Gluten Free: the good, the bad, the confused

It has been nearly 70 days since I transitioned to a completely gluten-free diet. Although I have had my share of pity-party moments while watching friends indulge in foods that we now know possess the culprit of my illness(es), I feel like a completely different human. Turns out, it's not normal to feel fatigued every waking hour of the day, experience incredible pain hours after eating, and (my favorite) an unnatural burning-of-the-scalp after a routine shampoo and condition.

Eating pain-free, watching the random depression and anxiety attacks dissipate, being able to shower like a normal person, and actually having energy has changed me, but there is one change that I would consider the most bizarre of all: Raynaud's. After an experience with hypothermia my sophomore year of high school, we discovered I have a rare circulatory disease called raynaud's. Basically, my body is super sensitive to temperature changes and always seems to think it needs to push blood away from my feet, hands, ears and nose in order to save other, more important organs. This reaction led to my extremities become incredibly cold and usually turning blue or purple. So, even when if it was summer and 120 degrees, I wore a jacket.

"You're warm, Sarah," was the comment made by my husband as he held my hand about 5 weeks into the diet. I had not really noticed. Nevertheless, as we began to be attentive to my Raynaud's we quickly noticed, it was almost completely gone. Absent. Vanished. No where to be found. I have begun wearing shirts without sleeves, dresses without cardigans . . . I'm living jacket free! Now folks, this might seem rather humorous to you, but if you only understood. It is as though I am slowly becoming less and less a prisoner in my own body.

FREEDOM.

Yet this freedom has not totally proved free it's own frustrations.

I love where we live; it's quite, it's beautiful, (let's be honest) it's free of charge. But, the closest place to purchase the food we need is an hour away. We have had to learn how to plan out every aspect of our schedule around this diet. When can we get food? Where can we get food? Can we eat at that restaurant (If it's anywhere near Hillsboro, NO)? This town, and the towns close to it for that matter, is not conducive to gluten-free living. We're praying our next move will place us near a Whole Foods or Trader Joes!

Fact: I live in the middle of wheat fields. That's right, we farm wheat here in Hill county and lucky me it's harvest season. It's sort of comical to think that the thing I'm allergic to is at this moment literally flying around in massive quantities. Needless to say I've been a bit sick this week.

People. I love people. And, for the most part, the people in our community (not just geographical) have been extremely supportive; even when they have never heard of the word gluten, much less know what it is. BUT , there are those who have not been as gracious and that has been difficult to handle. It's been difficult to discover that some just assume this is another flower-child experiment, rather than understanding its necessity in my life. It's been difficult to explain to those who were positive that my semi-gluten free diet had not given enough nutrents to sustain both pregnancies that the exact opposite is true. It's been difficult to listen to people gawk, totally dumbfounded that food could abort a pregnancy (Seriously, friends? According to the CDC, heart disease kills more Americans than anything else. How do you think most people are contacting this disease? "FOOD". But that it is a completely different rant).

Thankfully, those people and those certain situations have not outweighed the support and the pure joy I've experienced (Ray as well) in feeling and being healthy for the first time in nearly seven years. We are forever grateful to God for helping us not give up our quest for answers and discovering this life-changing information.