Depressed....

[FootballFanatic]

I don't think that I have been glutened but I just got hit hard with depression. I have been under very much pressure lately, so I think I was letting it build up and now that my life is slowing down reality is sinking in.

I just feel so much like this disease has taken over my life, every aspect of it, and outwarly I try to pretend like I see the positives, but I still feel bad, there is no way I'm still taking in gluten, and I just hate that I am going to have to be so careful for the rest of my life...

I don't know what to do to get myself out of bed anymore, I've ruined my friendships, I'm a million miles from home in school, and I don't even feel like going back anymore because it's full of memories I'll never get back.

I'm tired of pretending like this is easy...I don't want people to tell me it's easy anymore, I don't want to be compared to others anymore. The people who try to understand me, try by asking people that they know with Celiac Disease, and while it is a nice gesture I would like them to ask me, and listen to the things that I do say.

I want my old, convenient, fun life back.

[Guest j_mommy]

It sucks!!!! I know the feeling! But you will prevail!

Have you talked to anyone??? School councler ect???? THat really helped me when I first went gluten-free...helped me work through all the crapiness I was feeling after Dx'd!

I'm sorry you are feeling down!

[Motorboater]

I don't think that I have been glutened but I just got hit hard with depression. I have been under very much pressure lately, so I think I was letting it build up and now that my life is slowing down reality is sinking in.

I just feel so much like this disease has taken over my life, every aspect of it, and outwarly I try to pretend like I see the positives, but I still feel bad, there is no way I'm still taking in gluten, and I just hate that I am going to have to be so careful for the rest of my life...

I don't know what to do to get myself out of bed anymore, I've ruined my friendships, I'm a million miles from home in school, and I don't even feel like going back anymore because it's full of memories I'll never get back.

I'm tired of pretending like this is easy...I don't want people to tell me it's easy anymore, I don't want to be compared to others anymore. The people who try to understand me, try by asking people that they know with Celiac Disease, and while it is a nice gesture I would like them to ask me, and listen to the things that I do say.

I want my old, convenient, fun life back.

Hello, sorry your not feeling like your old self, but in everything I've read your old self is gone and you have to make a new self............think how much healthier you feel inside and what damage is not happening anymore. I've read a couple books and they do talk about the "new" lifestyle that you have to make. It's NOT easy and I'm not telling you it's easy, it's not............BUT things could always be worse. We're all in the same boat, we're not laying in a hospital bed having to have life long drugs, we chose our paths............I've just recently taken on this new mental attitude and I have to tell you, it works. I think of getting together with friends now as a reason to see them not to eat with them as I did in the past. I would suggest getting a couple books and talking to a councelor or DR. that specializes in celiac. Good luck and keep thinking positive!!

Pam

[darlindeb25]

Awwwwwwwww, I'm sorry, but also, realize, we all go through that stage. All celiac's mourn gluten at one time or another, usually in the early months, just like you are experiencing. You are going through the same things we all did, that should at least make you feel a little better.

Funny thing about me, I didn't mourn gluten until I was gluten-free for 6 years, then I fell apart. I hated celiac disease. Was about this time of the year and all the holiday food was on tv and I was seeing all this stuff I can't have anymore. Of course, I can't have a lot more than just gluten now. I was seeing mashed potatoes, I loved potatoes my whole life and now I can't have them and it hurt so much to watch them on tv. The other ladies at work talked all the time about recipes, it seemed constantly. I wanted to scream. Then the patients started bringing in Christmas treats for us, of course, nothing that I could have and it just seemed so unfair.

But hun, there is more to life than food. We can enjoy life now and not feel sick all the time. Before being gluten-free, I knew that everywhere I went, I would pay for fun, I knew I would be sick the next morning, if not even before I left the party. Now, I do not have that problem anymore. I can now enjoy parties and not eat anything. It's not the way I want it to be, but it's the way it is and it's the way it will be, so I make the best of how it is. Happiness is how we make it. Only you can make this work for you. Get out of that bed, get dressed, and face your day. Life is waiting!!!!

