Questions?!

[lax87]

thanks for everyone being supportive. tonight is really hard for me though i got into wheat at outback which is suppost to be gluten free and now i have chaplips, and white spots on my nails, i am also going through all the physcological effects of it (sefl dought, feeling like i dont fit in with my friends, irritated, anxious, and the rest of the symptoms i have felt) this just really sucks and i hate having to live with it can someone help give me some tips that they do to help them get through it and get there minds off of it.

thanks

marco

[GFBetsy]

Marco -

Did you find any of those books helpful?

[lax87]

hey betsy, i havnt been able to get to a local book store recently but my symptoms are getting better now since ive kicked out hoods and turkeyhill ice creams and a couple other things.

[BamBam]

Marco,

What you are feeling and going through right now is exactly what I have been going through off and on for the past twenty years. I finally learned that being gluten free is exactly what makes me feel better. Several years ago I was so down on myself that I had to be hospitalized for a week or so to make sure I didn't do anything to myself. This past week I was glutened by something, and I finally figured it out, it was some summer sausage that friends gave us. My anxieties and fears and feelings of low self esteem was extremely high for about three days. I am now feeling better and getting my thoughts back in a normal pattern.

Marco, you can e-mail me at verber57@midrivers.com and I can help you with your diet the best I can. I don't know where you live and what kind of shopping your parents do, but the brands that I have are pretty popular, like Ragu Spaghetti Sauce. When you e-mail me, you could give me your address and I can e-mail you a list that I share with people that live in my area. The only thing is you need to read ingredients every time you shop. Several months ago it was a big deal because the cereal Cocoa Puffs were gluten free. Well, that only lasted about a month or so and the wheat starch was added back in. I bought 4 boxes without reading the ingredients and sure enough, I got the boxes with the wheat added back in. I was able to take them back to the store, but after time, you learn to read ingredients on everything you eat. As time goes on your family and friends will understand more, it took my brother and sisters a long time before they understood that gluten in my body is like poison. But now they don't even second guess what I eat, and when they visit, they eat gluten free right along with me. I'm not going to buy a bunch of stuff just for them to eat. The big thing you need to remember is that 99% of all regular cut meats (no added marinades or breading) are gluten free, all fresh, canned and most frozen vegetables and fruit are gluten free.

I'm hoping your parents understand how important it is for you to be totally gluten free. My husband went gluten free with me, we don't have any kids, and turns out he feels 100% better also. He was taking allergy medicine and stomach medicine every day, he had perscriptions and over the counter meds, and since he has been gluten free he very rarely takes any meds for allergies or stomach pain. Once in awhile he gets into gluten, and he knows when he does it too.

Anyway, e-mail if you like and I will help you the best I can. Ask your Mom and Dad if they have questions, and I will sure try and help you.

Bernadette

[GFBetsy]

hey betsy, i havnt been able to get to a local book store recently but my symptoms are getting better now since ive kicked out hoods and turkeyhill ice creams and a couple other things.

Marco -

I'm glad your symptoms have decreased. Keep up the careful work on your diet, and let me know if you want or need any more information.

Have a great weekend!

[skore]

Hi Marco,

At this point my comment is a bit redundant, but no, you're not alone. Gluten/wheat can play horrible mind games. Most of my symptoms were neurological. I am eating gluten right now because I want to get tested. A couple of weeks ago I had a sandwich (fri) pancakes (sun) and a donut (mon morning) - about an our after the donut I crashed - uncontrollable crying, HORRIBLY depressed, "why am I alive, i will never succeed, I will always be alone, I should run away and hide in a hole until..." type thoughts for 3 days! it upset my system so much I've barely been able to eat, insomnia, depressing and anxiety ridden dreams when i do sleep. I also get anxiety/ocd issues from the gluten. It is so frustrating!

Luckily the evening of that crash I realized - wait, this is from the gluten... I kind of deal with it this way, I call it 'bouncing my thoughts', basically I have this dialogue with myself - "self, calm down. this isn't genuine emotion/depression. this is gluten in your body." If that makes any sense. I always likened it to the gluten as a little devil - If I could stop and make myself realize that it was the "gluten devil" making me feel that way, bending my thoughts, then I could regain my head. Or at least give myself enough steadiness and clarity to make it through the glutening. Like I said, the last one was 3 days - that was rough.

[PeggyV]

My daughter has suffered through out her teens with depression and compusive eating. When a nutritionist suggested she go on a glutten free diet, her life changed. She said a dark cloud was lifted from her life. I realized that I had spent years with many of the symptons, lately getting DH. I have also on a gluten free diet. It is tough following it, educate yourself on the internet and do the best you can.