Should I Quit My Job?

[jasonD2]

I finally landed my dream job and am so happy, however, it requires a great deal of travel and I must admit that eating out is killing my stomach. Ive been doing my best to avoid gluten and everything else im sensitive to, but its been impossible and I can only go to Chinese restaurants for steamed chicken and vegetables so many times.I actually freeze and pack some of my own food but only enough to cover breakfast for a few days. its usually lunch and dinner that kills me.

When I'm by myself its not so bad since i have more control, but I travel a lot with my colleagues and they all want to go to the unhealthiest places. Prior to this job i was out of work for 8 months and was on a very strict diet that whole time and felt pretty good. Now I feel like all the progress I made is being reversed and Im back to square one. I was in Florida all last week and when I got back I had horrible bloating, cramps and diarrhea with mucous for a few days, which is something Ive never even experienced. Not sure if i picked up a bug or what but i havent been feeling well. Next week i head out again and will be traveling with 2 people and I already predict that the restaurant thing is gonna be difficult.

I just dont know what to do. if i quit and go back to my former career I will hate life and be miserable, but at least i will be able to maintain my diet. If I stay, I will have a shot at a real career with a lot of growth but my health might decline and ultimately make it impossible to even do my job.

Right now i keep my issues under wraps with my colleagues/boss and just tell them I like to eat healthy and dont like foods that are overly seasoned. But it just doesnt sink in. I feel like saying to my boss "listen you fat f uck, stop suggesting waffle house whenever lunch rolls around - i cant eat that s hit= pay the f uck attention to my needs" but instead he keeps saying that im too thin and that he needs to fatten me up. The man takes pride in being obese and will order a slab of ribs with a milkshake and cheesecake for dessert- i kid you not.

I could use some good advice please. thanks

[kbtoyssni]

I would do a few more things to try to make this new job work. First, I think you have to be more direct with the coworkers. You have to tell them you're very allergic to gluten, that you CANNOT eat at the Waffle House. I would go so far as to not go out with them if they insist on eating at places you can't eat at and you can o by yourself to a safe place or the grocery store. Obviously if it's a client dinner this may not be a possibility, but if it's just the coworkers I think it's reasonable.

If you can't travel with enough food, try to hit up a grocery store when you get there so you can make your own lunch at least. Another option is to bring your own food with you to dinner or to eat before you go in your room and just sit there during dinner.

It sounds like your boss may not care to change his ways, though. Maybe you should talk to HR about accommodations. I'm sure this falls under ADA somehow. If you're traveling for business, I think they have to make sure your dietary restrictions can be accommodated.

[jasonD2]

Yeah I guess being more direct is the only answer at this point. the healthy eating thing isn't registering with them. They probably think i'm neurotic or something so if i flat out tell them i have stomach issues then they might understand.

[Ursa Major]

Yeah I guess being more direct is the only answer at this point. the healthy eating thing isn't registering with them. They probably think i'm neurotic or something so if i flat out tell them i have stomach issues then they might understand.

Your boss is insensitive and won't take hints. You really need to tell him the truth. Tell him you have celiac disease, that you are gluten intolerant, and that eating the food that he thinks will fatten you up will damage your intestines and make you LOSE weight instead.

Give it to him in writing if you have to. Write down for him ALL the foods you cannot eat. And I don't mean saying, 'wheat, rye and barley'. I think he is too thick to get it. I mean a list saying, 'white bread, whole wheat bread, rye bread, beer, sauces, soy sauce, pretzels, cake, bagels, muffins, cookies' etc..

And tell your coworkers as well. That way you won't have to worry about checking with waiters if something is gluten-free or not, as they will expect that.

And call ahead to any restaurant you are taking clients to, and talk with the manager and arrange for safe food BEFORE you get there. Then your clients won't even need to know.

If you still can't be safe after all that, you may need to give up this job. But you really haven't tried yet to make it work, because you kept your celiac disease a secret from your boss and coworkers. Having celiac disease is NOTHING to be ashamed of. And if they really care about you, they would want to keep you safe.