[gfpaperdoll]

You can have your old fun life back, it is your choice. But with your old fun life you might not live that long or even be able to get out of bed.

I suggest you volunteer somewhere. When volunteering & helping people they love you & do not care if you do not eat the cookies...

I choose to have my new fun life that is all healthy. In a whole room full of people my age, I bet I am the healthiest one there - good complextion, great energy, sharp mind, it is wonderful.

Now I used to be a dancer, international clogging competition, precision exhibition clogging team, country western dance expert, advanced level square dancing, but I broke a knee 2 1/2 years ago & can no longer dance. Gee, I am happy to just be walking. But I miss dancing, I will never dance again, now that is sad. Can you dance? go for a hike? walk along the beach? go skiing? snow shoing? horse back riding? if the answer is yes, you should shout out real loud how thankful you are. Heck just go dancing, how sad can you be while dancing????????????????????????????????????????????????????

& I will tell you I never had a dance partner either - it makes you a better dancer, I could dance with anyone...

[LilyCeliac]

I feel the exact same way as you at times. I have good days and bad days but now my bad days are few and far between which I am really thankful for.

The hardest part for me is the times where I don't feel like myself anymore.... I look back on times when I was so carefree, I could eat whatever i wanted to without thinking twice, I could go whereever I wanted to go without worrying about having an embarrassing washroom issue, or that one minute I will be feeling fine and the next minute I feel completely sick.

I know how you are feeling right now. I really do. About one month ago I hit the lowest point that I have ever hit in my entire life and I didn't think I would recover from it. I was a complete mess and all i wanted to do was be left alone and hide from everything. But doing that will get you nowhere. You need to understand that times of weakness are going to happen and you just need to wait it out because things always get better.

This disease is hard. It's a huge challenge. and it definitly feels unfair. But you need to re-focus. You need to change your thinking. It's hard to do but it can be done. You need to look at food in a new way. Food is not the most important part of our lives. Our lives do not need to revolve around food, our social experiences do not need to revolve around food. Food is for nourishment and to help us get better. And there are also some yummy foods that we can still enjoy so you need to find which foods you can still eat that you enjoy and have those foods handy when you need them.

You basically just need to find what works for you! You can't look to other people to take this pain away because their not going to. Noone is going to fully understand how you are feeling except for you. Which is why you need to look inside yourself for the comfort you need to feel better. Find out what makes you feel better and then do that. For me its eating vegatables, working out, writing in my diary, and surrounding myself with people I love. Theres so much beauty in this world and I wouldn't consider food to be top on that list. Just focus on doing what you need to do to feel better phsyically and the rest will fall into place.

(Sorry if this message seems to "deep" or anything haha but this is what I have figured out in my experience and it's something I would have wanted someone to say to me at my early times of weakness when I was first diagnosed)

I hope anything I have said has helped in any way!

Good Luck. You can do this.

[Glutenfreefamily]

Im sorry your having a rough time. I was really jealous of my husband's diet since he didnt have to avoid anything and ate whatever he wanted. He knew how much I struggled with it and when my daughter went gluten free and her rashes went away from it he followed a gluten free diet to support us. It made such a difference for me to not have to watch gluten filled foods in my own home.

I hope you will find a good support system soon.

[confusedks]

Awww. I am so sorry you are going through this. I am going through this, but it is also about all of the other illnesses I am trying to cope with. I get the wanting to have a convenient life. I get the sadness, it is really difficult to deal with all this. They are all very real feelings. I have also lost true friendships because people don't want to go out to dinner with me because I can't eat almost everything on a menu. Some friends had a party over the weekend, but didn't invite me bceuase "I couldn't eat anything there." Well, at least that's what they told me...it is really because of all the school I have missed. They don't get it...at ALL! If you ever want to talk, please feel free to PM me. Your post was in perfect time, I had a terrible day because of my dietary restrictions.

Kassandra

[DownWithGluten]

I don't think that I have been glutened but I just got hit hard with depression. I have been under very much pressure lately, so I think I was letting it build up and now that my life is slowing down reality is sinking in.

