Lately I have been dreaming about onion rings...

 ... and I've realised that my body may have been misleading me.

For years I thought I was intolerant to many different fruits and vegetables, but now I'm wondering if that is actually the case?

A few years ago, maybe three or four, I started to have terrible digestion problems; bloating, cramps, flatulence, constipation, diarrhoea, and sometimes stomach pains so intense they would send me to bed, where I would curl up into the smallest ball possible and have to try and sleep (sleep was the only thing that used to help). It got so bad that I turned to Google and discovered IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) which seemed to list everything I suffered from. Knowing that my doctors rarely take me seriously, I decided to do an elimination test to see if I could find the “trigger” foods myself. I started to keep a food diary where I wrote down, without fail, every single thing that I ate or drank (although I didn't weigh food, that's just too much hassle lol). Not only did I write down what I ate, I also wrote down how it made me feel, and also how it effected my toilet habits. By doing this, over many months (and much pain) I found numerous triggers... the whole allium family (onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, chives and all granules, dried forms, salts and extracts containing them), peppers, sweetcorn, mushrooms, beetroot, swede, broccoli, cabbage, grapes, bananas, all squashes and pumpkin, spinach, courgettes, cauliflower, white flour products (bread, cakes, pasta, cous cous, etc), green peas, green beans... in short any veg that wasn't potatoes, sweet potatoes or carrots would give me trouble. Fruit was better, as long as I stayed away from grapes and bananas. Bakery products had to be brown, wholemeal, wholewheat, etc.

As you can imagine I wasn't a happy bunny, although my digestion was happier when I cut all of them out of my diet. The up side was I lost about four stone because I just couldn't eat most junk food, ready meals, pre-packaged foods or takeaways.

Oh, as well as the fruit and veg intolerances I also discovered that lactose caused me nasty trouble, so that meant most milk, cheese, yoghurt, cream , ice cream and anything else dairy was off limits (until I found a brand called Lactofree that I was ok with).  Plus I had trouble with chicken eggs... although I was ok with duck eggs (apart from the high price and even higher cholesterol content!)

Fast forward to about June 2015...

June 15th 2015 I decided to be a vegetarian... I forget now what prompted that decision... I may have written the reasons down in an old diary somewhere, but anyway.  People thought I was mad as I had so many bad reactions to so much veg, how could I possibly be a vegetarian? I admit I wondered myself, but I was determined to try.

After suffering bad headaches and sinus problems I discovered that dairy can cause that sort of thing. I decided to do a two week dairy elimination test to see if that was the cause of my pain. After about a week my sinuses felt a lot better and my headaches had decreased to almost nothing. Then, ten days into the two week test my sister had her birthday. Her fiancé got her a cake that was egg free but that contained cream... I took some lactase capsules (they used to help me digest the lactose so I didn't have a really bad time on the rare occasions I wanted something I shouldn't really have had lol). Within an hour of eating the cake my nose was blocked and I had a headache. It showed me that dairy and I were no longer friends and I decided to cut it out of my life completely... for good!
At about the same time I had been reading more and more about veganism, and all it entailed, and after a rocky start became a vegan on 15th July 2015.

As you can imagine those around me were worried as there were just so many foods I couldn't eat... what the hell does a vegan with so many intolerances to vegetables actually eat?! Luckily I didn't starve to death as I'm fine with wholewheat bread products, rice, wholewheat pasta and had grown used to making my own food from scratch.

I'm also one of those people that is always dumb enough to try things I know I probably shouldn't... and yes, I'm often surprised when I get bad reactions hahaha. However, in this case it proved to be a good thing as I was able to gradually reintroduce a lot of foods back into my diet... mushrooms, sweetcorn, broccoli, spinach, green beans, courgettes, and cabbage (including Brussels sprouts). I also discovered kale and avocados didn't hate me.

