Saturday, August 20, 2011

Gluten issue diagnosis

Is it Celiac disease? Gluten intolerance?  Gluten sensitivity?  Read here for an easy to understand overview of the three and testing to determine what one may have.

I have not been tested for Celiac disease and the reason is two-fold:
First, I'm still kind of disgusted at my GI doc for letting me go for TEN YEARS undiagnosed but they've been sending me postcards to come in and get tested.
Secondly, my GP says why bother, when a GF diet fixes things for me?
Which of these two MDs do I trust?

I've read conflicting opinions about the diagnosis and here's the thing that keeps me most from not getting diagnosed.  To do so, you have to be actively eating gluten.  I have been gluten free for an entire year this month.  In two days, as a matter of fact.  And I have no intention of harming my body and making myself sick just to get a diagnosis.  Let me reiterate.  I was sick for TEN YEARS and I have absolutely no desire to go through a minute of what I went through during that time.

Also:

There is no guarantee that the test results will even show me to be positive.  Most of my tummy troubles went away just days after going gluten free which leads me to believe that I am gluten sensitive rather than a Celiac.

I do not have children nor do I plan to have any so I don't have to worry about passing it down through my bloodline.  I have talked to my entire family about my condition and since they are all adults, I hope that if any of it resonates with them, they will do what they need to get healthy.

I do not need the tax write-off for food with what having a diagnosed predisposition would do to my insurance in future years.

Most importantly, I know that if I don't ingest gluten, life is good.  If I'm cross-contaminated, I get sick.  I have not purposefully eaten any gluten in the past 363 days.  And I do not intend to do so now just so a doctor who could have spared me a lot of pain and misery can make money and give his seal of approval that yes, I have gluten issues.  I figured that out all by myself.

What about you?  Were you diagnosed?

As a side note: The 2011-2012 Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping Guide has been released.  I know they get them at my local grocery store which is where I will buy mine.  But if you don't have access to one locally, you can buy it here. 

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