Waiting for my healthy life to begin.

Ok so this is not me. But you get the idea, waiting for something that seems to be passing you by, right? I've spent almost my entire life feeling sick. Not usually sick enough to stop my daily life, just always a little bit sick. Stomach problems, constantly. I visited doctor after doctor to try and find out what the heck is going on but got very vague answers. Last year I decided to start getting some answers for myself, I had been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome but no one could tell me what that really means or how I can fix it. They just say, it's stress related, basically telling me it's all in my head. Well guess what, I'm not a very high stress person and the knots in my stomach came at some of the happiest times, so how do you figure it's all in my head? Not acceptable. I searched and searched for answers and found that I'm certainly not alone. This past winter was my worst ever, I landed in the emergency room twice with severe dehydration. No matter how much I drink, I can't stay hydrated. I get rashes. Brush past my skin and I'll have a bruise. Bloating. Fatigue. Joint pain. Infections. A never ending list of various problems that never seem to go away. It's a rare day that I feel completely healthy. It's not in my head. I'm not making this stuff up. I'm a generally happy person, I don't want this, I'm not asking for this, or your sympathy. I just want to feel better! So I dig deeper and deeper into the world of digestive disorders and more and more I see a common culprit. Gluten. That pesky protein found in wheat, barley and rye (and sometimes oats). Some people just can't handle it. One person referred to white flour as plaster of paris for the intestines. That would explain a lot! So here I am, once and for all, cutting the gluten out of my life. I tried it before and although I felt better, I didn't stick to it because it can be tough. But I truly believe that this is the answer to all the misery I've gone through over the years. I'm hoping it will work because if it doesn't I have no idea what else to do. With the help of lots of other gluten-free people, books, websites and blogs I'm determined to make this lifestyle change a permanent one! I will use this blog as my way of recording the journey and also whatever else is going on in my life. Links, photos, and other fun stuff I'm sure. Stay tuned!