I Can Walk Again! Want To Celebrate!

[Lynayah]

This is a message for everyone who wonders if there is hope out there.

Yes, there is.

For many years now, my feet have been in so much pain that I could walk for only short periods of time, and I could only wear Crocs, even with business suits.

I hated having to wear Crocs all the time, but I was very grateful for at least finding a shoe that would allow me to walk a little. I will always have a soft-spot for those horrible, ugly shoes. They saved me.

Well, it turns out the foot pain was part of my reaction to gluten. Slowly, I've been getting better every day (unless I make a mistake which causes some of the pain to return for about a week). After a while, I was able to wear Crocs all day with just a little swelling but much more comfort.

Then, I was able to wear leather shoes, as long as I was sitting most of the day or walking very little. This was a big deal because I couldn't do it for years.

Anyway, yesterday I went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and . . . or my goodness I am so excited to report this . . . I WORE REGULAR, LEATHER SHOES ALL DAY!

Okay, so the shoes still weren't the greatest fashion statement, they are made for comfort and not for style, but I WORE THEM ALL DAY without a problem. AND I had no foot pain or swelling at the end of the day, either.

If you are in similar pain due to gluten-intolerance, please know there is hope. Please know that despite going through the trouble of learning how to live gluten-free, and despite the horror of having to give up so much, the diagnosis can be a very, very great blessing once you begin to get on the other side of things.

Who the heck needs toast when, in exchange for it, you can walk like a normal person?

WHOOOOO-HOOOOO!

[Roda]

I have had foot pain (not to the extent of you and not gluten related) due to plantar fasciitis and flat feet. No shoe would be comfortable. The foot problem started causing me leg, back and hip pain. In my neverending search for a comfortable shoe with a good arch support, I found Keen shoes. I love them. The first time I put them on I was in heaven. They were comfortable right out of the box. I now have one pair of sandals (almost worn out) and three pair of regular shoes and I want more. They are a little odd looking but the comfort factor makes up for it. They do have some cute sandals and mary jane type shoes that would look good with buisness casual. I am glad you are doing well and have continued health.

[ravenwoodglass]

Who the heck needs toast when, in exchange for it, you can walk like a normal person?

WHOOOOO-HOOOOO!

Congrats on the pain free steps and may a pretty and comfortable pair of shoes be in your future.

[nu-to-no-glu]

You should go dancing in your not so fashionable leather shoes...and strut the heck out of them

[chasbari]

I understand your joy! A year ago I could barely get out of a chair and wore slippers everywhere to lessen the extreme pain and gelling from my RA. Once gluten-free I found that the RA just started to melt away. It's hard for me to realize that a bad day now is still ten times better than my best days used to be. Hey, the Chicago Museum.... big place... lots of walking.. way cool!

CS

[Alphawave]

I too had huge amounts of joint pain that extended to both feet. Because I am type 1 diabetic, doctors kept telling me it was due to the diabetes. Yet, my diabetes is in "tight" control, so I never believed that. Finally getting a diagnosis of Celiac (+ anti gliadin antibodies) on Oct 7th, and going gluten-free since then, my foot pain is dramatically lessened, and knee pain is more tolerable. My CRP was 9.2 on October 2nd, and I was low in Vitamin D, B's on lab tests. That means loads of inflammation. Maybe you had that kind of inflammation....and now it's going down!!!!!!!

[Ahorsesoul]

This is such a big step!

Don't you just love a success story.

[Wolicki]

Wonderful news!

[Lynayah]

Congrats on the pain free steps and may a pretty and comfortable pair of shoes be in your future.

Thank you, Ravenwoodglass. If not for you, I don't even know how far I would have come by now. You have been wonderful in supporting my posts and telling it like it is.

So, I'm thinking that Sex in the City shoes must be in there somewhere! <laughing> Except I'd kill myself falling off of them (gluten ataxia?). <laughing more>

[Lynayah]

You should go dancing in your not so fashionable leather shoes...and strut the heck out of them

Oh yes! I'm cranking up the celiac disease player tonight and dancing my heart out -- hey, who needs to wait for a crowd. I'm ready to dance! (I will, of course, draw the curtains first. Goodness knows that the world may not be ready for a crazy woman who is high on dancing in granny shoes!)

That'll be my next step . . . opening the windows!

Thank you for your fun post.

[Lynayah]

I understand your joy! A year ago I could barely get out of a chair and wore slippers everywhere to lessen the extreme pain and gelling from my RA. Once gluten-free I found that the RA just started to melt away. It's hard for me to realize that a bad day now is still ten times better than my best days used to be. Hey, the Chicago Museum.... big place... lots of walking.. way cool!

CS

Oh my gosh, slippers! Yes, yes. I know. I used to always carry a pair of Isotoners with me (with support insoles inserted) just in case I couldn't handle the Crocs any more. Last year in Disney World, those darn slippers kept me from killing myself (well, maybe not that bad, but goodness knows, I thought I was going to die).

