Gluten Free : Week One, The Results

I have been eating a gluten free diet for a week now - ten days by the time this particular blog is actually posted-  all in the hopes that the new diet will reduce the levels of joint inflammation I suffer from as a result of my psoriatic arthritis. The results are in and I am happy, no, ecstatic to report that my levels of inflammation are noticeably down. The fires burning up my arms and my legs have been reduced to glowing embers. YAY!!

I never would have imagined that something as simple as bread or pasta would be worse for me than a glass or two of wine.

Not only has the inflammation been reduced, but another wonderful side effect is that I now have more energy. Equally problematic to the pain and inflammation in my psoriatic arthritic world is the struggle against chronic fatigue. Ultimately it was not the pain and inflammation that forced me to the doctor last year, but the continual physical exhaustion-to-the-point-of-tears fatigue I was constantly fighting.

In the last week, by afternoon I'm finding that I feel so good, I can almost kid myself into thinking I am healthy. I am also more focused and more aware of life around me because my mind is not so clouded and preoccupied with thoughts of the disease.  I am happier because I have more energy and I have more personality when I am feeling good and energetic.

But changing my diet has by no means cured me. With the inflammation reduced, the actual stiffness of the joints is more noticeable. Even though my exhaustion is reduced, I still tire easily after an eight hour day on my feet. Any middle-of-the-night or early morning wake ups are still a painful struggle with stiffness.  Nor has the diet reduced my morning 'thaw out' period. It still takes a solid hour every morning for my limited flexibility to return to me.

This morning I am suffering. My joints are inflamed, and I am physically exhausted. My arms and legs feel like led weights and my feet are throbbing. I am definitely not looking forward to going to work this afternoon. I work in retail. This means I am on my feet for eight hours a day. This means I am in the public eye. I work in a home decor store, which means I move furniture, process merchandise, build lamps, and carry mirrors and other heavy objects. In a nutshell, my job is physically demanding.

I am not sure if today's suffering is a simple 'flare up' or if this is a side effect from the BBQ sauce I indulged in last night. Upon further research, I discovered that the sauce includes malt vinegar as an ingredient. Turns out that although most vinegars are gluten free, malt vinegar is not.

If it was in fact the sauce that led to today's suffering, I find it kind of crazy and kind of scary that two tablespoons of a dressing can so utterly destroy me overnight after a week and a half of feeling energized and focused, flexible and un-inflamed.

Today is a reminder of my 'norm', how I have felt daily for the past year and a half. Today is a reminder as to why I am making lifestyle changes. Today reminds me not to take the way I have been feeling for the past week or so for granted. So as upset as I am about giving up spanakopita and donuts, my disappointment is far outweighed by my desire to feel as healthy and capable as possible. I want to move like and feel like a thirty-five year old again.