Finding out that you have an auto-immune conditions makes you want to find the answers.  What caused this condition?  What is the best way to manage it?  Will it ever go away?  Most of these questions I am still working to answer.  We are still working to find out what caused my condition and to correct it.  It is obvious that gluten played a part in it but to what degree?  As for managing it - I feel I have made great progress.  It's a learning curve to see if what I am doing will continue to work and improve. 

The next step is to do a liver detoxification cleanse.  The liver has many functions and the primary one is to produce bile which helps to break down fats and carry away wastes.  The liver also cleanses the blood of drugs and other poisonous substances and helps to resist infections by producing immune factors and removing bacteria from the bloodstream.  (My blood tests indicated that I had possible liver  function problems so this was a natural course of action, to clean out the liver.)

For 21 days the entire family has been doing a liver detoxification cleanse by Apex Energetics called ClearVite.  The reason for doing a detox cleanse is to remove the toxins that have built up in your body as well as improve the livers functions.  For the first week you build up the amount of protein/detox powder and you go on a fairly strict diet.  This eliminates all of the primary food allergens and leaves you with fruits, vegetable, rice, potatoes, fish, chicken, turkey and lamb.  It eliminates any gluten products, dairy (casein), soy, peanuts and peanut butter, tomatoes, coffee, caffeine, sodas, alcohol, beef, pork, cold cuts, shellfish and off course any known allergens.  It basically becomes a "Cave Man Diet", only allowing fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats legumes and nuts.  Well at least for the first and last week.  For the second week we had to cut out all the animal products and increase the protein shakes to 3 per day.  I have gone on meat restriction before but I always had cheese or yogurt or peanut butter or another protein to fall back on.  Not for the second week of the detox  I am so proud of my family.  Three of our daughters that were tested were also encouraged to do the ClearVite cleanse so they will be one step ahead of the  game. Through this process three of them have already identified foods that have caused them discomfort after eating them.  These were rice, potatoes and pecans.  Being on such a limited diet it was easy to see what the problem foods have been. 

Following the detox begins the reintroduction of foods; one at a time, three days apart.  Each member of the family had their own favorite foods that they were anxious to reintroduce.  The reason for allowing three days in between was to allow the body to recover from any changes that would occur.  You start out with smaller quantities of foods and build up as the day goes on. 

The food groups you will want to reintroduce include beef, pork, milk, cheese, yogurt, gluten (wheat), eggs, soy, corn, yeast, oats, chocolate, coffee, tea, caffeine, alcohol, artificial sweeteners and preservatives.  The possible reactions that could occur include itching in the mouth and difficulty swallowing or breathing (this is serious and may require medical attention).  Other symptoms that may occur include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.  You could have reactions like indigestion, bloating, constipation, gas, skin breakouts, itching, rashes, hives and headaches.  Make note of any reactions and what food they relate to. 

This entire detox process has been an awesome experience.  I think the entire family has been positively affected by it.  We have begun to make more foods from scratch using more organic products.  We are eating more fruits and vegetables and lean meats.  We are eating out less and enjoying our foods more and saving money in the process.