Since many people view my individual blog posts and not the entire content of my website, I feel the need to add the following disclaimer to all future blog posts: I am not and do not claim to be a medical professional or expert. I certainly do not intend for the information that I share to take the place of medical advice. If you have a medical condition you should seek the advice and care of a medical professional. Educate yourself and ask questions to find out if they recommend testing BEFORE you remove gluten from your diet.
That said, once you have been tested and given a diagnosis or ruled out known medical causes then you may wish to explore if you would be better off gluten. There is no test for gluten intolerance so unless you test positive for celiac disease it is unlikely that you will be advised and educated by a medical professional to attempt a gluten free trial.
My daughter is a perfect example of no medical diagnosis and no solution. For over 8 years, she was put through many tests - all were negative. Never once did her pediatrician, numerous specialists or dieticians ever recommend that she try eliminating gluten. Even after we would ask about taking her off gluten we were told that it was not necessary because she had tested negative for celiac disease.
I personally suffered for over 20 years with many symptoms and conditions that were relieved after going off gluten. However, eliminating gluten was never suggested to me by any medical professional. I am thankful every day that I did my own research and decided to try a gluten free trial for me and my daughter without continuing to wait for permission to do so.
I understand that some people perceive sharing this type of information as portraying oneself as an expert giving out "medical" advice. Please understand my intention and motivation is simply to share my story and my research in an effort to help others. More and more people are becoming aware of gluten related issues, although many people simply will not attempt to see if they are better off gluten unless it is prescribed by a doctor. I am hoping that over time stories like mine will help to change that.
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