Thursday, February 9, 2012

Why the Wheat-Free Trial?

I typed this up last week for a message board I'm a part of. I had asked about subtle symptoms of wheat intolerance, gotten some feedback, then was asked what concerns I had. This was my response:

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A little background... My mom reacts to wheat, but only whole wheat. So I never ate whole wheat, only white bread, pasta, etc. In college I started eating honey wheat bread, then whole wheat. Up until I had Gabriel, I ate mostly whole wheat (vs white wheat). I never had any problems with it as far as I know.

Not long after I had Gabriel, I started having some digestive issues I couldn't track down. I was SHOCKED when I figured out it was whole wheat bothering me! So no more whole wheat for me... I've tried it off and on since with the same results.

Fast forward... As Gabriel's teeth started coming in, a few of them were messed up when they broke the gumline. The tips were missing enamel. I remember reading that this can be a sign of wheat issues. But I also was on antibiotics at the end of my first trimester with him, and was hospitalized with H1N1 at 28 weeks and took lots of meds then. I know the meds can cause enamel issues too. So there's a possible wheat symptom. The past few months he's also had what looks to be an allergy ring around his anus when I change his diaper. He has dark circles under his eyes. But his 2-yr molars are taking FOREVER to come in and off and on he complains his mouth hurts. He's getting over a cold so the circles are worse. Again, the circles may be from a wheat allergy. Or they may not.

My mom has fibromyalgia. She recently found out she also has some lesions on her brain. They look to be indicative of lupus but she doesn't have a definitive diagnosis yet. When I was researching autoimmune diseases (including lupus), I found there's a correlation with gluten intolerance. Now I'm questioning if my mom is gluten intolerant or if eating GF would help her.

All that got me wondering if I could be gluten intolerant. I assume the wheat protein is what I react to in whole wheat, but I don't know if there's any connection to gluten intolerance.

If I am gluten intolerant, I don't have the obvious symptoms. Ditto for Gabriel. But considering my mom likely has lupus, and her sister has had MS for years, and there seems to be a connection with gluten intolerance, if Gabriel and I do have issues with wheat, it could make a huge difference down the road in our likelihood of having an autoimmune disease. Hope that makes sense...

Gabriel doesn't have any behavior issues. Ethan has Sensory Processing Disorder. He also has rage and anxiety issues that have been DRASTICALLY reduced since the switch to grace-based parenting.

I never had problems digesting milk until I had Ethan. Then I became lactose intolerant. But I could still have milk, ice cream, etc as long as I took Lactase with it.Since having Gabriel, I can't drink milk or eat anything with a fair bit of milk in it, even with taking Lactase. My mom is allergic to dairy products btw...

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So that's what prompted our wheat fast...

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