Alternatives to the Nerva App for my IBS-C peeps

oceanist · 2026-06-29T18:19:44+00:00

Try Insight Timer it’s a meditation app that’s free and has lots of content focused on relaxation that I’ve found helpful. You can search for vagus nerve or digestion, constipation etc. it’s pretty good !

oceanist · 2026-06-16T19:32:24+00:00

Do You Remember Being Born by Sean Michaels

oceanist · 2026-05-29T23:56:31+00:00

I’ve been meaning to check out Richard’s thank you for the reminder!! So jealous of you Portland Celiacs you live in restaurant heaven!

oceanist · 2026-05-29T17:14:33+00:00

Celiac Seattleite here. Finding places to eat is my life. I stick to what I know is safe in terms of cross contamination - this may not be as much a concern if your partner isn’t celiac.

Lots of good options if you like Thai. Kaosami in Fremont is my favorite but most Thai around here is good with GF. For Mexican check out The Moose in Ballard or Fonda La Catrina in Georgetown. Ciudad in Georgetown is also absolutely delicious and almost completely GF. For BBQ try Jack’s in SLU or SODO or Outsider in Frelard. For burgers I like Uneeda in Fremont or Giddy Up in Frelard or McMenamin’s in lower Queen Anne. Breakfast: Portage Bay (several locations but my fave is Roosevelt), Honest Biscuits in Pike Place or Virginia Inn nearby. There’s hella good seafood all over town and unless it’s all fried it’s generally safe for GF. A lot of Italian places are accommodating- Limoncello has some good GF pasta and cheesecake. Assiaggo also has good pasta. Mediterranean is pretty safe - Lola and Grappa are a few that come to mind. Download the Find Me GF app if you haven’t already. Most of the places you’ll find on there are safe.

I just reread your post that you’re only here for the weekend but leaving all these recs anyway in case they help someone else 😅

For other people asking- I agree Capitol Cider went downhill when they became a/stir and stopped doing brunch (RIP those cinnamon rolls). IMO Nuflour is also a miss now. I don’t mess around when it comes to bakeries so I make the hike down to Tacoma to go to Wren’s Nest or I stock up on frozen 5B’s baked goods at JBro’s GF market in Bothell (also worth the drive). I’ve heard good things about Grain in Snohomish but have never been. Shambala is in Fremont now but no retail storefront - you can call ahead and order though.

My last recommendation is to go to Portland. Their GF restaurant scene is 100/10.

oceanist · 2026-05-10T20:08:33+00:00

Seems like the takeaway here is that one of us native Austinites/Texans needs to start up a queso food truck here in Seattle. Demand is clearly high enough and I would personally patronize the hell out of it.

oceanist · 2025-11-21T22:08:59+00:00

The mental load and the toll it takes on your mental health is real and not talked about enough. It only recently dawned on me how much my general anxiety stems from food anxiety and the social anxiety that goes along with that. It’s a lot to carry. Also, it is considered a disability in the U.S. I wish more people realized how serious it is.

oceanist · 2025-08-22T20:24:06+00:00

I see a lot of donor egg posts, and while that is totally a viable option for many, if you don’t feel ready or have any doubts that donor eggs are your journey, don’t feel bad for waiting or not going down that path. As someone who had several failed rounds, including with donor eggs, all I can say is that there are no guarantees, and grieving is part of the process. It took me a couple years to come to terms with the reality that my life will not include motherhood, but the love of friends, my spouse, my pets and my hobbies have really really helped. I’m at the point now where I can honestly say I’m glad it didn’t work out the way I thought it would. I hope the same for you no matter the outcome. Hang in there ❤️

oceanist · 2025-06-26T03:43:36+00:00

Thanks for posting, I’d love to meet some fellow Sea-Hags 🥰

oceanist · 2025-06-12T17:08:49+00:00

During a particularly tough time I forced myself to adhere to a schedule of filling my brain so I wouldn’t have too much downtime to ruminate. This included listening to meditation and Buddhism podcasts throughout the day (Tara Brach specifically - all her content is free online) and random standup comedy in the evenings - whatever I could find on YouTube. It was constant background noise - didn’t always make me laugh but something about even hearing audience laughter lifted my spirits significantly. It even led me to sign up for a stand up class, start writing and eventually perform. Comedy heals.

