End of the Road - The Gluten Free Diet

Throwing up was the only way to rid myself of the pain.
Christine and I had been at a friend's birthday party.  There was lot's of great food including barbecued chicken strips from my favorite local barbecue restaurant.
We were given a bunch of leftovers: potato salad, baked beans, and the chicken.
The next morning, I awoke and thought of that chicken.  Christine was just waking up also.  I went out to the kitchen, opened up the fridge, took out the chicken in the plastic Tupperware and gobbled down a strip. The chicken was dry and it felt like it was too big for my esophagus.  It was almost instantly painful.  I started burping and feeling very sick.  Stomach acid started coming up and the burning was incredibly painful.  I tried desperately not to throw up.  Christine was in the kitchen now.  I ran to the bathroom, lost it all, not only chicken, but burning acid.  Tears flowed freely from my eyes.  Relief and worry both came at the same time.
For years, I have dealt with acid reflux.  I have been taking Prilosec off and on, mostly on for at least a decade.  The last few months had gotten worse and I was in constant pain.  I fell asleep with a burning in my chest that was so strong that it would wake me up at night.  Prilosec was no longer doing anything to help.  Everything seemed to upset it.  I gave up drinking alcohol, tried giving up sugar, tried eating mostly vegetables, but it only got worse and worse.
In desperation, about a month ago, I sat down and meditated.  I asked the universe what I should do to help.  I got a reply:  Stop eating bread and pasta, eat more veggies and fruit, eat less sugar, keep abstaining from alcohol.
I listened, again out of complete desperation.  I stopped eating anything with gluten in it.  No bread, no pasta, nothing.  We had been juicing every morning for a few months so I kept doing that as well.  I cut back on sugar, but the biggest change was definitely cutting out the gluten.
At first, it seemed like nothing was changing, but after a few days, the pain in my upper chest started decreasing.  Then it disappeared.  Then the pain in my stomach started going away.  It felt like a slow wave of healing was going through my body.  After about a week and a half I was left with an intense pain under my xiphoid process (the ball-like bone at the bottom of the chest at the end of the ribcage) and an almost continuous feeling of nausea, like, if I thought about it for more than a minute, I could throw up.  It felt like there was a direct opening between my throat and the food below, like I could feel it churning.  At this point, I went to the Doctor.  He ordered an ultrasound to make sure nothing was amiss.
I was on the third week of eating no gluten and then intense pain went away along with the feeling of constant nausea.
My mood started to improve and I started being able to concentrate on tasks that previously I could barely hold on to for about 5 minutes.  Suddenly, I was sitting for hours doing my work, staying on task.
The way I feel now after a month of eating gluten free is drastically different than I felt a month ago.
I, am in no way saying that this will work for everyone, as I am sure it is not an issue for many people, but I am just reporting what happened to me.
My reflux is not completely cured.  Yesterday, I drank some caffeinated chai with soy milk and a gluten free chocolate cookie.  About an hour later, the signs were there again.  I think that caffeine also affects me even if it from a tea or a chai.  I still can't eat lot's of dry meat or potatoes without feeling it, but the overall difference is frankly incredible.
More on this later.
Bill