1 Celiac Tip for Each Day I've Had It (#2DiseasesAndCounting)
Sorry I've been kind of MIA for the past few weeks, but life has been pretty hectic! Along with working through a few Grade 9 courses and volunteering at two day-camps, I was just diagnosed with celiac disease last week, so I just haven't had the time to write a blog post. However, today I am officially back in business with a post explaining all about celiac and how to live with it safely!
First thing's first, celiac is an autoimmune disease just like T1diabetes is. Oh, one second:
A Brief Moment in Anne's Diabetic Dictionary
T1diabetes; noun short-form
Pronunciation: type-won-dye-uh-bee-tees
1. A short-form for the term "type 1 diabetes." Other variations of the short-form "T1diabetes" include: "T1diabetic"
Antonyms include: "T2diabetes" (type 2 diabetes)
Used in a sentence: "T1diabetes and T2diabetes are very different things."
This Has Been a Brief Moment in Anne's Diabetic Dictionary
...
I know that I have used the terms "T1diabetic" and "T1diabetes" before this post; I just wanted to clarify what I'm talking about.
Moving on!
What are symptoms of celiac? Exhaustion, hair loss, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, heartburn, vomiting, etc.
What causes celiac? Like I said, it's an autoimmune disease. However, as I understand it, in order to develop celiac, one of your parents must carry its gene. If you don't have the gene, it's virtually impossible to get it. Once you have the gene, it usually stays dormant until something triggers it. My doctor said that, for me, T1diabetes might have been what triggered it.
What even is celiac? What does it do? Let's break it down:
(please keep in mind that I was only diagnosed last week so this is just as I understand it and might not be one hundred percent factually correct)
In your small intestine, there are small finger-like projections of tissue called villi. Your villi contain special cells that transport substances into your bloodstream. Villi don't help with the digestion of nutrients, but they help with nutrient absorption.
When people with celiac eat food containing gluten, the gluten goes into their small intestine and attaches itself to their villi. The villi cover the gluten in an enzyme in an attempt to break it down, but the gluten does not break down. Two or three different kinds of antibodies identify the gluten/enzyme combo as an enemy and go to destroy it.
In order to avoid being attacked by antibodies, the gluten/enzyme combo disguises itself as a villi. When it does this, instead of only identifying the combo as an enemy, the antibodies identify all the villi as enemies. So, instead of only attacking the gluten/enzyme combo, the antibodies attack all the villi in the small intestine. They destroy all of the villi.
This leaves the person with celiac unable to absorb any of the minerals and nutrients from the food they're eating. Cue the horror music.
How do you treat celiac? You don't eat gluten. So, you don't eat anything that contains or has come into contact with wheat, barley, or rye. Even the smallest amount of gluten can set off an attack on your villi, so you have to be extremely careful with cross-contamination. It's a pretty huge adjustment.
Now that the general understanding of celiac is taken care of, let's get to my 7 Expert-But-Not-Really-Please-Talk-To-Your-Doctor-About-How-You're-Managing-Your-Own-Celiac-I'm-Just-Sharing-My-Experiences-From-The-Past-Week Celiac Tips!!
1. Your diagnosis can come as a shock, so take some time for yourself to interpret everything that's going on.
Spend some time outside
Express yourself through art or writing or baking or whatever interests you
2. As everything feels like it's changing, celebrate small successes...
Like how you tried gluten-free pasta and discovered that it's actually pretty good
Or how even though you usually can't find any Hufflepuff merchandise in Harry Potter stores (it's usually just Gryffindor and Slytherin), more and more places are starting to carry awesome stuff like Hufflepuff hats!! (I'm a tad Harry Potter obsessed, I apologize)
Or how you saw a car the other day that's the same kind as Emma Swan's from the TV show Once Upon a Time! (again, obsessed, I apologize)
3. Since (at least in my experience) you're really exhausted for a while before and for the next 4-6 weeks after diagnosis, DON'T STAY UP TOO LATE! GET YOUR BEAUTY SLEEP!
Wherever you are
If you need one
Make like Alex (my cat)
And take a cat nap.
4. Always double-check the labels of "gluten-free" options at restaurants
The other day, I went to Boston Pizza with my sister and her boyfriend for lunch because they have a gluten-free menu. I wanted Caesar salad, and it was listed on the gluten-free menu, so I was like, "great, I'll get that." But when we looked again, Casear salad was listed on the gluten-free menu, but right next to the heading Caesar Salad, it said May Contain Gluten.
This confused me. Why is it listed in the gluten-free menu if it might have gluten? I don't know. All I know is I just got lettuce with oil and vinegar, which tasted absolutely fine, I love balsamic dressing, but it was still a close call.
SO! Moral of the story: ALWAYS DOUBLE-CHECK LABELS AND MENUS!
5. Be careful and make sure anything that you eat, drink, apply, or use (like make-up and tooth paste) is Certified Gluten-Free!
Like wearing your seat-belt or holding onto something when you're standing up on a bus, it's always always always better to be safe than sorry. Take the extra five seconds to make sure what you're consuming is safe and gluten-free.
6. Educate your family and friends about celiac so you've got people to help you out!
This is a conversation I had with my older brother. Just clearing up that we were just exchanging witty banter and do not actually hate each other 🧡. Anyways, I'm really lucky because everyone in my family has learned about celiac so our house can be safe and gluten-free. Having the people close to you understand your condition is really helpful, so you have to educate them!
7. SERIOUSLY, get as MUCH sleep as you can!!
SERIOUSLY, just flop down wherever and just
SLEEP!
Thanks for reading this post of That Stupid Pancreas!
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Till next time, Type 1 Warriors!
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