iThei mdcdaelcinfd o c elllllrlllll tcfdohsc dtI became obsessed with finding the answer, and as those who know me can
confirm, I am very stubborn and notoriously determined to get my way.
Protein: My Aha! Moment
Protein Indigestion/Malabsorption
When I first became chronically exhausted, I would sleep as long as pos-
sible. Being a college student made that fairly easy. Unfortunately, this
led to having a less than stellar GPA, but I soon learned to compensate.
I would sleep all day and study all night for my 7:30 a.m. exams before
coming home and sleeping more.
If I got less than ten hours of sleep, I was often struck with diarrhea. With
the help of a supervising pharmacist, I was able to connect the diarrhea
to protein shakes containing soy lecithin. Red meat was also a culprit in
causing gastrointestinal distress, as was lack of adequate sleep.
I remember saying to my mom, “It’s like I need to sleep so my body
can process everything I ate. When I wake up too early, it’s still not pro-
cessed.” She suspected lactose intolerance. “It can’t be,” I thought. Why
would it start all of a sudden?
Fast-forward to the future. On Friday, February 10, 2012, I started tak-
ing one capsule of betaine with pepsin for each meal containing protein.
I was surprised to wake up the following morning at 8 a.m. without an
alarm. Previously, it had been an effort to drag myself out of bed after 10
a.m. on my days off. Strangely, I continued to feel energetic all day. I even
stayed awake when my energetic husband took a nap. With a friend’s
wedding fast approaching and having barely exercised in the past year, I
had also started doing P90X that same Friday.
I wondered if my new energy was due to the exercise or enzymes.
Happily, I continued both and thought I should test my theory at some
point. Meanwhile, life became easier, and all of a sudden, I had a surplus
of time. I felt more at ease going to bed and even had time to meditate,
something I had been wanting to do for years!
As the week progressed, I felt myself having more and more energy, and
I actually became more outgoing and talkative. The mental fog was com-
pletely lifted, and I could come up with all sorts of clever words quickly.
My coworkers commented on my good mood at work. My husband no-
ticed my sense of humor even improved. I felt like myself again, the self
I had not seen for almost ten years.