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gluten intolerance
I suffer from gluten intolerance.
As soon as I consume foods containing gluten, I get very ill.
It took years and many misapprehensions to finally figure out this simple rule:
No gluten!
One of the many experiments I carried out was a test on celiac disease, also called celiac sprue. The medical examination turned out to be negative.
I erroneously believed that gluten intolerance was invariably connected to celiac disease, which turned out to be wrong.
I believed that muesli, made up of oat flakes, nuts and dried fruit, was the epitome of healthy food, which turned out to be false. I was not aware of the fact, that oat flakes contain gluten, too.
Some years ago, when I was not yet certain about the causes and the most drastic consequences of my gluten intolerance were terrible heart trouble, I set up a web page called heliocobacter-cordis.com, helicobacter of the heart. This was a kind of working title. The text tells my story.
Joerg Griesemann
Erlenweg 7
72076 Tuebingen
Germany
jg@gluten-in-germany.com
http://www.magnesium-deficiency-in-germany.com
http://www.lyme-disease-in-germany.com
Barmer GEK
Postfach 1460
zu Hdn. der Geschäftsleitung
89004 Ulm
Tübingen, October 21st, 2014
Open Letter
Dear Sirs,
due to certain circumstances I feel compelled to write this short report about some of the health services financed by your organization. I do this at an earlier stage than anticipated and before having come to a final conclusion on the matter. Please make sure to check your health records while readily this report.
Gluten
Some decades ago I was given a physical examination on pheochromocytoma in a local hospital due to raised blood pressure. In the following years I was prescribed a number of different antihypertensive drugs. In mid July 1999 a small blood vessel burst in my head resulting in a coma that lasted ten days. This caused me to suffer from hemiplegia as well as aphasia, which made a speech therapy necessary that lasted until September 2012. Furthermore, I was bound to a wheel chair and later on I had crutsches and a walking stick. To this very day my walking is constrained and I need regular physiotherapy.
The medications prescribed after my blood vessel had burst were Aquaphor, Dilatrend, EnaHexal, Cynt and Vascal Uno. I experienced a number of significant side-effects. By the end of 2009 further medication on coronary blood vessels was added, at first ISMN, which was later replaced by Pentalong.
When my blood pressure was unsteady, I refused to accept the proposed explanation that I was “chronically ill”. By excluding several kinds of food and after having read an article in a daily newspaper, I could improve my condition slightly by reducing the ingestion of natrium-ions, especially in kitchen salt, in rare events in natron?
From summer and autumn 2009 onwards I increasingly suffered from heart trouble and my state of health continually worsened. Three officially approved specialists and a short stay in a local hospital did not bring any improvement.
At the end of November 2009 I had an experience which I would like to share with you in more detail.
One evening at about 7 or 8 p.m. I suffered a heart attack which was so painful that it is still hard to believe I survived it. The upper part of my body, mainly the left side, as well as my left arm were filled with pain. I could not see anything. As I was close to a bus stop I sat down. About an hour later I crept into a bus and went home. There I lay down and would have welcomed death as a relief, a feeling I would experience again and again in the years to come. The following day I was prescribed ISMN.
In autumn 2012 I began suspecting gluten (GLUTEN) to be responsible for my condition. By that time I had already stopped eating bread and noodles for some years, as they contain kitchen salt.
Then, in October 2012 I began an experiment on myself and consumed 500 g oat flakes. I should mention that I regularly had smaller portions of oat flakes, nuts and dried fruit for breakfast. As a result I became very ill with extremely high blood pressure, a strong feeling of malaise and a light red and foaming nosebleed as if my mucous membrane had been perforated. As a consequence I began to observe a strict diet. About four weeks later my nosebleed stopped and I began feeling much better. I gradually reduced my medication until I had my first drug-free day on December 23rd. I went on like this until December 26th. Then I repeated my experiment by taking in 250 g of wheat flour on 26th, 27th and 28th of December. The drama repeated itself, even though it was less drastic compared to my first experiment.
My severe heart trouble had completely vanished by early 2013. Moreover, for 30 years I had repeatedly had a stabbing pain in my kidneys, which completely disappeared. My health condition improved and became normal, according to my own judgment. At Easter 2013 I accepted an invitation and was persuaded to try some chocolate pudding, which resulted in a slight rise of blood pressure. Supposedly the pudding had only been made of cocoa, egg yolk and sugar. Later I found out, that the pudding had additionally contained custard powder. In other words, it had contained gluten!
I had to describe these incidents in more detail to provide you with the full picture on the matter.
Unfortunately I have not completely discontinued taking medication against high blood pressure. Nevertheless, my heart trouble and kidney pain have completely disappeared. From time to time I accidentally consume food containing wheat starch. That means it contains gluten. Wheat starch, for example, can be found in packaged sour cream, packaged yoghurt or mixed dried fruit.
In mid October 2014, just a couple of days ago, I heard that even mustard seed oil can raise blood pressure, at least if there is the kidney function. Mustard seed oil is particularly found in onions, leek, mustard, garden radish, horseradish, peppergrass or cabbage (!).
In the future I will not only try to avoid food containing gluten, but also food containing mustard seed oil. I will then send you a concluding report.
Lyme-Borreliosis
A couple of years ago I had severe headaches that at times lead to a clouding of my consciousness. My search for professional advice remained without result. About half a year later I read an article on Lyme-Borreliosis that seemed to fit my situation well. I underwent a medical check-up. The laboratory assistant in charge noted with a pencil “floride”. I was then prescribed Doxycyclin, but to no avail. Further examination showed that Rocephin is the right medicine as Doxycyclin cannot transcend the blood-brain barrier.
Magnesium deficiency
About a year ago I felt an unbearable pain in my left leg. I was prescribed painkillers, and an examination of my head was conducted on October 9th 2013. At this point I discontinued the treatment and returned the prescription. By chance I found Magnesium tablets in a department store, 150 tablets for 4 Euro. My ailment was gone after three or four days. I successfully repeated this experiment several times.
The three cases that I have described in this letter all follow the same pattern and reveal that it would only have needed a low-cost examination on the basis of recurring and typical medical cases. This would have saved lots of money and might have spared me the condition of crippledness and decades of distress.
Herewith I explicitly release you from any obligation of secrecy.
Yours sincerley
Jörg Griesemann