Hi Gluten, I've missed you!

Oh, happy day.  If I manage to be incredibly consistent taking my enzymes, it would seem, I can digest gluten again.

I started experimenting slowly, basically by letting restaurants cross contaminate my food.  Then, I went to Bluephies with Leah, ordered a veggie black bean burger with no bun and a side of french fries, which I knew would be friend in oil that had fried gluten.  When the order came out, the fries were battered.  After peppering the waitress with tons of questions, you'd think she'd mention that the fries were coated in gluten.  But, I decided to be brave and eat 'em anyway.  Mainly to see just how sick I'd get.  I didn't get sick.

After another week of adherence to my enzymes, I upped the test.  Took myself to Hilldale.  Went to the Dumpling Haus (why an Asian place spells the name the German way, I'll never know) and had a bowl of the peanut glazed noodles.  THEN,  I took my gluten filled belly down to the grocery store and snagged a package of Carl's cupcakes.  You know the ones, with the raspberry filling and butter cream frosting.  Those.  Yum.  I took the cupcakes home, and ate one.

Guess what - I felt fine!!!  And I still feel fine.  I can eat gluten!!

I'm still adjusting to some other meds that make me pretty tired, but once I get this all figured out, I think life will get more comfortable.  

I may need to tote pills around with me wherever I go, but I'm starting to be OK with that.  

For those interested in the details, I take RX Creon, it's pretty expensive and the strength my doc set me up with is not quite strong enough for a large meal.  So, I take one RX and one OTC pill.  The OTC pill is called Enzymedica Digest  - in Madison I found it at Community Pharmacy, but it can be found on line for less, and in larger quantities.  The ingredients line up pretty darn closely to the stuff my doctor prescribes.  The main difference is that the OTC stuff is much cheaper, a bit less potent, is plant sourced, contains a few extra enzymes to help with the digestion of dairy, and the pills smell kinda funny.  I take a pill every time I eat, even snacks.  I guess if I were just having juice, I'd skip it.  

I am looking forward to seeing my doctor.  The pills I'm taking contain digestive enzymes, enzymes a pancreas ~should~ be producing.  On the CT scan I had done a while back, my pancreas looked fine.  So that would indicate I don't have something terribly sinister going on with my pancreas.  Which is good.  But why do I need these enzymes to eat?  If I skip a dose, it's apparent.  I had some more blood drawn yesterday to check pancreas function.  Hopefully those results will be available when I see my doc next.

In addition, I'm back to yoga.  It sometimes feels "safer" than running.  If I need to go to the bathroom, I can always duck out of class; when running, finding a bathroom could be problematic.  Plus, let's face it, an hour of yoga is much easier than an hour of running.  It feels good to be back on the mat after some time away.  It's evident that I've lost plenty of strength, but I know in time it'll come back.