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Ok, here is a crazy question:

We live in Quito, Ecuador, which is petty high (9,000 or so ft) and when we
come to the US, we usually visit sea level (San Antonio, TX).  Last year I
hadn't been diagnosed yet, but I was very sick when we left Quito and I did
notice that I was able to eat things here that I would not be able to eat at
home.  It was the same for my son.

This trip, I have had a few "gluten" reactions that I thought must have been
allergies becuase they were so much milder than anything I get at home.  Now
I am sure that they really were gluten reactions because then I noticed
this:

When I gluten challenge my son with one bowl of pasta at home, he is bloated
up like a balloon and has about 8 bad poops about 24 hours later, and
poroblems for about a week afterwards.  We decided to gluten challenge him
here to prepare for a colon/endoscopy in ten days (thinking that since he
reacts so strongly, we will be able to see something even without a month of
gluten), and after 2 days of eating almost constant gluteny products, he is
still pretty much OK (so the smell of his stools is a bit foul, but that's
it)!

I am convinced that for some reason we are not reacting as strongly here as
we do at home, and I am sure it is not bacterial or anything since we have
only been here for a week and a half. And I don't think it has anything to
do with the food.  BUT - it is something that will wear off after we have
been at sea level for a while?? Like blood doping?

Or, does the altitude really make our systems so much more sensitive even
though he was BORN at a high altitude as well?

Does anyone have experience with this? Have your reactions gotten better or
worse when you are higher or lower?

You know, a few months ago I would have qualified my question with a
"or am I crazy?" at the end of this email, but now I know that I am
NOT!...well, not too crazy anyway. =)

Thanks for all your support.

Emily

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