3 posts tagged “celiac”

since reading up on gluten intolerance/celiac, there have been tons of "lightbulb moments" of my life and experiences suddenly being explained.  everything makes sense, and that feeling that i have always had, that all these unrelated problems and illnesses HAD to somehow be connected were now being strung together like a string of beads.

i've not had a chance to document a lot of these moments, but another one fell into place this morning, and made me chuckle, and really puts this back to always being there:  night-sweats are a common cealic reaction/symptom.

i have always had horrible night-sweats.  but after countless decades, it is just normal to have to get up and change nightclothes in the middle of the night (i always keep an extra nightshirt by the bed) and to actually have to change the sheets in the middle of the night at least once a week.  it's so routine and 'normal' for my life that i never mention it.

my mom documented this phenomenon of the soaking wet infant on a nightly basis in my baby book.  no doctor seemed concerned when she mentioned it, so they just figured it was one of my quirks, and hey, mom occasionally gets night sweats as well, so why worry.

so gets added the earliest bead to the string.

and did you know that Skittles are actually listed by name as a food to avoid?  my eating Skittles in college used to be entertainment.  everyone would gather around and watch my face immediately blossom with bright purple splotches.  i used to love those things.  go figure. . .

my earliest memories of being constantly sick to my stomach are to around 4 or 5 years old.  my mom confirmed it was more like 2/2 - 3 years old.

lactose intolerance is often a secondary sign of celiac.  this type of lactose intolerance is often "temporary" and the person will "outgrow" the intolerance.

the summer i turned 9, my stomach symptoms became so bad that i lost 1/3 of my body weight because i was constantly sick and could eat nothing.  the doctor, alarmed by the weight loss, said "lactose intolerance" and all dairy was removed from my diet except for the addition of sweet acidophilous milk which helped to heal and restore the digestive track.  episodes of being sick decreased from daily to perhaps once or twice a week, and were chalked up to hidden dairy.

no diagnostics for the lactose intolerance was ever done because i was too sick at the time to handle the test.  i remember the doctor's words being "we don't want to kill her."  the improvement from diet alone was enough for the diagnosis to stick, and i was mostly dairy free through high school, slowly starting to let myself slip in college.

stomach upsets and "incidents" continued, but i just chalked it up to being my body.  now i don't wonder if this wasn't a big sign of celiac.

add to that sign that my mother has always had the same problem, and "iffy" stomach.  my dad talks about incidents of IBS, and how IBS runs on his side of the family.

i'm seeing a different genetic connection right now.

and today is the company cook-out at lunch, with food being catered in.  i don't think i'm going to bother going down.  hot dogs?  nope.  hamburger with no bun?  can't be sure there isn't fller in the patties.  sides?  what's in the dressing. . . .  easier to eat the lunch i brought.

down to basics: 

2 cups Brown Rice Flour
2/3 cup Potato Starch Flour
1/3 cup Tapioca Flour