I realize that you are afraid of telling your boss, because he may not want you working for him anymore. But you have to take that risk. Because risking your health, and as a result probably ending up with intestinal cancer, is NOT worth ANY job!

[curlyfries]

Yeah I guess being more direct is the only answer at this point. the healthy eating thing isn't registering with them. They probably think i'm neurotic or something so if i flat out tell them i have stomach issues then they might understand.

I wouldn't explain it that you have "stomach issues". I think it would be more effective to say you have an autoimmune disease or severe food allergies. Recommend places that you CAN go. If they still insist on eating at unhealthy places, then let them know that you will not be going. Perhaps that's all they need to realize this is a serious issue for you.

[jasonD2]

Thanks for the feedback-

I haven't been officially diagnosed with celiac yet so I am uncomfortable telling him. right now all i know is i do better without gluten and other foods.

[Ursa Major]

Thanks for the feedback-

I haven't been officially diagnosed with celiac yet so I am uncomfortable telling him. right now all i know is i do better without gluten and other foods.

Why don't you get tested by Enterolab? If you can show him the printout that says you are gluten intolerant, and it says that a doctor (Dr. Fine) has done the testing, he won't know that many doctors won't acknowledge that diagnosis (out of ignorance, in my opinion, not because it isn't valid).

It doesn't matter if you have an official diagnosis. You KNOW that gluten makes you ill. Just tell him that you are severely intolerant to gluten, and that it makes you very ill. That is the truth that you can state with confidence. It is irrelevant if any doctor agrees with you. It is your body, and you know for a fact that gluten makes you ill.

The only thing you may hear is, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Which would be a very valid question. Because saying that you like to eat healthy was just 'beating around the bush' and not being honest. And obviously very detrimental to your health.

I don't have an official diagnosis either. And I don't care. For simplicity I tell people I have celiac disease, because if I say 'gluten intolerant', they think it isn't so bad, and a little bit of gluten should be fine. And as a result they don't care about cross contaminating me.

I know that gluten makes me sick. I refuse to eat it, period, and I have no problems telling people about my issues with gluten.

I have yet to meet anybody who didn't care and didn't want to keep me safe once I explained it to them.

By the way it appears that your boss is actually addicted to gluten. The gluten foods make him fat. He probably is gluten intolerant as well! (but you may not want to tell him that quite yet).

[jasonD2]

I had the enterolab stool test for anti-gluten antibodies and it was slightly elevated (think it was 21 with 10 being the cuttoff for negative) , but i didnt have the other confirmatory tests so im still not 100 % certain, but i do feel better w/o eating gluten. I guess ive been too laid back about the whole thing and still order food that might have gluten in it..probly because if im exposed to a small amount i dont really experience any symptoms and still take the "living my life" attitude. I am going to try to be more strict and am going for some followup testing this week to see if i can get a more accurate diagnosis.

[Ursa Major]

I had the enterolab stool test for anti-gluten antibodies and it was slightly elevated (think it was 21 with 10 being the cuttoff for negative) , but i didnt have the other confirmatory tests so im still not 100 % certain, but i do feel better w/o eating gluten. I guess ive been too laid back about the whole thing and still order food that might have gluten in it..probly because if im exposed to a small amount i dont really experience any symptoms and still take the "living my life" attitude. I am going to try to be more strict and am going for some followup testing this week to see if i can get a more accurate diagnosis.

Actually, there is no such a thing as being 'a little bit' gluten intolerant. Even if your Enterolab result would have been a 10 or 11, it would have been valid. Whether it is 21 or 210 doesn't matter, you are gluten intolerant and should be 100% strict about being gluten-free.

What follow up testing are you talking about? If you are going to a regular doctor, you will NOT get an accurate diagnosis after being almost completely gluten-free for so long.

