gluten-free might be for me

I've had digestive issues for about 3 years now. It started midway through second year of law school - I started to notice lower abdominal cramping every day in the late afternoon. I thought it was related to my feminine parts, so I saw my ob/gyn, who recommended I have an ultrasound. The ultrasound didn't show any ovarian cysts, so I saw my primary care physician and also told him about my cramps as well other, um, digestive trouble I was having. Ok, well I guess I should tell the whole story - I was having a lot of constipation. So my doctor sent me to a GI doctor who recommended that I have a colonoscopy. No way, I thought. So I tried to eat more fiber and yogurt and went on my way. The troubles didn't stop, and last summer while I was studying for the bar I had fresh blood in my stool. I freaked out and thought I had cancer, so I called the GI right away. I went in to see him and scheduled a colonoscopy for early September. I went to Italy in late August with my best friend from law school and had a couple of 24 hour bouts of blood in my stool. One episode was particularly jarring - the toilet literally looked like a murder scene.

The colonoscopy went off without a hitch - everything looked fine. (And if you are ever lucky enough to get a colonoscopy, do your self a favor and buy baby wipes for the day before.) The biopsy, on the other hand, came back with a diagnosis of microscopic colitis. The GI doctor told me there wasn't much I could do to treat it except to treat my symptoms with fiber and yogurt and an anti-spasmodic for bouts of diarrhea.

So, since then, I've been doing my best to get lots of fiber, eat lots of veggies, and treat my symptoms. Unfortunately, the cramping hasn't ever stopped. Neither have the swings between diarrhea and constipation. Sorry, I know this is gross, but if it helps one person out there going through the same thing as me, then the embarrassment is at least for some good.

Cut to recently - I began talking to my friend Carrie about her Celiac's disease diagnosis and how she eats gluten-free. I've done a lot of research and think I might have a gluten allergy. Since yesterday, I've been cutting - trying to eliminate entirely - gluten from my diet. And this sounds silly, but today, I didn't have cramps. 4 pm came and went without any abdominal pain at all. So maybe there's something to this gluten-free thing.

I'm setting up an appointment with a new PCP and will schedule a Celiac's blood test at that appointment. However, I have read that you can have a false negative blood test if you've already cut gluten from your diet, so I'll be asking the new doctor about that. And I'll keep you posted.


Ok, so after all that, here's my gluten-free dinner recipe!

Caramelized Scallops and Sesame Snap Peas


















image from Cooking Light

We made some Rice-a-Roni white and wild rice on the side because we didn't have enough rice noodles for two people. The recipe would be great with quinoa, as well. And the best part was that it took less than 20 minutes. Oh, also, we followed the recipe in the little leading paragraph for the sesame snap peas. Don't forget to string the peas first!