u/Glittering_Dirt8256

I’m currently stuck in a moldy environment and am curious about trying okra, as I’ve read that it may help bind toxins. However, I struggle with chronic constipation, so could it potentially hurt more than help me right now? How often would I need to have a bowel movement at a minimum? I eat keto, so even if I improved my constipation, I’m not sure daily bowel movements would be possible.

Thanks!

I need to go to the ER. And probably stay a bit longer than that.

I know I'm at serious risk of refeeding syndrome due to severe prolonged self starvation from stress.

i want so badly to manage this on my own but i think i'm too far gone based on a lot of super concerning symptoms.

but i feel stuck. if i stay there, i may be forced to eat hospital food, and i have such a a specific diet i absolutely can not go off of, but in my past experience it's been hopeless trying to get them to understand or take it seriously.

i need to stay on 4:1 keto, AIP, and stringently avoid cross-contamination with gluten, or i go insane

I wish i could have someone bring me fresh meat everyday, but it's not possible. even if they allowed it, my parents are far too busy, and i couldn't trust them anyway. i don't have friends to ask.

i really don't know what to do. it might seem obvious to chose the hospital, but to me, my food reactions may be scarier than the possibility of death. it's truly that severe. i worry about hurting others in that state because i'm just not myself. and the dissociation is so heavy that communication is practically impossible.

my worst fear is they'll think i'm anorexic and force me into a program where i'm made to carb-load cereals and dairy that would make me psychotic.

but my chest hurts whenever i sip on electrolytes, and i feel like my heart could stop after exerting myself slightly.

i really don't know what to do.

I just can't help but feel like i've been dealt one of the most difficult hands in life. i've never heard of many people with immune systems this overeactive, or neuroinflammation as severe and stubborn, with as little genuine hope. everyone who says "it gets better" seems to have had support from a loved one, or some savings or skills to fall back on, which i have none of. i'm stuck living in this mold-ridden house with dismissive parents. the smell is so bad, like cat urine, and i reek of it myself, which i hate. it triggers burning in my face.

my life ended before it could really begin. i've been super sick since age 12. brain inflammation stole everything from me. made my personality cold and hate everyone. made me totally aromantic/asexual. totally anhedonic, couldn't feel music. my clothes and hair became painful to me. i developed social anxiety so severe i could barely communicate. i became extremely slow and dull. eventually got to a point i need to pace 24/7 or i felt like blood would stop flowing to my brain completely and would feel horrible physically. i was literally always moving except to use restroom/sleep

my academic career was ruined. i'd often miss half the school day just trying to get ready because simple tasks like showers could take me hours, since it felt like my brain would keep shutting off and i had to fight to stay conscious. i ultimately dropped out of high school between that, the humiliation of constantly pacing at school, and feeling unable to absorb anything anyway.

things i've dealt with include DP/DR, OCD, constant internal tremors, distressing vivid dreams and closed eye hallucinations, violent intrusive thoughts, severe depression, genuine inability to connect with anyone or engage in anything or even fully experience any emotion. it felt like torture.

for the past 1.5 years, i've followed an extremely restrictive keto diet, now basically chicken and olive oil. it's substantially reduced the severity of my symptoms and kept me holding on to sanity, but i've developed such an intense aversion to meat I'm scared I can't sustain this. i'm petrified of being forced off the diet and losing my mind again.

I've also been dealing with a severe neurological/psychiatric sensitivity to gluten for the past several years, which has been an enormous source of stress because the consequences of accidental exposure are so terrible. I once experienved a vivid closed-eye hallucination of demonic figures after a cross-contamination incident—although, this was before keto, so I'm not sure how severe it'd be now that I'm on an highly anti-inflammatory diet. nonetheless, the possibility of triggering that again deeply scares me. i also constantly worry that low-level exposure might be contributing to my ongoing symptoms and the thought is unbearable.

it's so overwhelming having to clean up after my family every day just to feel safe cooking that many days i haven't been eating at all. i've recently hit a breaking point and have eaten almost nothing for two weeks because i just go down to the kitchen and see all the gluten everywhere, and i can't deal with it. the stress and anxiety is paralyzing. i'm fading away, and i won't survive if i keep up like this.

