GF Testimonies

barkin43

I would love to hear your gluten free testimonies. How did you find out you need to go gluten free--celiac or maybe a milder form of gluten intolerance? For me, it was reading a very funny testimony from one of my MFP friends and then experimenting for myself. I was amazed at the difference in the joint pains I had been experiencing for several years. Also, after going gluten free, I have found I am losing weight at a little faster rate than before. I actually started to lose 1-2 lbs per week and not going hungry--just gluten free. Now, please tell me your experiences. Thanks!

penrbrown

Right.Here's my TESTIMONY!

Testify!

1) All throughout my childhood I struggled with constant stomach pains. As a child I thought this was 'hunger' pain and I would eat and eat and eat. By 13 I was pushing 200lbs.

2) At 19 I got sick. Really, really sick. So sick I could barely eat. barely move. Barely function. I was ill for several years. Went to the doctor, he'd send me home. Went to the doctor again, he'd send me home again. until finally I ate a pistachio and collapsed on the floor, unable to breathe because my throat had closed up. I was diagnosed with allergies.

3) I continued to struggle with stomach pain for years and year... until finally I saw an allergist who said; "You're allergic to wheat." Fine. I said, I'm just going to cut out ALL GLUTEN. So I did.

4) And now I only VERY RARELY experience any kind of stomach pain. For the first time in almost 20 years I am stomach pain free and it. Is. AMAZING.

I have not found it easier to lose weight. I'm a baker. I figured out REAL QUICK how to make all kinds of gluten free goodies. :P Plus now that I've had these allergies awhile I've learned how to eat just fine without major food groups. I'm not eating less. I'm just eating a smaller variety.

5) My niece, 7 years old, was struggling with stomach pain these last few years. Her weight ballooned to the point where she was heavier then her taller, older brother! Finally my sister came to me and said: Remember when you were a kid and your stomach hurt all the time? What do you think caused that?

I told her; Gluten.

So she's cut gluten out of my niece's diet and BAM! INSTANT improvement. No more stomach pain. And she lost two pounds in less then a week! As an experiment they introduced her to a bit of wheat after the week was out and the poor little thing was instantly in intense pain.

Conclusion: It feels really damned good knowing that my suffering and pain was not in vain. I suffered a lot because of this stupid allergy but my niece won't have to. Because of my experience we were able to help my niece early on in life.

And as a post script: I do not have celiacs. I was tested for that when I had ulcers.

PPS: I call it 'stomach pain' but it was more 'rotten gut'. It felt like my insides were trying to become outsides and/or like something really, really sick was stuck in my stomach and trying to get out. That's the only way I know to describe it. Kind of like pain but kind of not too.

barkin43

Thank you, sister Pen, for that enlightening testimony! I, too, have not been diagnosed as celiac. My sis-in-law was told that her anemia was due to celiac disease. I've had severe anemia requiring transfusions on several occasions. Each time, they would put me through all kinds of tests including colonoscopy and other unpleasant stomach tests to try to find where the "blood loss" was occurring they'd find nothing. Now I wonder if the gluten is the cause of that. Anyway, after this experiment I've decided gf is the best choice for me. That's more of my story and I'm stickin' to it!