Before that, when I would go to fashionable functions - I used to have to give huge presentations in front of hundreds of people . . . I would wear normal shoes until I wanted to stab myself . . . and then when no one was looking, I would put on the slippers. This worked especially well at weddings. I just waited until everyone had a drink or two, and then off with the shoes and on with the slippers! (That was back in my pre-Croc days when I could still get by with normal shoes for a half an hour or so.)

What really kills me is that so many wonderful people out there have the same issues as you and I do, but they have no clue as to what is making them so miserable -- they believe they are destined to a life with pain.

With each passing day, I am becoming more of an activist. My heart breaks for the all the undiagnosed folks out there.

Perhaps all this is meant to be. As they say, everything happens for a reason.

[Lynayah]

Wonderful news!

Love your signature! I want to see you do the Thriller Dance! I hope post it on YouTube or invite me to come to the show.

You rock!

[ravenwoodglass]

Thank you, Ravenwoodglass. If not for you, I don't even know how far I would have come by now. You have been wonderful in supporting my posts and telling it like it is.

So, I'm thinking that Sex in the City shoes must be in there somewhere! <laughing> Except I'd kill myself falling off of them (gluten ataxia?). <laughing more>

The first thing I did when my ataxia improved was to go out and buy a few pairs of heels. Not a smart move on my part. I soon learned that better didn't mean gone and after almost falling over a few times I realized that pretty shoes with low heals are more my speed. There's lots of them around nowadays, as the covered floor in my closet shows.

[Lynayah]

The first thing I did when my ataxia improved was to go out and buy a few pairs of heels. Not a smart move on my part. I soon learned that better didn't mean gone and after almost falling over a few times I realized that pretty shoes with low heals are more my speed. There's lots of them around nowadays, as the covered floor in my closet shows.

LOL!

Hey, I am thinking for us, who needs Sex in the City shoes when someone can have a killer attitude like yours? Attitude is everything.

I am changing my post: Forgetaboutit! Leave the heels to those who have nothing else to fall back on. As for you and me (and countless others here), SEXY IS NOT IN THE SHOES!

[ravenwoodglass]

I understand your joy! A year ago I could barely get out of a chair and wore slippers everywhere to lessen the extreme pain and gelling from my RA. Once gluten-free I found that the RA just started to melt away. It's hard for me to realize that a bad day now is still ten times better than my best days used to be.

CS

The same for me. I had been told for years I had to just learn to live with the pain. Out of curiosity have you had a gene panel done? I didn't know until after my panel was done a few years after I was diagnosed that my celiac gene is considered an RA related gene here in the US. I don't think it is a coincidence that many with RA are also diagnosed with IBS. It is a recognized celiac related gene in other countries though as I found when I researched it a bit.

It is so wonderful to be able to do things like type, walk, garden and excercise without pain after so many years of every movement bordering on agony. It's even better to just be able to get out of bed and be able to move in the morning it used to take me mucho meds and a long hot shower to even think of functioning at all. It was 7 years ago 11/20 that I was diagnosed and it still at times seems a miracle to me.

I am glad you had the same result and I hope soon there are no bad days at all.

[ravenwoodglass]

Good one!

Hey, I am thinking for us, who needs Sex in the City shoes when someone can have a killer attitude like yours? Attitude is everything.

I am changing my post: Forgetaboutit! Leave the heels to those who have nothing else to fall back on. As for you and me (and countless others here), SEXY IS NOT IN THE SHOES!

It sure isn't! Dancing gracefully barefoot or in flats is much sexier than trying to do a sexy spin into your partners arms and ending up looking like a windmill trying to catch your balance and ending up on your butt. Been there done that won't go back.

[jerseyangel]

Congratulations!!! Just amazing news to hear--isn't it something how many things we didn't realize were even affected by gluten?

I could always walk fine, but I was just too tired to most of the time due to the severe anemia (that was always attributed by the doctors as because I was female). What freedom to be able to go from doing one thing to another without having to lie down

Pretty soon you'll be kicking up your heels!!

[Lynayah]

Congratulations!!! Just amazing news to hear--isn't it something how many things we didn't realize were even affected by gluten?

I could always walk fine, but I was just too tired to most of the time due to the severe anemia (that was always attributed by the doctors as because I was female). What freedom to be able to go from doing one thing to another without having to lie down

Pretty soon you'll be kicking up your heels!!

It really is amazing. Thank you for your post!

In my life I've had everything from a Hypogammaglobulinemia diagnosis (from early childhood -- took shots for years) to goodness knows what else.

There is so much learning that needs to take place out there. We are the lucky ones. Just think about all those out there who do know know what is happening to them. This haunts me.

Great reply -- thanks again.

