Friday 2 September 2011

Diagnosis

I finally had my follow up with my GI specialist today.  I now have a diagnosis.  I do not have chrones; I do not have collitis; I do not have celiac disease.  So I must have IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  Joy of joys, I have the disease that means: we acknowledge that your stomach has issues but it's not something that we can categorize into a disease, therefore you are on your own.  I know I should be happy that I don't have one of those nasty diseases but I was hoping for a definitive:  this is what you have, this is what we can do.  Western medicine is so disappointing.  It also means no meds or supplements covered by the health plan, no unlimited appointments with the doctor that is treating me, and no gluten-free tax breaks.

I guess my next step is following my alternative therapies as I have been since January.  At least Dr Patti has gotten my gut to a manageable level and at least she has a plan to get me to a healthy state of being.  I can now identify causes and effects and have added some foods back into my diet.

So the month of gluten gluttony has ended, never to return.  I think I will do a post, an ode to all things gluten that I will never touch again.

My symptoms of gluten, for the record, and in case I ever think of returning to my gluten glutton ways:

  • bloating - my stomach on gluten 33", my stomach off gluten 29"
  • posture - I always stood with my stomach out, hips tilted down, and my lower back arched with locked knees.  I never knew what it was supposed to be like to "engage your abs".  Most likely because when I tried it was uncomfortable because of my inflamed gut.
  • nasal congestion - started when I was in elementary, who would have thought it was related to those yummy cakes and muffins?  I wonder if my clarinet playing will improve?
  • lower voice / whispering - for some reason I had a lump in my throat and it was easier to speak quieter and lower
  • acne & oily skin - oh the pimples, I will not miss the pimples.
  • foggy brain - "I can see clearly now the gluten has gone".  I feel so much more awake, might be related to ...
  • sleeping - I seem to sleep less soundly now, but I am more rested. I no longer do things like kick people or shove people in the middle of the night without remembering.  Sorry sis, it was the gluten not me kicking you!  Oh and because the nasal congestion is gone I no longer sound like darth vadar when I sleep.
  • female health - because of my bad health my female cycle was very inconsistent.  I guess I'm one of the few who is excited to feel the onset as I know that it's a sign that I'm healthy.  Unfortunately I now have less symptoms to mask the cycle symptoms so I feel them more.  I guess once a month is better than every day, am I right?  My sex drive has also changed. I think it has changed because I knew that adrenaline makes pain subside, with less pain comes less need for adrenaline, but also comes less distractions so more attention.  I think the result is neutral but there are effects there.
  • my mood - with less pain I am much easier to get along with and I think my moods fluctuate less, or at least the causes are obvious.


2 comments:

  1. Hey I feel for you. I was diagnosed with IBS in high school to explain my stomach issues. I still have chronic problems. Different symptoms than you, but ongoing issues. it seems to be a blanket diagnosis.

    Have you been allergy tested for wheat flour? My sister used to be allergic to it and could only eat rice based products. Maybe a lot of what you have is allergies?

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  2. I have not been tested for allergies in a while, I have been meaning to get some more scratch testing done. I have been tested for LgG reactions and that is why I took gluten out of my diet to begin with.

    I do have an autoimmune reaction to onions though, runny nose, sneezing, mental fog, body aches.

    Still looking into reactions from the rest of the foods that were reactive on my LgG testing. Adding them in one at a time for 3 days to see reactions. I can now resume this now that my body isn't reacting to gluten. LgG testing is a delayed food sensitivity test looking for antibodies to foods in my system at the time of the test, can also indicate over exposure to foods as well as food reactions.

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