2 Months Gluten Free And Feeling Down

[lilliexx]

for the first two months of my gluten free life i have been in pretty high spirits!! I have had fun taking on the chalenge of not eating gluten and have had high hopes of getting my health back to normal.

but the past week i have been really down. my stomach has been really upset all week (after i was feeling better for about 3 weeks) i feel like i am never going to be normal again

i recently met a guy and we have a date planned for saturday. i have no idea what to do becuz i would feel weird explaining this whole thing on a first date, but obviously we cant eat at a restaurant, and if we seriously start dating i will have to ask him not to drink beer when we are together and we wont ever be able to eat out like couples usually do.

another thing is, i had been planning on visiting England in the spring and now i probably wont be able to go w/o getting sick. i obviously can not bring 10 days worth of food to another country, and i wont know what is gluten free there.

i guess i am posting this to get it off my chest, but if anyone has any solutions or experiences for the dating or traveling delemas that they would like to share here i would appreciate it!! thankyou

lillie

[Nadtorious]

Lillie-

I was diagnosed two months before leaving for school a couple years ago. 5 hours away from my parents, in the dorms, with this freaky new disease-can't go out fo pizza with my roommate, can't drink beer at parties.........You know what I mean. I met a really great guy at the same time whose favorite food happened to be pizza, and on our first date, I was SOOOOO embarrassed and ashamed to tell him about celiac disease. Then, to top it all off, I went to Germany with my family (who all thought I had an eating disorder, not celiac disease)....I thought I was going to cry............

All right......My theory on explaing celiac disease to people, especially guys, is that if you're upbeat enough about it and not wistful as you're explaining it, they'll see you more as a capable "normal" person (which we DEFINETELY are, we just can't eat some stuff). My first year as a celiac was a living hell-I was depressed about it all the time. But the longer I had it, the more I realized that it wasn't necessarily the disease that was bringing me down, but my attitude towards it. It's not an overnight thing, but when you're physically feeling better, mentally you'll start to see it less as a burden and more one of those interesting things about yourself. My boyfreind (same dude from school) tells me I'm the strongest person he knows now.

As far as going overseas, you're lucky! Airlines offer gluten-free meals, and celiac disease is so common over in the UK that you should have no problem getting food over there.

And good luck with the guy. If he's really cool, he'll understand. java script:emoticon('')

smilie

Nadia

[Sharon C.]

While he's having a beer, why not have a glass of wine? I'm new, too, so please explain why this would not be possible.

[hapi2bgf]

I go out to eat often and have a great time. Find a few restaurants in your area that would be fun "date" places and call ahead to figure out, with a manager's help, what foods would be safe for you. Ask about plain unmarinaded foods, dedicated fryers, etc. Most manager's are very earger to help because they want your business. Start a list of local restaurants and the gluten-free meals you can eat there. It will make your life easier.

I traveled to Mexico fairly soon after being diagnosed (under one month) and it was hard becasue everything was new, but we had a blast and I did not get sick. I have also been on many trips in the US and do just fine. Traveling to England would be a bit easier than traveling to Mexico just for the fact they speak the same language. Plus, they are plenty of posts on this site about Celiacs in England. It's a doable trip and you will learn a lot about how to live life around your Celiac disease. Search this site for travel tips - there are plenty of people who travel for a living and have Celiacs.

As for the date drinking beer, you two can work it out. Explain your situation and see how you both want to handle it. My husband and daugther are not celiacs and we do not have a gluten-free house and we do just fine.

You will get used to this diet and figure out your level of comfort for dealing with the disease.

[MichelleC]

So, why can't he drink beer? Will it be too hard for you to be around beer?