[home-based-mom]

My first thought is, if you don't level with them and spell it out in detailed black and white, how can you expect them to know? They probably don't read minds any better than I do, which is not at all.

My second thought is, if you keep telling them that there is nothing in "that" restaurant you can eat, but you go there and eat it anyway, how do you expect them to take you seriously? If they don't actually witness the results, they don't have any way of knowing how you are suffering.

If, after explaining to them what you cannot eat and why, they still insist on going somewhere you can't, tell them to have a nice time and you will meet them back at the hotel or wherever. Then eat somewhere else. Eating alone is far better than getting sick. Travelling to the same place with business partners should not mean you are conjoined for the duration.

Use all the other hints as well. Have a "Plan B" so you know where places are that have something safe for you to eat.

Your boss sounds like a very unpleasant fellow. Hopefully you won't get fired for refusing to eat in his choice of restaurants.

[ShayFL]

I realize that you are afraid of telling your boss, because he may not want you working for him anymore. But you have to take that risk. Because risking your health, and as a result probably ending up with intestinal cancer, is NOT worth ANY job!

You are already thinking of quitting, so you have nothing to lose IMO.

When faced with a difficult situation, I always ask myself, what is the worst that can happen? Then I think of that. Then I ask myself, what is the best that could happen if I do it? I focus on "the best that can happen". I do not allow myself to dwell on the worst for one minute. And 99% of the time, things work out just fine. One way or the other, I make my life work out.

[jasonD2]

so there really is no difference between an antibody reading of 21 vs 300? How do you know if you are celiac vs gluten intolerant? i was thinking of getting the genetic test but also the blood workup as well. is it worth it for me to go back on gluten for the test? i just wanna know if im celiac or gluten intolerant

[Ursa Major]

so there really is no difference between an antibody reading of 21 vs 300? How do you know if you are celiac vs gluten intolerant? i was thinking of getting the genetic test but also the blood workup as well. is it worth it for me to go back on gluten for the test? i just wanna know if im celiac or gluten intolerant

Whether you have officially celiac disease or are gluten intolerant is really irrelevant, because the treatment is the same, a gluten-free diet.

If you really want to do the blood work, you will need to go back to eating a ton of gluten (the equivalent of at least four slices of wheat bread a day) for at least three to six months to even have a slight chance of getting a positive. You will destroy your villi doing that, and for what? Not to mention that you will definitely not be able to keep your job if you do that, because you will simply be too sick.

It is NOT a good idea and can cause irreversible damage and/or trigger other autoimmune diseases. It would definitely undo everything you have achieved so far.

Doing the genetic test is not a bad idea. But even if you don't have the official (in the U.S.) celiac disease genes, you can still have celiac disease.

[home-based-mom]

so there really is no difference between an antibody reading of 21 vs 300? How do you know if you are celiac vs gluten intolerant? i was thinking of getting the genetic test but also the blood workup as well. is it worth it for me to go back on gluten for the test? i just wanna know if im celiac or gluten intolerant

Ursa is right - the treatment is to refrain from eating any gluten.

However, a few Frequent Posters have found that the cause of their gluten intolerance is something other than Celiac, such as Lyme or metal toxicity or parasites or . . . . When the other problem has been taken care of and the gut has healed, the person is able to resume eating small occasional amounts of gluten or at least not constantly sweat being cross-contaminated.

If you have the celiac genes, either the 2 recognized in the USA or the others recognized elsewhere, resuming even small amounts of gluten without wishing you hadn't is not likely to happen. You would need to maintain a totally gluten-free diet in order to maintain optimum health.

Personally I don't think I would resume eating gluten as I would be too miserable and the blood test/biopsy could be negative anyway. However, if Enterolab were affordable, that info would be good to have. You could order not only genetic tests, but intolerances for other foods as well.

[jasonD2]

I heard that if you dont have the genes then you will never go on to develop full blown celiacs, but can remain intolerant - is that true?

