[ChristopherM]

(Part 2)

What I have is not "gluten intolerance" or "gluten sensitivity", it's a GLUTEN ALLERGY and a quite debilitating one at that. I find it absurd how casually people act about it, like it's NO BIG DEAL. Restaurant personal who can care less, some I believe even taint the food because they think it's funny and that people are faking it. I avoid going out at all costs, unless there's a good sushi or thai place nearby. I always make sure they don't add soy sauce and don't even mention gluten. I'm tired of the eye rolls, I'm tired of explaining it, I'm tired of not being taken seriously. This isn't the minor inconvenience of lactose intolerance, I can't just pop a benadryl and muscle my through this. I get food that's contaminated and there goes a good 2-3 weeks of my life. I never find out until about 1 - 2 hours after eating the contaminated food. I suspect it is once it hits my intestines.

I through stupid luck and 35 years of suffering figured out what was making me sick, had I never gotten worse I never would have even known there was a problem. I would never have known how much better it is to feel "normal". I never knew what normal was. My normal was miserable.

I forgot to mention, my pollen allergies are incredibly mild now. No itchy eyes, runny nose. Just need to blow my nose a couple times a day when the season comes around.

This was much longer than what I intended, I think I wrote this because it would be nice if it helped someone else who went through what I went through. Most doctors will not help you, period. They just want to give you some pills and get you out the door. They don't want to fix the root cause just treat symptoms. 99% of doctors know NOTHING about nutrition and food allergies. If you don't swell up like a peanut allergy it must not be real as far as they are concerned.