So it is almost 10:30pm on a Tuesday night and at some point during dinner I ate something that had gluten in it. I can always tell when it happens b/c the symptoms come on fast and they come on strong.
The first thing I notice when I eat something with gluten in it is the stomach pain & discomfort. The next thing I notice is the severe nausea and then the rest of my body starts to ache & that is only the beginning.
Shortly after the initial pain in my stomach I start to get itchy all over. My skin feels like sandpaper and no amount of lotion helps. Then the spasms start, first in my stomach and then it radiates all over my back. I now realize that all my spasms that I was getting steroid injections for each and every month are all b/c of gluten and my issues with my digestive system. The sad part is the doctors are still not supportive and think that I am just a hypochondriac. Well let me tell you after 2 years of being told "nothing is wrong with you," accusations of being a drug seeker and basically telling me it is all in my head the doctors can SUCK IT! Because if this is in my head than how come it feels like I have the flu? How come I don't have pain and discomfort when I don't consume Wheat, Gluten or anything else that my body cannot process. Why is it that I've lost nearly 30lbs in 3 months and how come I just feel better all around? Oh that's right b/c it is in my head so I must have willed my body to feeling better. What a crock of shit!
This is not fun and it does not go away quickly. Why the doctors are so against treating and diagnosing me is beyond my realm of thinking? They seem to want me to admit to being depressed and they want me to say I don't deal with something very painful. Do you know how many times a doctor has said that I need to see a psychiatrist? I am so sick of doctors labeling me "depressed" b/c I have a voice and I know what is wrong with me and your western medicine had NOTHING to do with it. I know my body and I know I am NOT DEPRESSED. I was last year when I could not eat and I threw up every single time I did eat. Yea that would make you sad and depressed too but that does not mean I am "clinically" depressed no it means I was malnourished and had no one believe me that something was seriously wrong with me. I could go on and on about this (and have) but it won't make a difference b/c until doctors realize how bad of an epidemic this food sensitivity/allergy is, nothing will change. They will do anything other than look at something as simple as a food allergy. They will do every test and every procedure before just testing for an allergy. NO it can't be that simple can it? Well it is... I don't need all these "tests" to tell me what is wrong with me. I figured it out all on my own. Anyway, back to consuming gluten and what it does to me...
So depending on how much gluten I consumed will determine how long I will feel like absolute and total shit. I am so not happy b/c I am so careful about not eating something that has any gluten in it but sadly I cannot stop someone from cross contaminating my food/environment.
I am staying temporarily with someone that doesn't quite understand what it means to have a gluten allergy (BTW I have started another post about living with a gluten allergy, this post is about what happens to me when I eat gluten). He is very kind and is a great person but he doesn't understand that even a couple of breadcrumbs left on the counter can make me very sick.
The one good thing is I know almost immediately when I consume gluten and I have my regimen that helps alleviate some of the pain/discomfort so that I can deal with my body rejecting the gluten.
I drink my lemonade drink right away to help move the gluten out of my system (it is basically the master cleanse drink which I drink daily to help regulate me). I also take Mirelax b/c unlike most Celiac's I get serverly constipated when I eat gluten. It binds me up therefore I need help to get rid of it. This is another reason why the doctors don't listen to me b/c the majority of people with gluten allergies have major diarrhea but not me nope I throw up and can't poop. So of course b/c I am the 1% they don't take me seriously. I've been like this my whole life (when they say 9 out of 10 people I am usually the 1 that is not like the rest). I have been trying to tell my doctors for years to stop putting me into a box with everyone else b/c I am not like everyone else. Medicatoins that are supposed to make you drowsy keep me up. I try to explain to them that my body just doesn't process/metabolize things like everyone else. I have multiple medical issues that I truly believe are connected but they don't treat the ailment they treat the symptom. I see one doctor for my heart, another doctor for my thyroid, another one for my stomach and so on... Instead why not all work together and look at the BIGGER picture. Ah but that would mean they would have to communicate with each other and that seems to be a no-no nowadays.
Whenever something says may cause diarrhea I almost always get constipated. I do not know why I have to be different; coincidentally I am like this in my day to day life. If everyone goes left I will go right, if everyone says I like this, I'm usually the one that says, "nope I don't like it". My mother has always said that she never worried about me following the crowd b/c I've always done my own thing. I've always been the one that said sure you go ahead I'll be here waiting for you. I just will not let myself be part of the herd, the cattle. No I have to be different I have to be an individual and I do not think there is anything wrong with that. I do not expect nor want anyone to follow me b/c I think everyone should do what they want. I will guide you and give you my opinion if you ask but I will not tell you what to do. You have to come to that conclusion yourself.
Anyway, back to eating the gluten so I am happy to say that this was not a major gluten attack and my regimen of drinking my lemonade, using Mirelax & my other tricks seem to be working. The best thing of all is having a prescription for Zofran (the anti-nausea meds). This has saved me countless times b/c there is nothing worse than throwing up or having the constant feeling of nausea. I hate throwing up and have thrown up enough these last 2 years to last me a lifetime.
I am thankful though that I finally know what was causing all my pain, weakness & neurological issues. I was convinced I had MS b/c all the symptoms pointed to that. I am still in the process of being tested and have a nerve conductor test at the end of the month but now I truly believe everything, all the pain, all the sleepless nights, all the neurological problems (numbness, foggy brain, spasms) are all because of a food allergy. Who would have thought? Oh that's right me! It's because I listened to my body and I realized that something I was eating was wrecking havoc inside me. And now I am remedying it one day at a time. It's not an easy thing to do but everyday I feel better and soon I will be 100%. I just have to make sure that I do not eat anymore gluten. It is not worth the pain and suffering and what is funny is now I do not want anything processed. I have a cough/cold right now and the cough syrup I have always bought just doesn't taste right. It is b/c there is high fructose corn syrup as an inactive ingredient. Why in the world would a company add HFCS to cough medicine? What purpose does it hold? Oh that's right THERE IS NO REASON FOR IT. I find it interesting the more natural I go the more I do not like things that are "fake", "processed" or have ingredients that should not be in there. I am now in the process of finding all natural cough syrup and sadly it is not easy to find. You have to go to specialty stores and pharmacies. CVS/Walgreens do not sell these things well not yet at least. I hope as we find out more and more about the horrible additives that are added to our food, medications and even drinks we will realize how bad and dangerous these things are for you.
So I end this post with one question? When you eat something do you feel good or bad after eating it? Really think about it... maybe just maybe you have a food allergy that you didn't know about and your IBS will be cured, your stomach pains will subside and all the other feelings (migraines, chronic pain, mood and so many others) will all of a sudden stop. I no longer need to take my migraine medication, I am off the anti-depressents and even my thryoid is working better. I went from 225mcg a day to 175mcg a day and truly believe that in a few years I won't even need my thyroid medication.
Until then may you have a pleasant day and let your meals be ones you enjoy not ones you regret.
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