i don't know how to keep doing this. my life was stolen from me. everything revolves around trying to keep myself safe. i never feel okay, because nothing is as it should be. i feel like i half don't care if i die, but i know i should because i have a duty to stay alive for God, even though i feel so distant from Him.

it just feels like far too much for one person to bear. i know there are others out there suffering similarly, maybe too sick to even write about it. but i can't help but feel so alone and like i'm not even a person, like all i am is this sickness.

i'm grateful to have at least gotten to experience an amazing early childhood, even though i believe low-level inflammation had been present since birth. i lived a privileged life in a nice neighborhood. i got to vacation to disney world multiple times. i had so much fun as a child. i ate lots of great food. i'm grateful to have grown up half-salvadoran and experienced my culture. i'm grateful for the friends, teachers, and authors that made my childhood so great. i enjoyed life a lot.

i don't believe i could ever experience such happiness again even if I were fixed, because now i will forever live in hyperawareness of how our unnatural lifestyles and environments and food are poisoning us. my sister is just a kid but struggles academically and socially, has very little motivation, isn't interested in playing outside or learning new things. she eats a very nutrient-void, almost entirely ultra-processed diet and far less homecooked meals than i did growing up, because my parents don't have the energy they used to and are in denial that this isn't normal at their age. it all makes me unbearably depressed to know the potential she could have if raised differently, but no one else cares. i just feel so powerless and depressed about the state of everything.

i'm truly grateful i got to experience a time of beautiful, blissful ignorance while it lasted.

Has anyone had quality issues purchasing Chomps Beef Sticks from Amazon? I just ordered some, but after coming across some complaints about mold, am now a bit hesitant to try...

i am starving.

my gut is so wrecked and i'm so sick that the only food i can tolerate is meat (mostly chicken), olive oil, and tiny amounts of a few vegetables (literally a few bites).

i despise meat so much that eating has become torture.

i recently went eight days straight without eating. since then, i've been consuming next to nothing, maybe 100 calories a day on average. i've been so depressed these past couple of months, mainly because of the hopelessness i feel about my life circumstances and being stuck in heavy mold exposure, that it's felt harder than ever to fight through my aversions and find the motivation to eat.

my family also keeps cooking gluten and dairy, which i'm particularly sensitive to, so i have to decontaminate the entire kitchen and all of my things before i can cook. sometimes i'll go through all that work, only to have to lie down afterward because i'm so exhausted. then by the time i come back downstairs, they've contaminated the kitchen again, and i'm too depleted to clean everything all over again. so i just give up.

i feel worse than i ever have in my life. i can barely make it up and down the stairs at this point. i haven't showered in forever, my room is a complete pigsty, and i reek of mold and feel disgusting.

i just wish i could break my diet more than anything.

even just an egg. or a japanese sweet potato. or a piece of fruit.

but it could never, ever be worth it.

if i dare break therapeutic keto, i go insane. i start acting completely unhinged, threatening suicide, screaming at my family. the world looks 2-dimensional and terrifying. i experience hypnagogic hallucinations and nightmares as well.

if i try to stray from the autoimmune paleo restrictions, even if i stay in ketosis, i become a zombie. severely dissociated. i can't process what's happening in front of me. it becomes incredibly difficult to motivate myself to move or talk to people. the symptoms are too numerous to list. it's just no way to live at all.

i fantasize about food constantly. i look at pictures of food for hours every day. foods from childhood. i desperately wish i could go back. i'm so starved and just want to eat. but breaking my diet could ever be worth the consequences. and meat feels impossible to eat. i would rather die than lose my mind again.

it just feels like the worst form of psychological torture. i can't explain this to anyone in real life because no one would believe me.

mikhaila peterson's story with the lion diet is the anchor that keeps me from feeling like i'm completely insane. i know i'm not the only person with this level of sensitivity to food - it's just extraordinarily rare. i just wish i had no problem eating meat like her. and i'm envious that she was able to escape the mold when she reallized the problem, and actually get better and live a life.

i don't know how much longer i can go on like this. i don't know what to do.

