Ughhhhly

My lifeline, post-worst-allergic-reaction-to-shrimp-ever.

It happened yesterday, 30 seconds after eating 4 bite size pieces of shrimp. First the stomach cramping. (The most excruciating stomach pain ever. Worse than contractions in labor.) Then shortness of breath. Followed by my arms going numb. Then my stomach increasing from a pudgy size 14 to a 9-month pregnant lady about to give birth. And crazy bad back pain. Then my face swelling to the size of a balloon, and finally, hives and blotchy rashes all over my body. Thank God Anna's OT was here, who patted my face down with a cold towel as I drifted in and out of consciences. No dramatic under- or over-tones here. I will never forget it. The OT called 911. In the ambulance, I was treated like a piece of cattle and taken to a real chop shop of a hospital and ended up leaving. Now I'm following up on my PCP's orders.

This is definitely the catalyst to seek out a nutritionist about the problems I've been having for the last year but chalking everything up to "stress." I've had a big weight gain (kudos to yours truly for being big on honesty here) and while I enjoy eating in the company of friends and relatives, I normally eat within-normal-guidelines. The last time I trained, it took 6 sessions and a 1200-calorie a day diet for 4 weeks to lose a few pounds. Before, the weight would've flown off. Age? Maybe. Stress? Maybe? Something more? Probably. 

Bloated No Bueno!

I've also been struggling with feeling - and looking - bloated all the time. No matter how much water I drink. Manny laughs out loud because I carry around a gallon of water and insist on drinking that quota every day. My stomach usually hurts every evening (not from the water intake, which is gradual and throughout the day), and I have back pain because - this is really weird description here - but it feels like there are literally air pockets in my muscles and make them sore and hurt.

The Master Cleanse

A lot of this started when I did the Master Cleanse a few months ago... I think last Fall sometime. As I slowly reintroduced foods after I had been on it for 6 days, my body went nuts. It was almost happier when I was eating nothing than when I started eating again. Maybe taking everything out was what it needed, and then it got to choose what wasn't making it so happy. 

Just posting this picture makes my stomach queasy.

All I know is, my days of sitting by the pool pounding down a ring of shrimp cocktail are over. As if those days every really existed anyway.... I'm seeing a nutritionist tomorrow afternoon to try to figure out the root of the problems, and getting a work up done of possible food allergies through my PCP, and because I have heard good things about this and am wondering if I have an intolerance, I'm going gluten-free for a month to see if it helps. Manny is on board, and Gabe is too, he just doesn't know it.