How I Started Managing Symptoms Through Diet

[annexthecelt]

If T is what I think it means!

 

[moonbeam]

Oh T means therapist. Sorry. You'll see that a lot around here.

 

[annexthecelt]

@moonbeam Thought this was the case!

 

[annexthecelt]

Well I probably should go get some work done but thanks everyone. I wish you the best and maybe I'll see you around the web :)

 

[sun seeker]

Thank you for sharing. I've been working with diet in slightly different way, something close to the GAPS diet, which also cuts way down on sugars and also eliminates grains entirely, emphasizes healthy fats, and uses lacto-fermented foods and bone broths to improve digestion. It's helped my physical health to no end and I hope for and expect more.

Sadly, so far it has not helped my mental health at all. I'm not saying it never will, but so far I don't see it.

I bristle a bit when people tell me diet, supplements, etc. will cure my mental/emotional symptoms. There have been a lot of these people in my life. It feels invalidating because it ignores the real problems that caused the symptoms and oversimplifies the scope of work needed to change.

What I can get into is diet as one more tool among the many I use in this healing journey. If nothing else, it's hard to feel calm and positive about life if your physical health is poor.

 

[annexthecelt]

@sun seeker I'm glad your diet has helped you in your healing process. You're right -- not everyone would benefit mentally from such a change. And people that say it's the only way to help ease mental health issues are wrong. Guess it's just really worked for me since certain foods promote anxiety in me -- and the anxiety then snowballs into flareups / flashbacks. But when the anxiety isn't there, everything is so much easier to handle.

I hope you discover new things that will help you soon :)

 

[Digz]

I can see how diet can help with the management of emotions and mood swings perhaps, which may help a little with PTSD... Other than that I can't see that it would do much for PTSD. I don't mean this in a mean way. Everything's worth a try I guess. Just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

 

[mephoto]

@Digz , you have the right idea. People in general are happier when then treat their bodies better, so when I eat "clean" my general mood is better. I think being happier helps avoid some things like anxiety or depression, but it doesn't stop a trigger from triggering me, that is a different kind of hard work.

 

[sun seeker]

How long does it take, if it's going to work? I know it's worthwhile for my physical health, but I've been fastidiously eliminating everything you're supposed to eliminate and adding everything you're supposed to add for a while now and while I feel better physically, my mood is not better. Not even slightly.

 

[annexthecelt]

@Digz Yes, certain things will cause triggers no matter how much you change your diet. Your trauma or someone else's may be completely different from mine and diet may only slightly improve well-being.

Diet dramatically helped me because, little did I know, food was altering my brain chemistry and causing me tremendous anxiety / mood swings. And that anxiety was producing a mental state that reflected my trauma which - although I only used a drug once in my life - was the result of a bad trip that completely shattered my "self" and sense of reality. That anxiety blossomed into a paranoia [DPD/DR] that I couldn't let go of until I started keeping my mood / blood sugar more even.

 

[annexthecelt]

@sun seeker Are you adjusting your diet on your own or is it based on my suggestion? Just wondering so I know where you're at.

If you're eating similar to how I've been, that's great -- I must point out though that as time has gone on I noticed that if I include wheat in my diet then that's where I have the most mental issues. I know the majority of my story revolved around sugar but I think wheat gluten may be the biggest culprit for making me more susceptible to triggers. If you are in fact affected by gluten as I am and you haven't yet removed it completely, there's a chance your mood won't change for the better.

And I think it would vary from person to person how long it would take to feel the effects of a diet change... you may need to go through a detox period before you feel any results. And depending on what you were eating before, your body may need to release a lot of bad stuff!

 

[sun seeker]

Actually my dietary changes have been even more extreme than what you describe. It's something like the GAPS diet, including bone broth for repairing the gut, lots of lacto-fermented foods for beneficial bacteria, foods high in calcium and other minerals in an absorbable form plus the vitamins that work with them, high-quality fats, fish oil, and no processed anything. I have completely removed grains from my diet as well as all added sugars and anything high in phytic acid, so gluten is not the issue. I've been doing this extreme version for a bit more than a month, with more gradual changes for another month before that. So it's possible it might take longer, but to be honest I doubt diet is going to do as much as working more directly on the issues that got me into this state in the first place. I wish it were that easy but I just don't think so.