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Gluten Intolerant at 26

Weeeee’reeee baaaaacccckkkk! Courtney here and...Phew, 2020...what a year right? Pandemic...social justice movement...an election year...Wow. “Everything happens so much” or whatever that tumblr post said that one time. 

We decided to take the time we normally would toward this blog, to look at ourselves, and internally investigate our place and role in this world, and in society, to recognize our privilege and learn how to be the best allies we can be to the Black community. 

During this period of unlearning, some other things changed. I moved across the country from Louisville, KY to Salt Lake City, UT for a new job, and Kayla discovered something new about herself: she’s gluten intolerant, just like me!

Here’s her trial and error journey from the past couple of months:

8/30:

We haven’t kept it a secret here that Courtney is gluten-intolerant and I am not. 

I have had no known allergies my entire life, but since many of my loved ones do, I found a passion for allergy-friendly recipes that actually taste good. However, August of 2020 has been bringing me serious stomach troubles. 

For the past couple weeks, I have been experiencing constipation, nausea, and intense cramping. And, before now, I wrote off my other potential symptoms as external environmental factors, not a reaction to dietary ones:

  • Headaches: the western United States is on fire, so I figured my head hurt due to poor air quality.
  • Fatigue: I’ve had a small child leeching my energy from me since her conception in 2017. So, I’ve been writing off my exhaustion to motherhood in addition to having to work night shifts during a pandemic. 
  • Bloating: I had my child two and a half years ago and have not tried *that* hard to “gEt My bODy baCk” (BECAUSE F*CK DIET CULTURE I AM BUSY). I have been writing off what my toddler so lovingly calls “Mama Belly” as… well… Mama Belly.

Courtney has informed me that all of these are possibly connected. This is almost exactly what she has experienced in the past. Bloating, chronic fatigue, the cramps. I think we can all see where this is going. 

She has suggested I go two weeks without any gluten and see how I feel. 

Y’all. 

As soon as we decided it was worth a shot-- my husband came home from the grocery store with:

  1. King’s Hawaiian Rolls
  2. Tuna Helper
  3. Hamburger Helper
  4. Boxes upon boxes of pasta

Because, we are not a gluten-free household. 

So I guess I’m gonna proceed business as usual for the next week. Starting the first full week of September, we’ll see if I have developed a gluten-intolerance and the ripe old age of 26. 

What a way to come back from our content break, right?

9/1:

Have you ever been so tired that you, um, you had, your, you- you could, you’ll do, you- you wants, you, you could do so, you- you’ll do, you could- you, you want, you want sleep to do you so much you could do anything? (Pls tell me you got that reference if not watch this vid:)

 

It’s been a few days since I proceeded business as usual. I wrote the introduction to this after specifically not eating any gluten for breakfast or lunch that day, knowing I would be having Tuna Helper for dinner. 

My severe intestinal distress has subsided. I’m not sure if giving my body a break has gotten it closer to “normal” (I’m now discovering my normal is not how my body should operate) though I am experiencing some mild constipation.

I AM SO TIRED HELP ME.

If I’ve been living with chronic fatigue for almost ten years because of the shit that makes bread dough stretchy I’m gonna be so mad. 

9/4:

Courtney has told me that by continuing to eat gluten I am potentially (if I actually do have an allergy) damaging my intestines? If that isn’t pressure enough to stop being a dumb and just go cold turkey I don’t know what is. Here’s a great video explaining what I’ve apparently missed out on:

Look. I’ve discovered that I’m not a great listener. And I can admit that when people say they have food allergies I’m more concerned about the “what are we going to cook for you” than the “how does this work” but man. Organ damage really hit hard. 

That being said I haven’t eaten gluten all day today and I feel great! I actually was able to go to the bathroom and we had sushi for dinner so I’m thriving. 

9/6:

Currently taking a weekend trip to a veeeeeerrrrrry small mountain town where avoiding gluten is as simple as either getting a burrito bowl from a nearby ski town, picking/eating pepperonis off a pizza, or taking the bun off a hot dog. Just kidding. I forgot to read the ingredients on a hot dog package and absolutely accidentally ate wheat. 

The only thing that hurts more than my lower intestines is my pride. 

What a rookie mistake, and I don’t even consider myself to be a rookie with gluten! I KNOW some hot dogs use wheat-based fillers/texture enhancers. Yet I gleefully chose to ignore that little voice in the back of my head telling me “Read the package before it’s too late”. 

But I didn’t want to have a turkey and cheese roll-up :( And I am now paying the price.

I also have really stupid habits I need to break. Like sometimes my toddler can’t bite through her bread crust, so instead of dirtying a knife I’ll just bite it off. You know those sitcoms where women might be pregnant then the drink alcohol and they just:

It’s like that but with bread. 

At this point I think we can already conclude that I have some sort of intolerance. My digestion issues have cleared up very quickly...without changing anything other than cutting out wheat my body has reduced in size (Sorry, no before and afters. I want to make this abundantly clear that this is NOT A DIET TIP. YOU CAN BE HEALTHY AT ANY SIZE. This is NOT a “wow my six pack showed up because I cut gluten” thing. Cuz it didn’t. My swollen discomfort went away.)

Some negatives right now. I still feel so tired. Like. So, so tired. I also have felt physically weak occasionally as well. I’m currently combating that by increasing my calorie intake.

My appetite has increased so it’s very possible that there’s a connection there. That being said, if the fatigue and weakness don’t go away soon with increased calories and supplements then I’m going to have to get a doctor’s appointment. 

I am really trying to avoid the doctor right now because my insurance situation is… complicated… but I don’t want to pay for an appointment when it’s just going to be them telling me to stop eating gluten for two weeks. I’ll absolutely pay for an appointment otherwise.

 

10/18

WOWEE WOW WOW EVERYONE!! A whole dang month? What can happen in a month? A lot. But I would say one of the most important things is I feel really, really good. I’m still combating feeling satiated.

It’s so weird to me being this hungry this often. It’s slightly annoying but also really exciting? I haven’t felt hunger like this since I was pregnant. And before my pregnancy I can’t even remember the last time I felt this hungry because I was always dealing with a distended stomach. 

This is a permanent change for me.

There are some things I am going to miss forever (Weeping for King’s Hawaiian Rolls, break and bake cookies, and yeast doughnuts) but honestly at the end of the day it comes down to I care more about my body than I care about whole wheat flour.

Being gluten-free is such a great opportunity to add variety to my diet, I can’t fall back on my go-to snacks and meals that always put me in a “food rut” where I was bored and indifferent.

So while it’s still a challenge (ALWAYS read your packaging) it’s a fun challenge that has and it's going to continue adding variety to what food I bring into my house. Thank you all for reading my ramblings. I hope this was informative and maybe even helped anyone who is trying to figure out something that’s going on with their body. 

Stay tuned for more recipes, fun, opinions, and more from a now completely and 100% gluten-free team!