I am brand-new to a gluten-free lifestyle. I'm not new to the idea of it - 10 years ago as a student teacher I was impressed by a preschooler turning down a cupcake because she knew to ask whether it was gluten-free before eating it (and as it was only the 3rd day of school, us student teachers had not yet been made aware of her Celiac Disease). I have since met a couple of other people who have Celiac Disease, but I never dreamed it would hit me.
Then a few random things happened. One was getting my gallbladder out a few years back. After that, I noticed that I was having problems processing fatty foods, which my doctor said is normal since the gallbladder helps the body to process fatty foods. As time went on, things got worse. I thought it might be a dairy issue, but I then started to notice that eating just cheese did not bother me, but eating pizza and pretzels made me ill. Rather than get any testing done, I chose to do an elimination diet to check for myself.
November 1, 2012 I went gluten-free. I have had some problems with hunger (I usually eat a sub or other type of sandwich for lunch - without the bread I'm much less full) but overall I am feeling MUCH better. More energy, almost no GI issues. Today I decided to test it. I had a cheeseburger for lunch - with the bun. Within an hour I felt terrible. Tired as if I hadn't slept in a month, spent over an hour in the bathroom, gassy, feeling very nauseated. I had to miss Stitch & Bitch tonight because I was afraid to be that far from a bathroom (it's a 45 minute drive there & back).
I guess that answers that question. No more gluten for me - even a little bit. I'm now on the hunt for gluten-free recipes and ingredients that are affordable so that I can have the bread-type foods that I love without having to feel sick for several hours afterwards.