I've been following a ketogenic autoimmune paleo diet for the past 1.5 years for severe neurological and psychiatric symptoms that I suspected were autoimmune encephalitis, but no doctor would take me seriously. The diet worked like a miracle for me at first, but I've regressed a lot since then. It still helps me significantly, but I'm nowhere near cured.

Over the past year, I feel like my leaky gut must have actually gotten worse instead of healing like I expected it to on AIP. I started developing what seem like MCAS-type reactions to many foods. First, I could no longer tolerate fish or bone broth without immediate, severe bloating and facial flushing. Then vegetables started causing severe bloating, mouth numbness, and itchiness. Now, practically everything besides fresh chicken and olive oil seems to cause some kind of reaction. I can only tolerate red meat in small amounts occasionally, and then I start to react to it. Even chicken cartilage can trigger a reaction if I accidentally chew it.

Something else I've been struggling with for a while is a severe aversion to meat. I didn't have this problem when I first started AIP, but somewhere along the way I became extremely hypersensitive to the quality, texture, and taste of meat. Additionally, if it isn't the freshest, highest-quality meat, it upsets my stomach for days. I don't think I was previously so physically sensitive. Unfortunately, it's practically impossible to find flawless meat where I live. I used to be able to eat meat from pretty much anywhere without noticing all these little details, but my aversion has gotten progressively worse.

At this point, I'm afriad I've developed full-blown ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder), and it's becoming just as disabling as the neurological symptoms that originally led me to this diet. I even have nightmares where I'm looking down at food and its appearance is completely repulsive.

I'm wondering what could be causing this. Could nutritional deficiencies, gut dysbiosis, or something else be contributing to the aversion? I feel like this has become a disorder in its own right, and I desperately want to get better. I'm going to starve to death at this rate because I can't make myself eat enough. Even if I don't die, I can't live life like this.

The worst part is that I can't even use vegetables to make meat more palatable anymore. I used to be able to eat sauerkraut and riced cauliflower alongside meat to mask the taste, but I now seem to react to those too.

Has anyone experienced anything similar or found a way out of this? I really need help.

I've been putting off eating >!(fasting)!< for >!7 days now.!< I can't believe I let it get this bad. I know I need to eat something tonight before I sleep, but it's already 4 a.m. I'm exhausted, and I really don't want to. I know that the longer I wait, though, the harder it's going to be to start eating again and the greater the risk of complications.

The thought of eating makes me nauseous. And it's not helping that my room is extremely humid and muggy right now. I feel gross and sticky, and I'm worried it's going to affect the taste of my food as well—the >!canned fish!< I was planning to eat a couple of bites of.

And I'm probably going to have to set an alarm for a couple of hours later to eat again, because I don't think it can be good to go another 9 hours without eating after >!breaking a prolonged fast (?)!< I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to do.

I don't want to eat, I just want to sleep. I'm so tired of this.

My diet is extremely limited personally, and I've been living off mainly chicken breast and olive oil for some time. But I'm genuinely curious about those who don't even have a complete protein source. Do you supplement essential amino acids?

I have a type of gluten sensitivity in which exposure triggers neurological and psychiatric symptoms for me. It’s extremely scary. I’ve also learned that I seem to cross-react to dairy, so I try to avoid it with the same level of vigilance. Unfortunately, I’m stuck living with a family who refuses to give up either of these foods or even show consideration toward my sensitivity by cleaning up after themselves.

I know that flour and other dusty sources of gluten need to be avoided like poison, but lately my mom has been making a lot of boxed mac and cheese. I haven’t really seen this specific situation discussed before, so I’m wondering how far the cheese powder and other particles actually travel. I’ve become extremely paranoid about it because my mom never warns me when she’s making it, and I keep accidentally leaving out my cooking supplies, sponges, supplements, etc. I then end up spending an excessive amount of time cleaning everything that within a 10-feet radius and throwing things away. There's so little information about this online compared to gluten contamination that I genuinely don’t know whether I'm being overly cautious or whether these concerns are actually warranted.

