Does This Happen To Others, Or Am I Weirdo?

[VydorScope]

Latly when I see heavey gluten foods on tv or in store, my stomache hurst! LOL I know Im just wierdo, but any others just as wierd?

[skoki-mom]

LOL, no, I have the opposite problem! I start drooling and my stomach literally growls!

[sillyyak]

I feel sick when I see gluten filled foods and I cannot believe I ate so horribly! I went to a staff Xmas party the other night and everyone there was pigging out on cake. I did not miss it at all. I just told myself "They are all going to get really fat with clogged arteries". That made me feel better.

What is curious is how my friends feel "guilty" eating around me. They feel "bad" that I cannot eat what they are eating. I am enjoying them feeling "bad". It makes it easier for me to stick to the gluten-free diet and probably less psychologically painful.

[Nantzie]

I'm still needing to eat gluten for the biopsy, and I swear I have to force myself to do it. Every time I look in the cupboard, which is still full of what I used to enjoy eating, I get nauseous. I can just feel the nausea and other after-effects of it just by looking at it. So I'm there with ya.

I won't be surprised if my biopsy turns out negative anyway just because I seriously doubt I've been able to eat the "three slices of bread" equivalent of gluten.

It's amazing to me that once I figured out what the effects of gluten were on my digestion, body pain and moods, it all just looks gross.

Nancy

[RiceGuy]

I'm still needing to eat gluten for the biopsy, and I swear I have to force myself to do it. Every time I look in the cupboard, which is still full of what I used to enjoy eating, I get nauseous. I can just feel the nausea and other after-effects of it just by looking at it. So I'm there with ya.

I won't be surprised if my biopsy turns out negative anyway just because I seriously doubt I've been able to eat the "three slices of bread" equivalent of gluten.

It's amazing to me that once I figured out what the effects of gluten were on my digestion, body pain and moods, it all just looks gross.

Nancy

I'm curious to know why you are putting yourself through the pain to get the biopsy. I mean, it sounds like even if it comes out negative you'd be staying away from gluten anyway, right? Is it just to get an "official diagnosis"? Plus, with the unreliability, a negative wouldn't mean much. I guess I can understand the desire to have some sort of confirmation, but to me the improvement in health since being gluten-free is all I need. I'll take that result over anything a lab tells me. It's one bodily response vs another, but one certainly seems more obvious.

A lot of people express the same need to know, so I'm just trying to understand the point of view, and the logic being applied. Can you shed some light on this for us?

[nettiebeads]

I feel sick when I see gluten filled foods and I cannot believe I ate so horribly! I went to a staff Xmas party the other night and everyone there was pigging out on cake. I did not miss it at all. I just told myself "They are all going to get really fat with clogged arteries". That made me feel better.

What is curious is how my friends feel "guilty" eating around me. They feel "bad" that I cannot eat what they are eating. I am enjoying them feeling "bad". It makes it easier for me to stick to the gluten-free diet and probably less psychologically painful.

Good ole' negative association. Of course, for us it isn't hard. I look at that over-processed food and see wheat (BAD for me) hydrogenated oil, trans fats, sugar, more sugar and fat. Yum!. NOT! After having to be so careful about what I eat and preparing all of my meals, I'm much more aware of what is in the commercial stuff. I'll stick with this gluten-free lifestyle, thank you very much.

[VydorScope]

I'm curious to know why you are putting yourself through the pain to get the biopsy. I mean, it sounds like even if it comes out negative you'd be staying away from gluten anyway, right? Is it just to get an "official diagnosis"? Plus, with the unreliability, a negative wouldn't mean much. I guess I can understand the desire to have some sort of confirmation, but to me the improvement in health since being gluten-free is all I need. I'll take that result over anything a lab tells me. It's one bodily response vs another, but one certainly seems more obvious.

A lot of people express the same need to know, so I'm just trying to understand the point of view, and the logic being applied. Can you shed some light on this for us?

I can.

There are 2 reasons I see for this..

1) To eliminate the "what if its something else" nagging concern. Which COULD be real, and serius, or all in ones head. No way to know.

2) To get proper insurance coverage. For example without an "offical" dx of celiac disease, my ins company will not pay for the vitman screenings, the bone screenings, etc that should be done to anyone that has celiac disease discovered late in life.

There may be other reasons, but thats what drove me for so long.

[key]

I had borderline blood tests and i just tell people I have it(I was gluten-free for 5 weeks before the tests). If they think there is any question of whether you have it, then some people I swear think you made it up! WHy on this earth would anyone make this up. Anyway, I wouldn't go through eating the wheat for the biopsy to know. I felt too sick before. I can see though why someone would want an official diagnoses. It did take me about 3-4 good gluttening episodes after going gluten free to realize for sure I had a problem with it. Each time worse then the one before. SO if you had the positive result you wouldn't question whether you had it and gluten yourself and you wouldn't have to defend the fact that you have it. THis being said, my husband that is with me all the time can see a difference in me, supports me 100%. Number one he knows I smell better!! HA! I act better too. My GI feels that I have celiac disease, but that I wasn't eating wheat and that is why the tests were borderline. He even said that if a person didn't have a problem that their EMA(?) would be like zero and mine was 2points below abnormal and my IGg was way above normal. ANyway, I don't need to prove anything to anyone. Whatever makes me feel better is what I am going to do. My son that is 21 months also has celiac disease, so he needs some support!

