More about what celiac means to me some questions and answers given

So, I wanted to comment more on what celiac means to me and why I choose the new lifestyle I now lead. You can also find more blogs in my blog list that talk about my journey with celiac disease. 

If you had tried to tell me back before the year 2019 that I would be avoiding eating anything with gluten especially like Krispy Kreme doughnuts, homemade rolls, McDonalds chicken nuggets. and so much more, then I would have told you that you are crazy. But little did I know what was in my future. 

Did you want to start eating gluten free? 

Well, not really. But I chose to help myself heal. 

So, imagine for a moment, that you have been told that you have cancer. But there is a glimmer of hope, that even though there is no cure for it, there are things to help you with it. Would you say oh never mind I am just going to keep on doing what I was doing and just hope I live to see all of my grandchildren grown with kids of their own. Or would you want to do what it takes to help yourself? Which path would you take? 

And if you are saying to yourself about right now, how can she compare cancer to celiac disease? Because celiac disease gives you a higher risk of developing cancer, that is why. 

So, now imagine that you have been diagnosed with cancer and you have decided to do what it takes to help yourself through it. But then I come along and discourage you by saying to you, oh why do you want to avoid certain things or why take certain medications or treatments, or if I was to say, not taking what you need isn't going to hurt you much, if you just miss one every now again. Or by not avoiding certain things isn't going to hurt you if you do just this once. Wouldn't you think that it was selfish of me to say those things to you and try to discourage you? 

Let's go even further and say there were certain foods to avoid that would aid in helping you heal from your cancer, and you decided to avoid those foods to help yourself, but I was constantly teasing you or nagging you about it or telling you well, having a little bit isn't going to hurt you or why don't you even eat those foods, they are tasteless or taste bad.... how can you stand it? 

That is the same situation that I have faced many times with the people around me who are ignorant to the fact of what celiac disease is and what it takes to help yourself. celiac disease is non curable just like cancer is and in fact if you ignore helping yourself and do not try to help yourself heal from celiac disease then it can indeed cause cancer. 

There have been numerous amounts of people who think it's crazy that I choose to not eat gluten. But, if I continue to eat gluten, then I am making the decision not to help myself. Because if I continue to consume foods with gluten in them then I am opening myself back up to damage of my small intestines. I would like to keep my intestines, thank you very much. And I do not want to purposely cause issues after issues and possible cancer later down the road if I can help it. I want to help myself. 

Is gluten free food tasteless, or does it taste bad? 

Well, I will have to let each of you be the judge of that. But if you like a nice juicy steak, or a chicken breast on the grill or some pork chops thrown in the air fryer with your favorite cut up veggies on the side. And some nice fresh fruit in the morning or for a snack, then you may want to avoid all of those if you think that gluten free is tasteless because all meats, vegetables and fruits are naturally gluten free. So instead grab you a boxed or prepackaged meal or anything processed with wheat flour thrown in, and you should be able to get your gluten fix that way. And don't get me wrong. I wish that I could still indulge in some of the things that I used to be able to eat but I quickly remind myself that I do not want to feel the way I did before I started avoiding those foods that my small intestines could not digest. 

So, now let me list all of the things that this wonderful disease has caused me before I even realized what celiac disease was and what was going on with me. And let me add that before I was diagnosed, yes, I finally reached that point that I just wanted feel better and was tired of the way I felt and wondered what in the world was making me feel the way I did other than old age, that I was trying to blame it on. 

 After being diagnosed and starting my healing journey, I discovered some other issues I was dealing with but upon further investigation I found out that it all possibly lead back to celiac disease. Celiac can cause so many different things or it may not cause anything at all. It is an auto immune disease and can cause other auto immune diseases. It can be different for each individual. some of the things that I was also diagnosed with were, 

Fatty Liver Disease

Dermatitis Herpetiformis (Itchy skin rash) that was misdiagnosed as eczema. 

Anemia

Short stature (Which I am not too short, but I am not too tall either....haha

Brain Fog

Gall Bladder Issues

Pale Skin

Thinning hair

Endometriosis

Gerd

Heartburn

Peripheral Neuropathy 

Hypokalemia

Hypercholesterolemia 

These are not symptoms of celiac, they are just conditions that I have dealt with along with celiac and can be caused from it or possibly be linked to it. Symptoms of celiac can be too many to list. 

And I also deal with:

Diabetes 2

Hypertension (But not as much now) 

But with the diet change I have gotten rid of all of the symptoms I was having to bother me. The only one that I still deal with is heartburn. 

The other main and almost daily symptoms that I showed before going gluten free were: 

Diarrhea (loose stools) 

Nausea

Abdominal Pain

Vomiting

Heartburn

Gerd

Bloating

Fluctuance

So please think before you speak and if you see anyone trying to help themselves to heal from whatever disease they suffer from please do not mock them or make fun of their lifestyle choices to better themselves and please just be thankful that you do not have to deal with one of these dreadful diseases. Please be more compassionate and encouraging or don't say anything at all. Because it could be you having to go through this. 

If you think that you may suffer from this disease or any disease, please talk to your doctor about it. The best way to get started is to have your dr. check you to see if you carry the celiac gene. If you do, then of course you are at risk of developing celiac disease and if you leave it to go untreated then you are at high risk of developing cancer from it. 

Thank you for reading my blog and if you would like to read more, please visit my site to see more. 

mygloriousjourney.blogspot.com 

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