Accepting you need to go Gluten Free

Finally getting diagnosed with Celiac disease may feel like a relief to some but actually understanding your disease and going gluten free can be overwhelming. It took me a while to understand that I HAD to go completely gluten free otherwise I would be putting my health and even my life at risk. People will say things to you about how lucky you are to just have to change what you eat instead of medicate yourself to control your symptoms. Those people have no clue what they are talking about! This whole gluten free thing is in no way easy. I can not stress this fact enough. If diagnosed with Celiac disease the sooner you go gluten free the better. I waited so long for the correct diagnosis. I was told I had everything from MS to it was all in my head until finally after ten years of severe pain, hospitalization, feeding tubes, etc.. I got my diagnosis. My body was at war with itself for so long that some of the damage can not be healed by going gluten free or medication. Thats why I urge all people with symptoms or a family history to get tested. I spent way to much time in pain and in hospitals because of misdiagnosis. I just assumed the doctors knew more then I did about my own body (a mistake I will never make again). I felt like I was a freak of nature (and not in a good way). I felt so alone because nobody I knew had Celiac disease or had ever even heard of it. They didn't understand my pain physically or mentally. I got so tired of explaining what was "wrong" with me and then explaining it was not an allergy but an autoimmune disease. Now my goal like many others who have this disease is to try to help others deal with the everyday difficulties they have to deal with.