[cat3883]

That is great news! My gastroenterologist says he believes most people diagnosed with fybromyalgia would test positive for Celiac Disease. My story is about depression. I had been on antidepressants and antianxiety meds for 13 years. I have been gluten free since October 2008 and am medicine free. No more depression. No more anxiety. Life is good. I never want that poison (gluten) in my body ever again.

[Lynayah]

That is great news! My gastroenterologist says he believes most people diagnosed with fybromyalgia would test positive for Celiac Disease. My story is about depression. I had been on antidepressants and antianxiety meds for 13 years. I have been gluten free since October 2008 and am medicine free. No more depression. No more anxiety. Life is good. I never want that poison (gluten) in my body ever again.

Wow -- good for you! I cannot even imagine how trying those 13 years must have been. You are a hero. Congratulations!

Life is indeed good.

[happygirl]

Lynayah .... so happy you are doing so well!!!

[Lisa16]

Congratulations! I am so happy for you.

I would celebrate by buying tons of beautiful new shoes. If ever there was a time to do it, well you have a justifiable excuse.

Once you find a brand/style/size that works for you, the internet works great. So I will share my secret go-to places for beautiful, comfortable shoes on the internet.

There is, of course, zappos.com. But they have an outlet called 6pm.com (where a girl can get a 200$ pair of shoes for 20-30$ sometimes) and I have had some real success on (Company Name Removed - They Spammed This Forum and are Banned). There is also smartbargains.com. Shoes and slippers and sneakers.

Here's to many happy, stylish miles in your future!

[Eric-C]

I have had foot pain (not to the extent of you and not gluten related) due to plantar fasciitis and flat feet. No shoe would be comfortable. The foot problem started causing me leg, back and hip pain. In my neverending search for a comfortable shoe with a good arch support, I found Keen shoes. I love them. The first time I put them on I was in heaven. They were comfortable right out of the box. I now have one pair of sandals (almost worn out) and three pair of regular shoes and I want more. They are a little odd looking but the comfort factor makes up for it. They do have some cute sandals and mary jane type shoes that would look good with buisness casual. I am glad you are doing well and have continued health.

first congrats to the OP. I went through something similar.

To Roda, have you gone and had inserts made for your shoes? They are expensive but have made a huge difference for me. When I first got them, before going gluten-free, I had to have them on all the time, even around the house. After going gluten-free I just wear them when I wear shoes and no problems.

I wear Ecco's and only Ecco's....I forget the tennis shoe I wear but in tennis shoes I pull out the regular insert, put in the one I had made and their great. Did a few weeks at Disney no problems at all.

[chasbari]

What really kills me is that so many wonderful people out there have the same issues as you and I do, but they have no clue as to what is making them so miserable -- they believe they are destined to a life with pain.

With each passing day, I am becoming more of an activist. My heart breaks for the all the undiagnosed folks out there.

Perhaps all this is meant to be. As they say, everything happens for a reason.

My family thinks I am a bit loco because I see symptoms of this everywhere now. I. too, have become an activist of sorts and take any chance I can to educate those willing to listen as long as they don't get that glazed over look in their eyes (is that the gluten glaze talking???) Even though people want to have pity on me for having to "give up so much" dietarily I really feel it is the other way around. Yes, and while the food commercials and cooking shows shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives that my family loves to watch do get me every once in a while I will never trade that for this. I have never, and I truly mean never, felt this good in all my living years. The last few were dying years..but now I am back to living and I am going to chose that any day over the other!

May you have many years of slipper free dancing.....oh, but slippers are still good. I have fun with the thought that since people expect me to wear inappropriate footwear, I do so unapologetically with no hesitation anymore even though I can now run like the wind and wear real shoes too.

CS

[Roda]

first congrats to the OP. I went through something similar.

To Roda, have you gone and had inserts made for your shoes? They are expensive but have made a huge difference for me. When I first got them, before going gluten-free, I had to have them on all the time, even around the house. After going gluten-free I just wear them when I wear shoes and no problems.

I wear Ecco's and only Ecco's....I forget the tennis shoe I wear but in tennis shoes I pull out the regular insert, put in the one I had made and their great. Did a few weeks at Disney no problems at all.

I don't have custom inserts for the keen shoes. They do however have removable insoles and will fit custom orthotics well. I started with a pair of sandles and I literally wore them all day(even to work) until my pain went away. I then ordered some shoes that tied and the inserts that came with them were almost as comfortable as the sandles. When my feet began to hurt again about 8 months later, I realized that the inserts wore out. I work 12 hr night shifts and am on my feet constantly. Keen does not offer replacement ones but there were a few brands they recommended. I bought superfeet to replace them and they are comfortable again. I am considering going to my husband's foot doctor to get evaluated. I had seen a different one who prescribed orthotics, but I never went and got them since I found those shoes and felt better.