M

[tarnalberry]

Well, for dates, you don't need to say much beyond "I can't eat gluten - so stuff made with wheat, barley, rye or oats. It's a medical thing." That not only tells him the truth, but also gets across the idea that you're not going to discuss the intimate details of celiac disease at this point. You can still go to restaurants, but you have to plan ahead - either by going to a place you know has a gluten-free menu (like PF Changs, Outback, or Carrabas), or by calling ahead and talking to the manager and chef. My husband and I still eat out on occasion (I prefer homemade meals, so not often), and with a little planning it's not a problem, so please don't feel that you can never eat out. And the same thing with beer - if it's hard for you to watch someone drink beer while you can't, the solution is to find something else that you really like - be it raspberry iced tea, a strawberry margarita, or some other type of beverage - to takes it's place while your date enjoys his beer.

As I understand, eating gluten-free in England isn't hard - try Googling for resources, there are a lot of them. (The good part is that you don't have to learn how to say gluten-intolerant in another language and you'll be able to read the labels!! :-) )

[lilliexx]

the reason i was saying my date couldnt drink beer is becuz if we ended up kissing i thought i might get gluten in my mouth....is that being too paranoid??

i did go on the date and i took a risk and had some heinikin beer (since they have a gluten free statement.) I know there is a lot of contreversy about beer,but i didnt get sick!! yay

thanks for the replies, i am feeling better about the situation now this guy seems nice!! i think he will understand!! and i did some googling for gluten free in the UK and i think i'll be ok!!

lillie

[wclemens]

Hi,

I just read your post, and wanted to encourage you to stick with the gluten free diet to the letter, because when you do you end up feeling SO GOOD! I have had celiac since the age of 8, and only after a lot of suffering did I learn which foods to avoid and which to eat. During those years I never knew anyone else who had the same health problems I did, and sometimes I felt so sorry for myself.

Then I discovered Celiac.com and a whole new world opened up--I'm happy that you've found this wonderful site too. I have intolerances to all grains, all milk and dairy products, egg whites, and yeast. So, it takes some creative planning to make sure that when I go out I can find something to eat. After a few years it gets pretty easy, really, especially after one commits to sticking to the diet wholeheartedly.

You sound like an energetic, intelligent person--I know that you will find a way to explain to people what your dietary restrictions are--and I think you may be surprised to learn that as long as you are all right with your diet, they will be too. I wish you well! Welda

[tarnalberry]

as for the gluten in the beer and kissing - a liquid's not going to stick to his teeth nearly as much as bread or some other solid type of food, so I'd be more worried about the food than the drinks. of course, if he wipes his lips off, normal (pardon the description, but I'm shameless and can't think of a "genteel" way to phrase it ) closed mouth kissing shouldn't be much of a problem, and you can always ask nicely for a bit of a brush before any... more intimate kissing. (get a couple extra toothbrushes "for guests" (my in-laws have a bunch for this purpose - real guests, not dates ;-) )

[davemu]

for the first two months of my gluten free life i have been in pretty high spirits!! I have had fun taking on the chalenge of not eating gluten and have had high hopes of getting my health back to normal.

but the past week i have been really down. my stomach has been really upset all week (after i was feeling better for about 3 weeks) i feel like i am never going to be normal again

i recently met a guy and we have a date planned for saturday. i have no idea what to do becuz i would feel weird explaining this whole thing on a first date, but obviously we cant eat at a restaurant, and if we seriously start dating i will have to ask him not to drink beer when we are together and we wont ever be able to eat out like couples usually do.

another thing is, i had been planning on visiting England in the spring and now i probably wont be able to go w/o getting sick. i obviously can not bring 10 days worth of food to another country, and i wont know what is gluten free there.

i guess i am posting this to get it off my chest, but if anyone has any solutions or experiences for the dating or traveling delemas that they would like to share here i would appreciate it!! thankyou

lillie

If I went on a date with a girl in your situation, I wouldn't judge her at all if she explained her gluten thing to me... Her being celiac or not would have no bearing on my level of attraction to her... But some people are narrowminded and you have to deal with that. They are quick to blame you for something you have rather than sympathize. I prefer not to deal with those kinds of people. Good luck and take care.