Welcome to my gluten-free blog! I've wanted to start one for a while but never got around to it until now. Since I was a little kid, I've always had stomach issues and thought that was just the way I was. I had to remind myself to eat slower and take small bites. That's how I originally got my nickname, "Birdie," - because I ate like a bird. Somehow, subconsciously, I knew I shouldn't be eating bread, because I would intentionally remove the bun from hamburgers and hotdogs and just eat the meat. I led a pretty full and active life, despite all my discomfort. When I reached my 20's though, things began to get worse. The intestinal cramping and discomfort increased, I was extrememly fatigued. I'm not sure how I made it through school being so tired all the time. My hair was thinning and coming out, my periods were getting worse - slight anemia, flu-like symptoms, and irregular. At one point I lost a lot of weight and got down to 103 lbs. I Finally went to the doctor when I felt so ill for a couple months. As with many people in my situation I had the usual diagnosis of either irritable bowel syndrome or an intestinal virus. I didn't believe it and was extremely disappointed. At this point I stop eating dairy products, which did help a little. In the meantime, I found some articles in magazines that described symptoms that were exactly what I had - celiac disease. Eureka! So I had to self-diagnose myself and start a strict gluten-free diet. Within a few weeks I began to feel better, I was amazed! Of course, it took me a good three years to be completely gluten-free as I became diligent with label reading, learned which fast food I could and couldn't have, and what choices I had at restaurants - not much! I am glad to say that there are more tasty gluten-free products out today then there were ten years ago, and those newly diagnosed may not be as tempted to cheat. Stop by in the future to see my own recipes and suggestions as this is just the beginning.
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