How We Were Lead to GAPS

I started writing a summary of my healing thus far on GAPS, but this came out instead.

I had learned about GAPS at the end of 2010, I came across it on a few blogs that I kept up with. 2010 was the year I had a vegetarianish mindset.  I worked on using less meat and replacing it with grains and vegetables.  In hindsight, it was the year that I started getting sick more regularly and taking more naps, but this could truly be coincidental.

Our eldest son had always been a handful, but as he got older, his behavior became more disturbing.  We started actively looking for help.  I tried essential oils and acupuncture, we took specialized parenting classes, we talked to psychologists, he met with a therapist, was fitted for a compression vest. Finally, in January 2011, we found something that worked called amino acid therapy (5HTP, GABA, Tyrosine and Grapeseed Extract).  It was incredible how well he responded, but after three months it simply lost effect.  We tried upping the doses, cutting the does, stopping and starting back up. It just stopped working and I was scared, scared because our next step was medication.  I tried to rationalize that even though I knew it wasn’t the best thing for my son, it was the best thing for the other four members of his family.

I looked all over for the GAPS book and finally ordered it late spring 2011.  In the following months, between rages and meltdowns, I read a few pages.  I knew I wanted to read more and I wanted to get our son on this diet, but my mind was muddled, I couldn't see how we could possibly make it work, it seemed out of reach.

In July, my two oldest children went to the Midwest with my sister and stayed with my parents for a week. The first day they left, I picked up the book and read nearly half of it.  The next morning, my mind was going over parts of the book, I was digesting it when I got a feeling.  It was a strange feeling, hard to explain exactly, if you have read The Book of Mormon, you know exactly what I am talking about.  My heart began racing it was almost like panic, yet I was calm and clear headed.  All of the muddled thoughts cleared and one thought remained, alone, on a clean canvas with nothing in the background. “Set a date.” I took out my calendar and began pursuing, knowing I needed uninterrupted time that my kids would be home all day, no commitments for weeks to start…Intro.

July 20, the day after the kids got home from their grandparents’ was our first day on “the diet.”