Hormones and Gut Healing

[amandavanvels]

So I wasn't sure what forum to post this in, hopefully this is okay.

To give you a little backstory, I've been yo-yo dieting for about 8 years. Always going from healthy/restricting for a few months to bringing and eating anything I want for a few months. I've done 4-5 rounds of Whole30 over the past 2 years and haven't been too bad in between rounds, but this past season for me was pretty stressful and I went back to old ways of binging and eating a lot of crap.

I always knew my hormones were kinda off because it's always been so hard for me to lose weight and so easy to gain it. Plus I deal with a lot of depression and anxiety, which eases up when I'm eating healthy, so I think it's gut related. But this past season of eating terribly has showed me how damaged my gut and hormones are right now. I gained about 15lbs in 2-3 months, which is a lot for me. Ive also been feeing really dizzy and have been getting terrible brain fog, to where I feel a little bit drunk all day and can't focus on anything. I've also felt extremely fatigued for the past year, to where I can only leave my house for a few hours before I feel like I need to go home and nap. One more thing is that I've had terrible poops for the past 3 months. Runny/liquid-y poops that make me have stomach cramps and that never feel satisfying. I can't remember the last time I had a satisfying poop, sadly!

In the past Whole30 has seemed to help a little bit, but I've never stuck with it strictly for an extended period of time to see if my symptoms completely went away. 

So, I've decided I need to heal my body and I know that takes time. I'm ready to commit to eating strictly for a long time to give my body time to do that. I guess my main question is how long does it typically take to fully heal your gut and get your hormones balanced? I guess I just want to mentally prepare for how long it'll be. I will mainly stick to a Paleo life after I feel balanced out and back to normal, with the occasional foods I think are worth it. But I feel as if I need to be strict right now and find Food Freedom once I'm better.

 

A second question...is the extreme brain fog and dizziness something I should be worried about or does that seem like a typical gut/hormone problem? I've never experienced this until a few months ago and it just feels so terrible and I'm wondering if that's something I should have checked out or will probably just go away.

 

Thanks! Sorry for the book!

[jmcbn]

Hey @amandavanvels & welcome 

Have you spoken to your Doctor about your fatigue/brain fog? It sounds like it could be linked to possible adrenal fatigue, thyroid issues, or elevated cortisol - obviously an improved diet can help with both, but it would be worth discussing your overall health, so that you truly have the whole picture.

There is no set time for balancing our hormones. How imbalanced they are is all relative to how much we have abused our bodies as the years have gone by, and some people respond faster than others with changes to their diet. Some people require medication - particularly if the thyroid is involved.

No-one here is a medical professional so I'd suggest having a chat with your Dr to arrange a full blood screening to rule out any underlying causes for your fatigue & weight gain, and then to take it from there - switching to a whole food diet will of course only help, and we are all here to support you with that, but it might not be enough.....