i just want to cry!

[lionessmom]

yesterday was easter. after having been given the guilt trip about not seeing my husbands family we had to go. i did not want to bc i knew there would be a dinner. my mil asked me what we could have and i gave her a list. it was pretty short. i know it did not list onions, which she put on the roast, or bacon bits (cured in sugar) which she put in the potatoes. i am not sure what sour cream she used in those either. My 4 yr old- thank goodness- wouldnt eat it at all. but she did sneak an m&m, i caught her with the second one and made her spit it out, but within 20 min she had dark circles under her eyes. my son ate mostly roast but had the worst chest pains later that night. my 1 yr old aouldnt eat more than a bite of anything, but she nurses. i did take snacks along for my kids but they were too busy playing to eat them. at least the candy i brought was safe.

the day before we had my 4 yr olds bday. i screwed up the cake but she didnt care, she was happy her friends came over.... but they brought their own drinks with them. and my 1yr old found my friends pop and drank some. and then drank some formula.

and then everybody makes me feel like the bad food cop bc they cant have this stuff and i am getting mad that they are eating it.

i went to alot of trouble to make sure everything was safe at my house and then to take food to grandma's house.

i ate the roast and the potaotes. i was sure that just al ittle wouldnt hurt. i mean there couldnt have been more than 5 pieces of real bacon bits in my 3 bites and i picked off all the onions, but today i feel awful. i have no energy and am terriblly cranky. nobody has had bowel trouble yet, but i am waiting for it. everybody was nauseas last night. i thnk my step daughter puked even. and she didnt even get tested for fm or anything. but after being on the diet with us she now gets nauseas if she eats sugar.

i know it was the onions and stuf bc i felt great until i ate. it was 2 hours later i started feeling like crap.

me and all my kids got diagnosed with hypermobilty syndrome as well. havent gotten the blood tests back to see how there organs are doing but the doc is sure it is not HFI but wants us on the HFI and FM diet so we are cutting out more stuff and looking for safe alternatives.

and now i am done whining. i am going to go take a nap now.....

[colormist]

Going to a family member's house is the WORST. My mother-in-law would always insist on cooking something I can eat. I would give her a list of safe things, then tell her "no vegetables except green beans, no fruit, no sugar in any form". She would cook green beans with ham or bacon in them, noodles made with canned broth with onions and carrots and honey. Prepackaged rolls--which ALWAYS seem to have sugar in them.

I just gave up. Last time I brought my own food, grits for breakfast and frozen mac & cheese for dinner. She would whine and say that I wasn't eating enough and say I needed to eat more. Then would ask to cook me something else. It was a LOT of me saying NO. Funny thing is she does the same to her daughter who is vegetarian: pizza with pepperoni, scrambled eggs with ham, etc. I swear she just does this to drive us insane.

Onions are the worst. They're in everything and people don't tend to think of them as something sweet or even as a vegetable. I don't know how you manage corralling so many children. Thankfully there aren't too many holidays coming up. Maybe if you can just stay home until everyone can learn to avoid sugar, it would be best. You could tell one side of your family that you're spending the holiday with the other side and vice versa.

[charlie]

Oh boy, the memories, and it does still happen but now i try not to get upset or frustrated as Megs picks up on it now. I think educating others is the hardest as some go too obsessive and stressy about getting it right ( mind you that is better as less slip ups) and others JUST DON'T GET IT - EVER!!! You get to know where is best to eat and how to handle it eating out after making lots of mistakes. With family I just always take Megs food ready made and microwave it and no issue is made of it, I just get on with it and it gets served up with everyone else.

some people seem to feel the need to be the hostess with the mostest and they are the hardest. I go everywhere with Megs diet sheet printout and give them one to use as a guide.

and as laura said - its the little things like onion and garlic especially with a roast - oh i thought it would be ok stuffed with them!!!
or in pubs and restaurants the food comes with salad and you say no salad - so they put peas or baked beans on the plate instead!!!?

Teaching the kids what not to touch is the harder one to advise on as I have always been very lucky that Megs instantly says she can't eat it and won't touch it. Except for chocolate bless her - that is going to be her downfall - she sneaked some more the other day but that is only the second time and hopefully the runny tum is enough to put her off for a while. Maybe the longer they feel better the more they will realise how much better it is to stay away from it - but kids will be kids, best policy is try not to let it stress you too much, you will figure out the best way for them to cope and understand and each will be different.

Good luck and keep your chin up

[kim55]

I sympathize, but I think it's hard for the relatives too because they don't deal with it every day and sometimes they just forget.

Since I haven't been home much for the last 30 years, during my occasional visits my dad still forgets and offers me things I can't eat! At least he doesn't take offense when I turn them down. And at the last extended family dinner, I was the one guilty of forgetting to make special foods for my cousin with the milk allergy. He's in his 20s but his mother still watches out for him and when she asked me if I put butter on the noodles, all I could say was, oops, could he eat extra from the veggie plate please? I don't eat sugar, my cousin is allergic to milk, my nephew gets sick if he eats anything but noodles, my dad doesn't eat red meat, my daughter's allergic to wheat, my son's ex-girlfriend was a vegan, my husband tries to cut out fat, it gets hard to keep them all straight . . . .

[lionessmom]

i should have just packed us all some food. at least we all felt better after a couple of days. my energy was back yesterday so all is good now. but darn it we were all so sick for awhile.

i have lost almost 40 lbs so far. just bc of this elimination diet. but i have never felt this good in my life. we have more tests to do. my 15 year old is now losing weight and having ketones. all his test showed normal liver function although his albumin was slightly raised. the 4 yr old feels heavier when i pick her up so she is doing great on this diet. more tests, more tests. hopefully that means more answers.