Trying to be healthy is a real pain.

In the last few weeks, I've started working again.  It's been great, even though paychecks are on a month delay...yay....more waiting!  I still have some craft projects to work on though, and since I'm still part time, I will have some time to work on them.

This weekend I get a bit of excitement!  I'm puppy sitting for my sister and her boyfriend.  They have the cutest little corgi puppy and I'm going to convince my husband we need a dog!  (Good luck with that!)

How could you not fall in love with this cuteness?!

The biggest bummer over the last two weeks has been an almost constant headache.  It might go away for a day or two, but I've had a headache for 12 out of the last 19 days.  It was so noticeable, I decided to start tracking my health stuff using this app on my iPad:  Track & Share

So far, the app has been well worth the $5.00.  You can pretty much track whatever you want.  It comes with items (like happiness, stress, sleep) ready to track, that are already set up into different categories (Mood items, Health items, Gratitude Diary, etc), but it's fully customizable and super easy to use.  It even produces a graph for you.  For those of us who like to work with data, it's convenient because I was about to make my own spreadsheet in Excel to track this stuff.

In light of the headaches, and the fact that I don't have health insurance, I've been trying to research what it could be that triggered it.  There are a number of variables at the moment, and it's hard to pinpoint a cause/effect situation.

Issue 1:  I have allergies.  There could be a mold problem in my house, and there is definitely mold at my client's house.  And it's been a surprisingly wet spring/summer.

Issue 2:  I'm back to work after having a few months off.  Stress levels jumped significantly in the first few weeks back, particularly paperwork as I never had a training at the new company.

Issue 3:  I have celiac disease and at least one other autoimmune disorder. It could be any number of things related to that.  I'm pretty positive I haven't been glutened, since we haven't been eating out.  Everything in the house except a single loaf of bread and some frozen biscuits for my husband is gluten free, and the hubs is good at avoiding cross contamination for me.

Issue 4:  I have mild scoliosis.  My mattress isn't good for me, and we were using the guest room mattress until we realized switching it wasn't comfortable for guests either.

Something has to change.  It's hard to get anything done with a headache, nevermind trying to work with kids with autism where you need to be alert.  Soooo....I came up with a plan of action.  Start taking my claritin daily again (I was feeling excessively dry so I stopped).  Stay on top of my paperwork so it doesn't overwhelm me.  Change supplements so that I'm targeting my inflammatory response to different things.  Use a heating pad to help relax my back at night, paired with a cup of hot green tea and some aromatherapy.  Start back with daily yoga.  Switch out the mattress for a better one that my mother left in our attic.

Hopefully that will help get my body back on track!

Hooray for corgi puppies over the weekend!!!

Fun fact:  Welsh folklore says that Corgis are the preferred mounts of fairy warriors!  

Possible Glutening? I'll Know in an Hour....

Coincidentally, this is the last day of Celiac Awareness Month!  And I may have been glutened...

Tonight, the hubs and I decided to get a small bit of sushi from a local place.  I've been there many times before, but they do their carry out orders from a location across the street.  When I called to place the order, I asked about whether the spicy sauce they use has any soy sauce (which isn't gluten free).  She said no, but there is soy sauce in the rice.  In my head, I was screaming "What?! Are you sure?!"  But I was at a loss...I'd never heard this before...from this place, or at any sushi place I'd gone to.  So I just said "Uhhhhhhh, I'll have to call you back" and hung up on her.

At my husband's suggestion, I got on the phone with the main store, and told them of the interaction I just had with their "to go" store.  The lovely lady informed me that there was indeed, no soy sauce in the rice.  Wonderful...I'll call back and place an order.

But...this had me second guessing EVERYTHING.  What if the original person was correct, and they had mixed the rice differently that day?  Did they get the rice from the main store, or did they make their own in the "to go" store?  The "to go" menu didn't have the same (gf) or (gfo) labels (gluten free or gluten free option)...maybe they make it differently all the time?  Maybe the main restaurant server was new and didn't know?  Who gave me the right information?!  AHHHHHH!

This is a good example of the difficulty that happens when attempting to eat out with a food allergy or sensitivity of any kind, not just Celiac disease.  It's a risk every time...because that server just has to not remember something correctly, or not remember to go the kitchen and read a label for you...and you're sick.   In most cases, I would ask more questions, be specific, or just pass on anything questionable.  In this case, I decided that calling back or getting upset wasn't worth it.  I decided to trust that one of my favorite restaurants, who has never glutened me before, would not steer me wrong this time.

I finished my sushi about 20 minutes ago, and no tummy rumbles yet...I may have escaped without consequence...

