I wanted to share a bit of my journey and the various ailments I suffered from before going gluten-free in February 03. This is the first of several chapters…
I remember eating Cream of Wheat as a child. I hated that stuff. It always made me queasy and so incredibly sleepy. I was practically comatose after a bowl of this covered with, of all things, Grape Nuts. My mom would make this several times each week in an effort to provide us with a hearty breakfast to get us through the day. I’m not sure if I was exhibiting small signs of celiac disease then or if it was my wheat allergy that was making itself known. Whatever the case, I was no wheat lover.
However, it was not to be avoided. We regularly ate homemade whole wheat bread with wheat we’d grind at home. This combined with alternating bowls of Cream of Wheat and Oatmeal, made for pretty miserable mornings…
in January of 2003, I found myself at the allergist to be tested. I was suffering from a myriad of symptoms that ranged from chronic hives to bloating and aching joints. Of course, I had no clue these were all related. My hives ruled my life and I’d developed dermatographism to go along with the constant itching and burning.
My family thought it was funny how I’d swell and turn red if I was scratched, stamped, or scraped on any limb. I saw no humor in the situation… everytime I would swell and turn red, it would itch like I was on fire. One day we were out shopping and I tried a diving mask on. I sucked in to hold it to my face to make sure it fit correctly. A few minutes later I ran into my mom who looked at me and immediately gasped – what happened to your face?! It felt a bit warm to me and was starting to itch but I had no idea what she was talking about. She led me to my husband who burst into wild laughter and led me to a mirror.
To my horror, there was the perfect outline of the mask on my face. A bright, angry red line that accurately traced the exact shape. I covered my face and ran to the car in tears.
An episode like this would take me 30-60 minutes to recover from. The lines would slowly fade to pink and the itching would subside to eventually dissipate.
And so, I waited nervously in the “poking room” at the allergist. I was waiting for the nurse to come in and poke my back dozens of time with different allergens to see what I reacted to. She came in and after a bit of chatter did a test poke on my arm as a control. It immediately swelled, turned angry red, and of course, began to itch like crazy. That is not supposed to happen…
The Dr came in and informed me that I was too sensitive for the poke tests and they would need to run the tests with blood instead. I left that day, a few vials of blood lighter, and with instructions to come back in 2 weeks.
The time flew by at the speed of garden snails. But finally, my appt was at hand and again, I sat in nervous anxiety in the Dr’s office to find out what was making me itch so badly.
“You are highly allergic to grass and a few other outdoor pollens. This could be what is causing your hives and dermatographism. You are also highly allergic to wheat – you need to immediately eliminate this from your diet and stay away from it from this point forward.”
Shock. Dismay. Depression. How could I live w/out wheat? It’s in EVERYTHING! No more bread! No more cereal! No more cookies or cakes or Twinkies! I left with a prescription for Allegra (for the hives) and a world that was turned upside down..
More to come in a few days…
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Hi Cherie, my name is Feather and I came upon your blog while looking for a gluten-free fried rice recipe. My mother is gluten intolerant and has been on a gluten-free life. I suspected that I had a gluten allergy as well so I went to a GI Dr. He did blood work, an endoscopy and took a biopsy of my intestine. I was finally diagnosed with IBS. My Dr. said that I didn’t have Celiac Disease or Sprue Disease. However I have been on the meds for about 5 months now and no luck with the episodes of cramping and running to the bathroom. I have heard from several people that they were diagnosed with IBS, but it turned out to be a gluten allergy instead. I am on day 19 of eating a gluten-free diet. After 30 days I will eat bread or pasta or something with gluten in it and see what happens. If I get sick then I know that I am gluten intollerant and have to change my diet forever.
Did you experience any weight-loss when you changed your diet and are you feeling better now? I am looking forward to reading more of your story. Thanks for posting gluten-free recipes, I am always looking for new recipes that are gluten-free.
Thanks again~
Hi Feather (lovely name, btw!),
I would not be a bit surprised if you found that a GF diet radically changed your life and that your problems end up being gluten-related. I’ve spoken to many people who were diagnosed with IBS when in actuality, they were either gluten-intolerant or had celiac disease. In my opinion IBS is a generic term given when the Dr’s aren’t sure why someone is sick.
At one point a Dr said I had IBS. Ok, fine. But why? What caused me to have IBS? What was the underlying problem? He had no answer and wanted to push meds. I declined and it was a few years more before the celiac diagnosis – I’ll post more about this in a bit.
No, I’ve not lost weight but I have other issues that go along with the celiac. I just discovered that I have extremely low stomach acid due to 17+ years of popping antacids and things like Pepcid AC. I stopped taking those and started taking a natural digestive enzyme (made from beets) and my heartburn and bloating are gone and I’ve dropped 7+/- pounds in 2 weeks. So I’m hopeful that now that I’m actually digesting my food, it’ll have an effect on my weight
Oh my, when I read about your hives, I thought, "Finally, thank you Lord"! Someone has what I have! I can write on my arm and it will hive up what I wrote. I will break out all the time. My Sed rate was 42 and the doctors don't know what I have. They think it could be lupus, but was unsure. Anyway my daugter has been diagnosed with Celiac Spru and I am on the diet with her about 6 months now I notice very small changes in my own health, the hives are better now that I think about it, but I still have them..I have thought about going to get tested, but then I would have to eat gluten again and I am unsure about that? What do you think?
Aren't hives just the worst? Mine are a combo – from gluten and from dogs.
I guess I need to write the next chapter of this. I'll get that done this week and give more info about my hives and everything else