I love reading success stories of autoimmune warriors on the AIP diet. Their very first steps, the challenges they overcame, all the way to the transformation they experienced. Such stories are encouraging, inspiring, and provide us with the motivation to continue on our own healing journey. It is my privilege to collect and share those stories on the blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! To submit your AIP success story, click here. To read more AIP success stories like this one, click here.
Diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of twelve years old, Brad felt like someone was squeezing his gut in a vise during flares. He gave the Autoimmune Protocol a try instead of relying solely on medication. Even though he struggled with putting on weight at the beginning, he is now happy to live a normal life!
Diagnosis and Symptoms
- Autoimmune diagnosis: Diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at 12 years old.
- Symptoms: I’m not currently having symptoms but when I’m in a flare my symptoms are typical of someone with Crohn’s. Abdominal pain that feels like someone is squeezing my guts with a vise. Diarrhea upwards of 10 times per day. Inability to absorb nutrients leading to weight loss. Fatigue that makes it hard to get even basic things done like cooking and laundry.
- How did your symptoms make you feel? How did they impact your life? I have a bad habit of ignoring my symptoms and hoping they will magically go away on their own. I usually try to push through them which only makes things worse. But, when my symptoms get bad enough they impact my life significantly and I’m forced to take a step back. I’m unable to work, play sports, have a social life, and take care of myself due to lack of energy. It’s frustrating having to put everything on hold when I’m in a flare and I have to make a lot of sacrifices in my work life and personal life in order to get better.
AIP journey
- AIP start date: September 2018
- How did you find out about AIP? What did you think of it when you first learned about it? Did you doubt that it would help you feel better? I heard about AIP from my Mom and was skeptical at first. I didn’t think that diet and lifestyle changes alone would be able to manage my condition, let alone pull me out of a bad flare. I actually tried AIP once before and ended up quitting because I didn’t see immediate results. The sustainability of an elimination diet like AIP was another thing that I doubted. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to give up things like pizza and ice cream for the rest of my life. It also didn’t help that my doctors always told me that diet isn’t a factor in managing Crohn’s.
- At what point did you decide to commit to AIP? What made you take the plunge? What was the turning point for you? I decided to commit to AIP when I was in the middle of a bad flare last year. I was in rough shape and my options were to either increase my dose of Humira and go on prednisone or give AIP a shot and try and heal my body through diet and lifestyle changes. I chose the latter and decided to move back home across the country to get support from my family. The turning point for me was deciding to take a proactive approach to manage my health instead of relying on medication alone.
- What were you thinking / feeling when you made the decision to change and start the AIP diet? I was thinking about how hard it was going to be to eliminate gluten, dairy, eggs, coffee, nuts, seeds, legumes… I was slightly overwhelmed but thankfully had a lot of support from my family. At the same time, I was really excited about the opportunity to take control of my health and heal my body naturally.
First steps into AIP and challenges
- What were the first steps you took? The first step I took was signing up for an AIP course. The idea behind it was to gradually and systematically eliminate foods week-by-week so the transition to AIP wasn’t so harsh. I would highly recommend doing something similar to this if you want your transition to AIP to be more structured. Psychologically, it made it a lot easier not eliminating everything at once and is a big reason why I was able to stick with it.
- What were the challenges you encountered when starting AIP and how did you overcome them? When I started AIP I was in a flare and was about 20 pounds underweight. One of the biggest challenges I faced was putting on weight after eliminating so many different foods. I actually lost more weight after switching to AIP. To overcome this I had to be patient and give my body enough time to heal before reintroducing other foods and increasing my calories. In September 2018 (when I started AIP) I weighed 132 lbs. I’m now back to my normal weight at 153 lbs. Another challenge was not being able to eat out at restaurants. This is just something that I’ve had to accept and is a sacrifice I’m willing to make for my health. It’s really not a big deal though I still eat great food!
The transformation
- What transformation have you experienced on AIP? Have your symptoms improved? In only 9 months my health has completely transformed. All my symptoms are gone, I have more energy, I’m sleeping better, my skin has cleared up, I’ve put on 20 pounds and got back to my normal weight. Really all aspects of my health have improved on AIP. My perspective on autoimmune diseases has also shifted. I used to hate talking about having Crohn’s and tried to pretend like it wasn’t there, but now, I’m much more open about it and want to connect with and help other people going through something similar.
- What can you do now that you were not able to do before? I’ve been able to get back to living a normal life since I started AIP. I’m working again, playing sports, working out, hanging out with friends, and thriving in spite of having Crohn’s.
- What would have happened if you had continued to eat/live like before? I would probably still be sick and would have had to increase my dose of Humira and go on prednisone. I also might have needed surgery if I didn’t start taking my health more seriously.
Bigger impact on family and work-life
Yes. It’s hard at work sometimes when people are always offering you things like donuts, sandwiches, cookies, pizza, cake, and you have to say no and explain to them why you can’t eat it. It has kind of forced me to be more open about my condition though, which I think is a good thing. In terms of family life, I think going on AIP has brought us closer together. My parents have been extremely supportive and I wouldn’t have been able to get better without them. I think its really important to have a good support system when starting AIP. My brother also uses AIP to help with his autoimmune condition so we decided to start our own Instagram account to share our experience with AIP and connect with other people in the community.
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