100 (or More) Things To Do When You Are Glutened

[Guest BERNESES]

I'll start:

1. Take a nap

2. Pet your pets or borrow one

3. Call a friend who will listen to you (spread out the wealth)

4. Watch some comedy ( I LOVE John Stewart's Daily Show- so irreverent)

5. Watch Sex and the City

6. Look in the mirror and tell yourself it will pass.

7. Come to this site and vent.

8. Read a magazine you'd never really read (like the National Enquirer)

9. Draft a letter to a company or place you are really grateful too because they either have gluten-free products or labels that won't fool you (mail it later when you have the energy)

10. Make a list of 10 things you are really grateful for.

Who's up next? Thanks, Beverly

[Rachel--24]

11. Have a really good cry

12. Come to this message board

13. Look over my old journals to remember how bad I *was* compared to now.

14. Do some yard work

15. Take a hot bath

16. Go to the sauna

17. Take my dog for a walk

18. Sleep...sleep...sleep (oh was that already mentioned?)

19. Read a good magazine (scrapbooking or People)

20. Listen to music

[burdee]

I can add a few more ideas:

21. Make a pot of really strong herbal peppermint tea and DRINK IT!

22. Do yoga positions which focus on abdominal area.

23. Put on really loose, comfortable, but attractive, clothes.

24. Drink warm water or herbal tea (besides peppermint) continuously.

25. Ask a family member, housemate or spouse to give you a hug.

26. Vent your feelings in an email to an understanding celiac friend.

27. Watch Funniest Animal Videos.

28. Mentally trace the source of your contamination and vow to avoid (or substitute for) that food or cross contamination incident in your own kitchen or restaurant where you were 'glutened'.

29. Take a hot shower and focus the water stream on the painful area.

30. When/if you feel hungry, ask your stomach what would feel really comfortable and easy to digest and then only eat/drink enough to satisfy hunger.

[mandigirl1]

31. Put a heating pad on your stomach.

32. Drink camomille tea.

33. Eat bland food like white rice or potato to "push down" the BM.

34. Vent to someone close to you about it.

35. Write down your feelings in a journal.

36. Have a friend or family member tell you jokes to make you laugh.

37. Play with your pet, if you have one.

38. Retrace back to what you ate and promise to eat healthy.

39. Lay in a fetal position on the bed/couch.

40. CRY!!!!!! Let it all out! You'll feel better!

[2old4]

I hope this edited okay, Mandigirl snuck one in on me while I was thinking, ha, ha!

41. Snuggle up on the couch with lots of pillows.

42. Call your Momma.

43. Drink some Coke, burp big!

44. Thank God we have a reaction so we know we're doing damage (some don't have this)

45. Tell yourself, this bloat will go away, I'm not this fat!

46. Remember, last year (or pre-gluten-free) this happened all the time.

47. Watch that cartoon with your child you haven't had time for yet.

48. Remind yourself, I need to take time like this when I'm not sick, to just relax.

49. Watch "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and laugh like hell!

50. And remember, you're not alone...Thanks Beverly

[mandigirl1]

Good ideas!!!!!

LOL about posting our blog at the same time!!!

[happygirl]

I don't have a whole ten to add as mine mainly consists of SLEEPING and....

51. Have your darling significant other give you a massage....it is the only thing that helps my muscle/bone pain temporarily. Even for those w/o the pain, hey, you are still getting a massage from your sweetie!

52. After you've called your mom, call your grandma! "Older" people can relate to the chronic pain and are so sweet and caring. Plus, you know you'll get an extra mention in her prayers that day, so that always helps!

[burdee]

Reading the suggestion about watching "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (I laugh just thinking about that one) reminded me of another funny movie which I saw BEFORE I learned I was celiac, but while I was continually tormented by loud, embarrassing gas. One especially fitting scene from "Hot Shots Part Deux" featured scuba divers who were trying to sneak underwater past a boat where enemy soldiers stood guard. Just when the divers were passing under the boat, the narrator says "And then it happened ..." and a whole bunch of bubbles float up to the surface from one of the divers. The scene makes it look like those were intestinal gas bubbles. You would expect that the enemy would discover the divers from the bubbles. However the next scene depicts all the enemy soldiers keeling over (fainting) and falling off the boat as the bubbles surface. So that takes care of the enemy and the divers go unnoticed. The first time I saw that scene, I laughed so hard I was literally rolling on the floor. I'll have to rent that movie the next time I suffer a contamination episode.

BURDEE

[Guest BERNESES]

Oh my God! That's awesome- I've got to SEE that! I did threaten to fart my husband out of the bed last night. I haven't been successful yet, but I've come darn close!

Wow! we're up to 50. That's awesome! Thanks everyone.

[Kenster61]

53) have some gluten free chicken soup .

[Guest BERNESES]

Oh yeah!

54. Go watch something you enjoy (have someone take you if you're too tired to get there). I went to a horse show this weekend and it cheered me up so much.

[burdee]

I noticed we got stuck at #54, so I thought I should add a few more to get this topic rolling again ...

55. As mentioned in my post, watch "Hot Shots Part Deux" for celiac humor.

56. Call a celiac friend who shares your SAME SYMPTOMS and ask her to 'talk you through the pain' (my best celiac friend makes me laugh during waves of dairy cramps).

57. Look through gourmet gluten-free cookbooks (like Karen Robertson's "Cooking Gluten Free") for ideas to cook when your appetite returns.

Anybody else have any different ideas? I want to print this topic out when we have 100 ideas, because I will facilitate a discussion at my next celiac support group meeting about 'coping with contamination, confusion and consternation'. We only need 43 more ideas ...

