My first week of going gluten free was...challenging, actually. I started out pretty good and even refused the offer to have one last "good" beer from friends. But without even thinking, I ate some candy corn I had purchased and placed in a cute little pumpkin bowl near my front door. I had a couple handfuls... bad idea. I was sick for a couple hours on Tuesday morning, but I popped some meds and managed to make it through the day.
So far, the biggest change I've noticed is that my energy is much higher. I've been requiring probably a full hour less of sleep per night, and still wake up ready to go. I had been barely making it till 10pm and sleeping till 7 or so every night, but this week I had to make myself go to bed by 11 or even 12, and would be wide awake by 6:30. Pretty dramatic. Maybe that's why I've been drinking more and more coffee lately...
After my little slip-up on Monday, I started to notice my digestion stabilizing on Wednesday. I was just less aware of digestion that was happening inside me, which was a very welcome change. I used to eat and want to sit quietly or even lie down to help the process. Now I'm starting to learn I can eat and keep going through my day without grumbling and gurgling going on. I had a day there where I felt like digestion slowed too much and I felt really full, but things seemed to equalize after that, and I'm feeling good!
On Thursday, I had the official biopsy results finally come in. I have Celiac disease. Big surprise! But it's actually pretty good to get that final confirmation. On Friday, I had my follow up with Dr. Patel, my new GI doc, and he told me I am level 3B, which apparently indicates that I have all three possible signs of Celiac damage: intestinal inflammation, dulling of the villi, and widening of crypts (the openings between the villi). So basically there's no doubt about the diagnosis. I've been reading some books I ordered on Celiac, and am learning that my diagnosis is amazingly straightforward, compared to the average Celiac. So I'm very thankful about that. The doctor also said that the healing process can be very rapid, so I might start getting much better within a few days, even with all the damage he saw. Pretty amazing!
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