An Update from Gloria

[Gloria]

I thought I'd post an update on my progress.

I've been taking 9 mg day of Entocort for 19 days and have been following a strict GF diet, to the best of my knowledge, for 3 weeks. I haven't noticed any adverse side effects from the Entocort. I have less gas and urgency to go, and the frequency is getting down to 2-3 a day from a high of 11 per day. Still loose, but improving.

I've noticed that the pain in my finger joints is all but gone. I've had the pain for years and always attributed it to arthritis. One other change I've noticed and haven't read anywhere else is that I don't seem to have any more plaque buildup when I floss my teeth. That seems silly to mention, but I find it curious. I don't know if either of these changes are due to the Entocort or to the GF diet or both.

It's not been too difficult to follow a GF diet. Rather than completely change the way I eat, I've chosen to find suitable substitutes for forbidden foods. I'm fortunate that a large grocery store in my town specializes in foods from around the world. I can get rice flour from India, rice noodles from Thailand that taste and cook identical to wheat noodles. Many Kosher Passover foods seem to be GF, so I look in the Jewish section, too. Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are about 10 miles away.

The trickiest part is eating out, something that we have done a lot since we've been empty-nesters. We're eating at home more now. I hope I can keep up with the cooking when I go back to working full days next week. I've been on half-days all summer. I also don't look forward to sharing the bathrooms with students again. I hope I'm in remission before they come back!

[tex]

Hi Gloria,

I'm glad to see that you're making good progress. I'll bet you'll be doing just fine, by the time school starts again.

The improvement in the joint pain is almost surely due to the GF diet. Arthritis is part of the symptoms package, until our gut heals, and our body recovers from the gluten damage, for those of us who are gluten sensitive. The joint pain is due to the leaky gut syndrome, (caused by the ingestion of gluten), which allows undigested long-chain polymers to enter the bloodstream, and be deposited in joints, and various organs in the body, resulting in severe pain, in many cases.

It's good to see that you've been able to adapt to the diet so quickly - you're a quick study. And yes, eating out is a project that is fraught with peril, for almost all of us on the diet. Avoiding the accidental ingestion of gluten while eating out, is sort of a culinary equivalent of Russian roulette.

Thanks for the update. It's always educational to learn how everyone's treatment programs is going, and to compare notes. I hope your progress continues.

Tex

[JJ]

Hi Gloria!

I am so glad that the Entocort and GF diet are working well for you...hang in there...things will get better! Take care...JJ

[barbaranoela]

Gloria--interesting about the plaque build-up---
I can have a cleaning and within a few weeks I feel the plaque---but my dentist says its all from the saliva???

glad to hear U see an improvement also-----

luve Barbara