Living Gluten Free... BOO!

rethun01
rethun01 Posts: 167
edited September 19 in Health and Weight Loss
So I've suffered from stomach problems most of my life. I attribute it to some bad water I drank on a back packing trip when I was 16. For a long time I didn't eat beef because that seemed to trigger one of my "stomach attacks" as I like to call them. After three years of living beef free - but not attack free - I ate a hamburger. hahaha

I've constantly kept food journals trying to always keep a finger on my "trigger foods" to help control the problem. I've avoided random things over the years, but to no avail.

Until the beginning of November... I was out a drank a few beers. An hour later I was begging my husband to take me home quickly. While doubled over in pain I realized that this had been happening with beer for the past few months. I grabbed my food journal to confirm it. But here was the confusing part... it was with ALL BEER. Bud, Miller, Corona... didn't matter.

I mentioned this to my BFF, who happens to have a mother with Celiac. She told me that was what made her mom finally go to the doctor as well... Beer. My BFF's mom is a nurse, so she sat down and looked over my journal and pointed out what "gluten rich" foods I had eaten on the days of attacks. There was a pattern.

So I tested it for a week. No Gluten for one full week, and no problems. To test it, I had a bowl of Cream of Chicken Wild Rice Soup... and was running to the bathroom 20 minutes later. I tested with a few other foods as well with the same result.

I've been pretty angry about all of this. And no, I haven't gone to the doctor for the official blood test yet... but that is for other reasons. I ate to my heart's content through the holidays, knowing that the new year would begin my gluten free life.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I know what could have possibly been causing these attacks all these years. But why does it have to be GLUTEN? Its in EVERY THING! I swear! And I've done all the research, and I know I can buy replacement stuff. But its so expensive. Take, for example, Gluten Free flour. Its $5, and less than half the size of a normal bag of flour. And gluten free tortilla chips were $7!!!

So today is the first day of Gluten Free living. I'm planning on having the blood work done in February when I go to my doctor for my annual exam. Then we'll know if I'm truly Celiac or not.

Until then, I say BOO!

Replies

  • rethun01
    rethun01 Posts: 167
    So I've suffered from stomach problems most of my life. I attribute it to some bad water I drank on a back packing trip when I was 16. For a long time I didn't eat beef because that seemed to trigger one of my "stomach attacks" as I like to call them. After three years of living beef free - but not attack free - I ate a hamburger. hahaha

    I've constantly kept food journals trying to always keep a finger on my "trigger foods" to help control the problem. I've avoided random things over the years, but to no avail.

    Until the beginning of November... I was out a drank a few beers. An hour later I was begging my husband to take me home quickly. While doubled over in pain I realized that this had been happening with beer for the past few months. I grabbed my food journal to confirm it. But here was the confusing part... it was with ALL BEER. Bud, Miller, Corona... didn't matter.

    I mentioned this to my BFF, who happens to have a mother with Celiac. She told me that was what made her mom finally go to the doctor as well... Beer. My BFF's mom is a nurse, so she sat down and looked over my journal and pointed out what "gluten rich" foods I had eaten on the days of attacks. There was a pattern.

    So I tested it for a week. No Gluten for one full week, and no problems. To test it, I had a bowl of Cream of Chicken Wild Rice Soup... and was running to the bathroom 20 minutes later. I tested with a few other foods as well with the same result.

    I've been pretty angry about all of this. And no, I haven't gone to the doctor for the official blood test yet... but that is for other reasons. I ate to my heart's content through the holidays, knowing that the new year would begin my gluten free life.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I know what could have possibly been causing these attacks all these years. But why does it have to be GLUTEN? Its in EVERY THING! I swear! And I've done all the research, and I know I can buy replacement stuff. But its so expensive. Take, for example, Gluten Free flour. Its $5, and less than half the size of a normal bag of flour. And gluten free tortilla chips were $7!!!

    So today is the first day of Gluten Free living. I'm planning on having the blood work done in February when I go to my doctor for my annual exam. Then we'll know if I'm truly Celiac or not.

    Until then, I say BOO!
  • torbaydi
    torbaydi Posts: 14
    awwww hunny big big hugs, being a ceilac is tough going i used to work in a hotel that catered for people who were gluten intolerant.

