Jumping (make that carefully, easing my way up) on the Gluten Free Bandwagon

A while ago I posted about having my thyroid levels tested to see if that was responsible for my aches and pains. You can read about it here. I described my burning, aching lower back and hips (at night, when lying flat on my back), as well as shoulder pain. The shoulder pain is now gone, but the night time pain continues. My feet are also painful to walk on and I feel like I have lost a lot of strength.

In an attempt to deal with the pain I have done the following:
                 Round 1: chiropractor adjustments
                 Round 2: really intense massage therapy
                 Round 3: specific stretching and foam roller therapy
                 Round 4: physiotherapy
                 Round 5: turmeric supplementation (specifically curcurmin which is the active ingredient)
                 Round 6: all kinds of pain meds, ibuprofen, naproxen...
                 Round 7: recently increased my exercise level- daily

I went to my doctor and described my pain (again). I had already had an ultrasound to eliminate scary things like ovarian cancer (that doesn't make you think unimaginable thoughts, does it?) I had already had my blood work done for thyroid and it came back normal. He also said that my hormone levels came back normal which I absolutely do not believe at all due to what my body has been doing (or not doing) now for months. However, my blood work did show elevated levels of inflammation, so I am off to see a rheumatologist in September (that only took six months!) to check for... get this... lupus or anklyo spondolitis (likely spelled that completely wrong), two autoimmune diseases which could cause the same pain I have been experiencing. I have been reading up on both of those conditions, and I am not convinced I have either one. I do not experience any of the other symptoms, and if I had that anklyo...whatever I would likely have been diagnosed at a much younger age. I have since asked for my B12 levels to also be checked and no doubt I will be told they are "normal".

So here is my next kick at the can. I am going to try going gluten free. I know, I know... it's the latest trend, along with paleo this and essential oil that. I also know that if you keep searching on the internet you will find whatever answer you are hoping to find. Honestly though, I really did find an awful lot of comments from people (often on blogs, not representing any particular organization or product) saying how their inflammation and painful joints went away, sometimes surprisingly quickly, after stopping gluten.

I think it is much easier to go gluten free in today's world. There are so many other options. I know myself, though. I start things out with an amazingly positive "go get em tiger!" attitude. I record things, I research things, I am absolutely 100 % committed... and then I'm not. That is why I am making myself accountable out there on the "interwebs" because the only other thing that works even better for me is guilt. I will guilt myself into posting about my journey and the results. I am just hoping (seriously hoping) that this will be the "ticket". I don't think a 49 year old otherwise healthy woman should be in this much pain and hobbling slowly around every morning until the pain eases up and I feel "normal" again, only to be repeated the following night.

I swear I will not post every scrap of food I shove in my mouth. If I find an alternative product that is any good, I'll let you know. If I find something that tastes like cardboard, I'll let you know. And if I find that my pain is disappearing, I'll let the world know!! And if this is all too depressing, I can take solace in the fact that wine is gluten free!