# I think I'm cured!....please read on. (part 2)



## stonechant (Jul 20, 2012)

Part 2.


Fast forward to just a few weeks ago. I decided to embark on a rigorous diet and exercise regime. My reasoning being that if I cannot be content, happy and fulfilled in my mind, at least my body would be in good health and shape which in turn would stand me in good stead for the future and prepare me for old age. So I began to eliminate all the bad foods. The sweets, the chocolates, crisps, cakes, puddings, fizzy/sugary drinks and fatty foods. In other words anything with bad fats and high calories. In order to lose lots of excess fat, I went one step further and drastically reduced the quantity of food in my evening meal.
Having given up tea and coffee in 2001, my breakfast has consisted of a glass of orange juice and either wholemeal toast or a bowl of cereal. Lunch for years has always consisted of the same; ham lettuce wholemeal roll, packet of wheat crunchies, apple, banana and a yoghurt. Dinner would be a full meal. As I said earlier the new diet involved cutting the evening meal drastically so as a part of this new regime, I have, for a number of weeks just eaten a hard boiled egg, a small bowl of raw spinach and two slices of wholemeal toast. This has had the effect of me losing about a stone in weight although not where it matters, round the midriff. This of course can only be reduced by lots of cardio vascular and I have been doing just that on the exercise bike. I would love to go a gym but this is not an option due to S.A.D.

A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing fitness tip websites and in particular those aimed at weight training. One tip that caught my eye was to cut out wheat from your diet as this can assist muscle growth and boost your energy. It was at this point that a lightbulb came on in my head. Could a diet, rich in wheat be a contributory factor in the cause of headaches? I had to try it as, just a very quick Google search of the words 'wheat' and 'headaches' produced lots of anecdotal evidence to suggest that this could indeed be the case. I told my wife the following day of my findings and I resolved to try a wheat free diet for a period of two weeks to see if there would be any improvements with my headaches. So we headed off to the supermarket in search of wheat free, or, more specifically 'gluten' free foods. Gluten being the harmful protein found in a number of grains to allergy or 'gluten intolerent' individuals. Gluten free bread was purchased and gluten free rolls were purchased for my lunch. The breakfast bran flakes had to go as did the daily packet of wheat crunchies and the wholemeal toast with the egg in the evening was replaced with gluten free.

At the time of writing this, my two week trial is complete. On day three my headaches began to subside and by day five they had completely vanished. On day three also I began to feel what can only be described as 'weird'. My head was so clear and I also had amazing feeling of calm that I had never experienced. I'd always had constant white noise in my head (which I thought was normal) but this had gone, almost as if someone had turned the radio off. The next day I woke up completely refreshed and could hardy believe what was happening to me. My anxiety levels were dropping like a stone. I looked on Google and typed in the words 'gluten free' and 'social anxiety' and was completely floored to discover there is a link between the two. I literally felt like I'd found the Holy Grail, The Ark of the Covenant and discovered a cure for cancer all at the same time. Gone are the feelings of worthlessness, gone are the negative thoughts, gone are the body image issues, gone are the feelings of paranoia, guilt and shame, gone are the nightmares and gone is constant feelings of lethargy and tiredness, but, most significantly, GONE is the anxiety.

Further digging produced links between nose bleeds (which I have suffered from on a daily basis) bed wetting in late childhood, which plagued me up to the age of 13 years. Psoriasis, exzema and countless other maladies.

The qaulity of my life is improving day by day and I am begining to think and react differently in all manner of thoughts and situations. I feel as though, my brain is literally being re-wired and my whole system is rebooting itself. My outlook for the future is clearer and more optimistic and without that awful 'anticipatory' anxiety. I fully realise that after only two weeks it's 'early days' and that I must not get too excited, however for me I really feel I have turned a significant corner!

Thanks for reading my story and all the very best.


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## sleepytime (Feb 18, 2011)

Thanks for writing this, it's very inspiring to hear that someone who struggled with these things for so long managed to overcome them somehow. It must feel like winning the Lottery  

There is no doubt that wheat can be detrimental to a persons health, even if they don't have a full blown coeliac problem. I found that greatly reducing the amount of wheat in my diet cleared up an acne problem that I'd had for the best part of 20 years. I never gave up wheat completely, but I might try going completely gluten free for a couple of weeks after reading your post. Congratulations on your new found freedom


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## silentk (Apr 22, 2012)

Never even thought about going gluten free! Thanks for sharing, and congrats on overcoming those issues!

-K


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## KramersHalfSister (May 3, 2012)

I would love to try the gluten free diet to see if it makes a difference for my SA too. Thanks for posting your story and the info in it and congrats on your progression


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## TexasMedicine (Jan 2, 2012)

About a year ago I went about 4 months without eating any form of wheat - I used to have eggs, yoghurt, meat or fish for breakfast, a salad and fruit for lunch (brought from home), and for dinner I used to eat plenty of vegetables along with a protein source. 

Unfortunately this didn't cure any of my health issues (fatigue, heartburn, poor skin, stress), though it's definitely better to eat this way than have processed crap, which would make my SA worse.

I think my stress overrides any benefit that eating healthy can provide.

But definitely, by all means eat healthy, it just might work and I'm glad it did for you stonechant.


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