I am on the third day of a month of gluten free eating, to see if, perhaps, the additional aches and pains and (even more wishfully thought than expected) some of the weight I carry is a result of a wheat allergy. According to Quazi, one of the symptoms is bone pain. I wonder (hope?) that this might be the answer to most of my arthritis issues.

I just looked up gluten intolerance symptoms. The top 10 found me with:
1. Fatigue, brain fog or feeling tired after eating a meal that contains gluten.
2. Diagnosis of an autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Ulcerative colitis, Lupus, Psoriasis, Scleroderma or Multiple sclerosis.–I have two.
3. Diagnosis of chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia. These diagnoses simply indicate your conventional doctor cannot pin point the cause of your fatigue or pain.
4. Inflammation, swelling or pain in your joints such as fingers, knees or hips.
5. Mood issues such as anxiety, depression, mood swings and ADD.–I have recently been reading some on ADD and talking to R about it and I just don’t see how I really can have ADD. Yes, I have the too much focus and I forget what I was doing and do things at different times and… okay, yes, I have ADD.

It is the inflammation, swelling, and pain that brought me to this trial.

I have once again begun reading labels–which is a pain since I must switch from my glasses to my reading glasses–and discovered that about two weeks ago, or perhaps 2.5, I began eating “modified food starch” in the Velveeta blanco. Turns out Velveeta has potato in both types of the box cheese for queso. I hadn’t realized it. I’ve been eating that cheese about once a day for the last 2.5 weeks. Based on that finding, I am amazed that the last 2.5 weeks have been as good as they have.

To be clear to someone who may read this and not know, I am highly sensitive (or allergic) to nightshades.

I have been struggling with feeling ill but not actually being ill. Last Thursday I stayed at home in bed all day. And my allergies to the dog have been much higher, so that I’ve needed a benadryl after petting her and my hand felt like it had been scratched/cut with the itch inside of it. I thought it was ragweed, and that might account for some of it, but perhaps the Velveeta accounts for more. If so, I am grateful to know that I can get well quickly.

The problem for today is that I realized it had potato in it so I took 2 bendadryl. Now I am too fuzzy to do anything productive. I can’t even write poetry.

I was going to go vote, but then I recalled that I had forgotten my wallet at work, so I had no way to vote. I came on to school and plan to remain here until after the “My Best Lecture” series today. Then I will go vote and head home, as I am not being productive here.

My stomach hurts like I am hungry, even though I know I am not. I had a good breakfast and when I got to school, I had corn chips because I felt I needed to eat. Now I still feel that way and know that it can’t be hunger, so I am standing firm against eating something else.

I was going to write down my symptoms for the last few weeks so that I would know if it were a gluten allergy problem, but now that I know that I have been eating potato, I wonder if that is a good idea. Should I just stop the gluten-free diet and start it again at a different time? No. I might not do the diet and then I won’t know.

I know what my symptoms in general are–aching fingers (both my middle fingers have been swollen and incredibly sensitive, particularly at the lower joint and that whole part of the finger between the lower joint and the hand), knees popping, ankle pain, foot pain, arms, legs, shoulder pain.

So, I’m reading on an elimination website and it says 3 weeks. Then reintroduce the food one day at one meal and monitor for two days.

I can do that for gluten.

Three weeks would mean that on November 23rd I would have one meal with wheat in it.