I just feel so much like this disease has taken over my life, every aspect of it, and outwarly I try to pretend like I see the positives, but I still feel bad, there is no way I'm still taking in gluten, and I just hate that I am going to have to be so careful for the rest of my life...

I don't know what to do to get myself out of bed anymore, I've ruined my friendships, I'm a million miles from home in school, and I don't even feel like going back anymore because it's full of memories I'll never get back.

I'm tired of pretending like this is easy...I don't want people to tell me it's easy anymore, I don't want to be compared to others anymore. The people who try to understand me, try by asking people that they know with Celiac Disease, and while it is a nice gesture I would like them to ask me, and listen to the things that I do say.

I want my old, convenient, fun life back.

Hey. I was looking at your signature quote - and it seems very similar to mine. I was diagnosed with IBS-C originally too. My Celiac blood test came back negative. They put me on Zelenorm. It made me bleed. I told the doctor this, and he looked at me like I was crazy. He even did a sigmoidoscopy, and said it was no problem, not the Zelenorm. I stopped taking it anyway - only to see later that it was taken off the market for, hey, whaddyaknow - making people bleed. HA. Ahem, anyway. I never did the biopsy though. I was at that point of despair - I didn't want to live with the agony/extreme inconvenience of my "attacks", which were increasing, anymore. I was at the point that, even if I DID get the biopsy, and it came back negative, I was gonna try gluten-free anyway. So might as well spare it. The only lame thing is, I'll never really know if I have celiac or not. but, going gluten-free did remove the "attacks." Thank God.

Thank God - yet at the same time, it does suck. That this is a reality, that I am stuck with this for the rest of my life. Like you said. More awareness about gluten-free-ness seems to be increasing, which is hopefully. There is light at the end of the tunnel in that sense. Perhaps more and more foods will be made gluten-free-style, and more restaurants will give options, etc.

Who on Earth told you having celiac and being gluten-free would be "easy" ? Nonsense. It's not life-shattering, nor the end of the world - but I wouldn't say it is easy by any means.

I haven't been hit with the depression about it yet. Other things have been depressing me in life, so somehow this whole gluten-free thing has fallen at the bottom. I was just glad to get something to stop the agony. But - I have a feeling the permenance of it will hit me at some point and really make me depressed. I keep thinking of all these foods I'll never have again - I wish I had gorged on them or something before I would never eat them again.

I dunno. But DON'T feel bad, at all, for feeling bad. If anything else, we have the right to do that. Though I do hope you get out of your slump eventually, for your own sake. I hope you'll have friends that are patient and understanding to "wait" for you, even if you are depressed now. If not, well, one day you'll make some who are perhaps.

Good luck though

ps. I was in my last semester of college when I went gluten-free (graduated this past may). So - yeah. Seems kinda similar to you there too!

[bakingbarb]

Who on Earth told you having celiac and being gluten-free would be "easy" ? Nonsense. It's not life-shattering, nor the end of the world - but I wouldn't say it is easy by any means.

I haven't been hit with the depression about it yet. Other things have been depressing me in life, so

ps. I was in my last semester of college when I went gluten-free (graduated this past may). So - yeah. Seems kinda similar to you there too!

Ya know I needed to see this. There have been some very rough points in my life and this doesn't even come close to them. Those were depressing and suicide inducing moments (obviously I am still here but the thoughts were there). There are other things in my life that cause me more grief (ex!) then the gluten ever could.

I also need to remember that because of all the pain I used to be in I used to worry that I would be disabled at an early age. I don't even think that ever now.

It is seeming to me that what everyone keeps saying is that yes this is a bummer but we are going to live healthy now, we are not going to die from not eating gluten but it can hurt us if we do.

Mourning is obviously something we all have to deal with at different times of this process.

This stuff is everywhere too. Our society is either promoting being way to skinny one minute to promoting eating the next minute. Just watch tv advertising and you get it all. Eating togethor has always been a huge part of life, it is a family/friend thing so yes this part can be hard. I don't miss the foods much that I can't have. Watching someone else drink a beer doesn't bother me because I don't miss the big d afterwards. Pizza though smells so good.