BURDEE

[Guest BERNESES]

Thanks Burdee! Good thinking.

58. Fart, fart, fart.

59. Call a friend who doesn't have Celiac's and makes you laugh. I talk to my friend Niki who also has an auto-immune disorder, and she refers to it as "Celeriac's" and we joke about how I wish it was a celery intolerance because I HATE celery.

60. Plan something fun for the first day you feel better.

61. Plan your dream vacation. When I want to escape my body, I go online and research all the places I want to travel in this life. last time, I planned my dream vacation to Paris and you know what, I just might do it.

62. Watch a sappy movie. I just watched "Shall we Dance?" with Richard Gere and JLo and I'll admit it, it made me happy.

63. If you're not too ill, do something nice for someone else.

64. If you can, get a pet- a fish, a cat, a dog. It gives you something to focus on besides yourself and fish are wonderful stress reducers.

65. Tell someone who has been supportive of you during this and tell them how much you appreciate their support.

[ponita]

66. Watch Meg Ryan in "French Kiss" have her "lactose intolerance" scene on the train with Kevin Kline. While she's eating the cheeses on the bread, I dying, then when she starts have spasms I'm crying but nothing compares to her walk afterwards, I've been there SO many times until I found out I too was Lactose intolerant.

67. Make something with your hands. I string jewelry and it's great for my mental attitude.

68. Read some of the old classics, such as Tom Sawyer or a Nancy Drew story.

What fun!

Melissa

[burdee]

The idea about getting a pet reminded me of a few more ...

69. Visit a pet store, even if you don't have time or money to have your own. I especially like whistling at the cockateils and dream of having one someday when I have more time and energy.

70. If you're feeling well enough to walk around, go to a local zoo. Nobody will notice when you pass gas, because there are so many animal smells already.

71. Clean out closets, box clothes to donate, transfer summer to winter storage, etc., if you feel too awful to go anywhere, but don't want to sit and stew.

72. Look online for a local celiac support group or consider starting one of your own. I decided to assume leadership of my local group (which was floundering after our previous leader resigned) when I was sick for a whole week, after cross contamination in my own kitchen.

BURDEE

[YankeeDB]

73. Take deep breaths, breathing in through your nose and blowing out gently and slowly through your mouth. Very soothing and eases pain.

74 Take Immodium if you absolutely cannot have any downtime.

75. Read a good book.

76. Listen to your favorite music.

78. Watch the news -- so many have it so much worse.

79. Indulge in your favorite gluten-free treat food.

80. Lie in a comfortable position and moan and groan.

[pogirl1786]

81.) Watch too many epsiodes of your favorite show on DVD.

82.) Call your friend who let's you know that it's totally okay to feel awful and cry to let it all out.

83.) Remember other times when you've been so sick and someone has done something nice for you to make you feel better.

84.) As has been mentioned many times- sleep!

85.) Put on your favorite hoodie sweatshirt and sweat pants.

86.) Walk slowly and focus on making it through the next minutes, instead of our usual fast-pace of thinking about things weeks in advance.

87.) Watch or listen to something that makes you laugh so hard you cry.

88.) Buy yourself some more sweat pants.

89.) Cuddle with your pets!

90.) Know that even though you feel absolutely horrible right now, and the pain doesn't seem like it will ever pass- that it will get better!

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

91. Take a hot bath with sweet smelling soaps to cover the deadly-smelling bubbles

92. Jump in a whirpool with a friend and don't tell them about the gluten incident (gee whiz, this whirpool stinks - haha)

93. Exercise, exercise, exercise -- get the bad stuff through the system and get your metabolism going

94. Healthy Dose of Pepto for the bad days...."the one that coats..."

95. Write the company that glutenized you a nasty letter/e-mail

96. Take a trip to Whole foods/Wild Oats/Henry's/Trader Joes to pick something out for later.

97. Massage your belly, Massage your belly, Massage your belly

98. Bake homemade gluten free Mac N Cheese

99. Make Homemade Ice Tea -- Yummy!

100. The last one has to be a good one --- Consumate your marriage or relationship -- Hey, its just like pizza -- even when its pretty bad, its still pretty good !! HAHA

[burdee]

WOW!!! Thanks everybody. Now I can share these 100 suggestions at my support group meeting in October. We really DO know how to get through those contamination episodes and even learn to prevent future ones!

BURDEE

[FaithInScienceToo]

Just wanted to add a reply to this...

Really, just to keep this post fresh, so am moving it back to the top of the list with my reply, since this is such a good one for the newbies to read.

[Also, am emailing this one to myself, for future reference ;-) ]

Thanks for all of the good ideas!

Gina

[Guest BERNESES]

Yeah!!!!! We did it! Nice work everyone!

[Nicolette]

How about...

Start a cross-stitch kit? The things are so damned complicated at times, it'll take your mind off of anything!

Nikki

[FaithInScienceToo]

Just moving this one back to the top again, since it is SUCH a good one for newbies to see... (hope that's OK with the site's Admin) -

Actually, maybe we can have a place where the site admins keeps these kinds of threads - the best ones for newbies? So, we don't have to re-generate the info over and over again....?

Just a thought -

Gina

[toxemicfrog]

just finished reading the 100....i sleep sleep sleep, watch vids and usually cos im so crook i go on ebay and look at all the pretty gems and dresses....window shopping from home and i can burp from the backside as much as i want cos its only my dog who smells it and she thinks its great anyway...heheheheeh...im sure she thinks it is channel au de canine hehehehehehehe.

great ways to cope though thanks...am just getting over (3 days off work) an accidental glutening from my own kitchen...am learning though.

have a great day

[Guest BERNESES]

i'm so glad we kept this going!