My Journey with Celiac Disease

My symptoms began in my 20's. Peanut butter toast made me sick, so doctor told me it was the peanut butter. Cereal made me bloated and tethered to the bathroom. Doc said it was the milk.  It wasn't. I started keeping Pepto in my purse. Images would surface of me visiting my dad on random Sundays, riding in his truck as a child, and the ubiquitous bottle of the pink stuff (Pepto Bismol) rolling across the dashboard every time the truck made a turn. I had a gut-feeling (pardon the pun) that whatever health ailment my dad had suffered from for decades was also getting ahold of me.

A couple years later, after becoming borderline anemic, lactose intolerant, and having night blindness (vitamin A deficiency), my brother shared that my (now estranged) dad's chiropractor told him he was allergic to wheat. I told my doctor, who refused to blood test me until I went off gluten (clouding the results). But, I had the antibodies and he told me I had celiac. 

And so began my gluten free journey. It was November 2005. I made mistakes eating flourless foods, like soy sauce, that, unbeknownst to me, contained hidden gluten.  Becoming fearful of my normal pescatarian eating habits (soy milk and veggie burgers both had gluten!), I went through a "nuts and berries" stage.  I lost lots of weight and hated eating.  I researched to become more comfortable with it.  Friends gave waiters the third degree when eating out.  October 2006, I began blogging about my experience on celiac.com and now I've moved my blog here. I hope it helps you along your journey, through information, recommendations, emotional validation, or a random chuckle. Live freely! Gluten freely!

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