You know I'm starting to feel better when......

You know I am starting to feel better when I:

-Fold clothes

-Unload and load the dishwasher

-Hand wash dishes

-Do some loads of laundry

-Help girls clean the bathroom

-Take 8 bins of clothes down stairs to the storage room

-Deep clean a corner of the kitchen counter....with vinegar and cleaner

-Dance with the kids

-Play soccer in the living room with a child

-Go to the store

-Blog(haha)


I love that feeling of accomplishment! I believe I deserve a treat, Rocky Road Ice Cream!!

Celebrations

As of yesterday, I have known about my disease for two weeks. For my two week "celebration" I felt up to actually doing a load of dishes and getting a load of laundry in. In reality though, doing chores has never been a favorite of mine(then again, who really loves to do chores) but I love doing them and feeling that sense of accomplishment afterward. I love surprising Geoff with some sort of cleaning project that I did that day. Of course, after doing those few chores, I needed a nap. Ahhhh, sleep. Now that is what I call an excellent way to celebrate. Haha!

The rest of the day consisted of swimming and playing games with family. Overall, it was a pretty good day. There were of course some moments of yuckiness but not as bad as a lot of days have been.

While the in-laws decided to order yummy, delicious Pizza Hut pizza, I decided to make a yummy, delicious chicken alfredo pasta.

Breakfast: Marshmallow Pebbles- They are Fruity Pebbles but without the fruity part and have added marshmallows. Not my favorite but when I am wanting my favorite, Lucky Charms, I guess this is sort of the next closest thing, sort of.....well, not really.

Lunch: Taquitos, baked w/ cheese on the top. Homemade guacamole- Yummy!
Dinner: Spinach Salad w/ poppyseed dressing. Strawberry yogurt.- Yummy! (all from Costco)

New Discoveries

I have come to notice lately that as the evening starts to come, my body definitely doesn't like me. So, now is probably a better time to write something. Last night was weird! I wasn't feeling very well and then my body got super, super hot yet I was shivering because I was cold. Now, typically, with a fever(at least in my experience) you go from one to the other, not both at the same time. It was rather strange.

I made Betty Crocker's Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies the other night. They were OK but you could tell that they were gluten free. The cookies were a bit more crunchy and a little on the gritty side. I will be very excited when I can find a recipe that Geoff will like. That will be hard to come by though, especially since he makes the best chocolate chip cookies. Never fear! I figure I have the rest of my life to find a good recipe. Heehee! ;)

The picture of the cupcake up top is from a bakery that I want to try. It isn't that far from me either, just a few cities away. The cupcake you see is a Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Orange Cupcake w/ Orange Buttercream Frosting. It looks soo good. As soon as I test some of their things, I will let you know how it is. The bakery is called Sweet Cake Bake Shop. I loved reading her story on her website too.

New found discovery: I can still eat one of my absolute favorite ice creams, Rocky Road!!!

Goal #1

YES, pizza is too a goal! I have decided that one of the first things I want to discover and conquer is an excellent pizza dough. Just the end of last year I found an extremely good homemade pizza dough. WOW! Soooo yummy! Thank goodness that ended up being one of my last meals before I found out about my new change in life. You can get the recipe here. Although, I do have to tell you, instead of the cheesy garlic concoction for the cheesy garlic bread, use Little Ceaser's Garlic Dipping Sauce. One container on the dough, mozzarella, parmesan, and then half a container of the sauce on top. MmMmmm!

With this being said, I WILL find an amazing pizza dough recipe. When I do, don't worry, you will hear about it.

Lunch: Pepperoni and olive Pizza nachos. (The Fam had Digiorno's, my Red one wanted mine...I told her she better eat hers......I needed to live vicariously through her on this)

Dinner: GF Fusilli Pasta w/ Butternut Squash sauce and Rotisserie Chicken. Green Beans. Very delicious.


Oh yeah, Happy Valentine's Day! I almost forgot!

Realization

Obviously this disease is on my mind quite frequently lately. I look things up, I check out recipes, I study it, I ponder it. I have learned a lot already and will just continue to learn until it is all just a natural part of my life.