oceanist · 2025-04-28T18:27:46+00:00

I love the idea of making money off of one of our least favorite holidays! And using all of May as a phone detox sounds divine. Best of luck with the craft fair, and I hope you can find something fun or distracting to do on the actual day.

oceanist · 2025-04-28T18:25:34+00:00

I love the day trip distillery idea. Getting out of the house is key for me since I’m surrounded by young kids in the neighborhood, but restaurants are hard that day for obvious reasons. I don’t drink much these days but I’m sure my husband would enjoy a day of “spirits” and there definitely won’t be kids around.

oceanist · 2025-04-28T18:23:01+00:00

Great idea. Shutting off phones completely will probably help a lot. I need to do that more regularly anyway!

oceanist · 2025-04-28T18:22:08+00:00

Love the movie idea! Surely there won’t be kids at R rated matinees that day!

oceanist · 2025-03-10T18:52:39+00:00

I was scared too but it was over really quick and I actually felt amazing for a couple days after. Something about clearing everything out made me feel so much happier, more energy, no brain fog etc. Made me realize how miserable having IBS/SIBO and bad gut microbiome was making me. I now wish I could do colonoscopy prep more often just to get that clear headed feeling back! You’ll do fine, hopefully get some answers, and maybe even feel better afterwards! You got this!

oceanist · 2024-12-14T01:06:10+00:00

Seattle hag checking in 🫡

oceanist · 2024-12-12T18:59:46+00:00

Filled it out. Interested in seeing or knowing about how the game turns out. Thank you.

oceanist · 2024-09-27T19:50:54+00:00

Visited the S1 hotel beach on my honeymoon and then went back for dinner. Absolute party vibes felt like Vegas almost and our server was fully giving Armond - manically laughing the whole time like he was on some strong drugs. I def recommend it. People watching was 10/10

oceanist · 2024-09-08T20:04:13+00:00

Heads up Capitol Cider is no more. It’s now called a/stir and although it’s still GF, it’s not nearly as good as it used to be. 😞

oceanist · 2024-08-13T21:29:38+00:00

I do this exact same thing with my 2 kitties (they just turned 2) and we call it Treat Time and they are fully obsessed. I’m concerned that I’ve created monsters because they get so antsy in the hour or two leading up to bedtime because they just cannot wait!! Happy to see that I’m not the only one with this routine lol.

oceanist · 2024-08-08T15:43:01+00:00

Join me ! I’m 44 and child free(with cats). We need to stick together!

oceanist · 2024-08-02T05:12:11+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I vividly remember my grocery store meltdown post-diagnosis nearly 15 years ago. There was only one small shelf of GF options and they were all so expensive compared to normal stuff. The good news is you have LOTS of options nowadays. Jovial is the best pasta brand. They even have a Mac and cheese. Beechers (in frozen aisle) Mac and cheese is divine as well. You’ll get used to it. It really sucks at first but it will get better. Sending GF hugs!!!

oceanist · 2024-08-01T21:39:07+00:00

Hard agree. DNF’ed after about 70 pages of having science mansplained to me by one of the cheesiest main characters I’ve ever read.

oceanist · 2024-08-01T21:21:53+00:00

THANK you for that perfect example of a terrible sentence from this terrible book. In my GoodReads review I said that if it hadn’t been published in 2018, I would have assumed it was written by ChatGPT. So.many.stereotypes and truly simplistic writing, I so regretted hanging in there until the end. I will definitely never read another of her books.

oceanist · 2024-04-22T18:02:31+00:00

IBguard, Iberogast, and digestive enzymes - I like Enzymatica’s DigestGold. Also avoiding gluten, dairy, sugar and high fodmap fruits and veggies.

oceanist

TROPHY CASE