Liver/Digestion/Food Sensitivities

First post! So let me start by saying hi, and it’s lovely to meet you all : )

I’ve been RRARF/Eating For Heat for about a week now – yes, I know, not that long – and my temperatures are improving quite a bit: hitting 37?C after breakfast through to mid afternoon (post-lunch) for the last few days. After more than a decade of cold hands and feet, and temps in the low- to mid-36 range, I’m really pleased. But, like the title suggests, there are issues. Backstory time:

I’ve had some pronounced digestive issues since early childhood, which tie in with my ASD (yay). Wheat/gluten/oats cause gas, indigestion, and embarrassingly loud stomach gurgles. After much trial and error, I discovered that dairy causes my cystic acne and whiteheads, as well as a lot of sinus congestion. If my digestive tract is sufficiently irritated, nickel sensitivity (see: most green leafy veggies, cocoa, raspberries, almonds, etc.) rears its ugly head in the form of dyshidrotic eczema. That’s always particularly fun. When all this happens at once, it pretty well creates the perfect storm, and my liver goes kaput – suddenly half a glass of wine has the effect of a full bottle, and the only foods that don’t seem to make me ill are basic salad items, chicken, and quinoa. Not sure whether it’s Stockholm Syndrome or my orthorexic tendencies, but living on this really restricted diet from day to day doesn’t bother me much. I only care when my friends go out for lunch or dinner and don’t invite me, because they assume I can’t “eat like a normal person” (that’s a direct quote).

I had a bad bout of all the above earlier in the year, which left me almost completely bedridden for a few months. I was on a candida diet, and wasn’t able to do my usual Bikram yoga and running regimen. I ‘healed’ my digestive system, and I didn’t get any heavier, but my body composition changed – every week I’d jump on my Tanita scales and watch as my body fat percentage crept up from 27 to 34.

So as soon as my body could handle it, I was restricting calories, eating lots of protein and nearly no carbs, and – you guessed it – getting no results. When I’d done the same thing five years ago, I’d dropped 10kg (22lbs). So I thought I’d ramp it up with some Leangains-style fasting. Not only did it make no difference to my body composition, but I was suffering the worst insomnia I’d had in years. I was toying with switching to Bulletproof when I stumbled upon Matt and 180 Degree Health, and here I am.

The problem? As fun as Eating The Food is, my body isn’t handling dairy and grains particularly well. Gas, gurgles, the beginnings of acne, and the telltale dark shadows and puffy bags under my eyes that hint at my liver chucking a tanty. It’s not all in my head, either. A few people asked if I was unwell today, and our kindly office receptionist told me to go home and get some sleep.

I’ve read accounts of people saying that food sensitivities are a hump and that if you keep ETFing, you’ll get past them. But then I’m seeing people on the forums saying they’re still avoiding trigger foods. I was wondering whether anyone out there is/was in a similar situation to me, and could give me any advice on how to proceed… I’m pretty tired and strung out (between the diet and a heavy couple of weeks at work), so my brain is churning all this information around and around, and I don’t know whether it’s dark-before-the-dawn, or danger-Will-Robinson territory.