Being gluten-free

About 6 weeks ago I cut out gluten. It's been at times quite trying but definitely a really great decision.

The story -- stop reading now if you're squeemish --

You see, I've spent nearly 8 years in pain. Nearly 8 years of wondering why I was so sick all the time. Not sick in the contagious sense, I have a great immune system. Sick in the bloated, frequent BM, tired but can't sleep properly come night time, gas, migraines, iron deficiency, "IBS" (what a b*ll sh*t thing by the way), etc. The biggest, most annoying thing was the whole needing to run to the bathroom about 30 minutes after EVERY MEAL! Okay, maybe not every meal, just about 95% of them. It was horrible. So I was trying to just eat healthy and properly and not have food with preservatives as much as possible. I mean, during this time we also discovered I couldn't wear contacts anymore and they figured it was likely from the preservatives that are involved so it would totally make sense that it would be preservatives hurting my tummy. Except, this didn't completely solve things and my doctor just said "oh you have IBS" and "oh well some people just have that many BMs in a day". Seriously? 3 times a day? 3?? And in that um...shall we say consistency? Oh, and let's not forget that during this time I've suffered through on and off again bouts of fissures. YAY!!!!!!!!

I've also known about Celiac Disease during most of this time however refused to believe that that's what was going on. What I didn't realize is that you can have a gluten intolerance as opposed to a gluten allergy (which is what Celiac Disease is).

Over the last 8 years more and more people have figured out that they have this problem and over the last 8 years more and more food has become available in more tradional grocery stores. Now, you can actually go to your local grocery store and find special gluten free foods rather than driving half way across town to a little tiny store that charges an arm and a leg for these things. Now, I do totally support the little guy but um dang this stuff can be EXPENSIVE!!

So about 7 weeks ago I said to my doctor "can we do the blood test for gluten sensitivity". "sure" he said. So a week later I did the test. And right after that I stopped eating gluten. Guess what? I felt so much better. I didn't even realize how bloated I always felt. Apparently, I was just always bloated but sometimes I was EXTRA bloated. Oi! How terrible! Well, the test has since come back negative but, here's the thing. Those tests aren't terribly accurate AND I really wasn't eating tons and tons of gluten before the test (which I have since learned is QUITE important).

There have been two occassions where I knowlingly ate something with gluten in it. 4 weeks ago I ate a hot dog with a regular bun. I spent the next 24 hours with gas cramps. And this last week I ate something that had just a weeeee bit of breading and yup, gas cramps for 18 hours. But, was it worth it? Hell yah! I loved every bite. But something tells me I should be confirming that it's a gluten intolerance and not Celiac Disease (I should point out that I generally don't crave things that have gluten in them because I KNOW it could make me feel VERY crappy and it is sooooo nice to not feel crappy).

Now that things will be calming down a bit at work I'll be going to visit my doctor again to talk about these developments and see what our next steps are. I may have to find a proper doctor (as in, not the doctor I've seen since I was 5) and start down this path with a new doctor. But, it should be an interesting journey.