Trip to Town

Today I made a trip to Town.  Not the twenty minutes away town, the two-plus hours of driving (one-way) to get to Town.  Town has more shopping options than a super WalMart, a couple of grocery stores, several feed stores and a few boutiques.  Town has just about every shopping option a girl could want.  I did not go to all of them.  But, I did go to Costco and Trader Joe’s.  There was also a stop at a dedicated gluten-free bakery (there was some drooling).  Mmm, donuts.

At the camera store was even more drooling.  I am seriously considering purchasing a good DSLR camera.  Unfortunately, every time I think I have a handle on what to budget for, I realize there is something else shiny available on the next model up.  Oops, time to save some more dough.

I started off with a stop at the chiropractor’s, yes we have a couple of chiropractors in town, but I like this one in Town better.  My body feels better.  Straighter, fewer kinks.

In case you are wondering why the gluten-free stuff.  I do not consider myself to have Celiac Disease.   I’m not allergic to wheat.  As near as I can tell I am gluten intolerant.  How do I know this?  Well, I haven’t been tested.  No biopsy for me.  (Usually, no MDs for me if I can help it.)  I was feeling just horrible for about a year leading up to this July.  I had been to both of the chiropractors here, they would adjust me and the same things would go back out of whack in a week or two.  I did have some bodywork done in April, again it helped, but didn’t last.  I went to this chiropractor in Town and he suggested my body was not dealing with gluten and to give it up and see how I felt.

Easy enough except that I love(d) bread and many things with wheat flour in it.  Pasta, pastries, buns, cookies, creme horns – I mourned them all.  I miss barley too – I now avoid beer that has been made with wheat and/or barley.  That means no more Fat Tire, no more Corona, no more Guinness.  You can tell I wasn’t too picky on my beer, as long as it had more flavor than Coors or Bud and wasn’t too hoppy (IPAs or ESBs).

After a week or two I started to feel much better.  No more achey joints.  My energy had increased.  I was sleeping better.  My GI system was working better than I knew it could.   Hmm, guess he was right – my body and gluten do not get along.  Now when I get adjustments or other body work done the results last.  It seems I find new ways to break myself, so get to keep going back.  However, the frequency I need work has decreased and what needs fixed is always different.  Not having your body going back to being the same broken tired mess in a week or two is a very good thing.

I have debates with myself about whether my body ever did get along with gluten and wheat or if my system just put up with it as best it could.  Then, one day it just had had enough and couldn’t cope any longer.  Was that when I started having my symptoms?  Or, has the quality of our food changed over the course of the years and there is now a component that my body doesn’t like/can’t deal with?  More than likely, I will never have a solid answer to those questions.

What I do know is that if some how or other some gluten slips into my diet, I will be notified of its presence.  For example, last night I made stir fry with chicken.  There was a package of chow mein vegetables in the freezer that I threw in.  As I did that, I noticed there were noodles in with the veggies.  Crap.  I looked at the package again, and sure enough what I thought were bean sprouts in the picture were noodles.  It must be time for an eye exam again.  Also, in small print on the front was a list of the ‘veggies’ and noodles was first.  Could they be rice noodles, please?  Turned it over to look at the ingredients and no such luck.  Durum wheat flour.  I’m sure they were good noodles for any one that can handle wheat.  So, I picked the chicken out and made a salad.  As much as possible I picked every single speck of noodle off the chicken.  Apparently that was not good enough.  Really, hoped to have dodged the bullet this time.

Since July, I have been glutened twice, it is not something that I wish to repeat.   Unfortunately it hit on my drive home this evening.  Just past the half way mark, which has a perfect option to make a stop, it hit me.  So, I’m driving down the interstate with gas, cramps, bloating and a very urgent need but no good option to stop.  (My sincere apologies if that is TMI.)  It’s dark, but a clear night.  Flying along at least ten miles over the speed limit, passing trucks like they were standing still.  Finally I got to the next (well lit, relatively clean) travel center.  I never realized I could be so happy to see a truck stop.

This is why I do my best to stick to a gluten-free diet now.  Even a teeny-tiny bit sends my body into some sort of reaction.  As I write this, I’m hoping I’m done with this episode.  In the past, I’ve gotten a stomach ache for a week.  Without going into gross details from the land of TMI, just believe me that it’s the kind of stomach ache that can make dental work seem like a pleasant experience.  It does not seem that I am so sensitive I can’t be in the same room with a slice of bread, but apparently if I eat a bread crumb there will be consequences.

Out of curiosity, those of you with sensitivities/intolerance what has been your experience discovery what the culprit(s) are?  Diagnosis from a Dr.?  Process of elimination?  Just a wild guess?  Please share.