As far as this question goes, I don't miss feeling sick and I ate healthy before really, but I miss whole wheat bread for sandwiches and some other things, but as far as greasy fast food, never ate it before and don't miss it.

Good luck with testing and hope you survive until the test.

Monica

[Nantzie]

Well Riceguy, that's a LOADED question. A big part of the reason is that my dad died of stomach cancer a year ago, and I really do want to make sure there's nothing going on in there that is more serious. My mom also died of breast cancer when she was 46. So my genetic makeup is like a minefield.

Another thing is that most of my family has gone off the freaking deep end and has been really cruel and unsupportive and have even ridiculed me about all of this. Rather than be reasonable and be thrilled that I'm taking my health seriously and doing everything I can to be healthy, they've done the exact opposite. Even one of my closest friends, who has known my family for forever, has said that if she wasn't seeing their behavior with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it. They are starting to come around, but then I'll hear something about them bad-mouthing me again. So, whatever. The psychology behind it is probably that they are really freaked out about my dad dying and are just not dealing with it well. So instead of being able to grieve my father in the year after his death, I've had to spend the year tip-toeing around their freaking feelings. Anyway...

But the biggest reason is kind of morbid, but it's also true. If I die, I want FAMILY HISTORY OF CELIAC to be in big, bold letters on my kids' medical charts, so that if or when they start having problems, the doctor knows to look for it. Because if I leave it up to my family, I can guarantee you that they'd tell my kids that I was a hypochondriac who was on some weird diet. I don't want my kids to suffer until they're 35 and hope they figure it out for themselves.

And I don't want to put up with the eye rolling every time I have to eat with them.

Nancy

[ianm]

I miss that junk like a great big gaping hole in the head. I don't crave it all. Watching people eat junk food is just too disgusting anymore. If people only knew, or cared about what it was doing to their bodies. The weirdos are the ones who eat gluten.

[Idahogirl]

I really wish I felt that way! The reason that the junk food and fast food is so popular is because it tastes SO GOOD! I don't know if all of the negative association in the world could change that for me! If only I craved rice and veggies. My brain knows that those foods are supposed to be "better for you", but my body says something different. I've never been a health food junkie, and could never picture myself as one. Rather than eating stuff that's better for me (boring and gross), I end up eating way too much of what I can have that tastes good (Cocoa Pebbles, Fritos, tacos, etc.). I miss variety!

Lisa

[ianm]

That junk USED TO taste good but now it just tastes gross. Now that my body is free from that poison I have learned to appreciate real food which tastes much better anyway.

[SammieMtz]

Hi all, my names Sammie- Im new on the board.. I was diagnosed about 6months ago and i thought it was dumb so I havent been followin a diet and now My condition is terrible. I get soo sick and i bloat. Im tired of it and im going to try to become gluten free..... any suggestions would be great... anyways on to the question.... right now at my stage i want the foods.lol but i try 2 make myself think badly of them so i dunno i guess im like Idahogirl- i love junk food.lol n its hard 2 switch but i have 2 make myself better. my doctor says im developing osteoporosis and im only 16..... if anyone can help id b grateful...thanx

[CeliaCruz]

I really wish I felt that way! The reason that the junk food and fast food is so popular is because it tastes SO GOOD! I don't know if all of the negative association in the world could change that for me! If only I craved rice and veggies. My brain knows that those foods are supposed to be "better for you", but my body says something different.

Word! For me, I KNOW that these foods are bad for me. Really really bad. Poinonous. 200x more chances of gastrointestinal cancer. Scar tissue in my intestines etc. But then I walk past a Cinnabons or a Subway Sandwich shop and that aroma calls to me like the Sirens to Odysseus. It's like being really really sexually attracted to someone who has a nasty venereal disease. I'm like, "I know it's not worth it...but it feels so RIGHT!!!!"

[jojoe72]

What a great topic. Just reading this today made me feel really good knowing there are other people feeling the same way I do. It really puts things into perspective by thinking of gluten foods as poisin. What seems to be helping me with the cravings is l-glutamine. The other thing that helps when the cravings get really unbearable is having a cigarette. I know it may be the worst of the 2 evils but at least when I have a smoke I don't get messed up for the next week.

[nikki-uk]

That junk USED TO taste good but now it just tastes gross. Now that my body is free from that poison I have learned to appreciate real food which tastes much better anyway.

Spot on!

Actually it's my husband who is the coeliac dx about 14 months ago.

Around 6 months ago I joined him in going gluten-free to support him.

Never thought I'd notice any difference-but wow,a lifelong condition of eczema cleared up in a week!

We all eat so much more better now-and it's only my husband's condition that's made me look into diet & nutrition.

I shudder at some of the rubbish we used to eat.

My kids very very rarely eat McDonalds or KFC.

Back to basics,whole fresh(and if possible) organic.

This coeliac journey has been a real eyeopener.

I do miss the convenience and ease of eating on the go-but get me to eat a hamburger-no way!