The one group that always made me really sad were the alliums as they are in so much food, the basis for so many amazing dishes, and also hard to avoid in vegan “junk food” and sauces (be they cooking sauces, pasta sauces, even stuff like ketchup). The sheer amount of onion powder, garlic powder, onion salt, garlic extract, onion granules, chives, and any combination of the above is astounding... I never knew just how much food contained one or many of them. It was a total shopping nightmare. Either products contained them, or were reformulated without any warning once I had already started using them (like Asda did once with some bbq sauce, lucky for me I'm a habitual paranoid label checker lol).

Fast forward again to about a month ago...

I have bouts of “bravery” regarding food. If my digestion has been doing ok I feel courageous enough to try foods that I normally avoid (that must be the masochist in me). I wanted to see if my intolerance to alliums was still bad, so got some Linda McCartney vegan sausage rolls that contain onion powder (I think) but no garlic so I thought it would let me know if onions still hated me (some people are affected by one, either or both... I was effected by both). I ate two sausage rolls and waited for the problems. None came. No pain, no bloating... nothing. I was pleasantly surprised. One more food to add to the plate. Then it got me thinking... if I could have onion powder, could I have garlic? (Not that I like garlic much, I just had to know). I found a Chinese BBQ sauce that had garlic but no onions and tried it. It wasn't very nice taste wise (although there was some slight discomfort). Then I thought, if onion powder was ok, maybe try something like dried chives. I used some as a garnish on some soup and again, no reaction!

Fast forward to today and so far I have had, onion powder, onion granules, onion extract, garlic powder, garlic extract, dried chives... and a large bowl of home-made leek and potato soup... with no comeback at all! I've had spicy burgers with onions, garlic and peppers... no comeback. I had some green peas the other day... with no comeback! To say I'm stunned is an understatement. I've been avoiding all these foods for years because of problems and now I don't have the problems (at least I don't think I do anyway... my next “try” is actual onion, I've bought onion rings and also red onions as well).

So what could have happened to suddenly make my stomach not hate most of the foods it used to (bananas still constipate me, but I was never much of a fan of theirs anyway lol).

It made me think... why now? What have I changed that could have such a drastic impact on my digestive system? And then one day it hit me... could it be because I'm vegan? Could the meat I ate for years have actually been the trigger for my problems and not the veg? I always had trouble digesting pork, it never liked me much. Steak often made me constipated. Any fish used to repeat on me so much I would want to vomit just to get the taste of it out of my mouth! Lamb would bloat me, and to a lesser extent so would chicken and turkey (although I never realised it). It made me wonder if I had been blaming the veg I would have with the meat for the trouble whereas I should have been blaming the meat! It just seems weird that I can now eat a lot of the things that gave me the worst reactions with no reactions at all... surely if something was so hard on the digestion that it would send you to bed that would never fully go away, regardless of how long between exposures.

Could nearly 16 months without meat have helped my digestive system to heal itself enough so that the “evil veg” doesn't cause any problems? Could the meat have been causing irritation and then the veg merely exacerbating a reaction already there?

Could I actually have been intolerant to meat the whole time and just never knew it?

Honestly I don't have a definite answer to any of those questions. All I can say is that I know how I feel, and that is fine. Maybe a little flatulence (who never has that?) but farts don't give me pain.

I guess that even if I hadn't become vegan for moral and ethical reasons, my body was screaming out for me to become one for health reasons. I just never knew it until now.

I'm going to take it slowly, I don't want to get my hopes fully up only to have them crushed by pain (which has happened many times before, when I've tried things in the past by jumping in head first instead of gently testing the waters with a toe at a time).

It has made me wonder if I should share my experiences with an allium intolerance group I'm in at Facebook? Obviously those with an allergy wouldn't benefit from reading it, allergies can be medically tested for whereas intolerances cannot, it is simply trial and error on the part of the intolerant person that discovers the triggers. But if meat could be behind my problems, couldn't it also be the same for others that might not even realise it?

The garlic capsules were a bad idea...

... and I've not taken anymore today. An hour after taking them yesterday my stomach had bloated up to such a degree that I was having trouble taking a deep breath!! Guess that rules out garlic as well as the onions *sigh*

The match at Wimbledon finally reached a conclusion... 70-68 in the final set to the American, John Isner. The Frenchman, Nicholas Mahut looked gutted when he lost... but they both got a special trophy and present for taking part in the longest tennis match in history, as did the chair umpire.