    Its gonna be hard for a while checking ingrediants all the time but it will soon become second nature and if it stops your painful attacks then its worth it isnt it.

    good luck with the tests hun
    hugs
    x
  • Renae_Nae
    Renae_Nae Posts: 935 Member
    It's not easy being gluten free. I know a girl who's son has that and I'm always amazing at how much she has to make homemade for him (including marshmallows for smores!)
  • iftcheiaf
    iftcheiaf Posts: 960 Member
    I can honestly sympathize. I too suffer from "stomach attacks". Even had my gallbladder out. But it didn't help. The past couple of months, it has gotten so much worse. So last week, I decided that I was tired of punishing my body. It was physically exhausting. So I actually am doing a variation of the South Beach Diet. I have had one whole week of no pain. I even went to a wedding on Saturday, and my little boy got a piece of cake. I had one taste and then turned my back, hoping he would gobble it quickly, which he did, reminding myself that the cake wasn't worth missing time with my family. I even was part of the food service for the wedding too. Tough, tough, tough. I also went vegetarian, hoping that would help and it did a little. But it's really the gluten that gets me. I had the problem from 8 to 10 with massive migraines. And back then, gluten-free bread was as heavy as a brick and tasted like cardboard. So I'm thankful that at least there are more options, albeit more expensive.

    I wish you the best on your journey. It does stink that it is so expensive. But if it helps you to be able to enjoy yourself more and be healthy, then it will be worth it.

    Oh yeah, BTW, I actually lost 3 lb this week after the scale had done nothing but rise since my gallbladder removal. So, there was another added benefit for me.
  • akwhite
    akwhite Posts: 55 Member
    I'm a celiac and I was in your exact same boat last year. Last Thanksgiving I was in the process of getting tested and ate everything in sight b/c I knew once I got diagnosed I would have to make huge lifestyle changes. While it is a huge pain in the butt and a big adjustment, I will say it gets easier and it's worth the change. Once you get used to planning meals in advance and having snacks with you it become second nature. The more I read about cheating and eating gluten the more I know it's not worth the possible affects on my body as a celiac. Please feel free to email me b/c I have lots and lots of tips and have been through it all.

    One thing I picked up was a book called the Gluten Free Bible. It has all kinds of receipes as well as other things. It addresses the emotional and stressful effects it has on your life. It's totally normal to go through a denial period, then anger, then a mourning period and depression. I certainly did!

    Well best of luck to you and hang in there! Maybe you'll get really lucky and have a wheat allergy but not gluten. I've heard it's possible! :ohwell:
  • yellow_pepper
    yellow_pepper Posts: 708 Member
    Please talk to your doctor before getting the tests... Your doctor may actually advise you to ADD BACK gluten before your bloodwork.

    The fact that you are already cutting gluten out of your diet may cause your blood tests to show that you DO NOT have a gluten allergy/sensitivity.

    I'd just suggest that you have a quick call so that you know if/when you need to reintroduce gluten to your diet and how much before your exam.
  • rethun01
    rethun01 Posts: 167
    Please talk to your doctor before getting the tests... Your doctor may actually advise you to ADD BACK gluten before your bloodwork.

    The fact that you are already cutting gluten out of your diet may cause your blood tests to show that you DO NOT have a gluten allergy/sensitivity.

    I'd just suggest that you have a quick call so that you know if/when you need to reintroduce gluten to your diet and how much before your exam.

    Oh yeah, I know. Like I said, I'm getting advice from a nurse. The problem isn't me, its our hospital where all of our doctors are at. They've refused to take our health insurance (BCBS!) for a year now. We don't go to the doctor all that often so we've never bothered to find new doctors. They finally started accepting BCBS again on 01/01/09 but the soonest I could get in is the middle of February. So I just took the day off work and I'm hitting the rounds... GP, OB-GYN, and Gastro. Get it all taken care of in one day.

    Like another poster said, it could just be a wheat allergy. Who knows. I did SBD in college and lost 35 pounds. Ironically it was after I had my gallbladder removed as well! Its the only time in my life that I haven't had attacks. But I was eliminating SO much that it didn't occur to me then that perhaps this had something to do with gluten/wheat.

    For the next month, though, I'm going to go Gluten Free just so I don't feel terrible all the time. And then at the beginning of February I'll go back to eating the extra stuff for about 2 weeks before going in for the blood work. The nurse says that should be good. We'll see.

    On the plus side, it keeps me eating healthier. I'll probably drop some LBS while I figure out what I can and can't have. There are alot of helpful websites out there, which is nice. But I am going to miss Pizza and Beer after softball games come summertime. :brokenheart:
  • rialynn79
    rialynn79 Posts: 90
    You're definitely not alone in this. I have celiac and it's not been easy at all. Eatting mexican is the easiest I've found - corn tortilla, corn tortilla chips, rice, etc... can all be great filling things but full of calories. It sucks!!! Nearly ALL "diet" food - has gluten of some sort in it. Watch out for foods that contain malt... they sneak it in the darnest things. I found APPLESAUCE that had malt in it. You become quite a label reader. Which is good diet wise... but sucks because the choices are limited... what you can have is typically high calories. Blah. I totally relate and you're not alone. *Hugs* - Maria
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