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Hi - I'm new to this list, so please forgive me if I make any glaring
errors. I felt the need to write this introduction, and I hope
it is within the rules of the list to do so.
 
My name is Max, I'm 36, and was born in the U.K. Most of my life
has been hell. I've never been able to work, make friends, socialize,
or lead any real active life. I first went to a doctor when I was 17,
to complain that I was tired and unable to do simple things. He told
me to try jogging, so I tried - I could jog about three steps.
 
When I was 18, my health really collapsed, mentally as well as
physically. Because no-one seemed to understand how I felt, so
couldn't support me, I moved away from all family and friends,
and struggled on alone. My lucky break came when I decided I
couldn't take any more, packed my bags and left England. I had
almost no money, and supposed that when my money ran out, I
would die somewhere on the road. Instead of that, I met a woman
who looked after me and cared for me.
 
I'm still living with that woman. After 15 years of going from one doctor
and therapist to another, there was still no real answer to my health
problems. Last week I posted a message about cures for depression
on a newsgroup, and Don Weis answered and told me about the gluten-free
diet.
 
Last tuesday, I started the diet. By tuesday afternoon (!!!) I was
feeling an improvement. It felt like a wave of energy going through
my body and into my mind. I felt light and euphoric. I thought that
maybe this was just hunger - wheat has been the basis of my diet all
my life - but I had eaten a really good meal of chicken risotto that
day, and still felt that same lightness.
 
The fact is that I had come to expect to feel heavy, especially after
meals. But alongside the lightness was another remarkable effect - I
could bend over and touch my toes! My abdomen had become so hard that
bending, walking, in fact virtually every movement had become
difficult. No wonder I couldn't jog!
 
Just a few of the other lifelong symptoms that seem to have vanished
or at least dramatically improved in the last 6 days - restless nights
with sickness and abdominal pain; endless tiredness; no interest in life
or the world; difficulty in focussing my eyes, dizziness, hearing troubles
including difficulty in judging where a sound was coming from; paranoia;
anxiety; difficulty in concentrating when someone spoke to me;
difficulty in speaking and making myself understood, itchy scalp, dry
skin, itchy patches on skin.
 
One difficulty that has not improved - asthma-like breathing problems.
I know I am allergic to grass pollen, and it is the hay-fever season
now, but this feels like another allergy, maybe an allergy to house
dust or cat-hairs. So my euphoria is slightly tempered now - Will my
health really improve to the point that I will be able to live a fully
active life, and be able to do all of those things I always dreamt of, like
swimming and running, or am I being too optimistic? It feels as if
the asthma has gotten worse, but the most likely explanation is that I
am more aware of those symptoms, now that the other gluten-related
symptoms have improved.
 
Maybe some of you recognise some or all of this in your own lives. I
would love to exchange experiences and ideas with people.
 
How did your life change when you started on a gluten-free diet? What
reactions have you had from family and friends? How have you dealt
with doctors who didn't want to know? How do you avoid the
mine-fields of our gluten-addicted society? If you live in Holland,
or somewhere else in europe, I would particularly like to hear from
you.
 
Max Desorgher