I was diagnosed similarly at 46, but celiac, not Chron's. I spent a 26 years battling the strangest health issues only to find out that I'm allergic to wheat.

I was diagnosed similarly at 46, but celiac, not Chron's. I spent a 26 years battling the strangest health issues only to find out that I'm allergic to wheat. My body didn't produce the classic symptoms of celiac, which is my disease, until it did: Duhring disease, or sores that form in response to gluten reactivity. The gluten-free lifestyle is a shock for someone who loves bread and pasta as much as I do, but I feel a thousand percent better. Inexplicable weight gain my entire adult life disappeared seemingly overnight, as if my body couldn't wait to get rid of it. I went from 235 to 170 without even trying. Doctors tried over and again to diagnose me with bipolar disorder since I was 21, and I kept telling them they were full of s**. The symptoms of depression and mania have completely disappeared. I haven't had to take an antidepressant or antipsychotic in over a year. I was taking both every day. Worse was hives. I had this untreatable disorder known as cholinergic urticaria, essentially allergic to my own sweat, and now that's gone as well. This urticaria disease is so debilitating I wouldn't wish it on the worst of people. I still feel like an idiot. I always knew it was related to yeast. I told doctor after doctor, but they kept thinking it was some sort of fungal infection. I knew yeast was causal somehow. I never thought it would be so simple: wheat is my personal poison. A diet without gluten has given me a new lease on life, so now I have to confront the world with complete health, and that is truly difficult. I lived my entire adult life alone because I was poisoning myself with gluten. And make no mistake, I was absolutely one of those people poo pooing gluten-free this, gluten-free that as just another ridiculous fad diet. Was I ever wrong!