(updated June 9, 2010 with links)

April 28, 2010: For those of you who ended up on my blog because we share some random illness, here are a few details that will hopefully help you decide if you need to know more or not.

I have self-diagnosed celiac disease, among other things (see below). I had been going to doctors for a long period of time. I had a myriad of tests done, and nothing was really helping. I had a wide variety of symptoms and the doctors were stumped. They all wanted to shove buckets of drugs at me and rush me out so the next one of the herd could gallop through.  I had food allergy tests done and the doctor had his nurse call and tell me “good news – you aren’t allergic to wheat, so go ahead and eat all you want!” So helpful. (insert sarcastic eye roll here).  A girl who became a close friend ended up finding my blog through my husband’s facebook page, and she saw my symptoms and emailed me. She told me about gluten and celiac, among other things. I was so tired of the doctor’s office and tests that I just decided to try giving up gluten to see if it worked. It did. By the time I really believed I had celiac disease, I had gotten all the gluten out of my system. In order to get the testing done for an official diagnosis, you have to eat gluten regularly for at least three weeks. Once I got it out of my system, even the tiniest thought of a crumb gave me a horrible migraine and caused me to have stomach cramps and digestion issues. There was NO way I was going to subject myself to three weeks of h-e-double-hockey-sticks just so I could have a doctor tell me that I had what I already knew I had. Especially since I was already doing what needed to be done to feel better – taken gluten out of my diet. No drugs, no weird regimens, just a diet change. It’s one of the best things that ever happened to me, giving up gluten!

Along the way I have figured out more of my issues. I wish it was *just* celiac, but alas, there are other problems that I have had to deal with as well. Thankfully, I seem to have them all under control for the most part. I am a million miles away from where I was two years ago when I gave up gluten (in March of 2008). And I'm still not 100%, but I'm working on getting there.

Other health issues that I have and that are most likely discussed on the blog are (you can find posts just dealing with each issue if you click on the category tab in the right sidebar)…

Fibromyalgia, with myofascial pain (for which we have discovered some great massage techniques and are in the process of discovering more – the first one we discovered was for my jaw; it had gotten so sore that I couldn’t open my mouth all the way, had trouble chewing my food, and was in constant pain for 2 or 3 months. We used myofascial release techniques on it, and the pain went away! It comes back sometimes, but now we know what to do! We’re working on discovering how to get rid of my neck, shoulder, and back pain). The fibromyalgia stays under control if I eat right, exercise regularly without overdoing it, and get a good night’s sleep. Sometimes that combo is difficult to come by, and I pay for it. If I get ill in another way, the fibro pain and fog kicks in and makes me unable to function for longer than the original illness would have caused. It’s just part of my life now and we are learning to deal with it.

Multiple chemical sensitivity. This is a fun one. I work very hard to avoid chemicals. I don’t eat them, I don’t drink them, I don’t clean with them, I don’t put them in my hair or on my skin. That being said, some chemicals do creep in, but if I am very careful, my body can tolerate minimal amounts when it is unavoidable (washing my hands in a public restroom where they don’t buy their handsoap at Trader Joe’s like I do, for example). I will do a post about what natural and/or organic products I use sometime soon.

I have a propensity toward headaches. Migraines, tension headaches, cluster headaches, you name it. When I am careful about diet, exercise, sleep, and stress, the headaches are at a minimum though. Two years ago, I was dealing with absolutely debilitating migraines five days a week. Now I rarely get a migraine, and when I do, I can still function. It’s amazing what healing can do for you!

Aside from avoiding gluten because of the celiac disease, I have some food sensitivities. I cannot tolerate corn or corn products, red meat, or unnatural/chemical-filled foods (due to do the MCS). The corn intolerance may be due to the fact that 80% of the corn in the United States has been genetically modified – and chemicals bother me. I drink organic milk, buy organic eggs (but I only use them in baking or things like potato salad now – I usually get a dull headache and feel lethargic and unable to function when I just eat a plate of scrambled eggs). The only meat I eat is chicken, fish, and shrimp that I buy at Trader Joe’s (hormone-free). Sometimes I eat ham, pork chops, or bacon, but I make sure it doesn’t have any added nitrites/nitrates or any unnatural ingredients (read the ingredients on a ham at your local grocery store – it most likely has corn syrup and/or maltodextrin [usually derived from wheat or corn] in it).

Symptoms I regularly had before I discovered what was causing them and took action: constant headaches; frequent migraines; constant neck, shoulder and back pain; irritable bowel syndrome and all the fun that goes along with that (several doctors diagnosed me with this and prescribed medicines that did not help); I had five miscarriages (all between 6 and 12 weeks gestation); I was diagnosed with endometriosis; gestational diabetes; I had reactive hypoglycemia [I sometimes had major issues with very low and/or very high blood sugar, but it wasn’t on a regular basis – it came and went]; shakiness; head fog; general aches and pains resembling what you feel when you have the flu; incredibly painful menstruation; chronic fatigue; restless leg syndrome; and I’m sure there was more.

Symptoms I regularly have now: headaches from time to time; head fog sometimes  [usually when I don’t get enough sleep or if I eat something that bothered me]; migraines only if I eat something that had been contaminated with gluten [usually only happens at restaurants]; joint, neck, shoulder, and back pain [but we are working on managing my fibromyalgia and myofascial pain – when it gets bad, I walk around like an 80 year old lady because I’m so weak and I hurt so bad, but I’m getting to where that doesn’t happen often – I think I’ve struggled in the last year because having baby #6 was so hard on me and it just took me a while to heal and the fibromyalgia/myofascial pain got worse because of that].

All in all, I feel pretty healthy and even almost normal sometimes. I’m getting more and more energy now that my youngest is getting older and I’ve gotten all the gluten, corn, and chemicals out of my system. I didn’t figure out the corn and chemical intolerances until around August of 2009.  Maybe later.  I recently discovered there was corn in a couple of the things I was still eating (foods like to be disguised as other ingredients and you have to be savvy and check labels!!), and I feel much better since I stopped eating them. I would like to do more blog posts on what I do eat, share some recipes, and offer advice from what I have learned. I know that when I started down the path of healing, I was so clueless as to how to get healthy, and I am SO thankful that there was a couple of people there to offer this sort of advice to me.

If you have problems with these things and want to ask questions, please feel free to email me. I should at least be able to direct you toward the right books or websites.