by Margaret Merrill

Created on: October 23, 2009

This nonsense had been going for months and months-and things were getting worse. I looked worse than death warmed over, and the doctors could not figure out why.

My health has always been iffy, and I have never been able to eat as much bread or pasta as the typical Italian. My stomach would always be upset-but I just thought my stomach was too small. Milk didn't help too much, either-as a matter of fact, milk made things worse. Then in February of 2009, things went totally out of control I lost thirty five pounds in less than two weeks' time. Less than four weeks after that, I had dropped another twenty five pounds.

Part of the problem was that I had a double ear and sinus infection, and all I could eat was saltines. What I did not know was that I was actually allergic to the wheat in the saltines, and THAT was what was making me even sicker. Between being sick, the antibiotics, and the allergy, I was ill.

I started to bruise badly, and I wasn't bumping into things. I was tired all the time, and could not stay awake. My general physician discovered that my Vitamin D3 was at a pre-cancerous level. Time for a shot, and more bloodwork-to discover that my other prescribed medications were not showing up at all, except one. And, my Vitamin B12 was low, also, but not as bad as my Vitamin D.

I kept making the rounds of the doctors, and FINALLY, one of them came up with the diagnosis-Celiac Disease. YIPPEE.

The traditional testing-an internal biopsy-was not a possibility for me because of other issues. When the final doctor figured it out, after many other tests, many intense questions and some serious thought-I was upset, but grateful, too. Why was I upset? That's simple.. The enormity of knowing just how many different products would not be available to me to eat any more because of what they caused my stomach to do was upsetting.

Learning to eat the celiac diet is, for many difficult. I had to adapt to it, no matter what. I had continued to lose weight past the first sixty pounds, and am still fighting to stabilize my weight. Reading labels is the most important thing a celiac patient can do-and knowing exactly what to look for on those labels. I have found that another very important thing to do is to shop the perimeter of the grocery store.

Using fresh produce, fresh or frozen fruit, a variety of nuts as well as meats and seafood that are not processed (like bologna or pickle loaf) will take care of most of the diet. As for milk, there is a variety available

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>