I almost drove in?!

BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
DRIVING 0 miles

Geezus Louizus it's 31F outside and I nearly cave in to driving?! Admittedly, it was a whimsy type of thought that fluttered across the brain after I walked the dog. It didn't last long, but it was tempting. What talked me out of it was the fact that I'd spend more time driving+walking than I would just biking.

In the end, I biked. And it felt good. But cold! I tried my new lobster gloves (or should I call them my 'live long and prosper' Vulcan gloves?), my finger tips got cold. I wasn't expecting them to be warm by any means, but at the least that they would be warmer than my other gloves.

Dr office just confirmed I do have the DQ2 gene. Now I want to know how many copies I have, whether family should be tested, and whether I should do a gluten challenge.

On that last question, here's my rationale. Things won't change much if I do have the disease, I'll be more careful about exposures. But if it's NOT celiac causing my vitamin deficiencies then what is it? And what about my gut reactions to the common gluten cross-reactive foods (for me that includes coffee, oats, potato, corn, rice, chocolate, tapioca, etc)? Is is cross reactivity or SIBO/SCD? Again, it's not so much that I miss eating these foods but rather that I need to understand what's going on.

But do I really want to try re-introducing gluten for up to 3 months at the top of my training season? Heck, nothing might happen and I might learn that gluten isn't a problem! Or I have symptoms that are attributed to FODMAPs. In that case, it would be worth it for me to find the carbohydrate-free version of wheat gluten so that I only eat the gluten protein. More researching....found that vital wheat gluten is almost starch free. So that would be something to consider.

Factors to consider:
Pro challenge: 
1. Mom, gpa?, great-gma, and great aunt all reported to have symptoms. Am I just the next in line? Or is just just vague symptoms?
2. Something is causing my vitamin D deficiency and symptoms
3. Sometimes I just gotta KNOW
4. I have been sloppier about potential cross contaminations in the past year or so (however endoscopy and antibodies are negative)
5. And why do I react to some of the common gluten cross-reaction foods, including coffee, oats, potato, corn, rice? Is it the starches or a cross-reaction?

Con challenge:
1. I've been having symptoms while on a gluten free diet, from terrible gut symptoms in 2014 and including the deficiency
2. Eliminating FODMAP and SCD starches improved things, so maybe it was SIBO (how does that impact absorption of vitamins?)
3. Clinical reviews seem to suggest that not all CD adults revert after being gluten free, in that the challenge might need to go on a longer time for antibodies to appear. Although the appearance of intraepithelial lymphocytes is reportedly rapid. But that requires another endoscopy.


And more waiting as I wait for the office to call back with answers. And I see Dr M next Weds about the MRI. Wish I could at least get a verbal explanation between now and then.