Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhh!

[penguin]

Argh, Chelsea... I get that ALL the time, people asking me if I'm pregnant (I'm not). That has to be one of the worst insults. I just look them dead in the eye and say "nope, I just got fat." Then I give them a withering smile and walk away. Hopefully that keeps them from every embaressing anyone else like that. Ugh.

My sweet grandfather asked if I was pregnant on my wedding day

[FaithInScienceToo]

VENTING: I'm fed up and sick of these types of comments, too... (pardon the puns).

I'm one of the 'naturally' thin-since-youth celiacs, but I did gain weight (20 pounds) in my young 20's, and then lost it (plus 15 more!), pre-awful-clinical symptoms developing (It's NOT unusual, btw, for a celiac to gain weight before the 'typical' problems of losing too much and of trying to keep it on/gain it back set in! Perhaps when the initial damage begins, one's body tries to pack on the pounds to ward off starvation? Maybe this explains celiacs who gain weight?).

Anyway...

My own sister keeps saying "Since you self-diagnosed..." to me, as she keeps trying to act around our family like I don't 'really have it!'...she completely ignores the facts (that she well knows) that a GI doc also diagnosed me via blood testing after I was over 50 days gluten-free, and that I have one of the genes for celiac.

My sister-in-law isn't much better...As she continues to eat crap, and too much of it, and gets fatter, too (as my sister is doing), she keeps telling me to eat more, and says so in a way to try to make me feel unattractive for being thin (you have to hear the intonation to know what I mean...)...She does this to me ALL the time, even though I eat (and she sees me eating) a completely normal amount of food for a woman, including goodies, and I do NOT ever go hungry.

I just thought.... perhaps those who eat too much are being driven by their own food allergies, etc...

Well...we seem to agree that we get these types of comments mainly because the people who make them do not want to take responsibility for their own health issues, and seem to be trying to deflect attention away from their own nagging inner voices...

I wish I could e-mail this thread to them both...but, then they'd hate me...

So... I just accept that there are few people that REALLY 'get it' outside of other celiacs...and that's life....

I've REALLY enjoyed reading this thread...nice to know I'm not the only one getting these rude, non-loving, remarks...thanks to the thread starter!

[tiredofdoctors]

"SINCE YOU'RE SELF-DIAGNOSED"???????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!! So it doesn't count that since you've been gluten-free your life has gotten tremendously better? You're not as sick as you were? AND the fact that the GI doc has diagnosed you, as well???? Holy mackerel -- my sister and I are really, really, close. If she said something like that to me, I'd probably slug her! Chair or no chair!

I don't get many comments like that, probably because I AM in the chair. People are shocked, though, when I tell them that gluten put me there.

Because I don't have the GI symptoms, though, I have had people say that "they thought that celiac patients were really skinny." Gee, thanks. I have found out, though, that the lymphedema that I have from the autonomic dysfunction . . . it is throughout my legs, INCLUDING my thighs, and in my abdomen. I actually lost one size in jeans after a therapy treatment!

I think that people are basically uninformed about Celiac, and in most cases, ignorant. If anyone had to go through what you guys go through for three days, they would take back EVERYTHING they have ever said about wanting to have your disease. I can't imagine. I had IBS -- that was my diagnosis after the colonoscopy and endoscopy, also -- but now because of the brain thing, that's gone -- and another problem has developed (won't go into it). Just the IBS was bad . . . what you are going through is on the scale of AWFUL.

I am so sorry that people are SO insensitive as to say things like that. With all that you have to deal with, that is the LAST thing you need to have presented to you. I applaud your ability to bite your tongue, although I would imagine that at times you bite it until it bleeds. You are much better than the people making those comments. Just try to remember that . . . . . xoxoxoxoxoxoxLynne

[NoGluGirl]

I'm slightly overweight, not skinny, but still have the same symptoms, pain, etc. I'm one of those people who has always been slightly overweight, not obese, and can't seem to lose that last 20 pounds no matter how much I exercise, how sick I get or how little I eat.

I've heard an equally frustrating comment several times. It goes like this: "You can't eat wheat or milk or eggs or soy? Oh my gosh, if I couldn't eat those things I'd be SOOOO skinny!" Then they look at me with a kind of sheepish "Oops" look. I try to laugh it off and say that when I first found out about my food restrictions I did lose a lot of weight (and was almost anorexic), but that it came back on as soon as I discovered what I could eat.

Don't you know that skinny = healthy in most people's mind?

Dear lonewolf,

I am having difficulty losing weight as well. It is better now that I have gone gluten-free. Pilates has really helped, and it is easy on my fibromyalgia. The frustration of having gluten intolerance or celiac is unreal. I was barely taking in 1,200 calories a day and 30 grams of fat and walking briskly 20 minutes a day, five days a week, and still did not lose a single pound after three months! Naturally, the doctor blamed me for it. Yeah, there is no such thing as thyroid trouble, adrenal gland burnout, or yeast candida that make you fat when it is not your fault. And doctors are smart too! LOL! Hey, how many doctors does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None! They would not know where to put it!

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[Queen Serenity]

NoGluGirl,

In all seriousness, have you been checked for a thyroid problem? I have hypothyroidism, triggered by Celiac's of course, and I had an extreme weight problem. Nowadays, after being given synthroid, my frame has gone from 185 to 142. I think you should be tested right away. I was actually diagnosed 6 years after getting Celiac's. It is something that gives you chronic fatigue, so are you suffering from this? Please check into it. If you test positive, then your weight will come down. Good luck!

Vicki

11 years and still counting

[lonewolf]

NoGluGirl,

In all seriousness, have you been checked for a thyroid problem? I have hypothyroidism, triggered by Celiac's of course, and I had an extreme weight problem. Nowadays, after being given synthroid, my frame has gone from 185 to 142. I think you should be tested right away. I was actually diagnosed 6 years after getting Celiac's. It is something that gives you chronic fatigue, so are you suffering from this? Please check into it. If you test positive, then your weight will come down. Good luck!

I agree that you should get your thyroid checked. I discovered I had low thyroid at the same time I found out all my food intolerances. My weight went down really fast and I think I lost over 40 pounds, but I did just about have an eating disorder because I was so afraid to eat anything. I've been on the thyroid (Armour, with brief stints on Synthroid and Levoxyl) for just over 10 years now and I have to say that it doesn't help keep the weight off anymore.

I teach PE, coach basketball and exercise regularly, and still carry extra weight. My husband teases me that I'm very "famine resistant" and it there's ever a famine I'll be a long-term survivor. I have to keep reminding myself that I am healthy and that's more important than being skinny.

[eKatherine]

I teach PE, coach basketball and exercise regularly, and still carry extra weight. My husband teases me that I'm very "famine resistant" and it there's ever a famine I'll be a long-term survivor. I have to keep reminding myself that I am healthy and that's more important than being skinny.

This is absolutely true. People who tend to put on weight in times of plenty have undoubtedly been better able to survive through famines and continue to procreate, while people who started a long famine with no excess weight were undoubtedly likely to die off quicker. So plump people pass their genes on to their children, who also have the ability to withstand famines. Unfortunately, for the first time in the existence of humans, there are no famines to keep us plumpies from bloating up and staying that way.

We are designed only to procreate successfully and pass our genes on to the next generation. It's a nice fluke if our bodies hang together to a ripe old age.