Another Issue Explaining Cross Contamination To So

[BelleVie]

G'day to all. A while back I posted about my frustrations with looking for a doctor in Asia, and was excited to find one a couple of months ago. When my boyfriend and I moved to Asia in February, I got sick sick sick, and was pretty much ill until recently. After finishing my gluten challenge last Monday, I decided to be extremely strict with my diet, eating only things that I've prepared because I think the risk for CC here is just too great. Since then, I've felt WONDERFUL. Better than I've felt in months, which only confirms for me that some kind of cross contamination in my food was making me sick before. 

 

The problem is that I think my boyfriend thinks I'm being extreme. I'll be getting the results of my endoscopy tomorrow, and if positive, I'm hoping he takes my CC concerns a little bit more seriously, but I just don't know how to explain to him that it only takes a little tiny BIT to make me feel sick for a week (or longer.) I feel a little embarrassed, because I can almost feel him getting exasperated with me (quietly, he never says anything directly, but I can tell,) when I do things like label our communal water bottle with a sharpie once I've seen him drinking from it after he's had some bread or food with gluten. 

 

Yesterday he said, "So, you ONLY want to eat things that you've prepared?" and I told him yes, that I feel so darn GOOD right now I just don't want to take ANY chances of getting sick again. It's hard too because my primary symptoms of being glutened are neurological--primarily brain fog, detachment, and migraines, which aren't as easy to understand for the observer. I guess it's hard too because when we first met, I wasn't nearly as strict with my diet, but now that I've learned that I'm actually a lot more sensitive than I thought I was, I'm treating it as if I do have celiac (whether or not my biopsy comes back positive.) 

 

It's just difficult, because he is so very understanding in most ways, but I feel like it's getting to him, and I don't want to become an annoyance to him, you know? I don't want him to think I'm a hypochondriac. That's how my family has treated me my whole life, and I can't bear it if he starts thinking like that too. But it IS a big deal. It just makes me sad and a little frustrated, I guess.  

[nvsmom]

Explaining it like a peanut allergy can work for some. How a small nut contamination can send someone to the hospital... That's down to the immunoglobulin E (IgE) reaction but with celiac disease it is an IgA or IgG (or both) reacting. Same idea, just a different part of the immune system.

 

To be honest, I don't think my hubby completely believed me about cc and how little it takes to make me sick until I glutened myself a few times early on (at a restaurant and with a so-called gluten-free (to 3 ppm) beer. I tend to get very bloated, bent over from the pain, and squinty from headaches, and it was obvious to him after seeing me feeling better, that gluten had done quite a number on me.

 

Time helps too. Over many many months my extended family stopped rolling their eyes at me... or at least they stopped doing it in front of me which is almost as good.  LOL

 

Good luck. I hope he "gets it" soon.

[notme]

i feel ya, kiddo.  hang in there.    if he sees you feeling so well (on a regular basis!) it will probably convince him.  my husband has seen many positive changes in my overall health - i actually have some energy again - (i can do 2 (two!) things in one day and not be in bed for the next day all day) maybe give it a little time.....

[laura1959]

I had little success trying to explain any of this to my husband.  What I ultimately did was find some good articles on cross contamination and send him an email with links, asking him to read the articles.  In the email I told him that I didn't think he would take it seriously coming from me so maybe if he read it on his own in someone else's words he would understand better.  That did the trick and he's been very supportive since then.  

[BelleVie]

Thank you all very much.