Post-cleanse

About a month or so into the cleanse I ended up traveling for a week. Traveling and being on such a strict cleanse was not a very good plan, but things were already set so I tried to stick with it as much as I could. Amusingly, the straw that broke the camel's back for me was coffee. Part of the cleanse was getting all stimulants out. I love coffee. I consider Starbucks to be one of my vices.

After another visit with the chiropractor I decided to just go back to doing things on my own. I tried to add in a couple supplements he had suggested, and some I had found doing research. But unfortunately I was still having major ups and downs. For about a month I'd feel great, and then I'd go into a slump and start getting constipated and feeling gross, and I couldn't find anything that would stop that from happening. (As a side note, if you're looking for a natural laxative, Senna tea is the best. I usually mix dried senna, peppermint and ginger and make tea with a little honey. Soothes and gets things moving).

During all this time I had been attending college to get my bachelor's degree. At the end of 2008 I was set to graduate (the cleanse happened in the summer of 2008). Towards the end of the year I was starting to prepare to move out of my parent's house, which meant not being under their insurance anymore. I still really wanted to get the biopsy done, even though I had been GF for a year, I wanted to give a gastroenterologist one more try. I did some research and found an osteopathic gastro doctor. I made and appointment, and he was one of the first doctors to actually be helpful! It was like a breath of fresh air. Now of course the only real management tool he could give me was to not eat gluten, but he did prescribe me a medication for my IBS (which ended up causing problems, but that's for another post). He also was willing to do the biopsy without making me do a gluten challenge. Something that I was not going to do. There was no way I was going to make myself sick again around the end of my last semester, let alone ever.

The day came for the biopsy, fasting was involved of course, but that was fine since I don't normally eat breakfast. A bad habit, I know. I was prepped and given the medications, which worked amazingly fast and amazingly well. Woke up afterwards, recovered, and went home. Of course, I got pictures too, which I posted on my facebook to gross out all my friends :).

When the doctor told me the results, he said that there was still a slight amount of damage, and I had a confirmed diagnosis of Celaic Disease. This may sound odd, but I was so glad he said that! I didn't want to have to deal with doctors not being willing to treat me for Celiacs because I hadn't done the biopsy. Also, I love learning medical stuff about myself, partly because I love science and medicine, and partly because I feel like I'm a medical anomoly and I want to know everything that is wrong with me.