What Makes You Happiest About Being Gluten-free?

[Guest BERNESES]

I love jnkmnky's thread about the best advice you have ever gotten from this board, and I was thinking, you know, there really are a lot of positives about being gluten-free (and sometimes newbies don't see them).

Here's mine- I think my favorite things about being gluten free are that my depression may have been related to Celiac's. My whole life I could never figure it out. It just didn't "fit" and my doctor and therapist always said I was the clearest case for a biological depression they had ever seen. Turns out they were right- 18 years ago!

i love that I like Chebe pizza crust better than "real" pizza crust.

I love that's it's brought my relationship to a new level with my hubby.

I love that I eat healthier now than I EVER did before.

I love that I can still have a lot of my favorite foods.

I'm happy that I finally figured out why I got sick so often and can control it through my diet and not mounds of medicines.

I'm happy that I feel like I'm finally starting to heal- that waas scaary.

I'm happy that my energy is coming back!!!!!!

[Green12]

What makes me happiest about being gluten-free is knowing that it is totally do-able and possible as a lifestyle, and that you don't have to feel deprived of anything, there are fabulous substitutions, and that it gets easier and easier with time.

[StrongerToday]

I'd have to second most of Berneses comments (minus the hubby one!).

I really love that I've lost 50+ pounds without even trying. It just comes from a naturally healthy diet.

I also love that I'm trusting my body a little bit more each day... it's nice not to have to scope out where the bathrooms are the minute I walk into a store

[odcdinah]

Just curious - how long were you gluten-free before you started feeling better?

quote name='BERNESES' date='Apr 20 2006, 12:58 PM' post='129227']

I love jnkmnky's thread about the best advice you have ever gotten from this board, and I was thinking, you know, there really are a lot of positives about being gluten-free (and sometimes newbies don't see them).

Here's mine- I think my favorite things about being gluten free are that my depression may have been related to Celiac's. My whole life I could never figure it out. It just didn't "fit" and my doctor and therapist always said I was the clearest case for a biological depression they had ever seen. Turns out they were right- 18 years ago!

i love that I like Chebe pizza crust better than "real" pizza crust.

I love that's it's brought my relationship to a new level with my hubby.

I love that I eat healthier now than I EVER did before.

I love that I can still have a lot of my favorite foods.

I'm happy that I finally figured out why I got sick so often and can control it through my diet and not mounds of medicines.

I'm happy that I feel like I'm finally starting to heal- that waas scaary.

I'm happy that my energy is coming back!!!!!!

[lonewolf]

I love being able to walk, run, coach basketball, play baseball in the yard with my kids, and just feel healthy. Considering that one doctor told me I'd be in and out of a wheelchair for the rest of my life (at age 32), the minor "incovenience" of a changed diet is nothing. There's no substitute for good health.

[Moongirl]

what makes me the happiest, just feeling better, i dont care that its food restriction, at least im not on meds for the rest of my life....not having those aches and pains all over my belly area is worth being gluten-free. sure its hard, but almost gluten-free 5 months later, i havent felt like myself, this good, in years....so yah being my old self again makes me the happiest!!!!

[jmengert]

I love knowing exactly (or almost exactly) what is in my food since I read labels *all* the time.

I love that I save money by not eating out, which leaves me more money for shopping for clothes

[angel-jd1]

I am not sick anymore!!! I do not feel/look like death warmed over. YEAH!!

-Jessica

[Becky6]

That I feel good for once!! And that I don't have MS like they origanally thought! I eat healthier.

[jerseyangel]

I'm no longer pale as a ghost

My toenails look great--this is the first spring I don't have to start putting polish on them right away in order to wear sandals--I may just use clear this year, cuz I can!

My hair has filled back in and it's nice and shiny

I feel better much of the time

I have more confidence when going out of the house--don't feel like I always need to know where all the bathrooms are

My husband is a partner in this whole thing--he's frequently the one asking questions when in a restaurant or coffee shop. He takes me to Whole Foods and wherever else I need to go to get what I need. (he comes from a family where they think chronic illness is all in the head, and mind over matter--so this one is huge!)

My diet is healthier overall--much 'cleaner' and more natural

I have more confidence now to stand up for myself and do what I need to do to stay healthy

[Pegster]

I know what was making me sick! When I got sick after having coffee with a muffin, I blamed the coffee! When I got sick after eating pancakes, I blamed the syrup! I used to have "Food Poisoning" CONSTANTLY. Now the mystery is solved! Also I don't have to eat all the weird foods at the church pot luck!

[Guhlia]

I love that this disease has brought me to understand how much my family really cares about me and to what lengths they'd go to for me. My father (who I'm not close to) made many ER runs with me so that my husband could stay home with our baby. My mother babysat A LOT while my husband was at work while I was too sick to get out of bed. I never really understood the meaning of family until I got sick from Celiac.

I love that I have the perfect, legitimate excuse to not eat my MIL/SIL's cooking!

I love that nobody steals my snack food now because it's so "weird". My husband used to always eat the food that I had bought specifically for me.

I love that I feel better.

I love that I was able to gain weight.

I love that I have enough energy to excercise when I was never able to do that before in my life.

[tarnalberry]

no side effects from a pill to worry about!

