My lifelong retail career now finds me working part-time, so NOW methinks is the time to put my energy into freelance writing!
My Sweetie and I live in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. We got our first place a couple of years ago and we’re working on fixing it up. I’ve spent all my life in retail and I’ve always despised it with a deep, abiding hatred that few are truly capable of, though my latest job has been enjoyable and rewarding! Possibly due to me part-time, when-I-get-off-work-this-stuff-is-no-longer-my-problem status, LOLOLOL!! Strangely, I was often complimented on my customer service skills, even when I was miserable at my retail jobs.
I’ve decided that this is a reflection of my abilities to put myself in another’s skin and plumb the psychological depths of various character-types (and NOT simply an indication that I’m an adept phony). I therefore contend that this is strong evidence that my success in the field of writing is assured. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
This blog documents my freelance journey, my struggles with Fructose Malabsorption Disorder, our ongoing attempts to renovate our place, and my ma-a-avelous and deeply insightful commentaries on all things that intrigue and amuse me.
My ultimate intent is to export to WP.org where I will be able to monetize my blog as another avenue toward ensuring my writing pays the bills!
AVT
8 responses so far ↓
Alexandria Golding // April 30, 2009 at 10:10 am |
Hey girl,
I finally found you again. Seems we are pursuing the same career. Except yours is on the net and mine is paperbacks. Hoping you will sent me a note back . We are all well. … San.
Lisa // August 8, 2009 at 6:35 pm |
Am questioning my recent diagnosis of fructose malabsorbtion. Would love to discuss with you….do I post here.
Thanks.
Lisa
avthompson // August 8, 2009 at 9:06 pm |
Feel free to post, Lisa!
What is it about the diagnosis that doesn’t fit?
Lisa // August 9, 2009 at 3:37 am |
Hi there.
First of all let me say I love your website. It was fun to read and informative at the same time! Okay, so I’m going to tell you how I got here. I was going through a bit of a stressful time in April. I do in home daycare and was really having some issues with a family. It bothered me to the point of sleepless nights and much anxiety…I have generalized anxiety disorder but do not take mediction as I have learned to ‘control’ it (ya right). Usually I can keep it where it’s tolerable. I’ve had some wierd things pop up from my anxiety where each time I think…oh, this is it….it’s going to be something medically serious this time and then in the end everything checks out ‘ok’ and the diagnosis is anxiety. So, in April I started waking up with pain in my stomach not every night put sometimes. It would be right in the pit of my stomach and boy would it hurt. I would re-arrange/re-position myself and it would just eventually go away in an hour or two….while it was there it was BAD…to the point where I would get sweaty with pain. The other thing that started to happen is I would periodically become bloated and burpy after meals…not every day and not every meal. There seemed to be nothing I could do to relive the burping and bloating….walking, drinking lots of water, gas x pills….so, off to the doctor I go. They put me back on Aciphex….I had been diagnosed with acid reflux back in 2005. I was on Aciphex for one year and then came off it and have sinced managed it with diet and stress reduction (again a ‘ya right’ to the stress reduction). I joke but I really have come a long way with my anxiety and managing my ‘thoughts’ that stress me out. Well, after being on Aciphex this time for one month I say no changes and it seemed the bloating and burping were becomming more and more …sometime in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon…the one thing I could count on was that when i laid down at night it would usually go away. Oh, and the stomach pain at night seemed to go away completely on the aciphex. So, I thought I’d take it upon myself to up my fiber. WOW! Was that painful. I was eating so much fiber that it pretty much became concrete in my stomach since I forgot to up my liquid intake and I’m bad at liquid intake in the first place….boy was I miserable! I felt like a stuffed Thanksgiving turkey. So, I backed off of the fiber…felt somwhat better but again was still burping and getting bloated and came off of the aciphex just to get a clean slate to start from again. I went to a gatroenterologist again and her gave me 3 breath tests to do….lactose intolerance, small bacterial overgrowth and fructose intolerance. I tested megative on two but positive on fructose intolerance…they gave me a small pamphlet and sent me on my merry way. This was about 2 months ago. So, I did an elimination diet where I had NOTHING with fructose…I ended up getting sick with walking pneumonia…I’m guessing due to the lack of fruits and vegetables and the nutrients they have. I’ve been trying to ‘test’ the waters and re-introduce foods but this doesn’t make any sense….here’s why…
*I’ve heard that the breath test are inaccurate…I’m wondering if my reaction is anxiety or stress of maybe acid reflux and I didn’t give the Aciphex long enough…
*This has seemed to come upon me overnight…one day I was eating anything the next day I bloat uplike a blueberry like the girl on WIlly WOnka!
*My symptoms or tons of burping…big huge burps…not taste and bloating.
*I don’t get diareah
*It really does seem it doesn’t matter what I eat it luck of the draw…one night I went to a friends and had sliders (hamburgers with spicy cheese, pimentos, etc) on a bun which has HFCS listed as #1, pasta salad that was premade (so yes to HFCS), asparagus with prochitto meat, zuccini….I got nothing from this. I thought I was in big trouble after that meal but nope…just a full belly. On the other hand I will eat something in which I think is going to be just fine and I’m miserable. I had crumcake I made the other day with brown sugar on it and I was fine with that along with having other ‘not on the list’ foods
–So here is my question…have you heard of these tests giving false positives?
