Thursday, April 15, 2010

Gluten-Free Not the Answer for Me?


Good news? I tested negative for celiac. Bad news? Still no answers...although my allergist agreed with Dr Heather, I have immunity issues. She says this is why I get hives, my body is overreacting to minor allergens. She recommended my PCP give me a Pneumovax 23 to boost my immune system because apparently my pneumococal titers are way off. She also agreed that my Epstein Barr Virus had recently re-initiated itself which is why I felt exhausted and constantly droopy/fatigued recently. But I must say, the high dose of vitamins B12, D and now consistent vitamin A and B Complex that Dr Heather kicked it's butt! She has me on has me back to feeling energetic, so that has been a blessing this week as I had 2 to 3 doctor visits daily!

Daily doc visits every day this week except today that is, today is my day of rest. Well, supposedly it is so. I have a list of things to do. Doctors to call, addresses to find, things to ask people...it will be a busy day of rest but at least I'm not running around getting poked and prodded and made dizzy. Not today anyway.

So I feel a bit dejected. Is that strange? I should be celebrating not being a Celiac right? But I thought I'd found the answers. When I was eating 100% gluten-free I did feel better. I was however able to eat some really yummy mac n cheese on regular noodles last night. And I must admit, I am looking forward to trying out this new pasta bar in Phoenix. But I am still feeling disappointed. I think this is because I thought I had found the answer.

Now for my friends who are gluten-free and read this blog, never fear there will still be the occasional (probably more than occasional) gluten-free recipe. This is because I have found that many things we make are accidentally gluten-free and pretty much anything vegan I make or easily can be. And I will still be preparing vegan and/or vegetarian foods and writing about them here. So whenever I eat or prepare something I enjoy and I find it worthy of sharing with others, I'll post it here. Especially if I find it makes me feel healthier. I will add a gluten-free label to make it simpler to find my posts which have gluten-free recipes or when I post about restaurants that serve gluten-free food. Speaking of restaurants, we went out to celebrate a recent victory with some friends the other night, and they had a gluten-free menu at Pei Wei.

I am not going back to eating all gluten-filled foods all the time over night, heck probably never, but I did have pasta last night. It doesn't seem to have negatively affected me. I'm still feeling sick, but I still felt sick when I was off gluten. It just doesn't seem to be the fix for me. Unless the toothpaste I use has gluten. That's possible, I hadn't gotten around to checking that out. But again, I ate regular pasta last night and felt fine. A little gassy, my eyes and nose are itchy, but the gas was probably the cheese I put on it, and the itchy eyes and nose are most likely from sitting outside so much yesterday around all that ragweed. I think I will try going back to occasionally eating things that have gluten in them, and see how I feel. If I start feeling worse, I'll go back off the gluten and see if that fixes it. Because heck, if I feel better off the stuff, it's worth giving up. Or if I feel best on a low gluten diet, same thing.

Maybe today I will eat some oatmeal. Not a ton of gluten in oatmeal. In fact some people would say there's none...depends on if the oats were dusted with wheat flour. But I miss my morning hot cereal. Never did bother putting gluten-free hot cereal in the pantry. Maybe now I won't bother. Shopping gluten-free was a bit more expensive. Mostly because I hadn't mastered low cost shopping while gluten-free. If I end up not going 100% off gluten, maybe I'll never master that...but I do think I will try making some delicious low cost meals and writing about them. I made a really yummy one on the day before yesterday and it was even better when I pumped it up with some lime juice for lunch yesterday. That entry coming soon.

Enough rambling... catch you soon, and wish me luck in finding the culprit for my health problems, because I STILL have no concrete answers and that my friends, is the worst feeling ever. I'd have felt better being told I was a Celiac than being told there is still no clear answer. Although my allergist insists I will feel tons better once my immune system is sorted out and my allergies are treated, I have my doubts. All I can hope, is that she is right. And I can revel in some glutenous pasta and not feel any sicker than usual, while I wait for the new doctors I've been referred to. Plus I can continue seeing the miracle workers at Bodhi Body Integrative Medical Centers who have me feeling better than I have in 20 years. And THAT is something to celebrate!

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