My Celiac Sprue (Gluten Intolerance) Story
By Dennis Begley

I am quite familiar with this having be aware I have it for almost 30 years. I was diagnosed with spastic colitis out of college. The X-Rays showed my colon being spastic. Recommendations? Take a smooth muscle relaxant prescription and work out to release the stress in my body caused by my sales job. Essentially what he did was try to treat and cover up my symptoms. Didn't work.

Looking back I now see the obvious. I would eat something like a pizza (which is extremely high in gluten to make the dough rise) then I would get massive cramps that would incapacitate me for a couple of days. My colon was going crazy trying to get that poison out of my body despite taking that prescription and working out. It should have been obvious at the time but it wasn't. I had no idea there was a connection between what I was eating and my suffering.  How I happened to figure out what my problem was when I picked up a copy of a book printed by Prevention Magazine at a friend's. Flipping through it I saw a reference to spastic colitis. First paragraph said. "Spastic colitis is cause by an intolerance to gluten." At that time I had no idea was gluten was much less whether I was eating it or not. I started a path of knowledge and was shocked to see gluten is in wheat and wheat was everywhere in my diet. Methodically I eliminated gluten from my diet. My symptoms magically went away.

I did learn a couple of valuable things in my research. Most people realize they have this during or after college. Why? Like many college kids pizzas was one of my primary foods. My roommate delivered pizzas for Dominos. He was always bringing pizzas home. A minor reaction to gluten will intensive if you overdose your digestive system with high gluten foods. Looking back I always had this but the symptoms were not obvious or at least I thought those things happen when you eat. Wrong.

The second thing I would add here is this condition is genetic. My mother has this and it is pretty obvious her father also had it. Their symptoms were not as intense as mine but they both had symptoms. My grandfather apparently would often eat a meal then have to run to the bathroom immediately for a bowel movement. His body trying to get rid of the food (gluten) he had just eaten. The last time I ate wheat based pan cakes, they didn't stay with me more than 30 minutes.

The third thing I will add here is to say again. You either have this or you don't. If you have gluten intolerance you MUST quit eating gluten. It is not an allergy you can take a drug to cover up the symptoms with. Gluten intolerance will mess up your ability to digest food and get nutrients even if you are not showing apparent symptoms. Covering up the symptoms will only mask the issue and result in long term health issues. Take is seriously.

I know people that obviously has celiac sprue, did not take is seriously and lost a large part of their colon when it ruptured. One acquaintance of my mother carries a Colostomy Bag. Personally I would rather change my diet.

Let this be a lesson to you as it was to me. You are responsible for your own health. The choices you make have a direct impact on your current and future health. Your lifestyle choices are important. Just because you don't take your choices seriously or want to ignore the damage you do to your body, doesn't mean you will not eventually pay the price. Most of us live too short and die too long. You only have one body and it has to last you a lifetime. Your lifestyle choices impact how long that lifetime is.