Living Gluten Freely- by Chireen Schmidt

For as long as I can remember I have had stomach issues. When I was a little girl my mom took me from doctor to doctor trying to figure out why my stomach always hurt and they always told her the same thing, that she was crazy and I was looking for attention. Eventually the symptoms subsided and things returned to normal, until I was about 16. When I was 16 I came down with Gastroenteritis, essentially a bad stomach flu that landed me in the hospital. That bad stomach flu turned on all my symptoms that I had when I was a little girl, it was literally like a light switch. From that point on the symptoms changed and morphed constantly. My symptoms would range from severe stomach ache to bloating and fatigue, I would have horrible anxiety one day and then another day I would get a random skin rash. I went from doctor to doctor and would get diagnosed with everything from eczema to IBS, anxiety to depression, this continued for about 11 years! Luckily enough I started going to a family doctor 3 years ago that looked at my symptoms and decided to test me for Celiac Disease. The test was a simple blood test that tested for the iga/igg antibody test, that test came back positive and I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease.( For people that think that they may have Celiac Disease or Gluten intolerance/sensitivity and go to get tested, remember that even if the test comes back negative that doesn’t mean that you dont have a problem. A negative test may just mean that the small villi haven’t been affected yet, the only way to know for certain is to adapt a gluten free lifestyle or to have a biopsy of the small intestine) Since being diagnosed all my symptoms have completely subsided and I feel so much better! There are so many helpful websites that can help you adapt to a gluten free lifestyle and almost all grocery stores now have a gluten free section.10 years ago I think living gluten free would have been almost impossible but now it is very easy to substitute any of your favorite foods for a gluten free option! Research has shown that 1 out of every 133 people have celiac disease and of those people more than half are being misdiagnosed or have no idea. If you think that you may have some sort of gluten sensitivity, I would try to find a doctor that has knowledge about celiac so that they can steer you in the right direction, the important thing to remember is that no matter the outcome the best way to know for certain is to give up gluten and see how you feel after 30 days, you should feel like a new person! Some great websites to check out are Zeer.com and Celiac.com, they are both really informative especially for people just starting out. Betty Crocker also has a whole line of gluten free products that you can see at Bettycrocker.com and here is a link to a recipe for gluten free chicken and dumplings that you can make using bisquik gluten free mix. Enjoy! Chicken and Dumplings (Gluten Free)