Do you think it strange for a doctor to tell you to make yourself ill? Well, that's what happened to me recently. Okay, it's not quite as it sounds. There is a purpose to the 'ill on demand' thing.
I've been avoiding gluten (wheat, barley and rye) for about two and half years, because whenever I eat anything with those ingredients in I get a stomach ache, mouth ulcers, constricted throat, etcetera.
Since I was a kid, whenever I ate those foods, which was all the time, I felt lethargic and hungry, even if I'd just eaten a huge meal. Coeliac Disease, which is what the specialist hospital dude thinks I've got, causes all these kinds of problems, so I'm kinda hoping it's definitely that, just so I know. I have an even worse reaction to oats, so flapjacks are tempting but painful :S
Since giving it up and getting it totally out of my system, I've felt great. I feel like Superman in comparison, but it was normal for me to feel wiped out all the time. I've lived a great deal of my life feeling tired and drained, not feeling able to do all kinds of normal things that involve energy.
I was told that I would have to go back on the gluten for six months to prove that it makes me ill. I had to decide when would be a good time to be ill again, but there really was never a good time, so I just carried on avoiding it. The benefit of doing this though is to get a season ticket for prescription food because gluten-free stuff is so darned expensive. So, I've decided that there will never be a good time but that it has to be done. I've been back on it for two weeks and some good news is they only need me to do it for another four weeks, rather than the full six months.
The problem is no one can tell how I'm feeling, as it's not something obvious. I feel lousy, but I tend to be all smiles. It does get to me sometimes when a friend says, "But I thought it was meant to make you ill..." I hate explaining all the ins and outs of the disease every time because it gets boring. If someone doesn't understand after three or four times of explaining it, I just let them believe I'm a naturally knackered and drained 'healthy person'.
I'm trying to do the things I normally do, like performing at the open mic and going for acting auditions. With my throat closing up, it's kinda hard to project my voice. It's just more of an effort, but I'm sort of glad people don't really notice I'm suffering. I hate feeling like an invilid, so it can be better if they think I'm fine. I guess it's like a swan gliding along smoothly on the surface while paddling like a bandit under the water. That's the only comparison between myself and a swan. I'm not one for wearing feathers!
At least this time I know it's not forever. I know I can recover from the bad stuff. It might take a couple of months to get it out of my system, but I'm sure I can return to feeling like Superman again. The only thing I wanna know is: Where the hell is Lois?!
.
I've been avoiding gluten (wheat, barley and rye) for about two and half years, because whenever I eat anything with those ingredients in I get a stomach ache, mouth ulcers, constricted throat, etcetera.
Since I was a kid, whenever I ate those foods, which was all the time, I felt lethargic and hungry, even if I'd just eaten a huge meal. Coeliac Disease, which is what the specialist hospital dude thinks I've got, causes all these kinds of problems, so I'm kinda hoping it's definitely that, just so I know. I have an even worse reaction to oats, so flapjacks are tempting but painful :SSince giving it up and getting it totally out of my system, I've felt great. I feel like Superman in comparison, but it was normal for me to feel wiped out all the time. I've lived a great deal of my life feeling tired and drained, not feeling able to do all kinds of normal things that involve energy.
I was told that I would have to go back on the gluten for six months to prove that it makes me ill. I had to decide when would be a good time to be ill again, but there really was never a good time, so I just carried on avoiding it. The benefit of doing this though is to get a season ticket for prescription food because gluten-free stuff is so darned expensive. So, I've decided that there will never be a good time but that it has to be done. I've been back on it for two weeks and some good news is they only need me to do it for another four weeks, rather than the full six months.
The problem is no one can tell how I'm feeling, as it's not something obvious. I feel lousy, but I tend to be all smiles. It does get to me sometimes when a friend says, "But I thought it was meant to make you ill..." I hate explaining all the ins and outs of the disease every time because it gets boring. If someone doesn't understand after three or four times of explaining it, I just let them believe I'm a naturally knackered and drained 'healthy person'.
I'm trying to do the things I normally do, like performing at the open mic and going for acting auditions. With my throat closing up, it's kinda hard to project my voice. It's just more of an effort, but I'm sort of glad people don't really notice I'm suffering. I hate feeling like an invilid, so it can be better if they think I'm fine. I guess it's like a swan gliding along smoothly on the surface while paddling like a bandit under the water. That's the only comparison between myself and a swan. I'm not one for wearing feathers!
At least this time I know it's not forever. I know I can recover from the bad stuff. It might take a couple of months to get it out of my system, but I'm sure I can return to feeling like Superman again. The only thing I wanna know is: Where the hell is Lois?!
.
