Rocking my World

I was on my favorite knitting website, ravelry.com, when I entered into a forum that a friend of mine told me about. The group is for people with wrist problems who love to knit. I was so excited that I might be able to find a simple answer there for my wrist problems by the resident specialist and veteran knitters. Boy was I wrong. I am now convinced (I doubted until now) that I do not have carpel tunnel. What I may have, however, is a gluten intolerance. That was not at all what I wanted to hear. I have taken the advice given to me, and I have been on a gluten free diet now for almost two weeks. The days go by slowly; the memory of warm, baked, gooey pizza is slowly fading from my mind and I wonder if I am just beginning to be paranoid about my eating habits have been all wrong, or if I am really a having a breakthrough regarding better health.

I have been doing massive amounts of research on nutrition related health issues, most of it grueling and contradictory. But what I begun to learn is learning about health concerns is no different from writing a research paper or essay. There are many sources on the internet; all with their own personally, politically, and financially charged motives for writing their articles. I have found that personal blogs, with no medical background to back up their findings, are just as important and relevant as WebMD or any other source of medical information. Combining our unique bodies with our physicians personal philosophies (yes, physicians all have their own belief systems that sway the opinions of their practice) it is sometimes hard to know is something is being over looked. I love my PCP, but I cannot count on her eyes alone to detect everything that may be wrong with me. Between the two of us, we never made the leap that perhaps my leg cramps, wrist pain, asthma, etc. were all related let alone that they could be caused by a gluten intolerance.

Perhaps I’m jumping the gun. I may not have a gluten intolerance after all. I may simply be putting myself through a torturous routine for nothing. Some days I wish that at the end of all this (6 weeks or so) the result is positive. If it is, I may have to continue with a limited diet, but then my over-all health will improve. Other days…well lets just say that I really love food, and I really love to cook. This has been an interesting challenge so far, and this is the first time that I have been able to stick to a diet for more than two days. I have to say, I am rather proud of myself for being able to watch as everyone else eats fried calamari, gravy smothered chicken, grilled cheese and pasta salad . I’ll keep you posted on how it goes. Until then, I am working on an essay about William Stafford and his book You Must Revise Your Life. It is less demanding and exacting than the tone of the title suggests. I look forward to seeing how my thoughts work their way onto the page.