Life sure has gotten busy for me the past 7 months with working again. My blog is usually on my mind as I drift off to sleep with little to no time to actually write or post. But….today! Today, I was talking to my family about the following and, well darnit, just typed it immediately to share! I’m back!
With this weird disease I am always trying to put the puzzle pieces together. It takes lots of time and apparently years. Today I may have discovered another piece to fit in the puzzle.
I was eating strict AIP for about 6 months. Currently I still, most of the time, eat the limited AIP allowed foods. I have determined there are a few things I can consume with no adverse reaction, so my AIP is expanded. Thank goodness coffee is on that okay list!
On occasion and mainly on weekends I stray a little. I still consider myself the healthiest eater I know since the summer of 2017 when I began this journey of healing, but I occasionally may have a touch more food with some sugar, occassional alcohol, or even corn. I know, I’m a rebel.
Something I have noticed when I “stray” since starting this journey is that my nostrils become sensitive. Sensitive as in push on my nose from the outside and it hurts some type of sensitive. Weird. It lasts for a day or two but always goes away once I get back into my strict routine.
Today I searched on the Hashimotos 411 Facebook page (the true go to when you feel a little koo-koo with this Hashimotos thing and want to know you aren’t alone) and apparently sore nostrils and even sores in the nose are common with others with Hashimotos. I further googled and found a term for inflammation in the nose, referred to as Sinusitis. I even found a case study linking Hashimotos and chronic rhinosinusitis. That lead me to thinking even more.
For years beginning in my late 20s I would get pain in the left side of my face, or the sinus area. Just one side. I even went to an ENT and he thought I was crazy, referring me to a neurologist because all my scans were clear. I didn’t go to the neurologist and left bewildered. Many years later I discovered and accepted it could be a type of migraine where I have localized pain in the left side of my face. This subtle pain would last for days on end with no real relief. Luckily it really was bearable.
Well after my research and analysis today I am beginning to think all this time it was inflammation of my sinuses, and now nostrils, quite possibly due to this weird disease I have had for so much longer than I ever knew. I really have discovered when you have an autoimmune disease reactions to food can be quite varied and honestly strange.
I will add when I eat more sugar for a couple days I will get that same facial pain and often a migraine with visual aura. Amazing how poorly I can react to something so many others consume daily with no obvious negative symptoms. I haven’t even really been able to pinpoint what bothers me outside of sugar for sure, but that’s because I have not followed the elimination protocol to a T. When adding back foods after being strict AIP, one is supposed to add one ingredient at a time. Well I will eat, let’s say, a corn tortilla chip (or 20). Well that has corn and vegetable oils I don’t usually eat in AIP. I may also dip the chip in salsa that has tomatoes and other ingredients not AIP approved. Because of this I can’t pinpoint if it is the corn, oil, tomatoes or other ingredients bothering me. So who the heck knows what it is I am reacting to but it may be one of those ingredients. Most days I just avoid them all. Easiest thing to do.
I quite often think how unfair this is but at the same time and happy for my continuous building of knowledge and self control over what I eat now. I choose now to avoid this inflammation in my nose…well wth the occasional exception of just..well..enjoying a day here and there freely!