Some Improvement

I've been on a gluten-free diet for about 3 weeks now. Only 2 1/2 months to go! It's really not that bad at home, although I do miss having the occasional sandwich for lunch. I also miss it being easy to go out and eat. There is a lot of gluten out there - buns, breads, pasta, sauces, flour, breading, noodles - you name, it has gluten! We've experimented with a couple of different types of flours and mixes. Some are good, some are not so good. The Bob's Red Mill gf pancake mix might be Brian's favorite now! I even bought a package for our upcoming vacation! It might not be available where we're going.

People who know that I'm doing this ask if I've felt any improvement. And I have - but only in my hand strength. About a week ago I was cleaning up after dinner. Brian had made dinner, and had used our enamel-coated cast iron pan. It's nice and heavy and flat, won't warp, and heats evenly. We got this pan in December, after reading that we could use an enamel-coated pan on our ceramic topped stove. I rarely use it because lifting it can be excruciating. I've lost my grip on it before, even using both hands to lift it, and almost dropped it. I chipped the enamel on the pan, and a spot of enamel on the rim of the oven. Luckily I didn't break the glass stove top, or my toes! Anyway, when I was cleaning last week I carefully lifted the pan off the stove top to bring it over to the sink. And it wasn't excruciating! It was heavy, yes, but my hands didn't ache! Amazing! I still can't open a bag of chips without scissors, or cut up chicken and veggies for dinner without taking pain-killers, but this pan experience was big! I was even able to zip up my shoes without using a jar opener as a grip. I've washed the pan once or twice since then, and was able to lift it and even put it away without issues! Go me! My hand strength has steadily declined over the last few years, and I'm not back to where I was before we moved here, but improvement is improvement!

As for any other improvement, I haven't felt anything. People told me I'd lose weight. Hmm... no improvement there. I guess they didn't realize that things like potato chips and chocolate are gluten free! As are nuts and most cheeses! Oh well. Going gluten-free has made no difference in the rest of pain or any internal issues that I've been going through for years (I'll spare you the details). In fact, some things are worse. Being that it's only been a few weeks, I'm not diagnosing any areas yet. I'm not as fatigued in the middle of the day as I was a couple of months ago, but then again, I've been taking medication for 3 months to help me sleep. After 5 years of sleeping poorly most nights, I've logged several 6-hour stretches of solid sleep in the last month! That's a first! Who knows if going gluten-free helps with that or not. I'm taking the doctor's orders about being calm and not over exerting myself very seriously, and declined several offers of joining the PTA or starting a Moms-Next group (a MOPS group for parents of older children). We'll see how summer goes. Being with children all day, every day can be quite draining. Then again, if we're all well rested, maybe we won't be as crabby in the middle of the day!