Yep I think missing food and the freedom to eat what we want and the life that we had before is normal and ongoing. Coming here and talking to others in the same boat is so helpful.

[alamaz]

You are not alone. I think every one goes through some period where they feel like they got a raw deal. I know for me it lasted a long time and I still think there is a small amount of it there but it doesn't come out until I'm in a situation where some one makes a comment. I just the "bet you wish you could have these, they are delicious" comments I get from co-workers especially . My friends and family have been a little better but I still feel so isolated from all of them because when I go out or travel to see them I have to think about what I'm going to eat and have a back up plan in place in case something happens.

It Sux!!!

I can only recommend what I've found to help. Find a local support group and get involved. Go to the meetings, chat with the other people there and make new friends. Find a local restaurant you can eat at and go as often as you can. When you're feeling down over all of it, take a half an hour to get mad, cry whatever you have to do and then go out and do something positive. Last weekend I was bemoaning missing asain food. I sat around all day in my pj's and then decided at 3pm to go to all the local thai restaurants and find one that would make me a meal. I took my little dining card to three places and finally found one and it was the best meal I've had in months. I swear that food was gone in 10 minutes. Afterwards I felt so much better knowing that yes, it takes extra effort to eat now but it is possible and when the results are positive it's that much more encouraging.

Give yourself time to heal also. Some people say they are better in a week but for me it took atleast three months to start to really feel a difference and then from there it was a day by day thing. Six months later was when I really could say "this thing is really working". It amazes me what food can do to our bodies both positively and negatively.

Good luck! There will be bad days and good days just like with anything else but you'll make it through and you'll be that much healthier at the end of that day then you've ever been!

[loco-ladi]

As with any major life change it will effect your life, but hey so does marriage, birth of children and food intolerences/allergies....

Life changes and yes we all morn that freedom we had before the spouse or kids or to be able to just throw some frozen food into the microwave and not care what was in it.....

There will be adjustment time and the occational "I remember when" and cravings and insensitive friends and others who just dont get it and rather than come to you they will ask others...

heres a little story....

I got called to go on a road trip and on the trip home my gluten issues became a topic, seems their son had been saying for years he couldn't eat gluten and they basically thought he was just being difficult, then they find out this IS something common and other people have it as well so maybe the son isnt nuts and really does have something wrong! They actually called and appologised to the son for not believeing them, and the son sent me a "care package" back to me after they next visited.

Thought to concider is that while the parent didnt nessasarily believe the son they did cater to them about the food issue but when faced with another person with the same situation handled it totally different and it actually aided the son without knowing it.

everyone handles things differently and yes you can have yourself a pity party if you want! Me, I go shopping ok, well I go intenet grocery shopping cause I cant seem to have myself a proper pity party without chocolate chip cookies so I cant do that for a week or so as it will take that long for them to get here

take everyday for what its worth, some days worthless others are golden!

[DownWithGluten]

Ya know I needed to see this. There have been some very rough points in my life and this doesn't even come close to them. Those were depressing and suicide inducing moments (obviously I am still here but the thoughts were there). There are other things in my life that cause me more grief (ex!) then the gluten ever could.

I also need to remember that because of all the pain I used to be in I used to worry that I would be disabled at an early age. I don't even think that ever now.

It is seeming to me that what everyone keeps saying is that yes this is a bummer but we are going to live healthy now, we are not going to die from not eating gluten but it can hurt us if we do.

Mourning is obviously something we all have to deal with at different times of this process.

This stuff is everywhere too. Our society is either promoting being way to skinny one minute to promoting eating the next minute. Just watch tv advertising and you get it all. Eating togethor has always been a huge part of life, it is a family/friend thing so yes this part can be hard. I don't miss the foods much that I can't have. Watching someone else drink a beer doesn't bother me because I don't miss the big d afterwards. Pizza though smells so good.

Yep I think missing food and the freedom to eat what we want and the life that we had before is normal and ongoing. Coming here and talking to others in the same boat is so helpful.