[db8diva]

No more migraines. The weird skin rashes (not DH) that had my dermatologist scratching her head while writing a prescription for ever stronger steroid creams are gone. I'm no longer anemic. The slight stomach ache I had every day of my life (hey, it was normal for me) finally went away. I like feeling that my body and I aren't at war.

[ianm]

I am healthier at 38 than I was at 18. I am no longer obese and finally know what it is like to feel alive. A little over 2 years ago I almost lost my job because of the brain fog. Now I have an extremely demanding but very high paying job and have been running circles around everyone. I am no longer the man I used to be in any way, shape or form and that is a good thing. Well I still have the same warped and perverted sense of humor. Celiac is the best thing that ever happened to me.

[Guest BERNESES]

I love knowing exactly (or almost exactly) what is in my food since I read labels *all* the time.

I love that I save money by not eating out, which leaves me more money for shopping for clothes

Oh my gosh- Yep! Forgot those two. I like both of them.

I would say it took me a little over a year before I REALLY started to feel better. I noticed a huge change at first, then didn't do so hot for awhile, but since probably February 9the one year mark) started to feel much better. But it's different for everyone. My cousin felt completely fine within a month and she had been much sicker than me.

[flagbabyds]

MY LIFE,

yeah I would have dien w/ in 3-4 weeks if I had not been diagnosed w/ celiac. The docs told my parents after I was diagnosed that they had thought I had about a month to live.

[Guest nini]

what makes me happiest is that I lost over 100 pounds WITHOUT EVEN TRYING!!!! The weight just FELL off!!!!

I am happy that my daughter was dx'ed early in life ahd won't have to experience the same debilitating health issues that I struggled with for years!

I am so glad that the depression/anxiety and brain fog are but a memory!

I am happy that I feel more like "myself" than I have in years! I finally feel like I "fit in" and love that my brain is working again!

[tiredofdoctors]

I like that I know that I will no longer have any destruction of my brain. The damage that is done is done, but there will be no more! What makes me happiest is that they found out what was wrong, and that I will be around a LONG time and will be able to see my grandchildren -- whenever they get here!

[Mongoose]

I love feeling good. Every time I think about it I absolutely love not being in chronic pain from arthritis anymore. No Advil just to sleep at night anymore. When I started to feel good I took up hiking!

I get the neurological problems. I like being able to talk without stuttering, not worry about having a seizure, and not trip over my own feet. I like being able to participate in conversations. I used to have trouble remembering nouns, especially if I was tired.

I like not having brain fog a lot! I can take classes now and keep up with the subject matter. I can read now, without my vision getting blurry right away, and remember what I read!

No pills is big too, except for the vitamins every day. No migraines anymore. Life is just so awesome! Yippee!

[Odysseian]

The itchyness is gone, except for when I excercise. I'm healthier all around. My high-stress job would trigger the itchyness all the time... now I never get it unless I goof and have wheat. Unfortunately I have to echo the joy expressed earlier at not having to scope out the bathrooms... you'd never think to take it for granted.

Oh yeah, my doctor wanted to do exploratory surgery (In addition to a number of other unpleasant things )... I don't see him anymore.

[WLJOHNSON]

I love that I can breathe!

At age 8 and thereafter I suffered with Asthma to the point of being hospitalized many times. Now, at 61, I have gone from 13 Asthma pills a day down to 1, and use a breathing machine twice a day.

I love walking an hour a day without wheezing, and the depression I used to have is gone!

I love weighing a little over 100 pounds, and having so much energy.

I love that I can keep up with my 7 grandkids, including my hyperactive 3 year old grandson, who I have helped with the Celiac diet since he was diagnosed at 3 weeks of age.

I like knowing that I can help my grandson, cousin, and sister, all diagnosed with Celiac, and that I can encourage other family members to get tested.

I enjoy knowing that I have come from being overly-sensitive about what I could eat, to realizing that it is a life or death decision each time I put food into my mouth.

I have enjoyed learning that no matter what anyone else says, I am now educated to what is best for my own health, and I can take my own food to restaurants or wherever I want to go, assuring that I will live a longer and healthier life.

Welda Lou

[Ursa Major]

I love not aching all over and having to take strong painkillers 24 hours a day any more. I love especially that I am finally losing weight, this far 30 pounds in six months of being gluten free.

I am finally able to start exercising again, I swim once a week, and have gone back to my table tennis club to play serious table tennis (and I do NOT play ping-pong, this is REAL exercise, where you're soaked in sweat after playing for an hour), something I hadn't been able to do for four years.

I also love not having to rush to the bathroom at my grocery store twice while shopping, praying that nobody else is in there, because I can't wait.

I am glad that I have hope of not dying early of cancer, like my mom, so I can enjoy my beautiful grandchildren.

I have stopped having terribly frightening nightmares, that made me wake up gasping in terror. I am sure they were mostly due to the gluten affecting my brain.

[Kiki]

even though Im new i am so glad that now i have a reason to eat healthier... I always wanted to but never had the self control but when i began to have the symptoms and was finally diagnosed, I have a reason. Im young so i have a healthy bright future ahead of me.!!!!!! Also I feel like my mother and myself are closer than before and we have always been close.

[Carriefaith]

I am thankful that I am so healthy now.