The 100% Positive Thread

[parmeisan]

Got something great to say about Celiac Disease that you want to shout off the rooftops?

Know someone who needed to be convinced to get tested and have some advice you gave them that helped?

Sure, we all know that getting a Celiac diagnosis, or even suspecting one, can be scary and frustrating. But there are good things too. Please share how your diagnosis has made you a happier person!

(Please keep this specifically to Celiac; you can start another thread about intolerances if you like but I'd really like this to be something that we can show to people to help give them motivation to get tested for celiac disease).

Thanks! I'll start:

---

> I have discovered that being hungry isn't supposed to hurt.

(I had always just assumed that pain was hunger.)

> I am feeling more motivated to do things, which in turn makes me feel better about myself.

> I've discovered that it's much easier to eat healthy than I ever imagined.

When you're forced to think about everything that goes into your mouth, it's easier not to eat those potato chips. Similarly, when you are forced to plan each meal in advance or risk not having anything in the house you can eat, it's easier to keep the house stocked with veggies and all that good stuff. I am starting to actually have a positive relationship with food.

> As a combination of all of the above, I have lost 5 pounds in less than a week.

[kareng]

Let's see:

I look 20 years younger

My boobs are more perky

My wrinkles are gone

Ok.....Maybe not but

I feel better & more perky!

More energy!

My blasted anemia that made me feel dizzy and I couldn't get enough oxygen to my brain is gone!

I have tried new foods I didn't know existed and like some of them!

I have a great excuse not to eat the rubber chicken at an awards banquet!

[ravenwoodglass]

I'm still alive.

[Adalaide]

It was a complete fluke that I was even tested for celiac. I'm not sure I would have accepted it if it didn't just happen while I was out like a light. It happens to be one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

I don't feel amazing exactly, but compared to a year ago I feel great.

I have enough energy to leave my house a few days a week and to be out of bed most days which is awesome!

I'm eating healthy (more or less) for the first time in my life and it feels pretty darn good.

[jerseyangel]

I'm still alive.

Thank goodness for that

For me, gone is the anemia that I had for years (despite supplements), tingling and numbness in my lower legs, face and arm, night sweats, constant nausea (when I worked outside the house I never ate breakfast because of it), chronic diarrhea, fatigue, brain fog , easy bruising, in the last 6 months before diagnosis unexplained weight loss. My gynecologist poo-poo'd the idea that my endometriosis was linked somehow but I wonder.

I lived with all that for 20 years--medical tests always came back normal so I managed to work around it thinking it was just me.

[bartfull]

I no longer eat the junk food full of chemicals that would have killed me in the long run whether I had celiac or not.

And I feel closer to my Mom even though she passed away several years ago. She had celiac, and now that I understand how badly she suffered I wish I could tell her. But she knows...

[psawyer]

I have not had a migraine in twelve years. That was a bonus!

[ndw3363]

Peter, I'm with you on the migraines! Only time I get them now is if I get accidentally glutened. Let's see, I'm healthier than I've ever been, I'm finally at a mostly normal weight and able to stay at it without much effort (I finally self diagnosed when I was losing weight very quickly and couldn't afford to lose another pound), I get compliments on my skin and hair all the time, I no longer have to live with bloating and gas all the time, blood sugar has stabilized. And ya know, I guess I don't bruise as easily as I used to either - didn't think of that until I saw someone else mention it!

[nvsmom]

Without trying I lost 15lbs in 2 months while still eating icecream a few times a week.

My belly is essentially GONE! I thought it was middle aged belly fat. lol

No more stomach aches every day.

No more migraines.

Bathroom trips aren't nearly as ...smelly.

[JNBunnie1]

I have a butt now!

[Sunny600]

I don't have abdominal pain anymore. After being subjected to a bunch of tests as a teenager because of it, my mom finally told me it was "normal" to have "aches and pains". Well, guess what? It's NOT normal!

Tilley

[lovegrov]

No DH, mouth blisters gone, and it was celiac disease, not non-Hodgkins lymphoma, causing my illness. And I quit smoking while I was ill.

richard

[LauraB0927]

No more acne, no more chest pains, no more acid-reflux - and best of all, I've been able to lose all that stubborn weight that wouldn't come off before!!!! 16 pounds down and a couple more to go!!!! I'm going to look great for my wedding next year!!!

[Darn210]

I don't have to worry (for my daughter's sake) what the side effects are on a lifetime's worth of medication . . . 'cause seriously, how do they really know what being on a medication for 80 years would do to you?

[Gfreeatx]

I love this thread!! Two years after my diagnosis:

I no longer pass out when I simply try to stand up.

I am free from my migraines, neuropathy and heart palpatations.

I have become an even better cook and eat healthier than I ever did before.

My recent biopsy shows I now have a normal small intestine when my original showed Marsh 4 destruction!!

[Bubba's Mom]

I don't have to scope out where the bathrooms are wherever I go!

[IrishHeart]

I'm still alive.

Me, too. (whew!)

[Persei V.]

I'm eating way healthier

Stomach is fine, I rarely feel bloated

I learned how to cook a handful of very delicious (and healthy) dishes

[psawyer]

I posted before about migraines, but here is another thing. I have not vomited after eating in twelve years. It was a common occurrence, sometimes after eating just a few bites.

[scaredblossom]

I feel pretty great!!! I haven't been sick except for when I have accidentally been glutened!!

[T.H.]

My son can get through the day without having a screaming fit.

My daughter is no longer so depressed that she can see nothing good about herself.

I have discovered that I don't actually dislike crowds or feel the need to isolate myself like I used to when I was sick all the time. Who knew that something I thought was 'just me' was actually gluten!

[bartfull]

I have saved a lot of money on toilet paper.

[IrishHeart]

I have saved a lot of money on toilet paper.

:lol:

[NGG]

My daughter and I both feel so much better, obviously, but the best thing to me is that my daughter is eating such a better variety of foods, and much healthier foods. She snacks on apples dipped in (natural) peanut butter now. No more crackers for every snack! I swear she ate nothing but crackers and bread before, but I saw her snacking on carrot sticks earlier too, and she said they tasted good. It's too bad she had to be forced to improve her diet due to this, but it is good that her diet has improved regardless. She'll be healther both for avoiding gluten, which makes her so sick, but she'll be healther on top of that because she's eating so well.

[scarlet-willow]

The gluten-free Banana-Nut muffins I made taste better than the old ones I used to make with wheat flour