Allergies and Gluten

I woke up this morning with a terrible headache.  This is not uncommon for me.  I have had seasonal allergies for most of my adult life.  I didn't know that if you have headaches more than 3 times per month, you should see a doctor (at least that's the recommendation from many professionals).  At the high point of my celiac symptoms last year, I was experiencing 4-6 headaches a week.  I was taking ibuprofen like candy.  However, I had no reason to think my headaches were caused by anything other than my allergies and chronic sinusitis.

According to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness:  A 2012 survey found that 35% of people at risk for celiac disease had no reason to suspect that the symptoms they were experiencing were due to undiagnosed celiac disease.

In my case, this was very true.  Tiredness can be blamed on poor sleep and respiratory allergies.  The poor sleep can be blamed on lack of exercise and work stress.  Tingling in my fingers can be blamed on previous nerve damage and scoliosis.  Joint pain can be blamed on lack of exercise.  Bloating can be blamed on too much salt, not enough water, etc.  The skin rash can be blamed on dermatitis from soaps.  It goes on and on.  I even have another autoimmune disorder, and an aunt with multiple sclerosis.  Until I experienced considerably inconvenient IBS symptoms, I was not able to piece it together.

This first spring of being gluten free, my allergies symptoms have improved.  Even my husband noticed a difference in my symptoms.  I don't know if my headache was legitimately due to high pollen counts, or was caused by something I ate.  Last night I made a bean soup, which came with a seasoning packet.  I opened the innocuous looking spice packet and dumped it into the pot.  After I took a bite to test the level of seasoning, a wild thought appeared:  "I should read the label because I have no idea what was in the packet."  

Now here's where it gets tricky.  The spice packet contained both maltodextrin and modified food starch, neither of which specified wheat.  If the item was FDA regulated (a bag of beans should be), companies are supposed to identify if these two came from wheat sources and place an allergen warning at the bottom.   

If the item is a meat, poultry, or egg product, it falls under USDA regulations, which does not require labeling to specify the source and just saying modified food starch or maltodextrin is allowed.  These should be avoided like the plague.  There are sources that will tell you maltodextrin is safe, even if it is from wheat, but I don't buy that (I'm no scientist or doctor, just a cautious celiac).  Just like companies can label their reduced gluten beer as "gluten free", 5 ppm might be teeny tiny, but it isn't gluten free.

Well, I might have a few bites to see if I can handle it.  I have heard stories of other celiac people who have bad reactions to maltodextrin and modified food starch, even when it specifies the source.  I am becoming increasingly convinced that I need to cut out all processed foods, even the ones geared toward a gluten free diet...

If my gluten free buddies out there have any additional comments or stories, please chime in.  I'd love to hear other experiences!

May is Celiac Awareness Month!

May is the "real" Celiac disease awareness month.  It used to be October, which is why I posted information back in October about the disease and my own difficulties with it.  I'm going to post some relevant information this month, again, because I know it's important to increase awareness and understanding. 

Did you know:  An estimated 1 in 141 Americans has Celiac disease, yet 83% of those who have it are either undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.  That's an awful lot of people.  But even with the large numbers of people who are undiagnosed, the numbers of diagnosed individuals has been steadily increasing....and it's not just because of more accurate diagnostics.

The availability and popularity of gluten free (GF) food has increased, but many people have mixed feelings.  Like many trendy, fad diets, the public exposure can trivialize the real need.  I've been exposed to people on the internet who have very negative opinions when someone goes into a restaurant and asked for gluten free items.  Some restaurant workers have shared anecdotes of customers who insisted they were gluten free but ordered a beer to drink.  Behavior like this does have an impact on public perception of the whole gluten free movement. After 9 months of gluten free living, eating out is still the most difficult part for me.  I've learned to specify that I have Celiac disease when at a restaurant.  And even then, I've had salads served to me with croutons, when I specifically asked for no croutons.  I've had to send back sandwiches that came to me on a bun, after asking for no bun...and I had to emphasize that I can't just pull food off the bread.  Celiacs can get sick from the crumbs left over if they try to pick the croutons off.  I don't want to know what goes on behind the scenes in the kitchens, and I'm thankful I have only been visibly sick from eating out a handful of times.  But lack of symptoms does not equal lack of internal damage.

Let me start with the fact that I'm extremely thankful to have figured out what was going on with my body.  I'm thankful that Celiac isn't a more serious disease where I have to take daily drugs, or need to cope with physical deterioration.  However, Celiac disease does have serious consequences on the body, mostly when individuals continue to eat gluten, but sometimes even when an individual sticks to a gluten free diet.

Some of these complications include:

• Malnutrition
• Infertility
• Rickets, Osteoporosis, and other bone density related issues
• Lactose intolerance
• Cancer:  increased risk of bowel cancers and lymphoma
• Nerve issues:  including seizures and peripheral neuropathy.  

It's important for me, and other Celiac individuals to stick to the gluten free diet, minimize cross contamination, and work on healing our body systemically to minimize the risks of other complications.

