Dealing With It..

[lisaemu]

How do you deal with the gluten-free diet, and the multiple other intolances most of you seem to have? Im glad that knocking out gluten seems to make me feel better so im sticking with the diet...but my stomach seems to be so sensitive that no matter what I eat, it hurts. I know in the beginning the stomach needs to heal and people suggest eating a very basic and bland diet...so right now my diet mostly consists of lean meat, fruit, and vegetables. occassionaly i might something else in like gluten free cereal, rice chips, or yogurt..but my stomach ends up so bloated and i feel so sick. i cant figure out if im having problems with dairy, nuts, corn, rice, potatoes..sometimes it feels like air is enough to make me feel like crap! im hopefully going to the dr soon (tho they usually dont seem to help) and am going to do a very basic diet..im not tryin to rant, im just wondering how you deal mentally with not being able to have so many things. im to the point where i just dont want to eat anything, because my body doesnt seem to agree with anything. or i start craving things i never use to eat (ive always been a pretty healthy eater, and the gluten-free diet isnt that much of a stretch for me) just because i know i cant have em now. ugh.

[Carriefaith]

Many people with celiac disease have an intolerance to lactose until their villi heal. The enzyme that digests lactose is located in the tips of the villi. Therefore, when the villi are damaged, some lactose can go undigested and cause problems. Maybe try eliminating dairy for awhile and see how you feel. If you decide to eliminate dairy, I recommend drinking orange juice fortified with calcium and eating foods with vitamin D, such as salmon or shrimp.

[Guest cassidy]

Sounds like you are in a rough patch that most of us hit. In the beginning it is hard when everything seems to make you feel bad. I was doing really well for about 2 months and then things like tomatoes and potatoes started making my stomach hurt again. Every time something bothered me I put it on a list. When I'm feeling better I'm going to try to re-introduce some of the foods and see if I can determine if they really bother me or if my stomach was just upset in general.

The health food store may have some supplements that help you. Digestive enzymes are very good. Things like aloe help calm the stomach. It might be worth a try to see if they can help your stomach calm down.

When I'm having times like this I definitely have days when I feel sorry for myself. I hate doing it, but sometimes it gets me down and I don't know how to stop that. Those days don't usually last long. Eventually I start thinking about how much better I feel than when I was eating gluten. I remind myself how far I have come and how much I have improved. Those thoughts kick in and I realize that I'm very thankful that I have figured out what is wrong and it is fixable.

Don't be too hard on yourself. We all have ups and downs. Unfortunately, there isn't an easy solution, but I'm sure you will adjust and things will start getting better. Try to do something nice for yourself.

[YankeeDB]

My attitude towards food has changed. More and more I'm gravitating towards strictly meat, fish, vegetables and fruits and avoiding grains. I'm learning to make these food choices more enjoyable. I'm starting to look at eating as something that is enjoyable but NOT entertainment which is how it is often viewed in Western society. Unfortunately, most socializing revolves around food but I'm learning to deal with that too. There are so many things in life to enjoy, food being just one of them. I've decided I can be a bit more indulgent on the other pleasures of life since my food options are limited. That sounded kind of hedonistic! Not really, I just enjoy my hobbies more and appreciate just being alive (especially since I lost a brother (age 56) to cancer last September.