My Big Fat Gluten Free Experiment – The Results

I wrote this back in August 2015,

“Out of desperation, I have decided to go ‘gluten free’ in an attempt to curb the symptoms I experience from RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis).

I don’t ‘think’ I’m feeling any better, but I have to say I do feel less stiff this week, and also I’m sure I’ve felt less fatigued.  Whether this is all coincidental, I don’t know.  Maybe it’s the gluten-free, maybe not!  I shall continue and report again at a later date.  “

Read full article here

What I forgot to do, was actually update you.  So here I am almost 6 months on to do just that.

The truth is, I almost hate to admit it to be honest, is that I certainly did feel better not eating foods containing gluten.

I say “I almost hate to admit” it because I’ve always been a bit of a naysayer when it came to diet impacting the autoimmune disease.

I mean, how can eating bread affect your joints?

How can my morning cereal make me want to sleep the day away?

For goodness sake, talk sense!

And so I resisted changing what I ate.

But then my mother told me to try it because it gave her almost complete relief from her bi-weekly migraines. And I’m a good girl who does as she’s told.

Five months on and I would’ve told you yes – a gluten free diet has helped. I would’ve said that I had less pain, less swelling, less stiffness and less fatigue. I would’ve capped it by saying while there was improvement in the symptoms experienced, it wasn’t that much of an improvement. Not enough to write home about, which is probably why I didn’t update the experiment’s results.

However – since then Christmas has come and gone – and I’ve eaten my body weight (probably) in delicious gluteny goodness in the shape of mince pies and croissants (they were blummin’ nice too).

But by New Year I was a swollen mass of hot pink puffy pain. And I was plenty grumpy and tired too.

Where I didn’t notice a huge improvement going gluten free, I most certainly did notice a huge degeneration after only one week of eating yummy, yummy gluten products. 

Six months on, I have decided that I am most definitely not eating a large quantity of gluten ever again. 

Except for the occasional treat that calls my name.

Thank you for reading,

Chin up, chest out, move forward and keep smiling,
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