angel9165

I have been on thyroid meds for about 15 years. Last year I was diagnosed a Celiac and have been on a gluten-free diet since. I had asked to be retested a few months back and they were able to reduce my dosage based on the results so I know it is improving for me.

I have a similar clinical presentation as you Schatz. As soon as I've gone off gluten, it's much more difficult to stay off it seems - I think richard's comment on hypersensitivity is the most logical and robust argument, albeit just another smack in the teeth of course.

I seem to get glutened by the minutest bit of cross contamination and for me this means 2 weeks of feeling exhausted and a further 1-2 weeks recovery every time. If someone made a safe gluten free food pill I'd take it for brekkie, dinner and tea; I have completely and utterly lost my romance with food.

I so miss that romance. I'd take a pill in a heartbeat!!

I actually did get a tattoo after my diagnoses. Some would question how relative it is but for me, since it was a colonoscopy that finally led to the diagnoses, it seemed to fit. I will let you figure out where I got it but it is a circle with the line through it in the middle is an arrow pointing down (to mean, exit only). Now of course it will be 9 years before the GI doc does another colonoscopy so he will get to see that (hopefully once I'm under and they roll me over..lol) but my dermatologist got a kick out of it when she did my head to toe skin check last month. I guess if, as I age, it sags, nobody but the person who sees me naked will know.

Well been off gluten for almost 2 months now... and guess what? I'm in no mood to continue.
My general attitude towards everyone is bad going to worse.

So I've taken a step in keeping my sanity in check: Back to the food I love.
Unless my children are diagnosed with Coeliac, I'm sticking to my decision.
I've lived with the pain most of my life, I can deal with it for the rest of it.

So sorry to hear things haven't gotten better. As I was reading through all the positive feedback from other members I was thinking how tomorrow will be exactly 1 year and it has gotten better. I don't crave bread anymore and like you, that was a staple for me. I do have Udi's most days for lunch as I like sandwiches but no other bread. I have good days and bad ones too. Sometimes I'm still very angry...like just now when my co-worker walked in w/ a huge brownie and was offering to share. Or the days they cater Valentino's (very yummy italian food restaurant in these parts)...I can smell it from my office. But from where I was last year...I cried when someone walked by w/ lasagna and a breakstick...I'm doing so much better. I wish only the best for your health.

I got a phone call on my birthday and was told I have Celiac disease.  Not having a clue, as they were looking for why I was anemic and hadn't considered the 25+ years of IBS might be related, I asked "how do you spell that?".  She told me how to spell it and that I was going to have to rid gluten from my diet so naturally my next question was "what is gluten?".  I don't remember much after that...I heard something like blah, blah...no bread, no pasta...blah, blah...no beer, no pizza....blah, blah...then I started to cry.  My follow up appointment was almost a month later and by then, I had done all the research and had found this Godsend of a website.  Basically I spent 5 minutes with him and was told to go talk to a nutritionist.  

That will a year ago this Thursday...life is so much better now that I know.