It's been really muggy today... it feels as if it's brewing up a storm somewhere. The atmosphere is airless and seems to just sap the energy right out of your body (or it seems to do that to me, anyway, lol). I hope there is a massive storm soon, one that will freshen the air and return the energy... gotta love those negative ions, hehe.

What the hell is wrong with people... they are going bonkers over the new iPhone, I just don't see the attraction. Even if I had the money I wouldn't buy one... I don't see the point in spending that much money on a bloody phone! Madness *sigh*

It's official... I HATE my digestive system...

... I can no longer eat anything containing onions (which includes leeks, shallots, spring onions and chives, and I'm also uncertain about garlic, too - they are all members of the allium family)... or too much pastry... or sausages or sausage-meat... or food that is too greasy. There are also other things that react badly with me, but I have to find them out as I go - which is not only painful, but time consuming, and it really spoils my day (and also puts a sour note on family dinners, too :( ) I just get a feeling of dread when it comes to my evening meal (breakfast is ok... no onions in cereal, lol) and lunch is ok, too (I always make my own lunch and never have anything ready-made anymore)... but evening meals are a minefield - the other day everyone else had a Chinese takeaway... and although it smelt lovely I could eat none of it... just in case there were onions in it........ARGH!!!

I am currently sat here with a stomach ache, and a dodgy bum (that I have a feeling is going to keep me up for most of the night!) I just want to have a normal digestive system... one that can process onions (and onion powder) - they are in so many things, even baked beans. There are so many things I miss desperately, sweet pickle on cheese sandwiches, worcestershire sauce to add flavour to food, even most shop bought soup contains onions and I don't always have time to make my own. **sigh** I just hate this so much!!

To add to my misery our dishwasher died yesterday, and after having one for 10 years to suddenly not have one is a total shock! I never realised just how excessive washing up can cause a backache (well, it does for me, and apart from Mum no one else seems to do any!)

Sissy also has ringworm! Ever since we found out I've felt itchy, though she is now on two doses of antibiotics (one oral, one topical) so hopefully it should be gone soon.

The one bright spot so far is that Wimbledon is on, so I have two weeks of great tv, lol!

That is such a beautiful noise...

... the sound of rain hammering down on the gazebo roof just under my bedroom window... doesn't make me feel any less crappy, but it's a lovely sound all the same! Hehe. So glad I didn't water the garden earlier, not that I had the energy to do it, but the thought was there. You can't beat a good drop of rain.

This cold is really starting to make me feel like the grumpiest person on the planet now... all I hear myself saying is how nasty I feel. I must stop it, I'm starting to annoy myself now. The thing that is annoying me the most is the sneezing... not little ones either, but huge, hurt your chest, have you wetting yourself and making you feel as if you're going to blow the top of your head off ones... the ones that give you an instant headache *sigh*

The arm on my glasses broke off earlier today! Filled me with terror that did, my eyesight is putting it bluntly, utter shit and without my glasses I can barely see anything (to give an example, take a piece of glass, smear it with vaseline and try and look through it... that is how bad my eyesight is without glasses!). I only have the one pair of specs and I cannot afford to get any new ones just right now. Fortunately Mum dashed to our corner shop and brought a tube of the strongest super glue they had, and it seems to have persuaded the little piece of metal holding the arm in place to stay put... for now. I have to be very careful with my glasses now, and the left arm is fused in place, but I can see and I didn't have to resort to the old "sticking plaster repair", so it's all good, lol! I really have to get some new glasses soon, though, especially as I don't know just how long the repair will last... I suppose I shouldn't really complain, I have had this pair of glasses for going on eight years! LOL.

Who was the bright spark that thought it would be a good idea to put onions into salmon paste?! I can assure them that if I ever find out who it was I shall do them a grave injury!

