She loves cream and butter and avocado.
In the past, she could not handle even a little bit of broccoli or avocado. These days, she had enormous amounts and I don't even pay attention how much.
She is calm and happy in the day and we as a family can relax and enjoy her.
We are going on holiday in a few weeks and I am confident she will be fine in the new environment.
We still have a way to go but we can travel the rest of this path happily. We have much to thank you for. I hope we have the opportunity to do this in person one day when you are next in Australia.
We would be very happy to share our story with the general public if it was ever needed. I look forward to becoming a GAPS consultant in the future and feel absolutely committed to helping other families see their children heal just as ours has.
Kindest regards and deep thanks,
Nicole, James, Stevie Rose and Josephine
Update on 21 November 2013
I am now delighted to tell you that the little girl who was anaphylactic to egg, nut and sesame now no longer needs her epipens!
Skin prick tests recently revealed that her allergy bumps, which originally measured around 15 mm for egg and peanut, are now down to around 5 mm.
She is now no longer showing any signs of allergy to sesame or other tree nuts.
We still need to challenge this by giving her the allergens in a controlled way but I can't tell you what a weight has been lifted from our shoulders.
We are still only six months into GAPS, she is still allergic but thankfully not life-threateningly so, and we still have wobbly days and even a few bad weeks but we have so many happy days and I feel confident we are doing the best we can to help our daughter heal.
I have started a support group and business to help raise awareness about the alchemy of food as medicine and I would love your further support.
Please feel free to have a look at the page. It has some beautiful pictures that I hope to inspire people to stick with intro - even enjoy it - and make it feel accessible. Please do what you can to support it and share it if you feel it is appropriate.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mamma-Care/405299626262430
Again, I cannot thank you enough.
Kindest regards,
Nicole
