Just diagnosed with erosive esophagitis

[pnwmom]

39. At the time I was diagnosed with gluten sensitivity I had your problem.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO GIVE UP SOY SAUCE to be gluten free. But you might have to give up your favorite Chinese restaurant, if they won't prepare your meals without gluten ingredients, including wheat-containing soy sauces.

Kikkoman soy sauce is real soy sauce -- just rice, soy, salt, sugar. It just doesn't have wheat, which is NOT a necessary ingredient of soy sauce (even though in America it's often the first listed ingredient.)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kikkoman-Traditionally-Brewed-All-Purpose-Seasoning-Soy-Sauce-10-fl-oz/34276996?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=3098&adid=2222222227734276996_117755028669_12420145346&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-294505072980&wl5=9033254&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=34276996&wl13=3098&veh=sem_LIA&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2cWgBhDYARIsALggUhqTVn-kQC7sEuruRVi7AHnFJqjwjiFjGN8jAtyhry7dyt0YdI01B4IaAqGEEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Unfortunately, with a gluten-sensitivity like ours, it's as bad as having Celiac: just a small exposure to gluten can set off symptoms. So you really should try your best. That means reading labels, and being suspicious of anything labeled "natural flavors." That could be barley, which isn't required to be labeled, unfortunately. And if they don't list wheat, barley, or rye, but say that the food was prepared in a factory with one of those grains, that means you should assume it's contaminated -- unless it's also labeled as gluten free, which means it was tested to meet the standard.

I was totally daunted by the diet at first, but very quickly could feel how much better I was doing. Not only did my intestinal bleeding go away (the symptom that first brought me to the GI doc), but my constant heartburn and -- for an extra bonus -- the fibromyalgia I thought was just part of the aging process.

So, the diet is a pain, and it's annoying having an illness that people like to make fun of. But I hope you will be as improved on a real gluten-free diet as I am. I'm never tempted anymore; I would no sooner eat gluten now than drink a cup of rat poison.

But one question: have they already biopsied you for Celiac or is that the purpose of the second endoscopy? Because for that test to get reliable results, you need to be regularly eating gluten in the weeks/months before the test. So if that's the purpose of the test, they wouldn't normally tell you to avoid gluten at this point.

In my case, the doctor didn't do a biopsy for Celiac because it wouldn't change his recommendation. Since my intestinal bleeding was stopped by a gluten-free diet, I didn't need to have an endoscopic biopsy to learn whether I had Celiac, too. I just had to stay off gluten.

Good luck!