It has been almost nine months since I decided to try going gluten-free. For me this decision was for health reasons. I decided to start writing out my experiences to hold myself accountable for what I am doing and eating. Maybe this will help me keep track of things I've tried and liked and haven't liked. So I guess I should start at the beginning… for about 5 years I had had stomach problems, what do I mean stomach problems you ask? Well let me tell you every time I ate I would have horrible pain in my lower stomach not even cramps feel this bad it was like someone was jabbing me in the stomach over and over again and on top of that I would have horrible diarrhea (sorry I know most people will not want to hear that but let’s face it, it happens to all of us at some point in life). This would last for 30 minutes to 2 hours after I ate. There were so many times that id be driving home at night when all the places to stop and use the bathroom would be closed and me just hoping that I could make it another 30 minutes, or being at a restaurant and having to use the bathroom 3 or 4 times before I could leave because I knew I could not make it home otherwise. This would happen so often that I was embarrassed to even eat at my grandma’s house. I had also started having horrible migraines id had them all my life but all of a sudden they were just unbearable I couldn’t even stand to be touched because it hurt so bad. During all of this I had gone to several different doctors and had each tell me something different first it was just bad heartburn it made since to me I had recently started eating a lot of hot food things with peppers in it so she put me on meds to get it under control. I had taken them for a while and they didn’t help so I went back. Then it was acid reflux disease, she gave me stronger meds and they didn’t work. Also about this time I had made a big batch of cookies and had a reaction. How could this be acid reflux if a cookie could set this off? So I went back when I told her about this she told me that I was just really sensitive and that I did not need to come back for it just to keep taking the meds she gave and if a new symptom popped up just to call her…. That’s when I knew she had no idea what was going on with me and I felt pretty helpless. I continued to take the meds for another two weeks before giving up on them totally. About this time I started a new job and had to get a physical so I just went to a doctor close by and while there I mentioned my stomach issues and what my doctor had said it was and all the other things I had gone through and she suggested starting a food journal and see if there was any connections about what I was eating that caused this. I did this for a few weeks but everything I was eating was being written down. How could I be allergic to every food I was eating? It just did not make since how that could be so I decided that I was just going to have to deal with it. This was my life now; there was nothing I could do. Then about a two years ago I started having a new symptom (I had yet to realize this was all connected or symptoms of something), I started to develop a rash on the backs of my legs that was red and itchy so I started to always were pants even that summer in 100 degree weather I was wearing pants. Wearing pants and being all sweaty did not help any it just made it itchier. So back to the doctor again, another doctor once again. She looked at it admitted she wasn’t sure what it was, mainly cause I was so swollen in the areas affected and I had scratched until I was just a bloody mess. She gave me some cream stuff to put on it and told me to come back in two weeks if it wasn’t gone. Well it disappeared but would always come back and then go away. This kept happening until the beginning of last summer. Finally last year I was just feed up I didn’t like to eat was tired of being sick feeling all the time and just started to look up my symptoms online in different places and just kept searching. That’s when I came across the words celiac disease. So then I typed in celiac symptoms and after about hour of reading I knew I just knew I did not have to live with my problems that I could feel good and that I did not have to live with this. This is where my life begins anew and I want you to follow me on my journey through craving, setbacks and accomplishments.
