Ann1231's Blog

The week containing March 23rd will be a week I'm eternally grateful for. All week we were running back and forth for Full Monty performances and Much Ado rehearsals. I did not stay on my gluten free diet. I also noticed I was having breathing problems, similar but not as severe as, my peanut allergy reaction. By cast party Friday night, I was so tired I really didn't care what was served. I tried to be careful though, picking out dips and corn chips, fruits, meats and things without breading and wheat. However, at about 2:00 am someone served garlic pizza. Oh my gosh it smelled so good. I thought one slice won't hurt (yeah right). I had one or two bites and within seconds I was gasping for air, dizzy, tight chest, the works.. I was doubled over trying anything to get air. After a while it calmed down and I checked the package for peanuts or peanut flour. nothing there except WHEAT! Then I sat back and started thinking about all week, when did I have breathing problems? When I had wheat, even though it was in tiny amounts like a creamed soup or something, it was still there and I was reacting to it. It wasn't until the pizza bite though that I put it all together. I knew I had a wheat allergy but I had no idea it would or could get so severe! Pharmacist told me I had saturated my body and it just couldn't handle it anymore, like my peanut allergy had done years ago. I can not even sit near someone eating peanuts at a ballgame because of the peanut dust. That night I went 100% wheat and gluten free. I had one incident where I ordered corn chips at a restaurant. One bite and the same reaction. When I was better I asked the manager and he said they were 100% corn, just like the waitress had checked HOWEVER, they fried them in the same oil that they fry flour tortillas. That was enough to get me.

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I can't believe how severe this got. I'm glad though, I often didn't take the celiac/gluten intolerance seriously enough. When I was fatigued or eating out 2 meals a day for 4 months, I got careless. It bit me in the butt! Now, there are no exceptions, no "a little won't hurt". I hate it when it takes something so serious to get my attention.