Also, even if i did get an endoscopy wouldnt it still show some abnormality in my villi even after being gluten-free for 6 months? i doubt my insides have fully recovered 100%

Lastly, arent there other tests that could diagnose celiacs w/o having to reintro gluten...malabsorption for example?

I really dont know what to do here. I dont know how accurate the stool test was or if im even really gluten intolerant since I didnt have the other tests performed at the time (blood gliadin Abs and transaminase Abs). someone was saying the stool Ab test gives a lot of false positives. I also dont wanna start eating gluten again for 3 months for another test. i'm kinda confused as to what I should do. My doctor thinks i am gluten intolerant because of candida and leaky gut and if thats the case i may not even need to cut out gluten 100% when im healed.

I did have a blood celiac panel test performed 6 yrs ago and it was negative but that was probly before i started developing all my food sensitivities. im very confused

[gfpaperdoll]

jason, no it is not true. You can develop "full blown celiac" from untreated gluten intolerance. I know several double DQ1 people personally to disprove that theory. Once diagnosed via blood test & one diagnosed via biopsy. Of course they have been sick their whole life & are in their 50's now. If you want to wait that long & take your chances...

How many books have you read about celiac? How many support group meetings have you attended. How many people that have celiac have you talked to in person? In hiding the fact that you have celiac you deny yourself the possibility of meeting other people with celiac. Your co-workers, clients etc might say, oh yea, so & so that works on the 10th floor also has that, or my niece has celiac or my mother was just diagnosed wtih celiac. I mean really, you are not the only one with it - a LOT of people are getting diagnosed these days.

Each person has to make their own decision as to what testing they want to go gluten-free. Some people are happy to just go gluten-free & get better -some test thru Enterolab, some want a biopsy & blood test. & yes, a lot of people will get a positive biopsy & as long as they can eat gluten they will continue to eat it - they would rather die than give up their donuts - or so they say...

You have a positive diagnosis via Enterolab - your choice you can go with that or not. There are no false positives. But everyone believes what they want to. every once in awhile someone will post on here that they had a postitive bisopsy & positive blood test 4 years ago & did not go gluten-free - I mean you know why bother when they felt fine... just a little diahrrea now & then that is managed with some meds. So how many symptoms you want to mask with meds & for how long is a personal decision. Some people do not go gluten-free until after they are married and have children & then they think they might want to live to see the kids grow up (& I think they start seeing real life - other people getting sick etc.)

You are young, maybe you were not sick enough, long enough to want to take these steps to improve your health. Once you decide what you want to do, then other people will respect the path that you take. But at this point, you do not have a path, you are just doing the most convenient easiest thing at the time - sometimes & then other times you work on it... IMO part of it is that you are not staying totally gluten-free & it messes up your brain & you get depressed - one of the most common side effects of gluten in my opnion.

[ENF]

I would think that it is too difficult to remain gluten free with a job that requires a lot of travel. I know I couldn't handle it. I have a friend with Celiac who gave up a position as a music educator/performer because it required frequent travel. He loved the work, and the travel, but couldn't handle the diet while globe-trotting. At least there are companies working on testing drugs that may be able to help with cross contamination. Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

[FoxersArtist]

I was not really sure that I could provide any advice regarding your delimma until i got to the part of your post where you stated that your boss and colleagues don't know that you have celiac. I think that it's unreasonable to expect anyone to be supportive of you when they have no concept of the areas in which you need support. I know it might initially be embarassing to tell these guys that you have a disease that limits your food options, but would you rather save face or give up your dream job? If I were in your bosses situation, I might feel frustrated, even aggrivated that you always want to eat at certain places if I thought that it was just because you were a picky eater or couldn't hack a greasy burger. If I knew that it made you ill and furthered your disease, I would do whatever possible to make sure that you got the food you needed, even if I chose to eat elsewhere. I would hope that most people would be courtious enough to do the same, but I'm so sorry for you if your boss is not one of these people. Still, I would give it a whirl and see what happens. If you are still being pressured to eat things that make you sick, then I might consider finding a new job or some way not to travel as much. This of course is my humble opionion.

