It would seem that I am not immune to the effects of gluten after all. About a year ago, I cautiously resumed eating gluten after abstaining for four years. It started by accident when I unknowingly ate gluten several times in a period of just a few weeks. I didn’t know because I wasn’t affected the way I used to be. Once I realized that I had eaten gluten, not just once, but five separate times, I decided to test the waters with different types of bread products, and each time yielded the same result: No negative side effects.

I didn’t go back to eating my fill of bread, pizza, and pasta, but I wasn’t as picky about what I ate either. I think I went too far, though. In the past week, I’ve eaten six double cheeseburgers, a brisket sandwich on a French roll, and a pepperoni and sausage pizza. That’s a terrible fucking diet, I know, but I don’t eat like that all the time. I’ve just been really busy for the past week and haven’t had time to eat conscientiously. Well, it caught up to me.

The aforementioned pizza was today’s dinner. I ate two of these pizzas a couple of weeks ago with no noticeable effects, but within minutes of finishing this one, I felt the telltale pain in the middle of my stomach that always accompanied gluten back before I knew I had a gluten intolerance. I haven’t felt that pain in years. Besides the pain, which subsided after a little while, I have felt like shit ever since.

I’m glad this happened. I don’t like feeling ill, but I do like knowing what my limits are. This whole journey I’ve been on for the past five years to figure out what it is that’s caused me to feel awful my whole adult life has been a bit like feeling my way around a maze in the dark. So, having a reaction to gluten after a year of no reactions is good. It’s like the shape of the maze is a little clearer now. The bummer part is that now it’s back to a totally gluten-free diet, which is such a pain in the ass.