A New Development...

As a rule on my blog, I generally don't share a lot personal things on here. Just because I like to keep it light and fun, and some things I just don't think is necessary to share with the world wide web. But, this post will be different. It's a little bit of an update on what's been going on with me personally, health-wise.

I was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease. It sounds worse than it is but, it is still a bit of a bummer. Celiac Disease (in case you don't know) is basically an allergy or sensitivity to gluten which, unfortunately is in everything. How did I find this out? Well, here is the story...

I've always had mild issues with my stomach but, just chalked it up to stress. Now that I look back, I can almost pinpoint when it started. For the last several months I had been dealing with extreme exaustion, I mean the "I can't even take one foot out of my bed kind of exaustion" everyday. I was also having migraines, nausea and abdominal pain and burning. It got to the point where I thought maybe I was pregnant because I was nauseous so much but, I wasn't. So, after this would not go away, I decided (with my husband's prompting) to see a Doctor. After 4 or 5 visits, he could not figure anything out, and I was still feeling awful so, he sent me to see a Gastroenterologist. Right away, he asked me all of my symptoms, sent me for a blood test and scheduled an endoscopy test (a test where they look at your stomach via a tube down your throat). Before my E test the Doctor came in and said "just as I suspected, your blood test was very high for celiac disease." And I was like "thanks for telling me right before you sedate me, doc." So, they took a biopsy of my small intestine to check for definite signs of celiac. So, that night I went home and thought "geez, if this is real then this Italian girl is gonna starve." I waited on pins and needles for the test results to arrive. When they finally did, it was consistent with celiac.

So, I am feeling 2 ways. 1: I feel good now that I know what has been making me sick. In fact, I can look back and remember several occasions and think..."that's why I was feeling so bad."

2: I was bummed for the first couple days but, I am not discouraged. I've been experimenting with a bunch of different foods and have even received some support from others who have it.

For the last week and a half, I have been eating gluten-free and can say I have had way less stomachaches, no headaches, and a ton of energy...even my husband noticed!

So, now this may become a part of my blog, in an effort to maybe help others with this as well. I hope to post some GF recipes and info about Celiac Disease. If any of you out there live Gluten-free too, I'd love to know who you are.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out how I'm gonna make it through the Holidays...very creatively I think. :) Thank The Lord for Trader Joe's and Whole Foods!