This month marks my one-year anniversary of being gluten free. A year ago I was suffering severe heart burn, acid reflux, severe stomach pain, and nausea. This indigestion lasted for months. Nothing worked - antacids, anti-reflux medication, nothing. For awhile there I thought I was pregnant, so many of the symptom fits. However, every pregnancy test came out negative. By this point I hated eating, because everything I ate hurt. I knew something had to change before I gave up on food.
When I was about fifteen, I was diagnosed with lactose intolerance and IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrom). I had to learn then to cut back on my dairy intake, which is a problem since ice cream is my biggest weakness. :-) Some lactose intolerant people can handle yogurts and cheeses, not this lady. I felt like everything was off limits to me, but I would eventually succumb to my cravings and eat a piece of pizza and/or a bowl of ice cream and pay the severe price later. I'll spare you the details since they're pretty gross. Unfortunately, people around me at that time were not spared the reactions to my lactose intolerance/IBS. To all of you, I am extremely sorry.
Well, fast forward about 11 years to my non-stop stomach issues. None of my old IBS remedies were working. At the time we did not have health insurance, so going to a doctor was out of the picture. So I did what any normal person would do, I Googled my symptoms. All signs pointed to gluten intolerance. I'm going to point out that my sister years ago had mentioned to me that she thought I had a sensitivity to gluten. I thought she was crazy, because I didn't want to restrict my diet any more than it already was at the time. Who knew my sister was actually right? If you're reading this Sis, you're a genius. Thank you for putting that thought in my head.
After Google had "diagnosed" me with gluten intolerance, I decided to give it a try. At this point I was desperate. So I did a crash course on what I wasn't allowed in my diet, and eliminated wheat, rye, and barley. I also stayed away from oats until about a few months ago. Sounded easy enough, until I realized everything I ate had some form of these ingredients in it. Great! Now what am I going to eat? Thankfully, I was able to substitute my wheat-friendly foods with non-gluten items. I am even more grateful that I live in an area where I have multiple stores that I can shop at to find these items, but more on that later.
I have to admit, I was quite skeptical that this new "diet" was going to relieve my stomach ailments. But after two weeks or so, all of my symptoms cleared up. What was amazing, even more of my symptoms cleared up that I had no idea where related to me eating gluten. My head suddenly cleared up. I no longer felt foggy. My allergies had gotten better. I was only taking allergy medications seasonally, instead of around two-three different allergy pills a day. I was able to sleep better. And my bowel movements came with ease, instead of pushing and straining to get anything out.
I wouldn't be me if I didn't test the gluten waters from time to time to see if I've been cured of gluten intolerance. Usually me eating bread or a piece of regular cheese cake resulted in severe stomach cramps, hives, respiratory issues, and a sinus infection. My bowels look differently, too. I will go into poops in a later post, too. I always feel sluggish after eating something with gluten in it, too. And my sleep is affected if I eat large amounts of gluten. Maybe I should reread this paragraph every time I'm tempted to eat a piece of regular cake or bread again. ;-)
All in all, I feel like a different person now that I'm living a gluten-free lifestyle. It's not been an easy road, and I'm sure that my journey is still going to have a few more bumps in the road. However, I feel it's necessary to share my story. I have a lot of people asking what made me decide to go gluten-free, which I'm hoping I answered in this post. And also, what do I eat? I know it sounds like a life of non-delicious, non-decadent food; but you'd be amazed just how amazing the "substitutes" really taste.
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