Thanks to everyone who answered my first two questions about the biggest challenges living with celiac and your best tips for a quick recovery from gluten! It’s so great to see this community we’re creating and I know for me personally, it’s a huge help to realize I’m not alone!
Celiac disease awareness month is coming up in May, so I thought I would compile various answers from you and create different posts on a few topics relating to living with celiac disease.
I want YOU to share YOUR feelings about living with the disease… this way we can see we’re not alone!
The third question:
“Something positive that came out of my celiac diagnosis is _____.”
The obvious for everyone is most likely FEELING BETTER! But, how about other ways it has impacted your life for the better? When I first got diagnosed, I couldn’t begin to imagine anything positive about celiac other than feeling better… but surprisingly there are many positives for me! Last year I shared “10 Reasons I’m Grateful for Celiac Disease”, so I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
Your answers will be published in a blog post in May and will be anonymous, so if you’re uncomfortable leaving a comment here, please feel free to email me (kristina@msmodify.com).
I LOVE hearing from you and I know that your responses truly help others living with celiac!
Thanks for your help!
xo,
Kristina
I listen more to what my body is trying to tell me. If I eat something that disagrees with me, I don’t eat it again. Not being able to eat gluten has also made it easier not to ingest other things that I can’t have. Starches and most grains are hard on my system so I don’t eat them very often anymore. One of the feeds I subscribe to had a post about being diagnosed with gastroparesis. I was stunned to see that she and I had the same symptoms. I’d never heard of it before, but I did some online research and went to my doctor. She referred me to a gastroenterologist, I had a biopsy that confirmed it, and a few other things, so I had to totally change the way I eat, again. Having gluten and dairy problems and handling that, gave me the confidence and the tools to deal with this. If not for celiac and paleo bloggers, I would not have great friends and great, helpful advice. Not to mention the great recipes. 🙂 Now if someone could only tell me how to manage two conditions with dietary guidelines that contradict each other. How the heck do I severely restrict fiber intake and increase it at the same time?The doctor was no help at all, as you may have guessed. He told me to read the guidelines he had given me. I told him they contradicted each other, and he said to read and follow them anyway. What a great source of unintended humor doctors are! My solution has been to not eat fiber every day. That seems to be working. Why are doctors so awful with digestive problems? I think they need actual classes about what people can and can’t eat. Most of them don’t seem to know. So again, I thank you and all the bloggers out there who get us though post diagnosis and teach us what we need to know to thrive and survive. Your help and support are invaluable.
I agree that I listen to my body more now too! Thanks for the kind words, I’m so happy to share this journey with you! 🙂
The biggest positive for me is that as soon as I was diagnosed (& I wasn’t properly diagnosed until age 40) I knew what was wrong with my son. He’d had digestive issues since infanthood & had stopped growing & doctors continued to brush us off. Thankfully my son won’t have to suffer & endure the same fate I did.
I’ve heard this same scenario from a few people! I’m so glad your son didn’t have to suffer his whole life without answers!
I was diagnosed with Celiac at 18, a few months before leaving home for college. After living with the pain and discomfort of Celiac for almost two years at that point, I was honestly just not in a good place. I felt sick all the time, so I ate whatever I wanted to try and feel better (mostly ice cream, if we’re being honest). I was gaining weight and losing the motivation to fix my issues. I was always in a bad mood, and had lost friends, my boyfriend, and myself along the way. I didn’t even care about going to college anymore.
Finding out I had Celiac forced me to focus on myself without guilt. I found a passion for cooking gluten free meals, and spent the last few months before college eating well and enjoying this new hobby. When I left for school, I was in a much better place. I lost weight and was happy with my body, I’d found motivation again to improve my circumstances, and I’d had the opportunity to listen to myself and love myself. It’s hard to explain, but there is something so therapeutic about just knowing yourself, and I think that Celiac facilitated my own journey of self-love. It’s an annoying disease, but in the end I’m actually glad that I have it. I’m not me without Celiac!
Thank you so much for sharing Erynn! I agree, as annoying as it is.. I’m not me without celiac!