Success Story!

[GF avenger]

Hiya gang.

Thought I'd return with 9 or so months later with my gluten-free success story, partly in hopes of bolstering those who are struggling with some aspect of their diagnosis (or lack of), and also just to celebrate feeling so much better!

Looking back now I can see so many more things that were wrong with my poor body, beyond the expected digestive upset:

My teeth were falling apart - 3 years after symptoms began, I had 5 cavities. Never in the 28 years previous had I had any! I am a devoted brusher and flosser, so I think malnutrition did it.

I had a strange, small, rash-like lesions on my arms. Not diagnosed, but suspicious, don't you think? All gone now!

When I'd scrape my legs on things like boats, the scrapes would take 5 weeks to heal, and get infected multiple times. Just two weeks ago, I stubbed my toe almost badly enough to need stitches, and it completely healed in a week.

My blood sugar yo-yoed all over the place, and I'd bonk before during after any workout. Now I am even-steven. (Though I've learned to eat lots of small meals.)

I was reactive to every food. Dairy made me, well... gassy, and eggs made me drunk. Some fruits put me to sleep, and we all know what gluten does... Still off the gluten of course, but I can eat EVERYTHING else. Hurray!

Brain fog made reading and studying absolutely impossible, and most conversations inadvertently hilarious, for most of the last 5 years. No longer a problem! w00t!

Fatigue fatigue fatigue. Strangely, this peaked in months 6-8 of being gluten free. Fortunately, I was off work at the time. Now I'm back to teaching at a community college, and am slowly adding more activity back in. Thank God.

I was beginning to wonder if I was menopausal at 30. No longer.

Ah! I have always been super skinny, and found it impossible to gain weight. Now I have a very pleasant layer of fluff.

I'd get horribly sick at least twice a year. I did not get sick ONCE this entire winter. Take that, avian bovine flying pig flu!

When I do get accidentally glutened, I seem to recover much faster.

My poor bladder took most of the hit from gluten, and it's doing much better now, thank you.

I'm so much less of a irritable, depressed wacko than I once was! I sorta feel like I'm coming back to myself, bit by bit, day by day.

Hang in there, all you newbies!! It can be a long journey of learning to be gluten free, and perhaps tracking down additional diagnoses, but you will feel better!

Those of you who have similar stories - would you mind posting them if you have the time? I think we'd all like to hear of other happy endings...

[samcarter]

I can so relate to the healing faster! I fell hard on one knee (tripped over a branch while running to a kid with a bad scrape as well) and scraped it hard, tore off several layers of skin. Normally this would have taken weeks to heal, but it's healing so fast I can practically feel the skin regenerating. No kidding!

I used to fall a lot. Not tripping over things, just my own feet. I would land with my feet on their sides, rather than the bottoms, and would fall. I used to have huge bruises all up and down my legs, just from casually bumping into things. No more! I suspect I had ataxia throughout childhood, but it was brushed off as me just being clumsy. I don't drop things nearly as often, and I feel more balanced. No more vertigo on staircases.

[Bastet]

Thank you for coming back to report your success. I was diagnosed on May 12, so I am really new to this. I was also very surprised because I never noticed any gastro distress after eating foods with gluten. However, the brain fog, anxiety, fatigue, and dental problems, all ring true. I look forward to my own success story when I can once again read and comprehend or ride my bike, etc. Thank you!

[mushroom]

I think the most remarkable thing for me is the disappearance of UTI's. The two years prior to going gluten free I had an almost constant UTI; I would treat with antibiotics and still not test clear, and on and on it went. I was so tired of antibiotics. I finally discovered cranberry tablets and they helped some.

But now, GONE!! Haven't had a sign of one in over a year, and no more cranberry tablets either.

It's funny, my mother was plagued by them (and by GI issues), and both sisters; my gluten free sister no longer gets them, but my gluten eating sister still has the plague (and a lot of celiac symptoms she chooses to ignore)

[shirleyujest]

As a newbie, I definitely appreciate hearing of your success and your humorous recounting of it. Good for you, you did the hard work and now reap the reward. God bless!