Anyway, I suppose I really should try and get some sleep... last night was a disaster, sleep-wise... I went to bed at 9.40 pm, I was woken up every hour by noisy people (Sissy and Pingu) going to the bloody toilet (which is next to my bedroom) and then the noisy cow next door starting doing something in her kitchen (which shares a wall with my bedroom) which woke me up completely at 1.07am, and she kept my awake until gone 4am! If it keeps on I'm going to have words with her, selfish cow, I can't handle the double onslaught of noise! I can handle either noise here or in there, but not both at once. I have been forced to listen to my MP3 player, just to try and block it all out... don't get me wrong, I adore Siouxsie and the Banshees (the album that is currently the first one that plays when I turn it on), but sometimes all I want is peace and quiet!! Is that too much to ask for in the early hours of the morning?!?!

I've just had a damn fly buzz me in the right ear!! Freaked me the hell out and now I'm not going to be able to sleep until it's either gone away or dead... bring on the Raid!

All told this has been a day that I am going to try and quickly forget... it sucked... BIG TIME!!

Still no onions...

... and my stomach has been as quiet as a mouse... no bloating, nausea, cramps, flatulence, etc for three days... it's been like heaven in my stomach - just wish that everything else was doing as well!

I cannot wait for Sissy to go back to Brighton... she's away with Pingu at a friends' barbeque today, and I can honestly say I was glad to see her go!! They tried to cook bacon sandwiches this morning, I say tried! He ended up burning through an expensive plastic chopping board, left the surfaces covered in bread crumbs and butter, and she spilt baked bean juice all over herself, the floor, the surfaces and the microwave and they then walked away and left it!!!. Not to mention that I was woken up by the repeated slamming of draws and cupboard doors and the smell of the grease and burnt bread made me feel really queasy, too... all made me the crankiest monster I've been for a long time. I only started to settle down and stop being angry once she left for the barbeque... I also made a lemon drizzle cake, and it focused my attention and calmed me down completely.

Still no contact from the boys' Mum, Michelle... this is getting really stupid and I just want to know if I still have a job next week **angry**

Didn't manage to get out in the garden, either, between dropping Dad to Nan's house, collecting him, going round to see if Michelle was home (she wasn't), baking some bread and also a cake I didn't seem to find the time. I also got up about 11.30 am and after yesterday's little accident my back was killing me! (The "accident" was my chair collapsing under me which sent me slithering to the floor... I laughed like a maniac when it happened, probably because Pingu was standing there and I was so embarrassed I tried to laugh it off. I can feel it in my lower back on the right side now, though... that was the side I landed on, and I can feel it pulling slightly whenever I move... gotta love ibuprofen, LOL!)

No onions today...

... and I feel fine. No nausea, wind, bloating, flatulence... nothing! I even had a small amount of chives on some sushi earlier and nothing, though granted, it was a very small amount, more like a garnish (and I couldn't even taste them). I'm going to stay onion-free until the weekend and then, if I feel brave enough, I'm going to eat some onions and see if they effect me. I'm going to try a cheese sandwich tomorrow, and then I'll add some onion to a similar sanwich over the weekend (just so that the test is sort of controlled, and I'll know it's not the bread or cheese if I'm fine with them on their own).

Still no contact from the boy's Mum... there have been many messages left for her and still no reply to any of them! I have no idea where I stand with her anymore, and the not knowing is annoying me (although I am forcing myself not to worry, as in the past I always have, and nothing has happened to us, so I'm staying positive and hoping that like will attract like as it seems to do for everyone that I know!! Most of the people I know could fall in shit and come out smelling of roses, so I'm hoping some of it will rub of on us if I adopt the same way of thinking... certainly can't hurt, LOL!)

I'm hoping to get out in the garden tomorrow... I lost a couple of plants over the dreadful winter we had and they are now looking all sad and brown, so I want to get them out and put some potted plants in their places. I have a large rosemary that I'd love to get in the bed with the other herbs, and I also have a bay and a lovely camellia that are just crying out for a nice earthy home (that is not in a pot!) I'm hoping that I have some growmore or something like it in the shed as I can't afford to buy any at the moment (and I like to get my plants off to the best start by giving them some food to draw on when I plant them in the ground). I've finally got my compost for sowing my seeds and also potting up my houseplants, so I'm hoping to get most, if not all of that done in the remaining three days I have off :)

I'll have to clean the small greenhouse and do a patch job in repairing the polycarbonate sheet that was cracked last year in a gale, but I'm hoping it won't take too long to do... once that's done all I'll have to do is move the power supply in there and plug in the heated propagators (and hope they still work!). Once I do all that, it'll be sowing time... and I love sowing seeds, and I really get excited when I see those little green shoots pushing through the soil, hehe.