On a somewhat separate note, I’ve been so suicidal lately because I’m exhausted of spending every ounce of energy I have trying to keep myself safe. I’ll sometimes have to lie in bed for hours after cleaning the kitchen because I’m completely drained, with so little energy to begin with due to chronic illness, only to come back downstairs and find my mom cooking another gluten- or dairy-containing food before I've had a chance to cook. I haven’t eaten in over five days due to this cycle, and I’m currently at the lowest point I’ve ever been.

My diet is extremely restrictive because of the sheer number of health problems and food reactions I deal with. There’s literally no snack in the house I can just grab and eat. I’m on medical keto and autoimmune paleo, and the consequences of deviating from either diet are too severe for me to consider it worth the risk. I have to prepare everything myself. I also strongly suspect I have MCAS, and high-histamine foods, along with many other seemingly random foods, cause significant physical symptoms that can make eating them feel nearly impossible.

Despite all of this, I recently managed to get some canned fish, even though it’s a high-histamine food. I’m just hoping I can tolerate at least a little of it, because at this point I don’t think I’m going to have the energy to cook again. It feels like it’s either this or die. And I know I should try to avoid dying, as much as I want to just let it happen sometimes. I honestly hate it here so much.

>!I haven't eaten in I believe 5 days, and the day before that I ate very little, possibly around 600 calories. My intake has been extremely inconsistent for the past couple of months, especially the past month. Over the past few weeks, I've had several nonconsecutive days where I didn't eat at all, and on days that I do eat, I've probably averaged around 600 calories, although I truly don't know, Some days I've doubled that, and others halved. I've definitely lost weight. I don't have access to a scale, but my face has become noticeably thinner and certain bones are much more prominent. I started around 114 lbs at 5'6", and I wouldn't be surprised if I've lost ~10 lbs or even a bit more.!<

I never intended for this to happen. I have ARFID tendencies and have been very depressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted lately, which has made it much harder to push through my food aversions. I can't believe things have gotten this bad, and I really want to get back on track.

I also haven't had a proper BM in about a month because I've been afraid of fainting during an enema (the only way I can go—seperate medical issue). Surprisingly, I don't feel very backed up, probably because I've intentionally been eating zero-carb to produce as little residue as possible. I've basically been eating small amounts of meat, with most of my calories coming from pure fat as part of a highly ketogenic diet.

I'm normally ketogenic and well adapted to ketosis, and I usually supplement potassium and magnesium because my diet requires it. However, during >!this fasting period,!< I had to go a couple of days without them because of an issue that required me to replace them. This concerns me because becuase I know >!while fasting!< electrolytes are more crucial than ever.

I want to start eating normally again, but I'm really scared because I've never been this depleted before and I'm worried about refeeding syndrome. I absolutely cannot go to a hospital right now because my family can't know about this, and they can't afford the expense. I'm 18, but not fincially independent, nor can I drive.

I just want to know how I can >!restart eating!< as safely and with as little risk as possible. If you can't provide that kind of advice here, please at least tell me what NOT to do and what warning signs I should watch for. I'm really scared of the refeeding process. Wish I never let this happen.

I'm going on 19, I've been crazy sick for the past six years, and i feel like it's completely ruined my chance at at building a life for myself. i've been so suicidal lately. i had to drop out of high school halfway through because the neuro symptoms became too severe, and i also never learned to drive. i can barely feed myself, shower, brush my teeth. i have no strong interests. i struggle to absorb information to learn anything. and of course i have no friends, because how could i possibly make friends. i feel like i can't relate to regular people in any way. i have nothing going on for me. i feel like i'm hardly a person.

periodically, i look up people i used to know as a kid, and seeing the progress they've made in their lives makes me so incredibly depressed. i genuinely feel as though i haven't mentally grown at all since I was 12. i mean that very literally--i'm so messed up and need serious therapy, but i feel my issues are too complex for the run-of the-mill therapist, and parents aren't going to pay for a specialist.

