New Here, My Story

[mattathayde]

hello all,

ive been using this site for a while for info but i finally thought i should join.

i am a 19 year old college student who was diagnosed with Celiac last year about this time. the applied kinesiologist (kind of like a chiropractor with a lot of eastern/natural medicine mixed in) my family goes to is the one that figured it out. he had figured out i had a wheat issue a while before but i didnt think much of it and kept eating it.

for years i had a horrible immune system when it came to colds (would have them for months at a time), lived on immodium for probably 8 years, and senior year of high school i started gaining weight (about 20-25 lbs in just over a year). once i stopped with the gluten i dropped the weight in just over 2 months, my immune system got much better to the point that i could kick a cold in a few days like a normal person, over all started to sleep better (still need a good amount of sleep though 8+ hours and whats weird is when i wake up is more important than how much sleep i get some times, not sure if its related or if im just weird). my stomach issues have become much better, not totally gone but part is probably due to accidentally glutening my self when i thought i was cooking gluten-free and probably other sensitivities i have yet to figure out.

i have ended up cooking much more and the only places i eat out at any more are qdoba and 5 guys burgers (they were very good here about keeping my bunless burger separate from their normal preparation area and changing gloves to prevent cross contamination as best as they really could).

for the most part my family has been pretty understanding and being half italian food is a huge way to show the love so they had to do a lot of adjustment. my grandparents didnt understand the severity of it at first and my grandma trying to show her love would try and get me to eat some stuff with gluten in it (like cakes, pies, cookies) but since i explained to them that its really poison to me they go out of their way to find gluten-free foods and try their hardest to read all the labels.

i am trying to get my family to go gluten free. my dad i am convinced 100% has celiac disease but be is a stress eater and travels for work so it makes it hard for him, my mom tries to go gluten light because she has found the less gluten she eats the better she feels and the better her shingles feel (she got that like sep of 07 and is still having issues, better but not gone). my sister i only recently realized probably has it she had and still has some times horrible asthma and "ADD", and my brother just has a bad immune system and gets depressed easily (given he has had a lot of stress in his life but i think gluten may add to the issues) .

i guess i am kind of rambling at this point but any way, glad to be here now and hope to get info and share info

-matt

[audone]

Hey Matt--

I'm new here too. Going gluten-free is tough. I've been gluten-free for 5 weeks. I'm lucky that my DH is supportive but I'm sure it's hard getting your family and extended family to adjust. I miss Qdoba. Where I live now doesn't have it. So far I've found Outback and a local Mexican place that will work with me. Have been cooking a lot! I'm glad you joined. People here seem to be very nice and helpful. I'm looking forward to tapping into some of their knowledge as I continue in my gluten-free journey!

Wendy

[ginnybean32]

Im new here too so I dont have much advice except to say its good to see you taking it so seriously so young. Im 35 and dont want to take it serious plus my family is not supportive hardly at all. Good luck!

[mattathayde]

thanks for the welcomes

Im new here too so I dont have much advice except to say its good to see you taking it so seriously so young. Im 35 and dont want to take it serious plus my family is not supportive hardly at all. Good luck!

well as to taking it seriously its not too hard, i would have to take soooo much immodium everyday to be able to function its not a hard choice. plus seeing the other chronic health issues family members and friends have i just see it as something that i need to deal with. it also helped a bit when my parents kept telling me how worried they were with how much immodium i had to take (and my mom being a nurse gave it even more push). if i didnt have the digestive issues i would cheat all the time i know it. i have a friend who has celiac disease but she cheats all the time because it doestn bother her in a way she sees, i really wish she would take it more seriously because she is a very nice and pretty girl and know what its doing to her.

as to the supportiveness i found once you explain "gluten=poison" for your body they are much more helpful

-matt

[ranger]

Hi. I'm fairly new to all this, too, but cannot tell you how much this sight has helped me. It would be tougher to be a college student with this problem - I cook all the time. If all I had were a dorm room, I'd be lost but I guess that I would figure something out. It helps to have a supportive family. Hang in there. It's worth it!

[mattathayde]

Hi. I'm fairly new to all this, too, but cannot tell you how much this sight has helped me. It would be tougher to be a college student with this problem - I cook all the time. If all I had were a dorm room, I'd be lost but I guess that I would figure something out. It helps to have a supportive family. Hang in there. It's worth it!

ya the last few months of freshman year sucked, i ate chicken wings (unbreaded) and stuff that was more so gluten light, like stuff that just has some soy sauce on it. i didnt go hard core gluten-free until over the summer, but even with gluten light i improved a lot, lost the extra weight, stomach issues were not as bad, better immune system, over all better mental state

-matt

[DakotaRN]

Welcome! I too am quite new at this but this site is awesome. I check it out every day because there iso much to learn and the support is great.