Wish I Did Things Differently

[jasonD2]

Everything that caused my problems today started with a bad relationship 6 yrs ago. Had a prostate infection and was on a 5 month course of antibiotics...then contracted Giardia..became lactose intolerant and developed IBS. Now i have multiple food allergies & chronic constipation. I spent a fortune on naturopathic doctors, acupuncture, supplements, allergy elimination and GI docs .

What frustrates me the most is I had the power to take care of myself back then but didnt know any better so i just kept eating everything and gradually over the past few years the problems got worse and worse. If I went on an elimination diet right after the giardia i couldve prevented all this from happening, but I didnt and now i'm paying the price and will never feel normal again.

its still hard to believe this happened to me and as unhealthy and immature as it may seem, I still blame it all on this relationship. i feel like if i never met her i'd be my old self now...having a bowl of raisan bran with real milk and going to bed happy

[ravenwoodglass]

Everything that caused my problems today started with a bad relationship 6 yrs ago. Had a prostate infection and was on a 5 month course of antibiotics...then contracted Giardia..became lactose intolerant and developed IBS. Now i have multiple food allergies & chronic constipation. I spent a fortune on naturopathic doctors, acupuncture, supplements, allergy elimination and GI docs .

What frustrates me the most is I had the power to take care of myself back then but didnt know any better so i just kept eating everything and gradually over the past few years the problems got worse and worse. If I went on an elimination diet right after the giardia i couldve prevented all this from happening, but I didnt and now i'm paying the price and will never feel normal again.

its still hard to believe this happened to me and as unhealthy and immature as it may seem, I still blame it all on this relationship. i feel like if i never met her i'd be my old self now...having a bowl of raisan bran with real milk and going to bed happy

We all can look back and wish the event or illness that triggered our celiac had been avoided. But that is not possible and if this trigger had not occured then another one would have shown up down the line. Most likely the stress of the prostrate infection combined with the Giardia and the resulting long term antibiotic use was the trigger. You can't look backward you have to look ahead. You now know about gluten and you have the opportunity to live a full and much healthier life. Don't forget you are still you, you will recover but it does take time. Playing the blame game isn't going to help and as I have had to tell myself over and over in my life- If someone hurts you badly and you don't let it go then they will be able to continue to hurt you over and over again. Try to find ways to stop thinking about her, when your mind travels in that direction purposely redirect those thoughts to something else. She may have been standing at the head of the path to your celiac trigger but there were other things down that path that were likely mcuh stronger contributers, not the least of which is your own genetics. You might find it helpful to consult a counselor if you cant pull out of this, they can show you ways to cope and help you come through the other side knowing yourself and better able to handle the things you can't change.

[jasonD2]

thanks- don't know if I have celiac for sure but the culmination of stress and everything else overburdened my system and caused the problems. its hard but im trying to get over her

[pandaman]

Im in the same boat my stress over work and my ex gave me such headaches all culminlated to me developing gluten intolerance. Its certainly stressful and I wonder if I am ever going to heal - 1 1/2 monthes gluten free then my mom left a somthing in my fridge which I ate and glutened me again...

But without a positive outlook this condition will get the best of you- just do tons of research, keep a food diary, learn to cook. On the bright side I would of never learned to cook for myself and eat healthy.

[msmini14]

Jason, it is unfortunate that you feel this way and I wish the best of luck to you. I understand that you are stressed out etc and sometimes it is easier to blame others for what you have been going through.

When Celiac triggered in me, I was in a very very stressful relationship and I got food poisoing when I ate out.. was never the same after that. I hated the the place that made me sick, all I could think of was if I didnt eat there I would be ok.

Well that isnt the case, if you have Celiac there is nothing you can do. I accept this now and I am doing great. When I did more research I figured out I have always had this, just didnt have noticable symptoms until last year. I was always very irritable, depressed, migraines as a child, up and down, I was a wild child. Please understand that every teenager will have problems, but I was horrible!

I am sorry you feel this way. Do you plan on getting tested for Celiac? I think you should, so you know what is going on with your body.

Everything happens for a reason, thats what I tell myself lol. It will get better, you just have to come to terms and accept it. It is not the end of the world, all of us here can promise you that. It is a life style change and you will get used to it if you choose to do so.

[jasonD2]

Thanks Jennifer!

I had the Celiac test back in 02 right after I got sick and it was negative. This past year i got the genetic test and found out I have one of the genes. I don't plan on getting tested cause I dont wanna eat gluten for a month (or longer) and make myself sick again. I'm just gonna do the best I can to avoid gluten, but its tough cause I travel a lot and eat out a lot. I've become very knowledgeable on where to eat so its not that bad, but when I travel with people it gets tricky. I dont have the classic celiac symptoms when i eat gluten, but all I know is I'm better w/o it. My great grandmother had colon cancer, my grandmother died from an undiagnosed stomach problem and my mother has diverticulosis and IBS, so whatever I have is definitely in the family although I seem to have the most dietary restrictions. My mother is stubborn and wont get tested and says it doesnt run in our family and that she always gets colonscopies and is fine. My cousin has IBS and refuses to get tested as well. So I kinda feel isolated by my own family but deep down I know I'm doing whats right for me

[sbj]

Jason - bear with me - some sincere advice.

I notice that you write about an interesting family history:

"My great grandmother had colon cancer, my grandmother died from an undiagnosed stomach problem and my mother has diverticulosis and IBS, so whatever I have is definitely in the family ... My mother is stubborn and wont get tested ... My cousin has IBS and refuses to get tested as well....deep down I know I'm doing whats right for me."

My grandfather had some sort of cancer (I never knew what), my uncle had colon cancer, my father had kidney cancer, my cousin has some skin cancers, my brother died from cancer. We knew something was going on but we didn't know what. Recently my cousin's dermatologist put two and two together and had him tested for Lynch Syndrome (also known as hereditary non polyposis colorectal cancer). He has it - a genetic predisposition to cancer. He has a 90% chance of getting colon cancer before he hits 70 years old. I had the same genetic test that he took because I am related and I also have that gene. But now that we know we can do annual colonoscopies to check for problems before they turn into something really bad.

What I am saying is that you should collect your family's medical history and present it to your doctor. There may be a genetic factor at work - and it might be something different than a tendency towards IBS - it could be a genetic predisposition towards cancer - especially if your grandmother's undefined stomach problem was stomach cancer. I urge you to make your doctor aware of your family history and to track it very carefully on both your mother's and father's side going back to your great grandparents if possible. Try to determine how old they were when they passed and the cause. It could save your life.

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

Jason,

I'm so sorry that you had to go through so many stressful things. Like everyone mentioned before, one or more of these stressful times could have been the trigger. You already seem to have a handle on this. For me, the eating out is the toughest. You sound like you doing great with this. Keep reading the forum. There is so much info here, it's unbelievable. Also, more and more restaurants, even if they don't have a gluten-free menu, at least know what you are talking about.