I went wheat-free/gluten free almost 4 years ago after a friend mentioned her spouse had tested positive for a wheat allergy, and his symptoms were similar to mine. Like you, I thought, "what they hey, let's try this for a couple week." It was kind of a miracle. Since going GF, I easily lost 25 pounds; my GI symptoms of bloating, gas and daily diarrhea went away; weird itchy hives on my shins, flanks and upper arms went away (these itched so badly that would scratch till they bled and they actually tested me for cancer); I stopped having mild/low-grade asthma. I have never been tested for wheat allergy or gluten issues, but my allergist believes I do have sensitivities based on my description of symptoms.
I miss NONE of these symptoms enough to ever go back to eating wheat. I eat VERY few to almost NO gluten-free sub products because I find them to not be very tasty and that the products themselves are expensive and often laden with fat, sugar or other things I do not wish to eat. So, I'm coming up on four years of no bread products, no pasta products, no pizza, no cookies/cake/brownies, etc., no beer (I do find a couple of satisfying GF beers that I do like). I find a few product lines, such as Glutino to offer decent substitutes. But the fussiness of baking my own GF things is off-putting. I just refuse to substitute and thus I save myself thousands upon thousands of calories (which is why the weight was easy to lose).
The only GF things products I do eat regularly are Trader Joe's GF ginger snaps (as an occ treat) and Trader Joe's GF waffles once in a while. But most GF stuff tastes weirdly "beany" to me (no doubt due to many products having garbanzo beans in them).
Cook's Illustrated has a really good gluten-free cook book that I use and like. But mostly, I cook things that are inherently gluten free anyway, like meats, vegetables, fruits, etc. It's processed things like bread, etc. that I avoid. You need to become very adept at reading labels as gluten/wheat is put into a lot of products you would not expect. For instance: wheat is the 2nd ingredient in Twizzlers candy.
I do very much tire of the people who use "gluten free" as a pejorative, and use it as a way to shame others and act like the food police (as in "she's one of those feminist, enviro, tree-hugger, gluten-free freaks." Well, thanks for your opinion!) I also try to never push gluten-free as a lifestyle for others. It's a personal choice. It's a hard lifestyle to follow; if it wasn't working for me, I'm not sure I would choose it because it's just easier to eat like the "typicals." It also has limited my restaurant/eating out choices and I very rarely accept dinner invitations now so my friends don't have to feel obligated to provide food I can eat. And I eat a lot of "water" lunches, meaning I go out with friends, find nothing appealing to me on a menu, and then I say, "I wasn't that hungry, I'll just have water." (But I also have a history of flirting with eating disorders, so water lunches are right up my ballpark.)
My husband has no issues with gluten, so I am often making 2 different meals. So say, I make spaghetti sauce. I have mine over zucchini and I also cook pasta for him. Or I will make grilled cheese sandwiches for him and I eat salad.
Good luck. I hope this choice helps alleviate whatever symptoms you are dealing with.
