January 18, 2011

Die-Off and You Would Think I Would Learn

We made a big push to increase the probiotics to therapeutic doses over the holidays. The youngest ones were already there. My twelve year old got up to 6 Bio-Kult just before Christmas (we started the Bio-Kult in July, I think). I got up from six to seven in about 8 days last week and it was rough!!! I have been unable to think. I have been irritable. Everything overwhelms me!!! I have had to just go and hide in the bedroom and let my dear husband feed the kids and put them to bed because I just couldn't carry on. I really don't like being in this state. I do have to say that I am VERY thankful that God gave me my wonderful husband who is so very patient and kind towards all of us as we go through these difficult days. Thank You, Lord.

So I should know by now to introduce things slowly and watch for reactions, but whenever I am going through die-off it seems that my brain dies off, too. I keep doing things I know I should not do and then I regret it, I feel guilty, I want to hide. We drank a lot of bone broth (Turkey) over the holidays and didn't have as severe a reaction as we used to get, although we were all definitely having issues. Healing crisis?!? Food intolerance!?! Who can tell? I still have not figured this out, but I suspect it is healing. Sooooooo, I get the bright idea that we should go ahead and make bone broth from our organic chicken bones and start adding it to our chicken broth in small amounts. Let's keep the goodness going. So I make a huge pot of bone broth and I start adding a pint of bone broth to our broth daily. This is more than just a little bit, but I figure, we can handle it.

Now I am guessing I was wrong. Well, I suppose all of the reactions could be healing reactions as in a healing crisis, but I am going to lose my mind. We have strange rashes and tantrums and loud voices and irritability and other stuff. I can't even keep up because of my die-off (or am I reacting to the bone broth?).

Anyway, I need a little peace, a little break from the insanity, so I am going to remove the bone broth once again and try again next week, but in smaller quantities.

On the bright side, the broth I made will last longer and I will not need to make more anytime soon. There's always a bright side and I am learning to always look for it. It is especially helpful to look on the bright side when going through die-off and all I can see (unless I make myself think differently) is the negative side of everything. I used to be a glass-is-half-empty kind of a girl, but changing my diet and removing all of the foods that I am sensitive to has made me a glass-is-half-full kind of girl.

I really rather enjoy looking on the bright side of things. This is another thing I am thankful for. Thank You, God, for changing my heart so that I can be a happy, joyful person and not the grumpy lump I used to be. Thank You for drawing me out of misery. I love You, My Savior! You ARE my all in all!

6 comments:

  1. My nearly 3 year old is on the GAPS diet, and it has taken me so long to figure out that we can't do chicken or turkey bone broth at all, and I think it is because they feed the poultry grains (including wheat products) and it somehow gets into the fat and bones, and then we have a whole host of symptoms as a result from drinking the broth. Now we only do 100% grass-fed beef broth, and it is so much better. I don't know if that's true for your family too, but it could be that you are not experiencing die-off or a healing crisis, but a food reaction. Thank you for writing about your journey here. May we all find healing soon.

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  2. You make a very good point. We only tolerate yolks from truly free-range chickens, not grain-fed free-range chickens. However, the bone broth and bone pate made from grass-fed beef cause even more reactions than the turkey or chicken broths. I just don't know what to think. At any rate, it's all out for now. I need a break! We will try again later.

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  3. Yes, I hear you. I need a break too! We sometimes react to beef broth too, and I did some research and found out that some "grass fed" cattle are actually supplemented with grains (corn, soy, wheat) especially in the winter time when grass and hay are scarce. Which makes sense to me, even if it is crazy, because I used to run an organic dairy and beef farm with my partner, and I found out that farmers cut corners all the time, and organic standards are not upheld. It really is a minefield out there. You need to get to know your farmers, and find out exactly how they are raising their animals, from conception to slaughter. That, or raise your own. I wish you luck and healing, with all my heart and soul.

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  4. I'm a little late to commenting on this.....but started making bone broth about two months ago. I have always had mild eczema but in the last two months the itchy rashes that I've been getting are ridiculous....and a little teeny voice in my brain tells me it's the bone broth. And I SO do not want to hear that.

    I use properly raised pork for the broth but the piggies do eat grains as part of their raising. They are hormone and antibiotic free. And I do chicken from time to time also which is grain fed. The odd thing is, we do not eat pastured or grass fed meats (cost and availablilty here) and I have never had the reaction. Could it be something in the bones?

    This many years since your original post, did you figure out what was causing the rashes etc?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Shanny. I'm a little late in seeing this comment, but I thought I would post and reply anyway. I never did figure out anything for sure about what caused what reactions, but I did find the cure. We have no more eczema. Check out the post titled Healed Because of the GAPS Diet.

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  5. Also, check out the post titled CKS's Eczema Completely Gone!

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