lately everything's been a million times worse because my contamination OCD has gotten so bad. I've become obsessed with trying to avoid mold, but it's simply impossible. this has resulted in me paralyzed in bed many days, even though i know that's just making things worse. and gluten too--i haven't gone out in months becuase my famaily's car is covered in crumbs, and i don't feel safe potentially breathing in that air. i have neuropsych gluten sensitivity, and i'm terrified of being glutened and triggering hallucinations and severe cognitive impairment which has happened in the past. it feels like a nightmare to live with.

i have no idea what i'm going to do. what i'm going to do for work. my parents don't even think i'm capable of living on my own, but i have to figure out a way somehow to get out of here. although i'm not even sure what i'm doing this for, really. for years, my whole life has revolved around how to fix my health, and i've realized i don't think there's anything else to me besides being sick. i don't any goals other then "get well," and then what?

i just need so much help, but i can't get any. i'm all alone, and i don;t feel cut out for any of this. i literally feel like a child, but i guess i'm just a lazy bum now, since i'm supposed to be independent. it just feeels unfair that i was placed here. i don't want to exist.

I made a post about my issue about a month ago, but nothing has gotten better. I am very literally starving. Meat, specifically chicken—though I seem ok with red meat if eaten only occasionally—and olive oil are literally all I can tolerate, and it seems impossible to find any that tastes edible and I can physically tolerate. The meat from the grocery tastes like spoiled mush to me and literally causes nausea and stomach pain for days. I've tried every local farm around here except for one, and some I could tolerate for short periods, but they all have problems with inconsistent quality. Once in a blue moon, I'll get a decent piece of meat, but much of the time it's rancid and sometimes causes pain.

It's torture. I've genuinely dreamt about seeing delicious food, only to bite into it and it tastes like my nasty chicken. Or I'll see my food >!inside of a toilet bowl,!< or something disgusting. And my family taunts me all the time about only eating one food, because they don't understand the complexity of my health problems, as if I'm not miserable enough. It makes me want to die sometimes.

There is only one local farm I haven't tried, and maybe they could be my last hope. They claim to flash-freeze their meat, so they must really care about preserving quality. But the thing is, their chicken is marketed as being soy and corn free, so it's fed a wheat-feed instead. I'm honestly not sure whether this is an irrational fear, but given my sensitivity to gluten, this makes me extremely nervous to try it. I have severe neuro/psych sensitivity to gluten that has caused hallucinations in the past, along with severe brain fog, derealization, and other symptoms that can be disabling for weeks, and I'm terrified to experience any of it. While I've never heard about those with typical celiac or an allergy having to avoid wheat-fed chicken, I feel like I'm so extraordinarily sensitive, I'm not willing to take chances that many would be comfortable with. But I'm also struggling so badly to eat, I'm honestly scared I'm going to die if I continue on like this. Even if I don't, I'm wasting my life in this terribly fatigued, malnorished state. I don't know what to do and could really use some advice.

Could anyone offer advice on where I could go to spend time/study for my GED, since my home has mold? I assume libraries aren't ieal since the books have been exposed to many different homes. I'm also somewhat wary of cafés because I have a severe sensitivity to gluten, and I'm not sure I'd enjoy spending extended time in that kind of environment anyway.

I would really appreciate any help, thank you.

Why is distilled white vinegar off limits if the grain protein is removed from the final product?

I'm looking for an N95 mask that will fit a small face, preferably something I can get from Amazon or Walmart. I'd also prefer to keep it at $1 or less per mask, if possible.

I recently tried the 3M Aura Particulate Respirator 9205+, but the chin area is much too loose. I do have a particularly small face and even have to wear child-size sunglasses because adult-sized ones will fall off of me if when walking too quickly.

I would really appreciate any recommendations. Thank you!

I have undiagnosed gluten encephalopathy (neuropsychiatric sensitivity to gluten), and living with this feels like more than I can bear. When I’m exposed to gluten, I go insane. My symptoms range from severe nightmares, crushing depression and anxiety, derealization, akathisia, and debilitating brain fog that feels like a significant drop in IQ, among other symptoms. These can persist for weeks or even months.

