My Celiac Disease Story

Let's start with my birth. I was a premature baby, weighing in at roughly 4 pounds and 2 ounces. I was born at 7 months as opposed to 9. I was so small my mother used baby doll clothes to dress me at first. I had colic as a baby. I had a full head of hair too and that all fell out and I was left with a new small clump that my mother put bows in. I think the hair thing is relatively normal for babies. As I was growing up, I was a very small child. I had problems with my ears (always needed tubes) and the enamel on my teeth was non-existent. When my teeth first grew in, they were rotting away. My dentist saved them with caps.

People used to think my mother starved me to death. Up until I was 9 years old, when my menstrual started, I was very underweight. At this point, I started gaining weight faster than ever. By the time I was in 5th grade I had to be about 40 pounds overweight. And, by the time I was 16 I was about 60 pounds overweight. Now, here I am at 23 years old and I am roughly 80-90lbs overweight.

Throughout my childhood, and even to this day, my hair constantly falls out. I've had a strong immune system up until around 2003 and rarely got sick. Around this time I caught a flu of some type that put me out for two weeks. The doctors actually didn't lend it to the flu. They couldn't figure out what it was. My mother and I concluded that it was the West Nile virus that was going around as I had been bit by man mosquitoes (it was during the summer break of school.) I was out for at least 2 1/2 weeks. I spent that entire time on the couch, throwing up, with diarrhea, and massive muscular pain. Nothing has been the same since that time. My muscles have never completely healed and I remained pretty strong for the next couple of years but I am starting to see a drop in my health.

Back in 2008-2009 I discovered that I can not have beer. I drank beer on a hot night and I woke up with body chills, shooting body pain, general overall illness and fibromyalgia-like symptoms. In fact, I have been sensitive to touch since I was young. I get angry when people touch me certain ways because it hurts. I had drank beer throughout 2008 and 2009 and each time had the same reaction. I decided to not drink beer anymore but I hadn't thought about any wheat allergy, just a malt allergy. I have also had psychological problems since childhood. I mean early childhood! I was tested for ADHD and was positive. As I got older and gained weight it switched to ADD, and now to bipolar. I was seen for counseling for about 13 years. Nobody lended those symptoms to CD either.

In 2008 or so I met my now best friend Christina. She has Celiac disease and it honestly is one of the first times I'd ever heard of it and had it explained. I constantly tried to find foods (mainstream) that she could eat. I felt sorry for her not being able to eat whatever. Prior to meeting her, in about 2007, I went to the gym vigorously for a whole year and didn't lose any weight! In fact, I gained weight! So here I am at my current state. After meeting Christina I listed all of my symptoms from the weight gain, lack of energy, muscle weakness, weak enamel, bipolar, depression, the acid reflux, the ulcers, and the hietal hernia. Well, it wasn't until I went to the hospital and found out that I had the hernia that I decided to try a gf diet. The doctor did look at my small intestine for CD damage but didn't see any. But, that testing is only about 30% accurate if I am not mistaken.

After I had the diaphragm spasm on me due to the hernia, I knew it was time to go gluten-free. It was a tough battle but I gave it a trial. I took it on full-speed. So, after almost a year being off of gluten, if I eat it now, I throw up and get very sick to my stomach or have a major headache. I have seen improvements in my school-work and in my daily thinking and organization. My mood has improved a lot but unfortunately not all the way, I don't think that it will ever go away completely.

I don't need a doctors opinion to see that I need to be gluten-free. I feel FREE. I feel alive! So this is my journey so far. The one thing I hate the most is smelling wheat. I love the smell of bread, always have. (Never really cared for the taste.) But, I feel more in power now than ever. Now, I am batteling my prediabeties. Wish me luck world, wish me luck!

GF Lunch Idea: Leftover Chicken with a Salad

This was my dinner last night. I kept the chicken plain because I had a ton of it leftover. So, my lunch today is the leftover plain chicken with hot sauce to dip it in and a salad with motzarella cheese and a diet ginger ale. Leftovers are great for a GF diet because that means I don't have to cook twice. I am also having some grapes and a yogurt. For breakfast I had a banana and a few pieces of chocolate and some coffee. I wasn't feeling up to a big breakfast.

To make some super delicious gluten-free chicken tenders like above, cut boneless chicken breast into strips and dip them into egg. Dip the egg-covered chicken into a corn starch/gf flour blend mix (1/4 cup corn starch, 1/4 cup gf flour blend) and then deep fry it at 375 degrees. I have a cheap $10.00 Fry Daddy and it works wonders. Its great for making the egg drop soup too because it cooks the egg fast.

Starting a new trend: GF Lunch Ideas

Well, I can't be angry at my three stooges because if was only their nature. However, my African Soft Furred mice are no more. They suffered a purely ghastly holocaust via the claws and teeth of my furbutts. I have decided that the only fuzzy creatures I can own have to be in a larger status than mice size and in a much more tied-down, secure cage.

But, moving on, as I don't want to dwell on this ghastly event, is some news. I am being transferred from the medical company to the military police in the VDF. I also had to drop my math class as 5 classes was beginning to look like too much. I am still at 12 credit hours which is definitely full-time.

I am looking forward to this school semester but I am not looking forward to the moments taken away from time spent with my boyfriend. If we're lucky, our weekends will be free except for when I have drill.

I also am starting a new trend here on my blog; gluten free lunch ideas!

This is  my lunch today. It is leftover GF lasagna made with Tinkyada lasagna noodles, ricotta, lean hamburger meat, 1/2 fat motzarella cheese, and Rinaldi marina sauce. The salad is a spring mix with pepperjack cheese (I needed to use it), grape tomatoes, light caesar dressing by Ken's, and gluten-free salad topping I purchased from Martins. I forget the exact name of it. I am also drinking madagascar vanilla red tea with it.

On Tuesdays I also have to bring my dinner. I don't have a photo but my dinner is GF homemade brunswick stew with chicken and grapes.

**The gluten free lasagna was enjoyed by all three of the guys at my house: my cousin, my roomate (step father-like figure), and my boyfriend. I can't believe they gobbled it up!

Mainstream Hopping on the Bandwagon

Gluten-free cereal is nearly impossible to find. You can buy the specialty cereal at an average of $4.00 a box. That's expensive if you ask me! And, they don't come fortified with as many vitamins as the mainstream General Mills and Post cereals. The only gluten-free cereal line that was mainstream was Chex. Chex is okay but it's been nearly impossible for me to personally find the chocolate kind, and you have to add your own fruit if you want a fruity flavor. Certainly, that's a good healthy option. I usually add bananas. But, now, I can have my chocolately and fruity cereal again! Post has made Pebbles gluten-free. That is the fruity and the chocolate kind. They have no guaranteed the other two types yet. But, don't grab just any box! Make sure it says gluten-free in the upper righthand corner. There is definitely some old boxes floating around.