I have read over and over again that I should not cheat on this diet and that I should be extremely cautious of cross-contamination. I have read why, but admittedly, it does seem rather silly and over the top at times. Tonight I was thinking about that and talking to Geoff about that. Yes, some people get affected by even the smallest little itty-bitty crumb of gluten and others don't at all. Now, by affected, I mean it makes them feel sick in one way or another. OK, so what if I cheat and accidentally get that little tiny brush of gluten? What if I do and I feel fine? It shouldn't matter then if it happens, should it? YES!!! It does matter! Why does it matter? That was my realization.

CELIAC DISEASE IS AN AUTO-IMMUNE DISORDER! It is not a food allergy. Let's just think about your immune system. What does your immune system do for your body? If your immune system becomes compromised by even a little bit, your body gets affected. You are more susceptible to getting sick, like colds, fevers, etc. Well realize, a weak immune system does not just make you more susceptible to those things but to other things as well. Some other auto-immune diseases can be Crohn's disease, MS, Graves Disease, etc. and guess what? You can have more than one. I have Grave's and Celiac. I have noticed that there are quite a few people that have Celiac Disease and also have something else, or more.

So, even though having a brush of gluten may not affect me to the point that I notice it, my body will notice it. My immune system will notice it(yes, even the crumb) and will weaken and could potentially lead to other things. One of the biggest things it could lead to would be Lymphoma, yes, Cancer. Oh, and Cancer is not an uncommon thing in my family.

After giving birth to my baby, Geoff told me that there were a few times he thought he was going to be a single dad. Do you think that didn't scare me? It really put things in a new light for me.

You decide, what would you do? Would you cheat? Would you be a little lazy in the cross-contamination area? I can tell you right now, I want to watch my children grow up. I want to live a long and happy life with Geoff. The fact that my husband is admitting to me that he was worried about that........frankly, that scares me.

Withdrawals

I learned something last night. I know, about time huh?! ;) I was really starting to wonder if how I was feeling has had something to do with going off gluten. Why not look it up? It sounds to me that having gluten "withdrawals" is pretty common. That means my headaches, muscle pains, stomach pains(bloating, sharp pains, etc), being extra tired, being overly hungry, dizzy, light-headed, weak, etc are just my bodies way of having "withdrawals".

An article from www.LiveStrong.com states:

Withdrawal

Consumption of gluten triggers production of exorphins, which are opiate chemicals with similar results as endorphins---promoting feelings of calm. Pamela Compart and Dana Laake explain how in some people, gluten and/or casein can mimic opiates, such as morphine and heroin. When these foods are removed, intense cravings and even drug withdrawal-like symptoms can result. According to Julia Ross in the "Diet Cure," "going without one or more of the big-three allergy foods could land you in an unbearable withdrawal state, causing your body to start screaming like any addict's body does without its drugs...Even one allergy-addiction can easily become a nightmare of cravings, overeating, weight gain, mood swings, and guilt."

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/322978-symptoms-of-gluten-free-detox/#ixzz1m3cFpcbx



I ended up calling my Doctor's office the other day when I was getting my excruciatingly sharp abdominal pain. I wanted to talk with him because in my mind, I thought that since I had been on the diet for a few days I shouldn't be getting those pains, right? I got a call back the next day and my Doctor said that it can actually take about 6 weeks until I start noticing a difference. It also sounds like it will get worse before it gets better. Yay for me!!

Breakfast: GF Cinnamon Chex
Lunch: Baked potatoes w/ butter, cheese, and green onions.
Dinner: Bratwurst wrapped in cheese and broccoli.

It is so nice to see that there are still a lot of things I can eat that are the same as before.


P.S. Not sure why it is posting so funky

The Why

I came across this blog the other day. Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom. So far, I am really enjoying reading through it. I would recommend it if anyone wants or needs to look at more info.

I have to say, I do not, at all, look at this disease as being "the worst disease out there". For me, writing this blog, is just that....for me. It is a place that I feel is an outlet. If others read it, great. If not, great. Even though this is not "the worst disease out there" it still doesn't make it easy. Thankfully I am learning that there really are a lot of things that I can still have that I was eating before.