–Does it sound to you like Fructose Malabsorbtion?
–I would love your opinions…
—Am I in denial?
–I feel lost as to any guidance…I want to feel better and it seems like I just can’t get there.
Sorry this is so long…I do appreciated any guidance you can give me.
Thanks a bunch!
avthompson // August 9, 2009 at 11:02 pm |
Welcome Lisa!
Don’t worry about the length of the post – I’ve authored many whoppers myself!! LOL!
I have to say, I’ve never heard of a false positive – I’ve heard of false negatives, as some fructmals exhale methane rather than hydrogen, so merely a hydrogen test may not catch fructmal……. but just because I haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen! I am not the be-all-and-end-all!
And remember… anything done by a human can be done incorrectly… human error…
That said, I need to know.. you say you “did and elimination diet with NOTHING with fructose”….
1) how long were you on this diet?
2) did the diet eliminate foods with fructan chains as well as foods with fructose?
Wheat and wheat flour, spelt, kamut, brown rice as well as other foods have fructan chains and you WILL have a reaction!! Very often, particularly with the grains, these reactions happen a couple of days after ingestion. If you are fructmal hamburger buns WILL cause a reaction whether they have HFCS or not – because they are wheat – so will crumcake – again: wheat. However, your immediate reaction to the crumcake may have been to the brown sugar or to something else… heck… it may have had NOTHING to do with the crumcake and was a delayed reaction to something you had eaten a couple of days before!
This is why it is SO important to elimination fructose AND fructan foods for 4 to 6 weeks RELIGIOUSLY. Then when you start reintroducing things.. say… one half of one hamburger bun where there is nothing in it you can’t have except the wheat, then (eating NO more questionable foods and no additional wheat) waiting a week to see if you get a reaction one, two, three or more days later.
Honestly, most fructmals take months to reaquire even a small tolerance for wheat. I would not choose to reintroduce any of the fructan grains until last. Start with the safer stuff first – as your odds are better for a “good/tolerable” result and you get to expand your repertoire of foods sooner.
What were you and were you not eating? And for how long?
And why in the WORLD would you eat ANYTHING with HFCS for any reason?!?!?!
You CrrrrrAZY, girl!
Lisa // August 10, 2009 at 5:30 am |
Hello and thanks for the response. I’m struggling with when we eat out and at friends houses. We don’t eat out much but do take a family vacation (which we just took) and we had dinner at a friends house….hence the HFCS buns….what do you do in these situations. Also…on the elimination diet….you mentioned wheat being a no-no….what is left? I was told to eliminate fruits and vegetables and now wheat….I’m not a huge meat eater and it seems that and dairy are all that’s left….HELP!!!!!
avthompson // August 10, 2009 at 7:40 pm |
Hello again, Lisa
Ahhh! The dreaded social situation. Unfortunately I have been in the same situation… with my in-laws no less! Really, the only thing to do is say, sorry I can’t eat that. Period. Often I say I have recently discovered I have an “allergy” rather than having to go through the whole story of what fructmal is, blah, blah, blah.
There is NO reason you should be off ALL veg! There are many different diets, but what seems to work as a 4 to 6 week elimination diets for most fructmals is:
AVOID:
-fructose (including HFCS)
-All fruit and fruit products including juice, dried fruit, jams and jellies and fruit related ingredients in other foods.
** citrus rind has no fructose, so if you want to add some lemon or orange zest (outer peel) to your water or tea, go ahead!
-asparagus
-artichoke
-onions, chives, leeks, green onions
-honey
-all active probiotics/bacterial cultures (like yoghurt)
-all prebiotics (chicory/FOS/inulin)
-wheat/spelt/kamut in any form
-brown rice
CUT BACK SEVERELY ON:
-corn
-potatoes
-rye
-molasses/syrup/brown sugar/raw sugar/white sugar (sucrose)
THESE SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM:
-all other veg
-oats, barley, teff, quinoa, buckwheat, tapioca flour, amaranth, millet
-glucose (also known as dextrose), and glucose syrup
-milk & milk products (except yoghurt)
-meat and eggs
-nuts
-mushrooms
Once you have been on this diet RELIGIOUSLY for 4 to 6 weeks, start re-introducing the “Cut Back Severely On” foods one at a time. Re-introduce one food in a small quantity and wait a full week to see if there is any delayed response. If it seems safe, then bring it back onto your safe list and try another food, etc.
I am not a doctor, but lots of fructmals have tried lots of versions of the elimination diet and this seems to be the most useful.
That said, everyone is different. Some people DO have a reaction to oats. Some people react to some nuts. It is also quite common to have another sensitivity along with your fructmal – like lactose intolerance or an allergy.
I hope this has been helpful.
I know that social situations can be awkward – I often phone ahead or the day before and explain that I have developed “allergies” and don’t want to “get sick” and give the host/hostess some suggestions. Grilled chicken and white rice with sauteed broccoli and snowpeas, feta cheese omelettes with black olives and mushrooms, shishkabobs of beef, chicken or shrimp, sweet bell peppers and cherry tomatoes done on the BBQ, hamburger patties (no bread crumbs in the beef please) served on a bed of lettuce with pickles, cheese, everything but the bun!
Please let me know how things are going!
Lisa // August 11, 2009 at 6:39 pm |
Thanks for the help. I am going to give your diet a try. I will keep you posted….again, thanks for the advice!!!