Feeling Great: So How Do I Continue To Stay gluten-free?

[Molecular Dude]

Hello All,

I haven't posted recently because I've been essentially symptom-free for about 2 months now, which is absolutely amazing and I wish that everyone could feel as well!

The problem is that I'm starting to get this feeling of invincibility. For more than 5 years the slightest hint of gluten would make me ill. Now, I'm still very careful and haven't changed my diet in any way, and I'm finally OK. I guess that my system has healed adequately to allow me to be asymptomatic. Strangely though, this lack of symptoms in a way makes things boring and mundane, and I'm feeling temptation to stray from the diet. It's odd that having problems enables one to maintain the gluten free diet far more easily than feeling well does. (I suppose that recovering drug and alcohol abusers face similar situations, but I have no personal experience with that). From a purely intellectual perspective, I know that I have to stay gluten free, but I certainly long for those days when I didn't even know what gluten was!

Any suggestions for how to keep convincing oneself to stay gluten-free when feeling well?

Thanks

[GlutenGalAZ]

I've had similar thoughts -- thinking I have been feeling REALLY good for such a long time now and then I see on TV pizza or go to say Sam's Club and see the pretzels and hot dogs that I remember being really good. When you feel good for a while you start to wonder sometimes if it just all went away and you would be okay eating a gluten containing food --- BUT NOPE....just stay away.

I have almost slipped couple times past couple of months but then I remember how I felt and I also read posts on here about what people are going through and it reminds me about my past and how terrible things were.

I am at a point in my life where I know what I can eat and how great I have been feeling. I have finally started to get my life back and can go on day trips with my husband. My anxity has gone down A LOT compared to what it got to. I can go in stores now without the anxity taking over and wanting to go home.

Just remember how you felt. If you miss a certain type of food then think of a gluten free way to make it or try some different box mixes -- that is what I have been doing with pizza trying to figure out a great gluten free crust. There are so many foods that don't contain gluten in them that you can buy at the grocery store -- in a way the diet makes you eat healthier.

GOOD LUCK

[aikiducky]

Don't worry. It's almost inevitable that somewhere along the way you'll get glutened from somewhere, and then you'll remember why you're doing it again.

Seriously though, I remember feeling like that around the same time, two months into the diet. It's like the previous poster said, try to think back to how sick you were, and remind yourself that that's how you would feel again if you slip up.

Pauliina

[gfpaperdoll]

I have the opposite problem - I see gluten anything & I just think how awful the stuff is & killing many people everyday & they have no clue. I see a donut & it almost makes me nauceous. I feel almost physical pain when I watch my grandchildren eating wheaty bread & pizza - when they should be gluten-free.

I think this would be a more peaceful, happier, healthier planet if all the gluten grains were just loaded up & shipped to the moon.

No thanks to anything wheaty for me ever. I feel blessed to be gluten-free.

[Ursa Major]

Dude, just remember that you will likely die a horrible death if you go back to eating gluten. Cancer somewhere of the gastrointestinal tract is almost guaranteed for people with celiac disease who keep eating gluten. You would likely cut at least 20 years off your lifespan.

Personally, I'd prefer to be healthy and just keel over or die in my sleep without being sick first when my time is up.

I've had the opposite problem. I am very ill and fatigued still, nearly three years of being gluten-free. I feel rotten anyway, so why not cheat?

Well, I gave in a couple of times. Big mistake. I feel rotten now, but boy, do I ever feel worse the next day after eating gluten! The stomach and bowel cramps, terrible D and awful bloating, as well as the brain fog and angry outbursts, depression....... (the list goes on), take feeling bad to an entirely new level.

It is totally not worth it, no matter how you look at it. You feel fabulous, congratulations! Please do yourself a favour and keep it that way, by staying gluten-free.

[Phyllis28]

I remember how sick I was and still get with an accidental glutening. I think of it as form of aversion therapy. I have no desire, at all, to stray from a gluten free diet.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Am I weird or something? I have absolutely no urge to cheat--and I don't have severe reactions to gluten.

Just hearing how bad it could get, though, in terms of other autoimmune disorders, such as RA, MS, lupus, fibromyalgia, etc. is more than enough to keep me from cheating.

If I want pizza, I can make it in 10 minutes using corn tortillas for the crust. Or if I'm desperate for "real" crust, I can make it from scratch in less than an hour.

What's the big deal?

I LIKE feeling good.

[MissLu]

For anyone tempted to cheat on their diet, it may be a little extreme but think of this analogy: people with mental illnesses on effective medication begin to feel better, and occasionally people think that because they feel better they can go off their meds. Guess what happens? Celiac disease is the same way. The fact that you're feeling better is the reason you should be sticking to your diet.

[Molecular Dude]

Thank you all so much for your responses. Yes, the correct and rational path is to ALWAYS remain gluten free, and recalling/realizing the terrible effects of gluten on your body and mind is the best way to overcome the temptation of savoring and devouring your old favorite foods.

Besides, I'm certain that I will suffer through cross-contamination somewhere along the way and that will set me straight.