Big setback: is gluten the cause?

I know I've been very quiet lately... I've had a mystery intestinal sickness for the past 5 weeks that has taken me totally out of the running for Honu. The first couple weeks were manageable, but I ended up DNS'ing (did not start) Wilflower a couple weeks ago and it's been downhill from there. Pulling out of Wildflower was a tough call... I drove down Friday, camped, cheered on the long-coursers, and just wasn't feeling so hot... stomach rumblings and a bit shaky & weak. Sunday morning I woke up, had breakfast, and made the call to pull the plug. Smartest thing I ever did.

I tested negative for parasites so was referred to a gastroenterologist... my appointment is tomorrow (finally). In the meantime it's been a fun trial-and-error game of "what can I eat that doesn't make me roll around in pain." Last week I spent mostly working in bed with a sore gut, very low energy, weak muscles, and a very suppressed immune system: 3 cold sores in a row while on anti-virals, plus a urinary tract infection. Good grief.

So it occurred to me on Friday to cut gluten out of my diet. It's something I hadn't considered because hey, I'm 43 and I've eaten gluten (like, a LOT of gluten) my entire life. But I'm spending so much time on Google researching all possible causes and my symptoms look a lot like celiac disease. And interestingly, today I'm feeling better... like noticeably better. I went for a gentle run/walk and felt a bit weak but totally ok. My energy levels felt back to normal. I even went to a rooftop party to watch the eclipse...

(is this not the best place to watch an eclipse? or anything for that matter... wish my iphone camera took better pics)

... and unfortunately had to leave due to stomach cramps, which I'm now realizing was from the carbonation in ginger ale and possibly the Vega energy bar I tried... my poor gut is so trashed, raw foods or nuts just tear me up. Initially that freaked me out (oh my god what if it's not gluten? There's not much left to match my symptoms other than some really nasty stuff like IBS or IBD, or colon cancer) but my energy level is still high and I don't have that overall sense of malaise that I've had for the past few weeks. I think I just need to baby my poor gut for a couple weeks and let it heal.

I'll need to do a blood test and possibly an endoscopy (where they stick a camera down your throat, past your stomach, and take a biopsy of your small intestine. How fun is that?) to confirm. Assuming I continue to feel better on this gluten-free diet, I'll be (a) going on a vacation to Hawaii with my boyfriend in early June and not racing (but I'll watch part of it) and (b) picking a fall 70.3 race and restarting training next month. I'll need to go slow... my muscles are so unbelievably weak. But I should be able to ramp up quickly enough. Cross fingers I can figure this out in the next week or so. Onward!

If this is celiac or gluten intolerance, you can expect to see gluten-free recipes and info coming soon.

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Yikes!!! I really hope you figure out what this is! If it does turn out to be gluten, then you live in about the best area I know of for finding alternate foods because there are soooo many gluten free options now. My brother has a very strong gluten intolerance and gets very sick eating it as well - he gets awful migraines in addition to bad stomach pain. I hope you feel better soon!

Posted by: Molly McNamara | 05/21/2012 at 06:40 AM