Gluten Free Journey

My Gluten Free Journey started when I was around 15. You see food had become my enemy. I would eat and shortly after feel horrible, need to find a bathroom and be worn out for days. I visited doctors and was diagnosed with a number of things to include: Irritable Bowl Syndrome (IBS), depression, heart burn, and irregular cycles. The solution from the doctors was to give me medication. Most of the medicine was to be taken after I was feeling bad, so I didn’t feel like I was getting any answers.

Fast forward 15 years, I’m married, diagnosed with infertility and am blessed with a beautiful baby girl. The problem was food was still my enemy, I never knew if what I ate was going to make me sick. Finally in 2010 I begged my gastroenterologist to test me for everything he could think of. After getting who knows how many tubes of blood drawn I was sent home to await results. Turns out my blood work showed “Moderate to Strong” for Celiac Disease. At this point I had no idea what that meant or how it would change my life. The next step was an upper endoscopy to get a full diagnosis. Sure enough my Dr. called January 4, 2011 to let me know I did have celiac disease, there is not cure and the only treatment is a Gluten Free lifestyle. For the record that was over four years ago and the Dr. has yet to call me since to see how I am doing.

This lead to a internet search of the word “Gluten” turns out wheat, rye, and barley where in all my favorite foods. I lived on carbs so I was at a total loss. For support I turned to bloggers. I wanted to know where I could eat, what I should buy, how to cook this way and could I really do it. Luckily I found some great ladies to help guide me and some I am honored to now call my friends!

I decided to add my voice to the Gluten Free blogging world as a way to help other newly diagnosed Celiacs. I wanted to share about the dinners I make for our family, what products we purchase, where we eat and our daily life struggles.

Going Gluten Free has been amazing for me! I now have energy, food is my friend again and we were blessed with twins! I am honored to be part of a community whom I can do life with and understand why I live this way.

But there are still hard days where my emotions get the best of me and I miss the freedom of ordering whatever I want off the menu. There are social gatherings where I drink water and avoid all the food. And sadly there are times when I get Glutened eating out. All of these struggles are real and some days are better than others.

Why share my Gluten Free Journey? Because someone out there can relate to my story, someone will feel relief that they are not alone and someone will feel empowered to live Gluten Free.

I want to thank Udi’s Gluten Free for asking me to participate in their Gluten Free Journey campaign. Udi’s is one of the leading companies in our community to provide safe, tasty and real food options for people living Gluten Free. I have written a ton about their products and how we use them.