What it feels like to be a glutened (celiac) diabetic, in pictures.

A couple weekends ago, I was glutened by a "gluten free" pizza, from a restaurant here in town that specializes in gluten free pizza and even has a manager with celiac disease. How can that happen? Well, when you order pizza on a busy Friday night, it doesn't matter if the manager has celiac; all that matters is the staff back in the kitchen that is hurried and rushed and making your pizza, that isn't as careful as they should be because they are making 20 pizzas at once and they don't think it will matter to anyone if they don't wash their hands between handling the gluten free and glutened pizza ingredients. It just takes one person in the kitchen, even if everyone else is careful.

These are the little things that celiacs worry about; trying to find a balance between keeping ourselves safe while we try to have a normal life that includes the enjoyment of eating out every once in a while. It's scary eating out because of these occurrences. Eating out is met with nervous anticipation, not the normal excitement that a non-celiac feels.

So here's what went down.

First, I got mild stomach pains, slight discomfort, that intensified rapidly over the course of about an hour or two. By hour two, I was so uncomfortable that I stopped what I was doing and just sat on the couch, sitting in a ball, legs pulled up to my chest.



Throughout the rest of the evening, I got a migraine, severe stomach pain, and had multiple trips to the bathroom keeled over in awful pain. Because of being glutened, I could not absorb insulin properly, and had to use double the amounts I normally would to treat the high blood sugars that resulted from eating pizza, and hoped like heck that I wouldn't over bolus, because my body can't easily absorb carbs to treat a low after being glutened. In short, it can make your diabetes even more unpredictable.

But my baby girl Bella can tell when I'm not well and immediately came to my aide, planting herself right up on my chest and into my face to show her undying support.


(this was me many hours later, still laying down and feeling miserable).

But, I bounced back, like I always do. Life goes on. Can't let these little blips ruin you and take away your sunshine. It can be hard to stay positive sometimes, when you are going through a rough time with your disease(s). Just get through one moment at a time, don't worry about tomorrow just yet. That's how I get through things. One day at a time.