Katty

Hi all We’ve been getting out of the house a lot more lately and it’s helping us. Well, at least, it was. Over the past four days, my Husband and I have been very sick. Both of us. Same issues. BM problems, constant icky feeling in bellies, stirred up after every meal. I’ve been getting very bad gas cramping for the first time ever and several foods make me vomit.

We have a doctor’s appointment in two days to see what’s up. It shouldn’t be food -- I only buy fresh fruits, vegetables and meats, all organic, and we’re using all new cookware/plates etc. I have a new wooden butcher’s block that I use. My mother thinks we’re getting sick from the wooden block, because they harbor bacteria. I don’t really agree, I’ve always used wooden cutting boards. Cleaned with vinegar and lemon and sometimes salt.

We’re practically fighting over our bathroom, when one of us is finished, the other one is in there (sorry, graphic,). We just switch from being curled up in bed to in the bathroom. Walking makes me feel woozy and it’s a miracle I’ve been able to cook for us.

Our diet is basically all bone-broth soup right now in my feeble attempt to fix whatever I’ve messed up. I hope this is some sort of final gluten withdrawal. Shorter than usual post because I feel very ill. Not really any specific questions, I just want to know if this is normal.

On a side note, my cravings for gluten food (and gluten-free substitute baked goods) have all but diminished. And that’s a good thing. I haven’t craved brownies/cookies/bad stuff until I wrote this sentence, actually!

I have one more question (I’d edit my original post, but it’s not visible yet, given my “new-member” status)… My Husband’s stomach hasn’t been regular at all lately. He gets stomach cramping unlike anything ever experienced when we were eating gluten. Like a stabbing pain, he describes it. He’s gone two or three days without a bowel movement followed by a day with two or three.

Our (new) doctor said to expect such things over the next year and that it’s nothing. Is it the bacteria in his stomach regulating? Is this normal?

My Husband instinctively thinks it’s just his body trying to figure things out. It doesn’t correlate with any specific food or anything. Pepto doesn’t help him too much, either. I ordered a few things to help him today, but they won’t be here for a while, so I want to find out as much as I can in the meantime. Both doctors seem to think my concerns are silly or unfounded. It’s so annoying!

We completely changed our lifestyle, we just want to know that we’re doing things right, which is why I ask so many darn questions! (end mini-rant)

I have him drinking about 90 ounces of water daily, eating several times a day. My husband also thinks it might be all the healthy fats in our diet, since I tried to avoid oil/fat before his diagnosis. I didn’t understand that bodies need those healthy fats, but after researching, added olive oil, fish and nuts into our diet. Anyway, is the fat thing possibly it? Is the doctor right, just deal with it for the next year or so?

Hello again, everyone I had a minor family emergency and had to be away from home (and my laptop, since I left in such a hurry) for a while. My Husband seems to be improving mentally, meaning he says the brain-fog isn’t as bad, and he’s not sleeping as much these days. Sometimes he sleeps for like six hours now.

I’ve decided to make bread bowls using the White Bread recipe provided, and I’ll make the cookies, so we can attend Christmas as normal. It should make things so much easier on everyone, and keep the family happy.

Thankfully, I’m feeling better these days. I got extremely sick off of soy milk (I was putting it in my tea) and seem to be intolerant to it. My Husband doesn’t drink soy anyway, so it’s no big issue.

I wanted to extend a personal thank you to Irish Heart, I would love to have dinner with someone who understands! But, I live in Colorado, so that’s not exactly a possibility.

We’ve been walking around the block since I got home. My Husband actually started walking while I was away. He’s not experienced with cooking, so we spent many hours on the phone with my walking him through how to cook things. It was cute and seems to have given him a bit of a passion for it.

Travelling was odd for me. I could have eaten gluten, but I refused. I stuck to the diet as though he was there eating with my. And my (extended) family called me crazy. They did things just to tease me and it was so annoying. But, I survived! And so did my Husband, cooking for himself. He even came up with little lettuce cups that he’s addicted to now.

We invited a friend for dinner last night (kind of a “welcome back” thing for me, I guess) and I cooked. She didn’t complain one bit! It was nice. The family is kind of starting to get it, too, though his Father still doesn’t take gluten-free seriously. Despite diagnosis by biopsy.

His tests came back. He’s deficient in Vitamin D, which I expected, but all of his other levels are fine and so is his thyroid. So, the doctor (new doctor, I’m finished with the old one) prescribed 15 minutes of sunlight daily. He said he could get it through an open window, since winter attire doesn’t allow for much sun exposure.

At some point while I was gone, my Husband had a fit of rage (he says he got depressed over everything he can’t order in, like he used to do when I was away) and broke a few things in our home. A mirror and the mug he threw at it, to be specific. This is so unlike him and I was a little put off by it. I’m also worried about his depression making him suicidal or something. I know he’d never hurt me, but I can’t imagine him breaking things. I don’t want to leave him alone anymore.

Does anyone have experience with such severe depression/anger? He gets upset if I call it a mood swing, so I don’t think I’m understanding what he’s going through fully.

I went shopping when I got back home and purchased lots of things we’ve never tried before. Now I’m regretting that. It’s almost like I’m just asking to discover an allergy/intolerance. We’ll see, I guess.

It feels good to be back. My Husband read this thread while I was away and said that you all made him truly value our relationship, so thank you all for that.

I’m sorry for my hiatus, neither of us has been feeling very well for the past few days. I’m not sure what it is, but I’m guessing just part of the gluten withdrawal.

We actually used to order a lot of stuff from nuts.com (when they were nutsonline), but I haven’t looked at them since his diagnosis. We’ll have to make an order from them soon. Thanks for reminding me! I’d all but forgotten about the website.