Glad I could help! Good point about the food in advertising everywhere. But yeah, I was thinking how it was becoming disabling to me already. I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to hold a job if I always had to worry that "it" could hit any second. And I didn't really want to live with the pain and drama. But - I had other stuff way more on the top of my mind than the gluten-free. I was actually glad, because I was REALLY stressed at one point because of the other stuff - and thankfully, the gluten-free diet is what prevented a lot of pain from that! Since stress almost guaranteed an "attack" before I went gluten-free. So basically the diet came just in time considering all the stress and 'turmoil' I was headed for!

[kbtoyssni]

Awww. I am so sorry you are going through this. I am going through this, but it is also about all of the other illnesses I am trying to cope with. I get the wanting to have a convenient life. I get the sadness, it is really difficult to deal with all this. They are all very real feelings. I have also lost true friendships because people don't want to go out to dinner with me because I can't eat almost everything on a menu. Some friends had a party over the weekend, but didn't invite me bceuase "I couldn't eat anything there." Well, at least that's what they told me...it is really because of all the school I have missed. They don't get it...at ALL! If you ever want to talk, please feel free to PM me. Your post was in perfect time, I had a terrible day because of my dietary restrictions.

Kassandra

I know that "you couldn't eat anything there" wasn't the actual reason for your friends not inviting you, but I wanted to comment on people who do say that. I try to stress to friends that I want to go out and be invited even if I can't eat most of the food. I'm there for the social aspects, not for the food. I go out to eat about once a week with friends and 90% of the time bring my own lunch. I don't think any of them would consider not inviting me because I can't eat there. And for a quick lunch out of the office, I'm not going to force everyone to always go to the gluten-free place. If I did that, I think they would stop inviting me! I guess it's like adjusting my actions so I can still fit into my old lifestyle.

FF- this diet isn't easy, and it is a major life change. It takes a huge shift in mentality to learn to deal and be ok with your new life. It's normal to have a period of mourning for what you've lost because there are some things that you'll never be able to do again. But life isn't over. There are plenty of things you can do, but it's going to take time to be ok with it. I would also suggest talking to a psychologist. They can work wonders!

[FootballFanatic]

I wish I had friends like you. I've got one, my boyfriend, who I love very much and wouldn't be here without. He saves my life everyday by loving me and supporting me, but we were thinking about our wedding...which will be coming up here in a couple years...and we can't think of people to have as our bridal party. I want my mom to be my maid-of-honor because I don't have a friend in my life (neither does he) that give the time to understand what we've gone through in the past year. They just look at us as..."they can't drink, therefore they can't have fun with us" or "they are always just wanting to be alone together so we don't have to invite them..."

Well we have asked them to do other activities with us that don't involve food (or half involve food) like bowling/movies....and we get turned down.

I need new friends.

The good news is, first support group meeting in my town this weekend, bad news I heard it's all older adults, so I don't know if I will find a bridesmaid there. Haha, who knows.

[DownWithGluten]

Yeah I hear ya on the 'no friends' thing. But st least you've got someone!

Maybe there will be some people at the support group...

[jnessa055]

OH my goodness i am so glad that i found this website!!! its soooo hard not to eat gluten. i have been down about it for quite awhile. i was diagnosed when i was 3. but growing up i tried to hide from it and i ate whatever i want.. and i ended up getting really sick right before i graduated high school.. and from then on i have been trying to stop eating gluten.. but its been 2 years and still no luck.. i cave in all the time.. i get so jealous of everyone around me that eats wheat.. i cry almost all the time at the grocery store bc i always end up down the isles that are filled with gluten! LOL. i have many friends however.. but no one gets it.. no one understands and that makes it hard too.. they dont know how i feel if i do cheat the next day... i have a boyfriend that has been nothing but great.. everytime i want to cheat he reminds me how i'll get sick and he wont eat the yummy things in front of me.. which i love him dearly for that bc it makes it ten times harder having your significant other eating all the foods you can not. i know that it will get better. i should be way over it by now lol but im not. i only accepted this disease a few months ago.. and am now trying really hard to better myself.. i hate being sick and having stomach pains.... i used to live with it everyday... until just recently.. wish me luck ladies so i can stick to the diet. whoever said that this was easy is full of poo!! this has got to be one of the hardest things... specially when you have been eating all the wonderful yummy foods and then told not to later in life..

