Rough Week Celiac

I feel very well today! :)

Last week was horrific, I ate some vegetables that my mom had cooked in canned beef broth... they tasted good... but they made me sick. Why? Because the beef broth had MSG in it which is in itself bad, but then it is also an ingredient which has gluten in it (Mono Sodium Glutamate) and if you've read my blog you know that gluten makes me sick.

So Monday and Tuesday I was purely sick from the gluten (which is bad enough) Wednesday I go into the doctors (and mention the problem but doctors haven't a clue most of the time) she gives me the result of the blood test that I had done last week that show I am Anemic and deficient in Vitamin D (that's no surprise as it is winter here, hard to catch much sunlight).

Actually, I've been sick for a while... I think it's related to the GF pretzels that I was munching on, they are gluten free, but they lack fiber and are made with safflower oil which doesn't agree with me too much... plus my kids have made a lot of cookies (from scratch) lately and the flour bin was by the fruit basket...

OI this is hard sometimes... anyway... on Wednesday I took the Vitamin D supplement that the doctor prescribed (50,000 IU so you need a subscription) and then a multi-vitamin... and boy did I get weak really quick! It was terrible I was fainting, I couldn't walk very far, but I had to push on and get stuff done anyway.

Then Thursday I discovered that the Multi that I had taken had beets in it and I am terribly allergic to beets, so I went to the store and bought an Iron supplement, I checked it out the best that I could (I was still faint) but I didn't check it out well enough because when I took it I got worse! The next day I was struggling really bad, even then though I still pushed on because my life is so busy that I can't take a day off.

Friday night I decided I had better go into the hospital because I felt so weak and yucky. The thing is... I know more about what makes me sick than the doctor, he was listening to me, nodding his head and going uh, hu... uh, hu... I was trying to relate to him how serious this is and mentioned that I have had 14 miscarriages then he was like, WOW! Did they ever do any tests to see what the problem could be... I roll my eyes "yes!" and then explain to him how it is related to Celiacs disease (and they wouldn't consider it because I hadn't been officially diagnosed though I've had a test done through and independent lab). So he prescribes something to "Clear" me out... and sends me on my way. I WAS HAVING AN ALLERGIC REACTION! I mentioned the supplements but they discounted those as being something that could effect me... I've been effected by a lot of herbs so I take that seriously. This episode just confirms to me how pointless it is to consult doctors sometimes, they don't look for the root cause, they are trained in diagnoses but not in prevention so they lack the intuition to think beyond the obvious.

Anyway, I felt better Saturday (well, mostly) and I was about to take more Iron (after all things seemed serious with the anemia) and I found beets among the ingredients and I go OH.... that's it! Luckily I had bought another supplement, B-Vitamins, I checked them out and they were alright (no nasty ingredients) so I took some of those and they made me feel terrific!

Sunday, I was a lot better (though still slightly tired and shaken) and today I feel fantastic! So, that was a rough week but I got through it, with a lot of support from someone who cares about me a great deal... :)

It's all in your head...

I can't remember when I last posted about the disorder that I have called a "Gluten Sensitivity" and/or Celiacs disease which is diagnosed through a scope of the small intestine, something which I haven't had done so I am sticking to the label of "gluten intolerance/sensitivity."

This is an ongoing battle which for the most part I haven't known that I was fighting, all I knew growing up was that it was normal to feel bloated and gassy, be dizzy, have brain fog, anxieties, depression...

It wasn't until 2 or so years ago that I found out that I was affected by gluten, and that because I ate way too much whole wheat and bran products trying to become "healthy" and then went into anapaleptic shock and my health has been compromised ever since, though I have been able to think more clearly and I've had less depression.

To the point, over these past many months I've been going through periods of OK to not OK falling ill every few weeks or so (or less, every week) and then determined to handle things myself I keep going.

Well I've finally decided to see the doctor, it won't be until March 22nd and then it may be a conflict with my hoped for work (I've had a few interviews and something lined up through a temp agency... but I'm not sure if that is the way to go...).

So until then I guess I am stuck eating a very "clean" diet of fruits and veggies, seeds, nuts and meat...

The thing that has been most difficult for me is that from the time that I had a severe reaction to gluten until now my family has only somewhat taken my seriously. In the beginning they were openly hostile towards me feeling threatened that I wouldn't eat rolls, bread, or gravy anymore. Then my sister in law, who was having trouble with her daughter getting ill all of the time, took her off of gluten she saw a marked improvement. So now my mom has tried to accommodate me when we go up there for Sunday dinners but I am still falling ill and so something needs to change.

I just hate to have to strictly avoid eating the food that she prepares but I will because I can't live like this anymore... I just have to prepare my own food and eat that on Sunday, I hate it but that is how it has to be.

Anyhow, that's the difficulty I'm having, I was sick over the weekend, feeling a better now that I've been eating only fruits, veggies and coconut kefir...

I'm working on Job training until I hear back from the interviews that I had on Friday...

Trying to be optimistic, yet still take seriously what needs to be taken seriously...