Today has been a lot better of a day compared to these last few. I still am feeling sick in the stomach and there were still some times that I was getting really light-headed. Who knows though if those things are from this or from a bug going around or.....still stress.

I did find a support group that meets once a month. I found it with the help of someone. (Which by the way, thank you everyone for the help and support you have all given. I don't know if you truly understand how much that means to me.) I am rather excited to go to this support group and learn many things and especially to meet other people that are going through this.

Here is a fun article from Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom about cheating with this diet. It was a good read and put some things into perspective.


Breakfast: Cinnamon Chex- GF and yummy!
Lunch: Spaghetti w/sauce and green beans- GF corn noodles. Good!
Dinner: Grilled Tilapia and Peas- Delish and no need for special GF products there.

GF pretzels are pretty good. Thank goodness for finding yummy snacks that are actually GF.

Day 3

I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on my disease today. I have been feeling yuck! Since I started this diet(that makes it sound like it was forever ago) I have had a continuous headache and my stomach has been yucky. The stomach yuckiness may not be part of the switch in diet because some of the family has had rumbly tummies too. I do think the headaches have been from it though. It could be my body getting used to the fact that I am not putting all the carbs in it like I was before or, like my sister said, I am stressed. What?! Me? Stressed? Never!!

My rumbly tummy has seemed to be a bit more than the families though. Ok, immune system is down so maybe that is part of it but I had an episode today of my excruciatingly sharp abdominal pain that brought me into the ER a few weeks that even led to the discovery of my Celiac Disease. I was reading today about my disease and it did say that about 70% of the people with this disease will start feeling better at about 2 weeks into the diet. It may just take some time.

Breakfast: Cinnamon and Raisin Granola- It was o.k. Nothing great. Would rather have non-GF
Lunch: Nachos- YUMMY! Nothing special about those, just everything I could have before.
Dinner: Rotisserie Chicken, Rice, and Edamames.- Good! No special GF items here.

The Disease

Wow! I was just diagnosed yesterday with Celiac Disease. I have to say, this is going to be hard. I have so many emotions running through my body right now. When I was being tested for this disease, I honestly did not think that I had it. I didn't think that my symptoms completely fell in line for this disease. Apparently, I didn't do much studying up on it. The symptoms for this can be so varied and soo completely different for people.

I missed a call from my Doctor(he is amazing by the way). His name is Dr. Doxey. I have been very impressed with him. Anyway, so the call was actually from him. It wasn't a nurse or secretary but from him. Uh Oh! That can't be good. Well, maybe good in the sense that I know what is wrong with me BUT I truly did not want this disease. I guess in the line of things, I can't pick and choose diseases, can I?

I called my Doctor back, and this time did talk to a nurse or secretary or whoever it was. Dr. Doxey wasn't available at that moment. She read his letter to me and said she would be mailing it out with a packet of info. It didn't really affect me too much at that moment. My first thoughts were "Divide and Conquer". I had decided right then to just accept it and move forward. So much easier said than done.

Geoff didn't believe it. He couldn't quite understand how I could have this disease(oh, which by the way is pretty much a gluten intolerance) especially since I wasn't getting sick every time I had gluten. There were so many questions. So I decided that I would call Dr. Doxey and make sure I talked to him. We talked for about 10-15 minutes. Can you believe that a Doctor would actually take his time and talk to me for that long?? Again, impressed. There were even times that I was ready to end the conversation and then he would think of something else and address it. It was really nice. Now, Geoff and I are in the acceptance stage.....as hard as that is and will be still.

OK, now this next bit is VERY important to know!!! A lot of people do not understand Celiac Disease therefore, if they are not the one dealing with it, they may not be as supportive about it. Please, please, if you will and are close to me, please read into it and understand it. For my sake, it would mean a lot. I feel rather alone in this and have so many mixed emotions with it that I truly need the support and understanding. Please read about Cross-contamination and also try to understand why I need to be on a strict Gluten-Free diet.

Thank you, thank you! I have started this blog so I can have an outlet. Basically it would be a way for me to note my frustrations and triumphs, learning and trials.