GF/CF diet (for Aspergers) – balance sheet of progress so far January 14, 2008

After about two and a half months on my GF/CF diet I feel like weighing up my progress.

The tedium of the Christmas and New Year festivities was more bearable this year. I normally get terribly depressed at this time of year due to assessing my life, and usually coming to the conclusion of another “wasted year”. This year this did not happen because I’m feeling less depressed generally, due to my diet, and also I genuinely felt I’ve actually achieved something through my diet.

I’ll try to list the main positive effects of my diet:

1. I am a lot more mentally alert and decisive. I seem to be able to sort out problems and make decisions all of a sudden. For example, I had a problem with a technique for playing the guitar and spent a week or so thinking about it and researching it and I sorted it out; I had been thinking of giving up playing. I’m less tired; when I yawn it’s as if I’m about 80% less tired than before.

2.  I feel a lot less depressed.

3.  I feel a lot less anxious about things generally.

4. I have a lot less social anxiety.

5. I feel like I want to relate to people and get on with them.

6. My body, muscles and joints are incredibly loose; I feel 20 years younger!

7. I’m more aware of any aches and pains in my body.

8. My bowels are functioning better and I feel less bloated; and I’m not constantly hungry and thirsty.

9. I feel more optimistic; if I see a problem I start thinking of solutions rather than getting depressed.

Here are things which I’m still having problems with:

1. I think I’m still slow at verbal processing.

2. I’m still not completely comfortable with eye contact.

3. I’m still not good at meeting new people.

4. I’m not sleeping as well as I’d like.

And finally here are new problems I’m having as a result of losing my Asperger symptoms:

1. I get bored doing things I previously enjoyed, for example: going for a short walk, doing boring repetitive tasks like gardening.

2. I probably enjoy my own company less and find socialising more enjoyable than before.

In general I would estimate that I’m 50-60% cured of my Asperger symptoms and it has to be remembered my body is still awash with stored Gluten so it will be months yet before the full effects of the diet will show.

A piece of good news: I’ve managed to persuade my doctor to give me a prescription for some gluten free foods so I can manage the cost of the diet better.