-Anna

I finally landed my dream job and am so happy, however, it requires a great deal of travel and I must admit that eating out is killing my stomach. Ive been doing my best to avoid gluten and everything else im sensitive to, but its been impossible and I can only go to Chinese restaurants for steamed chicken and vegetables so many times.I actually freeze and pack some of my own food but only enough to cover breakfast for a few days. its usually lunch and dinner that kills me.

When I'm by myself its not so bad since i have more control, but I travel a lot with my colleagues and they all want to go to the unhealthiest places. Prior to this job i was out of work for 8 months and was on a very strict diet that whole time and felt pretty good. Now I feel like all the progress I made is being reversed and Im back to square one. I was in Florida all last week and when I got back I had horrible bloating, cramps and diarrhea with mucous for a few days, which is something Ive never even experienced. Not sure if i picked up a bug or what but i havent been feeling well. Next week i head out again and will be traveling with 2 people and I already predict that the restaurant thing is gonna be difficult.

I just dont know what to do. if i quit and go back to my former career I will hate life and be miserable, but at least i will be able to maintain my diet. If I stay, I will have a shot at a real career with a lot of growth but my health might decline and ultimately make it impossible to even do my job.

Right now i keep my issues under wraps with my colleagues/boss and just tell them I like to eat healthy and dont like foods that are overly seasoned. But it just doesnt sink in. I feel like saying to my boss "listen you fat f uck, stop suggesting waffle house whenever lunch rolls around - i cant eat that s hit= pay the f uck attention to my needs" but instead he keeps saying that im too thin and that he needs to fatten me up. The man takes pride in being obese and will order a slab of ribs with a milkshake and cheesecake for dessert- i kid you not.

I could use some good advice please. thanks

[JNBunnie1]

Dude, you get sick when you eat gluten. you get better when you don't. What more proof do you need that you're gluten intolerant? Where's the mystery here?

[Karli]

I had the enterolab stool test for anti-gluten antibodies and it was slightly elevated (think it was 21 with 10 being the cuttoff for negative) , but i didnt have the other confirmatory tests so im still not 100 % certain, but i do feel better w/o eating gluten. I guess ive been too laid back about the whole thing and still order food that might have gluten in it..probly because if im exposed to a small amount i dont really experience any symptoms and still take the "living my life" attitude. I am going to try to be more strict and am going for some followup testing this week to see if i can get a more accurate diagnosis.

Jason you need an accurate diagnosis and once you have a positive diagnosis... you need to consult with a dietitian that is very famialar with Celiac. First you must understand the disease from your comments I think you have not gotten all pertinent information ... and THEN you must share this information with family friends and co workers....Had you been diagnosised a few years ago ... your options would be much narrower. Every day there are more options in terms of finding gluten free food. So take this one proper step at a time.... I do not believe you will need to quit your job but you will need to be honest. ....

[dollamasgetceliac?]

Hey every body has something. Food Allergies are now an Epidemic check the Food and Allergy And Anaphylactic network FAAN for short. Officialy you are not allowed to be discriminated against due to a diseas.

Also Crohn's diseas is known to be the young persons diseas meaning even kids can get it and you are lucky if you have a diagnosis. but not everyone is lucky, I believe that if your boss likes you he will keep you, but if he does not he will find an excuse, whatever it is.

So really I do not have any advise regarding your job, but your health is more important. If you get a good GI doc and a correct diagnosis, try to go to the mayo clinic.com and do a symptom checker then see your doc. That way when He or She is saying stuff like Colitus, Food Allergies you can understand what they are talking about , I am always worried when they sau IBS that is probably true because if you have any kind of intestinal disease I am sure you have IBS ( Intestinal Bowel Syndrom) is in MY OPINION AND I AM NOT A DOCTOR is just a way of saying you have a nervouse stomach , well I bet you do if you have Celiacs or Any other disease.

I hope this helps.