[Chloe77]

I wish I had friends like you. I've got one, my boyfriend, who I love very much and wouldn't be here without. He saves my life everyday by loving me and supporting me, but we were thinking about our wedding...which will be coming up here in a couple years...and we can't think of people to have as our bridal party. I want my mom to be my maid-of-honor because I don't have a friend in my life (neither does he) that give the time to understand what we've gone through in the past year. They just look at us as..."they can't drink, therefore they can't have fun with us" or "they are always just wanting to be alone together so we don't have to invite them..."

Well we have asked them to do other activities with us that don't involve food (or half involve food) like bowling/movies....and we get turned down.

I need new friends.

The good news is, first support group meeting in my town this weekend, bad news I heard it's all older adults, so I don't know if I will find a bridesmaid there. Haha, who knows.

OMG! I am going through this as well. I am getting married in a year and I feel like I do not have any friends who really care about me either.

And as in your situation, my fiance and I never really go out to eat, but it seems like everyone else's life revolves around food and social eating. I get anxious every time someone says we will have to do something sometime because I know once I say that I can't or they see that I won't eat, they won't ask me to do anything ever again.

Also, same with the drinking. I guess most people do not feel like a night out would be fun unless we could drink. I, like most people on the board, feel that I have just as much fun as everyone else when I am not eating or not drinking.

I also feel like I wish others would listen to what I want rather than assuming they know what will make me feel uncomfortable or what makes them uncomfortable. I would rather sit at a restaurant and not eat than make everyone else eat a gluten free meal. My fiance insists that everyone would rather have a gluten free meal than go out to eat and me eat nothing because it makes them uncomfortable. Many people have expressed that to me. And I start to feel like they are expressing how my illness affects them negatively. It is just stress on top of stress really.

And maybe I have isolated and lost friends for that reason. But honestly, real friends would listen and understand the illness and still be there for you when you just want to stay in.

I really hope things get better for all of us. And I hope your support group is helpful!

[Chloe77]

Just an addition:

For my wedding, my fiance wants a gluten-free wedding which I feel uncomfortable with because I would be making everyone eating it, not to mention the hassle and expense.

My mom and my fiance then reply that I could have the chef make a meal just for me. But I am soooo concerned and worried about cross contamination that I told them I would rather not eat at the wedding and be able to enjoy the day rather than forcing myself to eat food that I don't want to just so everyone else thinks that I am happy. What would make me happy would be not to make a mistake and eat something that makes me sick on my wedding day. I am still even toggling on the fact that I might be casein intolerant.

Everything in life just has to be a big stress because it seems like everything in life, even happiness to some people, is based on food!! I never really even enjoyed food since I have been sick like this my entire life. I never really understood the appeal anyway I guess.

[VioletBlue]

NAH. The hardest part about a gluten free wedding is the cake. The rest is easy. Don't tell the guests and they'd probably never notice there was no bread on the table. Chicken, fish, beef, any meat can be prepared gluten free. Green salads are easy as are fresh vegetables with a nice oil and vinegar dressing. Find the right cateerer and it should be easy. There are a thousand gluten-free appetizer ideas out there from bacon wrapped shrimp to mini taquitos. Gluten free doesn't have to be about specialty gluten-free stuff. It can just be simple fresh food carefuly prepared.

I know it seems like this disease takes over every aspect of our lives. I understand that feeling. It truly sucks to have a life you wouldn't choose thrust upon you by threat of pain illness and death.

It takes some getting used to. But in a year hopefully you'll have found a way to adjust. It will get better. It will never be the same again. But it will get better.

Violet

Just an addition:

For my wedding, my fiance wants a gluten-free wedding which I feel uncomfortable with because I would be making everyone eating it, not to mention the hassle and expense.

My mom and my fiance then reply that I could have the chef make a meal just for me. But I am soooo concerned and worried about cross contamination that I told them I would rather not eat at the wedding and be able to enjoy the day rather than forcing myself to eat food that I don't want to just so everyone else thinks that I am happy. What would make me happy would be not to make a mistake and eat something that makes me sick on my wedding day. I am still even toggling on the fact that I might be casein intolerant.