In addition, if you or someone you love has been diagnosed with one of those more vague conditions, such as chronic fatigue syndrome or irritable bowel syndrome, encourage testing for food allergies and food related disorders like Celiac.  It gives new meaning to the old saying "You are what you eat."

"America's health care system is in crisis precisely because we systematically neglect wellness and prevention."  ~Tom Harkin

Happy Halloween!

Thinking back on past Halloweens lately has been fun.  I've dressed up as a Powerpuff Girl, a nun, a vampire, naughty Little Miss Muffet (not my proudest moment), just to name a few.  I am kind of looking forward to kids so I can get back into planning costumes again. The idea of doing family themed costumes with my husband and kids, really appeals to me.  I haven't really had much of a desire to dress up the last few years....partially due to lack of time and pre-planning, partially because there are less people having Halloween parties after age 30.

As a kid, my birthday parties were almost always Halloween themed since my birthday is Nov. 3rd.  I can't remember the last time I had a birthday party...or really dressed up for Halloween.  Last year, (or possibly the year before, I can't remember), I slapped on my Renaissance Faire dress and put on a long blond wig to pass out candy.  The turnout in my neighborhood was extremely lackluster, even though there are kids in the neighborhood.  I wound up eating half the candy.  This year, I'll be leaving the porch light off.

And most unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to eat most of the candy I like anyway.  So many hidden sources of gluten!  Since today is the last day of the old Celiac Awareness Month, I found a neat info-graphic about gluten free (see below...I put it a the end because it's HUGE).  What really amazed me was the cost difference, of which I have been acutely aware.

 Halloween is the signal that the holidays are bearing down on us.  Christmas decor is flooding in to shops and holiday foods abound.  With all the baking to be done, it can be intimidating to find gluten free (GF) substitutes.  This will be my first GF holiday so I'm scared!  I hate going to dinners with friends and family and having to say "I can't eat it" or have to ask what's in everything.  If you are starting a GF diet, wait till the holiday season has died down if you can!  In general, my best advice to anyone thinking about going GF is to start out eating foods that are naturally gluten free (fruit, nuts, veggies, meat, cheese, corn tortillas, rice, etc) for a little while before trying to incorporate substitutes like pasta, crackers, and bread.  Two reasons in my mind: you are less likely to have such a shock to the taste buds if you go from a regular cracker to a rice cracker in the same day, and you can more easily decide what you really need in your diet. (For example: I don't really miss muffins and things like that, so I just don't bother buying the expensive GF muffin mix)

Happy Halloween and here's hoping the holiday season is stress free and fun!

October *used to be* Celiac Awareness Month!

Edit: When I first posted this, I was under the impression that Celiac Awareness month was still in October based on Udi's Facebook and Twitter posts.  Upon further research, it used to be celebrated in October, but the official month is now recognized as May.  Oh well, I'm going to post some things about Celiac issues this month anyway!  

For those of you who might not know, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease this past summer.  It was an interesting route to gain a diagnosis, to say the least.  I will share some of my story. 

The story does not begin with me, but with my mother.  My mother was never diagnosed, but put herself on a gluten free diet after doing elimination tests.  She's been gluten free for over 3 years now, and was a great resource for information.  During conversations with her, I described weird symptoms I was having on a daily basis.  Headaches, joint pain, tingling in my fingers, stomach issues, fatigue, etc.  All of these symptoms are not obvious in themselves, but when they are chronic and happening together, they all point to Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance.  

She moved in with us earlier in the year and we had started incorporating more gluten free items into the menu and pantry on a daily basis.  It wasn't until I had substantially reduced my gluten intake, that my symptoms could be noticeably tied to what I ate.  When I would get a weird symptom or have a day where I felt bad, mom would say "It's the gluten!".  One time, I ate a gluten filled dinner....gorging on pizza, chicken nuggets, and garlic knots.  The next day, I felt like someone had beat me thoroughly with a baseball bat.  

Eventually, I couldn't wait any longer and decided to get the blood test done, even though I didn't have health insurance.  Thankfully the lab the lab that did the blood work only charged me 200 instead of the 800 on the bill they sent!  I got my diagnosis, and simply knowing what was wrong with me was an incredible relief, and entirely worth the money!

In the months that followed diagnosis, I've been entirely gluten free diet to the best of my ability.  In just 2 1/2 months or so, I feel better than I have in 4 years.  

Here's some Celiac facts to help start off awareness month:

• It is estimated that 95% of celiacs are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other conditions.  
• There are no pharmaceutical cures for Celiac Disease.  Just a lifelong gluten free diet.
• The average person waits 6-10 years for an accurate Celiac diagnosis.
• Celiacs must not just avoid wheat products—specifically kamut, semolina, durum, spelt, faro, and einkorn—but also rye, barley, and oats.  
  
  More info to come as the month wears on!