Realizing gluten was the cause of years of suffering has been a blessing and a curse. While I’m grateful to have discovered it, I feel like it’s ruined my life. I live in a gluten-filled household where my family eats it every day, our cat’s kibble contains it, and crumbs and dust are everywhere. I’m constantly terrified of contamination because every exposure has been traumatizing. I feel like each time, my reactions get worse and last longer.

I feel like I’ve developed severe contamination OCD because of this. I’ve recently found myself in a situation where I haven’t been able to shower or change my clothes in over a month (I really don’t feel like explaining why). The feeling of household dust on my feet and legs—knowing it’s on my clothes and that I’m carrying it into my bed every night—is genuinely making me suicidal. I’ve been too anxious to cook and have subsisted on liquid calories for days because I’m afraid particles clinging to my clothes will fall into my food. I don’t think the fear is completely unfounded, since it seems theoretically impossible for the dust to contain absolutely no gluten by now.

I don’t even have transportation because my family’s cars are covered in crumbs and dust. Just opening the car doors sends it all visibly airborne. I don’t have the energy to shower and change clothes every time I need to leave, so I don’t go anywhere anymore. I feel completely trapped. I can’t imagine living the rest of my life this way, stuck in this environment with people who seem to have so little concern for my wellbeing. I’m disabled and may never be able to drive or live independently, and the thought is so hard to bear.

This existence feels like a nightmare of constant fear and vigilance. Every ounce of energy goes into trying to keep myself safe. I’ve never been so exhausted and feel like I'm at the end of my rope. Right now, it just feels like it would truly be the greatest relief to not have to wake up another day.

Would you consider it safe to consume chicken that was fed wheat? I have a severe sensitivity to gluten (neuropsychiatric), so I'm unsure whether it would be safe for me to try chicken from a local farm that feeds its chickens wheat/grain-based feed rather than corn and soy.

For clarification, I am NOT interested in attempting to reintroduce wheat into my diet. If there is any risk that eating chicken raised on wheat-containing feed could trigger a gluten reaction, I don't want to take that chance.

Thank you!

Would you consider it safe to consume chicken that was fed wheat? I have a severe sensitivity to gluten (neuropsychiatric), so I'm unsure whether it would be safe for me to try chicken from a local farm that feeds its chickens wheat/grain-based feed rather than corn and soy.

Thank you!

I've had very low intake for the past month and this a symptom that only emerged in the past couple of days. Skin feels clammy and smells salty. I know it's just not ketosis because I've been in a perpetual state of deep ketosis for over a year (I actually follow a medical ketogenic diet, so it's required for a neurological condition I have).

This is honestly freaking me out. I've had periods in the past where I struggled to eat but never experienced this before. Has anyone experienced similar or know what causes it?

I live with my parents, and we're going to be moving soon (for reasons unrelated to mold—my parents don't believe in toxic mold). Unfortunately, we're taking all of our furniture with us, so I'm doubtful the new place will be much of an improvement. I also live in an area where water damage is common. My parents knowingly rented our current house despite previous basement flooding, and the house we lived in before that also had significant water damage. That's where I first became ill, and thus began the gradual decline in my health over the past six years.

At the new house, my parents don't want to share a kitchen with me because of my gluten sensitivity, and they want to be able to bake freely, so they're demanding that I prepare all of my meals in the basement using a portable cooktop. I follow an extremely restrictive diet, so I have to cook all of my own meals.

I'm very concerned about this arrangement, though. Wouldn't cooking regularly in a basement increase humidity and increase the risk of mold growth? Generally I try to avoid basements altogether, but if I'm cooking there, I'll be forced to spend quite a bit of time in it.

The problem is, my parents have threatened to kick me out and send me to live with my grandparents if I don't agree, and their house is severely moldy—so severely that I experience symptoms being near an item that's been in their home, and it smells nauseatingly of cat urine. So obviously I can't stay there.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts or advice!

Edit: my parents also want to put a minifridge down there for me, and I also worry about this especially because I don't knpw anything avout fridge maintanance.