Hitting Rock Bottom Today

[georgiagirl]

Hi everyone,

I'm three months diagnosed, and three months gluten free. I ate something last night at the beginning of a great concert. It was labeled as gluten free, but obviously had gluten in it, or was cross-contaminated.

The abdominal pain was excrutiating. I suffered through the concert (miserable) and came home and cried myself to sleep.

I've had a positive attitude to this illness up till now. Today I've hit rock bottom. Learning that I can't trust the "gluten free" food is devastating. I feel like all the hard work and discipline I've put into the last 3 months has been wiped out by a company that's careless about insuring their products aren't cross contaminated.

[chrissy]

try not to get too discouraged. there are so many things that can cause symptoms similar to "glutening" symptoms. it can be too easy to automatically assume that gluten is the culprit.

[Guest j_mommy]

I'm sorry you had a bad expierence!!!!

Always check labels....even if it says gluten-free and CC is an issue!

but as Chrissy said it could have been something else entirely.....food left out too long, something you drank, a bug ect!

I hope you feel better soon!

[Susanna]

Bummer--so sorry you were violated that way. That really sucks.

But.

The good news is that over all, since you went gluten free, your gut has been healing. Likely, you've been feeling better too, no? And, by going gluten-free, you've been lowering your risk of all kinds of BAD health problems down the line. GOOD FOR YOU! So, put your focus on the fact that you're doing the right thing for your body. You're doing your best. Pat yourself on the back for making the big change and sticking with it. Don't expect perfection from yourself or the food industry. Forgive the food or the manufacturer of the food that made you sick. Accept that once in a while, you or someone else might make a mistake that gets you temporarily sick, and use those times to appreciate how GOOD you feel the rest of the time. Forgive the mistake. Learn from it. Stay gluten free. Feel better.

I'm just 15 months into my gluten-free life, and I got glutened recently at a restaurant where I'd eaten gluten-free successfully several times. Will I go back? I think I will, but I learned a few things about how to order from this recent glutening and you better believe I'll be savvier next time. I learn something from each glutening that will help me protect myself better in the future.

It really does take time to adjust to this disease--I was much more upset by setbacks like the one you just had when I was just diagnosed. I tolerate these bumps in the road more in stride now, and I bet you will too in time.

Good luck.

Susanna

[chrissy]

gerogiagirl---in case it helps any, feeling discouraged about this disease probably gets all of us, occasionally, at times. my girls have been diagnosed for about 1 1/2 years-----and i still occasionally cry about it----i just don't let them know. i can't tell you how much i wished it was me instead of my kids when they got the diagnosis.

[georgiagirl]

Thanks so much to all of you who replied and offered me support. I can't tell you how much it means to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm feeling better now, both physically and emotionally. Thanks for letting me wallow in a bit of self-pity for a while.