I do not think food is the cause — I think the gut is
Melissa traces hers to an antibiotic at eighteen. Intermittent fasting, cutting dairy, wheat, eggs and almonds, and daily coconut oil are what she leans on now.
Melissa Lowry ·
- Living with it
- More than 10 years
- Main trigger
- Gut health and food sensitivities
- What helped
- Intermittent fasting, cutting dairy, wheat, eggs and almonds, and daily unrefined coconut oil
I don't think food is the cause. I think poor gut health is the cause, for many of us. Not all of us, but a large majority. Food can exacerbate poor gut health, so it can be a contributing factor, but not necessarily the original cause.
I believe my poor gut health started around 18 from an antibiotic. Continuing to consume sensitive and inflammatory foods just kept my stomach in poor condition. Since focusing on my gut health, I have all but eradicated my symptoms.
Certain foods tend to exacerbate my symptoms so I know to keep them to a minimum or eliminate them. I started practicing intermittent fasting. I eat one solid meal and maybe a small snack on most days. This gives my gut tons of time to focus on healing instead of constantly digesting food.
I'm also dairy free, I limit wheat, no eggs, no almond products, plus a few other things I'm sensitive too.
I also take unrefined coconut oil daily which is great for gut health, and on the off chance I'm also dealing with parasites (believe it or not this is way more common that you'd think) it will help clean them out. Right now my symptoms have mostly gone away, but I am still very sensitive to pressure on my skin.
A note of caution from me: some people have dermatographia from more serious conditions, such as those concerning their mast cells, which has nothing to do with gut health and is a known cause. For those of us with idiopathic symptoms, ie no known cause, this is what observation, research and my own experience have pointed to.