Exhausted.

I’ve been on the road for the last week. And I’m exhausted.

Last Friday morning, Luke and I went out of town to visit his family for the weekend. We came back home Sunday evening with enough time for me to unpack and repack for a four-day business trip to Austin. In fact, as I’m writing this, I’m on the road between Austin and Dallas returning home. And I’m exhausted.

I’ve always been a routine-oriented person, but it’s never been more apparent than within the last six months of my life. When I set a schedule for myself, I stick to it. But for the last week, that’s been anything but the case. The last week has been great, don’t get me wrong. From visiting with family to learning great ideas for work, the last week has been very productive and valuable. But I’m exhausted.

It probably didn’t help that I stayed up until 2:30am on Tuesday night (actually, early Wednesday morning) exploring the town of Austin (ahem, 6^th Street and Coyote Ugly. Hey, when in Austin…) 

but after over 10 hours of sleep last night, I’m still so tired. In fact, this morning I slept in until 8:30, laid in bed until 9:00, got ready for the day, then fell back asleep in the chair in my hotel room.

When my bed was actually this close.

I was just too exhausted to move.

Unfortunately, fatigue is one of the major signs and symptoms of MS. But it’s not a fatigue like most others get. In addition to being tired, my limbs feel like they’re being held down with weights, my torso has a lead vest and my knees don’t want to help me climb the stairs because I’m so tired.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been this tired. I’m even mentally tired. Besides sitting in meetings for several hours over the last few days, I’ve been reading The Daniel Plan which has a very dense section over food.

It is really helpful in explaining how to choose real and healthy foods over conveniently processed, packaged foods, but because of my MS, I’ve been reading it differently than I would have if I was a regular reader looking for advice and help on creating a healthier lifestyle.

The book mentions how a laundry list of chronic (long-lasting) illnesses and diseases can be prevented largely because of what foods we eat. Illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, organ function, etc. The list goes on and on. Since Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder, I was intrigued when I read that things like gluten can actually make my symptoms worse. Click here to read how gluten can affect those without Celiac Disease (a gluten-intolerant autoimmune disorder.)

In short, gluten can cause a slow-developing intolerance in a person’s body, leading to chronic diseases, some of which are listed in the previous paragraph. I’ve tried to be really proactive in managing my MS since I was diagnosed, so upon reading that gluten can cause or make MS symptoms worse, I began researching and reaching out to my small circle of MSers asking their take on gluten.

I feel like I’m tackling a beast. Reading about a gluten-free lifestyle is daunting, let alone actually living one. Gluten is in almost every bread product, in addition to several packaged or packet foods and soups. Thank goodness for fruits and vegetables because nearly everything else that I eat contains gluten. The saying, “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” definitely applies to this situation.

So between traveling, conferences, exploring the late-night scene and researching an entire nutritional lifestyle, yeah, I think it’s okay for me to be a little tired. I will likely try the The Daniel Plan's detox plan to see if I have a gluten-intolerance and will take it from there.

If you live a g-free lifestyle, or attempted to, especially if you also have MS, please let me know about your experience. Did you feel a difference? How long have you been (or were you) gluten-free? How did you make the switch to a gluten-free diet? And anything else you want to tell me.

For now, I'll leave you with one of my favorite parts of The Daniel Plan so far: