I started to ask around about ways that I could go after this in a more holistic approach. I was directed to the Born Clinic. We looked at previous tests that were taken plus a few extra I needed to do. I quickly learned that the first way to tackle this was with my diet. I had attempted in the past to cut out gluten and dairy but I'd cheat every now and then. My doctor at the Born Clinic was very stern about removing gluten and dairy. On top of that, nightshades needed to be removed from my diet. What are nightshades you might ask?

• Ashwagandha

• Cayenne pepper

• Chili Pepper Flakes

• Chili powder

• Curry Powder

• Curry spice powder

• Eggplants/aubergines

• Garam Masala spice – because it contains peppers

• Goji berries

• Hot Sauce

• Ketchup (and BBQ Sauce) – because they contain tomatoes

• Most spice blends – because they contain peppers

• Paprika spice

• Pepinos

• Peppers (including bell peppers, sweet peppers, chili peppers, jalapeños)

• Pimentos

• Potatoes (does not include sweet potatoes or yams)

• Red Pepper

• Red Pepper Flakes

• Steak Seasoning

• Tomatoes

Yeah...the list is pretty big. We also did a food sensitivity test which made my list even bigger. Add to that list

• Watermelon

• Almonds

• Cashews

• Spinach

• Bananas

• Cabbage

• Sunflower

• Mustard

• Peanut

• Bran

• Rye

• Haddock

• Sesame

• Cantaloupe

• Soybean

• Yogurt

Thankfully that restricted list was just for 3 months, but it became overwhelming very fast.

I don't think a lot of people understood how stressful these restrictions were. Going out to eat was out of the question, and grocery shopping became stressful and unenjoyable, I had to look at every ingredient for every single item I bought...pretty much anything that had to deal with food would just cause me anxiety. I was also put on holistic medicine to bring down my TPO levels.

I began to feel better. The mood swings were farther apart, I didn't feel like I needed a nap after every meal, my mental fogginess lessened, my cycles began to regulate, and I wasn't necessarily losing weight, but I was seeing better results in my workouts. But in the last few months, things started to get weird again. I haven't had a normal cycle in about 3 months, I've been spotting but it never turns into anything. I've been on this restricted diet since the end of December and though I feel better, it still hasn't given me the result I've been looking for. Infertility is still an issue.