Apparently, fibromyalgia and gluten sensitivity have a lot of similar features, according to Deirdre Rawlings, writing for FOODS FOR FIBROMYALGIA.

Physical symptoms associated with gluten intolerance and celiac disease include the following:

• Abdominal cramping / bloating
• Abdominal distention
• Appetite increased (to the point of craving)
• Back pain
• Constipation
• Dehydration
• Decreased ability to clot blood
• Diarrhea
• Dry skin
• Edema
• Electrolyte depletion
• Energy loss
• Fatigue
• Gas / flatulence
• Mouth sores or cracks in the corners
• Muscle cramping (especially in the hands and legs)
• Night blindness
• Weakness and lethargy

Emotional states associated with gluten intolerance and celiac disease are:

• Brain fog
• Depression
• Difficulty concentrating
• Disinterested in normal activities
• Irritable
• Mood changes

How many of these sound like a person with fibromyalgia, depression, mild anxiety, and irritable bowel? Exactly. How about if I just list the symptoms I don’t have?

• _____?

Yeah, I’ve got it all. And my weekend (Friday-Sunday) was very, very gluten rich and surprisingly increasingly painful. So I might have a sensitivity, if not an allergy (I also sometimes break out in unexplained rashes, which I currently have), and I ought to ask my doctor to do tests to determine whether this is possible. Until then, I should eat a low-carb diet.

But gluten is sooooo yummy. My favorite foods are ice cream, bread, chocolate, and pasta.

So I could change my diet and possibly turn everything around (and also lose a lot of weight without my favorite foods to tempt me) but lose the comfort of those favorite foods except on rare occasion.

Or I could go on as if this weren’t a possibility.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I made an appointment for next Wednesday (3/10) with my rheumatologist and I will definitely be bringing this up.

Luckily, my “adoptive” grandmother (my husband’s maternal grandmother)’s husband has gluten intolerance and he eats a gluten-free diet, so she could have some great suggestions, and there are many cookbooks and diet books out there.

I don’t know what I’m hoping for. Maybe a notable sensitivity in tests, but not a complete intolerance, giving me the the ability to indulge in very small amounts and leading to a breakthrough turnaround that changes my life. Yeah, that would rock.

I can’t exactly say “Life is Good.” However, I’m certainly feeling better about it.

I had a long talk with my older brother last night and I’ve decided something very important regarding family drama: I will no longer believe what anyone says about anyone else. So things that happened between two or more people will become a patchwork quilt that might guide me to the actual truth. But, generally, I’m just going to love each individual person as themselves and stay out of whatever arguments might occur between them. I also discovered that I must be more specific (or, perhaps, more general) when speaking with my husband. For example, rather than saying “Did my sister call me in the hospital or did I talk to her after I came home?”, I should have asked whether we heard from her at all during all that.

I had a long talk with my husband the evening before. We discussed our feelings and, basically, we both want to stay together and work to improve communication and, overall, just find ways to love and live and laugh together regardless of situation.

I need to work on losing weight, creating a fitness routine (I think someone may have purchased either Wii Yoga or Wii Your Shape, but I also have a Yoga for Pain Relief DVD I can follow as well as Wii Fit), and (most importantly) find ways to actively cope with stress, upset, frustration/anger, depressive feelings, and the pain that results and triggers these feelings. The coping strategies I will discover through cognitive behavioral therapy. A friend, a teacher with her own CNS pain issues, strongly promotes CBT as one of the only ways to truly cope and maintain a successful teaching career. I really really like my new psychiatrist and psychologist, so I’m very hopeful.

My grandmother was given a new prognosis of 3 weeks or so, so I will get to enjoy the Black-Tie-Optional work-sponsored dinner with my husband tomorrow night. I have two different sets of Spanx, and I’m not sure which I’ll wear under my little black dress (if either), but I know that I’ll be wearing black hose and black suede pumps along with a scarlet wrap and clutch from Target. I’ll also be wearing pearls in my ears, around my neck, and on my wrist. But, more importantly, I’m getting my hair set and pinned into a pinup girl look, and my makeup will go with it.

Tuesday, we’ll be celebrating Christmas as a couple and may even go out for a special dinner. We’ll be opening our gifts for each other. We’ll also be opening gifts from my older brother and his wife, Peter’s gifts from my parents, and the heavier gifts they’d bought me.

I’m hoping, before the New Year, I’ll get to spend time with my life-long friend Jessi (and her boyfriend Joemca) as well as all 4 of my siblings (I’m counting my sister-in-law, since she’s been part of the family for over 20 years) and my niece and nephews. And, even more hopefully (since it’s less likely), I’ll be able to hang out with some (newer) local friends in the New Year.