BloatusMaximus' Blog

When I was a teenager I began to realize that the food I ate directly affected how I felt physcially. Years later, I determined that food had a profound affect on how I felt mentally as well. I always wondered why others could easily consume "junk" food without the same ill effects I suffered.

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I became famous as the resident insomniac and even more famous for the after-affects of eating pizza and drinking beer (or ANYthing else for that matter). The gas and bloating was more than a mere discomfort and I became more and more miserable over the years trying to hide and tame the symptoms of what I now know is a gluten intolerance . Looking back on it all, I am amazed that I didn't figure out the connection to wheat much earlier. Some foods had an almost instant impact on my system and hit me like a sledgehammer. Other things were more sinister and didn't hit me until a day later or so, making the gluten connection more elusive.

I went through weeks and months at a time of severe intestinal distress. MRIs and various barium associated tests revealed nothing. Nor did neurological evaluations to explain unending muscle twitches, vertigo, confusion, and many other strange and frightening symptoms. Periodic skin eruptions with unimaginable itching was passed of as hives due to stress, and my continuous joint and muscle aches and pains were met with indifference by doctors. I actually bought into the assertion that I was depressed and needed an anti-depressant medication to help me function normally. It wasn't until I began anti-depressants that I truly understood what it meant to be morbidly depressed. This was clearly not the answer for me.

I became desperate to seek balance in my life and spent hundreds of hours doing research to get to the bottom of my health crisis. I tried heavy vitamin and mineral supplementation. I became a vegetarian and lost 30 pounds that I didn't have to lose (and scared the sh!t out of my family and doctor in the process), all-the-while consuming gluten containing grains. Nothing had ANY meaningful impact on my horrendous sleeping pattern and physical ailments. Interestingly, the only thing that gave me a ray of hope was delving into meditation and pursuing spiritual endeavors (though admittedly, the results were inconclusive if not short lived).

Part of the reason this whole gluten connection was so hard to determine was because my symptoms were not typical for celiac disease. I never had the chronic D that I hear most people describe. My problem is that I have numerous food sensitivities and it never was "just one thing", such as gluten. I am still in the process of elimination, but I have sensitivies (allergies?) to dairy and certain fruits and vegetables.

I am still in the process of figuring this all out. I am just relieved to know that there is a real reason why I have been feeling like I do and it's not all "in my head"

Thomas