Celiac Disease Causes Social and Dating Anxiety, Lowers Quality of Life

44 minutes ago, Guest Laura said:

 Now a days however, people not in recognition of the disorder and personally know of a friend or family member with the condition.

Guest Laura, you might want to edit this sentence as grammatically it doesn't communicate. Looks like you left something out or inadvertently added "and" to disrupt the thought. Normally, I would send a personal message but that tool isn't available with guests on the forum.

I experienced the isolation and social implications mostly in the first year after diagnosis. Learning how to manage my diet made it easier. I became a phenomenal gluten free cook and baker!
 

Socializing and dating weren’t an issue for the most part. I encouraged non-food related activities and cooked for dates which was a winner! 
 

My closest friends are all gluten intolerant or have celiac disease, so it’s a non-issue. My husband follows my diet at home and passes up food opportunities to support me.

My husband wasn't diagnosed until he was 60 and his kidneys were failing. Not long after he had the diagnose confirmed by 23&Me, we all took the test, not only did he have a high propensity for Celiac, so did our daughter and granddaughter, they all have the HLA-DQA1 (Dermatosis Herpetiformis associated with all the rashes they were all having). We went completely gluten-free, which 18 years ago, meant being very limited. Recent updates to 23&Me found other genes linked to Celiac which included me and the girls, HLA-DQB1, HLA-DQ2.5 & DQB8. Thankfully, there are a lot more tasty gluten-free products on the market today, but we have managed to survive fairly well by growing a large garden, taking our own food when we go out and not eating out other than at gluten-free restaurants (we found even the salad bars can be full of gluten cross-contamination - spoons get used in other dishes and many workers don't understand cross-contamination with cutting boards, mixing bowls, etc). I would recommend finding partners that if not Celiac, at least are willing to live gluten-free, as much as possible, or at least not kissing for a while after consuming anything that contains gluten and keeping any gluten foods totally separate from others.

I am Celiac and the only problem I’ve had in restaurants are the chefs who think gluten is only in bread. When I think the restaurant might have an issue, I order a salad with veggies/oil and vinegar.  If I attend a party - I quietly bring my own food. Usually with enough to share.

Imagine having to tell your date you host hookworms to deal with celiac disease!

I was diagnosed about 15 years ago but was so thrilled to be out of pain that I embraced being celiac. I never let it interfere with my social life. Every restaurant has a green salad and oil /vinegar. I’ve been a vegetarian since the age of 19 so that’s a double whammy! Not that it’s ideal; but I prefer not making a big deal.  And alcohol drinks? Plenty of those to chose from.  Often I’ll check a menu before hand and look what they have to offer that’s gluten-free- and nowadays everybody has something to offer us! 

3 hours ago, dixonpete said:

Imagine having to tell your date you host hookworms to deal with celiac disease!

OMG I don’t think I’d have the guts to mention HOOKWORMS!

I rather think of it as a conversation starter..

When my husband and me went to Lorain, OH, my husband's hometown, his friends wanted us to come over to eat lunch with them. My husband told them what I could eat and what I could not eat. Saturday came and we did not hear from the couple. I know we made it for that Saturday. I think they just didn't want to have to deal with my food allergies. The husband said "we thought it was the following Saturday." Yea, sure, they just didn't want to deal with my allergies. That's okay, I don't need them as friends because they are my husband's friends.