A quick update whilst Sissy is away...

... she is going out to meet her brothers' new boyfriend, and will be gone for most of the day... which is nice, after having her mooning and pining for her bloke. Pingu, who wasn't here last night - one night they have not been together since she came back about a month ago and she was at the point of crying because she missed him so much! It's probably the old cynic in me that thinks that is not normal, but then I've never been in a relationship so I suppose I really can't judge what is normal or not to someone that is in one **shrugs**

I think I have found the reason for my digestive troubles... allium intolerance - more specifically onions (and members of the onion family such as leeks, shallots, spring onions, chives and garlic)! I've been keeping a food diary and I've had symptoms on three occasions, and on all of those occasions I've eaten something with onions in... a bolognese sauce, a packet of Nik Naks (which contain dried onion and garlic) and a jar of supermarket own brand pasta sauce. Within 30 minutes of eating them all I've had the familiar symptoms, bloating, cramps in the stomach, a churning feeling in my insides, nausea, flatulence and my food also starts repeating on me (which is nasty as you get to taste the food you've just eaten every time you burp :( ). My system is also effected for 24-48 hours depending on the amount I've eaten (I won't go into tmi. but it entails much time spent on the toilet... and not being sick!)... I do hope this is the real cause of my troubles, in the past I've thought it could be a whole host of different things, including lactose, wheat, meat and yeast... if it's not then I don't know what it is and I may go to the doctor and see if they can do a full food allergy test to see if that can pin-point what it actually is! Shame if it is onions as I love them, I have them raw and cooked and everything I cook contains onions of some sort... they are also in EVERYTHING, tomato sauce, spaghetti hoops, baked beans, anything with any kind of gravy... the list is immense, and also quite saddening as most of the things I love to eat are included in there somewhere :( You wouldn't believe the things that have onion powder added to them! Things like chicken in white sauce and some cup-a-soups... also the occasional junk food that we have is also off the menu now (if it is onions) as things such as Chinese and Pizza all use onions in their cooking and sauces... and I think the only things I could have with any degree of safety would be a kebab (as you just ask for no onion) and maybe a burger from a fast food chain (again, asking for no onions)... fish and chips should also be alright. Oh well... will just have to wait and see - again, LOL! Will avoid all things allium for a few days and then be very brave and eat some onions... then sit back and enjoy the feeling of people wrestling in my innards (if it is onions, of course).

I have not been paid from one of the Mum's we have here! She was supposed to come down and pay me last Thursday, but she never did... neither is she answering any of her phones, or returning my messages. I even went to her house on Saturday and spoke to her and she said that her bank card was at her friends house, and she was going there to get it and she'd give me a call in the afternoon... still waiting for that one!!! I don't know if it means that the boys are leaving, have left, whether it means she's not planning on paying me for this holiday (even though she signed a contract saying she would and the boys could have been here, it was her choice to leave them with their aunt!)... I have no idea, all I do know is that I'm getting quite pissed off at being ignored and the not knowing is making me angry. I'd love to tell her where to stick her kids, but I need the money... I wonder if Ben walking off on the last day of term has anything to do with this sudden avoidance of me, but she seemed uncaring at the time and how was I meant to know he was going to wander off - he never has in the past **shrugs** If they do leave, I still want my one month's notice and I greatly pity whoever is lumbered taking care of Ben in the future... I'd wish them all the luck in the world, if I thought it would do any good (only I know it won't!!)

Maybe I should start advertising for more kids anyway? My problem being if I get more in and they go to a different school and then the boys are not leaving, how do I get them all? LOL! Sometimes I wish being a witch meant that I did have a working flying broomstick **sigh** having to stick to normal methods of transport is very boring. expensive and time-consuming, hehe.