I make bone broth, actually, though I’d always just called it stock. So glad to hear that it’s good for him, I had to give away cans upon cans of gluten-containing broth.

Thanks so much for the list of just-in-case stuff. Every little bit of information helps.

We took him to get his vitamin levels analyzed, we’re still waiting on the results. I don’t know why, but I was thinking we’d find out the same day! I completely forgot about them sending it to a lab. My memory hasn’t been too sharp since going gluten free.

We’re going to start walking tomorrow, which is something neither of us seem to be looking forward to given that it’s winter time. However, I know being out and exercising together will (should) help us feel better, and it’ll be a bonding thing hopefully.

I get lonely when he’s sleeping, but other than that, I’ve been okay. He’s been a lot more emotional on all fronts lately (hence why I quit my job). Very lonely when I’m away for extended periods. I don’t mind, it’s endearing, but I hope my taking care of him doesn’t cause extreme codependency in all aspects of life. Most of my outings were with friends and based around food, though, and most (if not all) of them think I’m ridiculous for giving up gluten.

They’ve actually dropped out of touch since he got diagnosed and seem reluctant to come over for dinner like they used to. It’s so irritating, but it just shows I need better friends anyway.

Our families can’t believe I gave up gluten, either. My Mother tried to take me for pizza the other day, after having a loaf of bread in the car. I told her that this is the exact reason I can’t eat gluten. I don’t want him to feel that temptation (and, from my perspective, disrespect). She was just trying to be nice, I know, but I had to make it very clear that I’m treating this as though I have celiac, too. It’s sort of an all or nothing thing, and I love him dearly, so all was my only option. And I don’t regret it one bit.

I made sweet potato fries with steak last night and it was a big hit. He’s so happy to have meat with every meal and he says it feels very gourmet, so that’s a bright point. I purchased a few paleo/primal cookbooks and they’re really helping. I realized I didn’t replace our drinking glasses, so I ordered new ones and I really hope I haven’t been glutening him with them. I’m not sure what gluten food would have been in them, but I just want to be sure.

Once we’re through the holidays, things will be better for both of us. We’re skipping Christmas dinner because there’s a long-standing tradition of bread bowls, and we don’t want the temptation. We’ll do an early Christmas instead, but I know he’s down about missing the bread bowls.

Anyway, thanks so much for being supportive. It helps to have somewhere to come and talk. He and I try not to talk about food too much because we always remember one more thing we’ll never have again. And whenever we talk too much about celiac, food comes up, of course.

I’m looking into celiac support groups nearby, thanks for that link! We previously ate quinoa (as a halfhearted attempt to eat healthy) and I know all about what happens if you fail to wash it. However, my Husband seems to have a reaction to it, so we’ve eliminated quinoa from out diet, rinsed or otherwise. Flaxseed is also on the list of foods that cause reactions for him.

I’m very cautious of nuts, as I called a company that didn’t have any information on their package and they processed on equipment that processes wheat. I refuse to spend money on any product that’s even processed in a facility that also processes wheat. No point in risking my Husband’s health for the sake of convenience.

He gets severe belching/bloating when he’s been glutened or exposed to foods he’s intolerant to. We figure we’ll cut out anything that he possibly has a reaction to while he heals and then experiment with reintroducing foods. (Of course, I don’t mean gluten foods, just grains, potatoes and the like.)

The belching was actually what finally prompted the doctor to test for celiac. We’d just eaten noodle soup before his doctor appointment and my Husband was belching up a storm. While waiting for the doctor in the clinic, I used my phone looked up why he would be belching after noodle soup and found info on celiac. After much prodding and me pointing at the information on my phone, he finally listened. Why is it so uncommon to test for celiac?! (Sorry… End rant.)

Today, my Husband is complaining of a mental fogginess worse than ever before. He describes a buzzing in his head and a great difficulty forming thoughts. His depth perception is skewed, too. I convinced him to nap and hope he’ll be better when he wakes.

My only real question today is… Is 72 ounces of water per day enough? I’m wondering if he’s dehydrated. He says his electrolytes are balanced (he used to be a swimmer and is pretty keen about such things) so I’m thinking this buzzing must be from dehydration. Or is that just another healing thing? He has a hard time making decisions right now, too.

Sorry if I write essays with every post. I now come here when my Husband is sleeping. It helps calm my nerves. I can’t really explain it, but it helps to feel like I’m helping him. I just quit my job at a local convenience store to be home with him all the time while he heals. He said he was feeling excessively lonely, and I didn’t think that’s good for his healing. He lost his just after his diagnosis. He was falling asleep at work. I have enough passive income from other sources to be okay for awhile, just us staying home. (What was I saying about writing too much? Oops)

Anyway, a note just for RoseTapper: Thank you so much for the recommendation for the Metagenics powder. I’ll see about purchasing some for him very soon. Anything to help him feel better ASAP. I asked my Husband about Imodium, he said he’d be willing to give it a shot next car ride. If his anxiety was calmed, I’m sure car rides would be easier on him.

That quote is wonderful, thank you so much. He just started doing light yoga, perhaps I’ll have him meditate on it/it’s meaning as he stretches. My Uncle uses meditation/astral travel (I believe that’s what he calls it.) as part of his therapy, as he has stage III cancer. I’ll also pass the quote along to him. Once again, thanks so much, and I am sorry to hear about your cancer. My prayers/positive thoughts are with you.

Thank you all so much for being here. You’ve already helped my Husband and I so much. You help me stay calm and confident, which keeps him calm and confident.