Oh So Over It All

[Lincoln]

Hey everyone,

I haven't posted here for ages but I need to at least share my feelings with someone who might actually understand where I'm coming from.

I was diagnosed with gluten allergy like a year ago (after nearly dying) and at first it was easy, I thought once I had explained things to people they wouldn't ask me 538 random stupid questions about my intolerance's (which are the last fuc*ing thing in the whole world I would ever want to talk about) and half of them are "can you eat this, can you eat that" and people even ask me if I can eat specific brands of products as if to imply that I know every ingredient in them off the top of my fuc*ing head for hells sake. I no longer go anywhere or do anything involving food and refuse to go camping or on serious offroading trips (my two favourite past times) or anything like that with people for serious fear of cross contamination or just getting sick in the bush.

Last week I told my sister that she can't cut cheese on the same board she has bread on and when I asked her what she thought would happen she just snapped at me and said sarcastically "you'll die"..... Fu*kwit.

Also last night when I was not feeling well and had diarrhea my great Auntie decides to tell me "but you haven't eaten anything bad for you" like she would fuc*ing well know.

The worst part about all this I feel, is that it is not gluten or any other things I'm allergic/intolerant too that causes this, it is the fact that gluten and other things are used unnecessarily in a lot of products and that because of this factories that process no wheat still have cross contamination all over them and then get away with it because their products contain <20ppm gluten which still affects some of us a LOT!

Sorry about the length and rude words but I don't really care right now. Thanks for reading I guess

[eatmeat4good]

I'm with you...I just can't say it as well as you do.

I got CC from soemthing with no gluten in the ingredients but it was made on the same lines as wheat is processed. It sucked. I was so sick.

Thanks for posting. Raw and honest.

[Takala]

...."fu*kwit"

perfect.

Oh, just scrub the steering wheel and the grab handles, the stick shift and the roll cage down, pack the wet wipes,and get on with it !

[ravenwoodglass]

Sorry you are having such a hard time. I hate to hear you are giving up things you love. Maybe this link will give you a few safe options of complete to go meals you can take camping with you.

Open Original Shared Link

Or make up goodie bags with for sure safe stuff like Snyders pretzels, raisins, fresh fruit, cut up veggies etc for only your consumption. Then smack them if they even come close to your goodies.

It won't stop all the questions but at least while others are eating their jerky and chips you could maybe have something that looks and smells yummy to make them jealous.

Do make sure you haven't got other intolerances throwing a wrench in the works. I thought for a long time I was getting CC'd a lot when it was actually soy (and the lupine flour in so many European items) that I was reacting to. I just couldn't understand why so many gluten-free products were making me sick even when made in dedicated plants. It only took me about 3 years to figure that out. May not be the case for you but just in case I figured I would mention.

[GlutenDude]

Hang in there Lincoln. I think we all go through stretches like the one you're going through. It passes. I've been a celiac for five years and the first three years were hell. But it does get easier and before you know it, it becomes...normal. Yeah, it's a pain in the neck still and yeah I wish I didn't have celiac, but at the end of the day, there are worse things you could have.

Try to keep the focus on the positive and don't let everyone get to you. They don't know what we go through and nobody else can truly understand.

You'll be fine.

Gluten Dude

[Lincoln]

Thank you all for the replies, posting this really did ease my frustration ,

Eatmeat4good, I am guessing you live in America where there is no legal definition of gluten free. I am lucky in Australia in the way that to have those two magic words on the labeling it must contain "less than 20 parts per milliion" gluten (which still affects me a fair bit). America and all other countries needs this and something very much needs to be done.

Thanks for the link Ravenwoodglass, appreciated, but you are 100% correct as at the present time I seem to be developing more allergies/intolerances every month and have trouble knowing which of the foods I'm eating is making me sick, I usually have to test everything individually at least twice to know what's affecting me. This is the reason I am not doing the things I love right now. I pray it will be okay somewhere in the future. The latest intolerance's include fish and once again lactose.

GlutenDude you are so right about the fact people have far worse things than what I am experiencing, thanks for putting that back in perspective for me.

thank you all

[auzzi]

Australia's legal definition of gluten free is less than 3ppm gluten not 20ppm. This is the smallest amount that can be detected by current day scientific processes.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says that a product can't be "gluten free" if you can detect gluten in it .. If it is more than 3ppm, then no gluten-free label.

[Gemini]

Thank you all for the replies, posting this really did ease my frustration ,

Eatmeat4good, I am guessing you live in America where there is no legal definition of gluten free. I am lucky in Australia in the way that to have those two magic words on the labeling it must contain "less than 20 parts per milliion" gluten (which still affects me a fair bit). America and all other countries needs this and something very much needs to be done.

Thanks for the link Ravenwoodglass, appreciated, but you are 100% correct as at the present time I seem to be developing more allergies/intolerances every month and have trouble knowing which of the foods I'm eating is making me sick, I usually have to test everything individually at least twice to know what's affecting me. This is the reason I am not doing the things I love right now. I pray it will be okay somewhere in the future. The latest intolerance's include fish and once again lactose.

GlutenDude you are so right about the fact people have far worse things than what I am experiencing, thanks for putting that back in perspective for me.

thank you all

Just because there is no legal definition of gluten free in the States does not mean that all the gluten free products sold here are not safe to eat.

Most companies who provide these products do a very good job of it, otherwise diagnosed Celiacs in this country would not recover, including very sensitive me. Eating lots of processed foods is not healthy for anyone and just because you react does not mean it was to gluten.

We have many good companies who provide certified gluten free and they test. I would venture to guess that the amounts are where they are in Australia...around 3ppm. I recovered well on the gluten-free diet but my diet is mostly whole foods, with some treats thrown in. Once you get good at label reading, it is much easier to figure all this out. Considering 10 years ago no one heard of Celiac and all you could get for bread was rice crumb

garbage, we have made huge strides and the vast majority of gluten-free products are safe to eat for 99% of Celiacs. Those who react most likely have additional food intolerances or they haven't completely healed yet. After 7 years gluten-free, I can tolerate many more foods I could not at diagnosis. Had nothing to do with gluten!

[Lincoln]

<3ppm!! that is excellent, last time I checked it was 20ppm, also I am aware that the FDA states that they approve the 'gluten free' label provided it is not misleading or false (paraphrasing but pretty close),and that most companies strive to be responsible, but I still believe there should be a legal definition as we have here. Also I know that when my body has been attacked recently (auto immune response or just bad chemical reaction) my body will have trouble tolerating many foods (especially processed foods and complex sugars). I just have mass trouble processing or expressing my thoughts properly at the best of times (made even worse by gluten allergy but that's another issue altogether).

[auzzi]

I thought your inital post was a masterful expression of AU colloquial language, regardless of any "mind fog" ..

Sometimes it can take months for the symptoms to settle down. If you haven't already, eliminate dairy as it can go straigth through because the villi are in no shape to absorb it especially the fat-component ..