I have been toying with the idea to write a blog for some time now. What really sparked my interest was all the good food I had over the summer and the number of gluten free places and items I am beginning to find here in Halifax but also throughout Atlantic Canada. The other reason is to share some of the things that I have learned along my journey, and a few of the recipes I have found and adapted along the way.
Going gluten free for me was not an easy task; nor was it a quick, spur of the moment decision brought on by the desire to follow the latest fad. The journey began two years prior to my going fully gluten free.
In the fall of 2010 I didn't feel like myself, I was tired all the time and I had developed a rash all over my neck. Went to the doctor and all she did for my rash was prescribe hydrocortisone cream. The rash went away somewhat but I was still extremely tired. I slept through most of Christmas that year and I was starting to feel cold all the time. My hands literally felt like blocks of ice and my very core felt like cold water had been poured down it. I went back to the doctor, who ordered bloodwork; which led to the discovery that my ferritin levels were at 15. 5 points above the low end of normal. Most people have anywhere between 45 and 92. I could not be declared anaemic though as my hemoglobin levels had managed to stay in the normal range, which meant that my blood was oxygenated. Doctor told me to take iron supplements. Great! Problem solved! Just one thing was wrong with that curative; iron pills are nasty. I had developed nausea when eating and upper right quadrant pain in the area of the gall bladder. Iron pills were going to compound the problem in my opinion. I tried taking them at night and I tried taking them in the morning, however the lowest dose of iron made me so nauseous and I had a new problem forming.
I was still tired all the time and my fatigue was leading me to bed at 8pm on nights that I wasn't curling; the problem being that I was waking up anywhere between 1am and 2am with upper right quadrant pain and no way of getting back to sleep. So I went back to the doctor. I went through weeks of having different forms of sleeping pills prescribed to me, but my breaking point came when finally I was up to 150mg of Trazadone and I was still waking up, in pain. The doctor suggested an SSRI which really is a fancy title for an anti-depressant. All of my physical symptoms were suggesting to my doctor that I was depressed. It is funny thinking about it now, but it wasn't so funny at the time. I was the least depressed person that I or any of my friends knew and here was my doctor suggesting that I was depressed. I was getting anxious by the fact that they did not know what was wrong with me at this point, extremely frustrated and angry that I was being pigeon-holed into a category because I was not a textbook case of physical symptoms and I was rapidly losing faith in the medical profession as a whole. I was dropping weight like crazy, my hair and skin were an absolute mess by this point and family and friends were starting to worry, and I was still so incredibly tired, and I could not concentrate for more than 10 minutes at a time because I was so exhausted. I refused the SSRI and found a Naturopathic Doctor and made an appointment. At this point I had finally reached the two week break for the Canada Winter Games and I had lunch with two friends. They watched as I ate and then turned 50 shades of white within 15 minutes. The idea of me being depressed was already absolutely absurd to them, more so after that lunch date.
I met with the Naturopath two weeks after that lunch date. She listened patiently and read all the paperwork that I had filled out and she concluded that I needed to come off dairy, gluten and start taking some supplements because I was clearly lacking nutrients. She put me on a form of iron that did not nauseate me, she gave me B12 shots to give me a little more energy and she wrote letters to my doctor explaining the tests that she wanted me to have done. I am glad of my decision to see her.
Going gluten free was not easy. When I first started I felt like I was in the woods without a map, compass or GPS to guide my way. I was given a few hints of how to get started and I even went so far as to purchase the Complete Idiot's Guide to Gluten Free Cooking. That book was money well spent because it gave me a list of all the things that I needed to have and all the things that I needed to avoid. A co-worker even loaned me Alyce Feindel's Living and Eating Gluten Free cookbook. I made some recipes out of that book but I noticed that my confidence in the kitchen had dwindled a fair bit because I was unfamiliar with the ingredients and it wasn't my normal way of eating and cooking. It took some time for me to realise that it was indeed my new normal but I still had tests that needed to be done, which meant a return to gluten and the sick and nauseous feelings.
I finally had the gastroscopy done in March of 2012 and I went gluten free for good on March 28th, 2012. I have not looked back since. Sure I have had a few setbacks when I have not read ingredients carefully but that goes for anyone really. I have regained a lot of my confidence in my cooking, especially this past summer and I have started to experiment with converting my old recipes into new gluten free creations. My hair and skin are finally beginning to look more nourished and I can actually sleep normally again. I still take some supplements to ensure that I am getting enough nutrients, but I am trying to eat as many of my nutrients as I can. I am beginning to find more and more things here in Halifax that I can have and am focusing more on that, rather than what I have to go without. Hopefully this blog will be helpful to those who are also struggling being gluten free in Halifax.
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