Everything in life just has to be a big stress because it seems like everything in life, even happiness to some people, is based on food!! I never really even enjoyed food since I have been sick like this my entire life. I never really understood the appeal anyway I guess.

[JNBunnie1]

I need new friends.

I hate to sound harsh, but I think you're right. Friends aren't friends unless they stick with you through the bad and the good. Real freinds should be like family. It's hard for you though, being in college, because this disease forces you (and your sig other) to grow up faster than everyone around, so they're still doing the brain-dead college daze thing while you're being an adult. I hope someone notices how buttheaded they're being and comes around!

[sickchick]

Hey Football Fanatic!

I am newly diagnosed and I am way depressed right now. It seems the gluten free foods are making me feel more depressed and even now when I exercise (exercise normally for me brighten my mood) and now I think because my body is still in "withdrawls" I went off wheat 1st of Oct. So like a month ago.

But I have been suffering for like 11 years and I lost ALL my friends but 2.

I am hell bent though on getting better. Nothing short of a freight train will stop me at this point.

I am 35 and I still have a LOT of making up to do...

I hope you find peace in healing and we're always here

PS I had 3 mini dachshunds! love your pic...

lovelove

sickchick

[1965kid]

I wish I had friends like you. I've got one, my boyfriend, who I love very much and wouldn't be here without. He saves my life everyday by loving me and supporting me,

Honey, let me tell you something. This Celiac stuff is killing me. Im a 42 year old, widowed, single father of an 11 year old girl. I work shift work (12 hour shifts, alternating between nights and days.)

But here's the deal. I was married to my true soulmate for 10 years. We were inseparable.

She wanted a child, we had one, she died, my heart was broken and still is. (I am a southern man, but I cry every day) But I have to keep going on, because my child deserves it! I must get healthy for my daughter.

Now about you.

If you have true love, and you know in your heart that it is TRUE LOVE!

There is only one thing to do.

You love that man, and you pay attention to this part of your life, because it is the best part.

I envy you. Love is grand, it cant be replaced, and it is what keeps us ALIVE!

You have love, you are one of the lucky ones.

How can I make this statement?

Because I had true love.

I had it!

It died (for me) on 09/18/2001

Cherish the love, if it is true love you will know it!

Because love is what life is really all about.

Without love, we are dead.

Food can never replace love.

[EBsMom]

For my wedding, my fiance wants a gluten-free wedding which I feel uncomfortable with because I would be making everyone eating it, not to mention the hassle and expense.

Chloe, I have to strongly disagree with you! Your wedding day is for YOU and your fiancee. There is plenty of naturally delicious gluten-free food out there (and casein free, if need be) and if you find a good caterer, they should be able to accomodate you without the guests even knowing that the food is gluten-free. I think back to my own wedding (18 years ago) - we had a seafood buffet - our food was mostly gluten-free without the intention that it should be (knew nothing about celiac disease back then.) You (and your hubby to be) are the one whose needs should come first on that day. Trust me - you'll never have another day like it, so it should be *just* the way *you* want it to be! Congrats on your engagement, BTW!

Rhonda (Rho)

[Chloe77]

I'm mainly concerned about the kitchen preparing anything they are calling "gluten-free" no matter if it is just for me or the entire wedding. The kitchen is at a restaurant that normally does not cook gluten-free dishes, therefore, cross contamination is very likely. I just hate to chance it just for that one day.

Also, it was going to cost more money, and I really hate to think of anyone making a fuss over it. I really hate attention being drawn to it in any way. I know the day is for us, but I think what would make me happy is just not eating anything prepared there, and if I'm happy, my fiance is happy. If I decided to have a gluten-free wedding, I don't know who would be happy when I got sick.

Maybe I am just really anal about it, but I don't think I would be able to sit and eat the food without being able to look at the contents of every ingredient used and monitoring the whole cooking process. I just don't trust other people handling my food basically.

Thanks though for reinforcing that the day is for us.