Thanks Chanterelle, very well said. I find that most people whom will argue that there is nothing wrong with gluten and no reason to go gluten free, are the ones in the biggest denial over the issues of gluten. Gluten is addictive and not only is it difficult to eat gluten free, it's difficult to give it up. We crave it when first going gluten free. We mourn the loss of gluten in our lives.
I am one of those people you speak of. I went gluten free in July 2000, never to turn back. I never once cheated, not that I wasn't glutened by accident, but I never ever have put gluten in my mouth on purpose. 2 years later after trying the "Eat Right for Your Blood Type diet, I found soy was my enemy too and gave it up. Next I had to give up corn, followed by red meats, then my favorite nightshades. I just loved potatoes, eggplant, peppers. I had to give up mushrooms years before any of this happened and also loved them. Next were my cruciferous veggies (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower), then rice. I also had to give up dairy, finding out at that time it had been causing me insomnia for years. In January 2010 I was still having issues and found out candida was my problem along with leaky gut syndrome. I had to give up all sugars, sweeteners, my all time favorite, peanut butter, all processed foods, nothing canned. Finally the weight I had been trying to shed started coming off as the candida was dying. From March to Sept I lost 95#, from Oct 2010 to Oct 2011 I have kept every pound off. Every day I eat chicken breast, peas, carrots, green beans, pears, apples, peaches, almonds, walnuts, and make my own almond milk.
As for the fibro, my symptoms are fairly mild compared to many I read about here. I am very grateful for that fact. I have pain, don't get me wrong, I also have a very high threshold for pain. I have a headache every minute of every day, some days much worse...a migraine has been with me for 3 days now. My worst fibro symptoms are my neck/shoulders/head, and gluteus muscles. I also have small fiber sensory polyneuropathy, arthritis, sleep apnea (which with the weight loss I have been able to give up my CPAP), and raynauds, which sometimes it is difficult to separate the fibro and the neuropathy issues. It took my rheumy a very short time to diagnose fibro with my symptoms, especially since my gluteus muscles were in a huge flare that day. One touch from him nearly put me on the ceiling. He put me on flexeril, meloxicam, and aspirin...I got so sick from these meds. His answer, another med for my stomach and more meds. He told me to take 500mg of Aleve 3 times a day, which also made me very sick for months. I have not seen him since. Now I am afraid to even take ibuprofen for my headaches.
My issues are all caused by my gluten intolerance, which in turn had me vitamin and mineral deficient. To this day I must take vitamins daily, 5000mcg of B12, 5000 IU's of Vit D, and ferritin. I had built my ferritin up from 20 to 108 and was told I could stop the ferritin...too much ferritin can be a problem. Recently I found out that my ferritin since then has dropped back down to the 30's, so now we know, I must always take it too.
My point. Don't take gluten for granted. Just because a doctor doesn't find celiac disease does not mean you are safe with gluten. There are many more gluten intolerant people than celiacs and believe me, they are every bit as sick, if not worse off. To be honest, my doctors feel that I do have celiac disease, even though I have double DQ1 genes, which recent discoveries are showing that DQ2 and 8 are not the only genes for celiac. They are finding that gluten is a nasty inflammatory agent and that's why they sometimes recommend some give it up. Try giving it up and not just for a couple of weeks, at least a few months. It takes a long time for it to get out of your system.