Like celiac disease, FSGS is an inflammatory disease, enflaming and scarring the glomeruli, or filtering system, of the kidneys. It was also that summer that I discovered that eliminating gluten from my diet put my disease into spontaneous, full remission, an extremely rare occurrence.
I want to share my experience with others so that others can be aware that eating gluten free does not only benefit those with celiac disease.
How did I get so lucky to go from health to serious illness back to health in a short period of time?
My health crashed & burned in the summer of 2009. I didn’t see it coming. I had seemingly sudden and unexplained weight gain caused by edema, hypertension, and high cholesterol. All signs pointed to a kidney problem, so I immediately put myself on a renal diet that happened to be nearly gluten free. A renal biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of FSGS with nephrotic syndrome.
Most people with the disease eventually progressed to End Stage Renal Disease, requiring dialysis and transplant. Stubbornly I refused to accept this was my future and refused to accept that I couldn’t figure out the cause and a solution.
It was during that time of diagnosis, doing research, checking out theories, going for follow-up tests, that my friend found stories of others with kidney disease who had gone into, and stayed in, remission merely by going on a gluten free diet.
Within five weeks, my tests showed that I was in full, spontaneous remission. It’s important to note that I had already been eating mostly gluten free for three months prior to this full commitment and was already showing vast improvement. It’s important to have a long view when giving this diet a try. My nephrologist called my improvement “remarkable” and “fabulous”. We checked again a month later, and I was even more into the healthy range. Six months later at a follow up visit, my numbers showed healthier than many healthy people without kidney disease. My nephrologist envies my blood pressure and cholesterol. Today I am still in full remission, on no medication, and still gluten free.
While a gluten free diet may help virtually all with celiac disease, it may help only some with chronic kidney disease and other medical conditions. It is not widely known, even by nephrologists, and it is not widely studied. Through word-of-mouth, I have been encouraging others with kidney disease to try this very safe diet, and I am aware of two children and two adults with kidney disease who have gone into remission as a result. Others did not see any improvement or saw unexpected improvements such as weight loss, arthritic pain gone, and insomnia cured.
