Being gluten free SUCKS!

****First this is not bashing anyone that has celiac disease or who is gluten free. I have the gluten & wheat allergy.****

I want to inform people on how I have coped in a society where being gluten free & wheat free is hard. I can't even imagine having celiac disease. I live in the South. So you can only imagine. 

What is celiac disease? a disease in which the small intestine is hypersensitive to gluten, leading to difficulty in digesting food. It varies from person to person. 

What is a gluten/wheat allergy? eating anything that does not contain gluten or wheat. 

Common Gluten-Free Foods:
Meat, fruit, vegetables, eggs, nuts, legumes, dairy products including milk, fats and oils. 

Naturally gluten free grains such as rice, corn, millet and sorghum. 

Pseudo cereals like amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa. 

This is to name a few things. I want to talk more about how I became Gluten Free and my struggles. 

My personal journey of living a gluten free life:

     It all started after one of my thyroid cancer battles 5 years ago. I noticed that I was getting sick after eating anything that contained wheat or gluten. Didn't know what caused it. Seriously thought it was nerves after doing treatments to treat the cancer and my body needed time to adjust. Days turned to weeks and then weeks to months. So I decided to see a gastro-intestinologist. He ran the celiac disease test and it came back positive for gluten and wheat allergy. I didn't have celiac disease which attacks the small intestines. That being said, if I digest gluten or wheat it does make me sick until it exits my system. Usually within 2o minutes of eating it. Wheat and gluten is in everything we eat. I do mean everything. 
     So now on top of fighting thyroid cancer I now was diagnosed with what I called the "pigeon food diet." My luck just got worse and worse. I mean I was fine all my life until this drastic event changed me for the rest of my life. For one I live in the south. We love our fried chicken, dumplings, steak, bread, potatoes and the list could go on and on. It wasn't fair that I had to battle cancer and now this too. Life truly sucked for me and I hated it. 
     As I past the one year mark I still was getting really sick and I was eating the best I could gluten/wheat free. Its hard when no stores have the stuff. Wal-Mart, Bi-Lo (at the time) and Dollar Store was all the was in my area. Whole Foods was around but I couldn't afford it. So what did I do. I cheated and ate gluten/wheat products. My symptoms became worse. So bad I ended up in the ER one night. I thought it was my appendix. Nope, my gall bladder had a stone blocking anything from digesting. So I went through yet another surgery and had it removed. My gastro doctor thought well this could be the problem all along. I had mild pains with my gall bladder but I always assumed it was when I ate the gluten/wheat. It wasn't. So he retested me. Still have the gluten/wheat allergy. So after I healed I thought ok. I have to do this and pay for the stuff at Whole Foods. I can't keep doing this and making myself sick. 
     Anyone that has celiac disease or just gluten/wheat allergy knows that none of our things cost under $3.99 a piece. Yes you heard me right. We get less product for more money. My grocery bill alone went from $150 every two weeks to over $300. My food alone cost almost $400 a month. Guess what coupons... yeah those are few and far between. When people can buy a full loaf of bread for .88 (off brand) we pay $5.99 for half loaf. Something is seriously wrong with that. Everything I love like cookies, ice cream, cupcakes, pies, pizza, mexican food and so on. Those are also hard to find unless you make everything from scratch. That takes a lot of time and money too. Eating out. Well you can forget that. Everything is cross contaminated. I had to read every label to make sure just because it doesn't contain gluten doesn't mean it doesn't have wheat. It was a nightmare. 
    But as year two rolled around in this journey it began getting easier to find the gluten/wheat free products. Food City who purchased Bi-Lo was the first store other than Whole Foods to carry things. The prices are still anywhere from $3.99-$8.99 for things but you are able to find them. Which was a good thing. Wal-Mart super center has yet to catch on but Wal-Mart food market does carry it. Publix is another store that has carried gluten/wheat free products. 
   Years 3-5 have been easy but also hard. I travel for work and its hard to eat on the road when people look at you weird when you ask for your food to be cooked separately. They are like oh you can eat this and this and you'll be fine. No it doesn't work that way. If anything gets cross containment we get sick. Eating out has been the biggest struggle. I did start seeing restaurants in my area do the gluten free thing. Red Robin, Dos Bros, Japanese places and Dominos have gluten free options. There is always a chance of cross contamination but so far eating at these places I have not suffered. You just have to take precautions and hope it doesn't get cross contaminated. 
     I feel better each and every day with being gluten/wheat free. It has been hard but I hope this helps anyone that is new to being diagnosed. I know its hard and it takes a drastic change in what your used too. There are tons of us out there and we all need to help others. 

FYI: All gluten free products have to be refrigerated or frozen until use or it will go bad. We don't have the binder of gluten or wheat to keep it fresh sitting on the counter. 


Foods I purchase to stay gluten free/wheat free:

Glutino products: Available at Wal-Mart Market & Food City (variety will vary by store).

Katz products: Available at Amazon & Whole Foods (variety will vary by store).

Schar products: Available at Food City (variety will vary by store).

Mission GF tortillas: Food City & Publix

Good Girl GF Cookies: Wal-Mart Market & Publix (variety will vary by store).

Udis products: Wal-Mart Market, Publix & Food City (in frozen section) (variety will vary by store). 

Canyon Bakehouse products: Publix & Wal-Mart Market

Barilla has pasta that is gluten free NOW

Zatarain's Rice has gluten free options. Spices make our stomach sick and wheat is often in them. So look for Dirty Rice, Jambalaya or Cajun flavored. 

Aidells Andouille Sausages: Costco bulk, Publix and Food City.

Freschetta GF Pizza: Wal-Mart Market and Food City.

Johnsonville Andouille Sausages: Publix, Food City, Wal-Mart Market. (variety will vary by story).

Reece Cups are gluten free. They have the GF label. 

I buy all organic meats organic fruits, vegetables and organic dairy products. I don't cut corners on anything. Its hard not to stray and sometimes I do and suffer for it. Hopefully in the future we will catch up and have all the things I love in gluten free/wheat free form.

This is to name a few things. Feel free to comment on what you've found. I am always looking for new things to try.