I'm 40 and I can do whatever the heck I want, as long as it doesn't include gluten. :(

I spent my birthday money on these costly shoes. Nils asked me yesterday if I love my shoes. I've only had them for one day, so it's probably too soon to tell, but so far, they are just shoes and haven't transformed my outlook on life or anything. He asked what the appeal of them is, and I had to admit that I just wanted to buy expensive shoes. I'm 40, and I'm sick of wearing crappy flats, ok? And, he's always telling me to spend my birthday money on something fun, so I done did it. Maybe they will turn out to be the best shoes ever, and I'll continue purchasing unreasonably expensive ballet flats wif mah birfday money. Maybe not. My point is, now that I'm 40, I'mma do what I want. As long as it's not immoral and doesn't include eating gluten.

I mean, they're pretty cute.

Remember that pesky rash I wrote about a few months back? It's been plaguing my life for about 7 months. Now, rashes are generally minor annoyances that have a resolution and are responsive to treatments. This rash has been non-responsive. I itch from head to toe all the time, and have little pock marks all over my body that break open and bleed. I scratch to the point of bruising myself. I've been treated for scabies (twice), even though there is no evidence of scabies. I've manically cleaned and sanitized my home, steamed my bed, treated the dog, all to no avail. 

Sample of scars- this is what my back and arms look like, too.

On January 19, the dermatologist sent me up to the University of Utah Medical Center to be a patient for "Grand Rounds", where you sit in a room, about 25 different doctors look at your affliction, and they say things like, "hmmm", and "that looks itchy". Guess what they concluded? That I am being bitten by mites from my dog or reacting to medication. Face palm.

So, I don't take any medication, and if one more person tells me I'm being bitten by mites I'm going to lose mah mind. Anyway, when those were the results of all these medical geniuses, I lost all faith in them. 

There has been much prayer and fasting in order to figure this out, because this experience has been plain old miserable. 

Backstory: I went to see an ob/gyn in September, because my cycle had been greatly affected by all the steroids the dermatologist gave me. The dermatologist denied that the steroids had anything to do with it, because he is a moron. Anyway...the nurse practitioner at the ob/gyn office listened to my sad story, looked at my rashy foot, and said, "this looks like a gluten rash". She ran a blood panel for 1000 different things, including gluten sensitivity. The results came back that my anti-bodies were high for gluten, but the nurse who talked to me about it on the phone gave me the impression that it might be a good idea to limit/eliminate gluten. Therefore, I didn't connect the dots that gluten was causing this rash. I had never really heard of such a thing, anyway. I have since tried to be selective in my gluten intake, but I have definitely not abstained or gone to great lengths to avoid eating it. 

Ok, so fast forward to last week. I made chicken parmesan for dinner one night and had the thought that I should probably not eat it. I told Nils that I was just going to try not eating gluten for awhile and see if that helped at all. The next morning, I had the thought to google "gluten rash". Why had I never googled gluten rash before?? I have no idea, but clearly I did not connect this rash to gluten. 

Holy crap, THIS is what I have. For the first time in months, I had clarity that this is exactly what it is. The images are spot on. The symptoms are spot on. This is the itchiest rash known to man. It's itchier than poison ivy. I texted Nils and told him to google "dermatitis herpetiformis". He called me and said, "THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE." I cried out of relief, sadness, and frustration. 

I called the ob/gyn office to update them on my case and ask them for some guidance. They called me back and told me YES! You absolutely need to eliminate gluten! 

*LOOOOOOOONG SIGH* The dermatologist is fired. I totally get that doctors are people and don't have all the answers, but this seems so blatantly obvious now. One google search is all it took for me to find it. Seriously, though, SCABIES?? Come on, people.

So, here we go, on a gluten-free adventure for life. Now I just need to re-learn how to cook, so it's totally fine. I'm really considering just ridding the house of wheat flour all together, as well as the hidden sources of gluten, which are many. The kids can continue to eat packaged crackers and bread, etc., but whatever I cook will now be gluten free. Sorry, family. :) 

Any gluten-free pro tips are welcome, por favor!! I've got to get this situation under control!