Emotional chaos?

[LBTC]

I'm starting week 3 of this restricted diet. My food options aren't bad, I'm not starving, I get some enjoyment from food, it takes a long time to prepare but it's alright.

I have a strange problem, though. Since Friday last week I feel like crying all the time. It's not sad thoughts that cause me to feel this way, I just feel like tears are right there whenever I'm not busy working or thinking of something else. Almost as if something horrible has happened to someone I care about, but I don't know that anything has happened to anyone.

Usually I have a pretty upbeat attitude, and usually I don't get all tied up in emotions. When I was grieving the loss of my Yogi dog I let myself cry whenever I felt the need to, and that's the only time I can recall having this feeling that the tears are right there ever before.

Do you think that it could be a food issue? Could I have been gaining some kind of euphoria from one of the foods that I've stopped eating? I've decided to increase my intake of evening primrose oil in the hopes that will help. If any of you have any ideas for me, please let me know!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Pax]

I recently spent a month on a strict vegan diet, during that time I felt physically lighter, like there was a core inside me that was floating. I also felt like I was on the edge of euphoria all the time, I can only attribute this to the diet. Since I have reverted to a more vegetarian diet the feelings have waned...I kinda miss them.

[annie]

Disclaimer! I am not anything close to an expert! These are just my thoughts.

If your diet is drastically different than what it was, your entire body chemistry is changing. I doubt it is one food. It's more the combination of foods that you are no longer eating. Hopefully, as your body becomes more accustomed to this new eating style, your moods will even out, also. Give it some time. Try to keep busy. I wish I had better advice, but maybe someone else will come along to help out, too. Good luck! Don't give up.

Annie

[LBTC]

Give it some time. Try to keep busy. I wish I had better advice, but maybe someone else will come along to help out, too. Good luck! Don't give up.

I'm trying to, thank you. I had a good cry and DH made a very nice dinner. I'm feeling a bit more level at the moment, but the edge is just a heartbeat away.....

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[KnottedYet]

I went through something similar when I finally went hard-core on the gluten-free diet. I was tired and needed to sleep, and slept nearly 12 hrs a night for a few weeks. I'd like to think my body was finally healing itself. (I also lost a ton of weight and felt much better.)

I don't recall feeling teary, more slow and almost meditative and SLEEPY. I slept really well, and woke up feeling marvellous every morning.

[Duck on Wheels]

You could also be going through a depressive patch. You've recently been diagnosed with a condition that requires changes in your diet, some of them possibly permanent. It's taken a lot of energy and consideration to make the adjustments, and the new diet is probably not yet "normalized". Even if you're giving yourself plenty of credit for managing the change, you probably still -- at some level -- miss just eating whatever you get a hankering for. If this is ringing any bells of recognition, then that may be what has you on an emotional edge. A few things to remember if that's the case:
- It will pass. You will work out a new diet, get used to it, and eventually no longer miss the old one.
- Crying jags will also pass. Don't worry about letting yourself cry. You will be able to stop. (That was one of my biggest worries when I was depressed over Crohns, thinking if I let myself cry I might not be able to stop.)
- It helps to talk. To your partner, to family, to us, or to a professional. What professionals are particularly good at (I found, but that may be the one I contacted) is asking questions that put things in a new perspective.
- And keep up the good work. Keep learning your newly discovered needs. Keep congratulating yourself on learning them. Keep congratulating yourself on making tasty foods within your new dietary restrictions. Keep working out (feeling strong helps!).

p.s. Another thought: Crohns is entangled with stress hormones, so there could also be a hormone element to this.